Jiangyin Port in Changzhou Prefecture on the other side of Tongzhou is the main base of the Yangtze River Fleet. It is also a docking port for a large number of shipping supply ships and a material supply transfer station. Although the port here is not large, it has always been very busy.
Moreover, the defense here is extremely tight.
However, today, this place is busier than usual, even to the point of being crowded.
On the shore, many ships are waiting to dock, and on the pier on the shore, a ship is moored at the pier. Many soldiers are boarding the ship one after another, and at the same time they are still struggling to carry many artillery, ammunition and other supplies.
Boat.
At the Jiangyin Fort, the artillerymen were also ready, with their muzzles pointed upstream. The armed merchant ships of the Yangtze River Fleet and even the cruisers and frigates of the First Fleet all took the risk to appear here to guard against the possible arrival of the Ming Navy.
Interfering with crossing the river.
Such a large-scale action naturally attracted the attention of the Ming army on the other side. From time to time, ships of the Ming army tried to come over to explore the truth, but they were all blocked by coastal defense guns and naval guns. However, the Ming army obviously
There is no willingness.
According to the report of the surveillance cavalry upstream, the Ming navy in Yangzhou has begun to gather, but it is not known whether they are preparing to attack Jiangyin port or to prepare for the Tang navy to directly attack Yangzhou.
But as a precaution, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty navy and army involuntarily accelerated the pace of boarding the ship!
In a two-story masonry building at the port, Lieutenant General Hao Bainian, the new commander of the Third Army and the former commander of the First Army, stood by the window, looking at the countless ships and busy soldiers outside.
"How is the situation now?" Hao Bainian asked.
The adjutant on the side said: "Now an infantry regiment of the Fifth Infantry Division has all boarded the ship, and an artillery battalion has also been loaded onto the ship. The remaining troops of the Fifth Infantry Division are in the process of boarding the ship nervously."
After hearing this, Hao Bainian frowned slightly and said: "The boarding speed is too slow now. Please go ahead and speed up the boarding speed. Today the entire Fifth Infantry Division will set off to officially cross the river and launch a landing operation!"
The adjutant on the side said: "The docks are basically occupied now, and it is difficult to load materials. I'm afraid we can't speed up anymore!"
Hao Bainian said: "If the wharf is not enough, it will be used to load supplies. As for people to board the ship, it is not necessary to board the ship at the wharf. You can also take a small boat directly from the shore."
At this time, Hao Bainian showed a trace of worry and said: "The Ming Navy on the opposite side must have noticed our big movements in the past two days. Previously, the reconnaissance team reported that the Ming Navy on the Yangzhou side might arrive.
To attack Jiangyin Port, although the navy ensures the safety of Jiangyin, we cannot rely entirely on the navy. Their large ships in the Yangtze River cannot play any role other than serving as forts."
Hao Bainian had reason to worry. Although the Navy had repeatedly promised to ensure the safety of the Army crossing the river, Hao Bainian could see that the Navy lacked confidence in saying this.
Although the navy has gathered a large number of ships here, there are always more than ten armed merchant ships, four patrol ships, six frigates, and two cruisers, but it is not very easy to fight in this place with many ships and guns.
Because the Ming Navy's navy won't compete with your artillery, they have prepared countless small boats upstream. When the time comes, hundreds of fireships will be lowered along the river, and no matter how awesome the cruisers are, they will have to kneel down!
Otherwise, why has the Navy never dared to enter and exit the Yangtze River without fear of being targeted by the Ming Navy's fireships?
Therefore, Hao Bainian did not expect the navy to ensure the safety of the army's crossing the river, so he needed to get the troops on board ships to cross the river as soon as possible. As long as the crossing was successful, his troops could go ashore and fight all the way to Yangzhou.
go.
When the time comes, the Ming Army's Yangzhou Fort, which has left the navy helpless, can be taken down by the army in minutes.
However, the number of troops crossing the river is indispensable. The Ming army deployed heavy troops in the north of the Yangtze River. These thousands of people used to deliver food. Tens of thousands of people must be sent across the river at one time. Only in this way can the situation be opened up quickly and more troops can be received.
Troops cross the river.
Hao Bainian knew very well what Li Xuan's purpose was in transferring him to the Third Army to serve as the commander. He wanted to open up a situation in Yangzhou and lay the foundation for the entire Northern Expedition plan.
Hao Bainian was originally the commander of the First Army, but Li Xuan transferred him to the Third Army as the commander. The original commander of the Third Army, Wang Chaohong, was transferred to the Second Army as the commander.
Li Chunjing, Commander of the Second Army, was transferred to Commander of the First Army.
To put it simply, Li Xuan just swapped the three army commanders!
On the one hand, Li Xuan wanted Hao Bainian to open up a new situation in Yangzhou, and on the other hand, it was also to prevent these generals from serving as chief officers in the same army for a long time, thus creating a situation where the tail was too big to lose.
Not only were the three army commanders exchanged, but in fact many division commanders and regimental commander-level generals were exchanged and promoted.
There were no large-scale wars in the first half of this year, which also created a favorable opportunity for Li Xuan to rotate the mid-level and senior generals in the army. If wars were frequent, Li Xuan would not be able to rotate on such a large scale.
At present, in the Army, there are basically no generals above the level of regiment commander who have served in the same position for more than one year.
Although such a large-scale exchange will affect the combat effectiveness of the army to a certain extent, after more than half a year of running-in, it has basically made up for the loss in this aspect, and has made Li Xuan's control over the army even stronger.
.
Hao Bainian naturally knows why Li Xuan asked him to serve as the commander of the Third Army. His ability is not the reason, but preparedness is the reason. Therefore, Hao Bainian has been relatively low-key recently. He is not as aggressive as when he was in the First Army.
Subordinates socialize too deeply.
In his opinion, if those generals who win over their subordinates and try to form their own faction can get a good death, he, Hao Bainian, will not believe it anyway. This world belongs to His Majesty, and this army also belongs to His Majesty. You want to regard the army as your own
Yes, that is courting death!
Hao Bainian still wanted to be a founding hero and win a duke, preferably a hereditary one, so he had to fight, but his loyalty should not be forgotten at all times, and it was even more necessary to keep a low profile.
Compared with Hao Bainian's low profile, Chen Keqiao, the commander of the Fifth Division, was not low-key at all. His troops were the first batch of troops to cross the river, so from the beginning he went to the dock to sit in person and command the troops to board the ship.
There wasn't much time left for him, because there were still tens of thousands of people waiting to board the ship!
The Third Army, which was prepared for the Yangzhou Campaign, was unprecedentedly powerful. It had three infantry divisions, the Fifth Infantry Division, the Sixth Infantry Division, and the Eighth Infantry Division, as well as the First Mixed Regiment and the Ninth Mixed Regiment. In addition,
There are also three heavy artillery battalions.
All the troops were fully equipped, and the total strength reached 55,000.
Originally, there was a newly formed mixed regiment with poor combat effectiveness, that is, the 11th Mixed Regiment. However, considering that even if we attack northward, we cannot leave any troops behind, so this 11th Mixed Regiment was
Instead of being incorporated into the Third Army, they will stay behind to suppress Jiangnan.
Also staying in the south of the Yangtze River are two newly formed supplementary brigades, with 5,000 Guards troops, and the 9th Infantry Division, which the Army is planning to expand after the 8th Infantry Division but has not yet formed an army.
Why is it said that the Guards only have 5,000 people? Because in this cross-river battle, the Guards will also send half of its strength, about 5,000 people, to participate in the battle. This force will be assigned to the Second Army, along with all the army troops.
Charge into battle.
Sending the Guards to fight was a method used by Li Xuan to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Guards. In the previous battles of Nan'ao Island and Fujian, the Guards participated, and a rotation system was adopted to ensure that each Guards
Infantry battalions can gain combat experience.
Otherwise, this Guards force will become a mere showpiece sooner or later. After all, it is unlikely that Li Xuan will fight in person now.
On the Second Army side, the commander is Wang Chaohong, and the troops currently under its jurisdiction are the 7th Infantry Division, the 4th Mixed Regiment, the 5th Mixed Regiment. In addition, the 3rd Infantry Division stationed in Jiujiang is also assigned to the Second Army.
, has two heavy artillery battalions.
The First Army, whose commander is Li Chunjing, has the First Infantry Division, the Second Infantry Division, the Third Mixed Regiment, the Tenth Mixed Regiment, and a heavy artillery battalion.
Then there are troops on other fronts and in the rear. For example, there is the 4th Infantry Division in Yunnan, the 7th Mixed Regiment in western Hunan, the 8th Mixed Regiment in Guangxi, the 6th Mixed Regiment in Guizhou, the 2nd Mixed Regiment in Guangdong, and the 2nd Mixed Regiment in Fujian.
It is the newly formed 12th mixed group, and Zhejiang is the newly formed 13th mixed group.
The above-mentioned troops together constitute the current main force of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, many of them are newly formed troops. In addition, they do not include the supplementary brigades. There are currently eight supplementary brigades in the Tang Dynasty.
However, the position of the supplementary brigade in the Tang Dynasty was to train new recruits. Although it had a structure, it was actually often used up. For example, when the various units were reorganized in the first half of the year, the 8th Infantry Division and the 11th Mixed Regiment were newly formed.
Several supplementary brigades in Jiangxi and Guangdong were evacuated, leaving only an empty frame.
Therefore, although there is a establishment, the personnel of the supplementary brigade are floating. If the army does not need to be expanded on a large scale, the number of people can remain relatively stable if the losses are not large. However, once the army needs to be expanded and the losses of the frontline troops are relatively large, the number of troops will be reduced every minute.
This will free up these supplementary brigades.
After the Third Army was strengthened, it had a large number of troops. It was unrealistic to have them all cross the river at once. The Tang Navy simply could not find so many ships. This was not just about transporting people across the river, but also
It is not easy to transport the equipment of these troops across the river. The artillery and the large amounts of ammunition are not so easy to transport.
As for the envisioned pontoon bridge plan, it had long been abandoned by the navy and army, because their planned landing site was Tongzhou, and the Yangtze River there could not be said to be a river, but rather a sea. Building a pontoon bridge here would not be possible.
It's better to transport it directly by ship.
Thanks to the efforts of many soldiers, all the personnel and equipment of the 5th Infantry Division were finally aboard the ship, and then began to sail down the river under the cover of naval warships, and then headed straight to Tongzhou.
At the same time, the Ming navy in Yangzhou was also assembled and ready to attack. At this time, needless to say, both sides knew that the war had broken out and it was time to fight!