On a large transport ship, Major General Chen Keqiao was listening to the adjutant's report on the previous battle between the Navy and the Ming Navy.
Although he could see smoke filling the upstream direction and the sound of artillery fire just now, he could not see the detailed battle situation. He could judge that the navy won this battle, but the specific battle situation was not
Still don't know.
However, now that it was confirmed that the navy had won a complete victory, he was completely reassured. The next landing battle would no longer be interfered by the Ming Navy, and he could launch the landing battle calmly.
"Sir, the first batch of transport ships are already preparing to dock. The Ming army on the other side has not set up an interception line on the beach!"
Hearing this, Chen Keqiao nodded slightly: "It is a wise move for the Ming army not to resist on the beach. If it were me, I would not risk the enemy's naval guns to resist on the beach, but we must let the Thirteenth Step
The Corps must be careful. After landing on the beach, quickly advance to the predetermined location, open up a safe landing site, and cover the landing of follow-up troops and artillery units. However, they must not rush in to pursue, in case the enemy forces set up an ambush on the beach!"
The landing operation of the Royal Army of the Tang Dynasty was so huge that anyone who was not blind could see the transport ships and warships of the Royal Army of the Tang Dynasty almost facing the river. Even the Ming Navy in Yangzhou could come to intercept it, and in Tongzhou
The Ming army on the side must have discovered it early and made sufficient preparations.
Chen Keqiao did not intend to let the troops advance rashly. He only wanted the first batch of the 13th Infantry Regiment to land under the cover of naval guns, and then establish and stabilize the landing site. He only wanted his 5th Infantry to land
If all the divisions are ashore, then the enemy forces on the Tongzhou side will never be able to drive them down the river again.
According to the intelligence from early investigations, the Ming army deployed about 20,000 troops in the direction of Tongzhou, at least half of whom were Jiangbei New Army.
The predecessor of the Jiangbei New Army was actually the Jiangnan New Army. After the main force of the Jiangnan New Army was annihilated in Jiangnan, the remaining Jiangnan New Army and some of the reinforced border troops fled north across the Yangtze River and were reorganized.
Part of them fled to Anqing, and then the original Jiangnan New Army and other chaotic local New Army were strongly integrated by Yu Dayou and reorganized into the Bandit-breaking Army. This part of the army has about 50,000 troops, based on the original garrison.
Anqing's approximately 20,000 Jiangnan New Army was formed, with the Bandit-breaking Army as its core.
The other part fled Yangzhou, including the more than 10,000 Jiangnan New Army troops who originally garrisoned Jinling City and other cities in Jiangnan, and then collapsed from the battlefield.
At the same time, there are also some local new troops reinforced by Huai'an, Shandong and other regions.
After integration, the Jiangbei New Army has approximately more than 40,000 troops!
However, it is worth noting that the Jiangbei area with Yangzhou as the core includes not only the Jiangbei New Army, but also the Beijing camp with about 20,000 people and the frontier army with more than 50,000 people.
In the entire Yangzhou area, there are about 120,000 new-style troops equipped with guns and artillery, plus more than 30,000 young men recruited temporarily.
The ones stationed in Tongzhou are mainly Jiangbei New Army. Not only Tongzhou, but other Ming armies stationed in the eastern peripheral areas of Yangzhou, including Taizhou and other places, are mostly Jiangbei New Army. As for Yangzhou City itself, it is composed of 50,000 soldiers.
Elite border troops are stationed.
The Liuhe area in the west of Yangzhou is garrisoned by 20,000 Beijing troops!
From this defense arrangement, it can be seen that the Ming army no longer trusts the combat effectiveness of the new army in the Jiangnan area. They place their hopes on the 50,000 elite border troops.
There are about 20,000 enemies in Tongzhou. Even if they all attack, he can still stop them as long as he allows his Fifth Infantry Division to land smoothly.
Under Chen Keqiao's order, the 13th Infantry Regiment, which was the first to land, docked and began to land quickly. There was no resistance during the landing, but it was possible to find that the Ming Army's reconnaissance cavalry frequently appeared and disappeared.
I guessed that there must be the main force of the Ming Army behind this.
The Thirteenth Infantry Regiment ignored them, and instead dug trenches and set up defenses to cover the troops of the Fifth Infantry Division as they continued to land.
Because the Ming army did not resist on the beach, and the 13th Infantry Regiment did not advance rashly, the expected fierce battle did not occur. However, the navy's covering warships did not relax, but continued to anchor on the shore, targeting numerous artillery pieces.
Once the land is secured, as long as the Ming army appears, they will carry out artillery bombardment.
Under the cover of the 13th Infantry Regiment, the other two infantry regiments of the 5th Infantry Division and the artillery regiment also began to land quickly.
Since there was no pier, landing was very troublesome. The only people who landed at first were a large number of infantry. The infantry approached the shore in small boats, then jumped off the boat directly, stepped in the river water and mud, and gathered with difficulty towards the open space on the beach.
As for the landing of the artillery force, it is more troublesome. The engineering force needs to urgently build a temporary dock, and then let the transport ship loaded with artillery and large amounts of ammunition dock at the dock, and then these heavy artillery can be unloaded.
For this landing operation, many elite engineers were mobilized from the navy and army to form a pontoon battalion of about 500 people. Hundreds of craftsmen were even temporarily seconded from the factories of the Ministry of Industry. The Royal Academy of Sciences
A technical advisory team of more than ten people was also dispatched.
And all this is to quickly build a temporary dock on the riverside!
After all, before the official capture of Tongzhou and the occupation of the port there, the 5th Infantry Division, which landed in advance, would rely on such a temporary dock for the unloading of artillery and ammunition and the replenishment of logistical supplies.
The Zhouqiao Camp is under intense construction, and the infantrymen of the Fifth Infantry Division are landing one after another, and then strengthening the defense of the landing site to avoid Ming army attacks.
In fact, the Ming army's counterattack had already begun. Naturally, their infantry did not have the courage to rush up directly to counterattack, because on the riverside, many battleships and armed merchant ships of the Tang Navy could directly anchor and act as
A fixed fort providing direct fire support to the 5th Infantry Division.
The support of naval guns is much stronger than the army's own artillery firepower!
The Ming army's counterattack used artillery, but there were only a few artillery pieces. The Fifth Infantry Division took the risk and sent out a few elite infantry squads to directly break up their artillery positions and drive them out.
Later, the Ming army used cavalry, but even their cavalry did not have the courage to attack the landing site of the Fifth Infantry Division.
So on the first day, basically no large-scale fighting broke out between the two sides!
When it was almost dusk, the Zhouqiao Battalion finally lived up to expectations and built a temporary dock. Although the dock was very crude, it was strong enough to unload artillery, carriages loaded with ammunition, and horses from the cavalry battalion.
.
The artillery regiment, cavalry battalion, baggage regiment and other troops that had been waiting by the river for a long time were also landing one after another!
And those fully unloaded transport ships returned to the south bank again, preparing to load the second batch of landing troops to cross the river!
At midnight in the evening, all the artillery and ammunition of the artillery regiment were landed ashore, and a temporary artillery position was built, extending the artillery coverage of the Datang King's Division several hundred meters forward.
By the early morning of the next day, all the troops of the 5th Infantry Division had successfully landed, especially artillery, ammunition and other baggage.
At six o'clock in the morning, the Fifth Infantry Division finally launched a formal attack after landing and began to advance. They wanted to capture Tongzhou in a short time. The purpose of capturing Tongzhou was not to annihilate the Ming army inside, but to capture Tongzhou.
The pier along the river outside the city.
Although the Fifth Infantry Division has landed, there are still a large number of Third Army troops waiting to land behind it. The subsequent landing troops include a large number of heavy artillery troops, cavalry troops, and baggage troops. At the same time, after these troops cross the river, each
The supplies consumed in one day are very large, and it is impossible to sustain the Third Army's operations in Jiangbei with just a temporary dock.
The Third Army must seize a ready-made port that can berth large ships and carry out loading and unloading operations, and the dock along the river outside Tongzhou City is the best choice.
Although this wharf is not very good and its scale is very small, the Navy's intelligence department has already mapped this small wharf in advance. Although it is small, several of them are deep-water ports, which are enough to berth large ships with more than three hundred tons.
Transport ships, from more than 100 tons to more than 300 tons, this range is also the main tonnage of the large number of transport ships currently freely and requisitioned by the Datang Navy and Army.
This kind of ready-made dock is much easier to use than the temporary dock. Through non-stop loading and unloading operations day and night, it can barely support the supplies required by the Third Army.
So, the 5th Infantry Division launched an attack!
The Fifth Infantry Division took action, and launched an attack eastward along the river. Warships from the Navy also accompanied the advance, ensuring that the strongest fire support could be provided to the Fifth Infantry Division at any time.
After the Fifth Infantry Division took action, Tongzhou City was in chaos. The more than 10,000 Ming troops in the city were arguing internally. However, the nearly 10,000 people who had gone out of the city to intercept the landing troops of the puppet Tang rebels were the ones who had been ambushed yesterday.
The group of Ming troops who landed deep in the city had quietly retreated to Taizhou.
When the Fifth Infantry Division approached Tongzhou, the defenders of Tongzhou decisively abandoned the city and fled after an argument.
They couldn't hold Tongzhou. This didn't mean they were timid and didn't want to fight, but it was a fact that if they continued to defend, they would probably be annihilated. So they retreated decisively. Of course, they didn't forget to let go before leaving.
He started a fire and burned all the warehouses and other buildings in the city.
However, the fire in Tongzhou City had little impact on the Tang Army, because the strategic purpose of attacking Tongzhou was not to seize the city, but just to capture a small dock!
So after watching the Ming army retreat, the Fifth Infantry Division did not pursue it, but took over Tongzhou City and then prepared to meet the main force of the Third Army!
That night, the second batch of landing troops of the Third Army arrived in Tongzhou, and then used the opportunity to seize the arrival dock for rapid unloading!
The next day, the third and fourth batches of landing troops arrived one after another!
The Third Army used a large number of ships to directly transport all the main forces of the Third Army, including artillery, ammunition and other baggage across the river. The amount of ammunition carried was enough for the Third Army to undergo five days of high-intensity combat.
After the landing, the Third Army officially advanced westward and fought towards Yangzhou!