252 retreat

"The third company had four wounded and two killed, the artillery company had eleven killed and nine wounded...***, what a heavy loss!"

Taking advantage of the lull in the battle, Jie Xi and Ma Qianshan took the time to count the losses on the front positions. The Western Army's overwhelming shelling had achieved some results after all, although the trenches here were all built according to the standards of World War I.

It is in a zigzag shape, and the best anti-cannon measures have been taken as much as possible, but there are too many falling shells that cannot withstand it. Even if most of them are solid bowling balls, as long as they are scratched and bumped, they will definitely be disabled if not dead.

Seriously injured.

As the key targets attacked by the enemy, the three forts bore the vast majority of the firepower. The No. 3 fort at the back was better off, and the No. 1 and No. 2 forts built on the protruding part of the promontory were almost submerged by artillery shells.

, if it weren’t for the concrete retaining wall that was ahead of its time, more than half a meter thick, and the construction quality, which was personally in charge of structural engineer Chen Jun, was also very high, it would probably have been flattened by iron balls and lead blocks.

"The cement blocks are falling off seriously, and there are many big cracks... If there is another round of shelling with the same intensity, it probably won't be able to withstand it. Lao Jie, Lao Ma, you have to make plans early!"

However, after checking the conditions of several bunkers, Chen Jun still issued a warning to the frontline commander. At this time, the secret observation post set up at a high place also observed that the enemy fleet on the sea was being reorganized.

——Through the telescope, it can also be clearly seen from the defensive position: Unlike the previous times that relied solely on gunboat bombardment, this time the Westerners mixed large gunboats and landing boats, including the dozens of newly added Ming boats.

The warships were also among them, and it seemed that they were planning to allow the sailors to forcibly wash the beach under gunfire.

"They are going to play a beach landing battle. It would be great if they had an MG42..."

Xu Lei pouted, with a look of regret on his face. As the captain of the third company responsible for the main defense task, he had to watch from the rear when the front was turned upside down. This made him very unhappy. But now even Pang Yu is being beaten.

He kicked his feet to the rear, leaving two old partners in the army, Xi Xi and Ma Qianshan, in front. Xu Lei couldn't take the initiative to ask to come forward, so he could only imagine that he was holding a heavy machine gun to enjoy...

"We don't have MG42, but we have a replacement, and it will be very satisfying once you use it... Of course, we have to wait until they come ashore to assemble."

Pang Yu, who was standing next to him, responded lightly and picked up the walkie-talkie at the same time:

"Lao Jie, Lao Ma, retreat. The enemy is going to use all their strength to press up. The next round will not be easy. There is no need to push hard. We should act according to the original plan."

——First make a slight push at the port, then enlarge a group of enemy troops ashore to get them out of the cover of the ship's artillery, and then rely on the main position of the big market to engage in a land offensive and defensive battle, giving full play to your own firepower advantage to defeat the enemy on land.

Go... This is the complete battle plan for this defensive battle. I just didn't expect that those foreign devils were so unlucky that they couldn't even break through the defensive position of a mere six guns. Even if they wanted to let the enemy go ashore, it wouldn't be easy.

It's too obvious, otherwise it will arouse the other party's suspicion.

Perhaps taking this into consideration, neither Jie Xi nor Ma Qianshan, the two frontline commanders, wanted to evacuate so quickly.

"Understood, but I think it's necessary to leave some small gifts for them in the trenches... Those were specially trained by Northern Latitude."

——At this time, Jie Xi was enthusiastically setting up booby traps everywhere in the tunnels. Landmines were an important part of the firepower of the traversers. However, because this was a local battle, they had not dared to lay mines randomly outside before.

It will only be set up where it is certain that the enemy will set foot - for example, the defensive position in front that will soon be occupied by the enemy.

Ma Qianshan’s response from the artillery team was similar:

"I know, but these artillery pieces can't be withdrawn anyway. We might as well wait until the enemy begins to attack before retreating. I'll ask the artillerymen to shoot all the remaining shells, and then evacuate from the tunnel."

"Don't let the artillery fall into the hands of the enemy. We will be embarrassed if we turn around."

Pang Yu reminded, while Ma Qianshan chuckled on the intercom:

"Of course not. In the end, there will definitely be two inverted bombs left to blow up the barrel. The most they can get is some debris. Paying such a high price should give those people a sense of accomplishment and encourage them to move forward.

Rush!"

About an hour later, the fully prepared Ming Dynasty and Western coalition forces rushed to the port again with great momentum. To their "surprise", the attack fleet encountered much less resistance this time than before. The three orders

Although the defensive forts that the Westerners have suffered enough are still spitting out tongues of fire, the frequency of shelling has been reduced a lot, and the accuracy has also declined.

"Haha, their artillery must be deformed. If they fire continuously for such a long time, no matter how good the barrel is, it will be scrapped!"

There were officers who were proficient in gunnery in the Western Fleet to make a judgment, while the Ming army generals on the other side attributed this to the power of the Ming Dynasty, which made the enemy afraid.

However, no matter why the other side suddenly weakened its counterattack fire, here still followed the attack plan, using hundreds of ship-based cannons, and fired an overwhelming firepower toward the shore again with even more fierce firepower than last time. For a while, only the waves were crashing on the shore.

Debris flew across the sky. Amidst the roaring noises, everyone suddenly heard two huge explosions that were particularly different... On the coast, the one built on the high cliff in front firmly guarded the entrance to Baisha Port.

In the main channel, the main battery that previously posed the greatest threat to the Western Army suddenly turned into a huge orange-red fireball!

The Western Fleet's bombardment stopped at that moment for a few minutes. Everyone was speculating about what happened with the explosion - their own shells were definitely not so powerful. But soon, explosions erupted from all ships.

Earth-shattering cheers.

"By God...we have detonated the enemy's powder magazine!"

At the same moment, both the commentators on the front line and Pang Yu and others watching the game from behind were all hurriedly contacting Lao Ma through the walkie-talkie:

"What's going on? Isn't it time to evacuate yet? Why are you so anxious to blow up the No. 1 Fort?"

"...We didn't detonate it on our own initiative. What he killed was an accident!...I don't know the specific situation. Only half of the No. 1 artillery crew escaped!...Mother, I have worked so hard to train the artillerymen."

ah!"

Ma Qianshan also yelled angrily on the intercom. There was quite a chaos inside the fort at that time. No one could tell exactly what caused the explosion. Some people said it was a lit fireball that happened to get into the shooting window. Others said

The white phosphorus fuse of the incendiary bomb was not placed properly, causing spontaneous combustion... Anyway, in the chaos, an explosion suddenly occurred in the fort.

Fortunately, we were ready to retreat at that time, and the artillery crew had already withdrawn halfway. There was another fire before the explosion, and a few fast-moving young men escaped in time and crawled away along the trench... But in the end, more than ten people were still buried.

Inside the collapsed fort, the artillery crew suffered the heaviest casualties since the war began.

"Where are our own people? Wu Ji seems to be from the No. 1 Fort? Has anything happened to him?"

Xie Xi was holding a walkie-talkie below and shouting wildly until Wu Ji himself responded to him:

"...I was fine and evacuated in advance, but the two apprentices I brought out died."

The people behind the walkie-talkies breathed a sigh of relief, as long as they were fine... Although Wu Ji himself was very sad, the two apprentices had been with him for a long time and had a deep relationship. But in the eyes of the entire group, of course it was still them.

This group of modern people is the most important.

…………

"We have almost reached the limit. Whether it is the quality of our forts or the quality of our personnel, I am afraid it also includes luck on the battlefield. If we continue to push hard, the casualty rate will probably increase greatly - retreat."

This time, Pang Yu's suggestion was responded to by Jie Xi and Ma Qianshan. Under the cover of the infantry platoon, the artillery team members evacuated from the remaining two forts. Retreating in front of the enemy was originally very difficult, but

Fortunately, the short-haired army's soil work was extremely solid - a very deep communication trench was dug behind each fort to connect it. As long as the artillerymen climbed into the trench, they no longer had to worry about the solid artillery shells flying everywhere.

Ma Qianshan's deputy Zhang Shenyue was the last to leave the No. 2 Fort. Before leaving, he personally stuffed all the remaining shells into the chamber of the bronze cannon. The bronze cannon was severely deformed and could no longer be used. However, Ma Qianshan still requested that the remaining shells be put into the barrel of the bronze cannon.

It was completely destroyed - he didn't want Westerners to see the shape of these eighteenth-century infantry cannons, not even just their appearance.

"You bastards... let me have fun first..."

After climbing dozens of meters along the trench, Zhang Shenyue personally ignited the wire leading to the gunpowder barrel. Immediately, in a burst of flames, the No. 2 Fort was reduced to countless concrete fragments.

After that, the No. 3 fort was treated in the same way. Amidst the surprised cheers of the Westerners, the three forts supporting the core of the port defense position exploded one after another and suddenly disappeared in the artillery fire of the Western fleet.

The attacking party on the sea certainly did not expect that these defenders would take the initiative to destroy their own forts. They just thought it was good luck and blew up the gunpowder magazines of three forts in succession.

"Long live the Queen... today must be our lucky day!"

"God favors Spain! The hatred on Luzon Island must be completely liquidated today!"

"The goddess of victory is finally on our side... It seems that this war will not be too costly."

"I am Ming Dynasty! Mighty!"

…………

Not to mention how happy the attacking fleet was, on the defender's side, the bodies of the sacrificed soldiers and the seriously injured were all sent back to Qiongzhou Prefecture. The withdrawn infantry platoon followed the commander into the second line of defense, that is, using large

The main defensive position of the market's concrete building renovation. This is the line of defense they really intend to block intruders.

Ma Qianshan took his artillery team brothers and continued to retreat after a short rest. Soon they came to a sparse grove. It looked inconspicuous and the location was very remote. But in the grove

On the periphery, Zhao Lide personally led the comrades of the reconnaissance brigade to guard the area.

Seeing Lao Ma and the others withdrawing in disgrace, with many people missing, Zhao Lide frowned - the number of walkie-talkies they were equipped with was limited, and Zhao Lide did not know the situation on the front line.

"What? Did you suffer a loss in the artillery battle?"

Ma Qianshan snorted and gritted his teeth:

"We only have six cannons at hand, but the opponent has hundreds of them. It's normal that we can't win. But..."

He strode into the woods. Except for a few rows of trees outside to hide people's eyes and ears, all the trees inside that might affect the shooting range had been cut down, clearing out a large open space. In the center of the open space, two large towers were erected.

The iron frame, covered with canvas, looks like two shy brides.

Lao Ma, on the other hand, walked forward without mercy and pulled off the covering tarpaulin, revealing the "Thor" rockets that had been installed on the launcher.

"...I will let those foreign devils know today that numerical superiority is not everything!"

-

I have been in a bad state recently, and I am very dissatisfied with what I have written, but I don’t have time to change it... Forget it, let’s just make do with it. {Piaotian Literature Thank you for your support, all book friends, your support is ours
Chapter completed!