I want to be emperor

Chapter 337
After the time entered September, the army and navy of the Great Chu Empire had already completed all the preparations for attacking Hukou!

On September [-]th, at the new round of imperial military meeting in Jiujiang City.

On behalf of the army, Xu Zhixian made the final preparation report for the Hukou Battle to Luo Zhixue.

"Since the capture of Jiujiang City in mid-August, we have been preparing for the storming of Hukou!"

"In terms of military strength, we have prepared three main divisions, the First Division, the Sixth Division, and the First Guards Division, the First Mortar Regiment and the Sixth Mortar Regiment, and the Seventh Garrison Division. Auxiliary combat."

"After more than half a month of rest and replenishment, all the above-mentioned ministries have been fully staffed. All the equipment lost in the Jiujiang Battle has been fully replenished, and additional reinforcements have also been obtained!"

"At the same time, in the past half a month, we have also built and prepared a large number of boats and rafts to cross the river by ourselves through recruitment. These boats are enough for us to transport a mixed brigade across the river at one time when we land and fight. And carry the corresponding weapons and equipment, ammunition and rations and other materials, and we have also modified a number of large transport ships so that they can carry two and a half catties and five catties of field guns and then rush to the beach and land."

"These modified ships have modified hoisting equipment, and they can force the two-and-a-half-pound and five-pound field guns to land ashore without the need for a dock."

"And these ships are also the core elements of our landing operations. According to the plan, we will use ships to forcefully transport a mixed brigade under the cover of the Navy's Yangtze River Fleet after the launch of the Battle of Crossing the River. The infantry brigade crossed the river and seized the area on the east side of Shizhong Mountain about two miles downstream of Hukou City, and then set up a temporary trestle dock for more ships to dock to unload supplies and follow-up reinforcements."

"At the same time, we will also build a pontoon bridge here, and the follow-up army will provide passage."

"As long as the First Infantry Brigade, the first batch of troops crossing the river, can go ashore smoothly, with the brigade's combat effectiveness, even if the enemy abandons Hukou City and takes the initiative to go out of the city to meet them, it is unlikely to drive the landing troops down. After all, we have obtained According to detailed information, the number of enemy troops in Hukou City is only about 2 at most, of which the number of new standard troops is less than [-], and the number of field artillery does not exceed [-]."

"The enemy troops in Hukou City are still focusing more on the garrison of Hukou City itself and the Jiangfang Fort. The defense of the outer area is not strong, at least there are not many strong fortifications to use."

Xu Zhixian glanced at Brigadier General Kang Hongbao, the brigade commander of the [-]st Infantry Brigade: "And our first batch of troops to cross the river is the [-]st Infantry Brigade!"

At this time, Brigadier General Kang Hongbao stood up and said: "Now our brigade is fully staffed and will be reinforced by an artillery battalion equipped with twelve five-jin field guns. At the same time, the two infantry regiments under his command will also be reinforced with four more Two and a half catties of field artillery."

"In this way, our brigade will have sixteen two-and-a-half-pound field guns, twelve five-pound field guns, and twelve [-]-pound mortars. With such powerful firepower, as long as the opponent dares to leave the city, then Our artillery fire will show them what the real new army is!"

"It's definitely not comparable to the new standard army they just fooled around!"

Luo Zhixue nodded slightly to express his satisfaction with Kang Hongbao's confidence.

If the First Division is the No. [-] trump card unit in the Great Chu Empire Army, then the First Infantry Brigade under the division is the trump card among trump cards.

In the Great Chu Empire, the army has been established for the longest time and has the most combat experience. Most of the soldiers in this army are veterans who have experienced many wars.

As for the officers of the department, basically all of them have bright resumes, and all of them are officers with rich combat experience.

Not to mention the equipment, the infantry brigade's equipment level is better than that of the [-]st Guards Division.

Even the muskets are new guns that have just undergone a round of refitting. Although they are still the first-year-style matchlock guns, the quality of the muskets used before by the First Infantry Brigade was slightly inferior because they formed the army very early. In addition, after frequent combat wear and tear, many muskets have worn out.

Before the Eastward Campaign was launched, the brigade carried out a comprehensive replacement with the new first-year-style matchlock guns, and replaced the old guns to equip other troops.

The [-]st Infantry Brigade, this is the elite soldiers with the best personnel and the best equipment in the Great Chu Empire.

And if such an elite force can land in Hukou smoothly, with their combat effectiveness, even if the Hukou Ming army on the opposite side comes out in full force, it is impossible to really shake the defense line of the [-]st Infantry Brigade.

The premise is that this elite first infantry brigade can cross the river smoothly.

So, at this time, Luo Zhixue turned his attention to Lu Xingye, Minister of the Navy.

Lu Xingye stood up at this time and said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, and the army. Our navy has been preparing for this battle for more than a year, and we will definitely not hold back the army. We are absolutely sure to escort the army across the border." Jiang, and complete the follow-up pontoon construction task.”

Lu Xingye didn't say too much. After all, he had already said many things about the navy in many previous meetings. This time, the Yangtze River Fleet prepared by the navy for the Hukou Battle has room for strength.

Unless the Ming army can transfer Zheng Zhilong's fleet from the coast to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, otherwise, it is impossible to cause too much trouble to the Yangtze River fleet with the local Ming army navy on the opposite side.

"We have absolute confidence that after the war, all the opponent's navy will be blocked in the port!"

As long as the opposing navy's ships can't get out, the control of the nearby river will be in the hands of the Great Chu Empire's navy, and those unarmed and fragile boats will be able to cross the river smoothly.

As for the opponent's shore fire artillery...

The Chu army didn't just have to run to the other side's fire artillery to land under the eyelids.

The reason why they chose to land on the east side of Shizhong Mountain was to avoid the coastal defense forts built by the Ming army near Hukou City.

And after the Chu army successfully landed, they could launch an attack directly from the ground, and then pull out these relatively threatening coastal defense forts. At that time, they might be able to capture a batch of heavy Hongyi artillery.

At this time, Luo Zhixue said: "The navy is confident and sure, that's good, and I have lived up to my expectations of you!"

As he said that, Luo Zhixue glanced at Lu Xingye again, and then said, "After the Hukou battle is over, we will probably have to fight Anqing again later, and after that, the navy will cooperate with the army to enter the Yangtze River and even the coast. The mission of your navy It's heavy!"

"And when they reach the Yangtze River Basin and even the coast, they will face off against the real naval fleet of the enemy, especially Zheng Zhilong's fleet. Their ships are all sea-going ships, and there are a lot of heavy artillery. The navy's family background is still a bit thin! "

"In this way, the harvest in Jiangxi this time is not bad. If your navy succeeds in the battle of Hukou in the future, then I will give you 50 yuan from this batch of harvest as a diversion fund for development. Used by the sea fleet."

After hearing this, Lu Xingye immediately showed great joy: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Our navy will definitely live up to your Majesty's high expectations, and will definitely use this batch of diversion funds wisely, and strive to build a real maritime fleet."

Luo Zhixue waved his hand!
Allocating additional funds to the navy is already a given.

If the Chu army wants to advance eastward, the strength on the water is indispensable. Otherwise, the Yangtze River waterway cannot be controlled, so why would they march into the south of the Yangtze River.

It's just that the Chu army's navy focused on fighting for inland rivers and covering the army's eastward advance. Therefore, many warships built and refitted are actually very typical inland river ships.

The tonnage is generally around tens of tons, and the large ones are only one or two hundred tons.

There are even a group of small ships under ten tons.

These inland warships are naturally very suitable for inland waterways like the Yangtze River. They have good firepower, low cost, and most importantly, they are flexible enough.

And flexibility is very important for inland warships, otherwise it is easy to become a fixed target for enemy artillery.

However, if these ships reach the Yangtze River Basin, which is thousands of meters wide at every turn, or even reach the mouth of the Yangtze River, which is tens of thousands of meters wide, then it will not be enough.

Therefore, even for the sake of smoother follow-up wars in the south of the Yangtze River, the Great Chu Empire must support the navy to develop a fleet composed of large ships for coastal operations.

Otherwise, it would be very disadvantageous to rely only on these small inland river ships to fight against the large ships under the Ming army or Zheng Zhilong's command.

Therefore, continuing to develop the navy is Luo Zhixue's established plan. Especially after conquering Jiujiang, he harvested a new batch of money and food from Jiangxi, and temporarily relieved some of the financial pressure. Luo Zhixue decided to give the navy a batch of special projects without hesitation. funding.

The reason why I only said it today and linked it to the performance of the Navy in the Hukou Battle is actually to motivate the Navy so that they can work harder in the subsequent Hukou Battle.

After all the preparations for the Army and Navy had been discussed one after another, and after all had confirmed that there were no problems, Luo Zhixue finally officially ordered the launch of the Hukou Battle and approved the battle plan formulated by the General Staff.

As a result, the Chu army officially entered the stage of the Hukou campaign.

On September [-], the Yangtze River Fleet of the Navy was the first to move. They set off from Jiujiang Port and headed straight for Hukou.

When a large fleet of the Chu army departed from Jiujiang and went eastward along the river to the mouth of the lake, the movement of hundreds of ships, and the river surface was unobstructed. The security personnel of the Ming army immediately discovered the Chu army. The navy has changed and reported it quickly.

Soon, Shi Kefa soon received the news of the large-scale dispatch of the Chu thief navy.

At this time, Shi Kefa took a deep breath, looked at the calm river outside and murmured: "It seems that it's time!"

"I just don't know how long Jiangnan can support after this battle!"

Yes, Shi Kefa didn't think that this battle could be won, and he didn't think that the Hukou defenders he led could stop the ferocious Chu army.

The reason why he continued to stick to Hukou was only because of the responsibility on him.

As the direct person in charge of a series of defense lines in Jiujiang, after losing connections to Jiujiang, Xingzicheng, De'an, and even Nanchang.

Hukou has become Shi Kefa's last retreat!
He has no way to retreat!

(End of this chapter)