I want to be emperor

Chapter 495 The cautious Gan Xinrong
When Major Gan Xinrong arrived at Jingu Gorge Town with the [-]rd Battalion, he did not rush to attack Jingu Gorge with his friendly troops, but discussed several times with several officers of the friendly army and listened in detail. Some of their previous investigative intelligence.

Immediately afterwards, he sent his scouts to investigate again, and once again clarified the deployment of the enemy's troops.

"According to the reconnaissance information, the enemy has built forts on both sides of the canyon. The location of these forts is very ingenious and can effectively block direct fire attacks. To effectively attack these forts, you can only use mortars or Howitzer."

"These four or five fortresses of the enemy army are not too big. They are mainly made of stones and giant trees. Visually, they can deploy 45 troops each."

"On the outside of the fortress, there are ditches, parapets, and some wooden stakes, distance horses, fences and other obstacles. If the infantry directly attacks, they will encounter relatively large obstacles!"

"The most important thing is that the sides of the canyon are very steep. If we feint from the bottom up, it will be very difficult!"

"The total strength of the enemy army is between 400 and 500. Ten light-duty short-barreled old guns have been found. There are not many new-style matchlock guns. The number of old-style fire guns is unclear. The enemy is mainly equipped with bows and arrows, swords and spears. Wait for the cold weapon to be the main one.”

"On the whole, although the enemy army lacks long-range firepower and has relatively few firearms, it seems that they are preparing to rely on special terrain to fight close-range combat in order to use their short-barreled artillery and bow firepower."

Major Gan Xinrong continued to a simple military map that had just been made: "Based on the above situation, I suggest sending some infantry to climb up to both sides of the canyon in advance to avoid the threat of a false attack after approaching."

"I sent scouts to try it before. Although there are no roads on both sides of the canyon and the mountains are steep, the overall terrain is still barely passable on foot."

"At that time, let the soldiers carry tools such as machetes, hoes, engineering shovels, etc., and temporarily open two passages for infantry and two-and-a-half-pound field guns to come out. There should be no problem."

"After the infantry on both sides have maneuvered in place, then they can condescendingly display the intensive firepower of the flintlock guns, and cover the two-and-a-half catty field guns going up the mountain."

"At the same time, we used nine-pound light howitzers and eighteen-pound mortars for shelling in the valley. The two-pronged approach was enough to suppress the enemy's counterattack firepower. With fire support, we were able to pull the two-and-a-half-pound field artillery directly up the mountainside. Deploy close and directly bombard their various fortifications, and when they pry open their fortifications, the rest can be handed over to the grenadiers."

Hearing what Major Gan Xinrong said, Major Wang Yong, the battalion commander of the 19st Battalion of the No.[-] Infantry Regiment, thought to himself: Open a road directly in the barren mountains and wild forests, and then pull the artillery to the mountainside... This kind of thing is probably only possible. This is Gan Xinrong who can think of it and actually do it.

He had also heard from his superiors that Gan Xinrong of the next-door regiment was very cautious in using his troops, and after looking at it today, it was indeed so.

If it were him himself, he would not spend so much trouble with Gan Xinrong, but would choose to directly launch a strong attack, directly using his own powerful firepower to crush the enemy's stubborn resistance.

He didn't believe that the opponent could stop his strong attack, and he might not believe that the opponent would collapse if he charged.

He has seen this kind of thing many times in the past.

After all, on the Jingu Gorge side now, we have a mixed battalion plus an old-style infantry battalion, with a total strength of more than 600 troops.

As for the Ximing army on the opposite side, it has only four to five hundred troops, and it is not a new standard army. Even the elite recruits are not just a group of local guards.

On the artillery, our side has four [-]-pound field guns, four [-]-pound light howitzers, and two [-]-pound mortars; let alone the long-barreled artillery on the opposite side, even if it is a general cannon, the Francois machine is more powerful. There are no big old guns, only a few old-style short-barreled shotguns weighing tens of kilograms.

In terms of infantry firepower, our side has more than 200 first-year-style matchlock guns and eight or nine hundred two-year-style flintlock guns. As for the opposite side, there are no new-style matchlock guns, not even bird guns, only sporadic firelock guns. The infantry's long-range firepower only has bows and arrows, and there are not many archers, only a few dozen if they are dead.

In terms of cold weapons and armor, all the front-line combat infantry on your side wear armor, you don't care what it is full-body armor, half-body armor, or light armor, anyway, all members are wearing armor, and the Ximing army on the opposite side, only those leaders Most of the officers and their personal soldiers wear armor, and only about 500 of the four to five hundred people wear armor if they die.

Judging from various situations such as military strength, firepower, and defense capabilities, our own side has an absolute advantage. Since we have an absolute advantage, then why bother, just crush it.

This is also the way many Chu army generals fight!
There are not many generals who are as cautious as Gan Xinrong, who have to prepare all the details before the battle, and even strive for greater advantages as much as possible!

But Major Wang Yong of the First Battalion did not object to Gan Xinrong's plan, and he even expressed his support.

Just because he's lazy to do this, doesn't mean he won't let Gan Xinrong do it.

He would be happy if the fight would be less casualty and smoother!
After all kinds of pre-war preparations were made, the more than 1000 Chu troops also started to act. On the one hand, they sent troops to block the canyon, and imitated the Ming army inside to rush out to attack. Such tools are ready to directly open up a passage for infantry to advance on foot from the steep hillsides and dense forests on both sides.

The process of opening a channel is simple and easy!

These dense forests and steep slopes seem to block the footsteps of humans, but humans are too lazy to take care of them!

When humans went up with various tools, the dense forest was cut down in minutes... The steep hillside was also dug out directly with a landing passage with steps. For the convenience of walking, the soldiers who repaired the road were still on both sides of the road From time to time, lay down some wooden stake railings.

In just one day, the Chu army built a passage on both sides.

During the period, the Ming army on the opposite side also seemed to have discovered the intention of the Chu army, and tried to send infantry out to attack, but the Chu army also took precautions against them, and dispatched a group of grenadier troops to ambush in the dense forest in advance, and at the same time used mortars to attack the Chu army. The enemy camp was shelled.

On the front, infantry were dispatched to make an attacking posture to attract the opponent's attention.

After this back and forth, no one on the side was killed or injured, but seven or eight people on the other side were killed or injured.

After all, the Ming army on the opposite side originally had few troops and shoddy equipment, and it was okay to rely on special terrain for defensive operations. If they ran out and took the initiative to counterattack, they would basically be courting death.

To a certain extent, Gan Xinrong and the others wished that the Ming army on the opposite side would run out to fight back by themselves. The Chu army would have a greater advantage in the open field battle between the two sides.

It's a pity that after a failed counterattack against the Ming army, they retreated again.

In this way, the Chu army also successfully repaired the front exit passage, and then directly deployed a large number of troops to the hillsides on both sides of the valley.

In the morning of the next day, Gan Xinrong ordered a full-scale attack on the enemy. The nine-pound light howitzer also debuted for the first time. It used a special large-angle curved trajectory to bypass obstacles and fire shells towards the enemy's fortress.

Amidst the rumbling explosions, the sixth sentry of the third infantry battalion, that is, the grenadier sentry, also dispersed its formation, and then left the passage and entered the forest, preparing to attack the enemy camp ahead.

And above them, there was a sentry fusiliers, and they were shooting at the enemy camp below with intensive firepower.

The grenadiers are wearing armor, some are holding muskets, while others are holding shields and pistols, and have stainless steel waist knives around their waists. At first glance, they seem to be no different from the heavy armored commandos in the old style. , or even worse.

The grenadiers fought very bravely, and it only took a short time to assault the enemy's outer positions. Coupled with the two-and-a-half catty field artillery that worked so hard to pull down half their waists, they also successfully destroyed the enemy's small fortress. The enemy couldn't hold on and broke off.

In the battle of Jingu Gorge, the Chu army spent several days on investigation and preparations, and a day before the battle to open the road to carry the artillery, but it only took more than half an hour to actually fight.

Moreover, during the entire battle, the Chu army suffered very little casualties. Only seven people were injured before and after, and no one was killed.

Among the seven injured, except for the two unlucky ones who fell and were injured while climbing the mountain, the remaining five wounded were all grenadiers of the third battalion.

Because in this battle, the grenadier unit of the third battalion was responsible for the main assault mission, taking on all the previous commandos.

This is also a small change in the new organization. There is no special heavy armored commando, not even heavy infantry. In the past, the various assault missions of the heavy armored commando were replaced by grenadiers.

This is because grenadiers need to be physically strong and have strong arms, otherwise they will not be able to throw heavy grenades far. In order to ensure the explosive power of grenades these days, they are still quite heavy. Strong and strong soldiers can throw enough distance.

At the same time, the grenadier must be very calm, because when the grenadier throws the grenade, he holds the ignited grenade in his hand, but he cannot throw it out. He has to wait for a few seconds, otherwise it is easy for the enemy to pick it up and return it back. throw.

This bombing process requires very high mental quality of the grenadiers. Soldiers who are not calm enough will throw them out ahead of time, and then stay foolish and blow themselves and their comrades to death!

Based on the two requirements of the grenadiers, the Chu army's grenadiers have two characteristics from the beginning: strong and strong, calm and calm!
(End of this chapter)