Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 161 The New Tactic "Integral-tank Coordination"

Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, the news that Tang Ning was still alive had spread, and Zheng Zhilong was so startled that he slumped down on a chair.

Even though he rarely lost his temper, he finally couldn't help calling Shi Fu over, scolded him mercilessly, and then threw Shi Fu into the prison.

It was really this mistake that was unforgivable, and Zheng Zhilong was really pissed off, that's why he was completely disappointed in this confidant.

The next day, Zheng Zhilong saw Tang Ning's call for action, as well as the "Ming Pao" denouncing his various evil deeds.

Zheng Zhilong seemed to feel that everyone in the world was poking him in the back, including the people in Fujian under his own rule.

It's no wonder that Tang Ning received overwhelming support from the public opinion. Tang Ning had gained a relatively good reputation in the two prefectures. The achievements of Chaozhou and Huizhou prefectures under his rule were obvious to all.

And Zheng Zhilong's biggest bad move was to join the Dutch to launch a surprise attack on Chaozhou.

You must know that last year the Dutch and the new army had a big battle in the waters of South Australia. Although the two sides finally resolved the conflict through negotiations, the Dutch still did not gain much favor in the hearts of the Ming people.

And Zheng Zhilong colluded with such a group of foreigners to attack the territory of Ming Dynasty, which is almost treason.

If he didn't get involved with the Dutchman, he could still defend himself. After all, only Tangning and Zheng Zhilong knew what happened in South Australia.

Without the witness of a third party, whether Zheng Zhilong quibbles or refuses to admit it, there is always something to say.

There is also a good reason: "If I, Zheng Zhilong, set up such a plot to harm you, how could I let you, Tangning, return to Chaozhou?"

Now, Zheng Zhilong's collusion with the Dutch has become an indisputable fact, no matter how much he argues, no one will believe it.

Moreover, Tangning's means of public opinion were still in Tangning's hands. Even if he, Zheng Zhilong, had a hundred mouths, he still couldn't speak against the overwhelming "Ming Pao".

"Ming Pao" also publicized that the new army marched into Fujian this time, only to punish the traitor Zheng Zhilong and his followers, and not to regard Zheng's army as an enemy.

Those who abandon the dark and turn to the bright can not only draw a clear line with Zheng Zhilong, but also have a great chance to join the new army.

Zheng Zhilong was very annoyed by the open disintegration of his own strength, but there was nothing he could do.

The new army had already made a name for itself. Almost three-year-olds knew that the new army had magical soldiers. Coupled with Tangning's various temptations, it was very tempting for many people to join the new army.

The more Zheng Zhilong thought about it, the more angry he became, so he vented his anger on the Dutchman, and ordered angrily: "Lock up all those Dutchmen. If Jialong stands by and does nothing, these people will not even want to live."

After the Dutch decided to cooperate with Zheng Zhilong, they found an opportunity to let several important officials in Chaozhou and Huizhou escape in the name of trade, and then hid in Zhangzhou.

The rest were directly sacrificed in order not to arouse the suspicion of the new army.

Originally, I thought the cooperation would be smooth. People who took refuge in Zhangzhou would naturally be protected by Zheng Zhilong, and it would be easy to pick them up and leave Zhangzhou.

Unexpectedly, things finally turned into what they are now. The Dutchman was persuaded, and he ignored Zheng Zhilong and fled to Dayuan alone.

These Dutch people in Zhangzhou Mansion could only be abandoned, and now they naturally became Zheng Zhilong's hostages.

Although the matter has developed to this point, Zheng Zhilong still does not want to face the new army alone.

Now that it has been established that Zheng Zhilong colluded with the Dutch, he no longer quibbles, and is even more blatant, because the power of the Dutch is very important to him.

Unless it was a last resort, he didn't want to tear face with the Dutch, so he sent someone to negotiate with the Dutch as soon as possible.

In order to allow the Dutch to send troops again, Zheng Zhilong even gave up some benefits.

Now, the news has not come back, and the new army's soldiers have already pointed directly at Zhangzhou Mansion.

Facing the menacing new army, Zheng Zhilong knew that he had no advantage in field battles, so his defense was mainly based on strong cities or dangerous places.

Along the way when the new army arrived in Chaozhou, Zheng Zhilong set up three lines of defense. The first line of defense was in Zhao'an County, with more than [-] troops. The leader was Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother Zheng Hongkui;
The second line of defense consisted of Pinghe County, Dafeng Mountain, and Yunxiao Town, with a force of [-], commanded by Zheng Zhilong's fifth younger brother Zheng Zhibao;

The third line of defense takes Nanjing and Jiulongling as the horns of each other. This is the last line of defense leading to Zhangzhou Mansion. It is the west gate of Zhangzhou Mansion City. It has [-] troops. The two lead.

And Zheng Zhilong himself is based in Zhangzhou Fucheng.

On the side of the new army, the vanguard army was led by Wu Liuqi, with a strength of 5000 people and formed two regiments. One of the regiments was organized by the South Australia Garrison led by Wu Liuqi, with about 500 people.

After Tang Ning transferred Wu Liuqi to Chaozhou, he and his troops were directly incorporated into the new army system, and another [-] soldiers were assigned to him, and he was promoted to be the commander of the fourth division.

Today, there are only four divisions in the new army. The commander of the first division is Tangning himself, the commander of the second division is Ye Dacheng, and the commander of the third division is Wu Shu.

Among them, the second division is the navy, and it is currently the only navy unit.

According to the actual situation, in fact, the new army can only be called two and a half divisions.

Because except for the first division which reached 1 people, the other three divisions have less than 6000 people, and nearly half of them are short.

But no matter what, being able to serve as the commander of the first division showed Tangning's trust in Wu Liuqi and recognition of his ability.

It is an undeniable fact that Wu Liuqi is capable.

It can be said that he should be the one with the most combat experience in the entire new army. This is also the main reason why Tang Ning let his fourth division be the vanguard.

The first battle must not only be won, but also beautifully fought, so it is safer to use experienced troops.

After all, no matter how good the training is, it is not as real as actual combat.

Wu Liuqi was naturally very pleased with Tangning's acceptance of fate, and he also attached great importance to it.

He first became familiar with the fighting methods of the more than 2000 new troops who had been added. He knew the formations in them at a glance because he was familiar with military books.

But there is a kind of formation that Wu Liuqi can't understand, and he has never seen it before.

However, this tactic was invented by Tangning, and it was promoted to the entire team, so even Wu Liuqi had to seriously examine it.

The core content of this method of warfare is that a battalion of 500 people equipped with cold weapons and muskets will fight around a platoon equipped with German weapons.

With the new soldiers of this platoon as the main body, the soldiers of a battalion fully cooperate with the soldiers of this platoon to fight.

It's normal for Wu Liuqi not to understand this tactic. Apart from Tangning himself, it's hard for anyone else to understand the essence and merits of it.

Because this tactic was borrowed by Tangning from Butan's collaboration.

A platoon equipped with German weapons is full of 36 people, equipped with two machine guns, five submachine guns, two 81mm mortars, 27 98K and 36 P38 pistols, and some ammunition.

Such a platoon with strong firepower output can be regarded as a whole, and then treated as a tank.

Assumed in this way, the infantry of that battalion fights around this platoon, which is the coordination of infantry and tanks.

After this tactic was formulated by Tangning, it has not been tested in actual combat, but Tangning thinks it should be feasible.

Whether it is a mule or a horse can be tested in this battle.

After Wu Liuqi arrived in Zhao'an first, he was not in a hurry to launch an attack. Instead, he set up camp about eight miles outside the northern city, and then rested.

After Zheng Hongkui learned of the situation, he didn't dare to act rashly and stood firm.

The next day, the artillery of the new army arrived. There were only eight of them, the most conspicuous of which were two 88mm anti-aircraft guns, each of which weighed more than [-] catties.

Fortunately, the wheeled structure of later generations has reduced the burden of transportation a lot. Twelve mules and horses can be tied up and pulled as tractors.

If it is a red-clothed cannon weighing more than [-] catties, twelve mules and horses will not be able to pull it if they are exhausted.

In addition to the two 88mm anti-aircraft guns, there are also six 105mm howitzers. Compared with the 88mm anti-aircraft guns, this howitzer is much lighter, and the total combat weight is only about three thousand catties.

With the guns in place, the attack is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)