1890 King of Southeast Asia

In Birejik, within one month, Li Yunfei, with the support of the 22nd Division, blocked two large-scale attacks by the Ottomans and as many as hundreds of small-scale attacks.

At first, the Ottomans did not expect that this inconspicuous little place would be so difficult to fight. They fought twice and suffered heavy casualties.

Then, the Ottomans concentrated all the artillery of the two armies, and with the support of more than 1,000 artillery of various calibers, they launched 7 division-level attacks and two army-level attacks in succession.

With complete fortification defense and the natural barrier of the Euphrates River as a support, even if the Ottomans fought fiercely, the defense line remained unshakable.

The Ottoman 2nd Army lost a total of more than 10,000 soldiers, of which 67,000 did not survive, and there were few seriously injured in its wounded camp.

It is not that the weapons of the Huaxia Empire do not produce seriously injured people, but that the medical and health care capabilities of the Ottoman Empire are about the same as those of the Green Camp soldiers during the Qing Empire. If they are seriously injured, they can basically only wait to die, and they usually cannot live for a few days.

Of course, this was not without cost. The 509th Regiment, which was at the forefront, suffered heavy casualties, with more than 400 killed and more than 1,500 wounded, with a casualty rate of nearly 70%.

The casualties of the other regiments were smaller, but the lowest casualty rate was more than 20%. The entire division had thousands of killed and nearly 3,000 wounded.

"Division Commander, the Ottomans are like crazy, starting to cross the river with rafts. Where are the artillery? Where are the artillery? We need support!" Guo Liang yelled into the phone.

boo!

A shell exploded less than 100 meters away from the command post.

"The artillery is looking for the enemy's artillery. How is the situation there? Can the 509th Regiment hold on?" Li Yunfei could see the position of the 509th Regiment in the command post.

The Ottomans launched an attack once, as if they were tireless. Because the artillery was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, the primary task was to attack the enemy artillery, so they failed to provide sufficient firepower support.

As if the roles were reversed, now the Ottomans were arrogantly firing, while the artillery of the Huaxia Empire was carefully looking for the enemy's position.

The Ottomans exposed the location of many cannons, but these were not important cannons, such as the old 75mm caliber mountain cannons, or other smaller cannons.

Many things were third-hand goods purchased from the South China Empire during the Balkan War. They were originally equipped to the Japanese army or the Qing Empire army, and were resold to the Ottomans. After the Balkan War, the Ottomans sealed up this batch of miscellaneous weapons, and after the war, they were used to equip the troops because of insufficient weapons.

Many of these cannons have a small stock of shells, and the allies do not produce them. They don't feel bad if they break down, so they are just right to use them as bait.

If the Huaxia artillery aimed at these cannons, the standard artillery in the hands of the Ottomans could take the opportunity to attack the Huaxia artillery, and the Ottomans would not feel bad if they exchanged 3 cannons for 1 cannon.

After suffering two losses, the support firepower of the Chinese artillery gradually became scarce, and the main force was used to counter the artillery. The front-line soldiers could only get the firepower support of the regiment's support artillery.

"Division Commander, after this battle, I request to retreat to the rear for rest. The brothers have been fighting for half a month, and they are very tired. The combat effectiveness has dropped seriously." Guo Liang was stunned for a moment, then looked at the densely packed rafts in the river and said.

"Okay, after this battle, the 6th plus 1st Regiment will take over your mission." Li Yunfei has said twice to replace the 5th plus 9th Regiment, but Guo Liang said no.

The 5th plus 9th Regiment arranged a defense line outside Birejik, with Birejik behind it and next to the railway, so it is very convenient to supply.

Because of sufficient supplies and the support of the division headquarters, the 5th plus 9th Regiment fought very smoothly. Unlike the other two directions, they need to pay attention to the consumption of ammunition at all times. When the intensity of the war increases, other supplies may have to be delayed.

The reason for the high casualty rate of the 5th plus 9th Regiment is that in addition to their front on the battlefield, there is also the factor of continuous fighting for too long.

"Division Commander, the 22nd Division has sent out a penetration force, which is moving towards our right wing. We hope we can cooperate with them." The chief of staff who was working on the map suddenly said.

Li Yunfei did not speak, but looked at him in confusion.

"On our right wing are two Ottoman divisions. They passed through the Euphrates River from the north. Their main task is to come here to contain us. Their firepower is weak but their numbers are large."

"The scouts of the 22nd Division found their ferry. There is only about one battalion at the ferry, and they have figured out their supply rules."

"The 22nd Division dispatched two battalions, concentrated most of the trucks and armored vehicles, and prepared to raid the ferry. It is best to destroy it. Once the ferry is destroyed, the two Ottoman divisions on the right wing will collapse."

"However, the 22nd Division is not sure if these vehicles "The fuel and reliability of the vehicles are not enough to complete this mission, so they hope that we can pick them up and provide supplies."

"If the two enemy divisions on the right wing are defeated, the 60th Regiment will be free to deal with the Ottomans on the left wing, so I agree with this plan."

"In order to increase the success rate of the plan, reduce casualties, and consume the supplies stored by the Ottomans, I suggest launching a diversionary attack on the right wing."

"The only troops we can still attack are the 61st Regiment."

The staff explained to Li Yunfei.

"The Ottomans have gone crazy. They started crossing the river in small boats. Without absolute numbers, this is an impossible task." Li Yunfei covered the phone and said to the staff expressionlessly.

The staff knew that Li Yunfei agreed with this battle plan, which would be able to gain the initiative in the war locally.

However, the situation of the 5th and 9th Regiment should be very bad, so bad that Li Yunfei did not dare to divert the reserve.

"How about letting the artillery carry out supporting fire suppression on the Ottoman boats on the river and immediately move the position after the suppression is over?"

"We determined the coordinates of the Euphrates River in advance, just for this time, right?" The staff thought about it and did not want to give up this opportunity.

Fire suppression is simple to say, but when the equipment of both sides does not form a unilateral crushing situation, artillery cannot be used at will.

Just like now, most of their artillery stayed on the position, and the angle at which the artillery could hit what position was calculated in advance.

At this time, it is of course no problem to fire and bombard the river surface according to the predetermined coordinates. Suppressing the targets on the river surface can also be effectively killed with air-burst bombs and high-explosive bombs.

But after the suppression is completed, the artillery will have to move its position. The current artillery does not have artillery radar or anything, but it is still no problem to calculate the approximate trajectory. Whoever fires will be exposed.

It only takes a few minutes to evacuate the position. If the field artillery position is rebuilt quickly, it can be done in half an hour, but by then, all parameters will have changed.

Recalibration takes time, the efficiency of artillery fire will be reduced, and during the period of artillery transfer to calibration, there will be a firepower window on the front line, which is very dangerous.

"Send the 120mm mortars of the 6th plus 1st Regiment to the 5th plus 9th Regiment, and let the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Artillery suppress the river surface." Li Yunfei thought about it and let go of the phone.

His voice was heard by the chief of staff and Guo Liang.

"Did you hear it, Guo Liang." Li Yunfei said to the phone.

"Yes! Division Commander, I heard it." Guo Liang said confusedly.

He heard Li Yunfei say that he would transfer the 6+1st Regiment's mortars to him. Although he needed fire support now, it shouldn't be transferred like this. At most, it should be borrowed.

Borrowing means that under the coordination of the division headquarters or the brigade headquarters, the 6+1st Regiment's mortar positions will attack according to the coordinates provided by the 5+9th Regiment, and the artillery will be over after the bombardment.

The mobilization is different. The 5+9th Regiment can directly command the artillery of the 6+1st Regiment, and it will continue until the end of the mobilization.

"The rest of the 5+9th Regiment will be postponed temporarily. I need the 6+1st Regiment to do something else. Later, the division's 105mm artillery will cover the river surface. This is the last support of the division's artillery group today."

"Hold the position." Li Yunfei explained briefly.

"...Yes!" Guo Liang answered loudly.

Pah.

The phone was hung up.

"Really? If you don't want to rest, then don't rest. Why do you say you can rest first, and then say it's urgent and the rest will be postponed?" After hanging up the phone, Guo Liang glanced at the tired people in the command center and complained loudly.

How to get along well with colleagues? In most cases, it's very simple. Just complain about the leader together.

"Captain, what's going on? The brothers haven't had a good sleep for several days. Why did the division commander change his mind again?" The regiment staff saw Guo Liang's performance and came up to play a supporting role.

"The division commander said it's not time yet, but he also understands our hard work and transferred the regiment mortars of the 6th and 1st regiment to our regiment."

"So, our regiment has 24 120mm mortars, which is more powerful than an Ottoman division, and it can also reduce some pressure on us."

Guo Liang looked angry and didn't dare to say how much he had been wronged.

"Commander, didn't the division commander say when we can retreat to rest? Our regiment is the most fierce regiment in the division. The 60th Regiment, for example, rested for a while as if they were on vacation. We have rested before." The chief of staff also deliberately shouted loudly, and the voice could be heard outside the headquarters.

"Yes, let us wait for two 61st Regiments to go to the back to clear out the local rebels in the rear."

"We are exhausted after fighting for so many days. If we run around everywhere to chase those locals, how can we catch up with them?"

"By the way, let several positions along the coast retreat and retreat to the anti-artillery fortifications. Later, my division artillery will have to clean up these coffin boards on the river."

"Think about it, we are still okay here. We can fire cannons and eat meat as we like. If we were in the position of the 60th Regiment, we would have to eat canned luncheon meat with biscuits every day."

Guo Liang said, and walked out of the headquarters.

Outside is the position facing the Euphrates River. At this time, the position is filled with smoke and shells are falling all the time.

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