New Shun 1730

Among all the strategic instructions issued by the Privy Council, the missions in the South Seas and India are the easiest.

You only need to capture three places before the storm season comes next year. Calcutta, Bengkulu and Madras.

This mission is too simple.

The British, including those trained Indian soldiers, only have more than 3,000 people in total.

They just fought with the French and suffered hundreds of casualties.

They occupied five cities in France and had to divide their troops to garrison.

It doesn't matter whether the navy retreats to the river port of Calcutta or not. There are three old battleships and a group of messy irregular cruisers. They just fought with the French navy and need to be repaired.

The Dashun army alone has more than 8,000 soldiers in Ceylon who are state-owned land grants. These people are not pure conscripted civilians, but military trained reserve personnel who can hold the line.

However, Dashun is not going to use them to hold the line, but just let them dig holes in Madras.

Madras is easy to fight, at least in the eyes of Du Feng, the governor of Ceylon.

Because this is not a qualified military port, there is no disgusting battle for the cape artillery with the moon-shaped structure, nor the annoying siege of the fortress on the natural breakwater island in front of the military port.

There is only a St. George Fort that has been deduced countless times on the staff drawings, with a total of more than 600 defenders.

On the deck of the warship, Du Feng is having a very relaxed conversation with the admiral of the Indian squadron.

The two are of course acquaintances, both of whom were classmates in the Jinghai Palace back then.

The admiral of the squadron looked at the blurred coast in the distance and said, "Brother Du, our mission is just to ensure that your people get ashore, and to protect the merchant ships that will be mobilized later to send the Ceylon soldiers up and ensure the supply logistics."

"You also know that according to our "Combat Regulations", it is stupid to fight against the shore artillery. If it goes wrong, you will be demoted or even shot."

"The several 24-pound heavy guns of Fort St. George are all facing the coast. The fort is also very close to the coast. We will not choose to fight against the shore artillery."

Du Feng smiled and said, "Don't worry about this. Although I haven't worked on the ship for a long time, I still can't forget these things."

"In my opinion, Fort St. George can be taken within a month."

"Sun Tzu said: If there are ten of them, surround them; if there are five of them, attack them; if there are twice as many, divide them; if you are the enemy, you can fight them. If you are smaller, you can escape; if you are smaller, you can avoid it. Therefore, the strength of a small enemy is the capture of a large enemy. "

"He not only avoided fighting, but also stretched the battle line too long, and the navy avoided fighting and did not go out. This is almost repeating the mistake made by the Dutch in the South Sea. "

"Brother, your navy is the key. You must keep an eye on the enemy navy in the direction of Calcutta. "

The admiral of the squadron smiled and said, "No need to remind this. Now there are special anti-smuggling speedboats, which are specially used to monitor the direction of Calcutta. Even if their navy comes out, we will know it. As long as the British don't predict it in advance like us, and send a fleet from the British mainland last year, there will be no problem. "

For this only possible accident that could turn the tide of the war, the two said it, but they didn't care in their hearts.

This battle was a standard one of deliberate and unintentional. Before that, only a few people in the entire Dashun knew that this war was going to be fought.

Because Dashun spread the mobilization and preparation for this war over the past twenty years, it was not until the last moment of the war that officers above the rank of admiral suddenly realized: What on earth was the purpose of the court building so many completely useless battleships over the years? Surprisingly, it was not purely for the sake of vanity and militarism.

Since the British side could not send a fleet in advance, there was no suspense in the strategy of this war.

Du Feng was not only full of pride at this time, but also thinking about making extraordinary achievements.

The so-called man's life is to establish merit.

Completing the strategic tasks of the Privy Council step by step is not called establishing merit.

The strategic guidance given by the Privy Council was to let him capture Fort St. George in two months.

And he believed that there was actually a chance to resolve the battle of Fort St. George within a month, and then rush into Calcutta at lightning speed.

The daily work of siege, digging pits, vigilance, stationing, supply, and distribution on the shore was the responsibility of the General Staff and the Chief of Staff.

He took a warship to the south of Fort St. George, observing the terrain and pondering the feasibility of his plan.

Fort St. George is a standard bastion, with anti-gun slopes, trenches, moats, star-shaped structures, etc.

About 200 meters from the coast, heavy artillery is deployed facing the coast.

On the north side of the fortress is an open area, which is also the most suitable place to launch an attack.

There, the attacking forces can be deployed. Whether it is practice or textbooks, the attack should be launched from the north.

The east side faces the sea.

The west side is a swamp, a more disgusting terrain.

On the south side, there is a river called the Guwom River, which creates a perfect natural trench for the fortress.

And the water level of this river is very shallow, and warships cannot enter the river.

Even if the water level is deep, sailing ships without steam engines will not run into such a river. If they run in, they will either be the result of the arson ship or the target of the shore artillery.

Therefore, the main defense direction of Fort St. George is on the north and east sides.

Needless to say, the east side faces the sea.

There are six angular triangular forts on the north side, but only two on the south side, and there is an obvious blind spot in the firing range.

According to past experience, the south is indeed not a suitable direction for launching an attack.

Because of the existence of the Guwom River, the attacking forces could not be deployed. The blind spot on the plan is not a big problem in actual combat.

However, Du Feng does not think so.

He has great confidence in the combat effectiveness of the specialized trenches and combat engineers in siege battles.

Therefore, a large number of artillery are concentrated on the north side, but in fact, the south is the breakthrough point he chose.

Using specialized combat engineers and shrapnel mortars, it is entirely possible to quickly break into the fort from the south when the attention of Fort St. George is attracted by the feint of artillery attack from the north.

However, this still requires final coordination with the navy.

The fleet is now on the sea south of the Guwom River, avoiding the frontal heavy artillery of Fort St. George.

"If your navy bombards Fort St. George from here, there should be no problem, right?"

Du Feng pointed to the distance and asked.

"We have no problem. They definitely can't hit us. But I can't guarantee how many shells can cause damage to them from here."

"If necessary, of course. The fleet can use a formation similar to nomadic cavalry archery, circle here, and give continuous bombardment."

Du Feng nodded and said, "That's good. You don't need to be very accurate, just suppress them appropriately. I plan to launch a sneak attack from the south and a feint attack from the north. The army's artillery is concentrated in the north, and is still digging holes and advancing according to the siege combat regulations. It is estimated that it will reach the designated location tomorrow."

"If it doesn't rain in a few days and the weather is fine, then I need your fleet to help."

"From this direction, continuously bombard the south side of the fortress to suppress them. One hour is enough."

As for how to bombard, how the fleet cooperates, and what formation to adopt, it is naturally not more troublesome than Du Feng. The people in the squadron will naturally formulate a battle plan.

The people in the squadron nodded in agreement, and sent a small boat to send Du Feng and several staff officers to the Dashun Army position on the south bank of the Guwom River.

Since the main force is deployed in the north, there are certainly not many people here.

But according to the combat rules of siege, trenches must be dug in all directions. The trenches in the non-main attack direction are for defense and to cut off the enemy's possible counterattack routes out of the city.

The trenches on the south side have basically taken shape. The eight cannons are very shabby, but according to the means of siege, they can also suppress the few British artillery on the south side of the fortress.

The hot air balloon that took off also saw the situation in the fortress clearly. Obviously, the main defense direction of the British army at this time was also on the north side.

The staff officer beside him looked at the latest defense deployment of the fortress transmitted by the hot air balloon and sighed: "This fortress was built too early. When it was built, Emperor Taizu was still fighting the Hong bandit Chengchou in northern Sichuan and Zitong."

"More than a hundred years have passed. Even if it has been reinforced, the foundation is still the same as it was at that time. The artillery a hundred years ago is not the same as it is now. If our naval heavy artillery is in the southeast, the bombardment cannot destroy the fortress, but it can cut off their troop transportation route."

"If we really implement the strategy of pretending to attack from the north and attacking from the south, the key is not to attack and hold. It is how to pull the cannon up immediately after the attack."

"As long as the cannon can be pulled up quickly after the attack, it will be easy."

"Therefore, combat engineers can cross the boat and attack quickly. However, they When attacking, we must immediately build a formal floating bridge that can transport heavy artillery. This is the key. "

"If the combat engineers take down the triangular fort on the south side and the cannon can be pulled up within half a day, the fort can be conquered in two days."

Du Feng had the same opinion, so he said: "I have the same idea. The staff department should make a plan as soon as possible, and prepare in advance how many troops, wooden boats, firewood, and wood are needed."

"The first task of the combat engineers is to capture the triangular fort on the south side. After capturing it, explosives should be used quickly to clear a passable slope. Subsequent artillery and government soldiers can assist in pulling up the cannon."

After giving orders to the staff, Du Feng observed the situation of the fort on the south side again. After confirming that the plan was indeed feasible, he took a boat to the north again.

A few days later, the weather was clear.

The shelling on the north side has begun.

The digging that lasted for half a month before was boring and was all done according to the combat regulations of the siege.

The artillery deployed their gun positions using trenches and zigzag trenches without any casualties, and began a long bombardment that often lasted a whole day.

The shells, which were loaded with gunpowder, bounced irregularly on the triangular fort, constantly consuming the British troops on the north side.

Near dusk, the 13th and 14th combat engineer battalions on the north side received orders to use the siege trenches dug in the past few days to move to the south to rest.

The garrison pit on the south side is located in the southeast of the fort. It is the blind spot of the firing range found after calculation, and it is the direction that can minimize the crossfire of the bastion.

The main attack was carried out by the 13th combat engineer battalion, whose main troops came from the gem mines in Ceylon, the gold mines in Borneo, and the tin mines in Bangka.

The 14th combat engineer battalion will do the old job of engineers. When the battle starts tomorrow, they will be responsible for building pontoon bridges, clearing roads, and covering the artillery to follow the 13th battalion to the triangular fort.