The shrill north wind howled and whirled past the tip of the sail, and the thick cotton wool worn on his body was like frozen armor. Luo Zifang had to tighten his head to prevent the cold wind from entering his neck and back. This kind of weather is not suitable for the battlefield. I have never met one before, but it is my first time to board a ship and sail on the sea.
To Luo Zifang, the northwest wind is simply an insurmountable obstacle. This is almost the opposite direction to his own goal, but for experts who have been sailing at sea for many years, this is not a big problem. Sailing can sometimes even be faster than when the wind is too light with a tailwind. It's just that the power of the northwest is too strong. Thick cotton clothes are almost useless to it. Staying on the boat all day, the whole body is like a frozen corpse.
Quietly leaving the port from Laizhou, the entire First Division of the Eighth Army only selected two regiments with less than 10,000 people. A considerable part of the more than 60 large ships were recruited from Dengzhou. This also proves that the commander of the corps had already We are preparing such a plan. Luo Zifang didn't know why the legion commander would choose to attack Duodun's side at this time, but the legion commander's order was undoubtedly more effective for him than the imperial decree. Luo Zifang followed the legion commander from the beginning when he joined the Taiping Army, and went through countless ups and downs. , not only Lu Long's desperate running in embarrassment, but also the transformation of Jiujiang's foothold, and the publicity of annexing Huzhou. In the end, the legion commander chose to join the Western Xinjiang, which made Luo Zifang a little disappointed, but then the reputation of the Eighth Legion rose. Luo Zifang finally regained his former self-confidence.
"Division commander, we have discovered the ship that came to contact us." The adjutant shouted excitedly along with the sound of boots.
"Oh? Invite them up quickly." Luo Zifang was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the other party came up so quickly. It seemed that the other party must have sent many liaison ships in this area.
Luo Zifang quickly understood the situation on the shore. The situation in the Okhotsk region has changed slightly. Although the Dodon people prefer the Western Xinjiang side to launch a large-scale offensive in the Kutz area, Crawford's prediction still made the military a little wary. On the one hand, they closely monitored the activities of the Western Xinjiang Army in Huangdao Port. On the other hand, they also dispatched additional patrols to the coastal areas of the Okhotsk region. They originally wanted to deploy naval forces, but the navy was far away at the Nomenkan Naval Base in the northeast. . In addition, it has already entered winter, and the Japanese navy controls this sea area. If the Japanese misunderstand that the Doton Navy has other intentions, it will bring disaster to the Dodon Navy. Therefore, in the end, they did not agree to the navy's southward transfer, but only at sea. Several additional patrol teams were dispatched to the coastal area north of Lan Fortress as a precaution.
The number of Doton patrol troops is not large, and most of them are composed of thousands of troops. The slightly rugged terrain and backward economy of the Okhotsk coastal area make the transportation conditions in this area extremely bad, which in turn makes many The Don people are even less willing to spend too much energy in this area, which is in sharp contrast to the Kutz region to the east of Okhotsk and the Yenemia region to the north. The Kutz region is the most important grain and cotton producing area, while the Yenemea region is the main industrial area of the Dodon Kingdom. Coal mining, iron ore, iron smelting, processing, etc. are particularly developed in this area. Looking back at Okhotsk, apart from the fact that Okhotsk City is mainly engaged in fishing and has some agricultural and fishery product processing industries due to its proximity to the sea, the entire Okhotsk is more like a small market town with a population of only two to three thousand people, even smaller than that of Okhotsk. The population is not as large as that of Hailan Fortress, which has a team of ten thousand people stationed there.
There are two landing sites selected by the Western Xinjiang Army. One is the Black Rock Reef, which is 40 meters north of Okhotsk Port. The other place is Cape Shexin, which is twenty miles south of Okhotsk Port and ten miles north of Hailan Fortress. If you are on the safe side, you can quickly enter the mountains by landing on Black Rock Reef, making it easier to hide. But now The Dodon people have stepped up their patrols, and this option is obviously not suitable. The landing from Shexin Cape is more sudden. If you manage it well, you can even launch an attack on Hailan Fortress immediately. It is not a dream to capture Hailan Fortress in one fell swoop, but it seems a bit risky. Shexin Cape is only 30 meters away from Hailan Fortress. The terrain of Shili Land is treacherous, and it is easy to hit the rocks when landing, and it is easy to be discovered by the fortress troops. If you choose to land at night, the risk will be greater for the fleet. Near the Shexin Cape area with complicated sea conditions at night, it is easy to hit the rocks and capsize, causing The ship was destroyed and people died.
The intelligence officials who contacted did not express any opinions. They only truthfully stated the objective difficulties and risks to Luo Zifang, the commander-in-chief of the landing group, and emphasized the various uncertainties that may exist at Shexin Cape. If the wind intensifies, The landing at Shexin Cape may even be stranded. If the landing is made at night, the landing may turn into a disaster. If discovered by the fortress defenders, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The slightly verbose words of the intelligence officer made Luo Zifang make up his mind. The more complicated and dangerous the objective situation was, the greater the paralysis of the defenders. On the contrary, those places where it is easy to land for operations may have been regarded by the Doton Patrol Army long ago. Without the possibility of surprise attacks in key surveillance areas, our army will have no choice but to become guerrillas in the mountains. Without the main force behind to support them, they will only be wiped out sooner or later.
The personnel of the intelligence department naturally could not interfere with the commander's decision, but they were still impressed by the other party's courage to make such a decision in an unfamiliar place, and even after the two of them had already overcome the existing difficulties and When the risks are stated clearly enough, such a decision requires the commander's determination and perseverance.
Shexin Cape is located under the nose of Hailan Fortress. It can be reached within ten miles in less than an hour. However, it takes less than three to five hours for the troops on the current fleet to dock and complete the landing and assembly. If you do it, once you are discovered by Dodon's army, the outcome can be imagined.
Even if they can successfully escape the surveillance of the Dodon people and land ashore, how to capture the Hailan Fortress is still a problem. There are ten thousand troops stationed in the Hailan Fortress, although it is much easier to launch an attack from behind than to attack from the front. , but as a fortress, no matter which direction you look at, even your own rear still has basic protection. It is also quite difficult to seize the fortress from the rear, especially when the military strength is not dominant. If the situation cannot be completely controlled, the enemy will be able to devour this assault force as long as it wakes up, especially when there are still three ten thousand soldiers stationed on the Okhotsk front line.
However, now that the commander has made a decision, the intelligence officials sent to cooperate immediately devoted themselves to preparations for how to put the assault group into battle in the best possible condition. The development of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Dodon can be considered smooth, especially in the Okhotsk region, where there are a considerable number of Tang people, which leaves a considerable space for the military intelligence department to establish a foothold, and Okhotsk Tike is not a key defense area for the Doton people, so it is relatively easy to collect intelligence in this area. The Hailan Fortress has a very close connection with the local people who rely on the fortress for a living. Especially because of the inconvenient road transportation, the Hailan Fortress army has to rely heavily on local merchants for civilian supplies to complete replenishment and supplies. The detailed information provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau to Luo Zifang here made Luo Zifang once again realize that his army does not fight alone even if it operates outside the territory. There is a powerful intelligence system to assist him at any time. Such a battle is undoubtedly for Luo Zifang. Much more relaxed.
Shexin Cape is a prominent headland area. The water flow on both sides of the headland is turbulent, and the undercurrents and reefs are complex. The landing conditions are not good. The only available place is an area at the foot of the headland where the water flow is relatively gentle, but you need to drive Entering this area of water requires passing through a group of reefs. Although the intelligence department has learned about the specific conditions of this group of reefs through local Tang fishermen and drawn a chart, it is obviously too difficult for a fleet to pass through this area. Well, The intelligence department was also aware of this, and paid heavily to hire two local fishermen as guides to minimize this risk. However, the captains of each ship still had hopes of successfully passing through this area after looking at the charts. I was quite doubtful, but now that I had an arrow on the string, I had to shoot it. Even if I was worried, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and go up.
The sky was getting dark, and it was gratifying that the strong northwest wind finally subsided at this time. This was a good sign. The fleet was finally able to quickly enter the channel according to the established plan and move forward step by step towards the destination. Luo Zifang stood alone on the bow of the ship and looked ahead. As the sky darkened, the distance between the ships had to be kept farther. The two sides could only use special waterproof lanterns to pass messages and maintain contact. According to Response from the Intelligence Department: Fishermen in this area have entered the winter break, and no one would choose to go fishing at this time, especially at night. The only danger is from under the water. The fishermen guides have personally controlled the boat to take the lead. They are responsible for leading the way. In this way, although the time consumption may be more, the risk is reduced to the lowest point. After all, this is the Once he hit a rock at night on the sea, Luo Zifang could not think of any other way to save him other than shouting to the sky.
A slight noise came from the side and rear. Luo Zifang's heart tightened and he suddenly turned his head to look for the source of the sound. He had repeatedly ordered that no noise should be made during the landing process to prevent being discovered by the Doton army patrolling the coast. This kind of The shouting only proved that something serious was going on.