My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 374 Combat Deployment
"Isn't this perfect? ​​According to my idea, we can use the ship's guns to attack the land directly. These guys are all swarming on the shore. Aren't they ready-made targets?"

Tang He raised his head and said with a slightly proud look on his face, "Using naval guns to attack the other side of the shore was his proudest idea. What did this prove? It proved that he, Tang He, was more talented in fighting naval battles than Xu Da and Li Wenzhong."

Seeing Tang He's smug look, Xu Da and Li Wenzhong knew what he was thinking. Li Wenzhong chuckled and didn't care, but Xu Da was secretly excited.

He always felt that his idea of ​​having the soldiers of the Musketeer Battalion use radios to call for the ship's artillery fire for real-time strike support at any time was the direction of future war development.

But now is not the time to think about these things, let’s first deal with the pirates in front of us.

"Pass my order, have the artillery ready to fire at any time to clear the beach for the landing troops. Also have the musket battalion soldiers prepare for landing."

As Xu Da's order was issued, the bridge began to become busy again.

At this time, Xu Da thought for a moment, observed the Palembang beach with a telescope, and then continued: "Li Wenzhong, remember this, order the Taichang, Liansheng and Longwu to be ready to charge the beach at full speed at any time. The second, third and sixth musket battalions, with a total of 1,500 people, will serve as the vanguard troops landing on Palembang. They will be the first wave to land on the beach. Their mission is to completely clear the pirates on the beach, establish a stronghold, and open up a path for subsequent landing troops.

After the 7th Battalion on the Fengtian and the 8th Battalion on the Wenchang, totaling a thousand men, cleared the beach and were ready to land at any time. Together with the 2nd, 3rd and 6th Battalions, they attacked Chen Zuyi's lair in Palembang and annihilated him in one fell swoop!
The Dingyuan ship will blockade the port, and the musket battalion on board will serve as a mobile support force. No fleet can be allowed to escape from here. We must lock Chen Zuyi in this huge port!"

Ships such as Taichang, Liansheng and Longwu were originally cargo ships used for trade, but this time they were temporarily incorporated into the navy fleet in order to conquer Chen Zuyi's pirate gang, each carrying a musket battalion and with corresponding modifications made to them.

After Li Wenzhong wrote down the order, he briefly recounted it and then ordered each lieutenant general to issue the order separately.

The order was quickly passed down, and the sailors on each ship quickly began to act, hoisting the small boats for landing. The soldiers of the Musket Battalion checked their guns and ammunition, and were ready to go, waiting for the landing battle.

Inside the bridge, Xu Da said with some emotion: "When we were on the Northern Expedition, we had 50,000 or 100,000 soldiers under our command. Now we are on an expedition of tens of thousands of miles, but we only have a few thousand soldiers on hand. We are getting worse and worse."

"Hahahaha." Li Wenzhong laughed loudly upon hearing this. "You can't say that. These few thousand men are much more useful than the 100,000 soldiers and horses of previous years!"

"That's right!" Tang He also interrupted, "Speaking of which, we do have a musket battalion of 100,000 or 200,000 soldiers, but we don't have that many ships to transport them!"

Several people looked at each other and laughed. The other officers also found it funny and started laughing. The laughter diluted the originally tense atmosphere.

Come to think of it, in the past wars, hundreds of thousands of troops would be dispatched. Not to mention anything else, just the supply of food and fodder would require the deployment of thousands or even tens of thousands of horses. Since the needle-gun was equipped, the number of people fighting has been greatly reduced, but the combat effectiveness has become stronger and stronger!

On the deck at this time, there were no such relaxed and joyful orders. Zhu Di was unhappy and grumbled to Xu Huizu, "Why don't you let my battalion land first as the vanguard? My father-in-law is looking down on me, Zhu Laosi!"

Xu Huizu smiled helplessly, "Just be content. You still have the First Battalion under your command. You are a centurion with a legitimate title, but I am a centurion of the Second Battalion, which is just a decoration.

My father wouldn't let me stay in the Second Battalion, and insisted that I come to the Dingyuan, and he even said that he wanted me to learn the art of commanding the navy. In terms of sailing experience, I am the honor star of the first sea trade, and I have more experience at sea than him. Who can I go to for justice?"

As he said that, he looked helplessly in the direction of the Taichang and sighed, "I don't know if the new centurion of the Second Battalion can do it. The Second Battalion was brought up by me. If that guy messes up, I will tear his head off!" Li Jinglong had no complaints. Although he had the title of a centurion, he had always followed Zhu Di. Wherever Zhu Di went, he would go. Anyway, he just had to follow his fourth uncle and shoot.

Just as they were chatting, suddenly, they heard a loud shout from the bow, "Ready, fire!"

Zhu Di immediately said excitedly: "The battle is finally about to begin, let's go and take a look!"

Like Zhu Di, the soldiers on the Dingyuan ship could not be the first wave of landing vanguard troops to land in Palembang, and could only watch the artillery fire for their own pleasure.

With loud "boom" and "boom" sounds, the main gun barrel fired a huge shell and flew towards the shore at a high speed!

At this time on the beach, the pirates had already formed up to engage the enemy. Of course, Liang Daoren was not there, so this was the formation set up by Chen Zuyi himself.

He knew clearly that apart from his own direct subordinates, the other pirates all came from foreign countries. Not to mention cooperating with each other in battle, even whether they could understand each other's speech was a big problem.

Not to mention that although these pirates are good at boarding ships or looting on shore, they have never been trained in this kind of serious fighting!
In front of the regular army, especially the well-trained Ming army, these people are a group of mobs. Chen Zuyi is very clearly aware of this problem.

However, the mob also has its uses, that is, their large numbers make them perfect for filling the front lines, and they can also take the opportunity to consume the manpower of these non-direct troops.

Moreover, Chen Zuyi had received orthodox education in the Ming Dynasty and had read military books seriously. He had some understanding of the deployment of troops.

In order to avoid coordination errors due to language barriers, he simply stopped the various departments from coordinating with each other. Pirates from different forces were arranged to guard each dock, so as to avoid problems with ineffective internal communication.

His own troops were arranged on the high ground behind the beach. Firstly, they could provide immediate support when a gap appeared. Secondly, they could let those stupid barbarian pirates fight with the Ming army first!

Although many pirates were very dissatisfied with this arrangement, they had no choice. Chen Zuyi was still their commander-in-chief in name and had strong power, so they had to obey his arrangements.

However, the pirates are not all stubborn people who only know how to fight and kill. They can also settle accounts.

The thousands of Ming troops before them were not a threat in their eyes, but a stepping stone to fame. If they had a chance to defeat the Ming army, their reputation would be even more famous when they were at sea in the future!

Moreover, Chen Zuyi also allocated them precious artillery, which made them even less concerned about the Ming army.

Just as they were looking at the Ming army ships that had stopped on the skyline and laughing wildly, they suddenly heard a "rumbling" sound coming from afar.

The sound came from far away, accompanied by a sharp whistle that broke through the air!
(End of this chapter)