Chinese martial arts! Grandmaster

Chapter 259: Arc Battle Formation! Using Artillery to Clean the Ground
This was not the first confrontation between Ximen Tang and the Western coalition forces.

From the initial attack on the Austro-Hungarian concession to the Dagu Fortress in Tianjin, the first defeat of Hunter's coalition forces.

Then,

The second time, Hunter's coalition was defeated, and Freke was defeated, and the Bian Du Concession was captured.

Then the development of Ximentang entered the fast lane.

Chen Jie not only began to build his own fleet, but also began to expand his military.

In the battle at Cangzhou Canal Transport Wharf, Ximen Tang's troops of several thousand men defeated Johnson's coalition forces.

Fighting war after war not only allowed Ximen Tang to accumulate rich experience.

At the same time, it also allowed all the elite troops of Ximen Hall to have a clear understanding of the Western Allied Forces.

Especially after two consecutive battles, they defeated the William-Jack Bonaparte coalition.

Ximen Tang had a comprehensive understanding of the tactics and strength of the Western coalition forces.

Therefore,
In the next battle, Chen Jie was confident of defeating the Waldersee coalition.

The only worry was that the Waldersee coalition would remain hidden in their positions and rely on the guns on the Sea Continent warships to provide fire support.

The power of naval guns is indeed too strong.

Especially on cruisers and battleships, heavy artillery with a caliber exceeding 260mm not only has a long range, but also has extremely powerful shells.

Even with the threat of naval guns, Chen Jie was still confident that he could defeat the Waldersee coalition.

but,

As a result, the losses to Ximentang will be very heavy.

After all, Ximen Tang’s current "Storm" fast attack ship can only be used for fast and maneuverable sneak attacks.

If confronted head-on, the 'Storm' fast attack ship would have no advantage.

The Waldersee coalition did not retreat to Dinghai Island or return to the ships.

They landed at Ningbo Port and stationed and set up defensive fortifications.

For Ximen Tang, the situation is very favorable and it is exactly what they want!

This is a big battle.

Chen Jie gathered 30,000 elite troops from Ximen Hall and assembled all the troops in eastern Zhejiang.

and,

He put into use all the 'Krupp Infantry Guns' and 'Maxim Heavy Machine Guns' captured from the Allied Forces of William and Jack Bonaparte, as long as they were not broken.

Shells and bullets are readily available.

The Simon Hall Arsenal was a specialized manufacturer of shells for the Krupp Infantry Gun.

Artillery battalion, heavy machine guns, special operations battalion, etc., all the rest are equipped with muskets and grenades!

The elite troops of the entire Ximen Hall are almost armed to the teeth.

but,

Similar to Chen Jie's confident idea, the commander of the Western Allied Forces, Duke Waldersee, also has great confidence in defeating Ximen Tang.

because,

He believed that after Simon Hall defeated William's coalition and Jack-Bonaparte's coalition, he would certainly suffer a heavy blow.

At this time, a decisive battle with Ximen Tang began.

Eighty thousand men against thirty thousand.

In terms of numbers, the Western coalition had an absolute advantage, and in terms of firepower, the Waldersee coalition was also armed to the teeth.

He was confident that he could defeat Ximen Tang's army in one fell swoop, and then pursue the victory and take Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang.

As long as Hangzhou is occupied, the Western coalition can continue to increase its troops and establish a separatist regime along the coastal areas of the Daqian Dynasty.

Chen Jie stood on a reef in the distance and looked through a telescope.

The Waldersee coalition forces were arranged into sixteen large square formations, forming a total of sixteen armies of the Western coalition!
These sixteen square formations are arranged in an orderly manner to form a pattern.

From a distance, it looks like a hexagonal nut.

And from the outside to the inside, it is divided into four layers.

Between each layer, sandbags were stacked to form fortifications.

No matter which direction the attack came from, it would be difficult to break through the Sixteenth Army's formation.

Artillery, machine gunners, musketeers, etc.

Each floor is about one hundred meters apart.

The key point is that the interior is not arranged in a straight line, but without any rules.

Even if the artillery has full coverage, the probability of an effective hit will be less than 15%.

Even if "incendiary bombs" were used, the waste would be very great and it would be difficult to launch a large-scale attack.

The entire battle formation stretched for several kilometers and looked extremely spectacular.

call--!
Chen Jie couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked Jack Bonaparte beside him:

"Jack Bonaparte, is this the 'dense skirmish line' and 'point defense' tactics that Waldersee is famous for?"

The dense skirmish line tactics are the most famous dense fighting style in offensive and defensive battles.

By changing the distance between individual soldiers, the offense and defense can be adjusted at any time, and firepower can be concentrated, with extremely strong integrated offense and defense capabilities.

The point defense tactics mainly emphasize positional warfare, strengthening solid fortifications and preventing enemy attacks.

In general,

The combination of these two tactics can not only maximize the power of artillery and heavy machine guns.

Simultaneously,

Sandbag fortifications can also form the strongest combination of offense and defense.

Jack Bonaparte felt a sense of pride when he heard this.

He was the heir of the French 'Bonaparte' family and saw that Waldersee had brought the tactics of the Western Allied Forces to their full potential.

have to say,

At this moment, he still felt a little admiration for the old man Waldersee.

"That's right! This is our most famous European 'dense skirmish line' and 'point defense' tactics!"

"I didn't expect that the Commander-in-Chief is so familiar with our Western tactics?"

"Are you a top student who graduated from a European military academy?"

Jack Bonaparte nodded and asked in surprise.

Ah Man, who was standing next to Chen Jie, didn't understand what Jack Bonaparte said, but when he saw the other party's expression, he couldn't help but snorted coldly.

In his heart, the young master can do anything!

However, he was disdainful of this French major general.

However, he was still somewhat shocked by the battle formation of the Waldersee coalition in the distance.

The tactics of "dense skirmish line" and "point defense" deployed by the Waldersee coalition are the most famous tactics in Europe after the rise of hot weapons.

Western countries dominated the world, developed colonies everywhere and became military hegemons.

In addition to powerful weapons, tactical coordination also plays an important role.

The tactics that combined muskets, artillery, heavy armor, fortifications, etc., had the power to crush the tactics of the cold weapon era.

According to Aman's inference, the Waldersee coalition built a defensive position with 80,000 people.

If it was the army of the Daqian Dynasty, even with powerful firepower, they would need more than 150,000 troops to break through his battle formation.

Although Simon Hall's weapons were more advanced and its artillery was more powerful.

but,

It will be a tough battle to defeat Waldersee's coalition!
It is not without reason that Jack Bonaparte admired Waldersee's use of tactics.

Chen Jie said calmly:
"Jack Bonaparte, these two major Western tactics did have brilliant results in the past."

"But now, I've been eliminated!"

Jack Bonaparte was stunned when he heard this and said in surprise:
"Eliminate? Your Excellency, the Great Commander, these two tactics are the mainstream tactics in Europe at present, and they are also the most advanced tactics!"

"Although Duke Waldersee is not a very good person, his military talent is well-known throughout Europe!"

"He combines the two most advanced tactics together. Anyone who wants to defeat him will pay a heavy price!"

Chen Jie smiled calmly and said:

"You will soon understand why I say his tactics are out!"

Jack Bonaparte frowned slightly when he heard this.

When he saw Chen Jie's confident look, he suddenly felt a little unsure.

Could it be that Daqian's army could really easily break through the battle formation of the Waldersee coalition?
Next,
He saw Simon Hall's artillery begin to deploy.

On the flank of the army were 150 120mm heavy artillery pieces transported on carts!

There are three rows in a row, each row has fifty doors.

Then,

In the intervals between each row of 120mm mortars, there are a thousand densely packed 60mm mortars.

The 30,000 people in Ximen Hall were divided into six columns!

From a distance, it looks like a crescent moon!
At both ends of the flank, 120mm mortars formed the vanguard.

At the bottom of the scimitar are heavy machine guns and muskets.

The array of Ximen Hall gives people a feeling that is hard to describe.

Musketeers are not mainstream, but auxiliary.

From the beginning to the end, the core of Ximen Hall's attack was artillery!

Once you move forward, it will be like a crescent-shaped scimitar, continuously reaping the harvest.

The two wings became the core of the attack, but what really tied down the main force was the most terrifying artillery in the middle!

Jack Bonaparte was surprised when he saw Simon Hall's army formation:
"Your Excellency, the Grand Commander, is this the sickle formation that the Spaniards love the most?"

Chen Jie shook his head and said calmly:
"It should be similar, right? I have never seen a sickle formation, but the arrangement of the army does look a bit like a sickle!"

The Spanish were the first to use the "sickle formation" on the European battlefield. The so-called "sickle formation" tactic is a volley of guns.

Use the army's linear formation and arrange it into an arc.

Therefore, it is also called the 'arc battle formation'!
It not only maximizes the power of muskets and artillery, but also forms an intensive attack.

The only drawback is that its mobility is slightly poor and it has always been known for its defense.

In terms of military tactics, the "arc battle formation" is a military innovation and has milestone significance.

Its appearance broke the "cavalry" tactics of the cold weapon era!
Simultaneously,

It was also the most outstanding battle formation in the era when hot weapons crushed cold weapons!
Therefore, the 'arc battle formation' is called the 'sickle formation' because it can slaughter the cavalry in the cold weapon era!
This tactical style was first adopted by the Spanish army.

therefore,

When Western industry rose, Spain became one of the great powers in Europe.

but,

With the development of military in various countries, this "arc battle formation" was adopted by other European countries.

This also laid the foundation for Europe to sweep across other continents.

But now with the deployment of the 'Maxim heavy machine gun', the power of the 'arc battle formation' has been suppressed by the 'point defense' tactics.

The two tactics have their own advantages.

On the European battlefield, judging from the current performance, the "base defense" formation seems to be stronger.

Jack Bonaparte is a staunch supporter of the 'base defense' tactic.

but,

However, Chen Jie scoffed at the European tactics of "dense skirmish line" and "point defense"!

In the case of insufficient firepower, these two mainstream European tactics are indeed very tactically effective and can bring out the performance of various weapons.

The arc battle formation does not have an advantage when facing the "base point defense" battle formation.

but,

When the power of artillery reaches a certain level, any defensive formation will become a target.

What's more, Ximen Tang possesses extremely powerful "incendiary bombs" and "armor-piercing bombs"!
The armor and shield formation of the Waldersee coalition was like paper in front of the "armor-piercing bullets".

It doesn't take much effort to use the "arc battle formation" to tear apart the Western coalition's tactics.

Chen Jie is full of confidence in this battle.

Simon Tang's army soon came within the range of artillery attacks from both sides.

Chen Jie decisively gave the order to let the 120mm mortar fire first!
Artillery goes first, tearing open the enemy's defense!
Boom-boom-boom--!
In order to maximize the power of the mortar, Chen Jie concentrated all the 120mm caliber heavy artillery on the flanks.

In the middle are 60mm mortars, including several hundred "Krupp Infantry Guns" that were recently captured.

Full fire coverage!
This is Chen Jie's favorite fighting style.

At a long distance, just use artillery to bombard the ground.

In terms of the range of the artillery shells, Simon Hall's 120mm caliber mortar has a longer range.

Therefore,
First use artillery to clean the ground. After one round of shelling, use 60mm caliber artillery to fire, then move forward fifty meters for the second round of bombardment.

This is a non-stop arc attack.

Bombard the two wings first to suppress the enemy's firepower.

After the bombing, the main attacking force in the middle continued to move forward and close the distance to ensure that the enemy's firepower was destroyed.

More than three thousand artillery pieces roared and growled at the battle formation.

at the same time,

The artillery of the Waldersee coalition opened fire at the same time.

You know, the Waldersee coalition also has more than a thousand artillery pieces, and its combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

The artillery bombardment from both sides caused the earth to shake and was terrifying to watch from a distance.

This was also the most intense artillery duel that Ximen Hall had encountered since its establishment.

The sound is huge and extremely shocking!
The ground seemed to have experienced a severe earthquake, as if the heaven and earth were about to collapse.

Boom boom——!
At this moment, the artillery fire was like a meteor shower, covering the sky!

The three thousand cannons of Ximen Hall roared and tore through the sky.

One after another, fire dragons swept across the sky, forming a parabolic shape and rushing down towards the front.

The world changes color!

The explosion was so terrible that it set off wave after wave of shock waves and sent sand flying.

of course,

There were more screams, which soon spread around.

After every three rounds of ordinary artillery shells, a round of 'incendiary bomb' attack will be launched!
The 120mm mortar that fired first directly attacked the opponent's armor array with "armor-piercing shells".

have to say,

Ximen Tang's artillery advantage is too strong, and the use of this "cleaning tactics" has resulted in an absolute crushing victory!
After several rounds of cross-fire coverage.

The Waldersee coalition suffered heavy losses. Although Simon Hall also suffered some casualties, the difference in the casualty ratio between the two sides was very large.

more importantly,
Ximen Tang's "arc battle formation" has advanced more than a hundred meters with continuous bombardment!
That is,

The "base defense" formation of the Waldersee coalition was directly wiped out over a hundred meters.

Less than five minutes.

A huge gap was torn in the Western coalition's battle formation.

After all, Chen Jie had seen modern war videos.

He had even seen the power of a giant high-explosive bomb, including a simulated video of the explosion of the 'Little Boy' nuclear bomb.

Therefore,
Although the artillery battle was fierce, he was not greatly affected.

but,

Jack Bonaparte, William and others, including the backbone elites of Simon Hall.

But it was the first time for them to see a battlefield with thousands of artillery firing.

Almost everyone was furious at this moment.

Because such a large-scale artillery battle has never been seen before, even on the European battlefield.

I didn’t expect that such a fierce artillery battle would occur in the distant Daqian Dynasty in the East.

In this artillery battle between the two sides, it quickly became clear that Ximen Tang was in an absolute advantage!
Although Ximen Tang was the main attacker, the pace of the attack was very fast and the playing style was very clean.

Some people were injured or killed on the battlefield.

Soon, medical soldiers and special service soldiers sent the wounded or dead soldiers to the rear.

The discipline, rigor, fighting spirit and so on shown by Ximen Tang at this moment crushed the Western coalition forces.

at this time,

In the Western Allied Forces' position, Commander Waldersee and Bishop Anthe were completely dumbfounded and stunned with shock.

"Shit! Damn it, how come the Daqian people have so many artillery pieces?"

"What the hell! What kind of artillery is that? How come it completely ignites everything around it all at once and there's no way to put out the flames?"

"Damn it! Their artillery can easily destroy the armored battle formation. The 20-centimeter-thick steel shield can't stop the attack of the shells!"

"No! We must retreat, Your Excellency the Duke. We can't hold on any longer. Retreat—retreat quickly—!"

The Western Allied Forces' headquarters was in chaos.

Waldersee was stunned by Simon Hall's artillery.

Chen Jie was looking through a telescope at the Western coalition's defense line from a distance, and saw that it had been breached.

In order to speed up the attack, he ordered the 'Arc Battle Formation' to start changing its formation.

The troop lines on the left and right wings began to move towards the center.

Simultaneously,

The main attack artillery formation in the middle began to move to both wings!

Circular and cross-fire, the firepower forms absolute suppression!
Because after marching two hundred meters, there is a protective belt for the "dense skirmish line" and "point defense" tactics.

Therefore,
By encircling the enemy from the flank and "cleaning the ground" again, not only can artillery shells be saved, but a fatal blow can also be inflicted.

this moment,
The distance between the two sides had not yet entered the attack range of the heavy machine guns, but the artillery had already begun to fiercely bombard the ground.

The "heavy machine gun formation" carefully prepared by the Waldersee coalition was rendered useless under the coverage of artillery.

Although the attack launched by Ximen Hall at this moment consumed a lot of artillery shells.

Even the waste of artillery shells reached 80%.

but,

Chen Jie seemed to turn a blind eye to the waste of artillery shells.

He adopted the most domineering offensive method, using absolute firepower to create a powerful crushing force.

Compared to the lives of Ximen Tang’s elite soldiers, what does the loss of a few shells matter?
As long as we can defeat Waldersee's coalition, everything will be worth it!

Boom boom——!
The shells came in like crazy, as if they were free.

of course,

It was not a random bombardment without any pattern, but one round after another.

There was one round of artillery fire per minute, and the rate of fire was maintained at six rounds per minute.

After the beating,

The team began to move forward in a staggered manner, maintaining fire coverage at all times.

Therefore, this tactic of continuous advancement consumed a huge amount of Ximentang's artillery shells, but the blow to the Western coalition forces was extremely deadly!
For a while,
Within the Waldersee coalition, soldiers fell one after another.

The floor-cleaning tactic is extremely terrifying, leaving no grass behind!
The most terrifying thing is the incendiary bomb. It is completely useless even if you hide under the sandbag shelter.

The flames instantly consumed all the surrounding oxygen, causing many Western Allied Forces soldiers to feel suffocated!
Duke Waldersee had never encountered such tactical play before!

It took less than fifteen minutes.

The entire Western coalition's defense line completely collapsed, with more than half of the casualties!
(End of this chapter)