"Boom~" "Da da da~"

"Sir, please withdraw first, and continue with your humble post."

"Shit, Luo Xiong, didn't we agree that you and I will cover alternately? Now it's time for me to stop the rear, why do you want to take my job?"

"Well, Commander, after only half a month of chasing, the brothers are a little bit unable to bear it..."

"Why, do you think I won't be able to survive this time when it's my turn to cut off the queen? Damn it! It's a little early for you to become a division commander... Hahaha, don't worry, I haven't become a general yet, no.

He would be killed so easily. Besides, we are in the city now, and the defenses of these houses are much stronger than those sandbag fortifications built in the desert a few days ago."

"...Well, take care, division commander. I am waiting for you twenty miles ahead! After this blockade is over, we will soon leave the coastline and move inland. By then, the Western pirates' naval guns will

There is no threat to us anymore."

"Oh, why are you so verbose when you are less than 30 years old? Get out of here, get out of here, you can build fortifications at the back earlier, so I can withdraw earlier."

"......yes!"

It was August 5, 1625, 18 days after the Sixth Division of the Ming Dynasty blocked the Spanish Army in Rumanai Village.

After the battle that night, Zhao Lijiao and Luo Xiong immediately made a judgment: withdraw quickly, otherwise they would really be unable to defend the Sinai Desert when the enemy's large forces arrived.

However, because the Sixth Division is distributed over most of the Sinai Peninsula, it took a while to gather it together. What is even more annoying is that the road conditions here in the Sinai Peninsula are extremely poor! Although this place is mainly desert, there is nothing particularly tall.

The mountains hinder the march. But for the Sixth Division's baggage troops, which are not yet equipped with rubber tires, the sand is extremely unfriendly to the wooden wheels, and they often get stuck during the march!

All of this resulted in the entire army's march being extremely slow. On July 30, they were finally caught by two Spanish divisions.

Speaking of which, this is the advantage of having control of the sea: the Spanish army can put food, spare ammunition and other baggage on the ship, and then the whole army can move forward lightly. The wounded can also be evacuated in time by sea ships. And the Ming Dynasty Sixth

The teacher had no choice but to use his feet to measure the length of the earth.

Retreating in front of the enemy is a university subject and one of the gold standards for testing whether an army is qualified. In the historical perspective, the Kuomintang troops in the 20th century have never learned to retreat: even if they are surrounded, they can still stand still and wait for reinforcements.

The battle can be regarded as a makeshift, but once retreated, the entire army often collapses...

The Ming army in this era, at least Zhu Youdong's new army, has attached great importance to retreat in front of the enemy from the day it was established. Not to mention, this sixth division is also a meritorious division with the exclusive title of "Iron Wall".

After being bitten by the Spaniards, Zhao led the teachings and Luo Xiong divided the entire division's soldiers except the baggage and logistics troops into two groups, separated by twenty to thirty miles from each other, and then alternately covered the retreat. One group was behind.

To block the attack, one team marched forward for twenty or thirty miles and then built simple fortifications. After the front team withdrew, the rear team continued to block the attack. The front team ran to the front and continued to build fortifications...and so on.

It can ensure that the entire army can always maintain its structure when retreating, and the entire army will not collapse suddenly.

Of course, the most important point of retreating in front of the enemy is to make the soldiers behind the broken arm believe that they have not been abandoned by their commanders, and that they are not abandoned with broken arms. So at this time, Zhao Lijiao and Luo Xiong

The division commander must personally lead the soldiers to block the attack.

In short, under the example of the two division commanders, more than 14,000 officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division fought bravely. Under attack by the Spanish army of 30,000 people and the naval guns of two ironclad ships, in five days, although they lost

It's not small, but it's still neatly organized and its combat effectiveness is maintained quite well.

Now, on August 5, after fighting and retreating, the Sixth Division has arrived in Gaza. According to the pre-determined route, after passing here, they will advance to the northeast inland - the place they passed before

, except for the coastal areas where there are barely some oases moistened by sea water mist, the other places are endless deserts, and there is no way to leave the coastal areas. After passing Gaza, on the way to Jerusalem, there are scattered oases everywhere.

You can completely get rid of the enemy's naval gun attack.

By moving inland, the Sixth Division will not only no longer have to endure naval gun harassment. For the two Spanish divisions in pursuit, their baggage will no longer be conveniently transported by the navy, and they will have to do the same as the Sixth Division.

Use your feet to measure the land. So until now, Spain's 19th and 22th divisions no longer rotate as they did a few days ago, with each division attacking once. Instead, the two divisions work together to open up a wide space.

From the front, a full-scale charge began!

"Boom~"

Sixty 75mm cannons were deployed neatly and began a concentrated artillery bombardment on the sand outside Gaza City. The two ironclad ships, the Castil and the Catalonia, also risked being stranded and attacked as much as possible.

Shooting at close range towards Gaza City.

After all, they were being pursued by a superior force, and their maneuverability was far inferior to the opponent's because of the bonus of the opponent's navy. So by this time, all the heavy artillery of the Sixth Division had been blown up by themselves and lost. So that they were now concentrated by the opponent's artillery.

During the fire attack, the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division could only hold their heads and cling to the corners of some relatively solid houses to suffer.

"Boom~" A cannonball luckily hit the place where several Ming soldiers were squatting, and then in the violent explosion, these soldiers instantly turned into a pile of minced meat.

Comparatively speaking, these soldiers were not the worst: the pain lasted only a moment. And those soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who were buried alive because their houses were destroyed by cannonballs, were dug out by their comrades. It would be okay if they were not buried alive.

If you dig it out, you can only die in pain and depression.

"Beep!"

After half an hour of shelling, as short whistles blew, the Spanish soldiers outside the city roared in unison, and began to charge into the city with their rifles. However, they could not advance more than five or six times.

Minutes later, a section of the city wall in Gaza City that had been almost destroyed heard a clicking sound that was familiar and terrifying to the Spaniards.

"Malditasea!" Coutinho, commander of the 19th Division and former Rudolph's adjutant, who was watching the battle on the Casti on the sea, slapped the railing hard: "How come these yellow-skinned monkeys have the vitality of cockroaches? So...

After many days of pursuit, they couldn't even replenish the water supply in one place, but they still retreated so much. How could they survive such a strong shelling just now and so many machine gun points?"

"Be patient, Major General." A hand gently placed on Coutinho's shoulder, but it was Viscount Alfonso, the former commander of the Spanish Philippine Squadron: "Look, such a long battle line,

The opponent only has seven or eight firepower points. No matter what, they cannot defend such a long front."

"Of course I know this." Coutinho said bitterly: "It's just that for every additional machine gun point left, our charging soldiers will lose at least one hundred more people."

"In a war, how can we not die at all? If our navy kills people, it would be a tragedy." Alfonso smiled calmly and said: "Your Excellency, judging from the process of our pursuit in the past few days,

There are only half of the enemy here. The other half must have gone ahead to set up fortifications. If, I mean if, the opponent escapes to the inland area this time, then our navy will..."

"It's not if, it's certain. I know that after passing Gaza, there are dense oases in the interior of this place."

"Well, what I want to ask is, it seems that your army can only annihilate this half of Gaza City at best. As for the other half, are you still pursuing it?"

"We have chased them all the way here, how could we not continue? You know, this place is already very close to Jerusalem!"

Speaking of which, as the most trusted person in front of Rodolfo, Coutinho actually vaguely felt the rift between Rodolfo and Philippe. Therefore, when Philippe said that Rodolfo died of overwork, he was the first to not believe it -

-His Royal Highness has a very strong body, and it is impossible for him to die from exhaustion no matter how he dies!

But what can you do if you don’t believe it? The situation is stronger than the person. And as Rudolf’s adjutant, he inevitably received a cold reception after Rudolf’s death: Commander of the 19th Division, you can tell by looking at the number that he

The division is a division composed mainly of new recruits.

In fact, almost all of the officers Rudolph trusted most during his lifetime were treated in this way: the division was dominated by veterans, and its officers were all Spanish nobles or old-style soldiers. However, they, who were most familiar with new warfare methods, were transferred

Went to the new army division, euphemistically called bringing the old with the new...

Therefore, deep in Coutinho's heart, after leading the troops this time, even if the Chinese do not retreat to Jerusalem, he is still thinking about driving the Chinese there: If our army successfully regains Jerusalem, Philip will not be happy no matter how unhappy he is.

Do you want me to be promoted? As long as I can control more troops, one day I will find out the truth behind the sudden death of His Highness the Prince!

"Malditasea!" Just as Coutinho was thinking about it, another Spanish national curse rang out from beside him.

"What's wrong?"

"See for yourself." Alfonso pointed angrily at Gaza City not far away: "After your infantry rushed up, a group of Ottoman cavalry ran out from nowhere. Your artillery is now in danger.
Chapter completed!