When Lin Ziran ordered the troops to start attacking, the staff team of the staff office quickly issued combat orders to all units according to the battle plan.

According to the operational order, the entire counteroffensive plan will be carried out in several stages, the first of which is the preliminary preparation stage.

This preparation included the early maneuver of the troops, and this time Xu Teng and their retreat was somewhat thorough, and the people did not retreat a few kilometers, but retreated about thirty kilometers in one go.

This is not to say that they are afraid of the South Navy and do not dare to get too close, but purely because the terrain in the area of Huaijiang County, which is more than 30 kilometers away, is more suitable for deployment, and the Anlong Army and the long-term garrison in this area to resist the Luo Navy already have a relatively complete defense system.

In addition, if the retreat of more than 30 kilometers in one breath can also create a buffer space of more than 30 kilometers, in which the Hetai Army can ambush the rashly advancing South Navy by deploying cavalry troops, thereby stifling the advance of the South Navy and lengthening the supply line of the South Navy.

Although the Southern Navy can advance along the Nanluo River and use ships to transport a large amount of supplies, it is difficult for the Southern Navy to find a relatively good port to unload a large number of supplies after leaving Nanyungang.

Even if some small ports or some temporary trestle bridges are used, at most only a part of the supplies can be unloaded, and these materials are still not enough for the large counteroffensive forces.

Limited by the port setting, if the South China Navy wants to counterattack, except for a small number of materials that can be transported directly to the front line by ship, in fact, most of the materials and troops need to disembark at Nanyungang and then arrive at the front line by land transportation.

For a period of time before the Southern Navy, in order to avoid accidents, except for the mobile cavalry units and a few peripheral troops, the main force did not leave the Nanyungang defense line.

Now that we are going to counterattack on all fronts, we must first cross a distance of more than 30 kilometers to reach the Huaijiang defense line.

At this time, in addition to the army's own march, it is also very important to deploy a large amount of materials and march with the troops.

Don't think it's a simple matter, this is quite a huge project, it is easy to mobilize tens of thousands of troops to march, but it is not so easy to maintain the materials needed for the fierce battle of tens of thousands of troops.

The amount of supplies needed by so many people is huge, from the most basic ammunition to the uniforms, tents, and other messy supplies, almost everything that the troops need has to be transported.

Therefore, the preparatory stage in the early stage is ostensibly the mobility of the troops, but in fact it is more important to deploy materials.

To this end, the logistics department of the South China Navy is operating around the clock, following the example of the Northern Expedition, and setting up a number of temporary transport regiments, the main body of these temporary transport regiments are temporarily recruited young and strong people, with four-wheeled heavy carriages as the main means of land transportation, with Nanyungang as the starting point, forwarding and transporting huge materials to the front line.

In particular, the deployment of bullets and shells is a top priority!

For the Southern Navy, keeping logistics smooth has been hoarded in advance, and it is far more important than before, even more than the troops of any other feudal town.

This is due to the exponential increase in ammunition consumption caused by the higher speed of the comprehensive application of breech-loading rifled weapons in the South Navy.

It can be said that the superiority of the South Korean Navy's firepower actually relies on the accumulation of a huge amount of ammunition, and there is not enough ammunition to support it, even if the rate of fire of the rear-loading rifle is fast, it is useless.

Once the front-line troops start fighting, the consumption of ammunition is very rapid, which requires the logistics troops to prepare in advance, not only to stock up on the front line in advance, but also to be able to transport ammunition and materials from the rear to the front line.

The logistics system established by the logistics department is actually far more than the front line from Nanyungang to Huaijiang, the distance of more than 30 kilometers is strictly speaking just a front-line logistics line, and these temporary transport regiments will even arrange troops to escort them, and there will also be cavalry and main forces on the periphery to blockade and intercept them, so as to prevent the Hetai army from infiltrating and attacking these temporary transport regiments.

The logistics system of the logistics department also includes the transportation routes from Nanyungang to Luohai City, Luo'an City and many other cities and regions.

After all, for an artillery shell to reach the front line, it must first be produced from the Nanzhou Machinery Bureau or the Luo'an Arsenal, and then loaded onto the ship through logistics deployment, transported by steam freighter, and then crossed the Luo River and then entered the Nanluo River, so that it could reach Nanyungang.

After arriving at Nanyungang, a strategic transit center for supplies, the logistics department will mobilize materials to be transported to different frontlines according to the specific situation and orders.

Because the counteroffensive of the South China Navy was not confined to a certain point, but was aimed at the entire Huajiang County, the distance between the troops was relatively large, and the distance between the troops on the southern and northern flanks reached more than 30 kilometers.

The reason why the distance is so large is naturally because the South China Navy wants to play the old roundabout attack, use a part of the troops to contain the enemy head-on, and then send the main elite to make a detour and directly enter the enemy's hinterland, forming a semi-encirclement posture, forcing the enemy to take the initiative to abandon the front and retreat, and then pursue to cause the collapse of the enemy army.

If the enemy army does not retreat, then what is there to say, directly encircle and annihilate.

This trick has been tried and tested repeatedly by the Yugoslav Navy in the past year.

Since it's fun to play, it's natural to keep playing!

To accomplish such a tactic, the challenge to the logistics system is also very huge, and a wide range of detours means that the distance of material transportation is also increased.

When the troops make a large detour on the front line, the logistics unit also has to follow behind to supply supplies.

Otherwise, the troops would have made a detour and found that the shells and bullets had run out, and it would have been easy for the enemy to directly cut off the retreat by a counterattack.

At that time, it will not be a strategic detour to encircle the enemy, but a siege of the enemy.

Fortunately, the logistics system of the South China Navy has been tested by several major wars and has taken initial shape, and although this situation is more complicated today, the logistics department of the South China Navy is still confident that it will be able to accomplish this challenge.

While the logistics department was operating day and night, the troops on the front line also officially embarked on the journey of the counteroffensive.

The Seventh Division, which was originally stationed there, began to advance eastward, and the whole division did not make a detour, and went straight to the Huaijiang River along the Nanluo River, and the eighth division was located on the north side of the seventh division.

Both divisions were originally stationed on the eastern defensive line, and they were more knowledgeable and well-prepared on the ground, so they were the first counteroffensive.

After these two divisions, there is the Fifth Division and some cavalry units, and more importantly, a large number of heavy artillery units, and a large number of 100-mm cannons and 150-mm howitzers that have previously made meritorious contributions in the Northern Expedition will once again become the protagonists of the war.

In order to gain an advantage in firepower, Lin Ziran mobilized three heavy artillery regiments, with more than 30 10-millimeter cannons and nearly 70 150-millimeter howitzers.

In addition to these troops, a large number of river warships accompanied the advance to provide artillery support, and it is worth noting that some of these gunboats have also been replaced with breech-loading rifled guns, and the combined battleships are also equipped with nearly 30 breech-loading guns, basically all of which are 100-millimeter cannons, which are very powerful.

However, if you are familiar with the Southern Navy, you will find that among these units there is no First Division, the number one ace unit under Lin Ziran, nor is there a Fourth Division that is urgently reinforced from the southern front from the northern front, let alone a few main cavalry units.

Where are these troops?

This is also what Xu Teng on the other side wants to know!

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