The chief of staff, who looked a little anxious, frowned, stepped forward and said dissuasively, "Otherwise, let's bypass here and go directly to the heat. Naya Harbor. Attacking with so many heavy artillery will cause great losses to the troops. ”

"Confused!" Count Cavour threw the pencil in his hand on the map with a cold face, glared at his chief of staff, and said in a cold voice, "It's hot. Naya will not have naval shelling? The Mediterranean Fleet will not send the ship over? And if you make a detour, what if the defenders here attack and cut off the supply line? All starvation? More importantly, the blow to morale without fighting in the face of the enemy is enough to make us go to everything. We have to take it here! ”

Count Cavour naturally knew that a strong attack would cost a huge amount. But if you don't attack, the situation will get even worse!

The southward strategy, which he himself proposed and strongly demanded, was now about to turn around and return to attack the city of Milan because he was blocked? Even if you turn around and go back to attack the city of Milan, as long as it's hot. The port of Naya is still in the hands of the Ming army, so they can send reinforcements and supplies to the city of Milan by sea.

Can't occupy the heat. Naya Harbor, forcefully cut off the material passage of the defenders. How many days can the small and weak Sardinia be consumed? Even the capture of Milan would only be a temporary victory. Wait until the annoyed Ming Empire expeditionary force comes to the hot. At the time of the port of Naya, Count Cavour did not think that his army would be able to resist. That's the regular army of the Chinese people!

Count Cavour didn't think there was a mistake in his plan, but he didn't expect the Ming navy to react so quickly. The performance of the Sardinian Navy was disappointing, the most threatening submarine was actually destroyed by a sneak attack, so that the Ming Navy could let go of support without any worries. This was the deadliest change in the tide of battle, completely disrupting his previous plans.

Originally, Count Cavour thought that there was a threat from submarines, and the Ming navy, which had no choice, would not dare to approach the port. He will be able to calmly sweep along the coast with a large army, and finally capture the hot . Naya Port, using the prisoners in his hands and the safety of the Governor of Milan as a bargaining chip, asked for a chance to negotiate peace after giving the Ming Empire face. But now that it's like this, there's no point in talking about it.

For soldiers, it is far more effective to do it directly than to use their lips.

As a commander, since you have made up your mind, you will not hesitate to put your strength into battle. As for war damage, where are the immortals in war?

The Sardinians did not send the remaining tank forces. Not for fear of loss, but because the outer perimeter of the port of Savona is all mountainous. Although it is not a high hillside, it is just an ordinary hill. But it's definitely not a tank that can climb over it. The road below the hill has been completely destroyed, and there are huge trenches and countless mines everywhere. It was impossible for the infantry to fill the trenches under the threat of fire from the hills on either side, wielding sapper shovels.

In this case, Count Cavour had no choice but to use the tactic of the sea of people, which he least wanted to use, using infantry clusters to assault and capture hill after hill. And that means huge casualties.

The defenders had strong fire support. Several destroyers from the Mediterranean Fleet sailed into the port of Savona and used their own 155 guns to get in close support.

As for the heavy warships on the open sea, they will not fire until they need to. After all, the loss of hundreds of millimeter caliber cannons is too great, and it is completely asymmetrical in terms of cost performance for bombardment of light infantry. Not in an emergency, it is enough to use just some light artillery.

Light artillery in the eyes of the Navy is an out-and-out heavy artillery in the eyes of the Army. Even a 155 mm naval gun was a mortal threat to the attacking Sardinians.

In many cases, the Sardinians would choose to hide on the back of a hill in order to avoid naval fire, making it difficult for naval guns with a flat trajectory to hit them.

But at this time, the defenders on the top of the hill would use concealed 75mm howitzers and a small mortar with strange ballistics, but they could rain down with a dense cannonball, causing massive damage.

"That's it." Zhang Cheng nodded with satisfaction, turned to look at Liu Kuaizui on the side, "Don't be stingy with ammunition, the army headquarters has ordered the supply to be opened." Military depots in colonies throughout the continent of Europa are shipping munitions to our side. Hit them all. Zhang Cheng, who comes from modern time and space, emphasizes the supremacy of firepower.

"Yes!" From an ordinary soldier who was forced to leave the army to become a temporary company commander at this moment, he participated in a large-scale battle that was sure to attract the attention of the world. Liu Kuaizui was 10,000 grateful to Zhang Cheng in his heart.

Zhang Cheng looked around at this simple temporary headquarters and said with a smile: "The trench must be constructed strongly, and the anti-artillery hole must have the ability to resist heavy artillery bombardment. The Sardinians have heavy artillery in their hands, you must remember this. ”

"Yes, sir." Liu Kuaizui saluted again.

Zhang Cheng raised his hand and pinched his chin, muttered slightly for a moment, and then spoke: "Calculate the time, their artillery is almost there." Place a small number of troops on the front line of the position, and wait until the enemy attacks before committing the main force, understand? ”

"Yes, sir!" Liu Kuaizui shouted loudly.

Zhang Cheng took out a cigarette and lit it. After thinking about it, and just as he was about to say something more, a sharp whistle suddenly came from outside the command post, mixed with the sentry's mournful shout, "The enemy is coming!" ”

Zhang Cheng casually threw away the cigarette, turned around and raised the binoculars, and looked down the hillside through the narrow observation opening.

The black pressed a large area of Sardinian soldiers rushed in, lined up in loose lines of skirmishers, and crawled towards the top of the hill hunched over. The accompanying shelling also fell on the hilltop positions, and listening to the sound and power should have been just ordinary seventy-five-mm field guns. The power of artillery of this caliber had little effect on a strong trench line.

This attack was clearly different from the previous tentative attacks. This is a blitz that really threw a lot of power into it.

"It seems that the Sardinians are in a hurry." Zhang Cheng pursed the corners of his lips and whispered to himself, "The heavy artillery has not yet arrived, and they are in such a hurry to attack, it seems that the power in their hands is not as strong as they imagined." ”

Zhang Cheng's inference is not wrong.

Because of their poverty, the Sardinians' heavy artillery was transported by horse-drawn carts and manpower. It's not that far away, but it still takes a few days to get there. Knowing that it was a well-defended mountainous area, and that the defenders had strong fire support, the Sardinians still chose to attack. That can only show that their mood is very urgent at the moment.

Count Cavour, of course, was in a hurry, and time was now of the essence to the Sardinians. The armies of the Ming Empire were transporting all over the continent of Europa in this direction, and even in the distant Ming Empire itself, troops began to be mobilized for shipment to Italy. Hot. The garrison of Naya Harbor is increasing by the hour, and they simply can't afford to drag it out.

Count Cavour's chief of staff urged him to wait until the artillery unit arrived before attacking, but he could not wait. Can't take down the heat as soon as possible. The port of Naya, the glorious results achieved by the Sardinians, will be useless. Once the Ming Empire became angry and serious, the Sardinians could only be crushed into powder.

The Sardinian army was highly trained and very motivated to unify its country. Hundreds of attacking soldiers pulled out loose skirmishers, running left and right, with the help of stones and trees, and marched towards the top of the hill step by step. In the distance below the mountain, a large number of heavy machine guns began to strafe the hill and suppress the fire. The whole rhythm went very smoothly.

"It's all elite." Zhang Cheng shook his head and put down the telescope in his hand. At this moment he remembered a few months ago in the heat. The Sardinian army that the port of Naya had diplomatically dealt with. These Italian servicemen are really good. Well-trained, determined, not afraid of life and death, and fighting for the unification of his country is very high. It is completely two extremes from Zhang Cheng's impression of the Italian army that is specifically responsible for pulling back its legs.

"It seems that the environment is still changing." Zhang Cheng shook his head and sighed lightly. After a pause, he turned his gaze to Liu Kuaizui, who was waiting on the side, and ordered softly, "Send coordinates to the navy." ”

Zhang Cheng admired this brave Italian army, but he would never be relented by his appreciation. For Zhang Cheng, the army composed of Chinese people under his command is the most important.

The Sardinian army spent several days on the way to the port of Savona. And Zhang Cheng has greatly consolidated his defensive position in the past few days. In addition to digging anti-tank trenches, laying mines, building defensive positions, and so on. He also borrowed from the tactics of artillery area coverage in later generations. Many Ming officers admired him, believing that Zhang Cheng was a natural excellent commander.

To put it bluntly, the artillery area coverage tactic is to divide one's defensive position into several areas on the map. Each area was marked with detailed coordinates and given to the artillerymen. When the enemy attacked, the artillerymen were given orders to shell different areas according to different positions. The artillerymen can set up the design elements according to the set goals. Doing so can concentrate artillery fire and deal a great blow to the attacking side in a short period of time. The only difference is that this time the artillery was replaced by a fleet on the sea.

"This is 03-A." Liu Kuaizui picked up the phone and shouted, "The 155 artillery group has been firing rapidly for three minutes, targeting the area from 03-A01 to 03-A05. Do you understand? ”

The call was made to the headquarters in the port of Savona, where Zhang Cheng was supposed to be. However, Zhang Cheng was unwilling to sit in the office and wait for the report, so he came to the front line to observe and command the operation.

After the front-line troops gave the coordinates, a telegram was sent by the command to the Navy on the sea. After all, even in the Ming Empire, it is impossible to popularize radio to the company, and the company cannot have the right to directly call for artillery support, or naval artillery support. The tactics of this era were not yet so advanced.

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