Chapter 892: The First Battle to Decide the Belonging of the World (5)

From the day of its birth, human society has been destined to do one thing, that is, the big fist of words counts. This is true for individuals, for countries, and of course this can be a lot of things, such as you have a lot of money.

It is such a cruel reality in front of the French, from Marseille to Paris, can you run back and forth in a day? No, no messenger like this can do it. But that's what they said, they were going to shell Marseille.

What to do? No way! Hurry up and run, and run away if you can. If you can't run, find ground and hide. Ye Hai's purpose is precisely this, to try to avoid civilian casualties. Say hello first, what to do is your business. But to Ye Hai's surprise, the nobles had no bottom line at all, and the first to run away were the nobles of all sizes, and by the time the ordinary people knew the news, it was already dark. Of course, not all nobles are so shameless, there are still brave nobles who care more about his reputation, and at the same time inform the people as much as possible to run away, they themselves also take up arms, go to the fort, and prepare for battle, and do not say anything later.

As an important port in the Mediterranean, the port of Marseille is naturally surrounded by fortresses. One of the most important forts is the Château d'If not far from the exit of the port of Marseille, which is actually a small limestone islet 200 meters long and 168 meters wide, which the French built into a fortress.

"Let them surrender." Yahai sent people to the Château d'If, but the result was naturally boring. The French officers and soldiers in the fortress almost killed the messenger. Facing such a fortress and brave officers and soldiers, Ye Hai raised his hat and saluted slightly: "Fire!" ”

The 20 main guns opened fire one after another, and the small island was instantly shrouded in gunsmoke, and the officers and soldiers inside the fortress. Artillery was also used to return fire, but the range was too close and could only leave one column of water on the surface of the sea. Despite the fact that this was an extremely strong fortress, it looked a little weak in front of the 150 main guns. Just ten minutes later, the shelling stopped. After looking through the telescope for a while, a staggering figure appeared behind the smoke of gunfire, holding a musket in his hand, desperately shooting at the battleship.

Ye Hai's facial expression waved again, and the main cannon roared again. The crumbling base collapsed with a bang.

The sound of the shelling alarmed the nobles of the city and hastened the flight of the cowards. Fortunately, the Château d'If did not resist any longer, and in the face of the marines who boarded the island in small boats, the remaining more than 100 people chose to charge. The result was torn to shreds by machine guns erected on small boats. After the last soldier fell, the battle ended.

When the next morning came, Marseille was in a panic, and a large number of people fled the city with their families. The reason is naturally because the nobles are running away, and in the face of the chaotic city of Marseille, the morale of the soldiers guarding the city is low. In fact, even if their morale is high, it is useless. Just yesterday, they could only watch the destruction of the Château d'If under their eyes.

None of the ships in the harbor dared to go out to sea to meet the battle. The only thing you can count on is the surrounding forts. The city of Marseille was not very cohesive, and the reason was naturally because of the Protestant uprising that took place. After being suppressed by Louis XIV. Two forts, St. John and St. Nicholas, were built here, sheltering the French fleet and hundreds of merchant ships.

It's not that the French fleet is not brave, but because the battle outside the Strait of Gibraltar was too shocking. The four European maritime powers gathered 200 warships to fight. The result was a near-total annihilation. France, which is not a maritime power, is a treasure with those ships under its hands, how can it be willing to pull it out to play with its life.

When the sun rose, thunder sounded on the sea, and the heavy artillery fire instantly drowned the batteries of St. John and St. Nicholas in the smoke. Vintage cannon on a casemate. A desperate counterattack was carried out, but there was no result, and the difference in range was there, and it could only set off one column of water after another on the surface of the sea, which looked spectacular.

The heavy shelling went on for a whole hour, and when the return fire on the batteries was getting weaker and weaker, the cruiser ironclad that had been cruising on the surface of the sea suddenly moved. The so-called shelling of the urban area is really a cover. The cruiser flotilla rushed into the port of Marseille, and the main guns of the cruiser began to attack in the face of the counterattack of the sparse batteries, and before the French fleet and merchant ships in the harbor could react. No one thought that in the face of two fortified batteries, the opponent would dare to rush into the port.

The remaining cannons on the turret fired desperately at the cruiser, but the guns of the main battleships were violently suppressed. At this time, the main fleet approached the port directly, and at a distance of three thousand meters, the ferocious 105 guns rained down.

The cruiser flock was like a flock of sheep in the harbor, staring at the French fleet with a fierce attack, and the French returned fire not without a strong fire, but the shells that hit the armor on one side of the ship did no harm. Even if it hits the superstructure, there will not be too many casualties.

In just one hour, more than 30 French warships in the harbor, as well as nearly 200 ships of all sizes, were wiped out in the face of the artillery fire of the cruiser. Except for a few very small targets, there is basically not a single ship in the harbor that can still sail. At this time, the guns of the cruiser were aimed at the piers and docks, and another heavy fire was fired.

The shelling caused a fierce fire, and the entire pier and surrounding houses were enveloped in flames. Among them was the contribution of the Marseille Arsenal, which was in the spotlight, and without the explosion of this arsenal, the fire would not have been so ferocious.

The ravages of the Ming Empire's navy lasted until the afternoon, and then they left unhurriedly. The whole time in the port of Marseille, the fire raged on the two fortified batteries, and there was no return fire at all. There was not a single good ship in sight in the harbor, and debris floated all over the harbor. This is revenge from the Ming Empire!

The Ming fleet left, leaving behind a mess in the port of Marseille. When Louis XIV, who was far away in Paris, heard the news, he is said to have smashed a lot of things. But he did not dare to execute even a single merchant of the Ming Dynasty, because he knew that once he did so, if he lost on the battlefield in Europe, the retribution he would receive would be extremely terrifying. The Ming Empire, do it.

When news of the fall of Corvado reached Madrid, Carlos II was on pins and needles. Messengers were repeatedly sent asking for reinforcements from various countries to come to Madrid as soon as possible.

Yin Jie spent about a week in Corvado recuperating while cleaning up the surrounding Spanish towns. Any town that dared to resist was brutally attacked by the European expeditionary forces. After creating several bloody cases, Yin Jie finally ordered to continue north. In fact, it's not that Yin Jie doesn't know the speed of soldiers, but he does it deliberately. It is hoped that the Spanish and European coalitions will come together. Then a great battle was fought to solve the problems of the Spanish battlefield. The reason is very simple, the Ming Empire also hopes to be able to fight quickly, and since this is the case, it is not possible to achieve it quickly. If Madrid is scored as quickly as possible, there is hardly any loss of strength for the countries. In the short term, the armies that arrive one after another will consume a lot of supplies from the expeditionary force. This is not in line with the spirit of quick fixes, so it is better to take it slowly. Wait for the opponent to finish assembling before fighting.

Just as the coalition forces arrived in Madrid one after another and completed the assembly, another battlefield was also fought. Three Marine divisions of the Marine Corps, under the cover of nearly a hundred warships, conducted a landing operation in Valencia. This hit directly on the waist of Carlos II, and the European coalition did not expect to have this hand, facing a dilemma. There's always something to focus on, right? Should the landing force in Valencia be fought first, or should it go south in search of a decisive battle?

Landing operations of the Marine Corps in Valencia. It's going well. The reason is that these bastards set a fire when there was resistance in the city. The entire city was engulfed in flames. The Marines served in the colonies for a long time, and the killers and arsons were all journeymen. It can be said that in the overseas territories of the Ming Empire, where there is resistance, there is the sound and shadow of the marines.

For the Navy, every Marine is precious and simply unwilling to consume. Since you're going to fight street battles in the city. Then I'm sorry, a fire was burned, anyway, the marines brought enough kerosene. Because of this fire, the entire landing operation lasted six days before it was completed, and the whole of Valencia was reduced to ruins. In the midst of the ruins. The survivors watched with blank eyes as the enemy flexed their might.

Madrid, the meeting of the European coalition forces was very intense, and under the repeated insistence of the famous French general Condé, the coalition forces decided to fight Valencia first, otherwise this place is too fatal, once the main force goes south, the ribs can be stabbed at any time, how can this be endured? The Marines did not expect that their assisted attack would become the main battlefield.

After landing, the Marines had no intention of moving north quickly, but defended on the spot, sending small units to move around and clear the surrounding towns. The main force rested on the spot, built fortifications, captured people, repaired warehouses, repaired roads, and waited for subsequent supplies to come ashore before talking about other things. The biggest problem with foreign operations is intelligence, and the Marines simply don't know about it, and by this time they have become the main target. Considering the fleet cruising on the sea, even if it is still using honest paper-shell bullet rifles, the Navy does not feel that there is anything to worry about. Build fortifications with peace of mind and guard against enemy guerrillas. Originally, the purpose of doing this was to draw the attention of the European coalition forces so that they could not fully deal with the main forces of the European expeditionary forces.

Oh, and one more thing, by the way, grab a ticket, as a historic port city, there is still a lot to grab. Spain is a country that has colonized South America for a long time and has large reserves of gold and silver. This is the reason why the Marine Corps has to fight to the death, and you can't just watch the Army get rich on the ground, right?

Carlos II, as a landowner, was undoubtedly very tragic, Spain was no longer in its former glory, and for this war, the treasury was exhausted, but in exchange for the war on the mainland. Originally, he hoped that the efforts of the European Combined Fleet would be able to block the Ming Navy from the Strait of Gibraltar, but no one expected that the sail fleet, which gathered the essence of the European Navy, would disappear in this naval battle. Now Carlos can only passively accept this result. Spain was never a land power, and could only fight with the armies of other countries.

Carlos II, who had gathered an army of 100,000 men, had to surrender command under pressure from various countries. It was Condé who took command on behalf of Louis XIV. The famous French general drew up a battle plan, the main force of the coalition forces attacked Valencia, and the south direction was to use the method of resisting and delaying the enemy. According to the information he obtained, the number of landing troops in Valencia was not very large, that is, more than 30,000 people. After all, the number of people in a division of the Ming Dynasty is about 12,000.

He didn't know that the Marine Corps was not a normal infantry division at all, and the establishment of the three Marine Corps of the Ming Navy was all exchanged for countless quarrels. Being able to have a force on the ground is more valuable than an eyeball. How is it possible to easily copy the establishment of the army? Then you can't be laughed to death by the army.

A marine division has two infantry brigades and four regiments under its command, but this is because it does not dare to go too far, and the navy is eager to carry out the establishment of six regiments. In addition to the four infantry regiments, there was an artillery regiment. There are two battalions, but both are four companies. Armed with 105 caliber cannons and 75 mountain guns. Most importantly, each battalion of the Marine Corps had a battery of machine guns, armed with machine guns and mortars removed from the battleship.

It can be said that every unit of the Marine Corps is overstaffed, with only 12,000 men in an infantry division and more than 18,000 troops in a Marine division. The combined strength of the three divisions is 50,000 people, not to mention that the legend is less than 40,000.

Kong Dai gathered 100,000 allied troops from various countries, plus baggage troops, and marched with a brigade of 150,000 people, pulling out more than ten miles on the road. Along the way, there were Spanish people who were sending off, and they really hoped to defeat the Ming army in this battle and defend their homeland. The propaganda within Spain was naturally negative, what murder was like hemp, what slaughter of cities, what infidels, what yellow peril. Anyway, the Europeans of this era are all like this, they have forgotten the Crusades, they have forgotten the bloodshed in the colonies.

The speed of the march under the command of Condé was not too fast, but the quality of a professional soldier was there, and there was no problem at all with a march of ten kilometers a day. In consideration of fighting within the territory, the pace of the coalition army's march was increased, to fifteen kilometers per day. Then, according to the news from the front, the next day the speed was again increased to twenty kilometers.

Upon learning that the enemy forces in Valencia had been building fortifications in preparation for the defense, Condé felt that he had judged correctly, that this was a partial division. I became more and more convinced that his tactics were beyond the enemy's expectations, and I didn't expect him to attack the wrong division first, right? (To be continued......)