() Chapter 235 Defensive Strategy

Just when the Huo Jiajun was observing the troop arrangements of the US troops, considering how to smoothly take the Kinmen Strait, and then landing and attacking San Francisco! On the hillside on the right side of the Kinmen Strait, there were also many US Army officers clustered around a middle-aged officer wearing the uniform of a US Army major general, holding high the monocular in his hand, and staring intently at the sea! Obviously, they also received the news that the Huo Jiajun had arrived at the outer coast of San Francisco!

William Harrison, commander of the 1st Division of the U.S. Army, is also the highest commander of the San Francisco garrison this time!

"Whew......!" Putting down the binoculars in his hand, William Harrison sighed softly, since his troops finished their mission to encircle and suppress the Indians, the desolate western basin was transferred to the west coast of the United States, and took on the defense of the entire San Francisco and its surrounding towns, he had been looking forward to a good battle with the Chinese army!

Although his troops were replenished with many new soldiers, even though the Chinese had just defeated the Dutch and Portugal and taken almost all of the East Indies colonies from their hands, William Harrison did not think that his troops were inferior to the other side!

As a soldier who came out of the Civil War, William Harrison had quite a wealth of war experience! Therefore, after he led his troops to garrison San Francisco, he saw at a glance the important position of the Golden Gate Strait to the defending side, and as long as he held this place, there was no suitable place for a large army to land within 200 kilometers of the Golden Mountains! If he wanted to attack San Francisco, he must first take the Golden Gate Strait, and then the US ** team that occupies a favorable geographical position. Will give the enemy a heavy blow with the guns in their hands!

William Harrison is very confident in his arrangement. The Chinese will pay a heavy price under their own arrangement!

"Unfortunately, the naval strength of the United States is too weak, otherwise, there is no need to worry that the Chinese fleet will threaten the US mainland!" William Harrison said with some sigh in his heart when he thought of the three American warships that had hid in the interior of San Francisco Bay before the war!

"Six ironclad ships, fifty-four large-tonnage transport ships, judging by the size of the fleet. The enemy should have sent at least 30,000 or 40,000 troops! And even with the newly recruited recruits in our hands, it is only 20,000 troops, how can we fight?" An officer standing behind Harrison who looked to be in his thirties and had the rank of lieutenant colonel on his shoulder said with a pale face as he looked at the huge fleet that was slowly moving over!

Although most of the senior officers at the division and regimental level in the United States had participated in the American Civil War more than ten years ago, they were not much worse than the senior officers of the Huo Jiajun in terms of experience and quality, and even won the victory. However, almost all the middle-level officers and all the officers and men came from the era of peace, and they never took part in any regular warfare, and even when dealing with the Indians, they crushed the other side with their own powerful equipment and the number of soldiers who had absolute superiority! In such a battle similar to the suppression of bandits, the improvement of the troops' experience was really limited!

Therefore, against the Indians who were armed with broadswords and spears, and most of them used bows and arrows. These American ** teams are barely okay, but now on the real battlefield, against the Chinese People's Army equipped with jīng sharp, most of the American middle and low-level officers and soldiers have no bottom in their hearts!

Harrison frowned, a little pale from his men's faces. He had already learned that the approaching Chinese fleet on the opposite side was putting too much pressure on them, and that his subordinates lacked experience in warfare. Therefore, fear inevitably arises in his heart, but as the commander of the army, he has the obligation to rebuild confidence for his subordinates!

Thinking of this, Harrison's thick black eyebrows spread, his calloused left hand grasped the brass sè, which had been somewhat worn, and pointed towards the fleet that was gradually becoming clear on the sea in the distance, and said proudly: "Everyone, is the Chinese fleet on the other side strong?"

After hearing his words, most of the officers around him had surprised looks on their faces!

Although we don't know how many troops there are on those 50-odd transport ships, even if the cross-ocean expedition carries a lot of supplies, these dozens of large-tonnage transport ships can at least carry 30,000 or 40,000 soldiers! Moreover, there are six ironclad ships to escort the escort, and you must know that the main guns on these warships are all large-tonnage heavy artillery, and the deterrence and damage to the army are really too great! Therefore, there is no doubt about the strength of the Chinese expeditionary force!

But at this moment, Harrison seemed to turn a blind eye to the gods on everyone's faces, and the gods said calmly: "Yes, they are very strong, and the number of squadrons far exceeds ours! Moreover, after experiencing the war with the Netherlands and Portugal, their war experience is far from being comparable to our soldiers now, and even they are far more advanced than us in terms of equipment!" After a pause, Harrison's sharp gaze slowly swept over the faces of the gods, and the brass telescope in his left hand pointed straight at the Huo family fleet in the distance, and said in a calm tone: "However, although they are much stronger than us, I still think that our army of the United States of America can defeat them!"

"Why, General, is there still a reinforcement sent to us in the country?" Hearing him say this, an elderly relative wearing a major's military uniform couldn't help but ask!

"Hehe, the president and Congress have long ordered the expansion of the army, so our reinforcements are not far away! But I just said that we can defeat the Chinese not by relying on the reinforcements given to us by the country, but by relying on it!" said Harrison and pointed to the Golden Gate Strait, which separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean like a barrage like a barrage!

Looking at the puzzled expressions on everyone's faces, Harrison couldn't help but say with some excitement: "The Kinmen Strait has a special geography, eight kilometers long, and the widest point is only three kilometers, even the smallest caliber artillery can easily block the entire bay! In addition, the entire Kinmen Strait is steep, and it is not suitable for large-scale land landing operations at all!" Therefore, if the Chinese want to capture San Francisco, then they must first take the Kinmen Strait, so we just need to hold the Kinmen Strait, then even if the Chinese army is several times larger than ours this time, we do not need to be afraid!"

"No wonder, as soon as we came here, the general ordered us to concentrate all the artillery in the army here, so there was such a plan!"

At this time, it became clear that the commanders of the army had the advantage of having rich experience in warfare, unlike most of the officers who had just graduated from the military academy, who would only command the army mechanically according to the cāo code!

Don't think that the strategy of relying on the terrain for defense is very simple, but in this machine gun has not yet been invented, the means of communication are basically zero, and the military band is still relied on to command the troops to fight, relying on the neat queue, and the tactics of the gun platoon, to achieve victory in the war, in the Western world where the knight jīng god prevails, this change is not something that can be played by new soldiers! Moreover, Americans do not know the "Art of War" and the Thirty-six Strategies!

Listening to the discussions around him, Harrison smiled faintly: "We now have more than 50 artillery pieces on both sides of the Kinmen Strait, and there are even two 203mm caliber coastal defense guns brought over from the east.

"Yes, General!" Seeing the hope of defeating the enemy, the officers at all levels of the First Division of the surrounding Army finally replied much louder!

After nodding with satisfaction and waving his hand to let everyone disperse! Harrison finally looked back at the Chinese expeditionary fleet in the distance, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes! Although with the Kinmen Strait as a barrier, he was confident that he could hold there with his own troops and thwart the Chinese expeditionary fleet! However, the strength of the Chinese is stronger than their own troops, and it is difficult to imagine what means they will use to attack themselves!

In addition, if you know the importance of the Kinmen Strait to the defense, then the senior officers within the squadron will definitely see the importance of the Kinmen Strait for the landing of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the military operation to occupy San Francisco!

"What will you do?" Harrison, who was hidden deep in the sockets of his eyebrows, with a hint of confusion in his sharp eyes, looked at the Chinese fleet on the sea in the distance, and couldn't help muttering to himself!

Because the squadron has already reached the coast, the troops of the 1st Division of the US Army stationed in San Francisco have already strengthened their defense! However, although they have the awareness of strengthening the defense, the quality of the soldiers is really not very good, and they have been training for a long time, so they only sent some soldiers to patrol the night and strengthen some jǐng preparations, which is already strengthening the defense!

As for the light and dark sentinels, ingenious traps and other necessary things in the defense of the Huo family's army, there is no same!

As time passed little by little, the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which was less than 10,000 meters away from the Kinmen Strait during the day, automatically retreated before it got dark, as if it had long known that the US **** team had already deployed powerful artillery on the Kinmen Strait! This could not help but make the American soldiers who were ready to give the Chinese an unforgettable lesson were extremely disappointed!

After holding on for an afternoon, watching the squadron gradually disappear into the depths of the ocean, even with a telescope, the soldiers of the 1st Division of the US Army couldn't help but relax!

As the sky grew darker, the visibility on the sea gradually decreased, and most of the American soldiers had already returned to their tents to sleep after dinner!