Chapter 2948

An expedition-class warship slowly sailed into the harbor on the south side of Masbate Town, followed closely by several troop transport ships. The appearance of this fleet made the dock that had been quiet for a day become lively again.

"Squad leader, the battle is over, why are you still transporting troops here?"

Qiu Yong who asked the question was sitting on the eaves of the church. The height from here to the ground was more than three feet, but he didn't seem to care. His feet were dangling back and forth in the air. From this position, he could see clearly to the south without the help of a telescope.

Saw the movement in that harbor.

Although Zheng Agui was not afraid of heights, he did not dare to sit like him and stood a little further away from the eaves. He happened to know the answer to Qiu Yong's question.

"That should be the militia that came to take over here. When they arrive, we should leave!"

According to the pre-war deployment, after the Bangui Battalion captures the town of Masbate, the militia troops arriving later will take over the security and defense here. As a combat force, the Bangui Battalion must prepare to move to the next target.

Also arriving at Masbate Town with the militia troops were young officers from the staff of the Fourth Army Division. Feng Xingbang and Juan brought the latest instructions from the headquarters, as well as reports on the battle conditions on other battlefields.

They did not directly participate in the battle in Masbate Town. In the past two days, they have been staying in a bay about sixty miles northwest of Masbate Town, performing another special mission.

Several technicians from the Mining Department of the Ministry of Industry of Haihan carried out field exploration work in the local area under their protection. It is said that there is gold of considerable development value near the bay called Aloloi by the indigenous people.

mine.

When Feng Xingbang received this mission, he did not believe its authenticity because this place was so close to the Spanish settlement. If there was a gold mine that was easy to mine, the Spanish would have discovered it long ago.

He believed that this was more likely because the superiors had specially arranged such a "special mission" that was close to the battlefield but did not require setting foot on the battlefield out of consideration for his personal safety. After all, if something happened to him on the battlefield, the Luzon Region

It should be difficult for several important people to explain to Feng Annan, so of course it is better to do less than to do more.

However, on the day the exploration team arrived at their destination, they unearthed gold-rich ore in a mountain forest. Feng Xingbang witnessed the entire excavation process and realized that the task assigned by the headquarters was no joke.

He then began to have another idea. This operation took the small town of Masbate as the first target. Was it because of the geographical location of Masbate Town, or was it to exploit Masbate Island?

Clear the way for this gold mine?

Fortunately, there were neither Spaniards nor dangerous indigenous tribes in the area where the exploration team was operating. The mission that was originally scheduled to take four days was successfully completed in just over a day. The exploration team set off back to Manila, while Feng Xingbang and Hu

An Ze met up with the fleet transporting militiamen and rushed to Masbate Town together.

After a few brief greetings with the Bangui Battalion Commander on the dock, Feng Xingbang took the initiative to get to the point: "The headquarters decided that the 7th Battalion of the Luzon Militia will take over Masbate Town, and the relevant handover work must be completed within 24 hours.

It will be completed within 12 days, is there no problem at Bangui Camp?"

The battalion commander responded: "Our battalion has completed most of the work of registering local residents, and almost all the resistance elements have been arrested. There should be no problem in handing over according to the time limit. However, from the beginning of the battle to now, many brothers in our battalion have still

They were not able to get enough rest, and I hope we can let them rest for a while before setting off to the next place."

Feng Xingbang said: "This is the decision of the headquarters. All arrangements should be based on military orders."

The battalion commander heard that he refused to let go, and was waiting for a few more words of persuasion when Feng Xingbang continued: "The twenty-four-hour handover time limit should be calculated from when the militia troops complete the landing. Considering that it will be dark soon, the landing process

It may be slower, so we’ll start at midnight. Camp Bangui will set off the day after tomorrow at the latest, is that okay?”

When the battalion commander heard this, he relaxed and thanked Feng Anbang repeatedly for his accommodation.

In the original battle plan, the Bangui Battalion needed to capture Masbate Town within 48 hours, but it actually took less than 12 hours to complete the occupation task, and it will only reach 48 hours as of noon tomorrow. However, Feng Xingbang’s timing arrangement

, which actually gave Camp Bangui an extra night of rest, which is of course a good thing.

Feng Xingbang waved his hand and said: "You don't need to thank me. The main reason why I give you more time is because the battle progress in other places is not ideal, which will cause the subsequent combat mission arrangements to be delayed."

When talking about the war situation and military situation, the battalion commander did not dare to neglect and quickly invited them to the temporary headquarters in the town.

One day ago, this was the residence of the local magistrate Vargas, but after the Haihan army took the town of Masbate, it was requisitioned.

Feng Anbang walked to the battle map and began to explain the current battle situation to the officers of Bangui Camp. Since he was performing the task of protecting the exploration team in the past two days, the time to obtain these battle situation information through the radio was actually only less than that of Bangui Camp.

It was only a few hours early, so it was almost immediately sold.

That day, the Haihan fleet heading south divided into three groups near the Sibuyan Sea. They went all the way south to Panay Island, attacked the Bangui Camp on Masbate Island, and went all the way east to Samar Island.

Among the three forces, the Bangui Battalion received the simplest mission, because there is only such a stronghold on Masbate Island. Occupying this town is basically completing the mission. Panay Island and Samar Island

There is more than one colonial point controlled by the Spanish, and the area of ​​the two islands is far larger than Masbate Island, which requires higher efficiency of operations.

The army units responsible for attacking Panay Island are Subic Battalion and Manila Battalion. There are three targets in the north and south of the island. The original plan was for the two battalions to simultaneously attack the two colonial points on the north coast and then join forces.

place, and then attack Iloilo City in the south of the island—it was the administrative capital of the Spanish colonial authorities on Panay Island.

However, the two armies, which had high hopes before the war, encountered minor setbacks in the first battle.

The town of Kalibo that the Manila Battalion was responsible for attacking was located near the mouth of the Aklan River. However, the Manila Battalion did not calculate the tide time when launching the attack. The fleet encountered low tide when sailing into the Aklan River from the sea, delaying the original plan.

The battle plan gave the local Spaniards time to react.

Many Spaniards fled inland before the Manila Battalion landed, so Haihan had to spend a lot of time catching these escapees after occupying the area. Although these follow-up tasks did not necessarily require the Manila Battalion to complete,

This situation is already considered a failure for the Manila Battalion, which is the main force of the Fourth Mainland Division.
Chapter completed!