Chapter 1401: Welcoming the King's Master with Food and Drink (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
Cuba, more than ten miles southwest of the coast of Sannotti, as black smoke columns drifted with the wind, a long string of ship shadows gradually emerged from the sea horizon.
The landing troops have arrived!
As a loud whistle sounded on the "Yang Wei" transport ship, the flag was raised to the masthead. According to the predetermined plan, the landing force will be divided into several batches to carry out the landing mission separately.
The 5th Regiment of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Division, equipped with landing ships, was the first to break away from the main force and head towards the coast under the escort of several escort gunboats.
Behind them, the black barrels of four battleships were pointed directly at the land, ready to launch a devastating bombardment on the land at any time.
Almost an hour later, the landing ship arrived at the coast. After landing on the beach, the clam-shaped bow opened and the steel bow landing bridge extended out. This type of landing ship was designed by Emperor Zhu based on the LST landing ship in World War II. A simple design was drawn and it was jointly developed by the Imperial Navy Ship Administration and civilian shipyards.
The reason why Emperor Zhu attached great importance to the research and development of amphibious landing ships was that a large number of landing battles were needed in the empire's global operations. In another world, a big reason for the failure of many landing battles in World War I was the lack of dedicated landing ships.
Therefore, the Imperial Military had to develop amphibious landing ships for landing warfare, and at the same time, the LCVP landing craft were also developed. The service of these two types of amphibious landing ships enabled the Imperial Military to transport landing troops, tanks, artillery, various motor vehicles and other weapons and equipment for long-distance voyages, and to land directly on enemy beaches.
As the bow landing bridge was lowered, a roaring Type 18 tank drove from the landing bridge to the beach.
tank!
Finally entered the battlefield!
Standing on the seat with half of his body exposed, Li Chengdong gave the order through the in-car intercom on his helmet.
"Seize the beachhead immediately!"
Under his command, the three tanks of the tank platoon drove directly onto the beach and headed for a small hill not far behind the beach. On the hill, the tank's 30mm gun pointed straight into the distance.
Behind them, troops were constantly landing, tanks and cars drove onto the beach through the bow landing bridge, and more and more Marines got off the landing craft and rushed onto the beach.
As the troops consolidated their beachhead, they encountered no resistance - the area was not a Cuban "fortified area" at all, with no artillery batteries or any defensive weapons.
"This is the benefit of amphibious landing ships!"
Huang Kun smiled as he observed the situation on the shore through a telescope.
"With amphibious ships, we can carry out landing operations at any time and anywhere. The initiative on the battlefield is completely in our hands!"
This is the new era of landing operations. In the past, landing operations mostly involved troop transports sending troops to the near sea, and then the soldiers rowed barges to land. As for war horses, cannons, and ammunition, they all needed to be transported through the port. Once they left the port, the troops’ heavy equipment could not go ashore at all. But what about now?
Amphibious landing ships can bypass ports guarded by heavy troops and artillery batteries and deliver troops and personnel and equipment directly ashore on any undefended beach.
"Yes, sir, this is a brand new amphibious warfare tactic!"
Huang Kunyi said proudly amid the echoes of the staff.
"Now I order - advance inland, immediately, and attack inland with all your strength! Our goal is Havana!"
Take Havana!
It is the mission target of "Operation Castro". If there is any important strategic location in Cuba, there is only one place, Havana, which is not only the capital of Cuba, but also a Chinese community.
In fact, there are many Chinese or Chinese-mixed people in other parts of Cuba. Just after receiving the order, Li Chengdong, as the vanguard, was advancing inland with an infantry company when he encountered "resistance" - a dozen teenagers wearing earth-colored short-sleeved shirts, green shorts, and red scarves around their necks. They had all kinds of weapons in their hands, including old-fashioned Spencer rifles and newer bolt-action rifles.
Who are they?
It must be the Boy Scouts. Imperial soldiers all joined the Imperial Boy Scouts when they were young and wore the same uniforms. They are almost all mixed-race.
Just by seeing this uniform, they wouldn't shoot - only the Empire had Boy Scouts among all the countries in the world, and in other countries only overseas Chinese schools organized Boy Scouts, and almost every overseas Chinese community had a branch of the Boy Scouts.
This also means that they must be children of overseas Chinese.
When these scouts saw Li Chengdong and others who were the vanguards, their faces were full of joy, and a young boy walked forward and shouted loudly.
"You are the Empire's army!"
The young man spoke Mandarin with a Cantonese accent, and his identity was self-evident - overseas Chinese. In fact, when they saw the national flags on their uniforms, they knew their identities - the imperial army!
The Imperial Army is coming!
In fact, it was precisely because their identities were clear that they came out of their homes with guns and wanted to cooperate with the government forces.
"Haha, great, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you and the government troops..."
The young man said happily.
"Where are you going?"
As he spoke, he climbed onto the tank without hesitation and said.
"My name is Gu Junen, we are both students from the nearby Overseas Chinese Middle School. We can be your guide. Turn left from the intersection ahead and you will reach Sandino. Turn right and follow the road all the way to Havana..."
When the teenagers faced these soldiers from the Ming Dynasty, they did not feel any sense of strangeness at all, but only a sense of closeness that came from the bottom of their hearts.
However, Li Chengdong and his men obviously had no intention of letting these children lead the way. After letting them sit on the tank for a while, they let the children go home. After all, fighting was the business of adults and soldiers, and it would not be the turn of these children.
However, the appearance of the children also made Li Chengdong and others understand what would be waiting for them in this country - there would be no fierce resistance. After all, almost half of the population of this country are overseas Chinese or Chinese descendants.
Throughout the rest of the journey, there were overseas Chinese everywhere to welcome their arrival - their farms were spread all over Cuba, and when they discovered that these "invaders" were actually imperial troops, they still treated them as "invaders."
As a result, after the army landed, not only did they not encounter any resistance, but they even unexpectedly welcomed the royal army with food and drink.
When passing a small town where the majority of the population was overseas Chinese, the soldiers saw the flag of the empire flying over the town when they were still some distance away from the town.
"Which unit got there first?"
Almost subconsciously, Li Chengdong and his men thought that some troop had gotten ahead of them.
Before they could figure out what was going on, they were surrounded by hundreds of civilians. These civilians were holding bamboo baskets filled with all kinds of fruits and food, and they happily surrounded the imperial soldiers.
"Sir, we've been waiting for you."
"No, sir. We have been looking forward to it for years, hoping that the imperial army will come and make Cuba ours. It's great that the soldiers are finally here."
The people who surrounded the troops were talking to each other about their joy.
"here it is?"
"This is Tangshan Town. Most of the people living here are our own people. Sir, we heard that you are here. Look..."
The leading old man pointed at the national flags hanging on the doors and windows of the houses nearby and said.
"We have just put up the national flag, sir. Isn't that what the people want?"
The people's will is what the people want. At least the hearts of these expatriates in the empire are in the empire!
However, this does not mean that the Cuban army did not resist. In fact, while the overseas Chinese were happily welcoming the entry of the imperial army, the Cuban army, knowing that their country had been invaded, was also gathering...
The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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