Chapter 585 Successful login
The fleet set off in the early morning and arrived at the sea near its destination around noon. Using his telescope, Wang Tom could already see several small fishing boats engaged in fishing operations on the sea a few nautical miles away.
"Order the combat ships to move forward at full speed and execute the original plan after entering the harbor!" Wang Tom put down the telescope and began to issue combat orders.
According to the battle plan formulated in advance, the seventeen ships of the fleet will not all rush forward at once. Instead, the warships equipped with artillery will take the lead, suppressing possible resistance and counterattacks on the coastline with firepower, and then control the situation before proceeding. Use small boats to send infantry ashore, and then capture the port town.
This combat plan had been formulated two months ago, and the fleet also conducted several drills while stationed in the Qiongbei Strait. Although it was not a field drill, and it was not yet familiar with this tactic, Wang Tom was convinced that This set of tactics is completely sufficient for this small port on Natuna Island, which lacks precautions.
When the fleet was about five nautical miles away from the port, it was also discovered by fishing boats on the sea. After all, the huge figure of the "Dignity-class" battleship could not be concealed by the thin mist on the sea.
The Dutch's response was slightly faster than Wang Tom expected. When the fleet approached the port, a Western-style sailboat sailed out of the port. However, this ship did not rush up to fight for its life, but headed southeast.
"Stop it. If the ship doesn't want to stop, you can just fire!" Wang Tom gave the order calmly.
Obviously, this ship did not intend to come out to prevent the invasion of foreign enemies, but wanted to rush out while the port was not blocked and leave here to report to Batavia. Of course, it was impossible for Wang Tom to let the ship leave Natuna Island. Going to Batavia to call the police was still a trivial matter. Only the leakage of the whereabouts of the "Dignity-class" warship might cause real trouble. After all, the Haihan Militia captured Natuna Island under the banner of pirates, and even a fool knows that a ship like the "Majesty Class", which is considered a giant ship in Southeast Asia, could never be built by a group of pirates.
As for the islanders on the island who saw the true appearance of the "Majestic Class" warship, Wang Tom was not too worried. After the militia captured the island, they would send the islanders in batches to the north to settle. The Dutch on the island, as well as their subordinates and followers, will all be escorted to the mines on Hainan Island or Heitu Port to work as coolies, and women and children will also be imprisoned. At least in the past few years, the Dutch probably have little chance to learn the truth about the fall of Natuna Island. Even if they suspect that the Haihan people did it in the future, they will not be able to provide any real evidence.
The advantages of the Haihan warship in terms of navigation performance were immediately revealed. After receiving the order, the two "Exploration-class" warships quickly turned and rushed towards the escape direction of the Dutch sailing ship. Their movement trajectories can be described as "flexible" It’s no exaggeration either. When the Dutch sailing ship sailed outside the harbor, the two Haihan warships responsible for intercepting were already basically parallel to it. The distance in between was only two to three hundred meters. They had already entered the Haihan warship at the first time. Naval gun range.
Almost at the same time, five other warships headed by the "Majesty" also filed into the port area. The gun windows on the ship's side had already been opened in advance, and the black muzzles were aimed at the buildings on the coast. No need for binoculars now, the crew could clearly see the panicked people running away from the shore. In the distance, a group of musketeers were gathering in the open space in front of the dock warehouse. It seemed that they planned to resist the sudden invaders. But unfortunately, in the eyes of the commanders of the Haihan Militia, their weapons were no better than burning fire. How advanced is the stick?
"You successfully attracted my attention!" Wang Tom muttered, and then began to issue combat orders: "Aim on the port side at the target on the shore, three rounds of rapid fire!"
The "Majesty" is equipped with a total of 52 artillery pieces of three calibers: 12-pound, 24-pound, and 48-pound. Among them, there are three artillery decks on both sides of the ship with a total of 24 artillery pieces. The firepower is very strong. This was also the first time the Majestic used naval guns to launch a shore attack after entering service. 24's four cannons roared one after another, firing shells at the only target area on the shore.
Although it is difficult for the artillery shells fired from the moving battleship to have a high hit rate, the shooting distance was only a hundred meters away, and the dense artillery shells still covered the area where the group of musketeers were located in the first place. The shells stirred up smoke and dust, and flesh and blood flew everywhere. It is unknown how many unlucky people died in this wave of shelling. After the second round of artillery fire, there were no more standing figures in that area, so Wang Tom had to temporarily change the order to stop the unnecessary third round of artillery fire.
Tom Wang also felt that what he was doing was a bit overkill, and he ordered in a half-hearted voice: "The port artillery is on standby, the Majesty is on guard, and the infantry begins to land!"
The boats behind them put down small boats and rowed to the dock loaded with soldiers from the Annan Field Infantry Battalion. They need to land and control the dock first, and then the big ship can berth under their guidance. As the infantry commander of this operation, Mu Xiabai also personally joined the first batch of landing teams.
Perhaps the previous shelling had a sufficient deterrent effect. Not even a single person could be seen on the pier at this time. The infantry did not encounter even the slightest counterattack or resistance during the rowing and landing process. It was just as easy as when practicing tactics. The land occupied this dock.
At this time, the two warships responsible for chasing the Dutch sailing ship also opened fire. The chain bomb fired by one of the ships hit the mainmast of the other ship in the second round of shelling, breaking it off. This almost killed the opponent's hope of escaping instantly. After realizing the strength gap between the two sides, the Dutch on the ship did not try to continue to resist, but chose to lower the sails and surrender.
The entire battle at sea lasted only about half an hour and came to an end. As the infantry battalion soldiers continued to land, the Dutch's chance of regaining control of the dock was infinitely close to zero. The process of seizing the port and completing the landing was much faster than the military's. It is easier to anticipate when making battle plans beforehand.
Mu Xiabai immediately went to confirm the results of the "Mighty" shelling after landing. Just as he guessed, it was impossible to count the specific results at the scene. Corpses and large pieces of blood were scattered about half a football. In an area the size of a field, it was impossible to count how many Dutch musketeers were killed by this blast of artillery fire.
However, not everyone was bombarded to pieces. The infantry soon discovered a few lucky ones who were still shivering among the corpses. The militia platoon leader responsible for capturing the prisoners conducted a "surprise interrogation" with a saber in the shortest possible time, and then immediately fed back the obtained information to Mu Xiabai.
According to the prisoners' confession, what was assembled on the dock just now was the musketeers stationed on the island. The Dutch deserved their bad luck. This day happened to be the training day of the musketeers. As soon as the musketeers left the barracks, they received an alert that an enemy was attacking from the sea. So these people immediately gathered on the dock to resist the invasion of outsiders. However, the opponent had no intention of approaching them for a fight. They directly bombarded them from a distance and sent most of the musketeers to see God.
As for the local militiamen, they had not had time to assemble before they had witnessed the destruction of the main force. So these militiamen, who were only equipped with cold weapons, immediately dispersed. Some of them should have fled back to the stronghold where the Dutch lived.
In view of the fact that the Dutch stronghold was equipped with small-caliber artillery, Mushaba did not rush to launch the next attack. Instead, he asked the infantry to clear the dock area first and wait for the big ship to dock so that the artillery used by the army could be unloaded from the ship. Anyway, the Dutch would face a dead end if they ran out now, so Mu Xiabai was not in a hurry and took advantage of this moment to clear out the advance camp. The Dutch stronghold is not too far from the dock, only two miles. The residences of local residents are basically distributed in the area from the dock to the Dutch stronghold. While the infantry marches, they can also conduct a simple comparison of the local residential areas.
According to the intelligence obtained by the military, the local population is less than 4,000, and most of them live in this port town. The Dutch numbered only about a tenth of the population, and more than a third of them had been reduced to scraps on the docks. The remaining people, plus the local indigenous militiamen who obeyed them, only totaled three to four hundred people. The field battalion that came specially from Annan to participate in this battle had more than five hundred people, and it was equipped with all light and heavy weapons. , enough to defeat the remaining Dutch on the island.
Although the Dutch also set up several cannons on the walls of the stronghold, this was not a big threat in the eyes of the Haihan militia. Mu Xiabai ordered the artillery to set up positions at a distance of 400 meters, preparing to eliminate these potential threats first.
The Dutch in the stronghold tried a round of artillery bombardment, but their old-fashioned Franco machine guns were simply not enough to threaten Haihan's artillery position at this distance. They only exposed their strength again in vain before the battle began. That’s all.
When the artillery positions were arranged, Wang Tom had already landed in front of the formation to watch the battle. Upon seeing this, Mu Xiabai asked: "Has the Dutch ship been dealt with?"
"Well, everyone on the ship has been captured alive. The ship was seriously damaged and was scuttled." Wang Tom said with a matter-of-fact expression: "My people only used two rounds of shelling to smash the ship into a sieve." .”
Mu Xiabai smiled and nodded, then walked to the artillery position, called the commander of the artillery company in charge of ranging and aiming, and whispered: "The navy chief is waiting here to see our joke, I will give you three When the chance comes, knock out the gun positions in front of the stronghold. If you do well, you will be rewarded when you go back. If you don’t do well... you will be transferred to the cooking company as the company commander when you go back!"
The artillery company commander responded and quickly returned to his position to confirm the calculated sighting position again. In fact, at this distance, the hit rate of the Haihan artillery can already be quite high. However, Mu Xiabai's words were so serious that the artillery quickly readjusted their tactics and reduced the original target to three. Concentrate firepower on one location to ensure the target is hit as quickly as possible.
"Old Mu, if you're ready, let's start!" Wang Tom pointed to the watch on his wrist and said: "I've been busy all day, and after I finish playing, it's almost time to have dinner!"
Mu Xiabai nodded expressionlessly, and then gave the order to the artillery to fire.
The result did not disappoint Mu Xiabai. In the first round, a shell hit the wall near the opponent's gun position. It was only two or three meters away from a direct hit. When Mu Xiabai saw this scene through the telescope I almost beat my legs in anger. However, after the correction, the second round of shelling no longer missed the target. At least three shells hit the same gun position, cutting off more than half a foot of the wall. Although the casualties of the opponent are unknown, this gun position must have been taken away.
"Lucky luck!" After confirming this result, Mu Xiabai's expression finally became relaxed.
Of course Wang Tom was not blind, and he naturally understood Mu Xiabai's emotional changes. He spread his hands and said: "Comeon! Old Mu, we have fought together before, why do you care about these details!"
"No, no, no, this has nothing to do with personal relationships! Tom, this is the dignity of the army!" Mu Xiabai replied seriously.
"Well, as long as you are happy!" Wang Tom shrugged: "Now is the time for you to have the final say."
According to the battle plan formulated in advance, the maritime part of the island attack was commanded by Wang Tom, while the road battle was commanded by Mu Xiabai. The army and navy each performed their respective duties and assisted each other. However, facing such a weak opponent, it is obvious that the commanders of the army and navy are still competing silently, hoping that their troops can perform better.
After successfully clearing the second gun emplacement, the door to the Dutch stronghold was opened, and a red-haired man came out holding a white flag to signal a truce. Upon seeing this, Mu Xiabai also ordered a pause in shooting and asked the man to come over and talk. After all, the goal of the militia is not to massacre the Dutch, but to occupy this place as soon as possible. It can save some ammunition and time and reduce the possibility of casualties, which is also a good thing for the militia.
The man was brought to Wang Tom and Mu Xiabai after his body was searched. The red-haired man muttered a few words, but Mu Xiabai didn't understand, but Tom Wang lowered his voice and said, "This guy speaks German."
"The Dutch don't actually speak Dutch?" Mu Xiabai couldn't help but muttered after hearing Tom Wang's explanation.
Wang Tom gently patted Mu Xiabai and signaled him not to respond to this person. Mu Xiabai immediately realized that their current identity was the so-called "Annan Pirates". If they could understand German, it would really be a hell. At that moment, Mu Xiabai coughed dryly and looked confused.
(End of chapter)