Chapter 635 Fight (4)
Just over a mile away from the port where the fierce battle just took place is the small town of Natuna, which was built by early Han immigrants. Of course, the name of this place has now been changed back to the town of Ambuna, and there is not even a Dutchman or even a Dutch half-breed in the town. After the construction of the port fort was completed, these people were all shipped to Mines in the north.
In just two months after the Haihan militia occupied Annan Island, the relevant departments organized and transported more than 500 immigrants from Annan and Hainan Island to settle here. Most of them were young and strong, and many people accepted Have received a certain level of grassroots militia training. The Portuguese also sent nearly two hundred immigrants according to their original agreement. This group of people was old, young, women, and children. However, more than thirty of them had experience in the army or as mercenaries. However, all actions of these people must be Follow Haihan's command, because they have to rely on Haihan to provide almost all their living supplies here.
In addition, there were about a hundred hard labor camp prisoners who had undergone labor reform and were deemed to have changed their minds by the Ministry of Justice. They also came here by boat to start their new life. The crimes of these people are relatively minor, and the sentences they were originally sentenced to are almost all within two years. However, they are still under the investigation period of the Ministry of Justice. If they commit another crime within a year, the penalty they will suffer will be doubled. And if they can spend the one-year inspection period safely on the island, they will also have the same opportunity as new immigrants to apply for naturalization.
Although the new owner gave the opportunity to choose where to go, about one-third of the original residents of the island remained. These people are basically of Han descent, and their political attitudes are more inclined to the Ming Dynasty or the Hai Dynasty. Han, a force where the Han people call the shots. For these people, leaving their hometowns to settle elsewhere is too much trouble, and accepting the rule of Haihan is at least much better than being slaves to those red-haired people who look like evil ghosts. Of course, the aborigines who chose to leave Amborna Island could only go to other colonies under Haihan's rule, so as not to let the news leak out prematurely.
These residents, plus a reinforced battalion in Mushab's hands, have a population of nearly 3,000, which is much smaller than when the Dutch ruled here before. Therefore, housing is not a problem at all, and they can be basically resettled without the need for additional construction. Come down. While the fort was being built at the port, corresponding engineering improvements were also carried out on the town side, and a defensive wall was built on the east side of the town near the port.
However, this wall made of stone and wood is not high, so it may be more appropriate to call it a parapet. On both sides of the central axis road that passes through the town, there is a gun position every twenty meters. However, what is deployed here is not the large-caliber coastal defense artillery in the port, but small 3-pound and 6-pound army guns. gun. But although the caliber is small, the model is the latest, not the kind of antique used on the port fort. Close to the outside of the wall, the original drainage ditch was widened and deepened, a four-foot-wide trench was dug and the stream water was introduced.
There were originally streams running around the town on both sides, which could be said to be a natural barrier. Although the deepest point of the stream was only just past the waist of an adult and was only seven or eight meters wide, if anyone really planned to swim from here, then the town would The musketeers there would teach them how to behave on the rooftops on the shore. It would be more desirable if the opponent tried to have a marksmanship contest with Haihan's musketeers on the other side of the creek. They would be deeply aware of the fatal difference in range and accuracy between the weapons of the two sides.
After retreating from the first line of defense at the port, Mushaba immediately ordered all reservists in the town to enter combat status and ordered the quartermaster to issue rifles and ammunition to them. The medical team composed of women has begun to bandage the wounded under the guidance of several military doctors. However, their current task is not onerous, because there were not many wounded on the Haihan side in the previous battle, and the main fighting area was simply No one escaped alive.
Li Dagui, who was in charge of organizing logistics work, had already had hot food prepared. After the soldiers who had withdrawn from the front unloaded their equipment, they immediately arranged to eat to replenish their physical strength. In this regard, Haihan was undoubtedly more prepared than his opponents. The Dutch on the opposite side did not expect that a battle would break out at this time. There was not even hot food prepared on the ship. Everyone was waiting to land and rest after docking. Good meal. At this time, the Dutch fleet was crowded in the port and could not even think about cooking.
But the current battle situation has a huge blind spot for both warring parties, that is, they do not know how much preparation their opponents have made for this battle, and whether the battlefield in front of them is a huge trap set by their opponents.
The Dutch can only rely on guesswork as to the true identity of this mysterious armed force on the island. As for the opponent's purpose of occupying the island, they have no idea at all. The Haihan side was still a little unsure as to whether the Dutch came by accident, or whether they had received intelligence from other channels and were ready to capture the island. Therefore, after the initial confrontation, both sides did not dare to attack easily. Instead, they chose to rest on the spot and plan subsequent combat strategies.
Although the first line of defense lasted only about an hour in the battle, the results were actually not bad. At least two to three of the nine invading Dutch ships had completely lost their ability to move, and the other ships were also Almost none of them could remain intact, and they had all suffered varying degrees of damage during the bombardment. The casualties in terms of personnel were nearly three digits, and the main loss on Haihan's side was only the combat organization on one fort - of course. These more than ten lives are already the biggest battle loss this year for the Haihan Militia. If Mu Xiabai fails to achieve a brilliant record in the subsequent stages, he is likely to bear some responsibility for this loss.
After all, the people stationed on this island can be regarded as veterans of the Annan militia, and they have spent a lot of effort and resources to develop combat effectiveness. When Qian Tiandun first formulated the training plan, he basically treated these people as grassroots Officers come for training. In the future, as long as the situation requires it, the expansion of the army can immediately promote these veterans, allowing the size of the militia to expand several times in a short period of time.
However, precisely because these people were veterans with combat experience, their morale was not greatly affected after experiencing small setbacks in previous battles. Although the battle situation is temporarily unfavorable, they all know the island's defense layout. This second line of defense is the top priority, and the real decisive battle will probably begin here.
The main reason why the Haihan Militia lost its first line of defense was that its firepower was too dispersed, its troops were not strong enough to defend such a long line of defense, and it was difficult to support each other. If the enemy broke through one point, it would be equivalent to breaking through the entire line. The defensive line forced the defenders to abandon their positions and retreat.
But this situation will not happen again in the second line of defense. The defensive wall outside the town facing the port is only two hundred meters long and contains eight gun positions and matching musketeer positions. The view of the three hundred meters beyond the defensive wall is basically unobstructed, and even the knee-high vegetation has been cleared away. If the Dutch still plan to attack this line of defense in the form of a port charge, then they will really You will suffer a big loss.
After using the radio to report the current fighting situation to the base camp and Annan, Mu Xiabai believed that it was necessary to mobilize the combatants before the war to prevent their emotions from being affected by the setbacks in the previous battle.
After receiving the notice, the first-level officers of the company and platoon quickly came to the headquarters to assemble. This place was originally a small church built after the Dutch occupied it. However, after the Haihan Militia captured this place, it immediately canceled its original purpose and destroyed the church inside. All the belongings were cleared out, even the cross on the roof was removed, and the place was used as a military headquarters.
"Commanders, do you still remember our mission here?" Mu Xiabai asked in a deep voice. "Guard the South China Sea and protect Haihan!" the officers replied in unison. These two slogans have not been publicly promoted since they arrived at Annan Island, but it is obvious that everyone has a good memory and has not forgotten the content of the training they received before leaving Annan Station.
Mu Xiabai nodded with satisfaction and said: "Before we came here, we already knew that sooner or later we would have a real battle with the Dutch, and the preparations we made in the past few months were all for what happened today. Whether we can protect the glory of the Executive Committee in this battle depends on our next performance!”
Mu Xiabai turned around and pointed to the local map hanging on the wall and said: "Although we have also preset a third line of defense, I don't want to see such a passive situation. My request is to annihilate the second line of defense." The enemy's main force cannot retreat even an inch. Can you do it?"
"Yes!" the officers responded neatly again.
"I will go to the front line later and fight with you!" Mu Xiabai said decisively: "How many Dutch people came this time, we must try to keep them all on the island!"
At this time, the Dutch side was arguing over how to conduct the next battle. Brower believed that he should proceed steadily and build a temporary base at the port first to guard the sea channel and cut off the supply line between the island's armed forces and the outside world. At the same time, he would send a rescue ship back to bring in reinforcements. Of course, even if the rescue ship set off immediately, the reinforcements would be the fastest. It will take half a month to arrive.
Spikes believed that the victory should be pursued. Since the opponent gave up the fort defense line and chose to retreat, it just showed their lack of military strength. Our side should rely on the advantages of military strength and combat experience to continue to launch attacks inland.
"Perhaps they only have the few manpower withdrawn from the fort. If we work harder, we can eat them up!" Spikes said.
"No, no, no, it's too risky to do this." Although Brouwer is also a militant, he is obviously much more cautious than Spikes: "We don't know how many men they have and how likely they are to retreat. It's just a trap. Mr. Spikes, please don't forget that there were originally nearly 4,000 residents on this island. Do you think you can capture the original indigenous people here just by evacuating the one or two hundred people from the fort? There are more than just such people in Xie Congjun!”
"But the indigenous army is not equipped with weapons as sharp as theirs!" Spikes bore the brunt of the battle and was deeply impressed by the opponent's fort firepower and shooting accuracy: "I think they are going to clean up the island plains. It's not a problem to have some armed forces, and if we don't attack them, we will suffer. Mr. Brouwer, please don't forget that our combat supplies are based on a fleet going to sea. Whether it’s food or ammunition, they are very limited, and we have already lost some of them in previous battles!”
In the previous artillery battle, two Dutch ships were shot and capsized, and the various supplies on board had naturally sunk into the sea. Although this is a shallow offshore sea, this fleet does not have the ability to salvage sunken ships on the spot. After the opponent occupied the island, he naturally had all the resources on the island. It is hard to say the ammunition, but the food reserves were definitely more abundant than the Dutch fleet, which only carried more than a month's rations. If the stalemate between the two sides continues, the Dutch side will definitely be the first to fail.
Brower still insisted: "But our supplies can fully support the arrival of reinforcements. If we launch an offensive at that time, we will be much more sure of defeating our opponents!"
"No one knows what will happen during the days when we are waiting for reinforcements!" Spikes shook his head and objected: "Maybe they have also secretly sent people to sea from other parts of the island to move reinforcements to their base camp! Drag! The longer we wait, the greater our operational risks will be!”
Fan Longen was listening to the argument between these two guys and his head hurt. He could only walk to the side and sit down in frustration, waiting for them to come to an outcome.
In accordance with the military's request, he had ordered to vacate a merchant ship in better condition, and then sail back to Batavia to report the news. However, the cargo loaded on the ship will not be unloaded in a short time. According to the crew's report, it will have to wait until tonight at least. If the unloading is not done overnight, it may not be completed until tomorrow morning.
In addition, he also organized 120 sailors with combat experience to temporarily join the military team and await command. However, the fighting qualities of this group of people varied greatly. Some people could not even use muskets. Van Longen was very worried about their performance after entering the battlefield.
As for what kind of combat strategy to adopt, Van Longen was not qualified to intervene and could only wait for the two senior officers to make up their minds. But he didn't take the initiative to interrupt, and the two people didn't ignore his presence. When neither side could convince the other, they chose the third person, Van Longen, as a weight.
(End of chapter)