Chapter 637 Fight (6)
Of course, this is not the most terrifying thing. What is terrible is that the three Dutch commanders now have no idea how many troops the other party has deployed on the island, and whether there are any hidden tricks that have not been used. After capturing the port yesterday, Spikes thought that the opponent's troops were probably those stationed in the port fort. However, today he was slapped in the face by the cruel fact - even an army like Sweden, which pays attention to artillery warfare, would never be able to do so. It is impossible to be extravagant enough to equip an artillery formation of one or two hundred people with two sets of weapons of different standards, so that a total of more than twenty artillery pieces are deployed on such a small island.
According to the experience accumulated by the Dutch in the European battlefields, twenty artillery is at least a regiment or above, with a firepower configuration of about two thousand troops. This inference makes it difficult for them to make the decision to attack the second line on the island. The defense line launched a general offensive, because their own troops were far from reaching this number. If the opponent really concealed their strength in the previous battles, then they would really be setting themselves up for a trap if they continued to launch an offensive inland. But even if the Dutch had the courage to estimate the strength of their opponents, they would never have imagined that there was a monster-like force like Haihan in the world. He really had the ability to equip his artillery with two sets of weapons. The artillery stationed on Ambona Island still had It's really just the ones they saw yesterday. After withdrawing, they will continue to play the important role of firepower output on the second line of defense.
"We can't continue fighting like this, we have to think of other ways." Brouwer said with a gloomy look. He was supervising the battle on the front line today, and it was an eye-opener to watch the artillery positions on his own position being called out one by one by the opponent. Moreover, six people in the team of supervisors he brought with him also died inexplicably. After checking the injuries, they all died from musket lead bullets. Broward really couldn't figure out how they could be hit at such a long distance, but he was still in time. Realizing the potential danger, he retreated some distance back and hid in a makeshift tent.
He was lucky. The snipers on Haihan's side focused their fire for three rounds but failed to hit him. The guards in front and behind him became the scapegoats. And Mu Xiabai did not expose the big killer weapon in his hand too early to attract local attention. When he saw that the effect was not good, he immediately ordered the sniper to stop the action.
Spikes frowned and thought for a while, then said to Van Longen: "Mr. Van Longen, please take a team of people to the flanks to see if there are any other attack paths."
"Flanker?" Van Longen subconsciously looked to the side of his opponent's position. The stream on the outskirts of the town was used as the dividing line. On the other side was the apparently undeveloped virgin forest. It was impossible to see clearly what was going on in the forest. This was also the case for the Dutch. The main reason why an attack from the flanks was not initially intended.
"Mr. Brouwer, please take a team of people to the other flank. If we can attack from three directions at the same time, we may have a chance to break through their defense line." Spikes said seriously: "If If we still can’t find an opportunity, then maybe we should consider evacuating here as soon as possible.”
Spikes is not an ignorant person who only complains. He has participated in several battles with live ammunition. After the battle, he has naturally realized that the opponent who has never revealed his identity is not a weakling. , on the contrary, the opponent's strength is far better than that of ordinary pirates and Southeast Asian civilian armed forces, and is not inferior to the mercenaries formed by the East India Company itself. If it is determined in the next battle that the opponent's military strength is better than On our side, the chance of winning this battle is indeed very small.
"Retreat? But yesterday you were still saying that you would hold the port and wait for support?" Van Longen was a little panicked when he heard Spikes's opinion. How long had passed before Spikes's views had already changed drastically.
"We decided to hold the port yesterday with the intention of cutting off their channels for obtaining supplies, but judging from today's battle, their war reserves should be much more sufficient than ours!" Brouwer explained: "If their If their reserves are limited, they will not take the lead in firing. And after we ceased fire, what does this mean? In addition to the fact that their artillery performance is better than ours, their ammunition reserves are also very sufficient. Don’t worry about running out of ammunition due to fighting with us.”
"So they were already prepared for this battle?" Van Longen came to his senses after hearing the explanation.
"At least they are more prepared than we are." Spikes looked very helpless: "Although we made preparations for battle before setting off, we did not estimate the imaginary enemy to be so strong. The only good thing is that they don't seem to be here. Arrange armed ships at sea, so we must try to figure out their strength, and then make a choice between fighting or withdrawing.”
This is indeed the luck of the Dutch. After capturing Amborna Island, the navy originally left two warships to station here. However, due to the passage of a typhoon last month, both warships were damaged to varying degrees. It must be returned to the port in Annan for repairs. The warship that came from Sanya to take over was still on the way. The Dutch happened to hit such a window period, so they took a certain initiative in the initial landing battle. If there are two Haihan warships nearby, even the most basic "exploration-class" warships can at least make the Dutch fleet lose sight of one thing in the battle and not have the opportunity to attack land so easily.
After yesterday's battle, although Mu Xiabai had sent a telegram to the base camp asking for help, the newly dispatched warships were still on their way to Amborna Island, and these two ships were not equipped with crossing officers, so naturally there were no The radio station is available for contact. It can only be estimated from the distance that they will arrive at Ambo Island in about a week. It is very likely that they will not have time to participate in this battle.
Although the Dutch do not like to march and fight in such tropical virgin forests, due to the situation at hand, they have also understood that it is not practical to break through the opponent's defense line from the front. They can only look at the north and south flanks of the town. Are there any loopholes that can be exploited?
Van Longen led fifty soldiers and circled south from the port to avoid the opponent's sight. Then he turned west and entered the dense forest on the island. Among these fifty soldiers, only ten were Dutch. The other forty were from Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Their skin colors were all dark and light. Fortunately, the East India Company still issued uniforms to them. They make this team not look particularly messy. Half of these people were newcomers who had just arrived in Batavia. They had not had time to adapt to the environment in Southeast Asia before they were thrown into this hard work.
But there is really nothing we can do about the equipment. Only twenty of the fifty soldiers are equipped with matchlocks, and the rest only have spears and swords to use. The role that these cold weapons can play in the current combat environment is obviously extremely limited. Van Longen didn't even dare to think about how tragic the battle would be if these infantry were needed to charge against the enemy.
Fan Longgen touched the short blazing gun at his waist, sighed, and took the lead into the dense forest. This is not the first time he has ventured into the tropical rainforest on a Southeast Asian island. He is fully aware of the dangers lurking in this environment. Although there are no large carnivorous beasts on these islands, the most deadly ones are the inconspicuous snakes, insects, rats, and ants. All kinds of poisons are hidden in every corner of the dense forest, and you will be infected if you are not careful. When Van Longen first arrived in Batavia, he followed an expedition into the dense forest for the first time. In just five days and five nights, seven of the forty people in the team slept forever in the dense forest due to attacks by poisonous snakes and poisonous insects. , three more people died of malaria caused by mosquito bites after leaving the virgin forest. For the colonists who came all the way from Europe to Southeast Asia, the natural environment here was often more deadly and terrifying than the enemy's guns and cannons, and Van Longen has since left a great shadow on this primitive forest environment. . If he had a choice, he would rather fight the wind and waves on a sailboat at sea than fight those invisible and intangible poisonous insects in this dense forest.
Although before entering the forest, Van Longen took the trouble to educate the new soldiers on the importance of tightening trousers, sleeves, etc. in this environment, there was still a Ma Daha who was poisoned just after stepping into the forest for less than a hundred meters. The centipede slipped into the shoe and bit it hard.
When the hapless soldier wailed and took off his shoes and socks, his heels were already black - poisonous insects in Southeast Asia are no joke. Van Longen sighed and said: "Hurry up and bleed the place where he was bitten!"
Given the current medical conditions, there is really no other better solution. Van Longen's proposal is almost the only feasible method. Fortunately, he took action in time. After draining out some dirty blood, the injured soldier finally turned from numbness to pain. This basically meant that most of the toxicity of the wound had been removed. But this doesn't mean that he has saved his life, he just escaped temporarily. In the absence of disinfection methods, he could only wrap the wound with a strip of cloth. As for whether it would cause tetanus or other complications, he really had to leave it to fate.
After learning this lesson, the soldiers became significantly more vigilant about their surrounding environment. However, the various snakes, insects, rats, and ants that kept appearing above and below their heads still greatly slowed down the team's progress. The distance from the starting point to the south wing of the town was just over a mile, and it actually took the team a full hour to complete.
But Van Longen was not comforted by this. Looking at the stream that stretched between the dense forest and the small town, he really couldn't think of an effective way to overcome this obstacle.
The stream was only seven or eight meters wide. If time and conditions allowed, he could have someone cut down one or two large trees in the dense forest on the bank and let them dump them over the stream to build a single-plank bridge. But it is obvious that these trees on the shore, where at least two or three people are hugging each other, cannot be cut down in a short time, and the sound of cutting wood will be heard far away, attracting the attention of opponents.
Another way is to wade directly across. The stream is very clear and doesn't look very deep. If you move fast enough, you can wade to the other side in about a minute. But this is also a very risky approach, because Van Longen has noticed that there are sporadic people on the rooftops of the town on the other side who have been scanning this area. It is almost impossible to avoid their sight if you walk out of the dense forest.
"We can only attack by force." Van Longen made up his mind, and then sent a soldier to return to the position to report the situation here and state his combat intentions. Later, the main position would launch an artillery bombardment to attract the enemy's attention. force, and then he would wait for an opportunity to cross the stream and invade the town while taking advantage of the chaos.
This battle plan is very simple and direct. Van Longen is not worried about too much trouble when crossing the stream. He is more worried about the fact that his troops are too small. Even if he can successfully reach the other side and invade the town, he will still be lost because of the The troops were too weak and were quickly eaten by the opponent.
But the matter had come to this, and there was no room for regret. Van Longgen found a dead tree stump and sat down, quietly waiting for the signal to launch an attack. He pulled out the short blazing gun from his waist and gently wiped the dust off it with his hand. This fire gun was one of the items given to him by his family elders twelve years ago when he set out to conquer the world in Southeast Asia. Although he had hardly used this weapon in these twelve years, he still kept it It was very well maintained, and the lead bullets filled in the gun could penetrate the iron armor of ordinary soldiers at a distance of ten meters. In his opinion, it was an excellent life-saving weapon.
"Maybe I really shouldn't have taken this errand. I should have been on my way to the Mughal Kingdom at this time." Van Longen sighed secretly, and was also shaken by the choice he made before. When Governor Cohen came to talk to him, he was preparing to lead a fleet to transport a batch of Ming Dynasty goods to India. However, after listening to Cohen's advice, he chose to abandon the westward journey and instead became a special agent of the East India Company. Maritime search and rescue fleet.
But this job was not as easy as he originally imagined. He originally thought that most of the merchant ships that were involved in the accident encountered disasters such as typhoons at sea and unfortunately fell silent. However, he did not expect that someone actually intercepted and killed these merchant ships midway, and even The East India Company's transit supply ports were all captured. Van Longen was unprepared for this battle that broke out out of nowhere. Even when he was about to launch an attack, he still didn't understand what he was doing.
"About thirty to sixty people."
While Van Longen was still confused in the forest and had no idea, the Haihan scout lying on a roof somewhere on the other side of the stream had already made relatively detailed observations of the Dutch armed force that was quietly lurking over.
(End of chapter)