Chapter 636 Fight (5)
"Mr. Van Longen, what do you think of the current war situation?"
Although Van Longen did not want to actively participate in combat decision-making, his two companions would not let him stay out of the matter like this, and such "attention" made Van Longen helpless.
"My opinion... Gentlemen, can't we send envoys to talk to each other first? We don't even know who they are!" Van Longen tried to find another way to resolve the current deadlock in a peaceful way.
But the answer he got was very unanimous. Spikes and Brouwer shook their heads at the same time and said: "Of course not!"
"The other party is obviously hostile to us. Look at the three ships on the dock! They have attacked our merchant ships before and probably poisoned our crews! The East India Company will never forgive this. behavior!" Spikes shouted.
Brower also added: "They took the initiative to attack as soon as we got here, which is enough to prove their attitude. Now it is the other side who is passive in the war. I don't think it is necessary to start peace talks immediately! Mr. Van Longen, you Just tell us, do you support launching the pursuit as soon as possible, or holding the port and waiting for reinforcements to arrive?"
"Well..." Van Longen hesitated before saying: "Gentlemen, I think we should at least settle down in the port first. There are still about two or three hours before dark. Are you sure you can end the battle within this time? You must know that our people have been drifting at sea for several days before this, and they haven’t even had lunch today. What they should do now is fill their bellies with hot rice and hot dishes!”
Spikes and Brower looked at each other in shock. After a long time, Spikes responded: "You are right, our soldiers do need time to rest and recuperate, and today is not a good time to continue fighting. But I still stick to my opinion. We cannot wait for reinforcements, we must maintain sufficient pressure on the enemy.”
Although Spikes' concession was extremely limited, it at least eased the current stalemate. Brower also expressed cautious agreement with his statement and ordered his men to begin camping on the port and set up perimeter security. Although this island has been the territory of the Dutch East India Company in the past few years, they usually only stop here for a day and a half to replenish supplies. They do not know the geographical environment here. If they want to go in the dark In combat, the combat effectiveness they can exert is probably not as good as that of their opponents who have been here for some time.
The news that the opponent had stopped to rest was quickly fed back to Mushaba by the scouts, which made him feel a little relieved. This meant that the Dutch probably would not take the initiative to launch another offensive today. However, since the other party has begun to camp at the port, it means that they do not intend to leave right now, but will wait until they have rested before having a showdown with Haihan.
That night, both sides were very vigilant, wary of the other side's sneak attack at night. However, the commanders of both sides were worried that active night attacks would cause losses to their own few troops, so they reached a wonderful tacit understanding and spent a peaceful time. night.
On June 22, 1631, after a night's rest, the Dutch finally pulled out their troops from the port and began to march inland. But in fact, the port is not far from the Haihan Defense Line. After climbing over a small slope from the port, you can see the small town in the distance and the conspicuous defensive wall outside the town.
"Look, these people are obviously not willing to just retreat. They are planning to have a head-on confrontation with us!" Spikes said with a gloomy look after putting down the monocular in his hand. Van Longen took the telescope from him and began to look at the enemy positions in the distance.
The brass-cased monocular telescope used by Spikes is a high-end product produced by the Lieberhue family in the Netherlands. The refracting telescope was made using crystal lenses in 1608 by Lieberhuu, an eyeglass craftsman in Middelburg, the Netherlands. It can be said to be the most authentic origin. Only a few senior officers in the East India Company owned this equipment. In 1609, Galileo also used this telescope and his own knowledge of optics to create a telescope model that could observe the starry sky.
However, this kind of high-end goods is not unique to Europeans. The Portuguese missionary Jan Mano who entered China in 1610 had already introduced this advanced technological product to the Ming Dynasty, and in his book "Astronomy" co-translated with Li Zubai This was mentioned. In 1622, the German missionary Tang Ruowang brought the first physical object to the Ming Dynasty. His "Telescope Theory" written in 1626 was a work dedicated to introducing telescopes to the Ming Dynasty.
In the second year of Chongzhen, Xu Guangqi, a bachelor, requested that three telescopes be assembled for observing astronomical phenomena. Later, after the telescopes supervised by Tang Ruowang were completed, Emperor Chongzhen also went to see them in person. However, during this period, the Ming army did not widely use such tools. Apply to the battlefield.
Of course, there is still a certain gap in performance between the monocular telescopes made by Europeans and the models equipped by the Haihan militia. As for the high-tech telescopes brought by Haihan senior officers from another time and space, they are even less comparable. . For example, the telescope used by Mu Xiabai was a German-made Steiner military telescope that was specially purchased from the foreign arms market before the time travel. From the telescope, he could clearly see the progress of the opponent's team, and naturally noticed Van Longen and others who were looking over here with a monocular.
"It's really delivering food to your home!" Mu Xiabai sighed, put down the telescope and gave the order: "Let the sniper enter the shooting position. The target is the three officers of the opposing army. After entering the shooting range, he can fire freely!"< br>
As one of the first units to start training professional snipers, the Annan Militia has always retained the special unit of snipers in its combat organization. The battalion that followed Mu Xiabai and was stationed on Ambuna Island was also equipped with a squad of snipers. Of course, the weapons they use cannot be high-end goods like old Morgan, they are just Type 30 sniper rifles produced by Sanya Arsenal, but this rifle that has been modified twice can be said to be the most accurate among the rifles produced in this era. , and its range far exceeds that of its contemporary competitors.
In all the battles that the Haihan Militia participated in, the sniper unit played a certain role to a greater or lesser extent. Although the cost of training snipers is relatively high and the training period required is extremely long, senior military officials still believe that the deterrent effect and role of this special unit on the battlefield are worth investing in resources, so they still insist on retaining the establishment of this unit. According to actual combat training statistics, the first hit rate of militia snipers within a distance of 300 meters can maintain a relatively high ratio. Excellent snipers can even maintain a hit rate of more than 50% when shooting a two-foot-diameter breast target at a distance of 200 meters. At 300 meters, the hit rate will drop by another 30 to 40%. In terms of distance, you can basically only rely on the focused fire of a few snipers to increase your hit rate. However, when conditions permit, commanders will also ask snipers to shoot at longer distances, such as four to five hundred meters. Although the hit rate at this distance is low, it is still within the range. Fire shots still have a certain chance of hitting the target.
Of course, shooting fixed targets in training and shooting moving targets on the battlefield are two completely different concepts. No matter how much live ammunition training is done, a real combat environment is needed to further temper the sniper. Therefore, every time there is an actual combat mission, commanders generally use this elite unit without hesitation.
Of course Mu Xiabai could do this by himself. Among the personal equipment he brought to Anbu Na was a Type 85 sniper rifle. This individual weapon, which is imitated from the former Soviet Union's Ragonov SVD, is very powerful at medium and long distances. There are examples of sniper killing distances exceeding 1,500 meters. However, Mu Xiabai himself did not learn sniper tactics professionally and systematically like Old Morgan, and he was not professional in the use of sniper rifles. In addition, he was the only senior commander in the local area, and he needed to be in charge of the entire situation. The battle situation, therefore this combat mission can only be completed by snipers who specialize in this.
Of course, Mu Xiabai did not expect the snipers to be able to kill several senior Dutch officers in one fell swoop. If he wanted to kill a few senior Dutch officers with one shot from a distance of four to five hundred meters, the probability would be the same as that of a naval gun shot from three hundred meters away during a naval battle. The probability of breaking the enemy's mast is about the same. But if it can have a certain deterrent effect on enemy commanders and interfere with their command, it can be regarded as achieving part of the combat effect.
The Dutch team stopped three hundred meters away, then began to line up and set up gun emplacements. Mu Xiabai did not rush to let the soldiers behind the defense line fire. Instead, he went to each gun position to help them calibrate the target. Almost all of the opponent's artillery were naval guns temporarily unloaded from the ship, with large caliber but very short range. As for accuracy, there was nothing to say - these guns were originally designed to hit large targets within a hundred meters. Although their range is not more than a hundred meters, after several times this distance, only God knows the impact point.
Compared with the opponent's primitive naval guns, Mu Xiabai believed more in the weapons equipped by his troops. Although these 3-pound and 6-pound army guns are not very powerful, their accuracy within a distance of 500 meters is very impressive. If the two sides start an artillery battle next, then Mu Xiabai has full confidence in defeating his opponent.
The Dutch followed European tactics step by step. After the troops were assembled and the artillery positions were placed, the messengers blew the bugles and drums to prepare for the first round of offensive by the artillery, and then the musketry composed of the infantry. The team pressed forward on foot.
However, Mu Xiabai did not intend to let his opponent take the upper hand. Following his order, whistles sounded all over the Haihan defense line, and then the artillery on the eight gun positions fired one after another, and several artillery shells roared through the air. Smashed into the Dutch position.
The effect of the first round of shelling was better than Mu Xiabai expected. Two of the eight shells hit the intended target, directly knocking out one of the Dutch artillery pieces. The flying gun body even knocked over four nearby guns. Famous gunner. However, two of the artillery shells that did not hit the artillery position flew into the Dutch infantry formation, killing five or six lives when the opponent was caught off guard.
"These bastards! Fire, fire hard!" The furious Spikes gave the order to fire at this time.
However, as Mu Xiabai expected, the opponent's artillery fire seemed fierce, but due to the limitations of its weapon performance, there was almost no accuracy at all. The first round of artillery fire failed, and not a single shot was hit. While the Dutch were loading the artillery shells, Heihan's second round of artillery bombardment began again, and this time the calibrated bombardment hit rate was significantly improved. Four of the eight shells hit the Dutch artillery position. And destroyed two artillery pieces that had not had time to fire.
For the Dutch, the loss of artillery was a trivial matter. After all, the entire fleet was equipped with dozens of artillery pieces, and only half of them were unloaded and pushed to the front line for combat. However, the opponent's two consecutive rounds of shelling directly hit their own artillery positions. This precise hit rate greatly shook the confidence of the Dutch gunners to continue fighting. Brower had to personally lead the law enforcement team to supervise the battle behind the artillery position, and immediately executed two gunners who were afraid of fighting.
With this method, the Dutch finally had a shell in the fifth round of shelling that focused on the defensive wall on the Haihan side. The splashed gravel injured several Haihan soldiers. It was considered a good news for the Dutch today. The record is off to a good start. However, by this point they had lost four artillery pieces and more than twenty gunners. In comparison, the Dutch's losses were obviously much more serious.
After ten rounds of shelling, the Dutch artillery position went silent. This was not because their gunners were afraid of the battle or they ran out of ammunition, but because the temperature of the artillery was too high. They had to stop and wait for the barrel to cool down slightly before continuing. Fill it with gunpowder. Haihan's side continued the bombardment for five rounds before stopping the bombardment. The gap in weapon performance between the two sides was once again reflected.
"We have only been fighting for so long, and we have lost seven guns!" After listening to the battle damage report with a dark face, Brower couldn't help complaining: "If we continue to fight like this, we will last until tomorrow at most. The artillery was completely lost!”
"The opponent's artillery is too powerful, so we can't send infantry to fight!" Spikes frowned, and had no better solution to the situation at hand: "These guys are probably really Portuguese. That batch of Annan troops trained, otherwise there is no reason to explain why they have so many artillery”
Judging from the current combat situation, the opponents the Dutch encountered were obviously much more ferocious than the pirates they had seen in the past. Not only did they have a large number of firearms in their hands, but their combat methods were also very methodical, which seemed to be very difficult for artillery battles. Full of experience, he calmly used concentrated fire strikes to clear out the artillery positions on the Dutch side piece by piece.
(End of chapter)