Chapter 670 The mission arrives
Compared with the Annan militia, which is good at fighting in the field, the infantry battalion transferred from the base camp this time is better at positional offensive and defensive warfare on the frontal battlefield. The weapons installed and the tactics used in daily drills are all focused on positional warfare. As for the positional warfare tactics that use firearms as the main weapon, Haihan can be said to be unique in the world. If you want to consider yourself second, then no one dares to compete for the first place.
After the previous battle with the Dutch, the staff also reflected on and modified the previous tactics. There was an obvious problem with the tactics at that time, which was to direct the firepower output towards the sea in an attempt to prevent the enemy from carrying out landing operations. But the facts show that this tactic did not completely work. Although it did cause a certain degree of damage to the Dutch armed sailing ships, relying only on a dozen coastal defense guns could not prevent the opposing fleet from forcing a landing. After that, the fort that lacked infantry cover immediately became the target of the enemy's siege. However, Haihan's side failed to effectively kill the landing enemies at this critical stage.
After learning the lessons from the previous time and fully considering the local geographical environment of Ambona Island, the staff formulated a new combat plan for the island-defending troops, aiming the concentrated fire at the beach instead of at sea.
The main purpose of this combat plan is to carry out concentrated strikes during the landing stage of the enemy and effectively kill its combatants. On a beach with no obstacles, the opponent has no bunkers to hide, and can only act as a living target when faced with intensive gunfire. Compared with sea combat, where only coastal defense artillery can be effective, this method allows more infantry to achieve firepower output, and the killing effect on the enemy will be stronger.
In order to drag the enemy landing personnel on the coast, Roger planned to build dense coastal defenses at suitable landing sites near the port, using criss-crossing barbed wire mixed with ditches, bamboo pits, horse blocking, deer villages and other means. And the obstacle zone was set to a depth of at least fifty meters, turning the port area more than a mile wide into a death zone that was difficult to move.
Before heading south, Roger and the staff had already built a simplified version of the obstacle course at the Army training base on the Luhuitou Peninsula in Victory Port, and personally led the troops to conduct a landing simulation exercise. Facts have proved that even traverser officers with advanced military experience can find it difficult to quickly cross the complex obstacle area in a hurry. If you want to pass through the obstacle area with human power alone, you have to successfully survive more than twenty rounds of rifle fire and survive unharmed.
Even if a person with good fortune can pass through this death obstacle area, he will still have to face a three-meter-wide trench after reaching the end. This trench was not very deep, only a little over two feet and less than three feet at most, but it was filled with dense mud, and it would be difficult to pull one's legs out if one stepped on it. In order to prevent the water from evaporating too quickly due to the high temperature in summer and making it hard, living water will be introduced regularly to maintain the viscosity.
On the other side of the mud trench is the main fire output area, a defense line divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. Each line of defense has a one-meter-thick parapet made of earthen bags as a cover to prevent land attacks from enemy naval guns. The three stepped fire output lines will also form a three-dimensional fire network to maximize the damage to enemy infantry trying to pass through the obstacle area.
A similar design was first used in the outer defenses of Victory Fort. However, Victory Fort has never suffered an invasion from outside, and Haihan's experience in foreign combat was mostly offensive and rarely passive defense, so this The effectiveness of this three-dimensional defense fortification has not actually been tested in actual combat. But it is obvious that the reliability of the defense line combined with infantry and artillery must far exceed the previous single fort defense, and the top military officials also have high hopes for its actual combat performance.
However, the biggest problem at present is not to find an effective defensive method, but to complete the construction of these fortifications within a limited time. Although special engineering personnel were transferred to the base camp to direct the construction this time, because we did not know when the Dutch would come back again, the construction period was also set very tight. The prohibition period for the Dutch was set until December, but The actual construction deadline is to be completed within October.
The Dutch also did not expect that the well-intentioned Haihan people had already begun to make the next move on the island. Van Longen and others still held on to a glimmer of hope that they could use diplomatic means to stop their arrogant behavior before Haihan took military action. Behavior.
After safely sailing away from the waters of the Natuna Islands, the Dutch did not seek other ports for docking supplies on the way. This was because they were in a hurry, and secondly, the Champa Kingdom in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula was also in contact with the sea. The Han people had close exchanges with each other and had never been friendly to the East India Company. So Van Longen decided to fly directly to Sanya in order to shorten the sailing time as much as possible. While passing through the Annan Sea, Van Longen even specifically directed the fleet to keep a distance of more than 20 nautical miles from the coastline to avoid encountering Haihan's ships in this sea area and prematurely expose their whereabouts.
Thirty days after setting off from Batavia, Van Longen's fleet finally arrived at the southern tip of Qiongzhou Island, about forty or fifty nautical miles away from Sanya Port. It was already evening, and Van Longen called Van der Wegen and Su Keyi to the captain's cabin and showed them the route chart.
"Gentlemen, if there is no big error in our course, we will arrive at Sanya Port as soon as tomorrow. I hope you can have a good rest tonight and face the Haihan people in the best mental state tomorrow." Fan Longgen After thinking for a while, he added: "This may be the best time for the three of us to make contributions. I think both of you should value this opportunity as much as I do, right?"
"Of course, Mr. Van Loungen, I agree with you very much." Van der Wegen formed a friendship with Van Loungen on the way back to Batavia from Damian Port, and this time Cohen was able to give them a chance to make a comeback. Van Der Wegen Gen is also determined to help Van Longgen make outstanding achievements.
"I heard that the Haihan people have armed patrol boats in the sea near Sanya. Maybe we will encounter them tomorrow. Mr. Captain, please remember to remind your crew to exercise restraint and never cause guns to fire due to nervousness. Otherwise, we may lose all our efforts," Su Keyi reminded.
"Of course, I will warn them in advance." Van Longen's face also became serious: "I just hope they don't open fire as soon as they see us."
Through the war in Fujian and subsequent successive statements, Haihan has fully demonstrated their stance towards the East India Company, which is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the word "friendly". If a Dutch sailing ship suddenly appeared in the waters of Sanya, it is indeed difficult to imagine how the Haihan people would react.
As Su Keyi expected, they were discovered by Haihan ships operating in the outer sea early the next morning. The first thing to discover them was not a navy warship, but a merchant ship that originally planned to go to Da Nang. However, three hours after sailing out of Victory Port, the ship discovered these two Dutch sailing ships flying the VOC flag of the East India Company, and immediately turned around and ran back.
After the Battle of Fujian, the news that the militia navy defeated the Red Fleet had already been publicized in the Haihan area through various channels. Ordinary people also knew that their army had fought a big battle with the Red Fleet in Fujian. There were hundreds of red-haired prisoners escorted back from Fujian alone, and the confiscated weapons, military uniforms, flags and other trophies were displayed in the small square outside Victory Fort for ten days. Therefore, as soon as the boss of this merchant ship saw the Dutch sailing ship, he recognized their identity from the flag hanging on the mast from a distance.
This merchant ship did not carry much cargo, so it was still able to get ahead of the Dutch sailing ship. When it was still about ten nautical miles away from the Port of Victory, it encountered two naval ships that were out for training. The boss of the ship immediately ordered people to hoist red and blue distress flags, move closer to the naval ship, and immediately reported what he saw outside the sea. Although these two sailing ships belonging to the navy are only training ships, they are also fully armed and can be put into combat if necessary. The officer leading the team made a prompt decision and ordered the merchant ship to return to port immediately to call the police. He then led two training ships to the outer sea to intercept the Dutch sailing ship with unknown intentions.
About half an hour later, the ships from both sides encountered each other on the sea. Officer Haihan ordered cannons to be fired into the sky as a warning.
"That's the warship of the Haihan people. This kind of ship has participated in battles in Fujian, and I can recognize their appearance." Van der Wegen confirmed the other party's identity through the monocular telescope, and then handed the telescope to Van Longen next to him.
"This ship doesn't look as big as our armed sailing ship!" After seeing it, Van Longen expressed doubts that Van der Wegen would lose to this kind of warship despite having an advantage in the number and tonnage of ships.
"No, they also have at least two warships with larger tonnage. One of them has only been seen by pirates from Shibazhi. It is said..." Van der Wegen looked at the sailboat he was riding on, using an uncertain expression. The tone said: "It is said that it is more than twice the size of our current ship, with many artillery guns, and the ship is super fast, as if there is some monster underwater pushing it forward."
"Those pirates must have been beaten stupid by the Haihan people!" Fan Longgen didn't believe his partner's statement. He knew that Akito liked to spread all kinds of weird things, and the more they spread, the more bizarre they became. Often they were different from the facts later. It's thousands of miles away, and I don't know how old the rumor Van der Wegen is, so it's not very credible.
"There are indeed many incredible rumors about the Haihan people. When I was in Batavia, I heard many times from the merchants who came from the Ming Dynasty." Su Keyi said while looking at the two Haihan warships rushing towards them. I couldn't help but remind: "Mr. Captain, I think it's best for us to lower the sails now to show our intention."
Van Longen glared at Su Keyi. He didn't like having such a Chinese bossing around in his team, but this arrangement was made by Governor Cohen and he had no right to change it. What's more important is that he doesn't know what secret mission Cohen assigned Su Keyi. It may be that he was responsible for monitoring his and Van der Wegen's performance during this trip, and reporting to him after returning. So even though Van Longen was a little dissatisfied with Su Keyi's existence, he would not show it in his words.
"Lower the sails!" Van Longen also knew that this matter could not be delayed. If he moved slowly, the people on the other side's ship might mistakenly think that he was planning to forcefully break into Victory Harbor. Then he would fire directly at this side, and things would be difficult to deal with.
When the two Dutch sailing ships were less than two nautical miles away, they chose to actively lower their sails to slow down the ship. This indeed made the Haihan crew members on the opposite side feel a little relieved. However, in accordance with standard operating procedures, the officers on the Haihan training ship still ordered the crew to stand ready. The few naval guns took off their gun jackets and loaded ammunition early, and aimed at the two Dutch sailing ships. After getting into a relatively close distance, the crew took out the tin trumpet and started shouting, ordering the crew on the Dutch sailing ship to gather on the deck immediately for boarding inspection.
"This is such a huge humiliation!"
Van Longen clenched his fists tightly and his face was livid. Next to him, Van der Wegen also looked unhappy. Su Keyi just informed them of the content of the other party's shouting. This was indeed a difficult situation for the proud Dutch officers to accept. If he hadn't been on a mission, Van Longen would have really wanted to order all the crew members on the ship to take up arms and fight with the opponent.
After Van Longen shouted to the other party three times, he gave the order for the crew to stop operating and gather on the deck. If he hesitated for a minute more, Officer Haihan, who was about to lose his patience, might actually order to open fire and have a good blast first.
After one of the Haihan sailboats slowly approached, the crew stretched out the hook tied to one end of the bamboo pole, hooked it to the side of the Dutch sailboat, and slowly closed the distance. Then several soldiers with guns stepped on the side of the ship and jumped onto the Dutch ship. Su Keyi quickly stepped forward to show his identity and purpose of coming.
"Envoy?" The leading young officer looked at Su Keyi and Fan Longen and Van der Wegen behind him, but he was still a little hesitant. He had never seen the Dutch, nor had he encountered such a situation when foreign missions visited Sanya. He then asked: "Do you have proof of identity?"
"Yes, yes!" Su Keyi responded repeatedly: "We have a personal letter from the Governor-General of the East India Company as proof."
The young officer took it and looked at it, but he didn't understand the words on it, so he had to return it to Su Keyi: "You guys wait, I'll ask for instructions first."
The junior officer returned to the training ship to ask for instructions, but the leader was also a naturalized civilian officer. He also had no experience in dealing with such matters. He could only order to seize the weapons on the other side's ship and send dozens of soldiers to respectively Implement surveillance on the opponent's two ships, and then go back.
(End of chapter)