Chapter 731 Tactical Changes
Since the Netherlands entered the Far East, it has rarely been so passively suppressed on the frontal battlefield. Even in the first two times when the Blue Army besieged the city for a long time, the defenders were able to respond calmly and resist the enemy outside the city walls. In the end, the opponent is defeated without success. The last time the Dutch were beaten like dogs on the battlefield probably dates back to the time when they were attacked by the Ming army in Penghu.
Although many soldiers were killed by the opponent's trebuchets in the previous battles with the Malay Blue Army, they were not as passive as today. Although the artillery deployed by the defenders on the city wall could hit the opponent's trebuchet from time to time, the low hit rate was not enough to change the current situation of being passively beaten.
As time passed little by little, the damage to the protective walls of the fortress outside the city also increased little by little. Bart had to order most of the soldiers in the fort to withdraw into the city, leaving only a small number of soldiers to stay in stronger positions in the fort. Although this still cannot change the disadvantage of being passively beaten, it can at least effectively reduce the unnecessary losses of troops outside the city.
The patience of the Ma Da Blue Army was indeed very sufficient. They should have been able to observe that some of the garrison troops in the fortress outside the city had withdrawn from the city gate, but they did not send infantry to attack. They continued to use trebuchets to attack the outside of the city. Stones were thrown from several forts.
At this time, Van Diemen also came to the northern front where the enemy deployed the most trebuchets to supervise the battle. Looking at the rain of rocks outside the city, Van Diemen's face was exactly the same as Bart's, both were ashen.
As a soldier, Van Diemen was indeed intolerable to such a passive situation, but as a commander responsible for the safety of the city, he could not easily order the defenders to go out to fight.
After Van Diemen clenched his fist for a long time, he slowly loosened it and said: "It seems that the fortresses we have spent time and effort building in the past few years have the biggest effect of consuming the service life of the opponent's trebuchets."
Bart smiled bitterly and said: "I don't know whether their trebuchet will be scrapped first or our fortress will collapse first."
Van Diemen shook his head and said: "Even if their trebuchets are scrapped first, our fortress has basically lost its due function."
Van Diemen's words are not an exaggeration. Under the constant projection of the enemy, the fortresses outside the city are gradually collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The part that the civilians were sent out to repair overnight was obviously not strong enough. A piece of it collapsed immediately after being hit by a stone. The damage was done much faster than the restoration project.
Van Diemen turned his head to Bart thoughtfully and asked: "What is the approximate hit rate when we use artillery to bombard trebuchets now?"
"About 30 to 40 shells will hit once." Bart said about this hit rate, and he felt a little ashamed. From yesterday's attack to now, only twenty or thirty trebuchets have been destroyed, and the artillery shells are estimated to have been fired nearly a thousand times. Even if the number of enemy trebuchets no longer increases, if the attack continues at this rate, it will most likely take three to four thousand rounds to completely destroy the enemy's trebuchets - and this is just the northern front.
"It's too low." After hearing Bart's report, Van Diemen couldn't help but lamented the low hit rate: "For every three hundred rounds we fire, one of the guns will be useless. Before the official battle, almost a quarter of the artillery deployed here will be lost.”
"Perhaps we should save the life of our artillery and stop shooting at the opponent's trebuchet positions." Bart hesitated and expressed his opinion.
"Stop shooting?" Van Diemen frowned: "Isn't that just letting them attack our fortress outside the city?"
"General, it is difficult for the enemy's trebuchets to be manufactured outside the city. If one breaks down, there will be one missing. The same goes for our artillery. Under the current situation, I think we should use the life of our artillery to exchange for their trebuchets. Lifespan is actually a very bad deal." Bart boldly expressed his thoughts.
"Go on," Van Diemen replied thoughtfully.
Bart was encouraged and continued: "General, you must remember the last time they invaded, right? The most lethal part we caused at that time was actually after they stopped using trebuchets. During the siege, they had to stop Use the trebuchet."
What Bart is talking about is that during the confrontation between the two sides in 1629, the Ma Da Blue Army did not have much advantage in the duel due to the limited range of the trebuchets. Instead, they were severely beaten by the condescending city defense artillery fire. When the trebuchets were about to be completely damaged, the Ma Da Blue Army switched tactics and gave up stoning operations, and instead used the tactic of infantry to climb the city wall to attack the city.
Of course, due to the gap in weapon performance between the two sides, the siege troops of the Ma Da Blue Army did not take any advantage. Due to the lack of long-range fire cover, they suffered extremely serious damage below the city. The large number of wounded soldiers overwhelmed the logistics of the Ma Da Blue Army, which was one of the main reasons for its subsequent retreat.
In the current way of fighting, the Dutch army is not able to make full use of its advantages in weapon performance and fortifications. Instead, as Bart described, it is competing with its opponent's low-cost trebuchets over the service life of its artillery and its combat effectiveness. Not to mention that it is very low, the loss of the life of the artillery cannot be ignored. Bart believed that instead of doing this, it would be better to simply give up on the current fighting distance and fight the enemy closer. At least in the first confrontation the day before, the Dutch army's battle damage ratio still had a very obvious advantage compared to its opponent.
Van Diemen was also a senior officer with considerable command experience, and he immediately understood Bart's intention after hearing it. Van Diemen looked at the battle situation outside the city and pondered for a moment before speaking out: "I will go to the council immediately to express the necessity of changing tactics. You stay here and wait for news from me."
Because of the high stakes at stake, even though Van Diemen had command authority, tactical changes like this still had to be submitted to the council for approval first. But when Van Diemen made this statement, it can be said that he actually agreed with Bart's proposal, but he still needed to complete the last formality. Of course, based on the style of the white shirts in the council, Bart can imagine that Van Diemen will inevitably encounter difficulties. After all, those people have always been proud of going against the military, even if they have been killed by the enemy. Various means must be used to show that they are the ones in charge in Batavia City. If it weren't for the fact that the company's major shareholders were standing behind these people, Van Diemen would probably have ordered all the white shirts who were specifically trying to cause trouble with the military to be hanged in the square in the center of the city on the day Old Cohen was buried.
Although the military situation was urgent, Bart did not dare to act recklessly, and he did not dare to order a ceasefire before receiving news from Van Diemen. However, he still thought of a compromise, changing the forts that were originally divided into two batches to fight in turns into three batches. This would reduce the number of artillery participating in the battle at the same time, thus reducing the consumption of ammunition.
The stubbornness of the council obviously exceeded Bart's imagination. Until that afternoon, when the enemy troops withdrew their troops and returned to camp, no news from Van Diemen came back. He even wanted to send someone to the council to see if General Van Diemen had been murdered by those damn white shirts.
Cheng Dapeng's timely appearance saved Bart from about to collapse. To be precise, it was the delicious food he brought that saved Bart. Bart, who had been supervising the battle at the top of the city for a day, only ate two slices of dry bread and a piece of kielbasa as hard as a stone for lunch. By the time of the truce in the afternoon, he was already ravenous. Seeing Cheng Dapeng appear was like seeing a savior, so he took him back to his station under the city wall. There was no need for Cheng Dapeng to do anything today. Bart took the food box himself and took out several plates of food. Of course, he didn't forget the small bottle of aperitif placed at the bottom of the food box. "Boss Cheng, you are such a trustworthy good friend! I really like people like you who keep your promises!" Bart praised vaguely as he tore off half of a roast chicken and put it into his mouth to chew.
Although Cheng Dapeng has always shown himself to be wealthy and wealthy, he felt a little inexplicably distressed when he saw Bart eating. It wasn't that he couldn't afford a chicken, but that the city of Batavia was now under siege, and the people in the city were under siege. Not only are the prices of various foods soaring, but resources are also severely scarce. There are more than a dozen chickens fed in the rice row, but according to Bart's eating method, they can only last for half a month at most. And if the siege of Batavia City is not lifted in half a month, it will be difficult to find even feather dusters, let alone live chickens.
If Bart eats here, Cheng Dapeng and his colleagues will lose one piece of food. However, Cheng Dapeng felt distressed, so he still had to smile in response to Bart: "As long as adults like it, that's fine."
After Bart ate for a while, Cheng Dapeng cautiously asked, "I wonder how the battle with the enemy is going today? Do you have any good news, sir?"
When Bart heard this, he spat out the bones in his mouth and lowered his voice: "These nasty Nanyang monkeys! They have been hiding far outside the city all day long, attacking our fortifications with trebuchets! ”
Cheng Dapeng responded: "Isn't that similar to yesterday's battle situation?"
"That's pretty much what it means." Bart said with some discouragement: "These guys have learned to be smart. They probably won't use infantry to attack the city before destroying the fortress we deployed outside the city."
Cheng Dapeng asked: "Can the fortress outside the city still hold on?"
Bart smiled bitterly and shook his head: "If we go by the current situation, in about two or three days, the fortress outside will be completely in ruins. But this may not be entirely a bad thing. After they clean up the fortress outside the city, it will probably You have to go to the infantry.”
Cheng Dapeng asked in confusion: "What if they continue to use trebuchets to attack the city wall?"
Bart responded: "The city wall is much stronger than the fortress wall outside. It is impossible to capture the city wall with trebuchets alone. And their reserve of stone bullets is obviously very limited. Today they have begun to demolish the buildings outside the city. Besides, When the infantry attacked the city, they could no longer use trebuchets.”
Cheng Dapeng suddenly realized: "Yes, when the infantry is advancing, if we use this trebuchet to attack the city, wouldn't there be a risk of accidental damage! Lord Bart, please let the opponent's infantry attack the city, and the danger of the trebuchet will be alleviated." ”
There was no joy on Bart's face, and he shook his head and said: "Even if we knew, we would not dare to make adjustments easily. General Van Diemen has asked the council for orders, but there is no news yet."
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"Don't the adults in this council know about the war situation outside the city?" Cheng Dapeng asked in confusion.
Bart sneered and said: "These people don't even dare to go up the city wall. How would they know how the battle is going. They hide in the city council every day and point fingers at the army, lest we ignore their existence!"
When Cheng Dapeng heard Bart criticizing the council, it was not easy to talk to him. Bart can say it, but as a Chinese, he cannot agree with it at will, otherwise it will arouse Bart's suspicion and all the efforts will be wasted.
Cheng Dapeng recalled what he knew about the Haihan system. It seemed that the Executive Committee also had absolute authority over the Military Commission. However, several of the Executive Committee members were from the military or were leaders who were obviously leaning towards the military. Therefore, it seemed that there had never been any I have heard of conflicts like Batavia between the Executive Committee and the Military Commission.
Bart sighed a few words. Seeing that Cheng Dapeng didn't answer, he also guessed that he was worried about his status and did not dare to talk about this topic easily. He immediately changed the subject and said: "Boss Cheng, don't worry, the horses will beat the Blues." It is not easy to attack Batavia City. If this war lasts until August, it is not certain who will win."
When Cheng Dapeng heard that there was something in Bart's words, he subconsciously asked: "Could it be that after August, reinforcements will come to relieve the siege of Batavia?"
Bart nodded, but did not elaborate on the details. He just said vaguely: "Even if the horses want to withdraw when the time comes, they can't just leave."
Cheng Dapeng quickly filtered some of the information he had in his mind and thought that Bart's words were not bragging. Before the Mata Blue Army landed, all the merchant warships anchored in Batavia Port broke out. The destination of these ships must be other Dutch colonies in the Southeast Asia. Although these colonies are scattered all over the place, if there is time to slowly gather their forces, they will still be a maritime force with strong strength, and it is possible to come back to relieve the siege. It's hard to say how much combat effectiveness the horse can retain if their offensive against the Blues continues until next month. After all, they are playing away from home and have many logistical problems that need to be solved. If it is not handled properly, it may affect the actual performance of this army on the battlefield.
With a lot of harvest, Cheng Dapeng returned to Dacheng Rice Shop. Just like the previous day, he hurried back to the study to record everything he saw and heard. Although he didn't know when the information would be sent back to Sanya, Cheng Dapeng was convinced that the information would be of great reference value to the military.
(End of chapter)