Chapter 736 Doze meets pillow
No matter how determined the Dutch were in fighting, in fact from the moment the city wall defenses were breached, it basically meant that Batavia was about to fall. Although the existing defenders in the city are still guarding the various barricades in the city, as the enemy troops have continuously entered the city, it is obviously only possible to rely entirely on such crude fortifications to prevent the Matalan people from advancing. Dutch wishful thinking. Whether it is military strength or desire for victory, the Dutch are now at a complete disadvantage.
Among the defenders who did not have time to evacuate the city wall defense line, except for a handful of people who insisted on fighting until death, a considerable number of people chose to surrender to save their lives. Especially the temporary troops who were forcibly recruited into the city defense army in the later stages of the war were almost all ordinary people who had never been on the battlefield. They had neither a strong will to fight nor the combat skills to protect themselves. The army quickly gave up resistance after the siege.
However, these poor people who chose to surrender were not forgiven by the Matalan people. After their weapons and armor were confiscated, they were immediately escorted to the front line of the battle. The Matalan people used spears and swords to drive away the prisoners of war. March towards the barricades erected by the defenders in the city. Obviously, the Matalan people did not want to waste precious food supplies to feed these prisoners of war. They did not even have the patience to build prisoner of war camps to hold them. They just planned to use these people directly as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
If the defenders were unable to deal harshly with these prisoners of war, the horse-beating blue army that followed could successfully conquer the barricades and advance toward the city center. If the defenders continue to fire indiscriminately, there will be no actual losses to the Ma Da Blue Army, but it will consume some of the defenders' ammunition and continue to shake their belief in fighting.
"Fire!" Faced with these unarmed cannon fodder, Bart's commanding voice showed no sign of wavering. To him, his own people who have surrendered are of the same nature as the enemy. Moreover, any mercy or hesitation at this juncture will only lead to the complete collapse of his own camp. As a senior military officer who can still command operations on the front line, he will never allow such a thing to happen. As for whether he would be stigmatized after the war because of this, Bart didn't care - he had to survive until the war first.
The musket bullets knocked down the first row of prisoners of war, and the remaining people could not help but retreat in panic. However, there were swords and guns from the horsemen and blue men waiting on their way back. It was wishful thinking to save their lives. The first batch of prisoners of war who were used as cannon fodder only survived on the battlefield for less than two minutes before they all fell under the attack of both warring parties.
Bart's determination bought the defenders valuable time to regroup. When the defenders gradually retreated from the city wall to the barricade defense line, the entire defense surface was greatly reduced, and the limited troops could be assembled to the defense nodes of several main blocks. , so that the Ma Da Blue Army who had already invaded the city had to pay a greater price to conquer these simple street fortresses.
After the Ma Da Blue Army discovered that the attack was ineffective, they were not as anxious as before. Now that they had entered the city, it was difficult for the exhausted defenders to expel them. So while the Ma Da Blue Army camped along the line of the city wall, they began to clear the north gate. As long as the gate passage was cleared, they could transport heavy cannons into the city and start a bombardment with the stubborn Dutch. . Most of the artillery in the Malta Blue Army were large-caliber siege guns sold to them by the British, which were more than enough to deal with the six-pounders on the barricades in the city.
Of course, in addition to clearing the city gates, the Ma Da Blue Army who had entered the city were not idle either. The few artillery pieces on the city wall that could still be used for combat were quickly counted out, and a lot of manpower was used to hoist them into the city. .
Before the sun went down, two heavy 12-pound city defense guns were set up on the city-crossing street opposite the North City Gate. Although the barricade defenders on the opposite side judged the horse's intention to beat the blue army in time and opened fire to stop it, However, the Ma Da Blue Army used a large number of soil bags to set up defenses in front of the artillery in advance. The firepower output of the defenders only slightly slowed down the movement speed of the Ma Da Blue Army and did not really prevent it. The first artillery fire fired by the Ma Da Blue Army smashed into pieces a masonry fortification about 200 meters away. More than a dozen defenders stationed behind the fortification were either killed or injured, and they were immediately lost. ability to continue fighting.
The fall of night once again saved the defenders. The Matalan people did not try to brave the night to continue launching a large-scale attack into the city, and concentrated their manpower on the north gate to clear this main access to the city. While the defenders were reinforcing the barricades, they were fighting to the death in the dark with the small groups of Matalan pioneers who had penetrated into the city through numerous houses.
To the exhausted defenders who had been fighting for many days, the Ma Dalan Pioneers, wearing black cloaks and covering their heads and faces with black cloth, were simply demons in the night. It was unknown which corner they would suddenly emerge from, or Or jump off the wall and cut the throat of your comrades or yourself with the short knife in your hand. These guys showed no interest in fighting. Regardless of whether they succeeded or failed, they retreated with one blow and quickly left the battlefield, making it impossible for the Dutch to pursue them. So much so that the Dutch officers had to order to reduce the scope of defense and patrols and deploy their manpower as concentrated as possible to avoid assassins lurking in the dark finding the opportunity to strike.
That night, the people in Dacheng Rice Store were also in a state of uneasiness. Although Dacheng Rice Store, located in the west district of the city, was not located at the first place to bear the brunt of enemy troops entering the city, enemy troops had already arrived before dark. Fortunately, as Bart expected, the Matalan people did not try to embarrass Cheng Dapeng and others, because they need to continue to maintain the normal operation of Batavia after the war, and the stable supply of food is a Indispensable part. As a well-known grain merchant in the Batavia grain market, the existence of Dacheng Rice Bank can partially solve the grain gap that the current Batavia Blue Army cannot fill.
The person who came to visit Cheng Dapeng was an officer named Sukarno, but his name had nothing to do with the Chinese Kapitan Sumingang family in Batavia. He was an authentic Southeast Asian native. After Sukarno met with Cheng Dapeng, he immediately made a suggestion that Cheng Dapeng could not refuse: "Our commander-in-chief hopes that the Dacheng Rice Bank can immediately organize a batch of grain transportation here from Champa or Annan. We I will purchase this grain from you at a reasonable price.”
Cheng Dapeng was secretly happy, but on the surface he still had to pretend to be bargaining: "I don't know what a reasonable price is, sir? After all, these grains are shipped across the sea from the north, and the freight has to be included in the cost. ”
"Is this okay if it is not lower than the local food price before the war?" Sukarno did not intend to slowly bargain with Cheng Dapeng and directly gave a standard, but there was a hint of impatience in his tone. .
"Of course, of course. I am willing to do it." Cheng Dapeng changed the subject and said: "But several ships from this trip were docked at Batavia Port before and experienced many days of war. I don't know if they are still there at this time. If so Without ships, the villain can only look at the ocean and sigh."
There were indeed three Guangzhou ships under the name of Dacheng Mihang that were anchored in the port before the war began. However, because the Dutch only evacuated their own armed merchant ships before the war, a large number of civilian ships were not notified in time, and the port had already fallen. And the Matalan people are unlikely to be civilized masters. The ships docked in Batavia Port have probably been requisitioned long ago. After all, they need to maintain tens of thousands of people to carry out operations here for a month, and the transportation pressure on the maritime logistics supply line should also be considerable. These "ownerless" civilian ships are naturally used when they can, and they can provide some transportation capacity.
Sukarno did not deny Cheng Dapeng's speculation: "All the ships in the port are currently requisitioned by us. After the war, we will try to find Dacheng Mihang's ships and return them to you. But before that, we will provide ships, As long as you send people to help us buy food from other countries, it will be fine." When Sukarno mentioned this condition, Cheng Dapeng was naturally not allowed to find any excuses to refuse. Cheng Dapeng could only pretend to be helpless and nodded: "Well, I will just send someone to go there...but after buying this food, adults must not forget to pay."
Sukarno snorted and said: "As long as the grain is bought, your money will be indispensable! Take this token and ask your people to report to the west gate after dawn, and someone will take him out of the city and onto the ship."
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Cheng Dapeng sent the impatient Sukarno away obediently, but felt happy in his heart. For the past month, I have been struggling with how to send the high-value intelligence collected recently to the north as quickly as possible. Unexpectedly, the person who helped me in the end turned out to be the Ma Dalan people. Although the war seems to be coming to an end, if this information can be sent back a day earlier, the effect it can play will definitely be greater.
The southernmost intelligence station of the Haihan Security Department in Indochina is located in Vung Tau Port, which was previously under the rule of South Vietnam, but was later occupied by the Champa State during the civil war. After that, the two countries fought several times over the ownership of this seaport. In the end, the Annan people, who failed to take advantage, simply gave this place to Haihan as part of the four-port development plan in the south. Anyway, I You can't get it back. If you want to get it, just go ahead and cause trouble in Champa.
Although the relationship between Haihan and the Champa Kingdom is not as close as that with Annam, and they cannot obtain the management and development rights of Vung Tau Port under the same conditions, there is still no problem in setting up business stores and official institutions there. Before Haihan occupied the Amborna Islands, the intelligence collected by the Ministry of Security personnel in Batavia and Nanyang was sent to Vung Tau Port for processing. However, the distance between the two places is nearly 2,000 kilometers, which is quite far. Therefore, after Haihan captured the Ambuna Islands, the intelligence station of the Ministry of Security was able to continue to move south. Moreover, since there are time-travelers stationed in Ampana Port, it is equipped with radio stations, a super-era information transmission tool, so the intelligence is even more timely.
The Matalan people want to use Cheng Dapeng's purchase channel to buy food from the Champa Kingdom. The fleet must pass through the waters of the Ambunas Islands on the way. Then they can find any reason to make a short stop there and complete the process. Handover of information. For Cheng Dapeng, this request from Ma Dalan was like falling asleep on the pillow, and the timing couldn't be more perfect.
The information that needs to be sent back to the base camp has been sorted out long ago and transcribed into several small paper rolls with secret words. It can be easily hidden whether it is carried with one's body or placed in the sandwich of a wooden box. To ensure safety, Cheng Dapeng decided to let the three of them go together, but he still had to stay in the city and continue to watch the changes in the local situation.
Perhaps he was worried that something might happen to Cheng Dapeng. As soon as it got dark the next morning, Sukarno came again with his people. He claimed that the current war situation inside and outside the city was not stable. In order to prevent an accident, he came to escort Cheng Dapeng. The people left the city and boarded the boat. However, Cheng Dapeng believed that the other party was worried that the grain merchants carrying cash out of the city might cause unnecessary trouble, so he sent someone to escort them.
However, this worry is somewhat unnecessary. The three people at Dacheng Rice Shop only have one suitcase of luggage, which they can carry alone. There are not several boxes of gold and silver as Sukarno imagined. Sukarno couldn't help but asked Cheng Dapeng: "Guimi Bank doesn't even bring any money. Are you planning to go to Champa to buy on credit?"
Cheng Dapeng smiled and said: "That's not true, but we have a more convenient way to do business locally."
After saying that, Cheng Dapeng took out a piece of paper with exquisite patterns and showed it to Sukarno: "This is a cash check issued by Haihan Bank. You only need to take it to the local bank to cash it. But the villain and the local rice If you have a good relationship with the merchant, you can also directly trade with the other party with this cash check.”
Not only could Sukarno speak Chinese, but he could also read Chinese characters. Seeing that the piece of paper was indeed marked with the words "One Thousand Liang of Silver", he couldn't help frowning and said: "Such a piece of paper, if someone takes it away, , isn’t that just one thousand taels of silver gone?”
Cheng Dapeng explained: "This thing is registered. When you go to cash in cash, you need to state your unique password before you can get the money. Just having a check without a password is useless."
Sukarno said angrily: "If this bank account is not guaranteed to be redeemed, then what should I do?"
Cheng Dapeng said: "You can rest assured of this. Haihan Bank has an excellent reputation. There has never been a situation where the payment was failed even though all the procedures were completed. If that is the case, how can we, the merchants, rest assured that we can keep our money with them?"< br>
Cheng Dapeng actually had something he didn't say out loud in his heart - this is a bank account opened by my family, so there is no way it could be cashed out.
Although Sukarno was a little unsure whether Cheng Dapeng was bragging or if he was telling the truth, looking at his words, he no longer insisted on letting him take the cash on the road.
(End of chapter)