Chapter 737: Fortune tricks people
With the Matalan people escorting them to go to sea and go north, this arrangement is even more secure than the people from Dacheng Rice Bank going to sea on their own. At least before returning from the Indochina Peninsula to buy grain, the Matalan people will do their best to ensure that these three people Security of the "messenger". Moreover, the Matalan people obviously had no doubt about the identity of Cheng Dapeng and others, and had no intention of checking whether they were carrying any suspicious items on the road. Of course, this may also be because the current food supply pressure faced by Batavia City has made the Matalan people unable to pay attention to so many details.
Batavia has been besieged for more than a month. During this period, basically no external supplies have been sent to the city. Although there is no real famine in the city, the food supply is indeed very tight. This is also due to the fact that the East India Company immediately implemented a temporary plan to uniformly distribute supplies at the beginning of the siege, and seized all commercial grain stocks in the city, including Dacheng Rice Bank, maintaining the tens of thousands of people in the city with minimum ration standards. Survive. If there were no such measures, the people in the city would have been in civil unrest before the Ma Dalan people could break through the city.
Of course, if that kind of chaotic situation occurs, the first one to bear the brunt will probably be the granary of Dacheng Rice Bank. In the same way, the first thing the Matalan people do now when they enter the city is to control the food supply channels. Even if the grain stocks of Dacheng Rice Bank have been moved by the Dutch to the Council Castle in the city center, the Matalan people still have to control the food supply channels. First, make sure that nothing happens to grain merchants like Cheng Dapeng, otherwise they will not be able to transport a large amount of grain in a short period of time to feed the tens of thousands of extra mouths on their own.
The Matalan people were also thoughtful. When Sukarno left, they left a group of soldiers to maintain order outside the Dacheng Rice Store to prevent the intruders in the city. However, they should also be there for surveillance purposes. After all, such a big business There are some connections between grain merchants and local governing bodies, and the people in Matalan are not sure whether Cheng Dapeng is really as honest as he seems.
After Cheng Dapeng was sure that nothing would happen to him, he began to worry about Bart's safety again. But even if there were no Matalan soldiers guarding Mihang outside, he would not dare to sneak out easily to inquire for information. There are rioters everywhere in the city now, and there are quite a few young people who want to take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune. For a person like him who is delicate and has no ability to protect himself, it is better to stay at home honestly. appropriate.
Since the day before, the sound of gunfire and shouts of killing have been echoing in the city, but they are mainly concentrated in the north of the city. The west side of the city is mostly populated by foreign merchants, and the people's willingness to resist is also low. There is no fierce fighting. The Matalan people barely encountered much resistance and successfully took over the west area of the city. Judging from the performance of the Matalan men, Cheng Dapeng believed that they had completely controlled the city defenses in the west of the city, and were not worried that the Dutch in the city could break through to the west. However, the hope of survival of Bart and others has undoubtedly been reduced a few times. point.
The fact is exactly as Cheng Dapeng speculated. Once the northern part of the city where the pressure was greatest was lost, the city defenses in the east, west and west directions of the city were lost. After the horse and blue army entered the city, they quickly attacked from the east, north and west. An encirclement was formed against the defenders in the city. Although the south of the city is still in the hands of the Dutch for the time being, senior officers such as Van Diemen and Bart do not intend to withdraw from Batavia City, but are determined to fight the enemy to the death in the city. However, many Dutch businessmen chose to flee from the south of the city, hoping to avoid the pursuit of the Matalan people. But this escape route is by no means smooth. There are only some plantations and farms in the area south of the city. Thirty miles away is an uninhabited tropical rainforest. It is difficult for ordinary people to hide in it for a long time without supplies. Malaria, Poisonous insects and hot and humid environment may kill the refugees who enter within a few days.
The vast majority of locals and Chinese did not choose to flee. For ordinary people, staying in the city has a greater chance of survival than fleeing. After all, the Matlan people did not attack Batavia to massacre the city, but to massacre the city. To drive out the Dutch and capture this trading port city that generated huge amounts of wealth every year. The people here, including the Chinese, will be the source of wealth for the Matalan people in the future. They have no reason to massacre the Batavia people who will soon become subjects of the Matalan Kingdom.
On August 10th, the roar of artillery in Batavia almost never stopped. The Matalan people spent a day and night clearing the passage to the north city gate and began to transport heavy weapons into the city. The Dutch defenders, who only relied on barricades as defensive barriers, found it difficult to continue fighting in the face of larger-caliber artillery. The Matarlan artillery cleared the defenders' street strongholds one by one, and suppressed the defenders as they retreated step by step toward the city center.
In this day's battle, the defensive side paid thousands of lives to stop the offensive of the Ma Da Blue Army in the outer area about 300 meters away from the Parliament Castle. Since the Ma Da Blue Army entered the city, the proportion of casualties they suffered has also dropped significantly compared with the previous battle. Although the numbers are still higher than that of the defenders, the battle losses between the two sides are ten times higher than before entering the city. In terms of a gap of about 2 times, the current casualties of just over 2 times can already make the commander-in-chief of the Horse and Blue Army laugh out loud.
The number of Dutch armed personnel plus militiamen who were still resisting stubbornly in the center of the city was less than 2,000. Even counting the old, weak, women and children who were unable to fight, the total number was only 4,000 to 5,000. And the Ma Da Blue Army now has at least about 13,000 combatable troops. Even if it takes human lives to fill it, this hole can be filled. For the Malan people, conquering Batavia is basically no longer a problem. It just depends on how long it takes to clear the last obstacle.
But I don’t know whether it was because the fighting spirit of the Dutch was aroused, or whether the Malta Blues relaxed when they saw victory in sight, but this last step was extremely difficult. The battle lasted until the night of August 12, and the Malta Blues still failed to conquer. The last stronghold of the Dutch in the city. The effect of artillery on the attackers was very limited at this time, because the outside of the Council Castle was full of rubble and ruins, and the artillery shells no longer had any obvious effect.
At this time, the Mata Blue Army had completed the encirclement of the city center, but if this nail was not removed, the Mata Blue Army would not be able to claim to have seized control of Batavia. After waiting outside the city for several days, Laden Langsang finally couldn't hold it any longer and entered the city on the evening of the 12th. He announced that he would personally supervise the battle when the sun rose and demanded that the army must capture this last stronghold before the sun set.
However, as if God was mocking Lang Sang, it suddenly started raining that night, and it showed no sign of stopping at dawn. Lang Sang's declaration that he would launch an offensive when the sun rose turned into a joke.
No matter what, as long as there are no knives falling from the sky, this offensive must still be launched. On the morning of the 13th, following Lang Sang's order, about 5,000 Matalan soldiers launched the final offensive from multiple directions at the same time. Behind them are two groups of reserve troops numbering 3,000 people. If the first wave of offensive is repelled, the next two groups of reserve troops will also go into battle one after another, leaving no chance for the Dutch to breathe. If nothing else happens, the Cavaliers and Blues should be able to crush this smelly and hard stumbling block before noon.
Van Diemen had given up commanding the second line and stood on the defense line with the few remaining Dutchmen holding a musket. Watching the incoming horses beating the blue army, Van Diemen opened his voice and shouted loudly: "Mr. Guys, the last moment has arrived, let’s bring a few more Nanyang monkeys to heaven together!”
Bart also grabbed the weapon in his hand tightly. Although the injuries on his body now made it difficult for him to stand still, this did not hinder his belief in fighting to the end. The strange thing is that what came to his mind at this time was not the windmills and bright tulips in his hometown, but a table of steaming meals.
"I really want to eat another delicious meal sent by Cheng Dapeng!" Bart shook his head helplessly, expelling the fantasy from his mind, and concentrated on the final battle at hand. He knew that maybe in a short while, he would go to see God, and he would never have the chance to taste the Chinese food Cheng Dapeng brought. But fate seemed to be playing tricks on both sides of the war. When the Malta Blue Army was about to enter the gun range of the Dutch defenders, a signal to withdraw troops suddenly came. Both sides were momentarily distracted by this turn of events, but soon the Mavericks and Blues really changed from front to back and began to retreat.
"What happened?" Looking at the empty city outside, Bart said to himself in confusion.
The Ma Dalan people were just one step away from completing their battle plan, but at this juncture they took the initiative to withdraw?
After a long time, a cannon shot came from the air, followed by a second and third shot. Everyone stood up and carefully distinguished it, and finally determined that the sound of the cannon was coming from the north.
"It's our reinforcements! The reinforcements have arrived!" The first person to react was Van Diemen, and he was the only one who knew the reinforcements' action plan best. Although it was nearly a week later than he expected, the reinforcements finally arrived!
"The main force of the Mata Blue Army has entered the city, and those stationed at the beach are all logistics personnel and wounded soldiers. If I am not mistaken, the supplies of the Mata Blue Army are also stored at the port... These monkeys are going to be in trouble!" After Van Diemen sorted out the situation, he quickly began to issue orders: "Everyone who can still fight, form a team immediately, we are going to start a counterattack!"
The Dutch fleet had actually completed its assembly at the Karimo Islands, about 220 nautical miles east of Batavia Port, five days ago. More than 100 sailing ships, including merchant ships, carried about 4,000 combat personnel. , and quietly made a comeback. Prior to this, these fleets departing from various colonial areas had swept all the major ports in the Matalan Kingdom from Timor Island to Java Island, and even the southern coast of Borneo had not been spared. Since the horse-drawn blue army almost came out in full force, the Dutch encountered almost no decent resistance during the operation and really grabbed a lot of money.
However, since the fighting situation in Batavia is unknown, it is difficult for this armed force floating on the sea to seize the appropriate opportunity to counterattack. They were not even sure whether Batavia, under the siege of the Malta Blue Army, had fallen. If that was the case, it would be useless for them to fight back.
However, according to the plan made in advance, thirty days after the war began, the fleet decided to assemble and launch a counterattack. On the morning of the 13th, when the Martin Blue Army in the city began to gather, the Dutch fleet also launched a surprise attack on Batavia Port from the outer sea.
Just as Van Diemen guessed, after breaking through the Batavia city defenses, the Matarans had relaxed their vigilance on the outside. Almost all the main troops were sent to fight in the city, and those who stayed at the port were all wounded soldiers and civilians. , and combat supplies piled into hills.
Although the Mata Blues garrisoned at the port quickly raised the alarm, they were unable to prevent the Dutch fleet from quickly approaching the port and landing. The Malta Blue Army had previously focused their energy on attacking the city of Batavia, and had not bothered to set up shore fortifications and defense lines at the port. The garrison that was caught off guard had no chance to perform in front of the wolf-like Dutch. The musket array dispersed these panicked soldiers with almost no effort.
Under the commander's order, the Dutch who had just landed immediately began to burn the combat supplies on the shore - most of which were rations for the Malta Blue Army. The fire that ignited at the port attracted the attention of the blue army in the city even faster than the people who returned to the city to call the police. At the same time that Laden Langsang ordered the offensive, the commander on the city gate tower also sent people to rush to the city. He reported the warning of the Dutch landing in the harbor.
This news is indeed bad news for Lang Sang, because the port not only has the materials needed to maintain the Matalan army, but also has hundreds of ships used to transport troops and supplies. If these things are lost, Matalan will Even if the Blue Army captured Batavia, it would be difficult to achieve long-term occupation, not to mention that there was a Dutch fleet on the seaside that came out of nowhere.
Since there was no information about the approximate strength of the Dutch fleet in the warning message, Langsang made a critical mistake at this time - he ordered the troops who were attacking the Castle of the Council to retreat, and immediately went outside the city to block the seaside. Dutch people.
In Lang Sang's view, there are currently only a few Dutch armed personnel remaining in the city, and it is unlikely that they will make a comeback. The top priority of the Ma Da Blue Army is to protect the supplies and ships on the seaside. As long as the remnants of the Dutch on the seaside are calmed down in one go, it will still be too late to go back and deal with the remaining elements in the city. The city defenses of Batavia have been broken. Can the Dutch come back to life?
But the Dutch didn't think so. When they found a glimmer of hope, they immediately launched a counterattack. Because the current situation was originally part of the plan made by the Dutch before the war.
(End of chapter)