Chapter 1239 War is Coming
In the battle plan formulated by Roger, the defense line composed of the two immigrant villages in the east and west, plus the fire line headquarters temporarily converted from various official agencies between the two villages, will assume the task of confronting the opponent's offensive head-on. All the local people have moved into the military camp in the south. There is a small east-west river between them and the immigrant village. The environment is relatively safe and will not be directly affected by the war.
However, Roger did not intend to deploy all his troops on this line of defense. The result he wanted was not to repel the opponent's offensive, but to annihilate as many of the opponent's effective forces as possible under the blockage of this line of defense. Therefore, he only deployed half of his troops here, while the other half was left for maneuver, ambushing in the dense forests on the flanks of the battlefield, waiting for the critical moment to rush out and catch the opponent by surprise.
This combat plan involves the emergency relocation of thousands of people. It is extremely difficult to implement it in a short period of time. If the star port had not been under military control for a long time, the people have always habitually obeyed official instructions. Such a sudden The arrangement will probably cause a lot of trouble. Han Zhengshan originally thought that this would be a hard job, but after actually doing it, he found that it was not as difficult as he imagined. The people's cooperation was quite high, and it can be seen from this that they have a deep trust in the Haihan Army and the government. .
Han Zhengshan asked some people at random, and the answers he received were that they believed that the government could repel foreign enemies and protect their homes. Moreover, General Luo also said that after the enemy is retreated, all local people will receive half a month's share of labor points as rewards, and the government will bear any losses. If anyone is injured or killed in the battle, pensions will be given according to the highest standards and Undertake funeral arrangements. As for the damage to houses and farmland during this period, it can only be repaired slowly afterwards. Anyway, everyone's food, clothing, housing and transportation are still borne by the government. As long as everyone is fine, there is really not much reason to complain in other aspects.
"You are so willful when you have money!" Han Zhengshan could only sigh like this. He couldn't help but recall that when the Haihan Army advanced to the gates of Hangzhou, the government would never state that it would be responsible for the civilian losses caused by the war. Only a wealthy country like Haihan would be so generous as to reduce the direct losses of the people in the war. It's no wonder that the people of Haihan were so popular that they could obey the government's arrangements relatively calmly when faced with war. They moved when they needed to move and continued to work when they needed to. They were truly busy but not in a hurry.
Haihan's efficiency in military operations was quite high. It only took two and a half days from the time Roger made up his mind to lure the enemy in, to the basic transformation of the defensive position. During this period, news came from the north that the Johor Army on the other side of the strait seemed to have entered the final reconnaissance stage before the war. There were obviously more ships operating in the strait, and there were also some people who landed on Xingdao in the dark. sporadic spies. The troops on duty in the local area followed the instructions and did not intercept or kill these Johor spies. They only carefully monitored them to prevent the other party from discovering that Haihan was on guard.
Roger knew that his opponent might be about to launch an offensive, so he ordered the entire island to enter a state of war from now on, with warships blocking the port and army troops entering positions on standby. Except for civilians who are responsible for transportation, all people are temporarily prohibited from entering and exiting the camp. As for the personnel who were found to be operating outside the Xingdao base at this time, there was no need to ask whether they were Johor spies who had sneaked into the island. Roger directly issued an order to kill them without mercy.
On May 2, military intelligence from the north of the island stated that a large number of ships had gathered near the opposite coast, and it seemed that the launch was imminent.
In the early morning of May 3, the sentries in the north of the island discovered that ships on the other side were leaving the coast in batches and heading towards Xingdao in the south. The sneak attack that the Johor Army had prepared for a long time finally kicked off.
Roger deployed a field radio on the front line. After receiving the confirmed information, Roger ordered the forward reconnaissance personnel to evacuate to the outside of the landing site and maintain a safe distance to monitor enemy movements. All rear troops entered the predetermined combat position and waited for the enemy to appear.
The person in charge of the Johor Army's command of this battle is General Papong. He is one of the most senior senior officers in Johor. He has commanded the troops to fight with neighboring countries many times. Although he has no particularly outstanding achievements, he still managed to save Johor. The existing territory has not suffered the same disaster as the Malacca Kingdom. Therefore, although he was already old, he was still entrusted with an important task by the king and ordered him to lead troops south to attack Star Island.
It is not that Papong knew nothing about the Hai Han people who occupied Star Island. In fact, after Hai Han occupied Ambuna Island in 1631, the State of Johor had private trade with Hai Han through this South China Sea bridgehead. Just because Hai Han has a trading partner relationship with Portugal, and Portugal has an irresolvable feud with Johor for annihilation, the relationship between Johor and Hai Han is only maintained at the level of ordinary trade, and no official diplomacy has been established. relation.
At the end of 1633, the Haihan combined fleet cruised the Southeast Asia, and dropped an army at Sing Tao, quietly taking this place as their own. Johor also submitted a protest to Haihan through private channels, stating that this land was Territory of the State of Johor and asked Haihan to evacuate as soon as possible. However, this attempt did not receive an official response from Haihan, and soon Haihan immigrants began to move into Xingdao and establish permanent residences. Johor knew that its military strength was far inferior to that of Hai Han, so it had no choice but to swallow its "evil deeds".
It was not until last year that the British suddenly offered to provide military assistance to Johor, assist Johor in establishing a new army, and recover Star Island. The exchange was to allow the British to demarcate an area on Star Island for colonial development. Of course, territorial autonomy is only a reward condition after the achievement. Before that, the various military trainings and weapons and equipment provided must be calculated clearly.
The British are not here to do charity, and the price they offer is not low. With Johor's current national strength, it really cannot afford to support an army fully equipped with firearms. However, the senior officials in power were unwilling to let go of such an opportunity to expel foreign enemies and regain lost territory. In the end, both parties took a step back and reached a cooperation agreement in which installments were paid, and most of them were pledged with Johor's local specialties.
The State of Johor will exchange agate, pearls, tortoiseshell, rhinoceros horn, ivory, agarwood and other commodities for a batch of arms supplies, related military training, and 500 mercenaries provided by the British to assist in the war. This transaction also basically emptied the Johor national treasury, which was not very full, and the entire country had to bear a debt for this.
Papong personally does not think this is a good idea. He believes that even if the few Haihan people on Star Island can be driven away, it will only be to regain an uninhabited island. However, Johor did not abandon the uninhabited island because of the sea. Han, but wanted to use this method to open a buffer zone between his country and Sumatra, Portugal and other countries to avoid the continuous outbreak of war. Would it be of much practical significance to take back this place from the Haihan people? Bapon believed that this was not necessarily the case, but that it might lead to another attack by the Portuguese. The last large-scale war between the two countries was when Portugal sent troops to destroy the seaport facilities established by Johor on Star Island. However, Johor's senior officials believe that the British can provide them with a certain degree of protection. With them stationed on Star Island to assist in defense, other countries may not dare to provoke Johor so easily. For this kind of idea, Ba Pong can only describe it as "childish". The British can't defeat Haihan and the Portuguese. He also said that he wants to ask them for help. Is it just a matter of words? After all, real money has to be used to talk the talk. When the time comes, the British will definitely continue to bully Johor and blackmail Johor into meeting their harsh conditions.
Besides, if the British want to seize Star Island, why don't they pull up a team to fight the Haihan people themselves, but take the initiative to recruit Johor as a helper? To put it bluntly, it is not that we are weak and need help. Since both parties cooperate to achieve this goal, why should Johor have to pay a sky-high price to obtain military assistance. Isn’t this just a clear indication that Johor is weak and can be bullied, and is using the excuse of military cooperation to extort money?
Having said that, the superiors made the decision to start the war and appointed Ba Peng to lead the troops. He could only bite the bullet and take over the job first. If you dare to question the king's decision, his position as general will soon be replaced by someone else. Although this decision was not made so willingly, the king's fate came first, and Ba Peng could only bow his head and cooperate with the British.
Although the British sent a team of more than 500 people, most of them were mercenaries recruited from Central and South Asia. There were only a dozen British people actually responsible for commanding them. The commander who led the team, Hogg, was a retired officer with many years of military experience. He was about the same age as Ba Pong and served as a senior military advisor in the East India Company.
This position is actually the commanding officer in the East India Company, responsible for the military operations of the company's armed forces in the Far East. Hogg secretly entered Johor at the beginning of the year and immediately assisted them in forming and training a new army. However, due to language, culture and Johor's financial problems, the work related to the new army did not go smoothly. It was delayed until February before the new army lineup of about 2,000 people was finally assembled.
According to the initial cooperation agreement between the two parties, the British East India Company was to provide Johor with a thousand rifles and ten small-caliber artillery pieces, as well as a batch of steel armor and cold weapons produced in the Indian Peninsula, enough to arm a thousand people, and guaranteed to be deployed in a After months of training, preliminary combat effectiveness was formed.
However, most of the weapons provided by the British are old goods that have been eliminated from the domestic army. The quality is not so stable. Some guns have even exhausted their service life and exploded in the hands of the new army after not being used twice. . After several firearms accidents occurred in succession, Johor soldiers' enthusiasm for new weapons was completely exhausted, and many soldiers became afraid of them.
Under Papon's strong protest, Hogg had to take the time to recover all the rifles for inspection. It was found that about a quarter of the rifles were no longer suitable for use, and two of the ten artillery pieces had appeared. If there is a crack in the barrel, there is a chance that the barrel will explode when the next shot is fired.
Hogg was also in trouble. This batch of weapons was shipped from the headquarters in India. There must have been no relevant inspections when they were shipped out of the warehouse. However, if such weapons and equipment are sent to the army, they will be released sooner or later. ACCIDENT. The gentlemen at the base camp probably didn't consider how they felt as the commander, and thought they could just buy some second-hand goods to deal with these natives. But the Johor side is not a one-shot deal, but the two parties have agreed to form a coalition to fight the Haihan people. Doing Johor is equivalent to doing something to themselves. This kind of behavior is completely draining the bottom of the cauldron.
To inform the base camp of the news and transport a batch of weapons from there, it would take at least several months to complete this process. Neither Hogg nor the Johor Army could afford to wait that long. Haihan currently does not have many troops stationed on Star Island, but it is hard to say what the situation will be in a few months. If he wants to increase the number of troops and expand the scale of the operation, he will have to delay the start of the operation. It will not work like this. Has it become a fueling tactic?
In desperation, Hogg could only reduce the proportion of musketeers in the new army. However, the combined forces of the two countries still had more than a thousand musketeers, which was not much different from the size of the Haihan garrison in the intelligence. The Johor Army can also provide a group of shield bearers and spearmen to cooperate with the musketeers, which will also greatly enhance the combat capabilities of the musketeers. Hogg believes that this lineup can still compete with Haihan. What's more, our side is calculated mentally and unintentionally, and the idea is to sneak attack on Haihan Base, so the certainty of victory should be a little better.
Before starting the operation, the mixed coalition forces of the two countries actually spent more than two months practicing, and the formation and coordination have basically reached a proficient level. But this kind of drill also has drawbacks that Hogg cannot avoid, that is, they don't know the opponent's combat style at all, and it is difficult to set an imaginary enemy with reasonable strength as the target of the drill. Regarding this aspect of intelligence, the British and Johor people have collected far less information. They only know that the Haihan Army defeated the Portuguese and Dutch armed forces in the South China Sea, but there is very little deeper and detailed information.
If Hogg could make his own choice, he would hope to have another half year or so to train this army, collect intelligence to understand the details of the Haihan Army, and formulate a more targeted combat plan. But unfortunately, time waits for no one. Soon Johor received information that an immigrant fleet from Haihan arrived at Sing Tao in April, and it was said that a large number of immigrants arrived. As for whether the number of garrison troops was increased, it is not clear. news.
If we wait any longer, as the number of immigrants increases, Haihan's stronghold on Star Island will become increasingly strong. With the current preparations for war, it may be difficult to capture Star Island by then. Hogg had no choice but to suggest that Johor start the war as soon as possible without leaving too much buffer time for Haihan.
(End of chapter)