Chapter 1245 Cutting off the retreat
There were more than 3,000 soldiers in the coalition forces formed by Johor and the British East India Company, but those who actually received training from the British and were recognized by them were far less than this number, so in the end, more than 1,000 people stayed in Johor as reserve troops. The north shore of the strait did not enter Star Island to participate in the war. In Hogg's words, these indigenous soldiers who could only use spears and machetes could only be sent to clean up the battlefield. There was really no need to enter Star Island and waste precious supplies.
Therefore, the troops that finally crossed the sea and entered Star Island only had more than 1,000 qualified Johor New Army troops, plus hundreds of mercenaries brought by the British, barely scraping together a strength of just over 2,000. In the view of the senior leadership of the coalition forces, it is enough to use doubled troops to fight a surprise battle. After the Haihan people are driven away, it will not be too late to increase the Johor garrison to defend Xingdao. Of course, if we must pursue the most fundamental reason, it is ultimately the limited transportation capacity of Johor that makes it difficult to ensure the supply of supplies required for large-scale sea crossing operations.
Although the crossing operation went very smoothly, Hogg still carefully set up a temporary camp at the landing point in the north of the island, and left about 200 soldiers and an equal number of civilians to stay here to receive the cargo shipped from Johor. Materials provide guarantee for the continuous operations of large units on the front line. After the large army set off south, things here did not stop. Since the number of ships provided by Johor was limited, they could only make multiple trips to transport supplies. Therefore, the remaining personnel were busy all day yesterday and did not rest until after dark. Come down.
Before dawn, the alarm gong was suddenly heard. After everyone woke up from their sleep, they all looked confused - enemy attack? But shouldn't the enemy be on the south side of the island, fighting with his own army at this time? How did they get here? Did they even abandon their home base?
The soldiers crawled out of the tent with sleepy eyes, and immediately discovered that this was not a false alarm by the sentry. The masts of the warships on the sea were all hung with Haihan flags, and several ships near the coast had begun to lower their boats, full of boats. Pretending to be soldiers, they paddled to the shore!
At this time, no one could bother to figure out how the enemy troops came out from the south to surround their own retreat. If these enemy soldiers could not be stopped at the beach, then the hundreds of people who stayed here would probably have to die! The Johor soldiers didn't even have time to put on their rattan armor. They grabbed the spears and machetes stuck at the door of the tent and rushed out to fight.
The Johor soldiers who were able to use muskets were basically incorporated into the main force and went south to attack the Haihan stronghold. The soldiers who stayed here were all equipped with cold weapons, but these indigenous soldiers had no experience of fighting against the Haihan army. When they first met, he acted very fiercely, showing no fear at all, and headed towards the coastline almost without thinking.
Mu Xiabai has a distinguished status, so of course he will not take the risk of being among the first to land. At this time, he is standing on the deck using a telescope to check the movements on the shore. He was a little surprised when he saw the Johor soldiers charging out quickly, but then he noticed the scattered formation of his opponents. It was clear that there was no preparation or command, so he settled down and watched the show. Although the troops he brought have not performed any combat missions in the past two years, their usual training has not fallen behind at all. If they can't handle these stragglers using swords and guns, then there is no need to go back after the battle. Disband and stay on the island to work as farmers to reclaim wasteland.
In fact, there were many veterans among the troops brought over by Mu Xiabai. Some of them had participated in the Battle of Ambon Island in 1631 and had fought against the Dutch. It was naturally easy to deal with these indigenous soldiers. The soldiers on the small boat did not rush to fire under the command of the officer. They just silently put the loaded rifles on the side of the ship and waited for the order from the officer.
It wasn't until the boat approached the coast, less than 20 meters away from the shouting Johor soldiers on the shore, that the officer gave the order to open fire. The soldier lying on the side of the ship pulled the trigger and fired a row of bullets, but due to the ups and downs of the ship's hull, it only hit two people. However, these Johor soldiers obviously knew the power of muskets. When they saw the Haihan soldiers on the boat firing, they immediately gave up the idea of rushing up to fight and turned around and ran back. This rapid change in combat attitude also amazed Haihan soldiers.
After the soldiers on several small boats opened fire one after another and knocked down several people, the Johor Army, which originally tried to intercept on the beach, gave up this unrealistic plan and retreated back to their temporary station. However, this so-called garrison did not build decent fortifications in time. It just erected a bamboo fence around the shelter where supplies were stored, and tied up a few horses outside. It would be hell if such a defensive method could defend against the armed assault of the Haihan Army.
After landing, the Haihan soldiers calmly completed their assembly under the command of their officers, and then lined up to shoot at the Johor Army who refused to surrender inside the fence. Of course, the bamboo fences and shields could not completely block the bullets. In an instant, several people fell under the volley, and those who tried to rush out were unable to withstand Haihan's bayonet array. They were knocked over by several bayonets as soon as they met. land. No matter what kind of courage the Johor soldiers originally had, when they found that they and their companions were helpless in front of their opponents and could only accept a one-sided massacre, they soon lost the confidence to continue fighting. Some people chose to turn around and flee towards the interior of the island, while others, mainly civilians, laid down their weapons and chose to surrender to save their lives.
Mu Xiabai did not order the soldiers to chase the fleeing Johor soldiers. No matter how hard these people fled, they would not find a boat on the island to leave here. If they wanted to leave Star Island, they would have to cut down trees and make rafts or canoes. , otherwise we can only swim back to the mainland across the Johor Strait. Of course, the most likely result is that he will be captured or killed by the Haihan Army before escaping from the island, so there is no need to rush to pursue him at this moment. Letting them run to the south to report the news can just disrupt the fighting will of the main force of the Johor Army. The benefits to Haihan's combat plan outweigh the disadvantages, and Mu Xiabai is naturally happy to see the results.
But the entire battle was ten times easier than Mu Xiabai expected. In his original battle plan, he had already planned to let the warships approach the coast to provide artillery cover if the small boat landing was frustrated. He originally thought that the Johor Army had to protect the key points of the back road, but he did not expect that the other party was busy transporting personnel and supplies yesterday and had no time to build a decent defensive position. Of course, it is also possible that the Johor Army's arrangement simply did not There was no plan to deploy anti-landing combat troops here, which can be seen from the unorganized resistance of the Johor soldiers just now.
The opponent's troops left here were surprisingly few, and the battle was over before the battle scene Mu Xiabai expected could appear. At this time, the landing plan he had prepared was only halfway underway. Some warships a little further from the coast had just begun to put down landing boats carrying army soldiers, while the soldiers on the coast had already begun to clean the battlefield.
Mu Xiabai was really disappointed with the performance of the Johor Army. He hurriedly hurriedly traveled all the way from Ambuna Island and finally arrived at the combat site on the second day of the war. But how much time did he actually have to fight with the enemy? Five minutes or ten minutes? It was over without even a decent resistance. At this moment, Mu Xiabai even wondered if Roger was deliberately amusing himself - with the enemy's fighting power, does he need to ask for help from Amborna Island? Don't you, Roger, have any idea? ?
Of course, this thought just passed by for a moment. According to what Roger said, the Johor Army still has at least two thousand people fighting on Star Island. Although it is unlikely that the Star Island base will be captured, Roger's troops will have to It is indeed not an easy task to counterattack and eliminate so many enemy troops. Moreover, once the Johor Army on the other side discovers that Haihan has sent troops to the Johor Strait, they may launch a new offensive to open up a retreat for the coalition forces on the island. Therefore, this support operation is not meaningless. It is still an indispensable part of the entire combat plan. link.
After taking control of the beach, Mu Xiabai also came to the shore in a small boat to view the gains of this short battle. In order to allow the more than 2,000 coalition troops on the island to fight with peace of mind, Johor transported supplies that could meet the troops' needs for five days. However, only a small part was transported to the front line, and more than half were still stored here, waiting for dawn. Departure. In addition, there were arms and ammunition provided by the British to Johor, as well as some weapons and armor. Mu Xiabai picked up a captured rifle and inspected it. This old-fashioned matchlock gun has basically been eliminated among Haihan's front-line troops. Currently, only the militiamen still have a small amount of equipment. As for these seizures, it is not difficult to find another buyer in the South China Sea. After the war, if you find a few arms brokers, you should be able to cash them out soon.
As for armor and cold weapons, the Haihan Army has no need for them, and it is difficult to sell them at a good price. They can probably only be recycled and used to make farm tools, iron pots, kitchen knives and other daily production tools.
Mu Xiabai quickly checked the seized materials. Although there were many items, their value in his eyes was very limited. This is of course also because he now stays on Ambona Island all year round and is in contact with dignitaries from various countries all day long. His vision and values have changed. This thing is naturally just a piece of cake in his eyes.
Mu Xiabai believed that the truly valuable seizures were the more than 200 prisoners captured at the scene. For Xingdao, which is seriously short of labor, these prisoners can certainly be of great use, and their usable value is much higher than the captured materials.
At this time, the local warships coming from the west of the strait also arrived, but they arrived too late and were not even qualified to clean the battlefield. Mu Xiabai asked all the troops on the ship to land, and then the warships continued to patrol the strait in batches to prevent the Johor Army on the other side from opening another ferry after noticing something was wrong. Clearing out this landing point is not all of Mu Xiabai's tasks. He must ensure that the cross-sea transportation channel of the Johor Strait is completely cut off and does not leave a way for the Johor army to retreat back to the country. This is what Roger's combat plan is pursuing. ultimate goal.
In order to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack after hearing the news, Mu Xiabai ordered the construction of positions to begin immediately. Although the army troops he brought over were not many, it shouldn't be a big problem to use the position to block the scattered enemy troops who were intent on escaping. If that didn't work, there would still be artillery cover from the sea. Of course, the civil construction projects did not require soldiers to do it themselves. These newly captured prisoners were immediately put to use. Mu Xiabai ordered a few engineers to serve as temporary foremen to direct the prisoners to build fortifications.
"The next performance depends on the south!" Mu Xiabai muttered a few words to himself, and then asked the adjutant to fetch his radio station and contact Roger to inform him of the battle situation. At this time, the sky had just turned white. Mu Xiabai's attack was quick enough, which gave the troops under his command more time to rest and recuperate. At present, the main force of the Johor Army is still in the south of the island. It will take almost a day to get back and forth. There should be no pressure here for a while.
The good news from Mu Xiabai cheered up Roger who was still having breakfast. He immediately handed the message to Tan Juren next to him and said: "Old Mu has already taken action, and the victory was successfully won with zero casualties." The landing point of the Johor Army”
Tan Juren was surprised and said: "So early? Old Mu is really diligent!"
Despite the teasing, Tan Juren took the telegram from Roger, read the content carefully, and confirmed the authenticity of the news. Roger continued to say from the side: "Old Mu has already secured the back route. Today we can let go and teach these guys a lesson. Now that we are here, don't even think about going back!"
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Tan Juren said: "It is better to capture them alive if possible. Labor force is more valuable than corpses. Try not to kill indiscriminately."
Roger nodded and said: "Of course, especially those British guys, after catching them, they have to find a way to ask the East India Company for a ransom...at least to earn back the military expenses of this operation! ”
Tan Juren did not answer his question at the moment. He found that compared with Roger, he was still a little too innocent. What others wanted was not only to capture the prisoners alive, but also to maximize the value of the prisoners of war, unlike when he only expected to use the prisoners of war. Acting as a coolie, I didn’t think deeply about it at all.
"You go back later and take people to clean out the ropes, shackles and other things in stock and prepare them. To lock up thousands of prisoners of war, a lot of materials will be needed!" When it came to the prisoners of war, Luo Jie did not forget to give Tan Juren a few words of advice, and his words were already full of confidence in victory.
Tan Juren responded quickly, but he was also murmuring in his heart - if too many enemy troops were captured at once, where should they be placed? There is not even a larger cell on the island, and there is no other large building that can accommodate so many people. Should they all sleep in the open air?
Tan Juren told Roger his story. After hearing this, Roger laughed and said: "We just need to make a wooden horse pen and trap these people at night. This island is surrounded by the sea and is a natural cage. You can escape or escape." Not far. Kill a few who try to escape in public, and the others will naturally become honest.”
(End of chapter)