Chapter 3478
Dutch General Van Hollen behaved quite toughly when he visited yesterday. He even hesitated to fight with Haihan and was unwilling to follow Minami Takahashi's advice to withdraw from Colombo.
But I didn't expect that after just a small-scale confrontation, the other party seemed to have figured it out overnight and started to retreat so quietly.
Takahashi Minami always felt that there was something going on that he didn't know about. Otherwise, with Van Hollen's tough attitude, how could he give up so easily?
But in any case, it is a good thing that the Dutch are willing to withdraw their troops. This not only saves the special operations division a lot of trouble, but also reaches the point of fighting between the two sides, with few casualties, and it will not have a serious impact on the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Of course, the expedition expenses negotiated with Conceicao in advance would not save much because of the Dutch's retreat. At most, they would only reduce the cost of ammunition.
Moreover, Gao Qiaonan expected that the Portuguese would not dare to settle the bill with him immediately, and would probably even increase the remuneration and ask the special forces division to stay here for a longer period of time.
After all, no one knows whether the Dutch are really withdrawing or pretending to withdraw. If Takahashi Minami leaves with the special forces division, and the Dutch come back with a kill, the Portuguese will be really in trouble.
However, not everyone is pleased with the Dutch's active evacuation, and Qian Shaobao is one of them.
He had been in the Special Warfare Division for some time. He had finally looked forward to such a combat operation and was waiting for the Dutch to deliver their military exploits on their own. However, it suddenly ended before he could get to the point.
The military exploits that Qian Shaobao wanted to achieve seemed to be evaporating with the withdrawal of the Dutch.
However, Gao Qiaonan immediately made corresponding arrangements for this. He sent Qian Shaobao and ordered him to return to the Weixing immediately to pursue the evacuating Dutch fleet.
Qian Shaobao was also a little surprised when he heard this order. If the special operations division really wanted to be ruthless, it would indeed be able to keep the Dutch landing force and the fleet together. But doing so would be tantamount to declaring war on the Netherlands.
In Qian Tiandun's plan, establishing the Hambantota stronghold as a relay station for Haihan across the Indian Ocean was the first priority of the special operations division. As for Western competitors in this region, the principle is still to focus on deterrence. If necessary, there is no need to engage in unrelenting efforts to completely eliminate the opponent.
After all, Haihan also needs these Western countries to check each other. If one of them is hit too hard, it will only benefit other competitors, which is not in line with Haihan's interests in this region.
The order issued by Takahashi Minami was obviously contrary to this purpose. Qian Shaobao couldn't help but hesitate a little whether he should implement this.
Looking at Qian Shaobao's expression, Gao Qiaonan knew what he was thinking, and immediately gave him the instructions: "I'll let you pursue him, I won't let you actually fight. I just need to confirm that the Dutch have left Ceylon Island."
Qian Shaobao said: "Isn't that just tracking and monitoring? Why did Uncle Gao issue a pursuit order?"
Takahashi Minami saw that he had not yet understood the spirit, so he had to speak: "It's just tracking and monitoring, can it have military merit? If you led the troops to pursue and drove away the Dutch, is the nature different?"
Qian Shaobao suddenly said: "I see! Uncle Gao still has the means!"
Now that the Dutch have taken the initiative to retreat, this battle will definitely not be able to continue. Gao Qiaonan has to find something for Qian Shaobao to do, and this is the only one he can do. After the war, it was at least reasonable to report the merits to the higher authorities in the name of "pursuit and expulsion". The captain, first mate, gunner, chief engineer and other main officers on the Weixing were all old subordinates who had followed Qian Tiandun for many years. Naturally, they understood this arrangement that paved the way for their young master and cooperated fully.
Although the Dutch were preparing to withdraw, Takahashi Minami did not understand the reason and always felt a little uneasy. He then ordered a group of armed cavalry and asked them to choose an opportunity to approach the Dutch camp in order to capture the enemy during their evacuation. Some prisoners.
At noon that day, the Governor of Ceylon in Colombo once again sent a message to the special operations division through the cavalry, inviting Gao Qiaonan to lead his troops into the city.
The Portuguese also sent two trucks of flour and several barrels of olive oil as supplies for the labor force. It seems that the daily necessities in the city are not very scarce.
Obviously, the Portuguese in the city also noticed the Dutch's movements and believed that the battle should have come to an end and that they could negotiate with Haihan to handle the follow-up matters.
Takahashi Nan immediately led a battalion of troops from the beachhead to the city of Colombo a few miles away.
Although the Portuguese spent a century running the city of Colombo, the city's defense facilities are not very good. Compared with the city of Manila built by the Spanish, and the city of Batavia controlled by the Dutch, both have considerable disadvantages. gap.
In the opinion of the well-informed Gao Qiaonan, the height and thickness of Colombo's city walls, as well as forts, bastions, moats and other defenses, can only be regarded as passable at best, and are still far from the standard of a "strong city". Not a small gap.
This is no wonder why the Dutch have launched offensives against Colombo many times. Apparently they also believe that this city is not indestructible. As long as enough troops are dispatched, there is a great chance that they can seize this place from the Portuguese.
After many days of fighting, many traces of the fighting were visible to the naked eye. Many parts of the city wall were bombarded by artillery fire until they collapsed, and the defenders immediately filled it with soil, sand and gravel.
The city gate that originally faced the coast has long since disappeared, replaced by a large amount of earth and stone filling the city gate hole. When Gao Qiaonan led his troops into the city, the Portuguese were clearing away the earth and rocks and re-opening the roads in and out of the city.
The housing facilities in the city are relatively intact, and only a few houses were hit by the cannonballs that entered the city.
However, under the eaves on both sides of the street, injured people lying on the ground could be seen everywhere. Many people's wounds were not even bandaged. It seemed that the medical resources in the city had been exhausted and there was no way to treat the huge number of injured people.
Takahashi Minami had expected such a situation, so he specially brought a team of medical soldiers to accompany him. At this time, he asked Consicao to come forward to contact him and let these medical soldiers participate in the treatment work.
Then Gao Qiaonan met Antonio, the chief executive of Colombo City and the Governor of Ceylon.
The Governor-General looked older than his opponent Van Hollen, with white beard and hair, and a cane in his hand. Takahashi Minami judged that he should be at least sixty-five years old.
Perhaps affected by the war, the governor's mental state did not seem to be good, but he still expressed his gratitude to Takahashi Minami.
"On behalf of the Kingdom of Portugal and His Majesty the King, I would like to thank your country and Your Majesty the General for faithfully fulfilling the covenant between the two countries and sending troops to rescue the city of Colombo in a timely manner."