In the early morning of June 28, 1793, before the sky turned white, several black drones quietly rose into the sky tens of meters high from a sugar cane forest on the east side of Bacheng, heading straight towards the VOC coalition forces two kilometers away. The defense flew past.
At the same time, various troops, including the five servant camps, the Hoi An camp, and the Marine Battalion, had taken advantage of the darkness to hide in various sugar cane forests less than 500 meters away from the VOC and the Banten Sultanate coalition forces. Ready to attack.
In two open spaces inside the first-line fortifications of the North Navy, four armored vehicles painted in grass green were starting up. As streams of gray-white smoke spewed out from the exhaust pipe on the right side above the vehicle, the vehicle made a roar. The driver, gunner, commander and accompanying maintenance team are all in place. They were all brought here from Beihai Town by Zhao Xin.
Twenty minutes later, the long-range strike force consisting of forty 75mm guns and twenty 122 howitzers also took off their camouflage made of fishing nets and entered the shooting position. Among these artillery, the 75mm cannon is responsible for attacking field fortifications and gun emplacements along the enemy's defense line, while the howitzer is responsible for attacking camps and material warehouses behind the enemy's defense line.
"Report! All artillery positions have been prepared!"
In the frontline headquarters of Fort Noordwijk, a staff officer responsible for artillery liaison reported to Zhao Xin. Zhao Xin then nodded and said calmly to the staff officer: "Order each benchmark gun to test fire."
"yes!"
The reason why Zhao Xin launched a ground attack on the day after the victory in the Thousand Islands Battle was because Zheng Wenxian sent another telegram shortly after sending the good news; the content above said that the Dutch flagship "William IV" "Before surrendering, two doves flew out from above. This news made Zhao Xin anxious. He did not hesitate and immediately ordered all troops to prepare for an attack after dark.
Fortunately, we had made preparations for a week before, otherwise all departments would have been in a hurry and accidents would have occurred frequently.
You must know that since pigeons were brought back to Europe from the Middle East by the Crusaders, Westerners have spent hundreds of years establishing a very mature communication network. Today the busiest air communications route in Europe runs from London across the English Channel to France, the Holy Roman Empire and Amsterdam.
The Dutch have long used carrier pigeons to deliver trade intelligence, obtain accurate and timely information, and thus gain business opportunities. After VOC colonized Southeast Asia, it quickly established its own carrier pigeon communication network. It was centered in Bacheng at the beginning and radiated to various castles in Ceylon, Malacca, Java, Banda Islands and Liene Islands. In addition, it also included Each vassal sultanate with personnel stationed there. When Bacheng was lost, they transferred the communication center to Malacca City.
Zhao Xin has never raised pigeons, but because he lived in a bungalow, his neighbor raised a lot of pigeons, and he often visited them, so he still had some understanding of this animal.
A homing pigeon hatches out of its shell and can be released after a hundred days. Then it can be trained from a short distance of 5 kilometers to different long distances. Basically, it can be used as a homing pigeon when it reaches 200 kilometers. The flight speed of general homing pigeons is around 100 kilometers per hour, and some good varieties can reach speeds of more than 150 kilometers per hour. If we follow this speed, the Dutch in Banten or Malacca can receive the news in as little as two hours.
Although the victory of the Thousand Islands Naval Battle means that VOC has lost more than half of its maritime power and can no longer block the waters north of Bacheng. However, if the news alerts the allied forces of the Dutch and the Banten Sultanate, causing them to retreat to various strongholds in advance, the battlefield annihilation battle will become a siege battle; not to mention that the time of the battle will be delayed, and the supply line of the troops will also be stretched. very long.
When Zhao Xin's order was issued, the four benchmark guns on the artillery position fired one test shot on each of the north and south wings of the enemy's defense line according to the predetermined targets.
boom! With the violent vibration of the gun body and the momentum of the recoil, the dust and weeds on the ground were rolled up, mixed with the smoke emitted from the gun muzzle, and filled the surroundings of the gun position.
The headquarters slightly adjusted the coordinates based on the footage fed back by the drone, and after some calculations, quickly notified the artillery positions. In less than a minute, there was a roar from various artillery positions of the North Navy, and the fortifications built with wood and earth jumped up at the planned breakthrough points on the north and south wings of the enemy's defense line.
The field fortifications of Europeans in these years... Well, they were basically composed of winding parapets. In addition to being built with compacted soil, they were also wrapped with wooden sticks or bundles of firewood on the inside and outside. Reinforced, the thickness can reach 2~3 meters, which can effectively resist the shooting of solid bullets.
Under the fierce artillery fire, the first parapet fortification set up by the coalition forces was like paper. The fragments generated by the explosion swept groups of lives into the steel storm, while the roaring air waves stirred up large areas of soil debris. Stones and wood blocks, mixed with flesh and blood, were constantly splashed around.
Although Zhao Xin only brought out 60 cannons, it was earth-shattering for the Dutch and Banten Sultanate coalition forces three kilometers away; even for those who had participated in the "Seven Years' War" and the "Fourth Anglo-Dutch War" For the Prussian mercenaries and officers who fought in the "War", this was also the first time in their lives.
Some brave soldiers hid in the bomb crater and observed for a while, and found that there were no soldiers attacking at all on the other side, and the other side's shelling had been going on for 10 minutes and was still going on.
Thousands of people on the north and south wings of the defense line immediately collapsed under the sudden blow. The Sultanate officers on the front line quickly joined the fleeing army. They just wanted to escape from this bloody hell and completely ignored the orders of the VOC officers.
As for the VOC mercenaries, it's not that they don't dare to fight. The Prussians earn the money of working hard, but they are not used to such a battle.
I didn’t say anything, retreat quickly! Gather in the rear, set up a formation, and wait for the enemy's attack. However, because they escaped too hastily, many Prussian mercenaries wore underwear
Well, this is the tactical rule of the year. Due to the impressive firing rate and shooting distance of the flintlock musket, a European soldier from recruit training to the next company only receives shooting training, rather than individual aiming and shooting training. In addition, because gunpowder is very expensive, no country has that much money to train its soldiers in marksmanship.
All the training received by the battle infantry is to suppress individual active thinking and performance. The firepower of the troops is only somewhat lethal when fired at close range and directed at a large group of soldiers. Therefore, no matter whether they are officers or soldiers, except for strongholds such as villages and woodlands, no one understands how to conduct skirmishing operations in plain areas. Even fighting in a dispersed formation will be looked down upon by others, as it is just a common practice when the troops are undisciplined and lack training.
However, when the VOC coalition forces retreated to the west of a village 800 meters away from the front line, and then began to assemble under the command of an officer's horse whip, they were shocked to find that enemy artillery fire was actually chasing them. So after a series of bombings, the coalition forces left corpses everywhere and began a hasty retreat again. Until they ran two kilometers away in one breath, they found that the rumble of cannons behind them finally stopped, and they collapsed on the ground.
At this time, on the attack position of the Northern Navy, a red signal flare rose into the air, and then a sharp whistle sounded in the sugar cane forest. Five battalions of Sendai clan servants rushed out of the sugar cane forest with excitement on their faces. They formed a group of five people, formed a dispersed formation, and attacked the dilapidated fortifications of the VOC coalition forces like a black tide.
Speaking of these servants in Beihai Town, since they were issued front-loading rifles, they still used line infantry tactics. However, what the Northern Navy adopted was based on the teachings of captured Tsarist Russian officers by Wang Yuanfang and others, and they also referred to historical infantry tactics works after the Napoleonic Wars, making the formation and combat mode of the troops more flexible and more dispersed. Soldier formation.
The most basic infantry organizational unit in this tactic is the "corps". Each platoon is composed of twenty "corps". During combat, both shooting and formation changes are based on this unit.
When recruits receive formation training, they first learn to stand, and then learn to walk at a slow and fast pace. The stride length of each step should be maintained at 0.7 meters, the slow step is 75 steps per minute, and the fast step is 110 steps per minute.
Different from the 90-degree turn of marching columns in later generations, soldiers under line tactics not only need to learn to move straight forward, but also learn to use diagonal marching methods. That is, each soldier must turn 45 degrees to the left or right, move forward in a straight line for a certain distance, and then turn 45 degrees to return to the original orientation.
After the queue training is over, they will receive gun training. After sufficient progress has been made in individual soldier training, they are organized into small groups and learn how to load and fire in a dense formation. At the same time, they become accustomed to shooting forward or diagonally to the left or right in groups.
After completing the shooting training, the recruits must learn to march in formation with guns. They must practice moving straight forward and marching diagonally in two ways. They must learn to stay level, turn in platoon units, and march in groups.
After completing this series of training, the recruits will go to the camp. The training elements in the camp are still the same as the recruit training, but the focus is on the reloading steps to the point where they can shoot at least three times per minute. Each platoon must receive training in volley firing as a whole, in columns, and as a group.
To put it bluntly, in the era of line battles, individual soldiers are useless, and individual soldiers with super strong combat capabilities are like rat shit that ruins a pot of rice. Such people are either sent as light infantry or as chasseurs, and will never appear in the battle infantry.
The command's requirement for the attacking troops is speed. They must complete the penetration in one morning and at the same time divide and surround the enemy. So whether they were soldiers or medics, everyone turned a blind eye to the injured and groaning enemy soldiers.
At this time, the sky was already bright. A servant soldier suddenly saw something shining on the chest of a wailing guy in front. He quickly turned his head and looked behind him. He felt that no one was paying attention to him, so he slowed down. , intending to get a handful. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stretched out his hand, before he could touch the thing, someone kicked him hard on his butt, and he was immediately thrown into the dirt.
Quan Baocai, who served as the platoon leader, grabbed a Beihai Navy standard rifle with one hand and cursed viciously: "Asshole! Who told you to stop! Get up and keep running!"
When the servant soldier saw that he was his platoon leader, he was so frightened that he hurriedly got up on his hands and knees, grabbed the fallen rifle, and ran away without looking back.
"waste!"
Quan Bao cursed in anger. He glanced at the guy lying on the ground. His intestines were exposed and still stained with mud. It was obvious that he was hopeless. So he picked up the rifle and swung it hard without hesitation. Then he plunged the sharp bayonet into the wounded man's chest and sent him away.
When he got the shiny chain in his hand, he discovered that there was a golden and heavy round box attached to it. When I took it and opened it, I saw two black hands on it and a picture of a blond woman on the inside of the lid.
"It would be nice to take this thing back to Abin as a gift, right?" Quan Bao thought so and put it into his jacket pocket.
After Li Ji was fired from the Intelligence Bureau because he brought the villagers of Niudu Village to defect to Beihai Town and caused a big stir, he took his wife to Heilongjiang City and became a top soldier again. Last year, because Quan Baocai was a naturalized citizen of the island country and had served in the army in Beihai Town for many years, the Ministry of Military Affairs issued a transfer order to transfer him from the Heilongjiang City garrison to the Servant Army Training Brigade. When the servant army completed its training in Gan Ling Ao, Quan Baocai naturally became a platoon leader in charge of 80 people.
Speaking of which, the servant army is different from the Aoba Battalion. The Aoba Camp is a mercenary army. The officers will naturally use the Sendai clan's vassals, and the size is only 500. The servant army is to be stationed in Southeast Asia for a long time, and must not let loose, so the officers above the platoon leader are all from the North Navy. own people.
At 11 a.m. on June 28, after six hours of intermittent pursuit, Quan Baocai's battalion and two other platoons of friendly forces, with the cooperation of an armored vehicle, blocked more than 500 Württemberg mercenaries. In a town 17 kilometers southeast of Langkas Betong.
For obvious reasons, the VOC mercenaries were unable to form a formation and could only fight as skirmishers. They hid behind trees, fences, ditches and buildings in the town, preparing to fight.
As soon as the Beihai Navy came up, they sent out four five-person teams to conduct reconnaissance. After finally confirming the enemy's hiding place, they sent two platoons to launch a tentative attack. The two sides soon started shooting in the town.
After fighting for a while, the Prussian mercenaries discovered that the "flintlocks" used by these short enemies were obviously different from their own weapons; not only was the range much greater, but the enemy soldiers' shooting accuracy was also very high. There is no advantage in shooting; that is to say, when shooting with shotgun from a two-pounder, it can still cause some damage.
The problem was that due to their hasty escape, the Prussian mercenaries hiding in the town only brought out two two-pound cannons, and they were short of ammunition. After firing seven or eight shots, one of the two-pound cannons ran out of gunpowder. However, the mercenaries who have experienced hundreds of battles are far stronger than the servants who have only been trained for more than half a year. The opponent often beats the butts of several five-man teams with a bayonet charge.
In order not to waste time and turn the annihilation war into a war of attrition, the battalion commander where Quan Baocai was located found the commander of the armored vehicle. After some communication, the armored vehicle drove into the town aggressively. After a bombardment that sounded like lightning and thunder, the town Several of the strongest buildings were reduced to rubble, and the Prussians, who suffered heavy casualties, immediately waved white flags and surrendered.
Although money is a good thing, you have to earn it with a life, right?
(End of chapter)
