The Chu army is just outside the city, and the senior officials of the Dutch East India Company in the city have made up their minds to fight to the end, trying to hold on for a long time to force the Chu army to retreat on their own.
This kind of thing is not impossible. After all, the Chu Empire is an expeditionary force. Even if troops can be mobilized from the nearby Sumatra Island, many things, especially weapons, equipment and ammunition, still need to be supplied from within the country.
Once the war reaches a stalemate, it will be very uncomfortable for the Chu army besieging Batavia City.
By then, there may not be an opportunity for peace talks.
It is very difficult for any country to mobilize troops overseas, especially large-scale mobilization, even for the Chu Empire.
Although the industrial revolution has begun in the Chu Empire, including trains and ships, and the national power has been greatly improved, even so, it is still not easy for the Chu army to mobilize troops on a large scale overseas.
This is also the reason why in the early years, the Chu Empire established two monopoly armed trading companies, the Western Trading Company and the Eastern Trading Company, to carry out colonial activities in India and the Americas respectively.
The purpose was to obtain enough profits by monopolizing colonial trade to support colonial activities, thereby reducing the official's overseas expansion costs.
Therefore, if the Dutch can really defend Batavia City for a year and a half, or even two or three years, the Chu Empire may really consider other ways to solve the problem, such as through negotiation.
But can the Dutch really hold on for a year and a half or even several years?
The Dutch themselves are confident in this and have made full preparations. They have all kinds of materials such as weapons, ammunition, and food. They also have sufficient troops, with about 3,000 Dutch soldiers and more than 5,000 Javanese indigenous soldiers. .
The total strength reached more than 8,000 people, which was a quite large number, especially for a colonial company!
There are also many kinds of artillery. The garrison in the city and the port fort itself have more than 30 artillery pieces of various sizes. Later, they moved more than 50 artillery pieces of various calibers from the abandoned warships in the port.
There were more than 80 artillery pieces in total, and the Dutch in the city couldn't even find enough gunners to use so many artillery pieces.
Sufficient troops, a large number of artillery, solid city defenses, and sufficient ammunition, food and other supplies.
The Dutch in the city had great confidence in defending Batavia.
In their opinion, even if the Chu people mobilized 30,000 to 50,000 troops to besiege them, they would not be able to defeat them.
As for when the Chu army attacked the indigenous people in various countries in Southeast Asia, every attack was overwhelming. The Dutch said: I am not one of those indigenous people. How can the fighting power of the indigenous people be compared with that of the Dutch?
The Dutch are so confident, and the Chu army outside the city is even more confident!
Army Major General Wan Binglin never paid attention to these red-haired barbarians. As for the fact that the red-haired barbarians have higher combat effectiveness than the indigenous people, he also said that it was pure nonsense.
The natives were certainly not very good, but the red-haired barbarians were not very good either. There was no essential difference between the two.
In terms of weapons and equipment, infantry weapons are also mainly equipped with matchlocks and spears. The red-haired barbarians have more matchlocks at most, and they may also be equipped with some flintlock guns with poor performance, but this difference is It seems that there is no difference between Chu Jun...
Because their infantry fighting method still stays at the same level: mixing musketeers and spearmen, and using dense and deep square formations to fight.
The Chu army also used this tactic in the early years, but that was in the middle and early stages of the Unification War. In the late stage of the Unification War, the Chu army had already begun to install flintlock muskets, and some of the main forces had begun to adopt line tactics. .
Today, in the 23rd year of Chengshun, not to mention, the main troops of the Chu army have begun to install percussion guns. They have been practicing various line tactics for 20 years and have already become proficient in them. Incomparable.
Under the volleys of line infantry, those arquebusiers and spearmen mixed in dense formations were living targets.
In terms of artillery equipment, although both sides use front-loading smoothbore cannons, even front-loading smoothbore cannons are very different.
Just like the first Opium War in the original time and space, both the Qing army and the British army used front-loading smoothbore cannons, but the British army's front-loading smoothbore cannons defeated the Qing army's front-loading smoothbore cannons throughout.
Because there is a huge gap in artillery performance between the two sides.
This performance gap is caused by industrial strength. When the Qing army was still using various traditional methods to cast pig iron artillery, the British had already used various industrial equipment to drill and expand the diameter to produce artillery.
Coupled with the gap in smelting technology, this will lead to a huge gap in the weight, ability to withstand chamber pressure, and shooting accuracy of the artillery on both sides.
The artillery gap between the Qing army and the British army in the original time and space is exactly the gap between the Dutch and Chu troops today.
Although their artillery is all front-loading smoothbore cannon, the performance gap is huge.
The actual gap is even greater, because in the original time and space, the British army did not use grenades with wooden sabots and metal disc fuses on a large scale. They still used traditional solid artillery shells and wooden fuse grenades, and there were no sabots. .
However, the Chu army installed grenades with wooden holders and metal disc fuses on a large scale.
The Chu army has always attached great importance to the development of artillery, and also attached great importance to the development of grenades. When fighting, they usually fire grenades for free.
To a certain extent, the current artillery technology of the Chu Army is ahead of other domestic industries. Up to now, its overall technical level has been equivalent to the mid-19th century in original time and space, which was the period of the American Civil War.
Relatively speaking, the development of infantry weapons has been slower, and its flash cap percussion guns are probably equivalent to the level of the 1820s.
Whether it's artillery or muskets, the Chu army's equipment is at least several generations ahead of the Dutch!
The Dutch are not even equipped with reliable and mature flintlock guns, and they have not even begun to engage in line tactics, but the Chu army has already begun to play with percussion guns.
According to the original time and space, the gap between early flintlock guns and flash cap percussion guns was at least two hundred years!
The above is only the lead in weapons, and Major General Wan Binglin's confidence comes not only from the lead in weapons, but also from the advanced tactics brought about by the lead in weapons.
Weapons are never separate.
The emergence of new weapons can bring about changes in tactics.
The emergence of the arquebus led to classic tactics such as the Spanish Phalanx, the Dutch Phalanx, and the Swedish Gustavian Phalanx.
The emergence of flintlock guns led to the emergence of line tactics, which developed to its peak in the era of flash cap percussion guns and Mini rifles.
When breech-loading rifles mature and are used, skirmishing tactics will naturally appear... Then with the gradual emergence of magazine rifles, machine guns, semi-automatic rifles, automatic rifles, etc., the infantry's combat width will become wider and wider. , the distance expanded from about three meters to five meters, six meters or even more than ten meters.
In the line era, the combat width of a division was only one or two thousand meters or even hundreds of meters; during the Franco-Prussian War, the combat width of a division was only a few kilometers; but during World War II, the combat width of a division could reach more than ten kilometers. ; As for modern warfare, it is even wider. It is common for a highly mechanized combined division to control battlefield areas dozens of kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers deep.
Advanced weapons also brought great changes in tactics to the Chu army.
When the Dutch and a large number of European countries still stayed in the Gustavus Square, the most they could do was increase the proportion of musketeers to about 70 or 80%, and began to use less reliable fusiliers. The army has already mastered line tactics.
When the artillery units of those European armies were still playing the role of assisting infantry in combat, simply firing solid artillery shells to attack enemies hundreds of meters away during battle, and there were not even many specialized artillery units, the artillery units of the Chu Army were already playing After more than ten years of infantry and artillery coordination, various specialized artillery units have been established.
And grenades were widely used in battles, and the shelling distance in the field was extended to more than a thousand meters.
The most commonly used 13-year-old 115mm field gun in the army, when firing solid shells, the effective range can reach 1,300 meters. Its latest improved version, the 13-year-old Type A-2 115mm field gun, Because the elevation angle has been increased, the bore accuracy has been improved, and the propellant has been improved, its effective range can reach an astonishing 1,500 meters, and the maximum range can reach 1,900 meters.
However, the field artillery of the same level used by contemporary European countries, including the Dutch, that is, the 12-pound field gun, has an effective range of only 500 to 600 meters, not more than 700 to 800 meters... In this way, it is often better than Chu. The military's 13-year-old improved field artillery is heavier...
The gap between the two sides is all-round!
From weapons to tactics, and even the combat qualities of the soldiers on both sides, everything is covered.
Wan Binglin didn't believe that the Dutch soldiers on the opposite side could open their bellies and eat whatever they wanted every day, and then undergo high-intensity professional training for many years. This can be seen from the size of the Dutch soldiers on the opposite side.
Although the distance was still quite far, Army Major General Wan Binglin could still clearly see some of the other side's soldiers on top of the city through a monocular telescope.
These soldiers are generally not very tall, and they are also relatively thin, unlike the soldiers from the Chu army, who are all over 1.7 meters tall and very strong.
Whether this soldier's fighting ability is strong or not can be seen to some extent from his body shape.
This does not mean that tall and powerful soldiers must be strong in combat, but that soldiers with thin bodies must have poor food. If the food is not good, they cannot accept high-intensity daily training.
If daily training is not sufficient, do you believe how powerful he is in combat?
The Dutch soldiers on the opposite side did not look like they could eat well every day or receive high-intensity training every day.
Even the Dutch soldiers were like this, not to mention the Javanese indigenous soldiers beside them. They were all very thin. Just like this kind of Javanese indigenous soldiers, with bare hands, the soldiers of Wan Binglin's 14th Division I dare not say that one of them will hit ten, but if I kick him, he will definitely knock one of them away!
After all, he was one of the few first-class combat readiness divisions in the Great Chu Empire, and the conditions for selecting new recruits were relatively higher.
At the same time, the current recruits in the army are all the new generation of young people who grew up after the establishment of the empire. The average height of the younger generation is much higher than that of the older generation. Many boys aged 17 or 18 are over 1.7 meters tall.
Therefore, the average height of the soldiers in the 14th Division is 1.72 meters, which is much taller than the average height of 1.67 meters in the ordinary army.
They are much taller than the Dutch soldiers opposite, and even taller than the native Javanese soldiers.
For example, Lawrence, who has now sneaked into the city to hide, has a very typical Dutch appearance, with light blond hair that looks like red, blue eyes, a tall nose, and clear facial contours.
If you are as tall as the northern Europeans of later generations, and if you dress appropriately and pay attention to hygiene, then you will be a very typical handsome European guy.
It is a pity that Lawrence, who has been serving in overseas colonies for many years to make a living, is dirty all over his body, and exudes an unbearable rancid smell because he has not showered for a long time. His red hair is already greasy, knotted and wrinkled. Stick it on your forehead.
The most important thing is that he is not tall, only 1.63 meters tall, which is completely different from the Dutch who will be the tallest in the world in later generations!
The other Dutch soldiers are also not tall, generally a little over 1.6 meters, and few are over 1.7 meters.
Some of the Javanese indigenous soldiers who fought together were even shorter, generally around 1.5 meters, and few reached 1.6 meters.
Of course, this can't really be said that they are short. After all, this thing has to be compared... In fact, the Dutch these days are relatively tall.
Because the average height of humans around the world today is not very good.
Height is based on a rich and balanced nutritional supply. In modern society, except for poor countries in special areas, people in most countries can basically have enough to eat, and people in some countries can even do so. Balanced nutrition, especially calcium supplements for children.
Only in this way can people grow taller. If they don't have enough to eat, they won't grow taller.
Nutrition is the biggest factor in determining an individual’s height!
In addition to human genes, the living standards of a region determine the average height of people in this region.
If you don't believe it, you can look at the heights of your peers and parents around you, and then look at the heights of those born after 2000, and you will find that there is a big gap.
Nowadays, the height of those born in the 2000s is very scary. Even when they were teenagers, they were generally taller than their parents who were born in the 1980s.
There are many children in their teens who are still in junior high school and are over 1.8 meters tall, far exceeding the height of their parents.
Why?
You can see what those born in the 1980s ate when they were young, and then look at what those born in the 1980s ate when they were young.
Among those born in the 1980s, except for children from a few families, how many of them could eat meat if they wanted to? How many people can supplement calcium from childhood to adulthood? I’m afraid most people born in the 1980s have never even seen calcium carbonate d3 when they were young...
Today's children don't dare to say that they can eat whatever they want, but they can definitely eat basic rice, noodles, meat and fish until they vomit. All kinds of calcium and vitamin supplements are eaten directly as snacks... No, nowadays Every parent has to coax them to eat...
This kind of life was unimaginable twenty or thirty years ago!
The rich material living conditions, coupled with the fact that Chinese parents like to give their children various supplements, have caused the height of modern Chinese children to soar rapidly.
The average height of this generation of young people is 1.75.7 meters, the highest in Asia.
In another twenty years, it is estimated that the average height of the younger generation will reach 1.8 meters!
And all of this is based on excellent living standards.
How can you grow taller if you can’t even eat enough?
The European and American men that later generations are accustomed to are often 1.8 meters tall. This was after the industrial revolution, or to be precise, it only started in the mid-to-late nineteenth century.
Living standards in Europe and the United States continue to increase, and genes continue to be optimized from generation to generation, and finally the average height appears to be more than 1.8 meters.
But now in the mid-17th century, the living standards of these Dutch people are far less than that of later generations. Even if they have the genetic blessing of the Nordic race, their height is actually just that. About 1.6 meters is the norm. Anything over 1.7 meters is rare.
This is still an average figure...
After all, you can't take the height of some corpses of ancient European nobles dug out of their graves as the average height of ancient Europeans.
The individual height of a specific high-living-standard group has no reference significance for the average height of the entire society!
Just like the average height of 1.72 meters for the soldiers of the 14th Division of the Chu Army, it does not represent the average height of the entire army, let alone the average height of the entire empire.
To be honest, except for the young people in the Chu Empire, the middle-aged and elderly people are actually not very tall. It is common for adult men to be over 1.6 meters tall.
Specifically, those in the northern provinces tend to have higher status, while those in southern provinces tend to have lower status.
Well, this is still the average data including the vast majority of poor people... If you insist on telling me that the average person of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses is 1.9 meters, so the average person in the Qin and Han Dynasties was also 1.9 meters, then you are right!
After all, many officers in the Chu army are tall and handsome guys over 1.8 meters tall... who doesn't have a few tall guys?
In the Da Chu Empire, the younger generation of officers were basically long-legged oppas, tall and tall, with a good figure, and their looks were generally not too bad.
Since ancient times, applicants for the imperial examination have been required to look good. Those who are too ugly or physically disabled will not be accepted.
The Chu Empire was no exception. There were physical examinations for civil service examinations, and physical examinations were also required when applying for the three major military academies of the military.
People don’t want to look too ugly...
Therefore, the officers in the Da Chu Empire are basically not ugly... Coupled with the advantages of body shape and uniform, their appearance can be improved a few points.
At the same time, these handsome guys are either academic leaders, family leaders, or even both.
To become an officer in the Chu Empire, you must first apply for the Army Military Academy, the Naval Military Academy, or the Royal Military Academy (the Guards has very few enrollments). To apply for the above three military academies, you must have a high school diploma.
As for the young students who can afford to go to high schools these days, except for some academic top students who have received scholarships all the way, most of them are actually from families that are not that far behind.
High school tuition in the Dachu Empire is quite expensive...
Many students from ordinary families, whose studies are not particularly top-notch, and who cannot get scholarships, often apply for secondary vocational schools after entering junior high school in order to learn certain professional skills to facilitate employment.
However, even technical secondary schools, their academic qualifications are equivalent to high schools in the Great Chu Empire, and they can also participate in the provincial imperial examinations.
In fact, in the past five or six years in the Chu Empire, a large number of the new generation of grassroots officials who have entered the officialdom are from technical secondary schools or high schools...
This is not to say that the Chu Empire does not want to recruit more college student officials, but that the total number of college students, including college students, is too small!
Even after so many years of educational reform, dozens of universities have been established, but the number of college students in the Chu Empire is still very limited, and some of them have been diverted to scientific research and education.
Even if you are a bachelor's official, most of them go directly to provincial or even Gyeonggi institutions to become official. If you fail to pass the first-class exam, you can still pass the third-class exam. Even if you fail to pass the general examination, you can still go to the provincial level. After taking the rural examination, you can start directly in the provincial government office after joining the official position, and there is no need to go to the grassroots level of the county.
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Wan Binglin belongs to the group of officers who come from a good family, are tall, and have good looks. When he was young, his academic performance was pretty good, so he was able to enroll in the Army Officer School.
After joining the army, he had good luck and was assigned to serve in the southern region. He participated in the Burma Campaign and a series of expansion campaigns in Nanyang. He made great military exploits many times, so his promotion speed was far faster than that of a group of his peers.
While one of his classmates was still a school officer, he had successfully crossed the threshold of brigadier general this year and became an army major general. He also served as the division commander of the 14th Division, a first-class combat readiness division.
The superiors still value him very much!
Let him be the commander of the 14th Division because he wants Wang Binglin to capture Batavia City and even the entire Java Island.
After all, Wan Binglin is one of the few people among the younger generation of generals in the army who is most familiar with tropical jungle warfare, and his military rank and resume are also suitable.
This is an important reason why Wan Binglin was able to surpass a large number of people and become the commander of the 14th Division, a first-class combat readiness division.
There are a lot of brigadiers and major generals in the army, but there are very few who are familiar with tropical jungle warfare and can show off their past military exploits!
Wan Binglin knew very well that this time leading troops in combat was very important to his future military career. If everything went smoothly, everything would be easy to say. In a few years, he would even be sure to take a step further.
If the battle is unfavorable, the consequences will not be good. It is a typical case of taking big steps and pulling the eggs, and I am afraid that I will not be able to turn around in the future. .
The internal competition in the Da Chu Empire Army was very cruel, especially the competition between generals.
If a general loses a battle on the front line, he will be ordered to retire and be transferred to the reserve force if he simply loses the battle, not to mention those who clearly violated military orders and went to court-martial. It seems that there is no violation of military discipline. may be transferred to the local garrison for retirement.
Basically I won’t give you a second chance!
Because there are only so many positions of real power in the army, and there are even less positions for commanders of Class-A combat readiness divisions. If you get promoted, you won’t be able to get promoted... If you get promoted and you don’t do well, you want a second chance after losing the battle? Dreaming!
There are still a lot of equally talented and talented people waiting to be promoted. It is impossible for the superiors to give you a second chance.
It’s just one chance, if you can do it, do it, if you can’t, get out!
Wan Binglin also knows very well that he only has one chance!
After becoming stable and accumulating a few more years of qualifications and experience in leading troops, you can move to Gyeonggi to take up a position, preferably in the staff department.
After a few years in Gyeonggi, it’s time to make further plans.
Defeat...this life's military career is basically over!
The bosses at the top will not tolerate a defeat of any nature by a first-class combat readiness division.
If anyone dares to lead a first-class division to defeat the battle, the bosses will make it impossible for him to stand up forever!
The best result at that time is to be transferred to the local garrison for retirement... Wan Binglin said at that time that he would rather give himself a shot than go to the local garrison for retirement!
As one of the most outstanding young generals in the army, Wan Binglin cannot afford to be embarrassed!
Therefore, he would not let himself end up in that situation. Once he was defeated, he had no intention of returning to his country and would just commit suicide on the front line. He was really too embarrassed to face his elders in his hometown.
For the Chu Empire, this battle may be just a small-scale external expansion war, but for Major General Wan Binglin, a rookie in the army, this is not only a battle for superiority, but also a battle of life and death. war.
When it comes to his future and even his life, Wan Binglin is naturally cautious. Even after leading his army to the city of Batavia, he had no idea of a wasteful battle. Instead, he built solid fortifications and stood up to wait. Reinforcements.
He must be fully prepared to launch an attack on Batavia City like a lion fighting a rabbit!
Therefore, he still has to wait for the second batch of troops under his command and the 13th Heavy Artillery Regiment to be reinforced from home.
The Thirteenth Heavy Artillery Regiment is a typical artillery regiment dedicated to sieges, with more than twenty 200mm heavy short-barreled howitzers.
Wan Binglin would never attack the city rashly without a dozen or so big guns with a diameter of over 200 mm.
Avoid any surprises and give the Dutch no hope!
This is Wan Binglin’s plan!
The promotion of Army Major General Wan Binglin made a group of naval generals floating on the sea very unhappy... At first, Wan Binglin said that he would land more than 30 kilometers away and let the navy wait for them for a few days.
The navy waited, and a large number of warships floated idle outside the Batavia harbor for five or six days.
Wan Binglin finally reached the city. The navy thought he was going to start an attack, but unexpectedly he said that he would wait for the second batch of reinforcements to arrive before taking action.
Although the second batch of reinforcements has begun to land, these reinforcements will not arrive so quickly.
Especially the more than twenty 200 mm caliber siege artillery. Although they have landed now, they are moving slowly on the ground like a snail. It is estimated that it will take many days to reach Batavia City.
In this way, the naval generals made a calculation: Yes, it will take at least ten and a half days for these army bumpkins to launch a general attack on Batavia City.
The navy didn't have the time to wait with them, so it left some warships to continue the blockade, and took pictures of a small fleet to carry the landing team and run to the Spice Islands in the east.
Let the Army fight here in Batavia City, and the Marine Corps went to fight the Spice Islands.
