Chapter 1249 From General to Prisoner of War

After besieging the enemy in the swamps southwest of Star Island, the military pressure faced by Haihan was greatly reduced. Unwilling to be lonely, Mu Xiabai even ordered his troops and led the fleet to the other side of the strait to find

Roger went to the enemy gathering place he discovered during his last reconnaissance, and tried to further attack its surface armed forces. However, his trip this time was in vain. The opponent probably expected that Haihan would pursue the source.

Tracing the source came to the door and moved all the boats docked in the river bend. Although the temporary facilities on the shore were still there, there was no trace of human activity. It was obvious that the camp had been abandoned.

The British sailing ship that Mu Xiabai hoped to fight face-to-face also evacuated the area and hid somewhere unknown. This made him sigh on the deck at his opponent's determination, and it seemed that he did not intend to try to rescue the fallen man again.

They are accomplices on Star Island. Little did they know that although the armed sailing ship sent by the East India Company was indeed armed, it was just a merchant ship equipped with a few deck guns, and its combat effectiveness was two or three times that of a ship like Haihan.

A professional battleship with ten guns is completely different.

After seeing the Haihan fleet lineup in the Johor Strait two days ago, the British gave up their futile struggle and left the Johor Strait to hide further away. This is not because they do not want to save anything, but because they know how to do it.

However, the Haihan Fleet could also predict that the opponent would definitely clear out the coalition ships in the north of the strait when they had free hands. They could only choose to avoid their attacks first, and then slowly try to rescue their comrades trapped on the Star Island.

However, the British who stayed in Johor still misjudged one thing. They believed that Haihan's purpose of cutting off the Strait channel was mainly to interrupt their own supply transportation, temporarily trap the coalition forces going to Star Island, and to transport to Star Island in the early stage.

Calculated by the supply of the island, there is no problem for the coalition forces to hold out for a few days. However, they did not expect that the coalition forces would have been defeated on the second day after landing on the island. They are now hiding on the island to escape the pursuit and suppression of the Haihan Army.

Most of the supplies brought to the island have been lost, and they will not last as long as expected.

After two days of siege in the swamp area, more and more coalition soldiers have chosen to surrender. This is really helpless. They have no source of supplies at all in the swamp. If they are hungry for another day,

In two days, I probably won't even have the strength to step out and surrender.

According to the information given by these prisoners, the coalition generals Hogg and Bapen are still trapped here, but it seems that they can no longer think of any effective way to escape. Many people choose to surrender because they see no hope of escape.

.

"Take another two days of hard work and tighten your pockets, and they may struggle for their lives again in the end." Roger knew that Mu Xiabai's desire to fight was not fully satisfied in this battle, and there might not be much in the future.

There was a large-scale battle, but the current encirclement and suppression had reached the most critical moment. He was also afraid that Mu Xiabai would lose his energy, so he could only try his best to encourage the opponent.

"Don't worry, everyone is here. Of course, I have to do everything beautifully before going back." Mu Xiabai also understood what Roger was worried about, and immediately patted his chest and promised. Except for the short time when he first arrived here,

Apart from the battle, it has been relatively easy these past few days. The enemies on the island have been trapped and died in the swamp, while the enemies on the other side of the strait have avoided fighting. It is indeed a little disappointing for him. Seeing that the overall situation has been decided.

, the opponent is unlikely to have another chance to stand up, and the troops will inevitably be a little slack. However, as a general who has led troops for many years, he also knows that the final success or failure of this mission still depends to a large extent on whether

We are able to capture the enemy general. Now we have only one last step left, and we must not fail in our success.

Starting from the third day of the siege of the swamp, the Haihan Army gradually narrowed the encirclement inward, further compressing the scope of activities of the coalition forces that still refused to surrender. During this period, there were also several brief exchanges of fire, but the coalition forces stayed in the swamp because of

After a few days, part of the matchlock ammunition used had become damp or even soaked in water, and the firepower was greatly weakened. At most two or three of the ten guns could fire. On the other hand, the opponent's firepower was not significantly affected.

Under this situation, the resistance that the coalition forces can offer is even more limited, and they can only retreat continuously.

By the morning of the fourth day, the remaining coalition forces had been compressed into a forest with an area of ​​only about ten acres, and there were probably less than 500 people left. The Haihan Army outside the forest was escorting a few selected prisoners of war.

, and asked them to use tin speakers to loudly read out the content of persuading surrender in Johor dialect and English, and conduct a final psychological battle against the remaining coalition personnel.

Roger had no patience to wait any longer, so he gave an ultimatum to the coalition forces in the woods. If they did not surrender when the sun hit their heads at noon, then there would be no chance for the coalition forces to surrender and save their lives. If the coalition generals

If you want to end this battle with dignity, you'd better surrender before then, otherwise, it is very likely that after death, the body will be used to show the results of the battle to the local people.

After about two hours of confrontation, the coalition forces in the forest finally chose to surrender. Hogg and Bapen led their respective armies out of the woods and handed over all weapons under the supervision of Haihan soldiers. Except for a very few

Except for senior officers, ordinary coalition soldiers were controlled by ropes and shackles after disarming, and then were immediately escorted on the road in batches. This was also done to prevent prisoners of war from gathering together and causing unnecessary trouble.

It was only then that Hogg and Bapen finally saw their opponents, two dark-skinned and sturdy Haihan officers. What surprised Hogg was that the younger officer among them could actually speak

He speaks fluent English, which is something he has never seen since he came to the Far East. Except for a few maritime merchants engaged in cross-border trade, he has never seen a military and political figure from a certain country who understands English, let alone this person who is in charge of a group of people.

With a Hai-Han army, it can be imagined that its status must not be low.

Hogg filtered the information in his mind and roughly guessed the identity of the other party. He also asked in English: "You must be Mr. Roger, the local colonial administrator?"

Roger smiled and said: "You are well informed, but you have even found out my name, why don't you ask about the strength of our Haihan Army? Which European country that came to the Far East to make a fortune has not been taught a lesson by our Haihan Army?

You dare to take the initiative to get involved, you are so brave!"

Of course, Hogg could not refute the opponent's ridicule. The defeated general was not brave. No matter how good the original battle plan was, it was useless. The result had already proved who was the final winner. He wanted to defeat Haihan to prove that Britain

The strength of the colonial armed forces, but in the end, it added another shining mark to Haihan's record. Now that he has become a prisoner of his opponent, any more rhetorical efforts at this time will only make him a laughing stock.

Then Roger continued to say: "But you don't have to worry. Since we said we will disarm and not kill, we must keep our word. We just want to wrong you for a while. Stay with us first and wait for your East India Company to agree.

Only if you meet our conditions can we let you go."

Hogg is indeed a veteran who has been in the army for many years. Although he lost the battle, his emotions did not break out of control. He immediately responded: "I hope my soldiers can also be treated well. They are just performing the tasks set by me."

Roger was noncommittal about his request. Haihan had no intention of raising a group of idle prisoners of war. These people must be assigned a certain degree of physical labor during their detention, even generals like Hogg would not be an exception. As for treating them kindly,

It would be good if the prisoners of war could have a bite to eat, but don't expect anything else.

After the last batch of surrendered coalition forces were taken into custody, there were probably only a few escaped coalition personnel left on the island. However, the trouble these people could cause was limited, and Roger did not plan to organize any more large-scale dragnet-style raids.

He ordered all the ministries to set off back to the camp. However, Mu Xiabai came here specially to gain nothing, and he had no interest in detouring to the star port in the south to hold a celebration ceremony. He immediately said goodbye to Roger and took his troops from Johor.

This side of the strait has left.

Of course, the victory this time must be equally shared by both sides. If Mu Xiabai did not lead his army south to support, Roger would have been able to defend against the enemy's offensive with the garrison on the island. He just wanted to obtain this kind of victory.

The effect of catching them all at once is difficult. Mu Xiabai's fleet appeared in the Johor Strait in time to cut off the enemy's retreat, which played a decisive role in the direction of the entire war. This was also due to Haihan's star island in the South China Sea.

is in a colony, otherwise if the reinforcements come from Cam Ranh Port, it is very likely that they will not be able to catch up with this wave in time.

Thanks to their special status, Hogg and Bapone were not tied up or shackled like ordinary prisoners of war. Roger did not deliberately humiliate them, but gave them due respect and provided them with

They had no food and water. Of course, they could no longer have mounts. Like other prisoners of war, they could only march towards the Haihan stronghold in the south of the island on foot. And in order to prevent the two people from discussing countermeasures on the way, Roger was still very careful.

Escort them separately and prevent them from having direct contact with any of their accomplices.

Hogg actually didn't have much intention to resist. After he surrendered, he carefully observed the situation of the Haihan Army. The individual equipment of the Haihan soldiers was obviously better than that of his mercenaries, and even compared to the professional army in the UK.

Not to mention giving in too much. Judging from the battles in the past few days, the Haihan Army's combat level is also quite powerful, with orderly attack and defense, and extremely rich tactics in field battles. The coalition forces retreated steadily during the battle, and were restrained everywhere.

The reason is that Haihan's fighting method cannot be tolerated. And this information is all intelligence that was not available before the war.

If he could get another chance to make a choice, Hogg would definitely carefully consider whether to launch an offensive against Haihan. Unfortunately, he learned this information too late, and now it is too late to regret.

After a day's trek, the large army finally returned to the Haihan stronghold on the south coast of Star Island. Most of the defensive offensive outside the village had been dismantled, but a large new one was built in an open space outside the village.

Camp - a hard labor camp where prisoners of war temporarily stay.

Due to the hasty construction time, there are no decent buildings in this camp. There are only large bamboo sheds used to block the sun, which are separated into several separate small camps with barbed wire. In the past few days, people have been arrested from all over the island.

The returned prisoners of war were temporarily detained here.

Senior officers like Hogg are relatively lucky. They can enjoy slightly better treatment and live in temporary cells with walls, doors and windows. Because there are too few cells, Haihan does not have the conditions to hold him alone, so here he

Finally, he reunited with his surviving British companions. Some of them came in two or three days earlier than him, but they could give him an overview of the living conditions here.

There is no hope for food and accommodation. Although they can live in houses and do not need to be kept in the wild like animals like ordinary prisoners of war, this only means that they do not need to be exposed to wind and sun at night. They can do it every day

They were provided with two meals, but they basically consisted of whole grains and pickles without any oil or water. There was no restriction on drinking water, because they had to engage in physical labor arranged by the Haihan people every day and needed to replenish water at any time.

Compared with the prisoners of war held outside, the labor intensity required by the officers is not too great. Their task is to use the hammers issued to them to knock out large rocks starting from breakfast every day.

They will knock pebbles into small stones of suitable size until the sun sets for dinner. Everyone will be assigned a workload, and if they fail to complete the task, their meals will be deducted. And if they try to resist the labor arrangements, they will directly change the place of detention and be thrown into the

In the hard labor camp in the wilderness, ordinary prisoners of war were engaged in more difficult physical labor.

Hogg didn't quite understand the significance of the Haihan people arranging this kind of stone-breaking task, but a good man doesn't suffer the immediate consequences. Since he can live well, there is really no need to fight for dignity with the other party on such details. Try to find

The opportunity to escape is the most important thing.

But the chance to escape came faster than Hogg imagined. Not long after he was put in the cell, someone came to take him out. It turned out that it was Roger who wanted to see him. Hogg thought that this was probably the plan of the Haihan people.

When I was interrogated, I decided to act tough and never say anything I asked. Information about the East India Company could not escape from my mouth easily.

But Roger didn't seem to follow the routine at all. The first words he said made Hogg unable to remain calm: "General Hogg, it must be very uncomfortable to be a prisoner, right? To be honest, I can't even keep you here.

How useful it is, I plan to let you go back, what do you think of this idea?"
Chapter completed!