Chapter 635 Fight (4)

Just over a mile away from the port where the fierce battle just took place is the small town of Natuna, which was built by early Han immigrants. Of course, the name of this place has now been changed back to Ambuna Town, and the town has also been connected

There was not a single Dutchman, not even a Dutch half-breed - after the construction of the port fort was completed, these people were all shipped to the mines in the north.

In just two months after the Haihan militia occupied Annan Island, the relevant departments organized and transported more than 500 immigrants from Annan and Hainan Island to settle here. Most of them were young and strong, and many of them accepted

After a certain degree of grassroots militia training, the Portuguese also sent nearly two hundred immigrants as agreed upon. This group of people included young, old, women and children, but more than thirty of them had experience in the army or as mercenaries.

But all actions of these people must obey Haihan's command, because almost all their living supplies here must be provided by Haihan.

In addition, there were about a hundred hard labor camp prisoners who had undergone labor reform and were deemed to have changed their minds by the Ministry of Justice. They also came here by boat to start their new life. These people's crimes were relatively minor, and they were originally sentenced

The sentences are almost always within two years, but they are still under the probation period of the Ministry of Justice. If they commit another crime within a year, the penalty they will suffer will be doubled. And if they can spend the one-year probation period safely on the island

, then they will also have the same opportunity as new immigrants to apply for naturalization.

Although the new owner gave the opportunity to choose where to go, about one-third of the original residents of the island remained. These people are basically of Han descent, and their political attitudes are more inclined to the Ming Dynasty or the Hai Dynasty.

For these people, it was too much trouble to leave their hometown and settle elsewhere, and accepting the rule of Haihan was at least much better than being a slave to those red-haired people who looked like evil ghosts.

Of course, the aborigines who chose to leave Amborna Island could only go to other colonies under Haihan's rule, so as not to let the news leak out prematurely.

These residents, plus a reinforced battalion in Mushab's hands, have a population of nearly 3,000, which is much smaller than when the Dutch ruled here before. Therefore, housing is not a problem at all, and they can be basically resettled without the need for additional construction.

Come down. While the fort was being built at the port, corresponding engineering improvements were also carried out on the town side, and a defensive wall was built on the east side of the town near the port.

However, this wall made of stone and wood is not high. It may be more appropriate to call it a parapet. On both sides of the central axis road passing through the town, there are gun emplacements every twenty meters, but what is here is that

What is deployed is not the large-caliber coastal defense artillery at the port, but small 3-pound and 6-pound army artillery. But although the caliber is small, the model is the latest, not the antiques used on the port turret. Closely attached

Outside the wall, the original drainage ditch was widened and deepened, a four-foot-wide trench was dug, and stream water was introduced.

There were originally streams running around the town on both sides, which can be said to be a natural barrier. Although the deepest point of the stream is only just past the waist of an adult and is only seven or eight meters wide, if someone really plans to swim from here, then the town

The musketeers there will teach them how to behave on the roof of the bank. It would be more desirable if the opponents tried to have a shooting competition with the musketeers from Haihan on the other side of the creek. They would definitely be deeply impressed.

Realize how deadly the gap in range and accuracy between the weapons on both sides is.

After retreating from the first line of defense at the port, Mushaba immediately ordered all reservists in the town to enter combat status and ordered the quartermaster to issue rifles and ammunition to them. A medical team composed of women had begun to work under the guidance of several military doctors.

Next, they bandaged the wounded, but their current task was not onerous, because there were not many wounded on the Haihan side in the previous battle, and no one escaped alive from the main fighting area.

Li Dagui, who was responsible for organizing logistics work, had already had hot food prepared. After the soldiers who had withdrawn from the front unloaded their equipment, they immediately arranged to eat to replenish their physical strength. In this regard, Haihan was undoubtedly more prepared than his opponent.

The Dutch did not expect that a battle would break out at this time. There was not even hot food prepared on the ship. Everyone was waiting to land and rest before having a good meal after docking. At this time, the Dutch fleet was crowded in the port.

, and didn’t even bother to cook.

But the current battle situation has a huge blind spot for both warring parties, that is, they don't know how much their opponents have prepared for this battle, and whether the battlefield in front of them is a huge trap set by their opponents.

The Dutch can only rely on guesswork as to the true identity of this mysterious armed force on the island. As for the opponent's purpose of occupying the island, they have no idea. As for the Haihan side, did the Dutch come here by mistake, or have they already arrived?

After receiving intelligence from other channels, they were ready to capture the island, but they were still a little unsure. Therefore, after the initial confrontation, neither side dared to attack easily, but chose to rest on the spot and plan subsequent operations.

Strategy.

Although the first line of defense lasted only about an hour in the battle, the results were actually not bad. At least two to three of the nine invading Dutch ships had completely lost their ability to move, and the other ships were also

Almost none of them could remain intact. They had all suffered varying degrees of damage during the bombardment. The casualties in terms of personnel were nearly three digits, and the main loss on Haihan's side was only the combat organization on a fort - of course.

These more than ten lives were already the biggest battle loss for the Haihan Militia this year. If Mu Xiabai fails to achieve a brilliant record in the subsequent stages, he will probably bear some responsibility for this loss.

After all, the people stationed on this island can be regarded as veterans of the Annan militia, and they have spent a lot of effort and resources to cultivate combat effectiveness. When Qian Tiandun first formulated the training plan, he basically treated these people as grassroots

Officers are here for training. In the future, as long as the situation requires it, the expanded army can immediately promote these veterans, allowing the size of the militia to expand several times in a short period of time.

However, precisely because these people are veterans with combat experience, their morale has not been greatly affected after experiencing the small setbacks in the previous battle. Although the battle situation is temporarily unfavorable, they are all aware of the island's defenses.

Arrangement, this second line of defense is the top priority, and the real decisive battle will probably begin here.

The main reason why the Haihan Militia lost its first line of defense was that its firepower was too dispersed, its troops were insufficient to defend such a long line of defense, and it was difficult to support each other. If the enemy broke through one point, it would be equivalent to breaking through the entire line.

The defensive line forced the defenders to abandon their positions and retreat.

But this situation will not happen again in the second line of defense. The defensive wall outside the town facing the port is only two hundred meters long and contains eight gun positions and matching musketeer positions.

The view of the three hundred meters beyond the defensive wall is basically unobstructed, and even the knee-high vegetation has been cleared away. If the Dutch still plan to attack this line of defense in the form of a port charge, then they will really

You will suffer a big loss.

After using the radio to report the current fighting situation to the base camp and Annan, Mu Xiabai believed that it was necessary to mobilize the combatants before the war to prevent their emotions from being affected by the setbacks in the previous battle.

After receiving the notice, the first-level officers of the company and platoon quickly gathered at the headquarters. This place was originally a small church built after the Dutch occupied it. However, after the Haihan Militia captured this place, it immediately canceled its original purpose and destroyed the church inside.

All the belongings were cleared out, even the cross on the roof was removed, and the place was used as a military headquarters.

"Commanders, do you still remember our mission here?" Mu Xiabai asked in a deep voice.

"Guard the South China Sea, protect the Haihan!" the officers replied in unison. These two slogans were not publicly promoted after they arrived at Ambona Island, but it was obvious that everyone had good memories.

He has not forgotten the training he received before leaving Annan Station.

Mu Xiabai nodded with satisfaction and said: "Before we came here, we already knew that sooner or later there would be a real battle with the Dutch, and the preparations we made in the past few months were all for what happened today.

In this battle, whether we can protect the glory of the Executive Committee depends on our next performance!"

Mu Xiabai turned around and pointed to the local map hanging on the wall and said: "Although we have also preset a third line of defense, I don't want to see such a passive situation. My request is to annihilate the second line of defense.

The enemy's main force cannot retreat even an inch, can you do it?"

"Yes!" the officers responded neatly again.

"I will go to the front line later and fight with you!" Mu Xiabai said decisively: "How many Dutch people have come this time, we must try to keep them all on the island!"

At this time, the Dutch side was arguing endlessly about how to conduct the next battle. Brower believed that they should fight steadily, build a temporary base at the port first, guard the sea channel, cut off the supply line between the island's armed forces and the outside world, and at the same time send out a rescue mission.

The ship went back to fetch the rescue troops - of course, even if the rescue ship set off immediately, it would probably take half a month for the rescue troops to arrive at the earliest.

Spikes believed that the victory should be pursued. Since the opponent gave up the fort defense line and chose to retreat, it just showed their lack of military strength. Our side should rely on the advantages of military strength and combat experience to continue to launch attacks inland.

"Perhaps they only have the few men withdrawn from the fort, and if we work harder, we can eat them up!" Spikes said.

"No, no, no, it's too risky to do this." Although Brouwer is also a militant, he is obviously much more cautious than Spikes: "We don't know how many troops they have and how likely they are to retreat.

It's just a trap. Mr. Spikes, please don't forget that this island originally had nearly 4,000 residents. Do you think you can capture this island just by evacuating the one or two hundred people from the fort? The original indigenous people here

There are more than just these people in the Xie Congjun!"

"But the indigenous army is not equipped with weapons as sharp as theirs!" Spikes bore the brunt of the battle and was deeply impressed by the opponent's fort firepower and shooting accuracy: "I think they are going to clean up the island plains."

Some armed forces are not a problem. And if we surround them without attacking them, we will suffer the loss. Mr. Brouwer, please don’t forget that our combat supplies are based on a fleet going to sea. Regardless of

Whether it’s food or ammunition, they are very limited, and we have already lost some of them in previous battles!”

In the previous artillery battle, two Dutch ships were shot and capsized, and the various supplies on board had naturally sunk into the sea. Although this is a shallow offshore sea, this fleet does not have the ability to salvage sunken ships on the spot.

After the opponent occupies the island, he will naturally have all the resources on the island. It is hard to say the ammunition, but the food reserves will definitely be more abundant than the Dutch fleet that only carries rations for more than a month. If the two sides continue to be in a stalemate like this,

The Dutch side must be the first to be unable to hold on.

Brower still insisted: "But our supplies can fully support the arrival of reinforcements. If we launch an offensive at that time, we will be much more sure of defeating our opponent!"

"No one knows what will happen during the days when we are waiting for reinforcements!" Spikes shook his head and objected: "Maybe they have also secretly sent people to sea from other parts of the island to move reinforcements to their base camp! Drag!

The longer we wait, the greater our operational risks will be!"

Fan Longgen was listening to the argument between these two guys and his head hurt. He could only walk to the side and sit down in frustration, waiting for them to come to an outcome.

In accordance with the military's request, he had ordered to vacate a merchant ship in better condition and return to Batavia to report the news. However, the cargo on that ship would not be unloaded in a short while. According to the crew's report,

At the very least, we have to wait until tonight. If we don't unload the goods overnight, we may have to wait until tomorrow morning to complete it.

In addition, he also organized 120 sailors with combat experience to temporarily join the military team and wait for command. However, the combat quality of this group of people varied. Some people could not even use muskets. Van Longen was very worried.

Worry about their performance after entering the battlefield.

As for what kind of combat strategy to adopt, Van Longen was not qualified to intervene, and could only wait for the two senior officers to make up their minds. But if he did not take the initiative to intervene, the two people did not ignore his presence. Neither side could convince the other.

Under the circumstances, they chose the third person, Van Longen, as a weight.
Chapter completed!