Chapter 639 Summary after the war

It was not just the infantry who chased the Dutch all the way to the dock. The few mules and horses in the town were also temporarily recruited to pull several light artillery pieces of the militia. Although the speed of animal-drawn self-propelled artillery was relatively slow,

We still caught up with the last wave and fired several rounds at the Dutch sailing ship that was hurriedly leaving the dock. However, the damage that the small-caliber artillery could do to the hull of the sailing ship was extremely limited, and the deterrent effect was far greater than the actual results.

However, the pursuit was not without success. Most of the various supplies and equipment that the Dutch had unloaded from the ship the day before were not able to be taken away in time when they fled in panic, and they piled up into a hill on the shore. In addition, there were several

Ten Dutch mercenaries and sailors failed to evacuate to the ship in time at the last moment, and were helplessly turned into prisoners under the siege of the militia army.

Since there are no large-scale sea-going ships on Ambon Island that can be used for combat, Mushaba can only watch helplessly as the Dutch fleet leaves the port at a very slow speed. Fortunately, regardless of this ship,

Whether the team chooses to return south or go north to Taiyuan Port, Taiwan, Mu Xiabai can be sure that they will not come back here in a short time. The garrison stationed on the island can also have a period of rest and recuperation, and based on this battle

situation and make some adjustments to the local defense strategy.

Since the combat area of ​​this battle was relatively large, it was also troublesome to count the results after the war. Mu Xiabai used hundreds of people and took a day and a night to complete it.

Although this battle lasted only two days and one night, the intensity of the battle was indeed rare in recent times. More than 600 rounds of artillery were fired, and more than 2,000 kilograms of gunpowder were used. Including the temporarily recruited militiamen, Haihan

There were actually more than 600 people participating in the battle on one side - this number actually greatly exceeded that of the Dutch. However, the opponent always believed that the disadvantage of the battle was due to the poor performance of the weapons, and it was only at the last moment that he realized that he was also at a disadvantage in terms of military strength.

In this battle, 18 people on Haihan's side died and 22 were injured. It was considered the heaviest casualty in Haihan's foreign military operations in the past two years. Among them, he died on the first day of the battle for the port fort.

Sixteen people were killed. In fact, a large part of this responsibility can be attributed to the defense strategy formulated by the military in the early stage. Fortunately, Mu Xiabai's ability to respond to the situation is not bad, and he adjusted the combat strategy in time to allow those on the front line of the port to

All combatants retreated and chose a more favorable defensive position to engage in a head-on confrontation with the opponent. This change also allowed Haihan to turn from passive to active in one fell swoop, and achieved good results in the subsequent battle.

According to post-war statistics, a total of 177 people were killed on the Dutch side in this two-day encounter. This number was only the number of corpses counted during the cleaning of the battlefield, and did not include the first day of fighting.

Including the missing people who may have sunk into the sea with the damaged sailboat, and the corpses like Brouwer who were also transported away, the actual number of deaths must be higher than this statistic. Mushabe believes that the Netherlands

The actual human losses were at least two hundred, and coupled with the many injured who could not receive timely and effective treatment, it is very likely that some people would lose their lives at sea.

In addition, a total of 68 people were captured alive in this battle, but only three of them were genuine Dutch. The others were all multinational troops who joined the East India Company in various forms of employment. After a simple screening, it was determined that there were not many people among these people.

After identifying valuable targets, Mu Xiabai ordered them all to be taken into custody until the next ship that came to deliver supplies would take them back to the mainland.

The Dutch came with nine large ships, but when they retreated, only five ships were able to leave safely. Both troop ships were seriously damaged in the battle and had lost their navigation ability, while the other two merchant ships were damaged due to their actions during the landing battle.

Without the shield, it sank near the shore due to severe water intrusion.

Mu Xiabai did not disappoint in terms of material seizures. The most valuable thing was not the weapons and ammunition reserves that the Dutch had not had time to take away, but the nearly two tons of finished spices. This batch of goods was originally going to be shipped to Taiyuan Port in Taiwan and then distributed.

It was sold to Ming Dynasty, Japan, North Korea and other places. However, because Van Longen's merchant ship was damaged during the first day of the battle because it was acting as a cover, the goods that were rushed out of the ship and could not be affected by moisture could only be temporarily stored on the dock.

, I didn’t expect that the evacuation was too hasty, and these goods directly benefited the Haihan people on the island.

Mu Xiabai carefully inspected this batch of goods. Many of them were in demand in the Northeast Asian market. The most expensive varieties even sold for hundreds of taels of silver per catty. According to the current market price of spices in the Far East, Mu Xiabai

It is estimated that the market value of this batch of goods is at least 16,000 to 18,000 taels of silver, which can be regarded as subsidizing the military expenditure of this battle.

In addition, there were quite a lot of weapons and ammunition seized in this battle, including more than 100 matchlocks, 17 cannons unloaded from the Dutch sailing ship that had not yet been put into use, and more than 40 barrels of gunpowder totaling more than 700 kilograms.

, twenty-five pairs of iron armor, seventy-three pairs of cowhide armor, and more than a hundred pieces of spears, swords and other weapons. Naturally, these things cannot be discerned by Mu Xiabai, but they can be sold through the middlemen who run errands for Haihan.

It shouldn't be a big problem to get seven or eight thousand taels of silver for people like Champa and Siam.

Calculated in this way, the value of the loot captured must have exceeded the consumption of this battle, but it was a small gain. When the military reported the results to the Executive Committee, the number of casualties would no longer be the most conspicuous column.

Already.

The battle that took place on a small island in the South China Sea may have been a turning point that changed the fate of many of the people involved, but for Sanya, three thousand miles away, this fierce battle was just a telegram copied on paper.

It's just news. Since Haihan has not disclosed the fact of occupying Ambona Island to the outside world, this victory cannot be publicized and rewarded for the time being. Even its dissemination scope is limited to the Chuanchu people and a very small number of senior naturalized cadres.

The Military Commission received the news of the end of the battle on Ampurna Island as soon as possible and immediately reported it to the Executive Committee. Although the result of this battle was far less than that of the mission's capture of Nanri Island in Fujian last month, it was

After all, this is the first time that Haihan has fought against the powerful enemy of the Netherlands. Both the military and the executive committee attach great importance to the significance of this battle. For this reason, the executive committee specially held a special meeting to listen to military personnel.

report on the situation.

Yan Chujie had just finished his overseas combat rotation in the first half of the year, and temporarily handed over the affairs of Qiongbei to Wang Tom. He returned to Sanya to report on his work and rest for a few days. However, he received the letter from Ambona Island on June 22. After calling the police, his vacation has been interrupted. Although the garrison on Ambona Island is not large, it is very important to Haihan's South China Sea strategy. The military sent troops to capture the area in April in order to control the South China Sea as soon as possible. channel, interfering with Dutch ships traveling between Taiwan Island and Batavia, further reducing the Dutch influence in Fujian waters - this is a move that complements Haihan's strategic adjustment in Fujian.

The East India Company, which is famous for its simultaneous expansion of trade and military affairs, will definitely not sit back and watch someone occupy their main supply point on the waterway from Southeast Asia to Northeast Asia. Therefore, when Haihan was determined to capture Ambrosia Island, he was prepared to fight with the Dutch in the future. We were well prepared for the battle, but we didn’t expect the Dutch’s counterattack to come so quickly, and they launched an attack on Ambona Island without any probing. The alarm telegram sent back by Mushaba already explained the first The situation in which the artillery defenses on the roadside were breached by the enemy greatly exceeded the expectations of the top military officials.

When the defense system for Ambona Island was originally designed, military leaders almost unanimously believed that coastal defense forts were the best way to prevent enemies from launching attacks from the sea. This has been well verified in many ports in Haihan. As long as a colonial point has built coastal defense fortifications, the enemy has never breached the defense line from the sea. In the naval battle of Wanshan Port at the end of 1628, the local garrison used coastal defense fortifications to severely damage Liu Xiang, whose strength was several times their own. The pirate fleet is by far the most typical and most successful example of coastal defense fort warfare, and it was even regarded as a standard in the subsequent courses of the Victory Port Military Academy.

However, the unfavorable situation on Ambuna Island obviously broke this thinking pattern. The Dutch attacked directly without any reason, but the forts on the island failed to effectively block the opponent's landing before the enemy fleet docked. Of course, this is inseparable from the rudimentary fort fortifications on the island, the number of garrison troops, combat strategies, etc., but a defeat is a defeat, and the military did not shirk it. Wang Tom also made it clear in his report that "this lesson is worthy of the military." Let’s make a good summary.”

However, the temporary defeat did not cause panic, because according to the telegram sent back by Mu Xiabai, the opponent only had nine sailing ships in total, most of which were merchant ships, and only a thousand men were available for the full attack. Haihan was two months ahead of schedule. He began to make war preparations on the island and built several lines of defense. If Mu Xiabai couldn't even carry this small amount of troops, it would be better not to lead troops outside and call them back as early as possible to do internal support.

Sure enough, the battle ended with the victory of Haihan's side on the second day. The Dutch abandoned their armor and fled from Ambrosia Island, and were convinced that they were unlikely to launch a new offensive in the short term. This was also The island's defenders were given time to rest and recuperate. However, the military did not relax because of the news. How to strengthen the island's defense to prevent the Dutch from coming back next time became the central issue of this meeting.

"Our troops on Ambona Island are sufficient for the time being, but it is obvious that the defense methods are far from meeting the requirements for frontal resistance to sea attacks." Wang Tom finished talking about the battle situation and began to introduce the topic to the post-war situation.

Summary of experience: "If the Dutch attack the island with twice as many troops next time, it will be even less possible for us to stop their landing in the first place."

"Even if the strength of the troops is doubled, our troops stationed on the island are still capable of defeating them, aren't they? I remember the military plan made before attacking Ambuna Island in April, which clearly promised that the island would be able to defeat them without increasing the number of troops.

Resist an enemy force of 2,000 people." Gu Kai responded: "But does this mean that Amborna Island is almost undefendable?"

"There was nothing wrong with what we said at the time. The troops stationed on the island were capable of defeating the invading enemy forces." Wang Tom explained: "But defeating the opponent does not mean that there are no problems in our defense of the island. As we all know, security is

There are no special local products on Bona Island, and there are none that can be used for military purposes. All combat supplies for the troops stationed on the island have to be transported from outside the island, that is, from the port of Annan. And the Dutch are in the South China Sea.

The maritime superiority of the region is obvious. If they want to impose a blockade on the waters near Ambuna Island, it will be difficult for our troops stationed on the island to maintain their due combat effectiveness for a long time."

"But the cost of blocking a sea area is quite high, isn't it? Besides, we also have a navy. If they want to blockade Amborna Island, then we can send a fleet to repel them." Gu Kai retorted.

"What you said is correct, but you forgot one thing." Wang Tom reminded: "The straight-line distance from Batavia to Ambrosia Island is about 600 nautical miles, and the main force of our navy is here on Hainan Island.

The distance from Sanya to Ambona Island is half that of our opponents, and the local port environment on Ambona Island is limited, making it impossible to station a large fleet for a long time. This is why we have only arranged for two naval combat ships to be stationed there before.

The reason. And once the ship is damaged, it is likely to have to return to Cam Ranh Bay in Annan like this time, or even return to the base camp for repairs. Although the Dutch will also face similar problems, their solution

It is easier than us because they have many more ships than we do. This is a disadvantage that we cannot catch up in the short term. We can fight them, but it is difficult to achieve a decisive victory in a naval battle like we did against Liu Xiang.

victory."

"Then what is the military's idea of ​​​​solving this problem?" Tao Donglai did not let Gu Kai continue to entangle with Wang Tom, and took the initiative to bring the topic back to the right track.

"The military's opinion is to appropriately strengthen the local military strength on the existing basis. In addition to the reserves of ammunition and combat supplies, it is hoped that the Ministry of Construction can assist in sending engineering and technical personnel to the local area to assist in the construction and strengthening of local defense fortifications.

"Tom Wang paused and then said: "In other words, we have to change our previous ideas and be prepared to turn Ambon Island into a forward position for long-term confrontation with the Netherlands."

In the original prediction of the military, it was believed that the Dutch would not pay too much attention to Ambona Island. Even if they found that it was occupied by a group of armed forces suspected of being pirates, they would not take large-scale actions. At most, they would attack it once or twice.

If we don't come down, we will naturally give up this place with little strategic value. However, the actual situation is obviously quite different from the expectation.
Chapter completed!