Chapter 670 The mission arrives

Compared with the Annan militia that is good at fighting in the field, the infantry battalion transferred from the base camp this time is better at positional offensive and defensive warfare on the frontal battlefield. The weapons installed and the tactics used in daily drills are all focused on positional warfare. Firearms are used.

As the main weapon of positional warfare tactics, Haihan can be said to be unparalleled in the world. If you want to consider yourself second, then no one dares to compete for the first place.

After the previous battle with the Dutch, the staff also reflected on and modified the previous tactics. There was an obvious problem with the tactics at that time, which was to direct the firepower output towards the sea in an attempt to prevent the enemy from carrying out landing operations. However,

Facts have shown that this tactic did not completely work. Although it did cause a certain degree of damage to the Dutch armed sailing ships, relying only on a dozen coastal defense guns was unable to prevent the forced landing of the opposing fleet. After that, there was a lack of infantry cover.

The fort immediately became the target of the enemy's siege, but Haihan's side failed to effectively kill the landing enemies at this critical stage.

After learning the lessons from the previous time and fully considering the local geographical environment of Ambona Island, the staff formulated a new combat plan for the island-defending troops, aiming the concentrated fire at the beach instead of at sea.

The main purpose of this combat plan is to carry out concentrated attacks during the enemy's landing stage to effectively kill and injure its combatants. On the beach without obstacles, the opponent has no bunkers to hide. When facing intensive gunfire,

It can only act as a living target. Compared with sea operations where only coastal defense artillery can be effective, this method can allow more infantry to achieve firepower output, and the killing effect on the enemy will be stronger.

In order to drag enemy landing personnel on the coast, Roger planned to build dense coastal fortifications at suitable landing sites near the port, using criss-crossing barbed wire mixed with ditches, bamboo pits, horse barriers, deer villages and other means.

And the obstacle zone was set to a depth of at least fifty meters, turning the port area more than a mile wide into a death zone that was difficult to move.

Before heading south, Roger and the staff had already built a simplified version of the obstacle course at the Army training base on the Luhuitou Peninsula in Victory Port, and personally led the troops to conduct a landing simulation exercise. Facts have proved that even with advanced military

It is difficult for experienced traverser officers to quickly cross the complex obstacle area here in a hurry. If you want to pass through the obstacle area with human power alone, you must successfully survive more than twenty rounds of rifle fire before that.

And only if you are safe and sound.

Even if a person with good fortune can pass through this death obstacle area, he will still have to face a three-meter wide trench after reaching the end. This trench is not very deep, at most it is only over two feet and less than three feet.

But it is full of dense silt, and it is difficult to pull out the legs if you step on it. In order to prevent the water from evaporating too quickly due to the high temperature in summer and making it hard, running water will be introduced regularly to maintain the viscosity.

On the other side of the mud trench is the main fire output area, a defense line divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. Each line of defense has a one-meter-thick breast wall made of earth bags as a cover to prevent enemy warships from coming.

The artillery's land attack. The three fire output lines in ascending order will also form a three-dimensional fire network to maximize the damage to enemy infantry trying to pass through the obstacle area.

A similar design was first used in the outer defenses of Victory Fort. However, Victory Fort has never suffered an invasion from outside, and Haihan's experience in foreign combat was mostly offensive and rarely passive defense, so this

The effectiveness of this three-dimensional fortification has not actually been tested in actual combat. But it is obvious that the reliability of the defense line combined with infantry and artillery must far exceed the previous single fort defense, and the top military officials have also placed their trust in the actual combat performance.

High hopes.

However, the biggest problem at present is not to find an effective method of defensive operations, but to complete the construction of these fortifications within a limited time. Although the base camp has dispatched specialized engineering personnel to direct the construction this time, due to lack of

Knowing when the Dutch would come back again, the construction period was set very tight. The prohibition period for the Dutch was set to December, but the actual construction period was to be completed within October.

The Dutch also did not expect that the well-intentioned Haihan people had already begun to make the next move on the island. Van Longen and others still held on to a glimmer of hope that they could use diplomatic means to stop their arrogant behavior before Haihan took military action.

Behavior.

After safely sailing away from the waters of the Natuna Islands, the Dutch did not seek other ports for docking supplies on the way. This was because they were in a hurry, and secondly, the Champa Kingdom in the southern part of the Indochina Peninsula was also in contact with the sea.

The Han people have close contacts and have never been friendly to the East India Company. Therefore, Van Longen decided to sail directly to Sanya in order to shorten the sailing time as much as possible. While passing through the Annan Sea, Van Longen even specially commanded the fleet to maintain a distance of more than 20 nautical miles from the coastline.

In order to avoid encountering Haihan's ships in this sea area and exposing their whereabouts prematurely.

Thirty days after setting off from Batavia, Van Longen's fleet finally arrived at the southern tip of Qiongzhou Island, about forty or fifty nautical miles away from Sanya Port. It was already evening, and Van Longen called Van der Wegen and Su Keyi there.

The captain's cabin showed them the route chart.

"Gentlemen, if there is no big error in our course, we will arrive at Sanya Port as soon as tomorrow. I hope you can have a good rest tonight and face the Haihan people in the best mental state tomorrow." Fan Longgen

After thinking for a while, he added: "This may be the best time for the three of us to make contributions. I think both of you should value this opportunity as much as I do, right?"

"Of course, Mr. Van Longen, I agree with you very much." When Van Longen returned to Batavia from Port of Damien, he and Van Longen forged a friendship on the way, and this time Cohen was able to give them a chance to make a comeback, and Van Longen

Gen is also determined to assist Van Longgen to achieve outstanding results.

"I heard that the Haihan people have armed patrol boats in the sea near Sanya. Maybe we will encounter them tomorrow. Mr. Captain, please remember to remind your crew to exercise restraint and never cause guns to fire due to nervousness.

Yes, then we may have wasted all our efforts." Su Keyi reminded.

"Of course, I will warn them in advance." Van Longen's face also became serious: "I just hope they don't open fire as soon as they see us."

Through the war in Fujian and subsequent successive statements, Haihan has fully demonstrated their stance towards the East India Company, which is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the word "friendly". If a Dutch sailing ship appears rashly in the waters of Sanya,

It is indeed difficult to imagine how the Haihan people would react.

Just as Su Keyi expected, they were discovered early the next morning by a Haihan ship operating in the outer sea. The first thing that discovered them was not a naval warship, but a merchant ship originally intended to go to Da Nang.

However, three hours after sailing out of Victory Port, the ship discovered these two Dutch sailing ships flying the VOC flag of the East India Company, and immediately turned around and ran back.

After the Battle of Fujian, the news that the militia navy defeated the Red-haired Fleet had already been publicized in the Haihan area through various channels. Ordinary people also knew that their army had fought a big battle with the Red-haired People in Fujian.

There were hundreds of red-haired prisoners escorted back from Fujian alone. The confiscated weapons, military uniforms, flags and other trophies were displayed in the small square outside the Victory Fort for ten days. Therefore, the boss of this merchant ship

When I saw the Dutch sailing ship, I recognized their identity from the flag hanging on the mast from a distance.

This merchant ship did not carry much cargo, so it was still ahead of the Dutch sailing ship. When it was still about ten nautical miles away from the Port of Victory, it encountered two naval ships that were out for training. The boss of the ship immediately ordered people to play red

With a blue distress flag, he moved closer to the navy ship and immediately reported what he saw outside the sea.

Although the two sailing ships belonging to the navy are only training ships, they are also fully armed and can be put into combat if necessary. The officer leading the team made a prompt decision and ordered the merchant ship to return to the port immediately to call the police. He then led the two training ships to sail to

Intercepting a Dutch sailing ship with unknown intentions in the open sea.

About half an hour later, the ships from both sides encountered each other on the sea. Officer Haihan ordered cannons to be fired into the sky as a warning.

"That's the warship of the Haihan people. This kind of ship has participated in battles in Fujian, and I can recognize their appearance." Van der Wegen confirmed the identity of the other party through the monocular telescope, and then handed the telescope to Van Longen next to him.

"This ship doesn't look as big as our armed sailing ships!" After seeing it, Van Longen expressed doubts that Van der Wegen would lose to this kind of warship despite having an advantage in the number and tonnage of ships.

"No, they also have at least two warships with larger tonnage. One of them has only been seen by pirates from Shibazhi. It is said..." Van der Wegen looked at the sailboat he was riding on, using an uncertain expression.

He said in a tone of voice: "It is said that it is more than twice the size of our current ship, has many guns, and the ship is super fast, as if there is some monster underwater pushing it forward."

"Those pirates must have been beaten stupid by the Haihan people!" Fan Longgen didn't believe his partner's statement. He knew that Akito liked to spread all kinds of weird things, and the more they spread, the more bizarre they became. Often they were different from the facts later.

It's thousands of miles away, and I don't know how old the rumor Van der Wegen is, so it's not very credible.

"There are indeed many incredible rumors about the Haihan people. When I was in Batavia, I heard many times from those maritime merchants from the Ming Dynasty." Su Keyi said while looking at the two Haihan warships rushing over in a menacing manner.

I couldn't help but remind: "Mr. Captain, I think it's best for us to lower the sails now to express our intention."

Van Longen glared at Su Keyi. He didn't like having such a Chinese bossing around in his team, but this arrangement was made by Governor Cohen and he had no right to change it. More importantly, he didn't know what Cohen had given him.

Su Keyi had arranged some secret mission. It was possible that he was responsible for monitoring the performance of himself and Van der Wegen during this trip, and reporting to him after returning. Therefore, although Van Longen was somewhat dissatisfied with Su Keyi's existence, he would not show it in his words.

"Lower the sails!" Van Longen also knew that this matter could not be delayed. If he moved too slowly, the people on the other side's ship might mistakenly think that he was planning to forcefully break into Victory Harbor. Then he would fire directly at this side, and things would be difficult to deal with.

When the two Dutch sailing ships were less than two nautical miles away, they chose to actively lower the sails to slow down the ship. This indeed made the Haihan crew members on the opposite side feel a little relieved. However, according to the standard operating procedures, the Haihan training ship

The officer still ordered the crew to stand ready. The few naval guns took off their gun jackets and loaded their ammunition early, and aimed at the two Dutch sailing ships. After getting into a relatively close distance, the crew took out their iron speakers and started shouting.

The crew of the Dutch sailing ship were ordered to assemble on the deck immediately for boarding inspection.

"This is such a huge humiliation!"

Van Longen clenched his fists tightly, his face was livid, and Van der Wegen next to him also looked unhappy. Just now Su Keyi informed them of the content of the other party's shouting. This is indeed a difficult situation for the proud Dutch officer to accept. If

Unless he was on a mission, Van Longen really wanted to order everyone on the ship to take up arms and fight the opponent.

After Van Longen shouted to the other party three times, he gave the order for the crew to stop operating and gather on the deck. If he had hesitated for another minute, Officer Haihan, who was about to lose his patience, might actually order to fire first.

Let’s talk about it happily.

After one of the Haihan sailboats slowly approached, the crew stretched out a hook tied to one end of a bamboo pole, hooked it to the side of the Dutch sailboat, and slowly closed the distance. Then several soldiers with guns stepped on the side of the ship and jumped onto the Dutch ship. Su Keyi

He quickly stepped forward to reveal his identity and purpose of coming.

"Envoy?" The leading young officer looked at Su Keyi and Van Longen and Van der Wegen behind him, still a little hesitant. He had never seen the Dutch, nor had he encountered such a foreign mission visiting Sanya.

situation, and then asked: "Do you have proof of identity?"

"Yes, yes!" Su Keyi responded repeatedly: "We have a personal letter from the Governor-General of the East India Company as proof."

The young officer took it and looked at it, but he didn't understand the words on it, so he had to give it back to Su Keyi: "You guys wait, I'll ask for instructions first."

The junior officer returned to the training ship to ask for instructions, but the leader was also a naturalized civilian officer. He also had no experience in handling such matters. He could only order to seize the weapons on the other side's ship and send dozens of soldiers to respectively

Implement surveillance on the opponent's two ships, and then go back.
Chapter completed!