At almost six o'clock in the evening on March 1, the Ming army had occupied most of Batavia from north to south, and had not encountered strong resistance. Only three of the four groups of troops had small-scale exchanges of fire.
After firing a few shots and shouting a few words, a large number of Dutch soldiers emerged from the building and raised their hands to surrender. Now the Ming army is speeding up its advance, striving to occupy the entire Batavia before dark.
Generally speaking, when you have just entered enemy territory, you should continue to attack, chase, and encircle the enemy's main force, and try to expand the gap on both sides, instead of falling into urban warfare prematurely. But the problem is that the Batavia Port is the only port of call for the Ming army.
At the landing site, this port city must be completely cleared and a base camp established here before advancing inland and to the eastern part of Batavia Island.
The Lightning-1 tank was rolling over the streets of Batavia. Shi Shengli stood outside the turret, wearing headphones, holding the round top cover on his chest with both hands, scanning the area in front of him with sharp eyes, picking up from time to time
Take a look through the telescope.
During this expedition to East India, I heard that some officers would be selected from the People's Guard. Many senior officials of the People's Guard were vying to go. The main reason was that Xiang Xiaoqiang was there now and would definitely take charge of these officers personally.
The domestic People's Guard is so big that most officers have few opportunities to show their talents in front of Mr. Xiang. But there will definitely not be many officers going to Nanyang People's Guard this time. I am sure everyone can work directly under Mr. Xiang and have sufficient opportunities to perform.
.
Even with a position equivalent to that of a second lieutenant, there were many captains, captains, and even majors vying for it. Captain Shi Shengli was no exception. During the Nanjing defense battle, he performed very well and was appreciated by Xiang Xiaoqiang. But Ming Ming
The Qing War was over, and the door of opportunity that had just been opened seemed to be closing again. Without the chance to fight, if you want to be promoted, you have to wait slowly. Fortunately, it didn't take long before there were fighter planes in Nanyang. Although this expedition to the East
India's armored force only has eight vehicles, equivalent to only two platoons, but Shi Shengli, the tank battalion commander, still seized this opportunity.
The Lightning-1 tank underneath him is only one person tall. It is the lightest type of Ming army tank. It has thin armor and no artillery. There is only a coaxial machine gun on the turret and a coaxial machine gun in front of the body. This kind of tank is in
In the Ming Dynasty, tanks were mainly used as training tanks. They never went on the battlefield during the Ming and Qing wars. But now on battlefields like Batavia Island, there will be no enemy tanks and the enemy troops are very weak, so it is enough. And Batavia
Via Island has a tropical rainforest climate and may have to fight in tropical mountains and forests. This Lightning-1 tank is flexible and light, has a large track width, strong horsepower, and the best off-road performance, so it is very suitable for this kind of battlefield.
The Fujian soldiers and Guangdong soldiers behind him had never been on the battlefield. Shi Shengli planned to seize this opportunity to teach these soldiers a lesson and let them see how the legendary People's Guard fought.
We're almost at the consulate area, he thought.
The streets in this area are very clean and tidy, with no slums. There are not many traces of massacres on both sides of the streets, such as blood stains, flies and maggots. Through the telescope, I can see several consulates and foreign flags hanging in the distance.
You will see Mr. Xiang soon.
A sharp scream sounded above his head, from far to near. Shi Shengli shouted back:
"Lie down——"
Then quickly retreated into the turret.
There was a loud bang behind his head. The ground shook, and then there was a clanging sound on the turret. Shi Shengli got out of the turret and looked back. A few meters behind the tank, a small hole was blasted in the ground. Several people were hiding in it.
The infantrymen behind the tank were lying on the ground, two of them were bloody and motionless, and the other three were struggling on the ground, holding their wounds and screaming. The other infantrymen were lying on the ground, holding their heads tightly, and even
Don't dare to look up.
60mm infantry mortar!
Then there was another roar in the sky, followed by a loud noise, the houses on the roadside were filled with smoke, and countless rubbles and broken glass poured onto the road.
Before Shi Shengli had time to retract the turret, he was suffocated by the shock. Fortunately, he wore a headset on his ear, which prevented his eardrum from bursting. He waved vigorously to the infantry on the ground and shouted:
"Back off! Spread out! Don't lie down there! Find a place to hide!"
A large group of infantrymen were still lying on the ground holding their heads, no one raised their heads. Shi Shengli became angry, took out his submachine gun and fired half a shuttle into the sky, and then the infantrymen on the ground rolled and crawled back. He walked towards
He waved his hand behind him, asking the armored vehicles behind him to follow him, then retracted into the turret and closed the top cover.
The tank roared, spitting out green smoke and rushed forward. The machine gun turret rotated slightly, searching for places where mortars might be hidden on both sides of the road ahead. An armored vehicle carrying ten People's Guard soldiers about ten meters behind was nowhere to be found.
Following the tank without hesitation, the machine gunner in the co-pilot's seat also stood behind the baffle, holding the machine gun tightly and searching the suspicious areas on both sides.
“Sun————Boom!!!”
Another artillery shell exploded three or four meters in front of the tank. This time the explosion was accurate enough. But the tank still roared, increased its power, and quickly got through the black smoke that had not dissipated.
This is already the consulate area. On both sides of the empty road, there are consulate buildings. Most of the countries have evacuated, leaving only bare flagpoles above the consulates. But there are a few countries that have not yet evacuated their consulates.
The country's flag was carried above the head.
Shi Shengli sat in the turret, observing the surrounding buildings with a periscope. He estimated that the observer was hiding in a certain evacuated consulate, guiding the artillery fire there. Even the Dutch mortar team might be hiding in the turret.
In the courtyard of a consulate in the distance.
The earphones hissed a few times, and suddenly a voice came out:
"Hey, Victory, can you hear me?"
Shi Shengli was shocked, his heart was beating wildly, he couldn't believe it... How did he connect to this channel?
"Victory? Victory? Hello?"
Shi Shengli took a deep breath and said tentatively:
"To your lord?"
"It's me," Xiang Xiaoqiang's voice was not polite at all, he said directly, "I saw your tank. The Dutch mortar is about 300 meters in front of you, on the right side of the road, just to your right.
On the lawn in the courtyard of the French Consulate... The French Consulate has been evacuated. There is no flag, so just count and it will be the sixth building on the right from where you are... As for where the observer is, I can't see it.
, you can handle it yourself.”
Shi Shengli's heart boiled with excitement when he heard this, and bursts of ecstasy rushed to his head. He didn't know whether it was because he suddenly knew the location of the enemy's mortars, or because Sir Xiang personally guided him in the battle.
He immediately said:
"Shengli understands, thank you sir!"
Then he summoned an armored vehicle to follow him and rushed straight towards the building on the right side of the road 300 meters away.
"Ah, pay attention!" Xiang Xiaoqiang's voice suddenly sounded again, "Shengli, about 100 meters ahead of you, at the intersection next to the British Consulate, there is about a squad of Dutch troops! They seem to be doing something!... I see
Here they are setting up an ambush! They have rolled out an anti-tank gun! They are ready to hide on the side and hit you!... It seems to be a small 20 mm caliber gun, but it is fatal to your tank! Ah, again
A machine gun was rolled out!... Damn it, they are clinging to the foreign consulate building. We can't use dive bombers, we have to rely on your ground troops to clear them out! Victory, you must be careful!"
"Yes, Shengli understands!"
Shi Shengli commanded the tank to drive "Rumble" 70 meters ahead and stop. Twenty or thirty meters ahead on the right is the British Consulate, and behind the building is the ambush point I told you about.
“Sun————Boom!!!”
Another mortar bomb exploded on the road, causing shrapnel and broken asphalt to hit the tank shell. The armored vehicles behind him also drove over according to his order. Two steel vehicles stopped on the road with a rumble.
.
50 meters to the left of the road ahead is the German Consulate. The German Consulate is on a relatively high floor and is at an intersection, with a very ideal view. Xiang Xiaoqiang stood on the balcony of the highest floor, holding a telescope for them to observe.
About 70 meters behind and to the left of the Shi Shengli tank, in the window on the third floor of the Japanese consulate, a Dutch observer was hiding here, with a gun scope and a radio on his back, observing the mortar team. He didn't know
Why did the tanks and armored vehicles of the Ming Army suddenly stop and stop right in front of the anti-tank gun ambush point? Could it be that they noticed it?
No, it's impossible. He shook his head and felt that the possibility of being discovered was unlikely. The Dutch troops in the ambush point in front were close to the buildings, and even the anti-tank guns and machine guns were covered with torn sacks. They were afraid of the Ming army.
The plane found it from the sky. It is now absolutely safe. The Ming army tanks parked here must be some kind of coincidence.
But he never expected that Xiang Xiaoqiang, the imperial envoy of the Ming Dynasty, was upstairs in the German consulate in front, holding a telescope and doing the same thing as him! Moreover, his position was much easier to observe than his.
Another mortar shell exploded, and Shi Shengli immediately ordered the armored vehicle to drive onto the small road on the right, bypassing the British Consulate, and going behind the group of Dutch troops who had set up an ambush. The armored vehicle immediately roared, turning its two tracks, and stayed in place.
After turning half a circle, a stream of green smoke came out from the rear and passed around the British Consulate.
The Dutch troops of that group were standing behind the anti-tank guns and machine guns, and were concentrating on listening to the roar of Ming tanks in front of the corner of the building. It wasn't until they vaguely heard the sound of engines behind them that they broke into a cold sweat and turned around.
An armored vehicle has appeared from another corner of the consulate.
A dozen Dutch soldiers were shocked and immediately tried to push the anti-tank gun over, but it was too late. As soon as the armored vehicle appeared, the machine gun on the roof spurted out tongues of fire, mowing down a squad of Dutch soldiers in the blink of an eye.
Most of it.
The few remaining Dutch soldiers immediately made a wise move and immediately dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Several Ming Army People's Guard soldiers jumped out from behind the armored vehicle, each holding a submachine gun, and ran over to capture them.
After pulling out the nail, one soldier was left in the armored vehicle to guard the prisoners with a submachine gun. The remaining soldiers got back on the vehicle, drove onto the road, followed the tank and rushed forward to eliminate the mortar group.
There were no shells falling around. The Ming army tanks had already entered the minimum range of the Dutch mortars. Once inside this range, the mortars were useless.
In Shi Shengli's headphones, Xiang Xiaoqiang guided him step by step:
"Yes, yes... that's the building in front of you... that's the French Consulate... drive a little further... OK, stop there and don't move, don't let your tanks go in, let the armored vehicles come up... Yes, see the right side
Is there an iron gate? Yes, inside is the courtyard of the French Consulate. Behind the palm trees is the lawn. They are right there... let the infantry rush in! Quick! They have noticed it and are packing up their mortars and preparing to escape.
! Rush in!"
Without saying a word, the armored vehicle sped to the iron gate of the French Consulate. It didn't even have time to brake and knocked down the iron gate. But without caring so much, nine People's Guard soldiers quickly jumped out from behind the car, grabbed submachine guns and rushed towards it.
We went in. A few submachine gun shots were fired behind the palm trees, and then there was a panicked Dutch chatter.
After a while, five Dutch soldiers came out with their hands raised. The last unlucky guy came out limping with his legs covered in blood, clinging to someone else's shoulders.
"Well done!"
Xiang Xiaoqiang stood on the balcony of the German Consulate, saw this scene through the telescope, and praised it while wearing headphones.
This kind of weak resistance only occurred five or six times in one afternoon. In the entire East Indies, there were only a few thousand regular Dutch troops, and most of them were concentrated on Batavia Island. But after noon to dusk,
After repeated air raids, there were no organized and combat-effective Dutch troops left on Batavia Island.
Not half, but a third of the Dutch troops were killed or injured in the air raids. These soldiers had never seen an air raid and did not know how to avoid an air raid, especially this kind of dive bombing and strafing. The more fearful they were, the more they loved to crowd together.
, often hundreds of people crowded into a pile, and then a bomb fell in the middle, killing and injuring more than half of them. Batavia Island is only so big and very narrow. Ming army planes roared all afternoon, along the roads, cities, and docks.
When the Dutch troops were searched for on the main road, all the Dutch troops on the ground ran away, and most of them went into the surrounding forests, almost becoming stragglers.
In this way, by 8 o'clock in the evening on March 1, the Ming army completely controlled Batavia. It only took four hours from landing to occupying Batavia.