1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 739 The situation is undecided

In fact, what Lang Sang did not expect was that this Dutch fleet also faced the confusion brought about by insufficient battlefield intelligence, and it was difficult to make a prepared judgment on the current battle situation.Spikes and Van der Wegen, who commanded the fleet, had no idea what the current situation in Batavia was like, and the attack on the port was only carried out according to the plan made in advance.If the city of Batavia has already fallen, then their counterattack will be futile and unsustainable. After all, there is no place nearby to provide supplies for the fleet. The combat capability of the fleet can last for a week at most. Will have to retreat because of supply problems.

During the landing operations of the Dutch fleet, of course, some remedial measures were taken, such as capturing prisoners for interrogation.However, the information they received was not very helpful in identifying the current battle situation, because these Mata blue troops stationed near the port were basically auxiliary troops, supply troops or wounded soldiers, and their knowledge of the battlefield was extremely limited. .As a result of the Dutch interrogation, it is only known that the Mata blue army had broken through the Batavia city defense a few days ago, and a large force had already entered the city - this is also an important reason why the Dutch were able to easily break into the port and complete the landing one.

Now that the Mata Blues had already entered the city, the Dutch were not sure for a while whether Batavia had completely fallen, so after they captured the port, they immediately destroyed the Mata Blues' supplies. No advance to Batavia.Because the Dutch commander also knew very well that if Batavia had fallen, it would be an almost impossible task to take back the city from the Mata blue army with the strength of this fleet.While the Mata blue army went out of the city to counterattack the port, the Dutch did not try to resist head-on. After taking advantage, they boarded the ship again and went to sea, keeping a relatively safe distance from the Mata blue army.

When the defenders in the city re-occupied the north gate and hung the VOC flag on the tower, the Dutch in the port had already withdrawn their ships and prepared to leave the port.Moreover, the port is still several miles away from the city of Batavia, and it is difficult for the people of the fleet to observe the changes in the city in a hurry.Therefore, because the Dutch fleet is not sure about the situation in Batavia, they dare not act rashly.

At present, the only one who can have a relatively clear judgment on the trend of the battle is actually Van Diemen in the city of Batavia.He knew very well why the Mata Blue Army was withdrawing from the city, and he also knew that the attack by the Dutch fleet at the seaside was to interfere with the Mata Blue Army's retreat, so he took the risk to let his subordinates drive the Mata Blue Army all the way. The purpose of fighting outside the north city gate is to let the fleet by the sea receive the news that there are still resistance forces in the city.However, the timing was a little bit off. The Dutch fleet withdrew to the sea before it had time to pay attention to this detail.

Van Diemen didn't know what the Mata blue army would do next, but he knew very well that if the enemy attacked the city again, they probably wouldn't be able to survive even a day if they wanted to defend the city with their current strength.But because of this, the defenders should not show the slightest fear of war.So the first thing he did after reoccupying the North City Gate was to order the flag of the East India Company to be displayed on the tower to boost morale and deter the enemy.

The Dutch fleet burned the supplies of the Mata Blue Army in the port, and Van Diemen observed it with a telescope on the tower, but this measure did not make him feel at ease, because for the city of Batavia, the danger did not come to an end. get lifted.If the Matalan thought that taking Batavia might not be possible, they probably would have destroyed everything they could before leaving, leaving a mess to the East India Company.

"Listen, I want you to organize a team of at least 2000 people from the city to participate in the defense of the city wall before dark." Fan Dimension's capable officers gathered together and issued an extremely important order to them. Not easy task.

During the month of Batavia's siege, Van Diemen has recruited large-scale combatants in the city three times. More than [-] non-professional soldiers participated in the battle.Of course, there are not many of these people who can still persist in fighting at the North City Gate.More than half of them were killed or injured in the battle, and the rest were also scattered in the previous battle to break the city, and have not been regrouped.

Although there are still at least 3 residents in the city, there are not many people who are suitable to participate in the war.The rest are either the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled, women, children and children, or they are dignitaries with status and status like the Su Minggang family.Of course, there are still a small number of people who have received special care during this process through various relationships, such as Cheng Dapeng, the owner of Dacheng Rice Shop.

Because the situation in the city changed so quickly that day, Cheng Dapeng, who didn't go out to inquire about the news, didn't know that the city of Batavia had changed hands again within a few hours. The control area of ​​the city has been regained-although this is most likely only a temporary phenomenon.

Before dark, a group of Dutch soldiers came to the door and knocked on the door of Dacheng rice shop, demanding that able-bodied men between the ages of 15 and 50 in the rice shop immediately join the guard army.Cheng Dapeng was born as a scholar and had no special combat training. If he went to the battlefield, he might not be able to survive even a chapter. Just when Cheng Dapeng whispered "it's over", the savior appeared in time.

Bart arrived in time with two soldiers, showing that Dacheng Mixing was a special object under the care of the company's meeting, and only then helped Cheng Dapeng stop the disaster.

"Thank you, Mr. Bart!" Cheng Dapeng, who was still in shock, bowed and thanked Bart, before he came back to his senses: "The Matalan people have been repelled?"

"We have beaten them out of the city!" Bart grinned, "Now Batavia is back in our hands!"

"Ah... that's great!" Cheng Dapeng couldn't imagine that the Dutch who had been suppressed in the meeting castle could launch a counterattack, and he didn't know how to answer the words for a while.

Bart didn't explain the ins and outs of the changes in the battle situation in detail, and handed Cheng Dapeng a scroll: "This is a special protection order issued by the council. If anyone comes here to collect manpower or supplies, you can use this to push it away."

After taking it, Cheng Dapeng thanked him again and again. Before that, because Su Keyi had said hello, no one came to Dacheng rice to recruit people, but it was obviously different now, because the Dutch soldiers came to the door, and the usual Things are generally done by auxiliary troops composed of local aborigines.Bart was very kind to come here at this juncture to make a rescue and give him a protective umbrella.

But after Cheng Dapeng came back to his senses, he immediately realized that the battle situation might not be as easy as Bart said, otherwise the Dutch would not have to rush to recruit people from the people to join the city defense army again.

Bart himself had the task of conscription, so he stopped talking to Cheng Dapeng, and left immediately.Before leaving, he did not forget to ask Cheng Dapeng to close the door tightly and not to rush out.As soon as Cheng Dapeng heard this, he knew that the war was not over yet. The so-called running away and beating the blue people was probably just a saying by the Dutch to appease the people in the city.

But for the ongoing war, Cheng Dapeng really has no ability to interfere with its progress.Fortunately, the Matalan people's grain transport fleet had already set off a few days ago, and it probably passed Belitung Island after calculation. Its itinerary will not be affected by the changes in the battle situation in Batavia. There is a very good chance that the intelligence can be sent back to the north.

The Mata blue army, which was in a state of chaos, did not try to launch an offensive against Batavia City for the rest of the day, and the defenders in the city got extremely valuable breathing time.Although it was impossible to organize a team of 2000 men before dark, over a thousand men were recruited from the city to supplement the defense line after patchwork.As for how long these ordinary people with basically no combat skills can last on the front line, that is not a question that Van Diemen has time to think about now.

Through the interrogation of the captured prisoners of war, Van Diemen learned that the Mata Blue Army stored supplies and combat equipment in the port, and these things were most likely burned in the daytime fire.From this, Van Diemen believed that the Matalan people would definitely launch an offensive against Batavia City again after dawn, and it was very likely that it would be a wave.

The basis for this judgment is that the Mata Blue Army did not immediately launch a counterattack against Batavia City after repelling the Dutch fleet. Van Diemen believes that this is the result of the enemy's heavy losses in the fire. Only by counting the remaining war materials can we determine whether the battle can continue.If the loss was not large, then the truce period on the battlefield would not be so long. Obviously, the excessive fire damage had affected the decision-making of Mataram Commander-in-Chief, so it dragged on for so long without any sign of counterattack.

If the remaining materials of the Mata Blue Army can no longer support long-term operations, then there is a high possibility of their retreat.But if they evacuate at this point, they will definitely not be reconciled, and they will have to fight for the last time before they leave.

On the morning of July 7th, Van Diemen was awakened by the guards in his sleep: "General, the Matalan people have started to mobilize!"

Fan Dimen hurriedly got up and came to the city wall, and saw that the Mata blue army was marching towards Batavia city again.However, because they left a large number of banners in the city of Batavia the day before, the march at this time seemed to be a little weaker in momentum.

"Put all the gunners in place! Gentlemen, whether you can live or not depends on the last battle!" Van Diemen gave the order and loudly encouraged the surrounding soldiers.

However, this kind of encouragement has a limited effect. After all, similar words have been repeated many times this month. Every time the defenders are about to fail, Van Diemen almost uses this kind of words to encourage fighting spirit. "The last battle" has been said from his mouth at least seven or eight times, and the motivating effect it can play is also very limited.

The deafening artillery fire opened the curtain of this battle, but compared with the Dutch who had no way out, the Mata Blues who had been disrupted were obviously not as decisive as before in terms of fighting will.Although Lang San hoped to reoccupy Batavia by counterattacking, collecting supplies from the city to supply the army, not all of his men thought so.Many people think that it may not be possible to capture Batavia before the Dutch fleet kills all their own ships. The Dutch may cut off the retreat before the city is captured. It can't be withdrawn, that's the rhythm that is really going to end.

The army that entered the city in the early stage has already plundered a lot of wealth in the city. It can be said that some soldiers have achieved their goal of participating in the battle. If they want to continue to fight to the death on the battlefield, they will lack motivation. After all, they still want to bring The wealth that was plundered, returned to his hometown alive to enjoy it.

Under the combined effect of various objective reasons, the combat performance of the Mata Blue Army appeared to be sloppy, far less desperate than in the early siege.And the Dutch fleet at sea also happened to reappear near the harbor again, continuing the tactics of the previous day, suppressing the Matalan warship with ship-borne artillery fire.

The battle lasted until noon, and the Matalan people paid the price of nearly a thousand casualties, and failed to realize their wish to step into the city of Batavia again.And their disadvantage in fighting at sea is also very obvious. Under the attack of Dutch armed ships, three Matalan warships capsized on the sea in the harbor one morning, and about [-] sailors were killed.

The Matalan people could bear the casualties, but this kind of setback has shaken the morale of the Matalan people.Although the siege battle was stumbling and suffered heavy casualties some time ago, progress can be seen almost every day, and the casualty ratio between the two sides is getting closer and closer in the later stages of the war.But I didn't expect that the Dutch fleet, which came out at the last moment, reversed the situation and brought the two sides back to the starting line.But this time the Mata Blues seem to be struggling to find their status, and the North City Gate, which was expected to be easily won, has once again become a fortress that is difficult to conquer.

Before sunset that day, the defenders on the top of the city finally discovered that the main force of the Mata blue army had begun to move towards the sea, and it seemed that they were planning to give up attacking again.This good news greatly relieved the exhausted defenders. Although they failed to let the enemy succeed in the battle on this day, they also paid a great price for casualties. There are less than 300 professional soldiers who can continue to fight. People, the rest can be called cannon fodder.If the Matalan men attacked again the next day, the defenders in the city would basically have no choice but to wait to die.

On the morning of the 15th, the defenders found that there was no trace of the Mata blue army outside the city, and the opponents had all withdrawn to the harbor.Only at this time did Van Diemen finally let the baby cavalry go out of the city, and approached to investigate the movement of the enemy.

(End of this chapter)