1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 622 The Decisive Battle in Ambon ([-])

March 3, 24:[-] pm, Ambon Bay.

When the huge figures of the two battleships "Han Ping" and "Han He" appeared at the narrow headland of Ambon Bay, Colonel Carsten Kuritz, commander of the Dutch East India Company's support fleet, knew that his side had no It is possible to highlight the promontory again and return to Ambon Port safely.

An hour ago, more than a dozen Hanzhou warships rushed towards them after rushing through the headland.They lined up in a column, and when they passed the Dutch warship, they fired one by one, a typical line tactic.Moreover, the Hanzhou people seem to have undergone countless trainings. After being counterattacked by the Dutch warships, the ships did not change their formation, and silently endured the artillery bombardment.Then, as they passed the next Dutch warship, salvo after salvo continued.

After the dozen or so Hanzhou warships sailed past the Dutch support fleet, Colonel Kuritz thought he could find an opportunity to break through the headland, and escaped out of the bay with ten ships that were still intact. Another seven or eight Hanzhou warships flooded in, blocking the headland less than 500 meters away.

At this point, the only way to survive is to work hard.The Dutch ship, which had just been beaten by more than a dozen Hanzhou warships in line tactics, mustered up its courage and rushed towards the headland.

In order to completely block the escape route of the Dutch, the nine Hanzhou armed merchant ships that came one after another waited in full force at the mouth of the headland, and did not take the initiative to fight.At this time, there was a slight breeze on the sea surface, and it was quiet. This was very unfavorable for the Dutch fleet that was about to charge. It had to attack slowly against the weak northwest wind.

Some Hanzhou armed merchant ships have turned their hulls sideways to deal with the swarming Dutch warships with their sides with many cannons, and at the same time, they have also expanded the interception area by a lot.They were very calm, and when the Dutch ship rushed to a position of more than [-] meters, they fired the first round of salvo, smashing the forward Dutch ship to pieces, and a dozen of them were spinning. Fly to the mast.

The Dutch fleet didn't dare to make more entanglements here, and fled towards the gap between the headlands.But how could the intercepted Hanzhou warship allow them to rush out easily, while continuously firing shells, while facing the Dutch warship, they clung to it tightly and wrestled with it.

The arrival of the two battleships made the desperately struggling Dutch even more desperate.The opponent just fired a volley, and more than forty shells hit the head and face. Among them, the 36-pound heavy artillery was even more powerful, directly breaking several terrifying holes in the sides of several Dutch armed merchant ships.

The battle lasted less than an hour, and three warships of the Dutch fleet were severely damaged, two of which had their main masts broken, lost power, and floated on the sea, allowing the Hanzhou warships to bombard them wantonly. Several big openings were broken by the Hanzhou battleship, and the turbulent sea water poured in instantly, and the ship began to tilt. The sailors on it threw down their wooden barrels one after another, and then jumped into the sea, struggling to swim out.

The warships of Hanzhou, which had been bombarded just now, had already completed their turn and surrounded them scatteredly.

On the Dutch flagship "Sipion", the commander of the fleet, Colonel Kuritz, looked at the besieged ships with grief and indignation, and was constantly besieged by Hanzhou warships from several sides.The battle scene that happened two hours ago has been completely reversed at this time. The Hanzhou people seem to have ambushed all the ships they can use for combat here, just want to use Ambon as a bait to eliminate them one by one. fleet.

At the beginning of the war, they did not hesitate to engage in a partial sea decisive battle with the navy of the Dutch East India Company. Their courage and courage surprised Colonel Kuritz very much, and at the same time felt very shocked in his heart.

Facing this war, the Hanzhou people seem to have come to annihilate the main maritime power of the Dutch East India Company.They not only challenged the East India Company's maritime supremacy in the region, but also completely replaced the East Indies' maritime dominance.

More than a dozen Hanzhou warships tightly entangled the Dutch warships trying to escape, and the two battleships seemed to be two huge mobile forts on the sea, slowly moving their bodies, and carried out attacks on the Dutch warships within their line of sight. Bombarded violently.

Continuously flying shells, shattered ship sides and berths, splashed sawdust, wounded lying on the ground crying in pain, officers screaming hoarsely, the blood-stained scarlet deck...

"Raise the white flag, we...surrender." Colonel Kuritz said with a painful expression.

"Sir, we still have a chance. . . . The Flying Eagle has protruded."

"No, we have no chance." Colonel Kuritz shook his head, glanced behind him, more than a dozen Hanzhou warships were slowly approaching, "If the fight continues, it will be a massacre. None of us should... It is meaningless Die here. I have to admit that the Hanzhou people have designed a perfect trap, but we have lost our due vigilance."

When the Dutch raised the white flag, lowered their sails, and gradually stopped resisting, the officers and soldiers of the Qi State Navy fleet burst into cheers.

Qi Dajiang quickly sent people to take over the Dutch ships, salvage the drowning personnel on both sides, and rush to repair the damaged ships.

In the evening, after an inventory of the battle damage, four of our warships were severely damaged and all needed major repairs, especially the armed merchant ship "Yangwei". In addition to a broken mast, the sails were also battered. The ship's side, the slipways and cabins on the deck are even more riddled with holes.A total of 53 naval officers and soldiers were killed and 280 were injured.Among them, Luo Rucheng, the admiral of the Ryukyu Fleet, suffered injuries to his head and face, but his life was not in danger. Lu Zhengliang, the captain of the "Yangwei", was seriously injured. After simple treatment, although he temporarily saved his life, the situation is still not optimistic.

As for the result of the battle, it was a great harvest.In this battle, three Dutch ships were sunk, ten were captured, and only one armed merchant ship from the other side fled in the chaos, almost completely annihilating the Dutch aid fleet, basically achieving the initial strategic goal.

On the night of the same day, the Qi State Navy's special attack fleet withdrew from the headland of Ambon Bay, sailed to the north shore of the bay, and temporarily stopped to discuss the next battle plan.

Considering that the Dutch East India Company has sent a support fleet to Ambon, it is estimated that the Dutch will not deploy ships to come here again in a short time.The task force stays here, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to obtain more results. The combat staff suggested that the second phase of the combat plan be directly implemented, and that they attack Timor Island, take down the two strongholds of Oecussi and Kupang, and completely expel the Dutch forces. out of the island.

If the Dutch sent ships to rescue, they would just use this as a strategy to encircle the points and destroy the ships that came to rescue.Because according to the information obtained after interrogating the captured Dutch officers, the East India Company still used the model of the previous war as a reference to respond to Qi’s attack guerrilla tactics. People face to face.

Then, when the Qi State fleet attacked the two strongholds of Kupang and Oecussi, would the Dutch East India Company still think that Qi State was implementing the previous sabotage tactics, and then send only a small number of armed merchant ships? The fleet came to the rescue.If this is the case, it will be wiped out and gradually weaken the Dutch sea power.

Qi Dajiang believed this deeply, so he fully accepted the suggestion of the combat staff, and ordered the captain of the Qiming, Wan Changshu, to lead four warships to escort the damaged ship through Middelburg on Seram Island (now the southwestern coast of Seram Island, Indonesia). Latu City), returned to Xuanwu for maintenance, and resettled the wounded officers and soldiers.He led the brigade to escort the captured Dutch ships, sailed to Zhenhai City on Timor Island, and then attacked two Dutch strongholds on the island.

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March 3, Timor Island, Kupang.

Captain Serge Samper, the magistrate, hurried to the Governor's Palace to meet the Governor of Kupang, Fons Maynard.

"Captain Samper, in order to avoid future troubles, please remove all the Chinese imprisoned in the city!" Governor Fons Maynard said murderously: "I don't want the Hanzhou people to come to attack Kupang , there will be a group of Chinese secretly opening the city gate for them.”

"Your Excellency, they have been imprisoned in a hard labor camp and are no longer a threat." Captain Serge Samper was dumbfounded.

"No, no, no..." Governor Fons Maynard shook his head and said, "Only the dead are not threatening. Captain Samper, you can guarantee that when the Hanzhou people attack, you can draw enough Do you have people to take care of them? You must know that ten years ago, Kupang was broken by the Hanzhou people, and a group of Chinese betrayed us inside. I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes and become shamefully captured by the Hanzhou people!”

"Governor..." Captain Serge Samper hesitated, "There are more than 160 Chinese people. If we deal with them all, in the future..."

"Worried about Kupang being breached by the Hanzhou people, they will retaliate against it?" Governor Fence Maynard said disdainfully: "No, Kupang will not be breached by the Hanzhou people again, as long as we can hold on for half a month , Batavia will come to support us. Moreover, after ten years of reconstruction in Kupang, the city defense facilities are stronger than before, coupled with your loyalty and bravery, I believe that the Hanzhou people will not copy the previous ones. Results."

"..." Captain Serge Samper looked at the confident Governor Maynard, but he still hesitated in his heart.In a war, anything can happen, and Kupang is not as majestic and strong as a European castle, and it has sufficient reserves. As the commander of the garrison in the city, he can't guarantee that he can hold the castle 100%. stronghold.

Why is Governor Maynard so confident?
"The native kingdom within our sphere of influence - Pali Sultan Kingdom, they are willing to fully assist us in fighting against the greedy Hanzhou people!" Governor Maynard said with a smile: "As a member of the Weihali Kingdom, Suo His Majesty Esudan is deeply angry and disturbed by the misfortune that has happened to the compatriots on the east side of the island. Therefore, they will fully support us in the war between us and the Hanzhou people."

(End of this chapter)