Wild North America 1846

Riau Province in northeastern Sumatra
Upper Indragiri District

Riau Province is located on the south side of the Strait of Malacca. It is located far away from Singapore, the British Straits Colony, and is an area with a long history of farming.

Before the Dutch colonists conquered this land with swords and guns, there were indigenous regimes such as the Srivijaya Kingdom, the Srivijaya Kingdom, and the Sumudusa Kingdom.

In 1282 A.D., during the Yuan Dynasty, Sumu Dushiguo sent envoys to the court.The Ming Dynasty set up the Old Port Propaganda Department here. At that time, the feudal kingdom was already very prosperous and developed a regional culture with unique South Asian characteristics.

nowadays

The old Dutch colonists and the newly invading Datang Empire colonists fought for this rich farming land by force, and the two sides fought fiercely.

For a time, the sky over the area was covered with battle clouds.

in the jungle by the river

His Highness Tang-Li Yi, who was wearing the uniform of the Brigadier General of the Royal Guards, stood in the woods and carefully examined the front with a telescope, with an extremely serious expression.

In the empty hilly area in front of them, the Dutch army and the Tang Empire army were gathering, with shiny spears like a forest, and horses neighing. The artillerymen of both sides were entering the position nervously, unloading the field artillery from the mules and horses pulling the artillery.

After resting for more than a month, the war is about to ignite again.

In order to defend the wide plains in the middle of Sumatra Island from Upper Indragiri County to Lower Indragiri County, the Dutch army assembled nearly 6.2 heavy troops here and fought a desperate battle on the battlefield.

It can be seen from the uniforms of the Dutch that the Dutch army in front of them is full of fineness, with no less than 2.7 Royal Dutch Army officers and soldiers, more than 220 artillery pieces, and about 3.5 elite indigenous servants.

in previous battles

The equipment of the indigenous servant army is poor. More than half of them use spears, broadswords, bows and arrows, and the proportion of muskets does not exceed [-]%, which is a solid cannon fodder.

But looking through the binoculars, the indigenous servant army in front of them was equipped with 7% muskets, and most of them wore the same military uniform jackets as the Dutch army, which looked much neater, but that was all.

These indigenous servant soldiers still wore all kinds of trousers and cheap and easy-to-use plastic slippers on their feet, and they lined up like curved snakes.

On the other hand, the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty has a strict formation, distinctive armor, and uniform queues. The uniformed leather belts and Type 95 bolt-action rifles of the soldiers show high fighting spirit.

Including the newly added Mindanao Second Division, the Datang Empire dispatched three divisions with a total of 4.7 people in this campaign, and there was also an Imperial Armored Division that was responsible for the main assault mission.

The armored force led by Brigadier General Tang Li Yi has been reorganized into a full-staffed Imperial Armored Division for several years.

And today is the time for them to show their talents.

The armored division ambushed at the edge of a forest about 3.6 kilometers away from the main battlefield of the two sides. They used the forest to cover up the traces of the armored vehicles. They lurked over yesterday evening, preparing to give the Dutch a big surprise.

before the war

This area is a key shelter area for the cavalry regiment to ensure that no news is leaked.

"Master, all units of the Imperial Armored Division have completed preparations before the battle, and are waiting for your orders at any time."

"Stand by."

"Yes, sir, stay put and stand by." The combat officer quickly left and carried out the order.

Brigadier General Tang Li Yi put down the binoculars in his hand and turned around, looking over with satisfaction.

In the woods, armored vehicles lined up one after another in an orderly manner. They were long and could not be seen at a glance. The dark gray armor exuded a murderous intent.

These armored vehicles that passed the inspection under his presidency were officially named Type 96 T-1 armored vehicles by the military, nicknamed "Gray Wolf", and are the first tracked armored vehicles that are truly equipped with the military in the world today.

The gray wolf armored vehicle is an open chariot, surrounded by a steel armor panel with a height of about 1 meters, with a crew of four, a total weight of 1 tons, and a cross-country speed of 5.12 kilometers per hour. The crawler chassis is light, flexible and durable. Good performance and strong off-road ability.

The gray wolf armored vehicle is divided into two types according to the different weapons equipped. The first type is a gun vehicle, which is used to overcome difficulties during the assault process and is responsible for the firepower of the armored division.

The Gray Wolf artillery vehicle is equipped with a 12-caliber 75mm Colt breech-loading short-barreled gun. This kind of short-barreled gun with excellent performance has low recoil and high firing rate, and can provide violent artillery impact in the shortest time. It has considerable Strong attacking ability.

In particular, the 75mm shotgun that the vehicle is equipped with is a large area of ​​radiation when shot out, which has a fatal ability to kill enemy infantry.

The corresponding disadvantage is that the range is greatly shortened. The range of the 12-pound gun is less than 2 kilometers, and the armor-piercing ability is also seriously weakened, but this is completely enough.

Among the five regiments under the Imperial Armored Division, one armored regiment was equipped with a total of 36 gray wolf artillery vehicles, which were divided into two battalions, each with 18 vehicles.

The other type is a heavy machine gun vehicle, which is equipped with a 7-tube Colt 1847 Storm-style hand-cranked heavy machine gun. This type of heavy machine gun is an improved version of the classic 1847 type, and its shooting reliability is greatly improved.

The Imperial Armored Division equipped two regiments with a total of 72 gray wolf heavy machine gun vehicles. As the main force of the armored division, it has a strong assault capability.

In addition, the Imperial Armored Division is also equipped with a car regiment, which is used to transport ammunition supplies and accessories in peacetime. In wartime, it will carry armed soldiers to follow the armored vehicles to attack the enemy's positions and assist in operations.

The last regiment is the logistics regiment, including the division guard battalion, engineer battalion, supply battalion, machine repair company, cavalry reconnaissance company, communication company, medical care company and other logistics units.

As a new thing in the field of the army, the establishment of the Imperial Armored Division has no reference at all. It was completed by Brigadier General Tang Li Yi, which established the basic pattern of the modern armored formation.

Therefore, later generations honor His Royal Highness Tang-Li Yi as "the father of armored forces" and "the founder of modern armored forces".

The "Army Armored Weapon Operation Theory" published by his pseudonym Colonel Lei Xiao is a must-read core textbook for armored forces academies all over the world.

around 9:00 am

The main forces of Tang He's two armies arrived on the battlefield one after another, forming a decisive battle formation. The huge army formations were layer upon layer, and the heavy shadow of war permeated the sky.

General Michels, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch Army, is a commander with extremely rich experience in war. He presided over the Aceh War for more than 7 years.

If it weren't for the Tang Empire's brazenly sending troops to completely solve the Aceh problem, it would be within a year or two.

He knew that the military power in his hands could hardly resist the Tang Empire army armed to the teeth, so he built a large number of dense defensive parapets and circular artillery positions on the battlefield, forming a relatively solid defensive posture.

The number of muskets equipped by the indigenous servants has been strengthened, and as many troops as possible have been gathered to try to hit the invading enemy head-on and cause maximum damage.

The Battle of Shangyinglajili actually turned into a battle of fortifications, which posed a severe challenge to the Tang Empire's army, which was not superior in strength.

The equipment of the Royal Netherlands Army is not bad. Its white troops are generally equipped with the German Mauser M1888 committee-style bolt-action rifle.

General Michels also spent a lot of money on the native servants, equipping some of the elite servants with the Dreiser needle guns from the warehouse, which greatly improved their strength.

Coupled with the perfect breast wall defense line and intensive artillery fire, he is very confident to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

Around 9:10, the army of the Tang Empire took the lead in shelling, and more than 350 cannons roared, and the rumble of cannons resounded throughout the world.

Not to be outdone, the Dutch artillery positions immediately fired back.

in an instant
Flames rose on the vast battlefield, and many barbed wire fences and parapets set up by the Dutch army were blown into pieces. The broken limbs and arms of the Dutch soldiers hiding behind flew into the sky along with the debris from the explosion, and one defense facility after another was destroyed. .

"Oh, God, this is simply a one-sided massacre." General Michels slammed his fist on the wall, his ashen face flashing with anger.

The Colt breech-loading guns equipped by the Tang Empire army are very advanced, and they are filled with advanced yellow high-explosive gunpowder.The firing speed is fast, the range is long, and the power is great. It has an absolute advantage in artillery battles.

The defense line of the Dutch army was heavily bombarded by artillery fire, and the defensive parapets and soldiers on the first line were killed in large numbers by the artillery fire. However, the counterattacking Dutch artillery had insufficient range to cause damage to the soldiers of the Tang Empire who were arrayed far away.

The nearest shell also exploded more than 200 meters away.

"Your Excellency, this is probably the price that must be borne for backward equipment." A Dutch major general nearby replied.He looked solemnly at the battlefield ahead, made some calculations and said;

"Fortunately, the first-line parapet positions are filled with servants, so we can still afford such a price."

General Michels did not answer with a livid face, but ordered; "The No. 3 artillery position will continue to shell and maintain the output of firepower. Other artillery positions will stop shelling. We want to save some shells for the Queen's government."

"As you order, Your Excellency the General."

A total of three lines of defense were built in the defense position of the chest wall of the Dutch Army, with a distance of about 600 meters between the front and the back.

The second line deployed more than 2 people, including more than 2 officers and soldiers of the Royal Netherlands Army, and set up more parapet defense lines and positions, as well as a large number of barbed wire.

The third-line position, that is, the front-line position where General Michels' command post is located, has gathered more than 3 heavy troops, and has sufficient troops to send reinforcements to the first and second lines at any time.

The Tang Empire's artillery shelled beyond the limit range. After covering the first line of positions, they continued to attack and entered the range of the Dutch army's artillery positions.

At the same time, the artillery of both sides has also entered the range, but the artillery positions of the Dutch army have a semi-circular earth and stone blast wall, which has some advantages in the artillery battle between the two sides.

Considering so far
General Michels had to suppress the anger in his heart, and watched the Dutch officers and soldiers on the front line struggling under the artillery fire, and then were torn to pieces by the fierce artillery fire...

Faced with these, he was helpless.