The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 136 is half sea water and half fire.

It was the evening of the next day that Feng Guohui received the news of the victory in the Pekalongan naval battle. He stayed overnight at Dahe Fort and jumped up excitedly after receiving the military report.

Great, I finally feel at ease now.

As the military commander of the entire Nanyang Army, facing the eager gaze of the Dutch white colonial army, Feng Guohui made a comprehensive defense deployment with great effort, leaving almost no detail missing.

Even in the most unlikely south, Feng Guohui arranged a battalion of troops to garrison in dangerous places.

If the Dutch colonial army made a sneak attack from this direction, Thoreau's garrison would be able to gain at least 48 hours of reaction time to adjust its military deployment.

Feng Guohui has always been most worried about the defense of the northern Semarang area.

Because of the inferior strength of the Semarang Division, and because it is located on the northern coastal plain, with no cover and no coastal forts, the possibility of holding Semarang City is less than half.

Therefore, before the war, thousands of Chinese social groups in Semarang City were organized to retreat to Jepara in preparation for abandoning Semarang.

The only opportunity to hold on to Semarang is that section of the coast road.

After reading it, he bowed his hands and said with a smile;
"Congratulations to the commander, congratulations to the commander. The battle situation is progressing according to the battle plan that the commander has dreamed of. This is a great start!"

When the two generals said this, their eyes met and they laughed knowingly.

"Then give them another hot pot feast in front of the Belisibao Pass. It will be hard to discipline these white ghosts." Wu Siwen said with an excited wave of his hand.

If we want to block the coastal highway, the Nanyang Navy's sailing fleet must completely defeat the Royal Netherlands Navy's East Indies Fleet, which is a necessary prerequisite.

The geographical characteristics of the above-mentioned areas are all clearly understood.

Feng Guohui worked hard and planned for a long time just to achieve this point.

"Hahaha... great, God bless the Nanyang Army!"

The generals of the Taiping Rebellion were resourceful and resourceful, and the remaining troops who fled to Southeast Asia naturally inherited this advantage.

Feng Guohui also nodded with joy;
"In addition to the troubles at sea, our Nanyang Army complies with the will of God and the people's will, and will definitely receive God's help.

During his occupation of Semarang, Feng Guohui conducted detailed inspections along this coastal road and even sent several small teams to survey the vast mangrove swamp area.

"Commander, why are you so happy?"

It is close to Brexi Fort and is suitable for transporting troops forward.

"Oh, isn't this a situation that the commander-in-chief has worked hard to achieve?" Major General Wu Siwen was overjoyed when he heard this. He quickly took the military report and read it. The more he read, the more joyful he became on his face.

Attracting the main force of the white colonial army to the favorable areas in the central part and using the fortresses to inflict heavy losses on the enemy was the top priority of the entire campaign.

Feng Guohui and his generals, who had surveyed the terrain around Belisi Castle, concluded after careful study;

The colonial rule of Gui Lao is unpopular and deserves the retribution it deserves. I dare to say that they will not last long. "

"Brother Siwen, look at this battle report. East China fought a beautiful assault battle at sea, and wiped out the main force of the Gui Lao fleet in one battle!"

God finally favored the Nanyang Army and made all these dreams come true. How could Feng Guohui not be overjoyed at this moment?

This floodplain is adjacent to the Solo River that originates in the valley. After the rainy season, a large amount of seasonal flooded riverbed is exposed, forming a wide flat area of ​​the river bend.

The Nanyang Navy fleet's raid was a long-planned tactic and was by no means the result of a temporary whim.

A wide river beach about 1.62 kilometers away from the fortress is bound to become an advancing camp for the white ghost troops to press forward, and a large number of troops and supplies will be stationed here.

The other side is surrounded by mountains with towering peaks.

From this, Feng Guohui came up with a strategy, which was to use dried vines to form a big ball, with a gunpowder barrel and an earthen jar filled with oil inside, and place it high on a steep mountain.

When the enemy's army set up camp on the river flats and attacked the Fortress of Belisi day and night, they lit a large ball of vines at night and slid down from a high place, falling straight into the enemy camp and burning and exploding.

Then use artillery and feint attacks to disrupt the enemy's position. Under attack from several parties, the Dutch army will be in chaos and suffer a disastrous defeat.

these days
Hundreds of soldiers were sent to saw down big trees in the mountains to prevent the big vine balls from being blocked when rolling down the hillside, leaving only small trees as thick as arms as cover.

The abandoned tree pit was refilled and covered with green moss. No abnormalities could be seen from more than ten meters away.

After everyone's brainstorming, this plan is being implemented overtime. It is what Major General Wu Siwen calls a "hot pot feast."

The message from the front shows
The Dutch troops stationed in Bellick were ready to move, and there seemed to be signs of a large-scale eastward invasion. A war was not far away.

next morning
Colonel Chen Yong was ordered to lead more than 300 cavalrymen to Salatiga. They were warmly received by the local indigenous noble Tomori and temporarily stationed in his manor.

Its main task is to go out dozens of kilometers away, monitor the latest movements of the Dutch white colonial troops in the direction of Bellick at any time, and report to the headquarters as soon as possible.

The incidental task is to monitor the local indigenous armed forces in Salatiga. Although it is ostensibly dependent on the Nanyang Army, in fact it is an independent kingdom that listens to propaganda but does not obey the instructions. The Nanyang Army has no way to actually control it for the time being.

The Nanyang Army does not expect to be able to stop the indigenous forces entrenched in Salatiga? This place was originally just a wallflower. At best, it could serve as a slight warning.

After Colonel Chen Yong arrived here, what he saw was basically in line with what he expected. The strength of the local indigenous warriors had increased slightly, but it was still chaotic and disunified.

Several strong tribal armed forces in Salatiga basically dominate the local situation, such as the Tomori tribe, the Sandibar tribe, the Entia-Mohamed tribe, etc., as well as some other small and medium-sized tribal forces. The situation is quite chaotic due to the struggle for power and profit.

Even though they were facing a disaster, not many people cared about it.

After a brief understanding, Colonel Chen Yong had no intention of interfering with anything and just let it fend for itself.

His daily task was to continuously send a cavalry company dozens of kilometers west of Salatiga to monitor the army of white colonists in the direction of Bellick.

A few days later

The Dutch troops entrenched in the direction of Bellick finally moved out in large numbers, with an endless queue of carriages and baggage carriages heading towards Salatiga.

There are also a large number of indigenous workers following along the way, repairing the road and sending out outpost teams to remove hidden dangers.

After encountering several ambushes from cavalry companies, the pace of advance slowed down significantly.

Colonel Chen Yong immediately alerted the rear headquarters, and at the same time organized the cavalry to selectively ambush, attack quickly, and retreat quickly, causing the enemy's outpost troops to suffer a lot.

Even so, the main force of the Dutch army arrived at Salatiga four days later, and soon occupied it without bloodshed, winning the first victory of the march.

at the same time
The main force of the Dutch army, the Northern Army, also launched an attack at the same time. On the way eastward, the army encountered a blow and was hit with a bloody head and was forced to stop.

On the coastal road more than ten kilometers away from Pekalongan

Lieutenant General Koch and a group of senior officers looked at everything in front of them with gloomy faces and remained silent for a long time.

On the road very close to the coast, I encountered a sailing warship parked on the seaside covered with fire. The casualties on the coast road were shocking.

The two sail warships Zhenhai and Zhenhe were more than 200 meters apart and anchored on the coast.

The black hole on the side of the gun port pointed directly at the coast, basically covering the coastal road with a radius of more than one kilometer with gunfire.

In front of the coastal highway, the Semarang Division used bricks and earth to temporarily build an earth wall, about three to four hundred meters long. Behind the earth wall were stationed more than 400 soldiers.

This should be regarded as the first line of defense of the coastal highway. Even if the soldiers braved the artillery fire blockade and passed through the coastal highway of more than one kilometer, they were still blocked by the defensive wall in front and suffered volleys of fire.

On this coastal road, there are bonfires every forty or fifty meters.

At night, if the Dutch army tried to sneak across the road blocked by artillery fire, the bonfire would soon be lit, and the gathered soldiers would become a target.

There are at least four such lines of defense behind him.

Do you think this is the end?
It goes far beyond that. You must know that the sail warships moored in the sea can be moved.

After passing this section, couldn't the two sail warships move to the rear and continue the artillery blockade mission?

The northern army's efforts to overcome the artillery fire blockade resulted in the six to seven hundred auxiliary servants in front of them all dying tragically, beaten as if they were bloody men by the overwhelming locust-like iron nails, iron blocks and ferocious cut steel scraps.

One shot went down and a whole area was cleared.

In the age of sailing battleships

The duel between two sail warships is usually between two to three hundred meters to three to four hundred meters. They use cannons to blast each other and try their best to kill each other's vitality.

This was indeed the norm and still is today.

This does not mean that the range of naval guns is only three to four hundred meters. In terms of damage to personnel, even a thousand meters away is extremely threatening.

Various steel parts shot from the barrel of the gun fly out at high speed after leaving the barrel. Even the gunner cannot control them. Where will they fly?
The two sail warships roared together with more than twenty cannons, and the rain of steel bullets formed was enough to make people despair, making this coastal road an inaccessible forbidden area.

Lieutenant General Koch ordered sullenly;

"Find some bed boards, shields or other things, let the indigenous soldiers wear protection and continue to attack a few more times.

I can't believe that my army will be blocked here by these warships. "

He did not feel sad about sacrificing some indigenous cannon fodder.

If it is impossible to switch to Bellick, it can just get rid of some burdens and reduce the cost of the war.

The Governor-General gathered 2.3 troops on the northern coast, which was a huge burden both logistically and financially.

After hearing the general's orders, the white officers immediately ordered the indigenous servant officers and soldiers to take action without hesitation, preparing to risk their lives and attack several more times.

(End of this chapter)