The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 137 Blood-stained Gulf Highway
Major General Hu Huadong stood on the side, watching the actions of the Dutch troops on the coast from a distance, and was busy preparing some door panels and shields. He couldn't help laughing.

Said; "Hahaha... These ghost guys are really stubborn. It seems they are still reluctant to give up this coastal road and want to continue working hard. I don't know what they think about using their bodies against artillery?"
"Commander, maybe they think we don't have that much gunpowder and cannonballs." The officer next to him speculated.

Major General Hu Huadong shook his head and said;
"It's really funny. Our Nanyang Army's gunpowder factory has been running for several months, and there are too many shells to use.

Since the ghost always goes crazy, let's go crazy with him.

Order each artillery position to prepare grape bombs. We must teach the ghost guys another lesson and break any illusions they have. "

Now that victory was in hand, Major General Hu Huadong calmly deployed artillery strikes, and the officers and soldiers on the battleship quickly took action to prepare for a concentrated artillery strike.

Backed by the leading steel industry in the entire Nanyang region, the artillery fire of the Nanyang Fleet can be said to be inexhaustible, as much as it needs.

The solid cast iron bullets specially used for artillery and smaller grape bullets are basically produced by several indigenous blast furnaces, and do not occupy the production capacity of the steel plant at all.

The processing scraps from the farm tool factory and other factories are used to shoot deadly bullets at the enemy. They are the best raw materials for loading explosive shells (also called shotguns). They are used as ballast on sailing battleships.

Lieutenant General Koch of the Royal Netherlands Army did not understand the industrial capabilities of the Nanyang Army at all. Under the urging of the Governor-General, he blindly acted recklessly and ultimately paid a heavy price.

Lieutenant General Koch's eyes widened when he saw it, and he punched the carriage hard. He was full of reluctance and said with helplessness: "Forget it, don't die in vain. Put up a white flag to collect the corpse, and we will do it again at night." Find a way."

In just a blink of an eye, the intensive artillery fire had torn the formation apart, setting off one bloody storm after another.

Soon the Royal Dutch Army raised a white flag, and then carried away the dead and wounded indigenous servant soldiers one after another, leaving only bloody traces on the ground.

This round of shelling once again left seven to eight hundred corpses, as well as many painful and wailing wounded, and the entire Gulf Highway turned into a bloody mess.

When these indigenous soldiers entered the shooting range for a while, the broadside guns on the sailing warship roared again, boom boom boom... the continuous bombardment sounded one after another, launching a large number of solid iron bullets and iron blocks.

on bay highway

It is only the beginning of March, and it will take at least several months before this puddle becomes dry land.

These grape bullets are as big as eggs, as small as pigeon eggs, and there are strange iron blocks mixed in between them. When one shot is fired, blood mist is flying all over the sky.

What was fired in this round of rapid fire were explosive bullets, which were scraps of steel processing packed in cloth bags. After being fired, they flew around in a fan shape, leaving a large area empty in one shot.

A few hundred meters past the bay road, there is the mangrove wetland. The faint swaths of water reflect the light of the scales, and dense tropical aquatic plants grow there.

Group after group of indigenous soldiers formed a tight formation, holding shields on their heads. The soldiers on the outside carried the door panels and moved forward cautiously.

So the battleship raised its muzzle and fired a rapid fire from four cannons, which directly wiped out the small group of indigenous soldiers and affected many people in the surrounding area.

Now that the army is ready to go, how can we afford to wait?

Today's battle resulted in no more than 1,500 casualties, but it dealt a heavy blow to the confidence of the Dutch army, and the native servants generally refused to die again.

Every artillery bombardment in the formation, whether it was a shield or a bed board, was as papery and had no defensive effect, and it was all broken with one blow.

After being shelled head-on, the remaining Dutch soldiers did not dare to stay on the battlefield, and they all fled back.

During this period, a small group of indigenous soldiers tried to make a small move to dismantle the bonfire wood piles piled on the other side of the coast road, but ended up with a bloody head injury.

Every move of these Dutch soldiers can be seen clearly from the sailing battleship.

Dozens of artillery blasted out of the no-man's land again. The bombed indigenous soldiers cried for their fathers and mothers and ran away, leaving corpses on the ground and fled back.

The indigenous soldiers hiding in the formation were armed with knives and guns, ready to cross the fatal two-kilometer road, then launched a charge and overcame the earth barrier cutting off the road in one fell swoop.

The officer behind him was also in a state of panic, unable to fly past the road in front of him.

In order to prevent mutiny in the army, the Dutch army cooked an unprecedented amount of meat and bread for the soldiers to enjoy. Officers at all levels tried their best to appease people's hearts and distributed real money subsidies.

At the Dutch military headquarters

Lieutenant General Koch and a group of senior commanders are worrying about how to break through the Gulf Highway.

The Dutch army has gathered 2.37 troops. Even if today's losses are subtracted, the number is still as high as 2.22. The number of people eating and chewing is a huge amount every day, all of which are transported directly to Pekalong by ship from the Batavia port. shore.

Now, after the Royal Navy suffered a devastating blow, it has lost control of the sea routes, and the most important transportation lines are completely interrupted.

No transport ship dares to sail to Pekalong anymore, which is equivalent to delivering food to the Nanyang Army and capturing one ship at a time.

Fortunately, the supplies prepared in the early stage are sufficient and can be used by the army for about three weeks.

According to the Dutch army’s battle plan

It only took three days to capture Semarang, two days to march and one day to defeat the Nanyang Army and capture the entire city.

Now that the Gulf Highway has changed, it has become an almost insurmountable obstacle, leaving the Dutch army helpless. The meeting lasted for a long time, and it turned out that the sky was getting dark and it was approaching dusk.

The Dutch officers in the meeting still could not find a good solution. They put forward many motions, but they were rejected one by one.

For example, some people suggested mobilizing the entire army to cut down trees and create a road in the mangrove swamp area.

Below, 4 to 5 giant trees are tied into rows, connected end to end, and the covered parts are filled with soil and compacted for soldiers and carriages to pass.

The problem lies in time. The mangrove swamp area is full of soft mud and shoals, and not many people can come on board during construction. If we only expect a hundred or so people to work on it, how long will it take?
If tens of thousands of people were to fill in and work together, thousands of people would be drowned if something went wrong.

No one learns to swim in this day and age. Those are all sports skills developed after having a full stomach and having nothing to do.

Nowadays, when you are full, you quickly go home and lie down. All exercise is a waste.

Letting a group of people who cannot swim into the swamp mangroves to cut trees and pave roads is equivalent to letting them die, and it is very likely to cause mutiny.

But simply retreating would not work, as it would seriously dampen the morale of the entire army.

If this road is really impassable, and the entire army moves south from Bellik, then turns east, takes Saladiga, then turns north and makes a large circle, then this road will be about 350 kilometers long.

If everything goes well, it will take about two weeks for the entire army to arrive.

The problem is that by that time, the military supply throughout the army will be insufficient, with only about a week's quota left.

If there is a delay on the way, the army of more than 4 people will starve.

The Royal Netherlands Navy suffered an unexpected defeat, which had an extremely serious impact. This indicated that the Dutch army's main maritime logistics transportation line was completely cut off, making it difficult to support the military operations of tens of thousands of troops.

Although the ancient overland transportation channel from Bandung, the capital of West Java Bay, to Belik has been repaired recently, it is not enough to support the logistics and transportation tasks of tens of thousands of troops.

Lack of mules, horses, carts, almost everything.

Most of the Dutch army's current logistics transport mules and horses are recruited locally, and most of them come from Chinese businessmen, white manor owners and indigenous tribes. The number is seriously insufficient.

The poor road conditions caused a very high damage rate to these mules, horses and carts, and various accidents occurred frequently.

Either the big animal has a broken leg or hoof, has been exposed to the rain and is sick, or the wheel is damaged or the axle is broken. Thirty to forty percent of the mule and horse cart will be lost in one trip.

After two or three months of high-intensity transportation in the early stage, the mule and horse-drawn carriage transport team from Bandung to Belik was almost completely lost, and the transportation capacity was almost nonexistent.

This is the consequence of not repairing roads and bridges all year round. The ancient roads in the hinterland are in poor condition and are completely unable to bear the logistics and transportation tasks of the army.

Once the main maritime transportation lines are cut off, the military supplies of tens of thousands of Dutch troops cannot be guaranteed.

Therefore, in the headquarters, the officers quarreled fiercely, and some people simply proposed to withdraw the troops.

After a half-day military meeting, a decision was made at the end
That is to take advantage of the poor visibility at night to launch another assault. No matter how heavy the losses are, we must try and never give up easily.

Watching the officers leave, Lieutenant General Koch had an extremely ugly look on his face. He took a long breath and said, "God, forgive me. This is really a difficult decision."

His adjutant, Colonel Claudia, stepped forward at the right time and comforted him; "Your Excellency, our military supplies are more valuable than these indigenous soldiers. As long as we consume the enemy's troops in battle, the price paid is worth it."

"In order to pursue the final victory, this is the only way." Lieutenant General Koch sighed again hypocritically, with a heavy look on his face.

According to military deployment
Tonight, all the indigenous soldiers will attack, and the white army will only have a thousand people to serve as a supervisory team, depending on whether the situation changes or not.

The main thing is to take surprise. The two sailing battleships Zhenhai only control the initial nearly two kilometers of coastal roads.

Taking advantage of the poor visibility at night, it only takes more than ten minutes to pass through this section before you can engage in a melee with the Nanyang Army's guarding troops.

When the time comes, there will be me among you and you among me, and it will be a chaotic battle.

With an absolute advantage, the attacking Dutch army quickly broke through the earthen barriers and strode forward along the coastal road.

If the sail warships behind the Nanyang Army are caught off guard, there is a high possibility that the indigenous troops invested can carry out successive breakthroughs.

While dealing a devastating blow to the small number of Nanyang Army troops stationed at the fortress, they crossed the 20-kilometer coastal road as quickly as possible and sent some of their troops deep into the enemy's rear.

By then, there will be little point in continuing the lockdown.

Because of the opening of the earthen defense line, the Dutch army could use scattered forces to quickly pass through the blockade area at a certain cost, whether during the day or at night.

Using dozens or hundreds of artillery to achieve the result of killing dozens or hundreds of enemies was not cost-effective for the Nanyang Fleet, and it was also a price that the Dutch army could bear.

If you don’t give it a try, you won’t give up.

(End of this chapter)