Chapter 69 Troops march into Ceylon and land in Colombo

After Li Jing and Liu Chenghuang captured Batavia (Jakarta) on the island of Java, even if they completely wiped out the main force of the Dutch East India Company, the vitality of the Dutch East India Company in the Far East was completely lost. After the officers and men of a division of mountain jungles stayed on the island of Java and took several major port cities, the rest of the business, like the officers and soldiers on the island of Sumatra, was to go to the mountains and forests to arrest the disobedient Javanese. Activities in the jungle are the specialty of the mountain jungle army, and although those Javanese are familiar with the mountains and forests, they are compared to others. Encountering a mountain jungle army specially prepared for them, their doom has arrived.

Shi Xiu and his team that were preparing to enter Australia came to Java Island together on the 25,000-ton steel-hulled warship Taishan, which made its maiden voyage in Yaogang, and the two 5,000-ton steel-hulled warships, Hangzhou Hao and Taizhou. After Shi Xiu and the others disembarked on Java Island to join Li Jing and Fan Chengkun, these three steel-hulled warships went to Burma together with other ships of the Yaogang people to pick up the remaining officers and soldiers in the mountains and jungles.

However, after the flotilla picked up the people and set off, the 5,000-ton steel-hulled warship Suzhou and a 5,000-ton wooden-hulled transport ship left the fleet and headed straight for Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

These two large ships carried a regiment of soldiers from the Mountain and Jungle Army, as well as Qin Peng's infantry of one of their regiments, led by a division commander sent by Qin Peng, whose goal was to escort the prince of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) back to Ceylon and drive the Hongmaofan (Dutch) away, in Zhang Zhimu's words, to liberate Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

Ceylon, the pearl of the Western Ocean (Indian Ocean), has long been coveted by Western countries for its rich gems and tea. In 1505, the Portuguese first occupied the area, and in order to protect their interests, the Portuguese built many castles. Later, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese in occupying the castle, and they strengthened and expanded the castle on the basis of the Portuguese castle.

In Ceylon, Hongmaofan already knew that the Ming Dynasty began to attack Java and Sumatra in their sphere of influence, and they knew that the Yaogang people would not let Ceylon go. They also knew that so many warships at sea were no match for the Yaogang people, and their Ceylon would definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the Yaogang people. So they also made serious preparations.

The Suzhou and another transport ship were targeted at Colombo on the southwest coast of Ceylon. Colombo has a natural deep-water port that can dock almost all large ships, and its unique geographical location makes it known as the "Red Crossroads of the East". However, after the management of the Portuguese and the Dutch, the castle area in this area has built a complete castle defense system. The castle on the pier is home to a large number of the most advanced cannons in Western countries today.

These intelligence kiln men knew very well that when they came, they wanted to smash the walnut with a sledgehammer, smash the hard walnut of Colombo, and then completely clean up the red hair on the island of Ceylon.

The 5,000-ton Suzhou steel-hulled warship was equipped with nine 203-mm cannons, six on the foredeck, three on the aft deck, and twelve 130-caliber secondary guns. It was morning when he sailed outside the port of Colombo.

The lookout of Colombo Harbor saw a column of smoke rising from the sea from a distance, and immediately rang the bell to sound the alarm. They were very sensitive to the smoke column at sea, and although they had not yet seen a smoking kiln warship, they were very clear about the most obvious feature of the kiln warship.

Figo, the governor of Ceylon who lived in the Dutch East India Company, heard the sound of an alarm outside, as if the stone in his heart had finally landed. I have always been worried that the Ming Dynasty army will come over, because the Ming Dynasty army is not far away. For some time, news of the occupation of the Dutch East India Company colonies by the Ming Dynasty troops kept coming, and the nerves of Figo and all the Dutch people were in a state of tension, and Batavia kept coming warning orders, asking them not to let their guard down, and not knowing when the devil-like Ming Dynasty army would sail the warships over. In such a state, Figo is about to collapse, and like many Dutch, he even hopes that the Ming Dynasty army will come over as soon as possible, and there will be a result whether he is dead or alive, which is much stronger than not living now.

Mrs. Figo was a little frightened when she heard the siren, and asked, "Is it really the Ming Dynasty warship coming?" Before Figo could comfort her, he asked, "Honey, can we get away with it this time?" ”

Facing his wife, Figo said with a strong spirit: "Don't be afraid, our castle is built of huge stones, and ordinary cannonballs will have no effect on him. You go down to the basement! I'm going to sink the Ming Dynasty warship at sea! ”

Figo is grateful for his wife, who has always been with him. Many people sent their families away, and Mrs. Figo sent her two children back to the Netherlands, but she insisted on staying with Figo, which is not something ordinary people can do. Let's just say that the two children are handed over to others to go through the long sea voyage, and the average mother can't do it. But Mrs. Figo decided to be very resolute. This is not something that ordinary people can do.

The Kiln Gang warship approached Colombo Harbour from the south, and the morning sun shone right on the Colombo Castle District, illuminating the castles very brightly and clearly. When the Hangzhou approached two kilometers away from the coast, it turned the ship sideways, and at this time, through the telescope, you can see the busy figures on the castle, and through the observation system, you can even see the clothes of the people on the castle.

Figo commanded all the Dutch garrison in Colombo, as well as those from the various countries of the Siyi who could take up arms, to come to the castle. Figo's idea was to resolutely not allow the Ming army to come ashore. If the Ming Dynasty warships approached, he would take advantage of the more artillery fire to sink the enemy ships, especially when he saw that only one warship approached, and one was not far away, a total of two ships came, and Figo's confidence came up. Although he also knew from the report that the Ming Dynasty warship guns had a very long range and high accuracy, and often fired outside the effective range of their guns. However, the opponent came with a total of two ships, and in any case, there was no way to make Figo unconfident.

Figo thought to himself, no matter how far your artillery fire is, if you want to occupy Ceylon, you must be close to the landing, and then our short-range artillery can also kill you.

Figo didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty warship would turn sideways so far from the coast, and he knew that the opponent was about to open fire. Figo knew that this distance was also within the range of his cannon, but the cannonballs could hit so far, but he didn't know where to hit, so Figo wanted not to waste the cannonballs first, the opponent would have to dock sooner or later.

Figo didn't open fire, and the gunners on the Hangzhou were not welcome, as soon as they fired, Figo had no chance to fire.

A 203 caliber cannon on the foredeck, and a 130 caliber cannon each tested one shell, and the 203 and 130 caliber cannons on the aft deck also tested one shell. Although they did not directly hit the castle, the explosion of the cannonballs was something that the defenders on the island had never heard before, and every shell explosion seemed to shake the whole island, and the officers and soldiers inside and outside the castle trembled. A shadow appeared in Figo's heart, he knew that the cannonballs would soon fall on the castle, which meant that many people would be wiped out with the cannonballs, but at this time he had no choice but to force his composure, and now the cannonballs on the castle were fired, and it was almost useless to listen to himself.

The cannonballs of the Kiln Gang didn't give Figo more time to think, and soon the cannonballs slammed down on the castle.

No matter how strong and sturdy the castle is, it can be hit by a 203 caliber shell, and it can open a big hole. Although the power of the 130 caliber shell is not as great as that of the 203, it is all relative, and the shells are also flying fragments wherever they fall. There was almost no obstacle to the landing of the shells, and they would scatter as the castle stones turned into a mist of blood. In fact, the officers and soldiers who died in this way should feel lucky, those who were not directly hit, were hit by shells and bled from their mouths and noses, and their bodies were fully dressed, but the pain before death did not know what it was.

The Hangzhou bombarded the castle area for half an hour with unhurried concentrated artillery fire, and almost none of the castles were intact. At the same time as the bombardment, the soldiers of the Mountain Jungle Corps, who had been trained for landing, boarded a pair of small boat gunboats.

The sound of the last few shells of the shelling was not very loud, but they hit ***. The Colombo Castle District soon became a sea of fire. The officers and men of the mountain jungle activated their dinghys and rushed towards the Colombo pier.

In order to protect the pier from destruction, the warship did not want to fire on the dock on the shore. Although the Dutch soldiers on the dock were not hit by the shells, the sound of the shells exploding on the castle behind them still shook their heads. However, when they saw a small boat rushing towards them on the sea, they still picked up their muskets and aimed at the sea, wanting to wait for the boat to get close before shooting, but more than a dozen speedboats were equipped with 12.27 mm heavy machine guns and water-cooled heavy machine guns, and they were far away from the coast, and the blazing bullets rained down on the shore. There was no chance for these He Lanbing soldiers to shoot, and many of them were shattered by the blazing bullet rain.

The boat came ashore, and the officers and men quickly landed and set up a position on the pier. The two ships of Yaogang slowly approached as well. With automatic weapons on the riverbank, the ship quickly set up a blockade zone to cover the infantry for unloading and landing.

The landed infantry, in companies and assaults in all directions, expanded the area of defense of the dock. The fire in the Colombo Castle area was so hot that the officers and soldiers of the kiln did not dare to approach it. They believe that there will be no more living people in the castle district. Ignoring them, the artillery and other heavy weapons of the Yaogang infantry also began to be unloaded to the shore with the ship's cranes.

These heavy weapons and infantry all landed, and the division commander commanded sent a telegram to Qin Peng to report. Qin Peng also forwarded the telegram to Yao Gang, Li Jing, and Liu Chenghuang.

Everyone knows about Ceylon, and the great thing has been decided.