The newly formed Marines did not have as many complex tactics as the Army, and under the cover of gunboats, the musketeers rotated only twice, firing two rounds, and the sailors swarmed up from both sides with their tomahawks. The musketeers also inserted their bayonets and lined up in a spear formation similar to that of the army, only not so neatly.

The battle quickly went into hand-to-hand combat, littered with tomahawks and scimitars, accompanied by the explosion of grenades. These enemy forces were weak in hand-to-hand combat and were quickly dispersed. As in the Army, the main casualties of the Marine Corps occurred on the way from disembarkation to the charge. It's just that the army was suppressed by enemy fire and had no chance to get close to the distance of hand-to-hand combat.

The core of the enemy position on this beachhead was a fortified artillery fort with coconut trunks. The Sukkadana people bury two rows of coconut trunks deep in the earth, which are tamped with earth in the middle. The coconut trunk was extremely tough, and there was little reaction to the shells of the light artillery. The Marines relied on grenades and the ability to climb ropes, and used swift hand-to-hand combat to take the fort.

The city of Suqadana is already in sight, with a circumference of about 4,000 meters. It was also once the capital of the country, unlike Karimata, which had only fences and fences. Although there were no masonry walls, the walls made of coconut trunks and rammed earth could not be taken without heavy weapons.

After settling their position, the marines searched the surrounding area for the enemy's rout, and they hanged all the prisoners with large trees. In a coconut grove, dozens of natives who did not go far were found. The Marines committed a tragedy when they chopped captives into pieces of meat with axes.

Chen Shouxu once again handed over command to Maiden. Having learned the lesson of the landing of the army, this time there will be no more carelessness. The fleet unloaded 8 12-pounder guns and 6 9-pounder guns, which were assigned to the landing force.

Sucadana is not the focus of Mataran's defense. Agung's treatment of the conquered royal families was okay, that is, he fought with Mada Blue for several years in Surabaya, and after the war, he also put the original sultan back to continue to rule, of course, those puppets did not have diplomatic and military power. The same is true of Sucadana, where the focus of Mataran's defense is on Karimata. Sukkana's city had only a handful of Mataran overseers and local defenders.

Maiden completed the work of carrying the artillery and building the artillery position in three days. The field battalion, which had suffered heavy losses, had only one company ashore this time as a reserve for the pressurization. The marines, guard battalions, Chezhitan and Chinese pirates, the siege force totaled 1,200 people. Maiden still did not choose to besiege the city.

Although Sukkadana City is walled, the city inside is still like Karimata, a tree-lined city with gardens. Within the walls, beyond the palace, there were still villages clustered together.

There was some farmland outside the city, and the ground was muddy, and it was difficult to attack from there. Maiden did not commit infantry, and bombarded the city unhurriedly with 12 guns for 4 days, the walls of the coconut trunk were difficult to break, and the main target of the shelling was inside the city. The artillery raised the elevation angle and fired a shell into the city from time to time.

The shelling is endless.

On the night of the fourth day, there were some fires and occasional explosions in the city. Maiden sent some of his soldiers to make contact with the fire of the defenders of the city and found the resistance very weak. He immediately attacked, and the sappers planted gunpowder at the city gate, and with a loud bang, blew up the coconut palm gate into the sky.

This time it was the Marines who were the first to storm the city, and the Sukkadana scattered and fled. There are not many residents in the city, just over 3,000 people. By the time the Marines stormed the city, most of them had fled. The soldiers drove those who did not have time to flee from their homes outside the city. Maiden entered the city and ran straight to the palace, where the wealth of the city was concentrated.

The city was chaotic, with flocks of chickens and ducks fleeing the streets. When the soldiers saw these many chickens and ducks, they smiled and let go of their hands to catch them. They drove the ducks together and shot them to kill one piece.

Maiden and his men searched the palace carefully, and they always felt that the harvest was wrong, and that the spoils of war should not be the only ones found by the soldiers. Neither the Sultan took it with him when he fled, nor did the soldiers hide it, but it would not have led to such an outcome. He knew that some nobles had a habit of burying treasures when they were in danger. Maiden asked Filhoff to take the men and carefully tap every tile in the palace. Sure enough, there are some places that are loose. The soldiers pried open the stones, dug down two feet deep, and found some pieces of copper.

"What is this?" Maiden asked the Treasury Department's accountant.

The accountant looked at it and said, "The Japanese copper sheet, the locals call it Stafiin, is worth about 2 pesos. ”

When he heard that he could exchange it for silver, Maiden immediately said to the accountant, "I'll give you 40 soldiers, go outside, bring some prisoners of war in, and pry open all the tiles of the palace, and don't let go of any of them." ”

Maiden eventually found a piece of copper at the palace that could fill 10 ox carts, which the accountant estimated could be exchanged for 50,000 pesos of silver at market value. Other trophies included Persian futons, Chinese silks, and robes inlaid with gold and silver threads. More than 1,000 prisoners of war and a huge amount of supplies.

After capturing the city, Chen Shouxuan had the fleet temporarily anchored at the anchorage to recuperate. He waited for a fleet of reinforcements led by Thomas Melo.

According to the plan, after the cruisers and notification ships that had completed the refurbishment were added to the list one after another, Jincheng dispatched the Changhe and a notification ship to escort the five junk ships to join Chen Shouxu in Sukkadana.

It's early April, and the reinforcement fleet has arrived in Suqadana before the monsoon has completely changed. Lin Tongwen personally led the merchant fleet, and the first thing he said after seeing Chen Shouxu was: "Brother Chen, fortunately, I am not dishonored." I brought back 6,000 Chinese immigrants to Jincheng, most of whom were craftsmen, tutors and farmers. ”

According to the results of Chen Shouxu's consultation with him, after the opening of the route, business can be done slowly, and the tonnage of the first batch of transportation must be concentrated on the immigrants. It's just that the trouble is that from China to Jincheng, you can only run one round trip every year. The northeast monsoon goes south, and the southwest monsoon goes north. Lin Tongwen was able to collect 6,000 immigrants in more than half a year, and he really made great efforts.

Chen Shouxu looked at Lin Tongwen's thin face, since he returned to China in June last year for 9 months now, Lin Tongwen has been running around the country and at sea. "Thank you for your hard work."

Lin Tongwen smiled, "It's a bit hard, but it feels worth it." ”

"You brought these ships back from the country?" Chen Shouxu remembered that when Lin Tongwen left, there were 2 boats.

"Yes. I hired 10 big ships to carry the migrants. When I arrived in Jincheng, I simply bought the ship together, and those shipowners and sailors who wanted to return to China returned to China, and those who did not want to go back, I hired them. ”

"Well done, we need boats now. I have seized a lot of supplies in Karimata and Suqadana, and I am worried about how to get them back, and you have come just in time. ”

With Lin Tongwen's fleet, Sucadana's supplies finally have a place to go. These materials are all the savings of the indigenous people for 20 years, and they were moved away by Chen Shouxu in more than ten days.

Chen Shouxu knew in his heart that robbery could only be relied on in the early stage, and it was not a long-term solution. There are many countries in the East Indies, but there are very few suitable targets like Suqadana. If the country is to survive, it must rely on something more solid.

Lin Tongwen said with some concern: "With the one I brought this time, there are now a total of 28 merchant ships, all of which are full of valuable supplies. The fleet can't move fast, and I'm afraid Thomas Melo won't be able to handle it alone. ”

Chen Shouxu said, "This batch of materials is too important, I will give you the Lima, the Excellence, and the Adventure." ”

Lin Tongwen snapped his fingers, "You still have battles to fight behind you, only the South China Sea, Raphael, Melville, and Storm are left, is it enough?" The Melville was just a whaling ship. ”

"Enough. You also bring back the army, I only need 3 companies. ”

"So little?"

"I have asked Filhoff to recruit volunteers in the Army, and one company each from the field battalion, Chechitan, and Mon is sufficient. Let everyone else go home and save money. ”

"Okay...... You are an expert in war, I can only listen to you. ”

"200 people have been recruited in Batavia this time, you go back and tell Marmont to settle carefully."

"Okay." Lin Tongwen wrote down Chen Shouxu's instructions in a small notebook.

"You can help me transport a few more people back."

"Okay, who are they?"

"Hai Shuzu, his daughter and a few others."

Lin Tongwen heard it clearly, he raised his head, very surprised.

……

The southwest wind rose, and Chen Shouxu sent away the large fleet of returning ships. Although there were only 5 warships to escort the escort, the strength of the army was relatively sufficient, and Chen Shouxu dispersed the army to the merchant ships and added additional escort forces. Unless the Dutch make their moves, there are no sea forces nearby that can threaten the fleet. For the small group of pirates who sneak up on the night attack, it is more useful to have enough soldiers on the merchant ships than to add a few warships.

This time the fleet was completely light-loaded, and all the transport ships were sent away. Only 4 warships and Wang Huizhi's 6 pirate ships remained. The three army companies were not fully staffed, and the remaining engineering and medical detachments were only 280 people, scattered on four battleships, and they were packed and packed. But there was a lot of rice left.

After completing the task of reorganizing the fleet, Chen Shouxu sailed southeast to Ma Chen.