Episode 47 Heavenly Punishment

At 10 o'clock in the morning of 1 March, the Daming aircraft carrier formation arrived at the intended attack position -- the following groups formed this fleet:

Flagship, USS Tianshu. It has a displacement of 29,500 tons and 65 carrier-based aircraft, including 28 Kingfisher fighters and 37 Osprey dive bombers.

Zhurong battlecruiser. The ship is on the same level as the Gonggong, which means "the god of fire and the god of water". It's just that the Zhurong has just undergone a modernization modification, changing the obviously too small 12-inch naval gun to 14 inches, 356 mm, and at the same time the armor has also been thickened by a grade, and the main armor belt of the waterline has been added to 11 inches thick, and the power system has been improved, so that the maximum speed is only one section slower, and it has become a truly deterrent combat cruiser.

The heavy cruiser Shizhong, named after the national hero "Han Shizhong", has a displacement of 18,500 tons, four twin 203 mm guns, a waterline main armor belt with a thickness of 3.5 inches, and a maximum speed of 30 knots.

The Xu Da light cruiser, named after the famous general "Xu Da" of the Ming Dynasty, has a displacement of 7,860 tons, four twin 155 mm main guns, and a maximum speed of 32 knots.

Escorting them were six destroyers: the Hornwood Jiao, the Doumu Hedgehog, the Jing Mu Qian, the Kui Mu Wolf, the Kang Jinlong, and the Tailed Fire Tiger, each named after the twenty-eight constellations. They will be responsible for reconnaissance, search, rescue, expulsion of possible torpedo boats, etc.

Four troop carriers, carrying one Southern Infantry Division, 18,000 men, two supply ships, carrying various equipment, four Lightning-1 light tanks, four armored personnel carriers.

……

The Fleet Commander is making his final speech to the pilots on the ship-wide radio:

“…… In the past four days, we have listened too much and talked too much...... But we are floating on the sea and can do nothing...... Just two days ago, our compatriots in Batavia were slaughtered for the second time...... But now that we have reached the range of the attack, we can do something for our compatriots! …… At this last moment, there are many more words, and this chief will not say more!

"One last refresh: after the first attack formation flew over Batavia, it destroyed all the anti-aircraft guns and shore defense guns in the shortest possible time, and the fighter formation was responsible for guarding and shooting down any Dutch aircraft that appeared...... At the same time, the port was suppressed and the Dutch army was prevented from destroying the port facilities...... After the first wave of attack formations sent back signals, the second wave of attack formations took off, and then the first wave returned. The second attack wave should penetrate deep into the interior and attack the five military camps of the Dutch army in the western part of Batavia, and it would be attacked repeatedly, and all fighters except the alert should participate in strafing on the ground, so as to destroy the Dutch army as much as possible and destroy the will of the remaining Dutch army to resist......

"You are all excellent pilots with more than 200 flight hours, excellent training results, and all of you have participated in the 'Manjianghong' operation to attack the Qing army's airfield and the 'New Year' operation to attack Pukou, so you have rich experience in actual combat...... You have to fly as low as you can, until you can see everyone's face on the street! You're all familiar with the aerial photographs of Batavia, and you don't need to say that you can accurately avoid the main Chinese quarters, as well as the consulate district. For the rest of the world, if there is any sign of lurking Dutch forces, you must not hesitate to attack! Every bomb you drop in the air will reduce the casualties of the ground troops by a lot! Don't think about accidentally injuring local civilians! There are no civilians on the ground! Only murderers!

"Alright, warriors, let's go!"

More than a hundred pilots cheered, grabbed their flight caps, poured out of the preparation room, and followed the elevator to the deck.

In order for the planes to take off, the aircraft carrier formation has turned the rudder, the maximum speed is going against the wind, and the planes on the deck have been launched. The propellers roared, and the wind howled on the deck, deafening. The pilots in thick flight suits, who had already sweated in the tropical seas, felt a burst of coolness when they stepped onto the deck and bathed in the strong wind that filled the deck.

More than a dozen planes lined up on either side, a Kingfisher on board was parked at the end of the runway, the propeller roared, and the technician on the wing finished checking it for the last time, jumped down, and made a gesture of affirmation. The pilot put on a scarf, put on a flight cap, climbed into the cockpit, and after the inspection, stretched out his arm and raised his thumb to indicate that he was ready to take off.

At this time, the radio horn on the aircraft carrier control tower sounded again:

"Warriors of the Ming Empire, our beloved majesty has just sent a telegram, encouraging you to fight bravely, work hard to kill the enemy, play the national prestige, and show due respect for the Ming diaspora in the world!"

In the deafening roar, the pilots of the second attack wave on both sides of the runway cheered wildly, and at the same time, a "Z" flag was quickly raised on the mast, followed by a string of colored signal flags representing the take-off order.

The pilot crouching in front of the plane quickly waved the small flag left and right, and the two ground crews immediately removed the blocking block of the landing gear. Then the guide flashed to the side, crouched down, and slammed the small flag forward, and the first fighter roared and rushed out.

The plane rushed faster and faster, rushed to the end of the runway, and the deck disappeared in one fell swoop, and there was only the sea below. The plane sank downwards and seemed to be about to crash into the sea, but immediately rose again and began to climb upwards.

In the wind and roar, the second plane roared and climbed to the middle of the runway and rushed out. And then the third, and then the fourth...... At the same time, the lifts are constantly lifting new aircraft from the hangar.

The deck pilots cheered wildly, waving their hats and scarves in their hands, and tears welled up in their eyes, almost madness.

All 14 fighters took to the skies and were already circling in formation over the surrounding area. On the deck, Osprey dive bombers, with two 200-kilogram bombs hanging between the landing gear, staggered off the deck and slowly climbed upward.

At this moment, in the sky above this fleet, a large group of aircraft is forming.

Towards noon, the weather was clear and the sky was cloudless. The sea is calm, sparkling, and blue. Under the tropical sun, the glass cockpit and silver-white wings of the fleet reflect dazzling light.

32 aircraft flew to the southwest. At eleven o'clock in the afternoon, I saw the emerald green coastline of Batavia.

……

The coastline slowly clears up, and the bay of Batavia unfolds in front of you. There was not a single large ship in the bay. Foreign merchant ships had long since left the harbor to avoid the war, and Dutch ships had been evacuated elsewhere.

Dozens of balloons rose high in the harbor, gray olive-shaped, like small airships, silently, sparsely, and lifelessly hanging high in the air.

The pilots in the cockpit of the plane smiled at the situation in front of them, smiled at the pilots of the adjacent planes, and pointed ahead. The pilot of the plane next door also laughed and shook his head.

The group leader smiled and picked up the walkie-talkie:

"Brethren, the radio ban is lifted. So far, the skies over Batavia have been quiet and peaceful, and there is not a single enemy aircraft. As in intelligence, there are only a few dozen anti-air balloons, which do not pose any threat to us, and everyone can dive as much as they want, just pay attention...... I said, if anyone is hit down by such a sparse balloon steel cable, then after being caught, don't say that we are Ming pilots! Ha ha! ”

A laugh rang out from the headphones, and a voice laughed:

"The Dutch are too stingy, the East Indies are also their largest colony, just prepare a few balloons, there is no difference between it! It's better to save some nylon and let them women wear more pairs of nylon socks! Tut-tut! ”

There was another laugh. At this time, the team leader smiled:

"Alright, stop laughing, let's get to work!"

At this time, black clouds appeared in front of the group, and at the same time, a muffled sound was transmitted into the cockpit. The anti-aircraft guns of Batavia opened fire.

But judging by the number and density of the cloud of smoke from the explosions, there were not many ground anti-aircraft guns, and the level was not flattering. The group was only slightly evacuated, not a single plane felt tossed by the shock wave, not even the sound of shrapnel hitting the fuselage.

The kingfisher formation began to rise into the air, occupying high alert, and the osprey formation began to scatter and pounce.

The dive bombers skilfully landed at a wide angle, while the two machine guns in the wing opened fire fiercely, and by this time the Dutch artillerymen had panicked and discarded their anti-aircraft guns and were lying on their backs.

The whistling sound reached almost overhead from the sky, and then a swarthy bomb swayed and fell, piercing precisely into the annular sandbags of the gun emplacement.

With a loud bang, anti-aircraft gun parts, sandbags, clods of earth, and severed arms of artillery all flew into the sky with fireworks and scattered in all directions.

Within a few minutes, more than a dozen puffs of black smoke rose around the harbor, and flames shot into the sky, and shells exploded in the sandbag pile below, and from time to time there were fireballs.

The anti-aircraft guns around the harbor were almost blown up.

There was no decent resistance left in the port area, and there were two anti-aircraft machine-gun positions, where a few Dutch soldiers were still holding anti-aircraft guns, stubbornly chasing the whizzing planes and firing. It is said that it is an anti-aircraft machine gun, but in fact it is nothing more than two Maxim machine guns mounted on a single rack. At this time, the water in the water tank was almost empty, and the gun body was emitting white smoke.

The Kingfisher Formation Commander spotted the two machine guns that insisted on firing, and ordered the two groups of Kingfisher fighters of the 22nd Formation to dive down and strafe and destroy them. At the sound of the order, four Kingfisher fighters roared down, 16 airborne machine guns spewed tongues of fire, and the two groups of Dutch machine gunners immediately burst into blood in their chests and lay on their backs on the pile of sandbags.

Seeing that the anti-aircraft fire was almost destroyed, the group leader ordered to switch to the shore artillery positions in Batavia Bay.

The 18 Ospreys had 36 bombs, and at this time half of the planes had bombs, leaving only 9. The nine planes, armed with bombs, pounced on their designated targets according to the shore artillery position map they had memorized before the war.

The six 150-mm cannons, each fixed in six cement ring fortifications, were all open-air. In order to reduce their own targets in a battle with the battleship's guns, the cement ring fortifications are all lower than the ground, only exposing the muzzles. But this is good for artillery battles, but it is of no use for air defense.

When the six groups of planes flew over the shore artillery position, they found that there was no one left in the ring fortifications below. The artillerymen ran out, not even a single machine gun was fired. They have completely abandoned resistance.

This is more advantageous, the dive bomber can concentrate on diving and aiming, and rush low enough to drop the bomb, greatly improving the hit rate.

Nine bombs were dropped, and four shore guns were destroyed. Originally, there were only three direct hits, but the crew of the fourth gun did not know whether it was negligence or haste, and actually left a base number of shells next to the cannon. The bomb landed a few meters away, detonating the shell, causing the cannon to be blown to pieces.

After all the bombs were dropped, the group leader signaled to the mothership to notify the second attack wave to depart and ordered the group to return. While the first wave was still at sea, the second wave was coming head-on in the sun. The two groups of planes passed by, flapping their wings at each other, the pilots in the cockpit waved in greeting, and the radio was filled with cheers and laughter.

The second attack wave cleanly took out the two remaining shore guns and then advanced into the city of Batavia. At the same time, the flagship Tianshu received a report that all the anti-aircraft guns on the shore of Batavia Bay were destroyed.

The fleet commander immediately ordered the Zhurong Battle Cruiser, the Shizhong Heavy Cruiser, the Xu Da Light Cruiser, and the three destroyers to begin heading southwest into Batavia Bay to shell the designated targets based on the observations of aircraft and land spies.

A second wave of 33 planes roared over the city of Batavia, separated over the Grand Mosque, and headed for several Dutch barracks on the outskirts of the city.

In the urban area they were not subjected to anti-aircraft fire. The Dutch defenders concentrated the few anti-aircraft guns in the port area, hoping to form a slightly decent anti-aircraft fire network here to protect the shore anti-aircraft guns. Because the Ming army did not bring landing craft, the only way to go ashore was to take the port, let the troop transport ship dock in, and the soldiers went ashore directly. The only hope of the Dutch defenders was to hold the port. If the port is lost, and the Ming army, which is twice as large in number, equipment, and training as itself, is allowed to go ashore, then the general trend is gone.

As they flew low over the city, the pilots of each bomber pushed the cockpit out of the way, took out a bundle of leaflets and untied them and threw them down. For a moment, pieces of paper flew in the wind over Batavia.

Each leaflet is printed in Chinese, Dutch and Malay, mainly the following:

1. The shore artillery in Batavia Bay has been completely eliminated, and the landing of the Ming army has been unimpeded;

2. The Dutch soldiers should take the initiative to lay down their arms and surrender to the Ming army. The Ming army will guarantee all its due rights in accordance with international conventions, and this war will be short, and they will all be released and returned to China after the war;

3. Any locals who make any hostile gesture towards the Ming army or the local Chinese will be considered belligerents. If he did not wear a Dutch uniform, he would be considered a spy and executed;

4. All residents should avoid going out, and it is recommended that Chinese compatriots write the word "Chinese" outside their homes in Chinese characters, so that the Ming army can identify and avoid accidental injury. If a local non-Chinese family also writes Chinese characters to impersonate, it will be considered an act of espionage and the head of the family will be executed;

5. All local residents of Batavia must stay in the city and are not allowed to flee to the mountains and forests outside the city. If it is found that there is an intention to flee Batavia, it will be considered that it has deliberately formed or joined a guerrilla group and will be severely punished;

6. Wanted Dutch Governor in the East Indies. Anyone who prevented the Governor from fleeing and handed him over to the Ming army, regardless of race, would receive a reward of 5,000 Ming Yang. If they assist them in escaping, or if they deliberately conceal them, they will be considered guilty of the same crime.

……

The planes roared past one after another, and the Chinese climbed onto the roofs of their houses, waving strips of cloth and towels and cheering wildly, and some even took out the self-made Ming flag and waved it, or draped it on their bodies and cheered......

The locals were so frightened that they hid in their homes and huddled together, boldly lying on the windows, looking up at the behemoths that roared and flew by, and every time they flew by, they shrank their necks in fright, as if a bomb was about to fall.

Every local has a feeling that their end has come.