The fleet departed early in the morning and sailed to the sea off its destination in the early afternoon, and Tom Wang could already see with his telescope several small fishing boats fishing a few nautical miles away.

"Order the combat ships to move forward at full speed, and after entering the harbor, follow the original plan!" Wang Tom put down the binoculars and began to give combat orders.

According to the battle plan formulated in advance, the seventeen ships of the fleet would not rush all at once, but would be led by ships equipped with artillery, suppressing the resistance and counterattacks that might exist on the coastline, and then sending infantry to land in small boats after controlling the situation, and then capture the port town.

This battle plan had been worked out as early as two months earlier, and the fleet had also conducted several drills during the garrison in the Qiongbei Strait, although it was not an on-the-spot exercise, and it was not easy to talk about this set of tactics, but Wang Tom was sure that this set of tactics was completely sufficient for this small port on Natuna Island, which was neglected to guard.

When the fleet was still about five nautical miles away from the port, it was also discovered by fishing boats on the sea, after all, the huge figure of the "Majesty-class" battleship could not be hidden by the thin fog on the sea.

The Dutchman reacted a little quicker than Tom had expected, and as the fleet approached the harbor, a Western-style sailing ship sailed out of the harbor. However, the ship did not rush up and desperately try, but headed southeast.

"Stop it, if the ship doesn't plan to stop, it can just open fire!" King Tom quietly ordered.

It is clear that the ship did not intend to come out to stop the invasion of foreign enemies, but to rush out while the harbor was still blocked, and leave here to report to Batavia. Of course, it is impossible for Wang Tom to let this ship leave Natuna Island, and it is still a trivial matter to go to Batavia to report to the police, and the leakage of the whereabouts of the "Majesty-class" warship may cause real trouble. After all, the Haihan militia captured Natuna Island under the banner of pirates, and the "Majesty Class", a big ship that can be called a giant ship in Southeast Asia, is definitely not built by a group of pirates.

As for the islanders on the island who saw the true face of the "Majesty-class" warship, Wang Tom was not too worried, after the militia captured the island, they would send the islanders to the north in batches to settle. The Dutch, as well as their subordinates and retinues, were all to be escorted to the mines of Hainan Island or Heitu Harbor to work as coolies, and the women and children were also imprisoned. At least in the last few years, the Dutch probably have little chance of learning the truth about the fall of Natuna, and even if they suspect that the Haihan did it in the future, they will not be able to come up with any real evidence.

The superiority of the Haihan warship in terms of sailing performance was immediately apparent, and the two "Exploration-class" warships quickly turned after receiving the order and rushed in the direction of the Dutch sailing ship's escape, and its trajectory was not an exaggeration to describe it as "flexible". When the Dutch sailing ship sailed out of the harbor, the position of the two Haihan warships responsible for intercepting it was basically parallel to it, and the distance between them was only two or three hundred meters, and they had already entered the range of the Haihan warship's naval guns at the first time.

Almost at the same time, five other warships led by the "Majesty" also sailed into the port area, and the gun windows on the side of the ship had already been opened in advance, and the black holes of the guns were aimed at the buildings on the coast. Now that there is no need for binoculars, the crew can already clearly see the panicked people running from the shore. In the distance, a group of musketeers was assembling in the open space in front of the dock warehouse, apparently intending to resist the sudden intruder, but unfortunately, their weapons were not much more advanced than the burning sticks of the Haihan militia commanders.

"You've managed to get my attention!" Tom muttered, and then began to give the battle order: "Aim at the target on the shore on the port side, three rounds of rapid fire!"

The "Majesty" was equipped with a total of 52 guns of 12-pounder, 24-pounder, and 48-pound calibers, of which a total of 24 guns were arranged on each side of the ship with three layers of gun decks. This was also the first time that the "Majesty" launched an attack on the shore with naval guns after it was put into service, and the 24 four guns roared one after another, firing shells at the only target area on the shore.

Although it was difficult for the shells fired from the moving battleship to have a high hit rate, the firing distance was only a hundred meters, and the dense shells still covered the area where the musketeers were located in the first place. The shells caused flesh and blood to fly in the smoke and dust, and I don't know how many unlucky ghosts died in this wave of shelling. After the second round of artillery firing, there was no longer a standing figure in that area, so Wang Tom had to temporarily change his order to stop the unnecessary third round of shelling.

Wang Tom also felt that his actions were a bit like killing chickens with knives, and he ordered with a smile: "The port side artillery is on standby, the Majesty is on guard, and the infantry has begun to land!"

The boats in the back dropped their boats, loaded with soldiers from the Annam Field Infantry Battalion, rowing to the pier. They need to land at the dock first, and then the big ship can dock under their guidance. As the infantry commander of the operation, Mushabai also personally joined the first group of landings.

Perhaps the previous shelling had a sufficient deterrent effect, and not even a single figure could be seen on the pier at this time, and the infantry did not even encounter the slightest counterattack or resistance during the rowing landing, as they did during the tactical exercises, and easily occupied the pier.

At this time, the two ships in charge of the Dutch galleon also opened fire, and the chain bullet fired by one of the ships hit the main mast of the opposing ship in the second round of shelling, breaking it alive. This can almost be said to kill the other side's hope of escape, and the Dutchman on the ship, after realizing the difference in strength between the two sides, did not try to continue to resist, but chose to lower the sails and surrender.

The whole battle at sea lasted only about half an hour before it ended, and with the continued landing of the infantry battalion, the chances of the Dutch regaining control of the dock were already approaching zero indefinitely, and the process of seizing the port to complete the landing was easier than the military had anticipated when they had drawn up their battle plans in advance.

As soon as he landed, Mushaber went to confirm the results of the bombardment of the "Majesty", and as he guessed, it was impossible to count the specific results of the battle at the scene, and the corpses and large blood stains were scattered in an area about the size of half a football field, and it was completely impossible to count how many Dutch musketeers were killed by this artillery fire.

Not all of them were blasted to pulp, though, and the infantry soon found a few lucky ones still shivering in the pile. The militia platoon commander in charge of capturing the prisoners conducted a "surprise interrogation" with a saber in the shortest possible time, and then immediately fed back the information he had learned to Mushabai.

According to the prisoner's confession, it was the musket team stationed on the island that had just assembled on the dock. The Dutch were also unlucky, as it was the day of training for the musketeers, and the musketeers had just left the barracks when they were alerted to an enemy coming from the sea. So these people immediately gathered on the docks, intending to resist the invasion of outsiders. However, the opponent had no intention of approaching them, and sent most of the musketeers to God with a direct bombardment from afar.

As for the local militia, they had already witnessed the destruction of the main force before they had time to assemble just now, so these militiamen, who were only equipped with cold weapons, immediately dispersed, and some of them should have fled back to the stronghold inhabited by the Dutch.

Given that the Dutch stronghold was armed with small-caliber artillery, Mushaber did not rush to launch the next attack, but asked the infantry to clear the dock area first, and wait for the large ships to dock in order to unload the artillery used by the army. Anyway, it would be a dead end for the Dutch to run out now, and Mushaber was not in a hurry for a while, so he took advantage of this time to clear the forward camp first.

The Dutch stronghold was not too far from the docks, only two miles. The residences of the local residents are basically located in the area from the docks to the Dutch stronghold. While the infantry marched, it was also possible to make a simple combing of the local settlements.

According to the military's intelligence, the local population is less than 4,000, and most of them live in this port town. The Dutch make up only about a tenth of the population, and more than a third of them have been turned into minced meat on the docks. The rest of the men, together with the local indigenous militia who obeyed their orders, made a total of three or four hundred, and the field battalion that had arrived from Annam to participate in the operation was already more than five hundred, and was well armed with light and heavy weapons, enough to beat the remaining Dutch on the island.

Although the Dutch also set up several cannons on the walls of the stronghold, this was not a big threat in the eyes of the Haihan militia. Mushabai ordered the artillery to set up positions at a distance of 400 meters, preparing to disarm these potential threats first.

The Dutch in the stronghold attempted a round of artillery bombardment, but their old-fashioned Francophone cannons were not enough to threaten Haihan's artillery position at this distance, only to reveal their strength again before the battle began.

When the artillery position was arranged, Wang Tom had already landed and came to the front of the battle to watch the battle. Seeing this, Mushaber asked, "Is the Dutch ship disposed of?"

"Well, the living people on the ship have already been caught, and the ship was damaged more severely and directly scuttled. Wang Tom said with a natural expression: "It only took two rounds of shelling for my men to beat that ship into a sieve." ”

Mu Shabai nodded with a smile, then walked to the artillery position, called the commander of the artillery company responsible for ranging and aiming, and said in a low voice: "The commander of the navy can wait here to see our jokes, I will give you three rounds of chances to knock out the gun emplacements in front of the stronghold, do a good job, go back and be rewarded, do not do well...... I'll transfer you to the cooking company to be the company commander when I go back!"

The artillery company commander answered, and hurriedly returned to his position to reconfirm the position of the calculated sight. In fact, at this distance, the hit rate of Haihan artillery can already be quite high, but Mu Xiabai said it so strictly, the artillery side quickly readjusted the tactics again, reducing the original target from three to one, and concentrating firepower to carry out a covering strike to ensure that the target can be hit as much as possible.

"Lao Mu, it's okay to start!" Tom Wang pointed to the watch on his wrist and said, "I've been busy all day, and it's almost time for dinner after I'm done!"

Mushabai nodded expressionlessly, and then gave the order to open fire to the artillerymen.

The result did not disappoint Mushabai, in the first round, a cannonball hit the wall near the opponent's gun position, and the distance from the direct hit was only about two or three meters, Mushabai almost beat his leg in anger when he saw this scene from the telescope. However, the second round of shelling after the correction did not miss the target again, and at least three shells hit the same gun position, cutting off that section of the wall by more than half a foot. Although the casualties of the other side are unknown, this gun position must have been terminated.

"Luck!" After confirming this result, Mu Shabai's expression finally became relaxed.

Of course, Wang Tom was not blind, so he naturally understood Mu Xiabai's change in love, and immediately spread his hands and said: "Eon! Old Mu, we have fought together before, why should you care about these details!"

"No, no, no, it's not about personal relationships!Tom, it's the dignity of the Army!" replied Mushaber very seriously.

"Well, as long as you're happy!" Tom shrugged, "Now is the time for you to decide." ”

According to the battle plan drawn up in advance, the sea part of the island attack operation was commanded by Wang Tom, while the road operation was commanded by Mu Shabai, and the army and navy performed their own duties and assisted each other. However, in the face of such a weak opponent, it is clear that the commanders of the army and navy are still fighting silently, hoping that the troops under their command can have a better appearance.

After Shun Lì had eliminated the second gun emplacement, the gates of the Dutch stronghold were opened, and a red-haired man walked out with a white flag and signaled an armistice. Seeing this, Mushabai also ordered a pause in the shooting and asked the man to come and talk. After all, the goal of the militia is not to massacre the Dutch, but to achieve the occupation of this place as much as possible, which can save a little ammunition and time, and reduce the possibility of casualties, which is also a good thing for the militia.

The man was searched and brought to Tom and Mushabe. The red-haired man muttered a few words, but Mu Shabai didn't understand, but Wang Tom lowered his voice and said, "This guy speaks German." ”

"Aren't the Dutch people speaking Dutch?" Mushaber muttered when he heard Tom Wang's explanation.

Tom patted Mu Shabai lightly, signaling him not to respond to this man. Mu Shabai also reacted at once, their current identity is the so-called "Anhai pirates", if they can understand German, it is really a hell of a life. At that moment, Mu Xiabai coughed dryly, revealing an unknown expression.