Erdaoliang position, Dutch headquarters

The artillery fire fell intensively, cracking the earth and rocks blown up at the hilltop position, shattering the fortifications such as the breastwork, ravines, bunkers, and artillery positions, and killing and wounding the officers and men on the front line.

"I curse this damn war, where are these damn Queenslanders getting so many shells?"

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel Schmeichel, you forgot that Batavia just sent them a shipload of munitions, which contained 16 German-made 95mm guns and 220 tons of shells, and these are the ones that fell on our heads, and I curse these damned Dutchmen to hell, this is a complete murder."

"Everything sucks, Mr. Colonel, I really can't even wait a minute or a second, and when the Queensland troops rush up, we'll surrender, right?"

"I don't think it will take long to suffer, they are ready to start a general attack, notify the troops immediately......"

As soon as he said this, Colonel Schmeichel saw Lord Smitt von Crawnes, a colonel of the Royal Netherlands Army, enter the command post with a large number of guards, and immediately wisely shut his mouth.

What was the reason why Lord Smitt von Crawns, commander-in-chief of the landing force, came to the front command at this time when the enemy was about to launch a general offensive?

The answer was soon revealed......

"Guards, disarm them all." Lord Smit von Cloyns ordered with a gloomy face.

The guards immediately disarmed the officers of the command and tied their hands behind their backs, making them very rude.

At this time, no matter how stupid a person is, Colonel Schmeichel motionlessly allowed the guards to tie him up rudely, and a disdainful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said; "Your Excellency, how did you find out?"

"It's very simple, buy it with a lot of money."

"OK, then I'm fine."

Colonel Schmeichel behaved very disgracefully, mercenaries will fight for money, and will naturally sell their souls for money, at this time, there is no need to talk about loyalty and fighting friendship, let alone accusations of betrayal, because what Colonel Schmeichel planned was not a glorious thing, and mercenaries were originally a group of scum.

It is possible that there are also noble ones among the mercenaries, but apparently they do not exist here.

Lord Smit von Crawnes led a cadre of Dutch officers to take over the front command, while also taking over a mess.

Due to the repeated bombardment of Shangri-La's heavy artillery fire, the defensive positions on the mountain beams were almost blown to pieces, and the number of defensive officers and soldiers killed and wounded was no less than 500, which was comparable to the casualties of a high-intensity offensive campaign.

At present, the total strength of the Dutch landing force is less than 3,600 people, and nearly 500 soldiers have been removed at once, including Dutch troops and mercenary units.

Seeing that the enemy was about to attack in a big way, the defensive positions ravaged by artillery fire were like paper, which could be broken with a slight stab, and the defense must be strengthened immediately.

Lord Smit von Cloyns took out his gem-encrusted solid gold pocket watch and looked at it, it was now six minutes to nine o'clock in the morning, and the enemy's general attack might be officially launched at nine o'clock, and time was running out.

"Order the entire Royal Upper Ethel Volunteer Battalion to enter the defensive position of the mountain beam, and the order must arrive within 5 minutes, and the commanders of each company will immediately report to the headquarters, and the other troops will be on standby at any time."

"Yes, Lord Lord."

The herald immediately ran to give the order, and the other Dutch commanders tacitly went their separate ways, only Principal Schmeichel, who had his hands tied behind his back, sighed and remained silent with a gloomy expression.

This is obviously to pull the mercenary troops up as cannon fodder to resist the first wave of fierce offensives, and how many people can survive in the end has to put a big question mark?

Looking at this situation, Lord Smitt von Crawns, a colonel in the Royal Dutch Army, who has a rigid personality, is ready to stumble to the end.

The current battle situation is clear at a glance, and the Shangri-La Division is obviously ready to dispatch heavy troops to conquer the position in one fell swoop, and the first battle will be a decisive battle, and today will be an extremely bloody day.

The Dutch army has no way to retreat, and the Erdaoliang position is the main defensive position of the Dutch army, and once it is lost, it will be over.

Therefore, it is necessary to defend it at all costs.

With the manpower of the Dutch army, it is impossible to operate the occupied area through wind and rain, the fortress is full of camps, and the focus of defense is still on the Erdaoliang position.

As for the three-beam positions in the rear, uh...... It's basically the same dilapidated appearance as it was when it was breached.

Once the main position is lost, then under the heavy pursuit of the enemy, it will be a thousand miles and the ball will be completely finished.

The Dutch troops braved the artillery fire and came up quickly, and they could only hide in the artillery pits, behind the rocks, and in the ruins of the fortifications, enduring the torment of heavy artillery bombardment.

With the sound of dazzling firelight, the remains of corpses flew into the sky along with the dirt.

Every minute and every second of perseverance has to pay the price of life.

After the commander of the company of the Royal Upper Ethel Volunteer Battalion came to the headquarters, they were all disarmed and tied up without exception, and the Dutch no longer trusted these mercenary officers, and directly sent Dutch officers to command the front-line troops.

Ten past nine

The fierce artillery bombardment, which seemed to never stop, finally quieted down, and with two flares, one red and one green, rose into the sky, and the order for a general attack was launched.

In the sound of passionate military music, the soldiers of the Second Regiment lined up in a line of stragglers came up in black, and from a distance of nearly four or five hundred meters, they saw Dutch soldiers standing in the ruins, numbering about 1,000 people, forming a three-column firing formation, ready to carry out the tactics of lining up and shooting.

See this scenario

The officers of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment immediately gave a loud order, and the soldiers slowed down and lined up in three neat columns, carrying their guns and marching forward to the beat of drums.

Under the stern orders of the officer, the soldiers of the first battalion, which was about 200 meters behind, also began to form a whole team, arranging the originally loose straggler queue into a neat horizontal queue, also three rows of queues, each platoon with about 340 soldiers.

The soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, located at the foot of the mountain, began to form a formation at the same time, advancing to the beat of the drums of military music.

The smoke of gunpowder lingers, and the murderous machine is pervasive.

Behind the Erdaoliang position, the Dutch follow-up troops caught up one after another, and began to form a formation at the sound of the officer's order, meeting the enemy in a long horizontal queue.

Both sides were tense, and neither of them would back down, vowing to fight until the last moment for the battle for this narrow mountain beam position, shedding the last drop of blood.

Judging by the scene

The number of soldiers on both sides was about the same, about 1,000 people, and they were also lined up in three rows of firing queues, with more than 300 people in each platoon.

The Dutch defenders totaled about 3,000 people, and the first wave of the attacking Shangri-La Division was about 4,500 people, so the gap was not large.

But in the valley, a steady stream of Shangri-La Division soldiers is pouring out, densely spread out and there is no end in sight, and they will enter the battle as the follow-up force of the second and third waves, and conquer the enemy positions at any cost.

In this case, the winner is already decided.

Two beams on the position

The Dutch soldiers lined up in a horizontal line stood by as the enemy approached, and when the distance between the two sides was about 260 meters, the Dutch officer gave a loud order; "Raise your gun, aim, shoot."

At the same time as the Dutch officers gave the order, the officers of the 3rd Battalion of the attacking Shangri-La Division gave orders almost one after the other; "Stop moving, raise your gun, aim, shoot!"

Dense gunfire rang out almost in no particular order, a large area of thick gunpowder smoke wafted, and hot projectiles whistled and flew and shuttled, bringing death and endless pain.

"Puff ......"

The muffled sound of bullets burrowing into flesh connected into pieces, blooming with splatters of blood, and the first row of the two queues fell like dogs gnawing on large numbers of soldiers, either dead or wounded.

Without the officer's command, the soldiers standing in the second row numbly filled forward, pulled the bolt to unload, raised the gun to aim.

"Launch ......"

"Launch ......"

"Launch ......"

Accompanied by the sound of dense gunfire, thick gunpowder smoke drifted into the sky, the pungent smell of blood permeated the battlefield, and death was everywhere.

When the gunfire stopped for a while, there were few more than 1,000 Dutch soldiers left on the Erdaoliang position, only less than 300 people retreated in a hurry, and soon stopped under the threat of the guns of the soldiers in the rear, and turned around with pale faces and trembling legs.

They were greeted by a dense rain of bullets, and more than 130 people fell in this round of shooting, and the remaining soldiers finally exploded like rabbits.

The soldiers of the three battalions who took the lead in the attack also paid a heavy price, with nearly half of the 1,130 men killed and wounded in the battalion, and the corpses and wreckage were densely lying on the hillside of the attack.

The third battalion was able to overwhelm the strong enemy and win, the key was that the German-made Mauser 1871 magazine mounted rifle in the hand fired faster, and the bolt could be pushed and loaded, and it could shoot more volleys in the queue to shoot, and greet the enemy with a heavy rain of bullets.

In the midst of dense drum beats

The soldiers of the first battalion lined up in a neat queue and crossed the crippled three battalions, and marched towards the enemy with firm steps.

………………

Head Dao Liang Command Center

"Who is that high-ranking Dutch officer standing next to the queue?" Li Fushou held binoculars in both hands and looked at the battlefield, and suddenly asked.

"Returning to Lord Earl, it is the Supreme Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army Landing Force ~ Colonel Lord Smit von Crauns, a military nobleman who admires honor, and I am very honored to be able to fight him." Division commander Fritz replied.

"Uh-huh...... That's right. Li Fushou responded, put down the telescope in his hand and sighed, and said solemnly; Collect the corpse after the war, please give this lord gentleman the aristocratic treatment he deserves, he deserves respect. ”

"Yes, Lord Count, allow me to leave for a moment and return to the troops, I hope to be able to step into enemy positions with the soldiers."

"Go, Mr. Master, and enjoy your moment of victory."

"Thank you, Earl, for your permission."

The division commander Fritz gave a solemn military salute, turned around and quickly left with a group of officers, and there were still many matters to deal with after occupying the position, such as pursuing the routed troops, organizing a search team to clean up the battlefield, cleaning up the stragglers, organizing the evacuation of the wounded for treatment, collecting the remains of the martyrs, and sending a force to attack the Lucky Bay.

At this time, the people in the headquarters were empty, and only a few secretariat personnel brought by Li Fushou and Wu Xuewen, the general manager of Shangri-La, and almost all the other officers went to the front line.

Li Fushou no longer looked at the battle below, since the Dutch put on the tactic of lining up to shoot, he was doomed to failure.

The hilltop position, which had been bombed into ruins, left the Dutch commander with little choice, whether to lie down in a mud puddle and resist stubbornly, or to stand up and die a glorious death, it seemed that only two options remained.

Lord Smit von Cloyns bravely stood at the side of the shooting queue and commanded the Dutch soldiers to meet the attacking troops, which originated from the ancient knightly dedication and sacrifice spirit of Europe, and bravely set an example for the soldiers.

It also decided his fate, which will forever remain in this blood-stained land.

As for the so-called mercenary surrender, Li Fushou didn't consider it at all, is it important for these scum to die?

The Second Regiment is already enough to clean up the opponent, and it seems that the Second Regiment Commander Zhao Jiaxiong has to be promoted to the title of deputy division commander, in order to commend the outstanding performance of the Second Regiment.

Li Fushou has always been generous in rewarding honor and money to encourage officers and men to fight bravely.

At this stage

Li Fushou is not right, his words are not good, and he cannot use the national and national righteousness to call on the people, this war is in essence a war of nobles and lords fighting for territory, and it is a competition between the king of the Netherlands, a big nobleman, and the local strength of the Earl of Queensland, so it is the most direct and effective way to use a large amount of money and high-ranking officials to motivate officers and soldiers to fight.

"Brother Xuewen, after this battle, Shangri-La Island will enter the stage of recovery and reconstruction, and the follow-up resettlement plan will also be launched, what are your plans for the construction of the area?" Li Fushou has stopped paying attention to the battle in front of him, and has turned to thinking about future construction.

Wu Xuewen had already considered this, and said respectfully; "Your Excellency, I have traveled a lot of places in the past year or so, inspected the mountains and rivers of Shangri-La Island, and found that this is a promising hot land, and the future is promising!

At the southern end of the island, there is a large plain area, the water flow is vertical and horizontal, the land is fertile, which is very suitable for the development of agriculture and planting, especially the sugar industry and the rubber planting industry can be used as a fist industry development, and relying on the development of these two major industries to develop characteristic industries, it can solve the livelihood problem of up to 200~3 million people.

In addition, the westernmost paradise island has excellent port conditions, and it is the only way for Java to go to Luzon and the Far East, and I want to develop a trade transit town here, which does not need to be large at first, about 2~30,000 people, and is self-sufficient in agriculture, and industrial products need to be imported from the outside world.

It's just that at present, there are no valuable minerals worth mining, and the corresponding industry cannot be developed, which is a pity. ”

"Take your time, don't rush, I don't believe there are no mineral resources in such a big place." Li Fushou was very optimistic, smiled lightly and said; "To be able to develop the sucrose industry and natural rubber planting industry, is a very powerful two fist products, to know that the world demand for sucrose is very strong, and natural rubber with the development of mechanical products will inevitably be more and more demand, you should be based on the development of characteristic products, for the time being, do not be ambitious."

"The teachings of the Earl, the learning of the literature in mind, will definitely go step by step, and make some achievements in this hot land, so as to live up to the trust of the Earl."

As the veteran and founder of the development of Shangri-La Island, as long as this hot land is built into a prosperous world, future generations will remember your exploits."

Hearing the big cake drawn by Li Fushou, Wu Xuewen couldn't help but feel the blood surging all over his body, stood up and said with a long stroke; "Xuewen, please give me 30 years, and I will give you a prosperous world."

"Hahahaha...... Well, looking back on today a hundred years later, it is not a good story. Li Fushou stroked his palms and laughed.

Since ancient times, there have been few people who have explored fame and fortune, and this trick has really been tried and tested.