April 20, 1883

Early in the morning

As an advance dispatch

April 20, 1883

Early in the morning

More than 6,500 officers and men of the 2nd Kalimantan Division, which was the main force of the advance attack, gathered at the port with full personnel. One after another boarded one troop transport ship after another.

On the huge wharf, the well-trained soldiers boarded the ship in an orderly manner according to the commander's orders, and the sound of guns hitting the bulkheads was heard from time to time, and the scene was filled with an invisible atmosphere of solemnity.

In order to ensure the large-scale sea-crossing and landing operation, the relevant departments dispatched five 3,000-ton migrant ships and more than 10 cargo ships of various sizes to accompany the support, with a displacement ranging from 3,000 tons to 500 tons, to meet the needs of landing in Guangrong Bay.

In addition to a large amount of equipment of the artillery regiment and accompanying ammunition, camp tents, food and other supplies, the freighter was loaded with more than 200 Kalimantan buffaloes, a small number of horses and more than 50 tractors, as well as a reinforced engineering battalion.

The buffalo is the best animal power on Borneo's rugged roads, slow but loaded, a single ox can easily carry a complete set of 60mm light artillery parts, and the ox cart is also the main means of transport in the region, well adapted to the tropical rainforest climate.

The tractor is the main mechanical force of the engineer battalion, which can greatly speed up the speed of opening roads and building forts, and can be turned into a vehicle to carry soldiers when necessary, and can also load the heavy communication equipment of the division headquarters, tow artillery trucks, and load artillery boxes, which is simply a panacea for the battlefield.

War horses are very delicate in the tropical rainforest, easy to contract various tropical diseases, and easy to get injured, so they only carry more than 20 horses, which is better than nothing.

More than a dozen Combined Fleet warships scattered in the bay surrounded the waters around the huge landing ship group, and the muzzles of the black holes had torn off their gun jackets, emitting a dark and cold light in the early morning light, ready to attack at any time.

More than an hour later

Most of the officers and men of the 2nd Kalimantan Division had already boarded the ship, and the troop transport regiment had finished loading, untied the cable one after another, left the dock, and slowly sailed towards the bay.

The huge regiment of ships had to be regrouped in the open sea, and then pounced on the target under the escort of the Combined Fleet, with an estimated 23-hour journey time of one day and one night.

A corner of the pier

The military band played a majestic marching song, and a group of senior officers who saw them off saluted and saw off all the officers and men of the Second Division.

Standing on the side of the freighter, the second division commander Liu Shan, the deputy division commander Koch and other officers solemnly returned the salute, accompanied by a long whistle, the ship left the dock in the sound of music and sailed towards the blue open sea......

After the huge mixed formation was reorganized in the open sea, it sailed towards Saimuda, an important port in Central Kalimantan Province.

It is expected to arrive at Glorious Bay in the early morning of tomorrow morning, after a day and a night.

This trick was learned from the Royal Dutch Navy fleet, avoiding the frontal assault of the dock batteries, landing on the flanks in a roundabout way, and beating the opponent off guard.

The sun rises overhead, shining brightly over the blue sea.

The mixed formation of dozens of ships presents a long queue of snakes, and the bow plows through the waves and sails forward, which looks spectacular.

Commander Tari of the flagship of the Combined Fleet

He Fang sat in his own command position, his eyes swept over the ships boating in the nearby waters, and a sense of pride rose in his heart.

Today

The Red River Valley is already capable of organizing joint naval and land military operations of tens of thousands of people, and no more than 10 countries in the world have the capacity to do so.

The Governor's Office of the Dutch East Indies had made great efforts to organize a landing force of 3,500 men, which was almost at its limit.

This large-scale gesture demonstrates the strength of the Red River Valley's economic development over the years, thanks to the large-scale migration movement and ocean-going trade that have developed over the years, which have provided strong support for military operations.

The economy and the military have always been twins of one and the same, and the relationship is inseparable.

Under the wise leadership of the Earl, the Red River Valley, a force founded mainly by overseas Chinese, has developed vigorously and expansively, and is expected to break new ground in the South Pacific region.

It is this bright future that inspires more people of insight to join the Red River Valley.

as far as is known;

Some undesirable literati students from some southeastern coastal provinces, Zhishi bureaucrats, have sailed overseas to Australia, a fertile land of hope, and a new trend has gradually formed.

He himself had several of his former colleagues come to Australia, hoping to be introduced to the Earl's sight through somewhere.

The utilitarian mentality is quite urgent, and it is obvious that he has been embarrassed for a long time, and the Sven of the reader can't take care of it.

In this regard, it is ambiguous who is.

Who is unwilling to tell the truth to crack down on these old bureaucrats, old literati, in the Red River Valley or Australia, whether it is the military and political world, in the future, it will be the world of young talents cultivated by the Eagle School, there is no place for the old bureaucrats here, let's go cool!

The Earl has always been cautious in employing people, and would rather lack than abuse.

Think back to the beginning

Recommended by Lord Gu Yanchuan, He Fang, Xin Changjun, Wu Mozhou, Pan Shoudao 4 people, together with the current deputy captain of the personal guard Lei Xiao, followed the Earl to Europe to travel, the old world view has undergone earth-shaking transformation, accepted the new ideas and new concepts since the steam industrial revolution, and became the first batch of talents to open their eyes to the world, so that they can be reused by the Earl.

It is not six years ago that young talents from the Eagle School, the University of the Red River Valley, the University of Brisbane and other institutions have sprung up like mushrooms, filling the military and grassroots departments in the military and political circles, and they have performed extremely well.

The young man is knowledgeable, enthusiastic, energetic, and more importantly, after years of brainwashing education, he has an almost fanatical admiration and loyalty to Lord Earl.

How could the Earl let go of the outstanding talents he had cultivated and appoint some old bureaucrats and old literati who were full of ideas?

Now there is an undercurrent in the upper strata of the Red River Valley that is promoting the establishment of an independent state, respecting the Lord Earl, and also trying to find out where the tone is, and who has not said a word about it.

In his opinion, the military must not be involved in such an operation.

With the Earl's iron-fisted control of the army, the army will never be allowed to deviate from its control, and anyone who does not see this will die a miserable death.

He Fang raised his head, his eyes full of determination; "Order the First Squadron to expand the search area, closely monitor any abnormal situation, and seize any ships found in their path, and sink violators immediately."

"Yes!"

There were no dangers along the way, early the next morning.

Glorious Bay

It is a small bay located 21 km from the port of Saimuda, the estuary of a nameless clear stream, and similar terrain can be found everywhere in the coastal areas of Central Kalimantan Province.

The southern part of Central Kalimantan province is low-lying, most of the area is composed of plains and swamps, the coverage rate of primeval tropical forests is more than 90%, and the five major rivers of Borneo with a length of more than 600 kilometers are located in the province, presenting a spectacular scene similar to the parallel flow of three rivers in southwest China, which can be called "five dragons to the sea".

Among them, there is only one Barito River, with a riverbed length of about 880 kilometers, and the turbulent inflow of water reaches 5,000 cubic meters per second, and more than two-thirds of the river is navigable.

Therefore, to capture Central Kalimantan, it is necessary to first capture the important coastal port of Saimuda, and then go upstream to occupy Sampit, which is about 80 kilometers away from the port of Saimoda.

These two towns are the economic core and population center of Central Kalimantan Province, surrounded by a large number of white plantations, and are the key defense areas of the Royal Netherlands Army.

The bay of glory was surrounded by a dense number of ships, and five troop transports successively lowered many small sampans to carry the landing advance party ashore.

Immediately after disembarking, the advance team searched inland to prevent a strong counterattack by the Dutch army, although this was unlikely.

It's not too late

A red signal flare rose into the sky deep in the rainforest, and Liu Shan, the commander of the second division, picked up the telescope on his chest to observe carefully, and found that there was another red signal flare rising in a more distant place, like a fireworks platform like an ancient relay to warn, which could allow the Dutch garrison in Saimuda Port to quickly get the news of the enemy's attack.

"Special mother, I learned another trick." Liu Shan muttered to himself, a disdainful smile on his lips.

What if the Dutch knew about the massive attack of the enemy?

It's not that we have to watch our troops land, and they are powerless to stop it.

In this battle, the commander-in-chief Wei Chi Shou clumsily studied under the famous general Zuo Zongtang of the late Qing Dynasty, and formulated the tactics of "hardening the village and fighting a dumb battle", suppressing the enemy with the general momentum of Huanghuang, and walking very steadily step by step.

There was no road from the Glorious Bay to the port of Saimuda, and the landing force could go ashore to build a stronghold and carve out a road in the rainforest.

The tactics of the Royal Netherlands Army and Navy are strange and varied, guerrilla warfare, sneak attack, frontal feints, and flank detours.

The battles that took place on Shangri-La Island were repeatedly discussed at the seminar for senior and middle-ranking officers of the army, and a lot of lessons were learned from them, which gradually developed into the combat characteristics of the Queensland troops.

Glorious Bay

A specially reconstructed 500-ton flatbed boat ran aground, almost half-horizontal on the shallows of the bay, and another engineering ship approached and began to lift the steel parts with a crane, and the soldiers swung sledgehammers into the sea.

Just over three hours later

Thick planks are laid on top of the wooden steel elements, and a pier boardwalk more than 50 meters long into the bay has been formed and has begun to extend to both sides, eventually forming a "T" shaped pier.

The troop carriers were the first to dock, and the first to unload were the heavy equipment of the engineer battalion, and the tractors that were hoisted off the dock rumbled up the tidal flats and into the jungle to do their job.

Towering trees were felled one after another, and the branches and leaves of the trees were dragged aside to be dried and used for firewood, and the disembarking soldiers began to clear the bushes, level the grounds, sprinkle lime and tamp the ground, and quickly opened up a large open area.

A large amount of material unloaded from the steamer was sent along the dock to the leveled field and stacked in an orderly manner, and thousands of people worked together in full swing, and by dusk, a large camp was quickly formed.