Chapter 147 Logistics

As the commander of the Dutch expeditionary convoy, he understood better than anyone the problems that existed with the joint expeditionary forces of the two countries!

'Logistics!' This is the first problem that all expeditionary forces must face, and the Netherlands and Portugal are no exception!

Of the nearly 100 transport ships in the fleets of the two countries this time, except for less than half of the ships carrying more than 50,000 soldiers, almost all of the remaining transport ships were supplied with coal, food, weapons, and equipment! However, the supply of more than 50 ships was only a three-month drain for the troops! Moreover, even after the expeditionary force successfully landed in Batavia, the rifles, artillery, and ammunition lost in the battle had to be replenished by the Panaji base in the rear!

Of course, although the distance is a little farther, there is no big problem! However, now after discovering that the Chinese People's Army, which has occupied the East Indies, has such high-speed ironclad cruisers, the situation has changed radically! The logistical supply of the combined armies of the two countries has been seriously threatened!

In the vast Indian Ocean of nearly 2,000 nautical miles, from Panaji to Batavia, there are almost everywhere loopholes for the Chinese People's Army that controls Sumatra! Their warships can use this narrow island as a base to attack and destroy the logistics supply lines of the joint expeditionary forces of the two countries at will!

So in order to strangle these five warships and protect their own logistics, the Netherlands and Portugal must come up with several times more warships than each other to have this possibility! But Munch is very suspicious that those gunboats, which are less than 1,000 tons and are basically wooden hulls, will all become sea garbage under the 130mm twin-mounted main guns of these fast cruisers! Therefore, the armies of the two countries, which are seriously lacking in escort warships, are likely to face a situation of lack of guns and artillery, and in this case, even the most powerful army will not win the war!

Moreover, he still did not know how many ironclad cruisers of the Chinese People's Army had such extremely fast speed and powerful artillery! If they were coming with more than a dozen! Then ......!

Munch was pale, and shook his head with some fear in his eyes, if it was really as predicted in his mind, then the joint expeditionary forces of the two countries were very likely to suffer defeat, and the more than 50,000 army forces were likely to become prisoners without firing a single shot! The Netherlands and Portugal would suffer the heaviest losses in hundreds of years! At that time, the two countries would not only lose their national strength greatly, but also lose the rich East Indies colonies in the Far East forever!

Thinking of this, Munch couldn't help but raise his lowered head and look at the distant place where the sky and water meet, he really wanted to see if there was still a powerful fleet in ambush on the sea route less than six hundred nautical miles from Batavia ahead, waiting for the fleets of the Netherlands and Portugal, which had been sailing for six days and were becoming physically and mentally exhausted, to enter the table he had prepared long ago!

"Captain Mundley, how far are we from the convoy now?" After looking at the blue sea for a moment, Munch suddenly turned his head and asked.

"Commander, we are still sixty nautical miles away from them!" said Mundley, returning from the Navigator's accurate data.

Hearing his words, Munch couldn't help frowning, at the beginning they proudly drove the five enemy ships like cats and mice, drove at a speed of fifteen knots for more than five hours, and left the fleet for more than 80 kilometers! Coupled with the delay in gathering the Grand Duke, the Prince, and the Orlanch along the way, it is normal for the fleet to go back twenty nautical miles in four hours at the current speed of five knots!

However, every time he saw the two broken warships following behind the fleet, Munch would unconsciously feel a bad feeling in his heart, making him unconsciously want to get as far away from here as possible!

"Commander, are you still worried about those five warships?" Mendeli, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but ask when he saw the deep worry on his face.

Turning his head back, after the light blue eyes swept over him, Munch looked at the sea that was already setting in the sun, and asked, "Montley, do you think those five fast ironclad cruisers will come back to fight us?"

"Judging from their previous actions of following our convoy all the way, they will definitely come back again! As for whether they will fight us again, I don't know! However, if they do come back to trouble us, the Jewel will never back down!" Montley looked down and thought for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and replied solemnly and solemnly.

Hearing his words, Munch nodded expressionlessly, didn't say anything, and the focus of his eyes once again focused on the red glow that was falling in the distance, reflecting the incomparably beautiful sea!

——————

Hans pulled out a small iron cross from under his collar and held it tightly in his hand, praying to the omnipotent God to bless him to return safely to his hometown outside Amsterdam, the Netherlands!

Watching his movements, Scott, who was also a lookout, couldn't help frowning his brows, since the soldiers on the two ironclad ships saw the miserable situation on the Prince and the Orlanch under the enemy's sharp naval guns, the Royal Dutch Navy, which was originally full of confidence in this Far East operation, became silent!

The wailing soldiers on the two battleships, the pitted hulls, those who have never experienced war since joining the army, understand the cruelty of war!

"Sergeant Scott, will those Chinese still catch up?" Hans asked after praying for a while, silently putting away his cross, and asked Scott, who joined the army several years earlier than him and was considered a veteran.

Hearing his words, Scott secretly frowned, he couldn't answer this question, but looking at his comrades-in-arms with a little panic, he knew that he had to say something at this time!

"Don't worry, Hans! Our Jewel and Grand Duke are both ironclad ships with a tonnage of more than 3,500 tons, and he also has two 210mm heavy naval guns! As long as those Chinese navy are not stupid, they will not use their warships of less than 1,500 tons to attack our warships! You must know that their 130mm naval guns cannot penetrate the 280mm wrought iron armor on our Jewel!"

"Hans, Hans, are you listening to me?" Scott said with some dissatisfaction in his tone, looking at the young man who was looking behind him in a daze, looking more and more frightened.

"Sergeant, you... Look!" Hans said as if he did not hear him, but stretched out his trembling right hand, pointed to the sea in the distance, and said in a trembling voice.

"I'll see what scares you kid like this?" Scott frowned, and after lamenting the poor quality of these recruits, he muttered and turned his head and looked up into the distance!

The Jewel's pole is twenty meters high, and although the sun is about to go down and the light has become a little dim, things within twenty nautical miles can still be seen faintly!

"Fleet! Chinese fleet ......!" Scott, who was standing on the railpole, looked frightened and anxious, pointed to the battleships that were getting closer and closer on the sea in the distance, and shouted loudly.

"Oh God!"

"These devils are following again!"

"Eight!!!How are there three more warships!"

The Dutch officers and soldiers who heard the shout all put down their work, crowded on the deck and looked at the enemy ships that were becoming clearer and clearer on the sea in the north, and shouted loudly!

"Ready for battle!!" just then Montley stepped out of the bridge, clutched the iron railing, and shouted at the soldiers on deck!

Although the enemy's warships have increased by three, the glory of being the Dutch Navy makes him choose to fight, and even if he is defeated and surrendered in the end, he will not regret it!