"Knock-knock-"

Depth charges exploded one after another, and the huge shock rippled through the old submarine.

Valves were constantly loosened, pipes were cracked, seawater shot out from the joints of pipes, and for a time there were more than a dozen places spraying water.

The Dutch sailors were terrified, and Gerd shouted sharply, ordering the overwhelmed rabble to rush to repair the submarine.

The sound of squeaking metal twisting in my ears was as uncomfortable as a cat's scratching heart, followed by a death warning - God knows if the next depth charge will land next to the submarine!

Once in battle, he was almost 100% dead, and he was drowned alive in a dim, cramped cabin.

The psychological pressure on submariners is far beyond that of ordinary sailors, and in the face of such a desperate situation, the performance of a group of hastily patched together shrimp soldiers and crab generals can be imagined.

"Sir, we should float up, or we'll die!" Some were so frightened that their voices trembled.

"No, calm down, go back to your posts!" Gerd immediately refused.

"Sir!"

"We can't hold on!"

"I don't want to die ......"

Suddenly, the sonarman's eyes widened and he shouted, "Depth charges are here again!" ”

The sailors, who were highly stressed and almost collapsed, were in a mess, some screaming for the immediate rise, and some crying and calling for their mothers.

"Cowards are despised wherever they are, surrender without doing their best, there are no such soldiers in the Netherlands!" The awe-inspiring Gerd said in a deep voice: "We will not die, we will definitely be able to escape!" ”

It was impossible for the Ming fleet to be pinned down by submarines, so the fleet commander ordered the destroyer Linying to continue to deal with the enemy submarine that was hiding, while the other ships continued to march towards Dalagan.

The battered transport ship sank slowly, and the crew and infantry had plenty of time to evacuate in an orderly manner, but some of the equipment could not be transferred and sank into the sea.

In the afternoon of the same day, the fleet entered the sea off Lagan.

"It's similar to the photos taken by the plane, so let's do these identified fortifications first."

"Okay."

Yan Chenwu stood on the bridge of the heavy cruiser Yinshan, looking out at the beachhead and deep positions shrouded in fleet artillery fire in the distance.

The Yinshan class is the earliest first-class treaty-type heavy patrol of the Ming Navy, and it still uses twin 192mm naval guns, and there are many unsatisfactory places in the design. Fortunately, the Ming Navy is a special case in terms of displacement restrictions, so the comprehensive level of the Yinshan-class with a standard displacement of 12,000 tons is okay.

The four twin guns roared in unison, and 103kg anti-explosive shells smashed into the semi-permanent fortifications, tearing the reinforced concrete to shreds.

All sorts of debris were blown away by the shock wave, and pieces of cement, twisted rebar, and broken wood flew in the air in a few circles before scattering one after another.

For a long time, Yan Chenwu was a little unconvinced by Zhou Changfeng, he admitted that the latter's theoretical level was indeed very high, but he did not think that he would be worse than him when leading troops in actual combat.

However, as the saying goes, "it is the mule that the horse comes out and slips", the battle of the Malayan Peninsula almost made Zhou Changfeng famous in the first battle - at least within the Ming army.

The assault group he led penetrated three lines of defense in three days and drove straight for nearly 800 miles, which was really appalling.

The layman looks at the lively situation and the insider's view of the doorway, and the focus is on "temporary transfer," "patchwork and organization," and "all arms." It is no problem for a layman to command such a temporarily organized mixed army of various arms.

First of all, it is necessary to have a detailed understanding of the advantages and tactics of the marines, motorized infantry, motorized artillery, heavy tanks, medium tanks, amphibious tank units involved.

Knowing oneself and knowing that one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles, but if you can't be a confidant, you can't even know the details of your subordinates, what kind of battle are you fighting?

But the problem is that everyone has limitations, for example, how is it possible for an army infantry officer to understand the tactics of an amphibious tank unit of the Marine Corps?

In addition, it is more important that the army is a place where there is more or less mountainism, and if a general cannot convince the people, he can only leave his post in disgrace.

The brigade commander of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Brigade is the same colonel as Zhou Changfeng, but the former is happy to obey the latter's command, which has to be said to be a kind of ability.

So although Yan Chenwu didn't want to admit it, he clearly realized in his heart that Zhou was indeed at least one grade better than him.

Uncle is right, the person who is recognized by the Emperor and His Majesty today, can that be a busy person?

At 17:33 in the afternoon of the same day, as the mines were also cleared, the 2nd Marine Brigade was busy starting the landing operation.

The Ming soldiers went ashore in landing craft at two landing sites southwest of Dalagan, and the Dutch and Indian troops defending the area put up fierce resistance, which surprised the soldiers who participated in the battle.

The remnants of the bunkers, fortifications, and bunkers were all spewing tongues of fire, and the dense bullets and shells seemed to be coming from all directions.

Marine infantry and amphibious tanks worked together to push forward, removing those firing points one by one, and successfully breaking through the outer defensive line.

However, the B35 47mm anti-tank guns deployed by the Dutch and Indian forces in the second-line positions caused them a great obstacle, and due to the good camouflage of the firing positions, the floating combat vehicle battalion of the 2nd Marine Brigade lost four Type 35 amphibious tanks one after another, but it was still impossible to determine the location of the opponent.

Therefore, Yan Chenwu ordered not to rush forward for the time being, wait for his follow-up troops to disembark and land, and then continue the attack tonight or tomorrow morning.

That night, he sent two teams in a large circle to make a detour, and the next morning they all began to storm together.

The defenders, who had been hit by the enemy, panicked and were no longer as strong as before.

The Heavy Cruiser flew its own seaplanes and hovered around the area of engagement, constantly directing and correcting fleet fire to bombard any exposed enemy positions.

After most of the fierce fighting for most of the day, the Dutch and Indian troops defending Darragan suffered numerous casualties, and the wounded soldiers who lacked arms and legs almost crowded the hospital, and the military doctors who were in a hurry could not keep up at all.

By dusk of the same day, all the positions of the defenders had been captured by the Ming army, and only one support point was still barely resisting.

With the mentality of giving it a try, the Ming army formed a partial division with a dozen tanks and more than 300 infantry, and launched a surprise attack on the Dalagan oil production well, trying to capture it as intact as possible.

They boldly assaulted along the way, completely ignoring the risk of being cut off.

At night, when the garrison of the Darragan airfield was routed, soaring flames surged from the direction of the oil production wells in the distance, almost dyeing the night sky red.

The Dutch and Indian troops, knowing that they were outnumbered by the Ming army, were ordered to burn down the oil storage depots and blow up the oil refineries, and the order of the headquarters was "not to leave them even a drop of oil."

The 140,000 tons of crude oil stored here were burned, and the fire near the oil field lit up the night, and the thick smoke rose into the sky like a volcanic eruption.

"Unfortunately, it's easier to set fires after all." Yan Chenwu regretted, "Let the captured soldiers work, repair the airport and dock as soon as possible, and kill the chickens and monkeys first if they find that they are messing around." ”

The Dutch and Indian forces defending Darragan formally surrendered the next morning, but as soon as they disarmed, they were ordered to clean up the mess they had created.

Repairing port facilities, filling runway craters, cleaning up tank wreckage and other aftermath abounded, but the large amount of crude oil that caught fire could not be extinguished and had to be left to burn out.

After the initial repair of the airfield, some units of the 2nd Light Bombardment Detachment and the 3rd Transport Detachment of the Air Force were transferred to the airport in Darragan Airport.

The 2nd Paratrooper Regiment also began to make pre-war preparations, and compared to the core goal of Balikpapan, the quality of the Dalagan oil field was insignificant.

Located 500km south of Daraghan, Balikpapan is the largest port city on the east coast of Borneo and a world-famous oil-producing region with a thriving economy and a large coal mine to the north.

The crude oil output of this place alone is as much as several million tons, and the annual output of crude oil in Daming is 4 million tons, and if you want to meet the actual consumption of more than 10 million tons, you have to fill the gap of 7 or 8 million tons.

Not only the Balikpapan oil fields in Borneo, but also the Old Port oil fields in Sumudara.

In order to achieve the suddenness of the airborne raid, the Ming court and the military department made careful arrangements involving all aspects.

Beginning on the 25th, the Ministry of Rites and Foreign Affairs sent several notes to the Dutch Legation, stating that it could consider "compensating" Shell for its assets in the South Seas.

At first, the Dutch politely declined, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the Dutch minister and offered to pay in gold instead of pounds.

After that, even Zhu Lingjing personally called the Amsterdam Royal Palace and talked to Wilhelmina on the phone.

The fifty-nine-year-old can be said to be a member of his mother's generation, and the two talked for more than ten minutes, which in diplomatic terms means a frank conversation and an exchange of views.

The Nanyang Ming army released a group of Dutch prisoners, deliberately allowing them to see some half-concealed boxes with the words "Aviation Foam Fire Extinguishing Agent" printed on the outside of these large wooden boxes as they passed the docks.

The reconnaissance aircraft also flew over Balikpapan and the Old Port on several occasions and dropped a large number of leaflets during aerial reconnaissance.

The leaflet basically warned the local defenders not to destroy any oil extraction and refining facilities, otherwise they would be severely punished.

This series of actions of the Ming Dynasty is very abnormal, giving people the feeling of "hurry, I am the king of urgency".

The Dutch, who thought they had mastered the weakness of the Ming people, were very proud - you are strong, you are strong, as long as I blow up the oil field, it will be a bamboo basket to draw water.

They made two preparations, intending to take the opportunity to play a procrastination trick to buy more time for the BDA coalition to prepare for the deployment.

At the same time, try to see if you can use this as a bargaining chip for peace talks, such as at the cost of expanding preferential fuel exports to Ming, so as to make the Ming army retreat.

“…… These airborne fields are the most suitable, but the risk of parachuting at dawn is not small, you should be careful in this regard, the local area should try to mark the location, but if something goes wrong, then it can only rely on ability, Yiluan Division landed two hours before the main force......"

In Lanfang Dingyang Fort, Zhou Changfeng and a group of generals were discussing the most critical actions.

At present, they are a large sand table, or model, which was handmade by the staff officers of the General Department of the Third Army against aerial reconnaissance photos.

Oil wells, refineries, oil storage depots, runways, hangars, barracks, and so on are quite detailed.

Diplomatic and military deception operations are certainly effective, and all this is in the service of a surprise raid.

Zhou Changfeng held a slender wooden stick and pointed to the corner of the sand table, "But the enemy will definitely counterattack, and at present, it has been ascertained that there is an infantry regiment and two battalions of militia nearby, and there is another regiment outside, and there are about thirty armored vehicles of various kinds." You are still under a lot of pressure, are you confident? ”

As he spoke, he put down the long stick in his hand and raised his eyes to look at Lei Jiecheng, the commander of the first paratrooper regiment.

The latter first clenched his fists, and then half-jokingly replied: "It's all up to this, even if you don't have confidence, you have to be hard." Please rest assured, I dare to issue a military order, and I will absolutely nail it in place for three days and three nights, even if you are a day late, Sir Zhou. ”

The paratroopers were born to be surrounded, but there was no such thing as being defeated and receiving punishment, and either they succeeded in holding on or the whole army was destroyed.

Zhou Changfeng, who looked calm, smiled and waved his hand: "I have never broken my word, I can only arrive early and not be late." ”

"More than three million tons of oil a year, it's all up to you." The captain of the battleship Yonghui said.

The staff officer of the General Military Department of the Third Army glanced at him, "Of course, people know how heavy the burden is, and it is useless to talk about it." ”

A day later.

On March 26, the sky was still shrouded in darkness, and the faint moonlight reflected by the waning moon was too weak to dispel the night.

In Batavia, Bunier was woken up by the jingle of an alarm clock, and he got out of bed and dressed in a daze.

Bunier was an administrative officer in the colonial authorities and served at the consulate in Canton for eight years, so he is now known as a China expert in Batavia.

This time, he will fly to Singapore as a peace negotiator to negotiate a temporary ceasefire with the Ming army, as a delaying tactic to buy more time.

The Ming side used ingenious psychological tactics to make the Dutch side relax their vigilance, thinking that they could make the Ming army throw a mouse trap and dare not storm the two major oil fields.

At 5:57 a.m., the sky is not bright and the sun is about to rise.

Two Type 35 A transport planes with jet-black night paint are approaching the outskirts of the Old Port.

The jet-black plane almost blends with the starry night sky, like a ghost.

The pilot saw the flashlight flashing regularly on the ground, and then pressed the skydive indicator.

The red signal light in the cabin lit up, and Cai Zhichen, who personally led the team, pulled open the cabin door with force.

The cold air blew in the face, which made people feel refreshed and happy, and more than 40 officers and men of the first detachment of the first combat team and the fourth combat team of the Yiluan Division jumped out one after another.

Cai Zhichen glanced into the distance, and saw that the white of the fish belly had been exposed at the sea level in the east.

Then, he was the last to jump out of the cabin.

Later, a telegram was sent back to Dingyangbao - "Geng Eryi has left, all are smooth."

The order to board the plane was immediately issued, and the heavily armed paratroopers had been waiting on the runway for a long time, and after hearing the order, they stood up in unison and stepped on the boarding ladder one after another to get into the transport plane.

The first to take off were neither transport aircraft nor escort fighters, but three Type 32 gunboat aircraft.

Although the gunboats were extremely vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, there was really no better fire support platform that could stay in the air for long periods of time, so they had to be reluctantly difficult.

The Easter egg Zhang Lanfang map has been updated.

(End of chapter)