The defeated Dutch-Indian 9th Infantry Regiment collapsed overnight, with only 400 casualties, but 900 were captured by the Ming army, and the rest of the rout fled almost all over the mountains.

"Let the captives report on their own to the beachhead, we must keep on our way!"

With the help of dozens of captured trucks, as well as his own trucks, the advance force led by Zhou Changfeng was unimpeded all the way.

From dawn to more than 8 a.m., the remaining 80 kilometers of the road were reached in a blink of an eye, and there was no decent resistance on the way.

Some small Dutch and Indian troops surrendered, and in some villages and towns, indigenous policemen led local villagers to welcome them.

The only possible resistance was the Papan militia organized by the Dutch, but when the vigilant Ming officers and soldiers approached their lines, they found that they had surrendered.

From the binoculars, you can see that the other side has raised the red flag, the Dutch tricolor has been discarded on the ground at random, and there are more than a dozen corpses of Dutch non-commissioned officers and officers lying on the sidelines, and several others are also tied with their hands behind their backs and guarded in front of the position.

This scene made Zhou Changfeng cry and laugh, "Laugh to death, the Dutch must be so unpopular." ”

The indigenous soldiers of Sumudala, who surrendered to the Ming army and took the initiative to lead the way, reduced the great trouble for the Ming army and marched quickly.

The few casualties along the way were all non-combat attrition, including, but not limited to, trucks tipping over into ditches and motorcycles hitting people.

At 9:25 a.m. on the same day, the advance unit of the 1st Marine Brigade easily arrived on the outskirts of the Old Port and joined a division with a section of the 1st Paratrooper Regiment.

Later, the off-road vehicle in which Zhou Changfeng was riding stopped at the headquarters of the 1st Paratrooper Regiment at the airport in Palin.

The area of debris caused by the bombing and fighting has been preliminarily cleared, and the captured Dutch and British can be seen in the distance piling up masonry, rubble, and aircraft wreckage with shovels to the runway next to the runway to prevent take-off and landing.

"How's the oil field going? Is the loss big? ”

"Generally fine, but still a little damaged." Lei Jiecheng replied with a fist, and then took out a piece of paper from the booklet on the side and handed it over.

Daming's careful planning can be said to be fruitful, and the ending is not bad.

The vast majority of production wells in Shell's Old Port field were intact, with only seven wells blown up, causing a raging fire, but also extinguishing one after another.

The most important refineries are naturally valued by both sides, and their losses are slightly greater.

The BPM refinery to the west was shelled by the British, and about twenty shells landed on the plant grounds, destroying a small part of the equipment.

The NKPM oil refinery in the east was damaged by a small number of Dutch and Indian troops who were stranded in it, and they used machine gun fire, threw grenades, and planted explosives to stir up a lot of trouble, but these dozens of people were quickly wiped out by the officers and soldiers of the Yiluan Division who rushed to hear the noise.

These saboteurs had little fighting spirit, and after a few minutes of fighting, they dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Cai Zhichen, who was extremely annoyed, really couldn't swallow this breath, turned a blind eye to the other party's surrender, and ordered his subordinates to continue firing.

Faced with the wolf-like special forces of the Ming army, these discouraged Dutch and Indian soldiers were forced to resist stubbornly for their lives.

The striking Heavy was killed quickly, and anyone who dared to touch the Lewis LMG would be killed with precision in a short time.

The battle ended with the muffled sound of three grenades exploding, and all but a few were wounded but not killed, and all the rest were killed by the angry Ming army.

"Alas, it would have been better if the enemy artillery group had been suppressed first, and another team should have been sent to the oil mill to help......"

Although Lei Jiecheng still had some regrets, Zhou Changfeng didn't care, "Yes, it's been done as well as possible, these damages are not big, and they can be repaired in many months at most." ”

In front of the Ming army, the BDA coalition forces had retreated, and the defense of the old port seemed to have become an impossible dream.

The remnants of the Dutch-Indian 8th Infantry Regiment plus the British 13th Infantry Brigade totaled only more than 3,000 people, and in the face of the Ming army, which occupied air supremacy and troop superiority, they decisively chose to slip away.

From noon on the same day, with Major General Dominica ordering a retreat, the remnants of the defeated army began to retreat due south, heading straight for Lampung, the southernmost tip of Sumudara Island.

The authorities of the Dutch East Indo-Du colony, near Palin, in the Old Port, announced through newspapers and radio broadcasts that the city was an undefended city and that all plans for resistance had been nullified.

In the courtyard behind the office building, more than a dozen oil drums were stuffed with all sorts of papers, and bureaucrats and soldiers poured gasoline on them and burned them.

Billowed black smoke billowed from the fires, staining the building's snow-white façade black and gray.

After all this was done, the restless colonial bureaucrats began to hurry on their way south out of the city.

They were afraid that they would be left behind if they left late, and then executed like prisoners in the Middle Ages.

On the afternoon of March 28, 39, Zhichang, an infantry detachment of the advance unit of the 1st Marine Brigade cautiously approached the city.

The suburban road is lined with rocks and a few strings of barbed wire in the shape of a snake, blocking the entire road.

There were a number of excavated and constructed field fortifications in the nearby fields and woods, and the ground was littered with tent cloth, empty cans, burlap bags, and so on.

"It looks like they're gone, it's a runaway."

"Hey, there's a few more boxes of food here, yes... Canned beef what, right? ”

"Don't touch! Damn, it's really cheap, if there is a treacherous thunder, you can wait to lie down and go home. ”

"It's all leisurely, and you will die quickly if you lack your heart."

The soldiers dismissed any intention of looting the spoils of war and continued to act cautiously.

They avoid seemingly flat places to avoid stepping on possible mines, and pick trails with messy footprints.

It didn't take long for them to get closer to the city, and from afar they could see many people gathering together, waving small flags and waving the banners of "Long Hope for the Wangshi to expel the Hongyi" and "Welcome the Wangshi to recover the old port".

Seeing the figure of the Ming army appearing, the overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese present burst into warm cheers.

"Hooray!"

It has been more than 100 years since the Later Ming Dynasty abandoned the re-established Old Port Propaganda Division, and for six or seven generations, this place where many overseas Chinese and Chinese are gathered have once again welcomed their own troops.

People can't wait, and they start secretly making these flags a few days ago, or even a dozen days ago, waiting for this day.

After confirming that the enemy had fled without a fight, the 1st Paratrooper Regiment and the 1st Marine Brigade reorganized and held a grand ceremony to enter the city.

The meritorious paratroopers were the first to enter the city, and they formed a two-way column, carrying guns and walking easily and happily towards the city.

Both sides of the road were full of excited overseas Chinese, many of whom had come to witness such a scene, and the elders of the older generation were more emotional than the young people, and many of them couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Really... It's really time to burn paper to tell your ancestors. ”

"Daming Wansheng !!"

"Hooray! Hooray! ”

"Long live the emperor!"

"Don't leave when you're back!"

The locals of Sumudara also cheered and welcomed the king, and the shameless Dutchmen finally got out!

The reaction of the Europeans stranded in the city was much more muted, and most of them had complicated faces, and their former fearlessness no longer existed, because the border was no longer their territory.

"These guys are in a hurry, just think about how rushed they were."

Zhou Changfeng crossed his waist and looked up and down the messy building, only to see a lot of documents and papers scattered on the ground, one here and one there.

"Huh." Yao Liangchuan snorted coldly, "The bandit-like guys are naturally busy running for their lives, and those Dutch people don't know how much selfish profit they have grabbed for themselves, and they are all very fat." ”

More than a dozen officers and soldiers of the brigade headquarters garrison platoon trotted over, led by one carrying the Ming national flag on his shoulder, and the group went straight up the steps and entered the building.

The soldiers climbed to the top of the colonial government building, threw down the Dutch tricolor, and replanted it with a red background.

Several reporters accompanying the army who had been waiting for a long time immediately pressed the shutter and snapped the scene.

The Ming army was doing the routine boasting of martial arts in ancient and modern times, but those technicians were not.

Yesterday morning, if the captain hadn't coped properly and successfully grabbed the beach, these more than 600 people would have to go into the sea to feed the fish.

Now they are rushing to work, inspecting and assessing the state of the Old Port oil field with the controlled Shell employees.

That evening, after a preliminary summary of the current situation, Zhou Changfeng dictated a telegram of declaring the results of the battle to the emperor and the imperial court.

In the airborne raid on the oil fields of the Old Port, the 1st Paratrooper Regiment suffered a total of 71 casualties, 5 were killed, 182 were wounded, and 14 were missing, and achieved a glorious record of defeating a regiment of the Dutch and Indian Army and repelling a brigade (regiment) of the British Army.

The 1st Marine Brigade suffered even less losses, and the only battle was a breeze, with casualties and non-combat attrition combined being in the triple digits.

According to rough statistics, the casualties of the BDA coalition army are actually not much, about six or seven hundred, but there are several thousand prisoners, which shows which side of the people's hearts is on.

None of the oil storage depots in the Old Port oilfield were lost, seven production wells were destroyed, and the two refineries lost about 10% of their production capacity, all of which are estimated to be repaired in less than a month and a half.

In addition, the 210,000 tons of finished fuel oil in the oil storage depot can also be loaded and shipped at any time.

"Your Majesty, this time the Heavenly Divine Soldier really had a miraculous effect, and the dust has settled!" Su Yiyi, who was delighted, couldn't help but sigh.

"Still can't get carried away, the herald asks, can we make sure that the oil fields are in order? If not, then step up the deployment of aircraft and air defense units. ”

Zhu Lingjing knew that ordinary air raids could not inflict a devastating blow on oil storage depots, oil production wells, and oil refineries, but she was still naturally a little worried.

In fact, it would be great if the BDA coalition army was not bombed by the Ming army, where did they have the spare time to organize an air raid on the old port oil field?

As for Borneo, it was easier to carry out an airborne raid on the Balikpapan oil fields, and the 2nd Paratrooper Regiment could be said to have swept through thousands of troops, but more than 100,000 tons of fuel oil were burned, which was quite regrettable.

The good news can be said to be one after another, and there was also good news at the previous dinner, and the Lanfang Defense Force has also made a breakthrough -

The British 17th Infantry Brigade, trapped in Kuching, suffered a devastating blow, suffering heavy casualties, and with only 1,000 remnants left, it was really impossible to hold on.

The British, unwilling to engage in hopeless and senseless resistance, have taken the initiative to send people to negotiate surrender.

After victory, it is natural to "show off your might," and for the time being, there is no disadvantage to this.

Before the victory of the 100,000-strong British army in the Battle of Malaya was celebrated, the imperial court organized special personnel to collect and prepare the captured weapons and equipment, and shipped them back to the Ming Dynasty.

The current situation is very good, and Zhu Lingjing is in a very good mood.

She hopes to take this opportunity to raise a large amount of funds to speed up the implementation of the policy of public redemption of acres of land and vigorously promote land reform.

"All the loot you've brought back is ready, right? The parade shows that start as soon as possible, so take advantage of the situation. ”

"Yes."

In the past, Zhu Lingjing's concept of money was relatively weak, even if she didn't count the annual allowance allocated to her by the imperial court, the property of the princess's mansion alone was enough to spend.

After all, bureaucratic capital is inherently dominant, and it is difficult to make money without trying to.

But now that she has taken over the company, she feels more and more that she has fallen into the eye of money, and she has to pay attention to money and love money.

At the moment, the Ming Dynasty's financial situation is still healthy, but it is not to the point of giving up everything for the war.

The spoils brought by the victory of the war are only one aspect, and there are too many places to spend money, such as pensions, health construction, infrastructure construction, industrial construction, policy implementation, and so on.

The official gold reserves of the Ming Dynasty today are more than 1,920 tons, which is far inferior to other powers, but the scattered gold of the people is very large.

Although the imperial court has long banned the use of precious metals in ordinary transactions, it is difficult to reverse the long-standing habit in just one generation, so many families still secretly keep some gold.

There are policies and countermeasures - the government does not allow private gold hiding, so we will build a pound of large gold bracelets and large gold chains.

In addition to the act of hiding gold because of distrust, under the huge population base, the total number of ordinary gold jewelry in thousands of people's homes is also considerable.

Taking advantage of the glorious power of repeated victories, the Ming monarchs and ministers prepared unprecedented publicity and fundraising, and planned to issue 12 billion yuan of war bonds in the first phase.

At the same time, it is also necessary to publicize the "donation" of gold by the people, which will naturally be used as a reserve to further print money.

In order to encourage the people to hand over the gold, the imperial court planned to implement the corresponding preferential benefits - donate gold, and the government will issue special shopping coupons according to the price.

For example, a tael of gold has three times the purchasing power of a given commodity – high-end property such as a car, a refrigerator, and so on.

That night, Zhu Lingjing, who was in a good mood, slept very deeply, and this sleep was particularly sweet.

The next morning, however, she received a request that did not please her - the Third and Fourth Armies had gathered together the prisoners involved in the vandalism of the oil field facilities and were ready to escort them back to China for trial.

(End of chapter)