Although the coalition forces seem to have a large number of 80,000 troops, the island of Java is thousands of kilometers long from east to west, and it is obvious that it cannot achieve comprehensive defense.

Cirebon does not belong to the key area of defense, although the total strength on paper is the Dutch and Indian army accounted for the majority, but everyone tacitly assumes that their combat effectiveness is better than nothing, and the only two troops that can rely on are the British 13th Infantry Brigade and the Australian 8th Infantry Division.

Lieutenant General John Greer Deere, Commander-in-Chief of the BDA Combined Army, is an excellent general, a tough tall and thin old man who has participated in the European War and served as the dean of the General Staff College.

He knew very well that it was impossible for his side to stop the enemy on the beachhead, so his idea in the macro strategy was to defend and counterattack - to resist after the Ming army landed, and then carry out a counterattack after its decline appeared.

Lieutenant General John deployed the Anglo-Indian 28th Brigade and the Dutch-Indian 1st Division around Batavia, with them as the core and relied on them, totaling more than 13,000 men.

The Dutch-Indian 5th Division and the Australian 8th Division were deployed around Surabaya, amounting to about 20,000 men.

The Dutch-Indian 2nd Division and the British 13th Brigade were deployed near Bandung, numbering about 12,000 men.

In addition, the more than 30,000 weak Javanese militia units are also scattered across various lines of communication and in depth.

The BDA coalition has already suffered from the defection of these natives, and they no longer dare to apply it to the front line, and these Javanese militia units are not even reliable as cannon fodder.

John Greer Deere replied to the telegram of inquiry from London after careful and rigorous assessment.

「…… The Chinese army exceeded our expectations, and the hostility and distrust of the Javanese towards the Dutch spread to us. The colonial army, made up of Javanese, was barely combat-ready and could rebel as soon as it met Chinese......

「…… The chances of successfully defending Java without effective help are low, and I expect to be able to hold out for three weeks or less...... I'm willing to fight to the end, but maybe it's not wise to continue defending Java now......

Lieutenant General John's reply was very pertinent and objective, Java was dead, and there was little point in continuing to fight the trapped beasts.

It would be excellent if tens of thousands of coalition troops could retreat to Australia, but unfortunately the "Snow Perch" operation had failed, and the sea control was completely in the hands of the Ming army.

There was a gloomy picture in the BDA Coalition Command, and the military commanders, staff officers, and intelligence officers knew that this would be a hopeless and inevitable battle.

Many people have become mentally numb and confused, and at night they get drunk to numb themselves.

Interestingly, Colonel Karel Dolman, who had gone out to sea at night to land in the Old Port, miraculously escaped the blockade of the Ming army.

After their defeat, they did not return to Batavia, but went to Chiraza in the south of the island. After the order to withdraw to Australia was given, the fleet set sail directly.

Because the route was completely different from that of the main fleet, they were not pursued, and after hearing the news, they galloped at night and fled for their lives, and the light cruiser Java and several destroyers successfully arrived at the port of Darwin, Australia.

During this period, the Qingming Jia-4 ocean-going submarine actually discovered this fleet and tried to catch up, but because the speed difference was too great, it failed to seize the ambush position.

Later, more than 20 planes that came to hear the news also searched along the route for a while, but returned in vain.

The Dutch were right, the remaining Royal Navy's East Indo-Dusk fleet now has 2 light cruisers and 4 destroyers, while the Australian Navy has only 1 heavy cruiser, 3 light cruisers, and 4 destroyers.

In the face of the huge Ming navy, the Australians had to do everything possible to fight for any bit of strength.

With chips in hand, the Dutch really have a lot of say on the topic of Australian defense.

"Everything is going well at the moment, but I personally feel that the willingness of Americans to intervene has become stronger recently?"

"What do you mean by that? If the Americans dare to make a move, they must first weigh it clearly, and as soon as the battle begins, they will pay the price of the annihilation of tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Luzon. ”

The landing at Cirebon went well, with a small number of enemy forces scattered after being shelled by the fleet.

The advance unit of the 1st Marine Brigade paid a "terrible" price in the form of four casualties - three were killed and wounded by landmines, and one tripped over a telephone line and broke his hand.

While waiting for the follow-up troops to unload the ship and go ashore, several people from the brigade headquarters were smoking cigarettes and talking about the changes in the international situation.

There have been a lot of news reports these days, and many American politicians and congressmen are advocating meddling in Australia's defense, and it is said that the federal government is considering imposing sanctions on Daming and starting further war preparations.

Yao Liangchuan took a shallow breath and spit out a smoke ring, he stared at the smoke ring that was getting bigger and bigger, and muttered: "The ambition of the Americans is not small, and their status has increased sharply by taking advantage of the European war. ”

"But I've never figured out why they have to stay in Luzon and the Wa Kingdom. This kind of move... The hostility is so obvious that it is easy to stiffen relations with our country. Xie Wancheng said.

He had recently become obsessed with cigars, having confiscated several boxes of fine cigars from a Dutch bureaucrat while in the Old Port, from Matafina in Brazil and Havana in Cuba.

Zhou Changfeng, who was on the side, was reviewing the time while revising the tactical strategy, "Compared with the old powers such as Britain and France, the Americans prefer to do business, they tend to give a country independence on the surface, but actually control its economic lifeline, and at the same time garrison troops to deter the locals and exert influence." ”

After speaking, he added: "Luzon is too close to the Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to continue for a long time, and now it is time to make a trade-off." ”

Zhu Lixuan also came over to join in the fun, "In this way, it is indeed cost-effective for them to take the opportunity to win the independent continent of Australia, all kinds of mineral resources are rich and rich enough, it is much better than guarding a place like Luzon." ”

"Each has its own pros and cons," Zhou Changfeng said casually: "Luzon has a large population, and the consumer market after the popularization of infrastructure construction is larger; Australia is rich in resources, but the market is smaller. ”

"By the way, Junzuo, does the imperial court plan to fight for Australia?" Xie Wancheng asked suddenly.

"Australia is too far away, after all, across the northern and southern hemispheres." Zhou Changfeng didn't answer directly, only gave an ambiguous answer, "It belongs to the fruit that can be picked by jumping hard, but... There can be no mistakes. ”

Australia is too far away from the Ming Dynasty, and even if there are a large number of islands in between, it is still difficult to supply a large army for a long time.

If there is a mistake similar to the total annihilation of the 6th Army, it will be an irreparable defeat in terms of strategy, and you can only leave the field with regrets.

By the evening of the ninth day of the first lunar month, the 1st Marine Brigade and its subordinate combat units had all gone ashore.

During this period, several battalions had cleared the depth of the landing field, and the Dutch-Indian army in the surrounding fifteen miles had been routed on all fronts, and there was basically no decent resistance.

"According to the original plan, send electricity to the fleet, let the planes go around as much as possible to the southwest, the more conspicuous the better, and then... Xue Can, you organize two detachments, bring a dozen chariots, and rush over there, twenty miles is enough, but you have to make a big noise. ”

Zhao Hanfeng repeated Zhou Changfeng's order, clenched his fists and led the order, "Yes." ”

"Pss

With the help of gunpowder gas catapults, two seaplanes took off from the Wuyishan heavy patrol one after another and flew lightly into the distance.

The Ming army's feints largely confused the enemy in front of them, and the commander of the Dutch-Indian 2nd Division believed that the Ming army landing from Cirebon was to cooperate with the Ming army landing from Silang to flank Batavia.

Therefore, he ordered the 6th Infantry Regiment, which was in reserve, to set out at once, reinforce the Shuangmu Single, and fight against the Ming army together with the 4th Regiment there.

The simple, unpretentious sound of attacking the west made the Dutch and Indian army, who were all soldiers and nervous, fool the Dutch and Indian army, and it can only be said that the previous series of battles had frightened the Dutch.

After a night of meticulous preparations, the temporarily organized 1st Marine Brigade Mixed Regiment officially set out at dawn the next day, while the rest of the troops stabilized the landing ground and followed up slowly.

This mixed regiment, that is, the combat group, is based on the 1st Marine Brigade and the 2nd Regiment, and the 112mm howitzer battalion of the brigade reconnaissance battalion and the brigade artillery regiment are strengthened in battle, as well as the 1st Brigade and 3rd Battalion of the Combat Vehicle.

After waking up in the morning, the officers and men ate steaming steamed steamed buns with vegetable soup and canned braised pork, and they were full of spirit and high morale, and they were determined to win the battle that followed.

Zhou Changfeng, who was accustomed to personally leading the troops to drive straight in, left the large army behind this time as before, and led the mixed regiment to quickly move south, heading straight to Tangning'an, the first target eighty miles away.

Relying on the advantage of surprise and the power of tanks, the Ming army easily broke through the hastily arranged defense line of the Dutch and Indian army, which had been defeated yesterday.

Because they were not equipped with anti-tank guns, the Dutch and Indian troops, which lacked anti-tank weapons, were helpless against the Ming army's Type 38 medium tanks.

The embarrassed Dutch and Indian troops even used Bofors 75mm mountain guns to bombard Ming tanks directly, but how could a mere high-explosive shell penetrate 30mm thick case-hardened armor steel?

With the exception of a few tank tracks that broke and members suffered minor internal injuries from the shock wave, the rest were unharmed and quickly turned their guns around and blasted into scrap metal.

The desperate Dutch and Indian artillerymen did not have the courage to fight to the death under artillery fire, and soon scattered and fled.

The distance from the landing site to the Downing Shore was 39 km, and the mixed group that set off early in the morning had already arrived here at 16:38 in the afternoon of the same day.

As one of the more important material transit and storage centers, the BDA coalition forces deployed the main force of the 5th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Dutch-Indian Division, supplemented by up to 5,000 Javanese militia units.

In addition to sufficient troops, a large number of field fortifications and a few semi-permanent fortifications were also built in the local area, which were objectively relatively strong.

While placing artillery and preparing for the attack, Perimeter Feng requested air support from the navy.

The 25th Air Attack Fleet was sailing slowly in the Java Sea at this moment, not far away, and the aircraft carrier Taiwei Youyuan quickly organized a wave of support aircraft.

The 12 Type 37 carrier-based dive bombers slowly descended from the hangar to the deck runway through the elevator, and took off one after another after the engines were warmed up, followed by three fighters.

When this formation flew over the target, the mountain artillery battalion of the artillery regiment of the 1st Marine Brigade had already begun a fierce salvo.

“…… Sabotage shooting, the first round of personnel anti-personnel shells, the rest of the anti-explosive shells, twenty rounds of equal rapid fire, completed. ”

"Boom—boom, boom—"

The 112mm anti-explosive shells or personnel bombs of 18 howitzers set off a bloody storm on the Dutch-Indian defense line!

Personnel bullets filled with steel balls or diamond-shaped prefabricated fragments inflicted horrific casualties on the Dutch and Indian troops, and one Dutch lieutenant died a miserable death—three steel balls in his face, a dozen in his torso, and nearly 20 holes in the upper and lower parts of the body.

The Ming carrier-based planes that arrived leisurely circled over the sky for a while, patiently waiting for their artillery fire to stop.

Only then do they swoop down and strafe any exposed target to drop bombs.

One after another, 100kg aerial bombs were constantly dropped, exploding in a terrible scream, and almost the entire position was swallowed up by flickering firelight and billowing smoke.

The only few Erlikon 20mm anti-aircraft guns and Browning .50 anti-aircraft machine guns that the enemy had in front of them finally could not tolerate the reckless Ming fighters, and they threw down the camouflage net and opened fire together.

Caught off guard, a dive bomber burst into flames and scattered a lot of debris, and the pilot struggled to steer the plane north before parachuting.

At this time, it was only less than 300 meters from the ground, and the pilot's parachute had only been opened for a few seconds, and before the speed had slowed down, his feet touched the ground and fractured on the spot, which can be described as thrilling.

The rest of the fighters found that there was no strong anti-aircraft firepower here, so they directly met the battle, diving and strafing at the anti-aircraft position.

The 12.8mm aviation machine gun beat the Dutch and Indian anti-aircraft artillery on the battle position to the ground, and the arm that was forcibly torn apart by the kinetic energy of the bullet fell to the ground like a branch blown off by the wind.

"Listen, it's still the same, don't be reckless. Okay, it's time, on! ”

"Beep-beep-beep-"

"Wan Sheng—"

Supported by more than 30 tanks, three teams of about 400 Marine infantry launched a frontal assault on the outskirts of Downing.

The outer line of defense crumbled almost instantly, and the remnants of the surviving shelling and air raids fled to the second line of defense.

Many frightened and dazed Javanese soldiers forgot that they should retreat through the communication trenches, and instead climbed out of the trenches and fled across the fields.

"Da-da-" The Ming tanks opened fire indiscriminately at these wolf-rushing enemy troops, and the 48mm anti-explosive shells and 7.36mm machine gun shells cooperated with each other to quickly harvest these moving targets.

Unexpectedly, however, the mixed attack of the 1st Marine Brigade was hampered at the second line of defense.

It seems that because there was no artillery fire, the intensity of the Dutch and Indian resistance here increased significantly.

"Boom! Rumble! ”

The continuous fall of 81mm mortar shells and 75mm mountain artillery shells suddenly caused the Marine infantry to stagnate in their loose formation, and the Ming soldiers hurriedly lay down to find cover.

"Someone! Come and help! ”

"Where did the medics go?!"

“Pang—Biu——”

The 47mm armor-piercing bullet that came out of nowhere shocked the Ming tank soldiers who were hit, fortunately ricocheted, otherwise it was ......

[The number of words is a little more, see what is said in this chapter or what the writer says.] 】

"Boom! Boom! ”

This was followed by another shell that successfully penetrated the frontal armor of the Type 38 medium tank, exploding inside it.

The crew was killed instantly, the ammunition detonated, and flames erupted from the turret mount in all directions, then swept the entire turret away with a loud "boom".

Oh huh? How does this line of defense actually look like?

Seeing that the attack was blocked, Zhou Changfeng decided to postpone the assault after weighing it to avoid insignificant casualties.

He stood up from the front of the artillery mirror, waved his hand, and said, "Smoke screen bombs cover retreat, stop first, and prepare for a night attack." ”

(End of chapter)