"These Dutchmen are like crazy, storming our defensive line at any cost, which puts a lot of pressure on the officers and men of our regiment. Thankfully, you arrived just in time to withstand their frantic counterattack. ”

Behind the ruined walls of a warehouse, Lieutenant Colonel Zhu Guosheng, commander of the 5th Regiment of the 103rd Division, who was in charge of the defense of the place, said with a little gratitude.

Lieutenant Colonel Zhu Guosheng's face was black and white after gunsmoke at this time, and after being soaked with sweat, he wiped it with his hands a few times, and it became a five-flower face.

But he didn't care, and was briefing Major Pan Zhicheng on the situation of the enemy in front of him, and continued;

"Judging by the size of the enemy's forces, they have put in one unit of the Indigenous Servant Division and at least two regiments of whites, and the total number should be in the form of eight or nine thousand, less than ten thousand.

After a fierce battle, more than 1,000 enemies were roughly wiped out, and the arrogance of the Dutch was dealt a severe blow.

But don't expect the enemy to abandon the offensive, I guess they are regrouping, especially due south and southwest of the warehouse area, which is the focus of their attack. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Zhu Guosheng pointed with his finger, and Major Pan Zhicheng thought about it seriously and suggested;

"Commander Zhu, in this case, I will shrink the armored force back, deploy two armored heavy machine gun vehicles in the south and southwest directions, and temporarily withdraw the remaining one machine gun car and two gun vehicles to the rear and reserve them as a mobile strike force.

At that time, depending on the specific movement of the deployment of Dutch troops.

Especially the enemy's main attack direction, you can put it in at any time and give them a hard blow. ”

His hand waved down vigorously, as if a big knife was chopping melons and vegetables, showing full confidence.

On today's armored vehicles, rows of sacks are fixed directly in front of them, and these sacks contain a small bag, a small bag of quartz sand, and then several groups are tightly tied together and thrown into the sacks.

Enemy bullets hit the sack in front and could only penetrate a few small packets of quartz sand, which could not pose a threat to the iron armor behind, and could even withstand the frontal bombardment of the three-pounder field gun (note, this refers specifically to Napoleonic cannons that use solid shells).

These small inventions of the armored corps have greatly enhanced the battlefield survivability of the armored vehicles and turned them into mobile fortresses.

In the case of weak artillery fire, it is almost impossible to pose a threat to it.

Although armored vehicles are no longer as good as they were on the battlefield for the first time, they have a great psychological fear effect on enemy soldiers, which leads to the collapse of the entire line.

But with a sturdy defense, armored vehicles are still the most beautiful on the battlefield.

It was not the first time that Lieutenant Colonel Zhu Guosheng had fought with armored vehicles, and he was full of confidence in these dark gray big guys, and nodded in response when he heard this;

"Okay, that's it, I have a battalion plus the reserve strength of the guard company, a total of about 420 people. Let them form a reserve assault force with three mobile armored vehicles, and throw themselves into the direction of the fiercest battle at any time to deal a heavy blow to the enemy. ”

"Hahaha...... That's what it means. Major Pan Zhicheng replied with a laugh.

While the two were talking, the regimental combat officer ran to report; "Report to the sir, the enemy has launched the next round of large-scale attacks."

Saying that, he pointed to the south......

Looking in the direction of the officer's finger, a large number of Dutch soldiers appeared in the ruins of buildings on the edge of the city in the distance, and I don't know how many of them were densely packed?

Most of these Dutch soldiers were native servants, and behind them were heavily armed white warlords, who were forcing the native soldiers to attack with their black muzzles and bayonets, and the voices of the officers could be faintly heard.

Driving the indigenous soldiers to be cannon fodder is also a way to go, there are too few white Dutchmen.

Promised by the Dutch colonizers of money and profit, the morale of these Malay soldiers was acceptable, and they soon gathered into a chaotic straggler formation, and the tide pressed up.

Seeing that a fierce battle was about to break out, Major Pan Zhicheng did not have half a trace of fear in his eyes.

He looked back in the direction of the dock, where the armored convoy of rapid reinforcements from the rear was speeding all the way, followed by a long convoy of dozens of trucks.

Over time

More and more troops landed ashore, and the balance of victory was tilting in favor of the expeditionary force of the Tang Empire.

The Dutch army's frantic counterattack was nothing more than a death struggle. In the face of absolute strength, everything is in vain.

on the pier

General Liu Guozhong, commander-in-chief of the Western Front Corps, with the Second Corps of the Royal Janissary Army as the main force (Note; Newly promoted) led a large group of senior officers, and had already set foot on the batavian port trestle, establishing a forward command nearby.

In this forward headquarters, which was dominated by tents, the staff officers were nervously busy conveying a series of orders, arranging for follow-up freighters to dock, and directing the landed troops to engage in siege battles in an orderly manner.

"The 101st Division broke through due south, the 103rd Division broke through from the southeast, and the 107th Division broke through from the southwest, establishing a new defensive line at a depth of 4~5 kilometers from the enemy, and crushing the enemy's resistance with powerful attacks."

Admiral Liu Guozhong slammed his fist on the map, looked around at the surrounding senior officers with a stern gaze, and continued to order word by word;

"In each assault direction, I will reinforce you with two artillery regiments, a battalion-sized armored force.

It was now 11:42 p.m., and it was scheduled at 2:30 p.m. for a powerful attack on all fronts at the same time, and after 15 minutes of shelling, the attacking forces would be thrown into force to destroy the enemy in front of them in one fell swoop.

Gentlemen, remember;

The first battle is a decisive battle.

I ask you to use your best forces to crush your enemies in one fell swoop and deal them a fatal blow.

The infantry attack was launched at 3 o'clock sharp, and by 6 o'clock in the evening, the three directions were assaulted and advanced 4~5 kilometers. Then build a new defensive line on the spot, reorganize and deploy forces, and prepare for tomorrow's decisive battle.

Now carry out the order, I am here waiting for the good news of your victory. ”

"Obey orders, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, the Imperial Legion will not retreat, and will resolutely complete the task." The three commanders, who carried the rank of major general on their shoulders, raised their hands and saluted, and then quickly left the headquarters with their officers and went to carry out the assault order.

Among the three first-class field divisions of the Royal Praetorian Guard, two are ace divisions, one is the 101st Great River Division, and the other is the 103rd Red River Valley Division, with a full strength of 14,200 people, especially strengthened artillery strength, and its combat effectiveness is 2~3 times that of ordinary field divisions.

Entering the beginning of the 20th century

The infantry regulations of the Imperial Janissaries and the Royal Army of the Tang Empire have been significantly improved, and the original classic line infantry tactics have been abandoned and replaced with new skirmish line tactics.

When attacking, officers and men no longer need to line up in a dense and neat formation, which is easy to incur heavy casualties in battle, and has been proved to be incompatible with the battlefield requirements of the new era.

Instead, it presents a wave-like skirmish formation, sparse in front and tight in the back, organically linked to each other, launching round after round of tidal attacks.

After General Liu Guozhong arranged the offensive deployment, he turned around and asked; "Report on the landing of troops?"

Immediately, a colonel officer of the command headquarters stepped forward with a record book in his hand, and after a standard salute of "snapping" with his legs straight, he opened the record book and began to report.

"Report to Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief;

The landing force has already begun full unloading at six piers in the port of Batavia, of which four are for infantry divisions and two for ammunition, including artillery, and logistical supplies.

Until noon

The number of landing troops reached 27,200, involving six divisions and four artillery regiments, and the landing operations are being carried out continuously.

It is expected that by 2:00 p.m., the number of landing troops can reach 45,000 people, unloading more than 7 artillery regiments, unloading two armored regiments and a large amount of munitions.

It is estimated that by 8 p.m., the number of landing troops can reach more than 70,000 people, and more than 12 artillery regiments and 4 cavalry regiments will be unloaded to ensure the landing of all armored divisions.

After dark

In view of the operational requirements of light control, the unloading of the landing force will be suspended, and the unloading of materials loaded with the ships will be the mainstay, and the operation will be carried out all night.

According to the landing operation plan, all the troop transport ships and unloaded cargo ships have left the harbor wharf one after another, and have reached a distance of more than 10 kilometers to the open sea, where they have been organized into a return fleet.

At present, it is planned to set up 13 material storage points, at least 1,200 meters apart, to supply different offensive directions and reserve corps.

At present, 152 transport trucks and more than 430 heavy-duty horse-drawn vehicles have been transported ashore, divided into more than 30 freight formations, and materials have been transported from the wharf to 13 temporary storage yards.

The emergency transportation of relevant materials will continue until tomorrow evening. ”

"Well, order the relevant operational staff of the headquarters to give priority to unloading the artillery regiments and shells needed for the operation, and the attacking troops need the fierce fire of the artillery to open a victory channel for the offensive." Admiral Liu Guozhong gave the order again.

The colonel's officer immediately stood up and saluted, and replied; "Understand, Your Excellency Commander, give priority to unloading the artillery regiments and shells necessary for the operation, and resolutely carry out the order."

After saying that, he immediately ran away to deliver the order.

There was a tense atmosphere in the forward headquarters of the expeditionary force, and one order after another was conveyed, and the troops that had just arrived in the port area of Batavia were evacuated in an orderly manner, assembled, and prepared to be thrown into a new round of battles to expand the landing site.

After a while

Only then did General Liu Guozhong rub his tired brows, turned around and walked into a large tent next to the headquarters, where Brigadier General Don-Li Yi, commander of the Imperial Armored Division, immediately stood up, raised his hand in salute, and reported;

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, the commander of the armored division has been ordered to arrive, please instruct."

Admiral Liu Guozhong raised his wrist and looked at the Swiss gold watch in his hand, and then said; "There's no hurry, there's still more than an hour before the all-out general attack, and there's still time for a cup of coffee."

"As you wish, Your Excellency, Commander." Brigadier General Tang-Li Yi's serious expression softened a little, and he agreed casually.

Half of his armored division had been unloaded, and it was enough to deal with the current situation.

A large amount of equipment and supplies of the armored division was loaded with 7 cargo ships, and the ships carrying the follow-up equipment were still waiting to dock, and it was useless to be anxious.

There are more than 130 freighters and troop carriers of different sizes floating on the sea, and there are so many wharves and so many loading and unloading capacity, they have to come in order one by one.

The 100,000-strong landing operation is a super-large, complex deployment combat operation involving all aspects and must be carried out in accordance with the planned steps, which is a great test of the Corps' organizational ability.

The lieutenant officer of the headquarters brought coffee and exquisite refreshments, and General Liu Guozhong stretched out his hand to make a "please" gesture, and sat down directly.

He took a long sip of hot coffee before speaking;

"71 Your Highness, don't blame me for not reminding you, take advantage of this time to eat something to cushion your stomach, once the fight starts, there will be no time."

"Your Excellency, Commander, then it is better to be respectful than to obey your orders." Brigadier General Don Li Yi smiled freely, sat down, and unceremoniously picked up the exquisite refreshments with his hands, put them in his mouth and chewed them.

Well, this osmanthus mung bean cake tastes pretty good.

(End of chapter)