Since the Battle of Upper Indelagi, the outstanding performance of armored units on the frontal battlefield has been highly valued by the Imperial Military Department.

As a result, the Gray Wolf armored vehicle has entered the Imperial Army's equipment allocation plan for the next year, and has become the focus of the army's development in the new century, along with the new towed self-returning artillery, the air-cooled light machine gun, and the new-generation standard bolt-action rifle.

Due to the appearance of the armored vehicle, especially the bulletproof armor plates that are up to 1.1 meters high on all sides, like an iron cabinet or water tank, which is a homonym for English pronunciation, the Gray Wolf armored car is also given the nickname "tank".

In the combat system of the Royal Praetorian Guard, the armored units are expected to be excellent for their ability to attack fortifications. The fact that the commanders of each ace division requested that part of the armored forces be assigned to assist in the offensive operations is the best proof of this.

Therefore, the Imperial Panzer Division was disassembled and used in battalion units.

"71 Your Highness, everyone wants good things. The main battle units of the divisions strongly demanded that they be assigned armored units. I can't help it, it's hard for a good woman to cook without rice! General Liu Zhongguo smiled bitterly and spread his hands, with a look of understanding how much you understand.

A good Imperial armored division has been dismantled to pieces, who can feel comfortable in their hearts?

It stands to reason that this is the right of the commander, but considering the royal background of His Royal Highness Tang Li Yi, who single-handedly established the armored division, even as the commander of Liu Zhongguo, he has to explain a few more words.

"Your Excellency, Commander, you have been overly concerned. Soldiers regard obedience to orders as their duty, and the good steel of the Imperial Armored Division attached to our Western Front Corps should be used on the blade. Brigadier General Don Li Yi replied with a calm expression, and he elegantly took a sip of hot coffee and continued;

"It's just a humble hope, well, after the bloody battle in Batavia, the armoured forces of the various divisions will be rebuilt, forming a powerful fist, and as the vanguard of the corps, they will fight their way from west to east."

Admiral Liu Zhongguo didn't think about it, so he nodded in agreement; "Yes, this matter has been approved by the commander, this time our Western Front Corps has the Imperial Armored Division to join, it is really like a tiger with wings!"

"The commander has praised it falsely, and I would like to thank Your Excellency the commander in advance for your care."

"It doesn't have to be like this, it's all family." Admiral Liu Zhongguo replied with a kind smile.

Liu Zhongguo's father, Liu Wu (Note; Admiral Liu Wu, who served as the commander of the Imperial Janissary for more than 30 years after the Second North American War, was a loyal knightly servant of His Majesty the Holy Emperor.

Without this privilege, General Liu Zhongguo would not have been able to stand out from the bright stars and become the commander of the Second Corps of the Royal Praetorian Guard and the Sumatra Corps.

After a brief afternoon tea, the officers in the tent next door came over several times to ask for orders, and General Liu Zhongguo sat for a few minutes before leaving in a hurry.

The big war was imminent, and he, the commander, could not leave the command position under any circumstances.

He took time out of his busy schedule to have afternoon tea with Brigadier General Don Li Yi, which was a gesture of goodwill from the commander and an explanation for the use of the Split Imperial Panzer Division.

It's not an apology, it's just a respect.

Brigadier General Tang Li Yi knew it in his heart, and continued to use some exquisite refreshments here, and after refilling a cup of hot coffee, Shi Shiran left.

Everyone else was nervously busy preparing for the war, but Brigadier General Don Li Yi basically had nothing to do.

The troops of the Imperial Panzer Division, which had just been unloaded to the dock, were basically divided up by the main divisions that counterattacked in three directions, and were about to be thrown into a full-scale attack at 3 o'clock, and the rest were still floating on the sea.

He now only has more than 1,000 troops of the logistics baggage regiment in his hands, which is not of great use, but can look at the entire battlefield from the perspective of a bystander.

Two and three o'clock in the afternoon

The horn of the all-out counterattack of the imperial army sounded, and more than 340 guns of eight artillery regiments launched a fierce artillery bombardment of the Dutch positions.

Thanks to the advanced dual-base gunpowder technology, the artillery of the Tang Empire catharsis was extremely lethal, and the rising gray-black mushroom clouds exploded in the Dutch position, the fire burst out, and the broken shrapnel roared around the periphery.

The stumps and severed arms of Dutch soldiers were blasted into the sky, and some old artillery pieces were blown into parts.

This sudden overarching artillery attack caused serious casualties to a large number of Dutch soldiers, like a blow to the head, and stunned the Dutch army.

Three o'clock

All the artillery fire stopped in unison, and the gray wolf armored vehicle like a land monster crushed the rubble and lying corpses all over the ground, and rushed forward with a strong slaughter.

And behind these ironclad chariots, the soldiers of the Tang Empire who attacked in a straggler line covered up like a wave.

With such a powerful combination of attacks, it's almost impossible to resist.

The attacking gray wolf armored vehicles stopped and stopped, from time to time frantically venting their firepower towards the densely populated area of the Dutch army, and heavy machine guns and short-barreled guns took turns to reap the lives of Dutch soldiers unscrupulously.

These prominent war monsters attracted the Dutch army's intensive firepower, but when they hit them, they had little effect except for a puff of gray smoke coming out of the "puff puff".

It's like tickling, and there's no way to stop these ironclad monsters from advancing!

The Dutch army's sporadic artillery counterattacks could not hit the ironclad chariots that were constantly moving in the battle, but instead attracted heavy artillery fire from the rear, which was quickly blown into a pile of parts.

Limited by the times

Whether it is the artillery fire of the Tang Empire or the Dutch army, it can only cover the shooting, and the accuracy of shooting can only be delusional with more dense artillery fire coverage.

Such a battlefield environment was very friendly to the ironclad chariots, who walked through the ruins of war, stopping from time to time to shoot fiercely, or bombarding the ruins of buildings hundreds of meters away with short-barreled cannons at close range, and sieveing the Dutch soldiers hiding inside.

The brutal bloody battle in the city lasted more than two hours, and the main division, which was assaulting from three directions, advanced steadily.

Following the assault of the armored forces, the tide of Imperial soldiers in the rear spread up and completely cleared the enemy officers and soldiers from the ruins of the battlefield.

The rumbling of artillery was accompanied by a series of dense gunfire, and the bloody battle continued......

By 5:40 p.m., two hours and 40 minutes after the launch of the all-out counteroffensive;

The main divisions of the corps that counterattacked from three directions made remarkable progress, advancing roughly 6~7 kilometers into the enemy's depth, and achieved results beyond expectations.

At this time, it had penetrated to about one-third of the position of Batavia City, basically occupying most of the southern part of the city, and the effect of the advance was quite good.

At the forefront of the site, only 3.3 kilometers from the old town of Batavia and the Governor's Palace of the Dutch East Indies, the sound of gunfire is clearly visible.

Located on the tropical island of Java, it gets darker later than in the north, and it doesn't go down until about 8 o'clock.

In view of the smooth advance of the battlefield, the Corps Provisional Command urgently adjusted the combat plan and ordered all units to further strengthen the offensive, fully occupy the Nancheng District, and advance the battle line to the Zhongcheng District.

The soldiers of the Tang Empire who arrived from the rear dock were simply repaired and immediately sent forward a steady stream of reinforcements, further enhancing the momentum of the attack.

It can be seen from a high vantage point

Gunfire continued to fire in most of Batavia's city, and barricades were blown into ruins, and soldiers from both sides fought fiercely in the ruins of buildings, and the sound of guns resounded throughout the world.

By 6 o'clock in the evening, 11 artillery regiments had been bombarded in turn, and the troops of two armored regiments were used as pioneers to attack the stubborn towns of the Dutch army again and again, and to storm the barricades and defensive lines built on the basis of buildings.

Under the onslaught of artillery fire and armored vehicles, the seemingly impregnable barricades and defensive lines were rudely torn apart and plunged into fierce hand-to-hand combat.

Until about 7 p.m

The attacking corps of the Tang Empire surrounded on three sides stopped advancing and began to build a defensive line according to the terrain, transport the wounded behind, and establish a new front based on ironclad vehicles and building ruins.

Before dark, the battle reports from all walks of life had been summarized to the corps headquarters, and General Liu Zhongguo held the latest battle report in his hand, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up an arc.

Today's landing battle was fought very beautifully, with the three main divisions leading the direction of the attack, and the largest one advanced 11 kilometers forward, penetrating deeply into the belly of the Midtown District, and only more than 900 meters away from the Governor's Palace of the Dutch East Indies.

After a day of bloody fighting, a total of more than 14,200 Dutch officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, including more than 20% of white officers and soldiers, about 3,000 people.

Under the cover of powerful firepower, the attacking imperial officers and soldiers suffered more than 2,970 casualties, 1,109 killed and more than 400 seriously wounded.

Such an exchange ratio is completely acceptable, because the empire has a high-efficiency broad-spectrum antibacterial drug such as the "sterilization king", and has a mature treatment system for war wounds, most of the wounded soldiers can return to the battlefield.

Therefore, the result of losing 1,300 or 400 people is quite acceptable.

Batavia is the largest city in the Dutch East Indies, with a population of 673,000, accounting for about half of the total population of Java.

There are 13 large and medium-sized towns within 300 kilometers of the surrounding area, accounting for more than 60% of the population of Java Island, which is a prosperous place where the population of the entire island is concentrated.

Therefore, Batavia was also the top priority of the defense of the Viceroyalty of the Dutch East Indies, and a total of more than 140,000 indigenous and white soldiers plus colonial troops were mobilized, and about 10% of them were reimbursed in just one day.

Don't underestimate this force, this is the elite force in the hands of the Governor's Office of the Dutch East Indies, which is much stronger than those troops that are randomly counted.

Otherwise, in the face of artillery bombardment and the ravages of armored vehicle charges, it is impossible to stand up to the crazy offensive of the Tang Imperial army and launch a bloody battle street by street and house.

According to the evaluation of the Corps Command, this part of the Dutch indigenous servant army and the white colonial army should be the essence of the Dutch army because of its considerable combat effectiveness.

Of the total strength of 140,000 people in Batavia, it is absolutely impossible for such elite troops to exceed 30%, and more of them are some rabble.

If it is all such elite troops, then the Western Front Corps will face a hard bone to gnaw, and it is inevitable that if one is not careful, it will suffer heavy casualties.

(End of chapter)