After dark

The noise of gunfire all day gradually subsided, and there were bursts of gunfire from time to time in the night, but they soon stopped again, and it was not comparable to the fierce fighting during the day.

Dutch Governor's Palace

Due to the control of the lights of war, the doors and windows of the Governor's Palace were covered with thick curtains, and the dim oil lamps reflected the busy figures coming and going, and it had become the headquarters of the city defense of Batavia.

Now there is a mess of confetti everywhere here, and no one thought that the Tang Empire's army would attack so fiercely, and under the desperate resistance of tens of thousands of Dutch troops, it would still destroy the city all the way.

Seeing it, it's already about to be killed in front of you.

The Dutch army has only one day to go from pre-war confidence to despair, and is now urgently moving its headquarters to the rear.

During the day, the Tang Imperial army attacked fiercely, and the ironclad chariot shells that rushed ahead had already hit the door of the Governor's Palace, killing and wounding several soldiers on the spot.

Inside the Governor's Office on the second floor

Governor Pose and Lieutenant General von Bergkamp, the commander, sat face to face, their bloodshot eyes tired, half a bottle of whisky left open on the table.

The atmosphere in the room was suffocating, filled with a thick atmosphere of despair.

"Unexpected...... The combination of ironclad vehicles and artillery is so unstoppable. The soldiers strapped explosives to their bodies and went forward to attack one after another, paying huge casualties to blow up seven armored vehicles. ”

Lieutenant General von Bergkamp looked gloomy and his eyes were filled with deep grief, and he poured half a glass of whisky into his stomach and let the spicy taste burn.

There was a pause

Only then did he continue;

"I thought I could replicate the success of South Africa, but the reality is so cruel that the Tang State's ability to attack the fortification head-on and coordinate artillery fire far exceeds that of the British army.

Under the double blow of ironclad chariots and artillery fire, my troops suffered heavy losses.

One day only

Six divisions have been disabled, with more than 16,000 casualties and more than 140 artillery pieces.

In the face of the enemy's superior artillery firepower and ironclad chariot equipment, the soldiers could only fill it with flesh and blood, advance in the face of the enemy's dense bullet rain and artillery fire, and then were knocked to the ground like leeks.

According to statistics

Today, the enemy poured 115,000 shells, covering any buildings and streets that were suspected of having a counterattack, and blasting them into rubble.

Many of the brave warriors were buried in the ruins of the building before they could make a difference.

In comparison, our army used more than 8,200 shells in the counterattack with all its might, and 1/4 of the stock has been consumed.

The ratio of artillery fire between the two sides was 13:1, and the enemy's artillery fire was more powerful, more lethal, and covered a wider area, and at least more than half of the losses came from artillery fire.

In this case

We can't hold out for three days, and once the main force in our hands is exhausted, the battle situation may collapse at any time......"

After Lieutenant General von Bergkamp finished speaking, he reached for the bottle again, and his wrist was pressed by Governor Pose.

Lieutenant General von Bergkamp looked stunned and silently let go of his grip on the bottle.

Governor Pose was in a very heavy mood, and he did not want to be the last Governor of the East Indies, which would be recorded in the annals of history, so he asked tentatively; "Mr. General, can you launch a night attack?"

Batavia is close to the sea, and the food supply is acceptable, including the indigenous servants, and there is no shortage of fish, kelp, and seaweed, and most of them do not suffer from night blindness.

The indigenous servant army in the central part of the island is not good, the food is more simple, the nutrition is lacking, and night blindness is more common.

Lieutenant General von Bergkamp thought for a moment, then replied cautiously;

"You can give it a try, but don't expect any miracles?

The attacking Tang army stopped its advance at seven o'clock in the evening, establishing and consolidating a temporary defensive line, and would not be unprepared.

As the most difficult combat subject in the world's army, the night raid battle has not organized similar training for the kingdom army and the indigenous servant army, so they can only gamble with their eyes closed. ”

"At least the artillery fire of the enemy in the night battle is difficult to use, and in the absence of a better way, I think I can give it a try." Governor Pose said with a lot of emotion.

Anyway, the situation on the battlefield has been eroded, and we can't sit idly by, no matter how bad it is, how bad can it be?

Lieutenant General von Bergkamp was also helpless at the moment, and after thinking about it for a long time, he nodded heavily, and said; "Okay, then I'll start arranging. It was planned to send two elite indigenous divisions to attack at four o'clock in the morning. Strive to disrupt the enemy's position and buy us precious breathing time. ”

"Very good, that's it." Governor Pose was like a drowning man, not sparing any straw he could grasp in his hand.

The night of Batavia was shrouded in the shadow of war death, and the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood mixed with the smell of blood during the day, which was still thick in the night.

Sporadic gunshots burst through the silent night sky.

Amid the buildings and ruins of the city, hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides confronted each other, silently waiting for the dawn to come, which would be the beginning of another day of bloody slaughter......

It was close to four o'clock in the morning

It was the darkest hour before dawn, and the swarthy figures gathered forward in the streets of Shunde, and from time to time there were screams of pain and whispered reprimands of someone falling, adding more tension to the atmosphere in vain.

With more than 300 years of enslavement by the Dutch colonizers, the habitual obedience of the Malay natives, and the generous war bounties, no one wonders why they worked for the white colonists.

"Bang Bang".

I don't know which unlucky guy stepped on the air and fell, and hit the broken large water tank on the edge of the ruins, and the broken water tank and the screams of the soldiers spread far away, which made the Dutch soldiers who gathered at night pale.

It's over, and the tracks are exposed.

Originally, the enemy and us were separated by a block or a piece of ruins, and the nearest place was only a few dozen meters, and such a loud sound could not be heard unless the deaf could not hear it.

Sure enough, a series of shouts came from the darkness; "What part, password?"

"Where did the turtle son come from? Password, don't talk and shoot again. ”

"It's not good, it's an enemy attack!"

Immediately, in the darkness, a bolt pulled, and a dense gunfire rang out, ......and the scorching rain of bullets dragged the fiery red line, and the head was struck with a slash.

Some shot into the ruined buildings, and some hit the gathered crowd of attackers, and the screams of blood splashed at the same time, which completely exposed the target.

Immediately several torches were lit and thrown out from behind the defensive line, and with a "boom" ignited the kerosene-sprinkled pyre, and several bonfires were quickly ignited.

The roaring bonfires dispelled the darkness, revealing a large gathering of Dutch soldiers who had attacked the Dutch at night, which led to an even more intense burst of gunfire.

"Attack, all attack." Seeing that Xingzang was exposed, the white commander of the indigenous unit waved the shiny command knife in his hand and gave the order to attack.

After a brief exchange of rifle fire, the Dutch officers and soldiers who had gathered rushed over like a tidal wave, and soon rushed into the enemy's line of defense, and began a chaotic battle at night.

The sound of gunfire, shouts and screams was chaotic, and the dawn of Batavia was heavily bloody......

With a few bonfires, it was difficult to light up the long battle line.

In the darkness of the night, it is impossible to distinguish between friend and foe, and once you rush out, the formation of the company will be chaotic, let alone command the battle.

can only rush forward like a headless fly, and when it encounters a black shadow, it will either raise a gun and shoot, or pierce it with a bayonet, or slash it with a knife, and there is no time to distinguish between friend and foe.

The shouting and slashing continued for more than an hour, and it was not until about five o'clock that the sky was slightly bright, and the exhausted Dutch soldiers realized that they were actually killing each other.

The Dutch soldiers, who poured in from different street corners and ruins, could not distinguish between friend and foe in the dark night, and finally they were slaughtered in a mess.

The cunning army of the Tang Empire knew that it was not good at night fighting, so it only retained a small part of its troops on the forward front, and quickly retreated in the face of large-scale night attacks.

They set up several barbed wire fences at a position of about 800~1000 meters behind the defensive line, and stationed heavy troops to defend, which is the real defensive line.

After the attack, a small group of Don soldiers fired a few shots and quickly retreated, and by checking the password, all of them withdrew behind the barbed wire defense line.

Ignorant of anything, the native soldiers burst in and encountered a large force of shadowy enemies in the darkness of the night, resulting in a fierce battle between the two sides......

This situation can be seen everywhere on a more than 10-kilometer-long front, where tens of thousands of indigenous soldiers fought together and fought for more than an hour.

After the light of day

Only then did I find that the corpses everywhere were my own people, and most of the tens of thousands of people who participated in the night attack were killed and wounded, leaving less than 4,000 people, and almost all of them were wearing colors.

Some of the indigenous soldiers rushed to the barbed wire, and then were hung together by the barbed wire, and were knocked down by the soldiers of the Tang Empire with a platoon of guns, and almost all of them were spared.

After fighting all night, that's it......

Such a discovery caused an uproar among the indigenous soldiers, and the anger, horror and deep sense of powerlessness spread to everyone like a plague, and their morale collapsed in an instant.

After the tide of soldiers of the Tang Empire came up, except for a few people who resisted, most of the others obediently raised their hands and surrendered.

With just one easy counterattack, the Imperial soldiers were able to regain the positions they had lost in the early hours of the morning.

In the tropics, the day dawns very early, and at about six o'clock in the morning, the visibility on the battlefield is no different from that of daytime, and you can clearly see the scenery from 2 kilometers away.

General Liu Zhongguo personally led more than a dozen middle and high-ranking officers to the front line, looking at the battlefield full of corpses in front of him, and the satisfaction in his expression could not be concealed no matter what.

This night

The imperial army suffered a slight price of 27 casualties in exchange for more than 6,000 killed and wounded and more than 3,540 captured.

Of the 27 casualties, 9 were killed, 4 were seriously injured, and the rest were slightly injured, of which more than 10 fell heavily with one high foot and one low foot when they quickly retreated.

The light ones were covered in blood on their faces, or they broke their feet, and the heavy ones broke their arms, and they were carried back behind the barbed wire defense line by their comrades.

When it comes to night warfare, the Tang Empire is indeed not good at it, and there is no great power army in this world that is good at night warfare.

Therefore, in order to maintain stability, the real defensive line of the Imperial Legion was set at a position of 800 to 1 km in the rear, and only a small patrol force was retained in the front.

If the enemy counterattacks on a small scale, this position will be lost, and it will be fought back during the day.

If the enemy attacks at night on a large scale, it will certainly not be able to stop it with only a few thin barbed wires, and it will inevitably turn into a bad battle and cause serious losses to itself.

It is based on the above considerations

The defensive line of the Western Front Corps was relatively backward, that is, to prevent the Dutch army from playing this hand, and he never wanted to fight crookedly, which made General Liu Zhongguo very happy.

Among the ruins and corpses everywhere, weapons and ammunition have been grouped together in piles and piles. Under the watchful eye of the Imperial soldiers, the aboriginal soldiers who had been disarmed dragged carts and cleaned up the bodies one by one.

At this time, it was already the middle of March in the tropics, and the temperature could reach 267 degrees Celsius after the sun came out, and the smell of corpses would be filled with corpses if they were not treated for a day, which could easily cause the plague to run rampant.

Therefore, among the military supplies, there are 200,000 barrels of flammable gasoline, combined with wood and coal, which are used to burn the corpses in a centralized manner, which is very well considered.

In the northwest corner of the port

Dozens of roaring fires lasted for a day and a night, and this is not ...... These indigenous officers and soldiers who died in the early morning had to be pulled over by truckloads and burned to the ground.

The work of clearing the battlefield and burning the remains was done by captured indigenous soldiers.

General Liu Zhongguo came to the front line to inspect the circle, felt quite satisfied, and immediately ordered to speed up the clearing of the battlefield.

Follow-up ironclad chariots and attacking units will move into position, and artillery positions will move forward, ready to launch a new attack at 8 a.m. sharp.

It's still the same old thing

First of all, the artillery bombardment lasted for 15 minutes, and then the ironclad chariot led the infantry to attack, and the tracked ironclad artillery car, equipped with a 23 times caliber short-barreled gun, played a much greater role in the urban fortification than the heavy machine gun car.

The Dutch soldiers hid in the building to counterattack, and the gray wolf ironclad artillery truck could reach a distance of one or two hundred meters, and after stopping, it only took two or three direct shots to bombard the house and collapse, and the defending enemy was killed or wounded.

When they really encountered a difficult neighborhood, they stopped, and the artillery went up and bombarded again indiscriminately, blowing the entire neighborhood into rubble.

Immediately, the ironclad chariots and infantry covered up, and so on.

Today's goal is to fully occupy the central and western districts of Batavia, and to compress the enemy's forces in parts of the eastern and northern districts, forming a pincer encirclement posture.

The night battle in the early hours of the morning did little damage to the Imperial Legion, and now that the morale is high, of course, it is necessary to continue to crush the enemy army.

The Tang Empire's army fought a war is a full local tyrant practice, especially in important urban fortifications, artillery shells are open, and they are by no means able to resist by flesh and blood.

This was the biggest headache for the Dutch army, as the sturdy buildings they had relied on were covered by heavy artillery fire, and the splashing of debris often caused secondary damage to the Dutch soldiers who were hiding.

Absolute superiority in artillery fire, almost incomprehensible.

Ultimately

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was still a feudal colonial economy dominated by agriculture, and did not have large-scale industrial production capacity, and most industrial products depended on imports.

The steel production capacity is negligible, the economic strength belongs to the third-rate in Europe, and in the face of a strong industrial power like Datang, it belongs to the weak who are crushed and have no power to fight back.

The gap between the two is almost a chasm, and the only commendable thing is that the Dutch have a strong sense of anti-aggression and resistance, a strong sense of independence, and they will fight the war even if they grit their teeth.

The loss of the colony of the East Indies would be the jewel in the crown of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and the glory of the kingdom would be dimmed by it.