Chapter 1239 War is coming

In the battle plan formulated by Roger, the defense line composed of the two immigrant villages in the east and west, plus the fire line headquarters temporarily converted from various official agencies between the two villages, will assume the task of confronting the opponent's offensive head-on. The local people

All have been moved to the military camp in the south. There is a small east-west river between them and the resettlement village. The environment is relatively safe and will not be directly affected by the war.

However, Roger did not intend to deploy all his troops on this line of defense. The result he wanted was not to repel the opponent's offensive, but to annihilate as many of the opponent's effective forces as possible under the blockage of this line of defense.

Therefore, he only deployed half of his troops here, while the other half was left for maneuver, ambush in the dense forests on the flanks of the battlefield, waiting for the critical moment to break out and catch the opponent by surprise.

This combat plan involves the emergency relocation of thousands of people. It is extremely difficult to implement it in a short period of time. If the star port had not been under military control for a long time, the people have always habitually obeyed official instructions. Such a sudden

I'm afraid the arrangement will cause a lot of chaos. Han Zhengshan originally thought that this would be a hard job, but in actual operation, he found that it was not as difficult as he imagined. The people's cooperation was still quite high, which can be seen from this.

Their trust in the Haihan army and the government is very deep.

Han Zhengshan randomly asked some people, and the answers he received were that they believed that the government could repel foreign enemies and protect their homes. General Luo also said that after the enemies are defeated, all local people will receive half a month's share of labor.

Point rewards will be borne by the government for any losses. If someone is injured or killed in the battle, they will be given a pension according to the highest standards and take care of funeral arrangements. As for the damage to houses and farmland during this period, they can only be repaired slowly afterwards. Anyway,

Everyone's food, clothing, housing and transportation are still borne by the government. As long as everyone is fine, there really isn't much reason to complain in other aspects.

"You are so willful when you have money!" Han Zhengshan could only sigh like this. He couldn't help but recall that when the Haihan Army advanced to the gates of Hangzhou City, the government would never state that it would be responsible for the civilian losses caused by the war.

Only a country with a lot of money like Haihan would be so generous and reduce the direct losses of the people in the war. It is no wonder that the people of Haihan are trustworthy and can follow the government's arrangements relatively calmly when facing a war. It is time to move.

During the move, I continued to work when it was time to do it, and I was truly busy but not in a hurry.

Haihan's efficiency in military operations was quite high. It only took two and a half days from the time Roger made up his mind to lure the enemy in, to the basic transformation of the defensive position. During this period, news came from the north.

, the Johor Army on the other side of the strait seems to have entered the final reconnaissance stage before the war. There are obviously more ships operating in the strait, and there are also sporadic spies who secretly landed on Xingdao. The troops on duty locally follow the instructions

According to the order, these Johor spies were not intercepted and killed, but were carefully monitored to prevent the other party from discovering that Haihan was on guard.

Roger knew that his opponent might be about to launch an offensive, so he ordered the entire island to enter a state of war from now on. Warships blocked the port and army troops entered the position on standby. Except for civilians responsible for transportation tasks, all people were temporarily prohibited from entering or exiting the camp. As for

It was discovered that the personnel still operating outside the Xingdao base at this time were undoubtedly Johor spies who had sneaked into the island. Roger directly issued an order to kill them without mercy.

On May 2, military intelligence from the north of the island reported that a large number of ships had gathered near the opposite coast, and it seemed that a launch was imminent.

In the early morning of May 3rd, sentries in the north of the island discovered that ships on the other side of the island were leaving the coast in batches and heading towards Star Island in the south. The sneak attack that the Johor Army had prepared for a long time finally kicked off.

Roger deployed a field radio on the front line. After receiving the confirmed information, Roger ordered the forward reconnaissance personnel to evacuate to the periphery of the landing site and maintain a safe distance to monitor the enemy's movements. All rear troops entered the predetermined combat position and waited for the enemy.

The emergence of the army.

The person in charge of the Johor Army commanding this battle is General Papong. He is one of the most senior senior officers in Johor. He has commanded the troops to fight with neighboring countries many times. Although he has no particularly outstanding achievements, he still managed to save Johor.

The current territory has not suffered the same calamity as the Malacca Kingdom. Therefore, although he was already old, he was still entrusted with an important task by the king and ordered him to lead troops south to attack Star Island.

It is not that Papong knew nothing about the Hai Han people who occupied Star Island. In fact, after Hai Han occupied Ambuna Island in 1631, Johor had private trade with Hai Han through this South China Sea bridgehead. It was just because Hai Han had a relationship with Portugal.

There is a relationship of trading partners, and Portugal has an irresolvable hatred of the country with Johor, so the relationship between Johor and Haihan is only maintained at the level of ordinary trade, and no official diplomatic relations have been established.

At the end of 1633, the Haihan combined fleet cruised the Southeast Asia, and dropped an army at Sing Tao, quietly taking this place as their own. Johor also submitted a protest to Haihan through private channels, stating that this land was

territory of the State of Johor and asked Haihan to evacuate as soon as possible. However, this attempt did not receive an official response from Haihan. Soon Haihan immigrants began to move into Star Island and establish permanent residences. Johor knew that its military strength was far inferior to Haihan.

Han, for this "evil deed", could only swallow his anger.

Until last year, the British suddenly offered to provide military assistance to Johor to assist Johor in establishing a new army and regaining Sing Tao. The exchange was to allow the British to demarcate an area on Sing Tao for colonial development. Of course,

Territorial autonomy is only a reward condition after the achievement. Before that, the various military trainings and weapons and equipment provided must be calculated clearly.

The British are not here to do charity, and the price they offer is not low. With Johor's current national strength, it really cannot support an army fully equipped with firearms. But the senior officials in power are unwilling to let such an expulsion go.

Foreign enemies, the opportunity to regain lost territory, in the end both parties took a step back and reached a cooperation agreement in which installment payments were made, and most of them were pledged with Johor's local specialties.

The State of Johor will exchange agate, pearls, tortoiseshell, rhinoceros horn, ivory, agarwood and other commodities from the UK for a batch of arms supplies, related military training, and 500 mercenaries to assist in the war. And this transaction has basically been empty.

The national treasury of Johor is not substantial, and the entire country has to bear a debt for this.

Papong personally doesn’t think this is a good idea. He believes that even if the few Haihan people on Star Island can be driven away, it will only take back an uninhabited island. However, Johor’s original abandonment of uninhabited islands was not because of the sea.

Instead, he wanted to use this method to open a buffer zone between his country and Sumatra, Portugal and other countries to avoid the continuous outbreak of war. Is it of much practical significance to take back this place from the hands of the Han people? Bapong does not think it is of much practical significance.

Not necessarily, but it may lead to another attack by the Portuguese - the last large-scale war between the two countries was when Portugal sent troops to destroy the seaport facilities established by Johor on Star Island.

However, Johor's senior officials believe that the British can provide them with a certain degree of protection. With them stationed on Star Island to assist in defense, perhaps other countries will not dare to provoke Johor so easily. Regarding this idea, Papong can only think of "

To describe it as "childish", can the British defeat Haihan and the Portuguese? They also said that if they want to ask them for help, can they just talk about it? After all, they have to talk with real money, and then the British will definitely continue to be lions.

Open their mouths and threaten Johor to meet their harsh conditions.

Besides, if the British want to seize Star Island, why don't they pull up their own troops to fight the Haihan people, but take the initiative to recruit Johor as a helper? To put it bluntly, it's not because they are weak and they need helpers. Since both parties are working together to achieve this goal, why should they let them?

Johor has to pay a sky-high price to obtain military aid. Doesn't this show that Johor is weak and can be bullied, and is using the excuse of military cooperation to extort money?

Having said that, the higher-ups made the decision to start the war and appointed Ba Pong to lead the troops. He could only bite the bullet and take over the job first. If he dared to question the king's decision, his position as general would soon be over.

He would be replaced by someone else. Although he was not so willing to make this decision, the king's fate came first, so Ba Pong had no choice but to bow his head and cooperate with the British.

Although the British sent a team of more than 500 people, most of them were mercenaries recruited from Central Asia and South Asia. There were only a dozen British people actually responsible for commanding them. Among them, the commander who led the team

Officer Hogg is a retired officer with many years of military experience. He is about the same age as Papon and serves as a senior military adviser to the East India Company.

This position is actually a commanding officer in the East India Company, responsible for the military operations of the company's armed forces in the Far East. Hogg secretly entered the country of Johor at the beginning of the year and immediately assisted them in forming and training a new army. However, due to the language, culture and the uniqueness of Johor,

Due to financial problems, the work related to the new army did not go smoothly. It was not until February that the new army finally managed to gather a lineup of about 2,000 people.

According to the initial cooperation agreement between the two parties, the British East India Company was to provide Johor with a thousand rifles and ten small-caliber artillery pieces, as well as a batch of steel armor and cold weapons produced in the Indian Peninsula, enough to arm a thousand people, and guaranteed to be deployed in a

After months of training, preliminary combat effectiveness was formed.

However, most of the weapons provided by the British are old goods that have been eliminated from the domestic army. The quality is not so stable. Some guns have even exhausted their service life and exploded in the hands of the new army after not being used twice.

After several gun accidents occurred in succession, Johor soldiers' enthusiasm for new weapons was completely exhausted, and many soldiers became afraid of them.

Under Bapon's strong protest, Hogg had to take the time to recover all the rifles for inspection. It was found that about a quarter of the rifles were no longer suitable for use, and two of the ten artillery pieces had appeared.

If there is a crack in the barrel, there is a chance that the barrel will explode when the next shot is fired.

Hogg also couldn't tell the pain. This batch of weapons was shipped from the base in India. There must have been no relevant inspections when they were shipped out of the warehouse. However, if such weapons and equipment are sent to the army, they will be released sooner or later.

Accident. The gentlemen at the base camp probably didn’t consider their own feelings as a commander, and thought that they could just buy some second-hand goods to deal with these natives. But this is not a one-shot deal in Johor, but the two sides have agreed to form a coalition force.

Fighting against the Haihan people and attacking Johor is tantamount to attacking yourself. This kind of behavior is completely draining the bottom of the fire.

It would take at least several months to inform the base camp of the news and transport a batch of weapons from there. Hogg and the Johor Army could not afford to wait that long. Haihan is currently stationed at Star Island.

There aren't many troops, but it's hard to say what the situation will be like in a few months. If you want to increase the number of troops and expand the scale of the operation, you'll have to delay the start of the operation. If this continues, won't it become a fueling tactic?

In desperation, Hogg could only reduce the proportion of musketeers in the new army. However, the combined forces of the two countries still had more than a thousand musketeers, which was not much different from the size of the Haihan garrison known in the intelligence.

The Johor Army can also provide a group of shield bearers and spearmen to cooperate with the musketeers, which will also greatly enhance the combat capabilities of the musketeers. Hogg believes that with this lineup, it can still compete with Haihan. Not to mention our own side

It was a mental calculation but not a deliberate one. The idea was to sneak attack on the Haihan base. The certainty of victory should be a little better.

Before starting the operation, the mixed coalition forces of the two countries actually spent more than two months practicing, and the formation and coordination have basically reached a proficient level. However, this kind of training also has drawbacks that Hogg cannot avoid, that is

They did not know the opponent's combat style at all, and it was difficult to set up an imaginary enemy with reasonable strength as the target of the drill. The British and Johor people did not collect enough intelligence in this area. They only knew that the Haihan Army had

The armed forces of the Portuguese and the Dutch were defeated in the South China Sea, but there is very little in-depth and detailed information.

If Hogg could make his own choice, he would hope to have another half year or so to train this army, collect intelligence to understand the details of the Haihan Army, and formulate a more targeted combat plan. But it is a pity that time

Without waiting for anyone, Johor soon received information that an immigrant fleet from Haihan mainland arrived at Star Island in April, and it was said that a large number of immigrants arrived. As for whether the number of garrison troops was increased, there was no more precise information.

.

If we wait any longer, as the number of immigrants increases, Haihan's stronghold on Sing Tao will become increasingly strong. With the current preparations for war, it may be difficult to capture Sing Tao. Hogg has no choice but to suggest that Johor

Start the war as soon as possible without leaving too much buffer time for Haihan.
Chapter completed!