Chapter 637 Fight (6)

Of course, this is not the most terrifying thing. What is terrible is that the three Dutch commanders now have no idea how many troops the other party has deployed on the island, and whether there are any hidden back-up tactics that have not been used. Yesterday, Spikes was in

After capturing the port, I thought that the opponent's troops were probably those stationed in the port fort. However, today I was slapped in the face by the cruel fact - even an army like Sweden, which pays attention to artillery warfare, would never be so extravagant as to give it to the enemy.

The artillery formation of one to two hundred people was equipped with two sets of weapons of different standards, so that a total of more than twenty artillery pieces were deployed on such a small island.

According to the experience accumulated by the Dutch in the European battlefields, twenty artillery is at least a regiment or above, with a firepower configuration of about two thousand troops. This inference makes it difficult for them to make the decision to attack the second line on the island.

The defense line launched a general offensive, because their own troops were far from reaching this number. If the opponent really concealed their strength in the previous battles, then they would really be setting themselves up for a trap if they continued to launch an offensive inland. But even if the Dutch were strong

Even if I have the courage to estimate the strength of my opponent, I would never have imagined that there is a monster-like force like Haihan in the world. He really has the ability to equip his artillery with two sets of weapons. They are really the only artillery stationed on Ambona Island.

Those we saw yesterday, after being withdrawn, continued to play the important role of firepower output on the second line of defense.

"We can't continue fighting like this, we have to think of other ways." Brouwer said with a gloomy look. He was supervising the battle on the front line today and watched helplessly as the gun emplacements on his own position were called out one by one by the opponent.

, which can be regarded as an eye-opener. Moreover, six people in the supervising team he brought with him also died inexplicably. After checking the injuries, they all died from musket lead bullets. Broward really couldn't understand how they could be killed at such a long distance.

He was hit, but he realized the potential danger in time, retreated some distance back, and hid in a makeshift tent.

He was lucky. The snipers on Haihan's side focused their fire for three rounds but failed to hit him. The guards in front and behind him became scapegoats. And Mu Xiabai didn't seem to have been exposed prematurely.

The powerful weapon in his hand attracted the attention of the local government, and when he saw that the effect was not good, he immediately ordered the sniper to stop the action.

Spikes frowned and thought for a while, then said to Van Longen: "Mr. Van Longen, please take a team of people to the flanks to see if there are any other attack paths."

"Flanking?" Van Longen subconsciously looked to the side of his opponent's position. The stream on the outskirts of the town was used as the dividing line. On the other side was an apparently undeveloped virgin forest. It was impossible to see clearly what was going on in the forest - this was also the case for the Dutch.

The main reason why there was no intention to launch an attack from the flanks in the first place.

"Mr. Brouwer, please take a team of people to the other flank. If we can attack from three directions at the same time, we may have a chance to break through their defense line." Spikes said seriously: "If

If we still can't find an opportunity, then maybe we should consider evacuating here as soon as possible."

Spikes is not an ignorant person who only complains. He has participated in several battles with live ammunition. After the battle, he has naturally realized that the opponent who has never revealed his identity is not a weakling.

, On the contrary, the opponent's strength is far better than ordinary pirates and Southeast Asian civil armed forces, and it is not inferior to the mercenaries formed by the East India Company itself. If it is determined in the next battle that the opponent's military strength is better than

On our side, the chance of winning this battle is indeed very small.

"Retreat? But yesterday you were still saying that you would hold the port and wait for support?" Van Longen was a little panicked when he heard Spikes's opinion. After just a short time, Spikes's views had already changed drastically.

"We decided to hold the port yesterday with the intention of cutting off their channels for obtaining supplies, but judging from today's battle, their war reserves should be much more sufficient than ours!" Brouwer explained: "If theirs

If their reserves are limited, they will not be the first to fire in a battle. And after we ceased fire, they continued to launch artillery attacks. What does this mean? In addition to showing that their artillery performance is better than ours, their ammunition reserves are also very sufficient, and

Don’t worry about running out of ammunition due to fighting with us.”

"So they were already prepared for this battle?" Van Longen came to his senses after hearing the explanation.

"At least they are more prepared than we are." Spikes looked very helpless: "Although we made preparations for battle before setting off, we did not estimate the imaginary enemy to be so strong. The only good thing is that they don't seem to be here.

Arrange armed ships at sea, so we must try to find out their strength, and then make a choice between fighting or withdrawing."

This is indeed the luck of the Dutch. After capturing Amborna Island, the navy originally left two warships to station here. However, due to the passage of a typhoon last month, both warships were damaged to varying degrees.

It was necessary to return to the port in Annan for repairs. And the warship that came to take over from Sanya was still on the way. The Dutch happened to hit such a window period, so they took a certain initiative in the initial landing battle.

If there are two Haihan warships nearby, even the most basic "exploration-class" warships can at least make the Dutch fleet lose sight of one thing in the battle, and there will be no chance of attacking land so easily.

After yesterday's battle, although Mu Xiabai had sent a telegram for help to the base camp, the newly dispatched warships were still on their way to Amborna Island, and these two ships were not equipped with crossing officers, so naturally there were no

The radio station is available for contact. It can only be estimated from the flight distance that they will have about a week to arrive at Ambrosia Island. It is very likely that they will not be able to participate in this battle in time.

Although the Dutch do not like to march and fight in such tropical virgin forests, due to the situation at hand, they have also understood that it is not practical to break through the opponent's defense line from the front. They can only look at the north and south flanks of the town.

Are there any loopholes that can be exploited?

Van Longen led fifty soldiers and circled south from the port to avoid the opponent's sight. Then he turned west and entered the dense forest on the island. Among these fifty soldiers, there were only ten Dutch, and the other four

The ten people are from Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and their skin colors are all dark and light. Fortunately, the East India Company still issued uniforms to them, so that the team does not look particularly messy.

.Half of these people were newcomers who had just arrived in Batavia. They had not had time to adapt to the environment in Southeast Asia before they were thrown into this hard work.

But there is really nothing that can be done about the equipment. Only 20 of the fifty soldiers are equipped with matchlocks, and the rest only have spears and swords to use. The role that these cold weapons can play in the current combat environment is obviously extremely

Limited. Van Longen didn't even dare to think about how tragic the battle would be if these infantry were needed to charge against the enemy.

Fan Longgen touched the short firegun on his waist, sighed, and took the lead into the dense forest. This was not the first time he had ventured into the tropical rainforest on a Southeast Asian island. He was familiar with the dangers lurking in this environment.

Very full understanding. Although there are no large carnivorous beasts on these islands, the more deadly ones are actually the inconspicuous snakes, insects, rats and ants. Various poisons are hidden in every corner of the dense forest.

You will get tricked if you are not careful.

When Van Longen first arrived in Batavia, he followed an expedition into the dense forest for the first time. In just five days and five nights, seven of the forty people in the team slept forever in the dense forest due to attacks by poisonous snakes and poisonous insects.

, after leaving the virgin forest, three more people died of malaria caused by mosquito bites. For the colonists who came all the way from Europe to Southeast Asia, the natural environment here was often more deadly and terrifying than the enemy's guns and cannons, and Van Longen

Since then, it has left a huge shadow on this primitive forest environment. If he had a choice, he would rather fight the wind and waves on a sailboat at sea than fight with those invisible and intangible poisonous insects in this dense forest.

struggle.

Although before entering the forest, Van Longen took the trouble to educate the new soldiers on the importance of tightening trousers, sleeves, etc. in this environment, there was still a Ma Daha who was poisoned just after stepping into the forest for less than a hundred meters.

The centipede slipped into the shoe and bit it hard.

When the unlucky soldier wailed and took off his shoes and socks, his heels were already black - the poisonous insects in Southeast Asia are no joke. Van Longen sighed and said: "Let's bleed the bitten place quickly.

!”

Given the current medical conditions, there is really no other better way to deal with it. Van Longen's proposal is almost the only feasible method. Fortunately, the action was taken in time. After some blood was drained out, the injured soldier finally turned from numbness to pain.

, this basically means that most of the toxicity of the wound has been removed. However, this does not mean that he has recovered his life, he just escaped temporarily. In the absence of disinfection methods, he can only wrap it with cloth strips

As for whether the wound will cause tetanus or other complications, we really have to leave it to fate.

After learning this lesson, the soldiers were significantly more vigilant about the surrounding environment. However, the constant presence of various snakes, insects, rats, and ants above and below their heads still greatly slowed down the team's progress. From the starting point to the south wing of the town

Just over a mile away, it actually took the team a full hour to complete.

But Van Longen was not relieved by this. Looking at the stream that stretched between the dense forest and the small town, he really couldn't think of an effective way to overcome this obstacle.

This stream is only seven or eight meters wide. If time and conditions permit, he can have someone directly cut down one or two large trees in the dense forest on the bank and let them dump them over the stream to build a single-plank bridge. But.

Obviously, these trees on the shore, which are hugged by at least two or three people, cannot be cut down in a short time, and the sound of cutting wood will be heard far away, attracting the attention of opponents.

Another way is to wade directly. The stream is very clear and it doesn't seem to be deep. If you move fast enough, you can wade to the other side in about a minute. But this is also a very risky approach, because Van Longen has paid attention to

There are scattered people on the rooftops of the town on the other side who have been scanning this area. If you go out of the dense forest, it is almost impossible to avoid their sight.

"We can only attack by force." Van Longen made up his mind, and then sent a soldier to return to the position to report the situation here and state his combat intentions. Later, the main position would launch an artillery bombardment to attract the enemy's attention.

force, and then he would wait for an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos to cross the stream and invade the town.

This battle plan is very simple and direct. Van Longen is not worried about too much trouble when crossing the stream. He is more worried about the fact that his troops are too small. Even if he can successfully reach the other side and invade the town, he will still be lost because of the

The force was too weak and was quickly eaten by the opponent.

But the matter was at this point, and there was no room for regret. Fan Longgen found a dead tree stump and sat down, quietly waiting for the signal to launch an attack. He pulled out the short blazing gun from his waist and gently wiped it off with his hand.

The dust on it. This fire gun was one of the items given to him by his family elders twelve years ago when he set out to conquer the world in Southeast Asia. Although he has hardly used this weapon in these twelve years,

But he still maintained it very well. The lead bullets filled in the gun could penetrate the iron armor of ordinary soldiers at a distance of ten meters. In his opinion, it was an excellent life-saving weapon.

"Perhaps I really shouldn't have taken this errand. I should have been on my way to the Mughal Kingdom at this time." Van Longen sighed secretly, and was also shaken by the choice he had made before. At that time,

When Governor Cohen came to talk to him, he was preparing to lead a fleet to transport a batch of Ming Dynasty goods to India. However, after listening to Cohen's advice, he chose to abandon this journey to the west and instead became a special sea voyage of the East India Company.

Search and rescue fleet.

But this job was not as easy as he originally imagined. He originally thought that most of the merchant ships that were involved in the accident encountered disasters such as typhoons at sea and unfortunately fell silent. However, he did not expect that someone actually intercepted and killed these merchant ships midway, and even killed them in succession.

All the East India Company's transit supply ports were captured. Van Longen was unprepared for this inexplicable battle. Even when he was about to launch an attack, he still didn't understand what he was doing now.

.

"About thirty to sixty people."

While Van Longen was still in a daze in the forest and had no idea, the Heihan scout lying on a roof somewhere on the other side of the stream had already made relatively detailed observations of this Dutch armed force that was quietly lurking over.
Chapter completed!