afterglow

Chapter 364 Chapter [-]: Gunship and aircraft support; the entire fleet will attack with me!
The fire of the British field artillery salvo was very conspicuous, and three gunships spotted the position of the 18th Regiment of the Royal Artillery from a distance.

At first, the British didn't know why. They were confused as to why the Ming army's large seaplanes would come here. Shouldn't they go on a sea search mission?
"Hey! Drive them away!" Someone shouted towards the anti-aircraft machine gun platoon not far away.

"Thump, thump, thump—"

The twin Vickers heavy machine guns opened fire immediately, and rounds of 7.7mm machine gun bullets mixed with tracer bullets shot diagonally into the sky, splashing towards the four-engine aircraft painted in blue and gray.

The British machine gunners actually had no intention of shooting them down. Everyone knew that the possibility of shooting down these big things with machine guns alone was very slim.

However, what was unexpected was that the three planes ignored the incoming bullets, but calmly and slightly deflected their course, facing the British position with the side of their fuselage.

The British soldiers holding telescopes or rangefinders discovered the difference - were the barrels and gun barrels protruding from the side opening of the cabin?

Before they could react, as the muzzle flashes flashed, shells and bullets hit them all.

An 80mm explosive bomb fell from the sky and landed in a corner of the air defense position. Amidst the explosion, flying fragments immediately knocked down several machine gunners who were manipulating anti-aircraft machine guns.

The 12.8mm machine gun bullets were equally terrifying, splattering clouds of dust on the ground, and the unlucky guy who was hit was shot with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

"Stop standing! Get down!"

"Look for cover!"

The astonished British soldiers had no choice but to run away in search of cover or lie down with their heads in their hands.

In order to minimize the rear seat travel, the old-fashioned [-]-type mountain cannon carried by the Type [-] seaplane has its short body tube shortened, which makes its muzzle velocity lower and its trajectory more curved. However, it is not suitable for low-altitude hovering attacks. The negative impact is not big for the gunship.

Bullets as dense as exploding beans were fired into the sky, but it was difficult to cause effective damage to the huge four-engine aircraft.

Facing the Ming Army gunships that were circling and bombarding wantonly at a low altitude of 400 meters, the British anti-aircraft machine gun platoon tried its best but was still powerless, resulting in heavy casualties.

The excited gunship members enjoyed this wanton and fun killing, pouring shells and bullets onto the heads of the enemies below.

After the British anti-aircraft firepower was defeated, they turned their course and headed straight for the artillery positions.

The British artillerymen lay on the ground, lying in potholes, and hiding in the bushes, watching helplessly as the planes dropped terrifying firepower while circling leisurely.

One after another, Austin trucks were hit by 12.8mm bullets and scattered with debris. The armor-piercing incendiary bombs contained in them ignited the trucks, causing them to burst into flames, which then quickly spread and expanded into a blazing fireball.

More than a dozen QF 25-pound howitzers arranged neatly were also bombed. Although they were fixed targets, the 80mm anti-explosive bombs could not be guaranteed to be destroyed if they did not hit directly. How difficult is it to conduct precise bombardment from an aircraft?
At this time, the Ming army's gunships, which had been wreaking havoc for a while, also encountered a problem.

The three remaining Oerlikon Ms-cal.60 20mm anti-aircraft guns previously deployed at the airport were towed over by Dutch and Indian military trucks.

The angry Dutch officer was yelling and urging the reluctant native soldiers to open fire immediately.

"Boom thump-thump-thump-"

The power of the 20mm machine gun is not comparable to that of a large-caliber machine gun. The kinetic energy of the muzzle of the former is at least [-] joules, and the shells are charged, so the damage effect is much stronger than bullets.

The gunship that was suddenly hit hard suddenly lost its previous momentum and quickly accelerated in a straight line to stay away from the anti-aircraft fire.

"My machine is on fire! Damn it! These guys have cannons!!!"

The No. [-] engine on the right wing of the Dapeng [-] was hit and caught fire. Flames and thick smoke erupted. In addition to the bullet holes made by the previous bullets, there were now several watermelon-sized holes in the fuselage.

The other two gunships wanted to try a head-on confrontation, so the two sides started a battle between heaven and earth.

Although the native soldiers were timid, the three anti-aircraft guns still attacked the target in a unified manner under the command of several non-commissioned officers and officers, and focused fire on one of the gunships.

Because such a target is not like a small and fast single-engine aircraft, the gunship aircraft modified by the Ming army based on a four-engine seaplane is large and slow, and is no different from a living target.

In just a few seconds, six or seven rounds of 20mm high-explosive bombs tore the Dapeng [-] to pieces. The crew members in the cabin were also injured one after another and were covered in blood.

The frightened pilot made a wrong decision. He quickly turned the steering wheel and steered the aircraft. The huge aircraft tilted sharply and turned to the left.

This directly increased the time our side was exposed to enemy firepower. The three anti-aircraft guns fired a total of [-] rounds from the moment they fired to emptying their magazines. The bulky Dapeng No. [-] took down more than a dozen of them from beginning to end. hair.

The internal steel cables and hydraulic mechanism partially failed, and the left wing fuel tank also exploded instantly. It fell to the north, dragging a large column of black smoke.

At the same time, Dapeng [-] tried its best to fire at the anti-aircraft guns, and the gunners controlled the machine guns and artillery to pour countless ammunition on them.

The sudden explosions on the ground and the dust stirred up by the bullets made the demoralized Dutch and Indian soldiers extremely frightened. Some people ran away, and more people fled immediately.

Although the angry and frightened Dutch were shouting and cursing loudly, their legs were honest and they ran away quickly.

Dapeng 21, which was the first to be attacked and moved away, was very unlucky. Although it escaped the range of anti-aircraft fire, it encountered a CW-[-] fighter jet that had just completed a reconnaissance mission when it was about to fly out of land.

The Dutch pilot's eyes were shining, unwilling to let go of the injured big fish, and he immediately flew the gunship to attack from the six o'clock direction.

After several rounds of strafing, only one engine of the riddled and scarred Dapeng-[-] was still functioning, and it had to make an emergency landing on Bangka Island.

The appearance of the gunship unit was completely unexpected by the BDA coalition forces and disrupted their deployment.

The 13th Infantry Brigade originally planned to seize the opportunity to besiege the Ming Army's paratroopers, who were not yet stable. Now that they were disrupted by this, they had to give up this plan and reorganize their formation.

Major General Dominic is still a little troubled - although two planes have been destroyed and the other damaged, there is still one hovering over the Ming army, like a guardian bird protecting the ground troops.

Alas, once they have established a complete position, it will be difficult to defeat them.

But we don't have the weapons to deal with this thing now, and the role of the anti-aircraft machine gun is really limited.

At 14:21 that afternoon, the second wave of the third battalion of the [-]st Paratrooper Regiment arrived, and the white umbrella flowers bloomed over the Old Port Oilfield again.

The fighter jets and bombers that came with them dropped the aerial bombs they carried at the British positions, and then repeatedly dived, strafed, and pulled up, making the already disgraced officers and soldiers of the 13th Brigade even more embarrassed.

Aerial reconnaissance showed that there were no other enemy troops coming for reinforcements within a hundred miles. In order to reduce the enemy's transportation capacity, roads and railways were also attacked by the Ming army.

Therefore, Lei Jiecheng decided without further delay and took the initiative in the evening to repel the enemies in front of him and eliminate their threat to the oil fields.

Compared to the First Parachute Regiment, which was hindered, the Second Parachute Regiment, which carried out the same airborne operation against the Balikpapan Oilfield in Borneo, went much more smoothly.The local defenders were shocked by such a large-scale airborne operation and were immediately beaten to a pulp by the elite Ming army paratroopers.

In just two hours, the oil production well area and refinery were cleared and almost intact. However, the Dutch and Indian troops used artillery to bombard the oil storage tanks before retreating, causing most of the crude oil in stock to fall into flames.

However, the local defenders were quickly defeated by the pursuing Second Parachute Regiment. The reconnaissance platoon also captured a large number of people, including several officers who issued the sabotage order.

At the same time, on the sea 40km south of Singapore...

Dozens of transport ships full of Ming army landing troops were heading straight to the old port at a speed of 11 knots under the escort of a detachment.

"Oh? 'Capture the enemy's major and six superior officers and assistants alive', they were quite obedient."

"Has the person who ordered the cannon been caught? Damn it, there are hundreds of thousands of tons of oil. He must be severely punished!"

In the officers' mess of the heavy cruiser Wuyishan, the officers were discussing with great interest the progress of the war in Old Port and Balikpapan.

"Logically speaking, I'd probably be sentenced to death. After all, I've been warned a few days ago."

"This so-called 'don't say it's unpredicted' means you just don't believe in evil and insist on going against our great Ming Dynasty. If he doesn't die, who will die?"

The decoration of the officers' mess is very elegant. Each large chandelier is made of brass and aluminum alloy and is surrounded by six square lantern-shaped lamp tubes.

The floor was covered with a dark blanket, and various dishes were placed on the carved ebony Six Immortals table, and the dishes were all glazed with white glaze.

upper class!

In fact, this kind of decoration is still nothing compared to that of a battleship. Judging from Zhou Changfeng's judgment, the Longshuo he had been on was more luxurious and elegant.

The Longshuo, which has limited displacement and somewhat cramped internal space, is so luxurious. It is difficult to imagine what the two Yongle-class ships that are about to be completed and undergoing sea trials will look like.

It is said that there are also the ship-based Guandi Temple and the ship-based Mazu Temple, as well as a separately arranged imperial room specially designed for the emperor to stay.

"Zhou Kexing, don't you think so? It's unreasonable not to take the warning seriously..."

"Well, when you come out to hang out, you must be trustworthy. If you say you will be severely punished, you will be severely punished. I said..." Zhou Changfeng did not say the second half of his famous saying. He picked up a chopstick of food and reminded: "We can't do this, we are a bit careless. .”

Obviously, this was a war zone, but the Ming navy, which thought it had an overwhelming advantage, was so contented that it didn't look like they were going to war at all.

Countless historical lessons have proven that this will definitely lead to big losses.

"What are you afraid of?" the Wuyishan's captain said easily: "We are kings on this sea. The artillery fleet and the air raid fleet are cruising in the Java Sea. If the Dutch army dares to leave the port, they will be surrounded and annihilated immediately."

Zhou Changfeng shrugged, "This is not good. Even if you kill a chicken with a bull's-eye, you have to take it seriously, otherwise you may get a peck from the chicken."

Zhou's worries are not unreasonable. His intuition tells him that the next battle will never be so easy.

The Dutch are unwilling to give in and surrender their colonies, and they will definitely resist with all their strength. God knows what their charged attack will be like.

To the east of the old port is Bangka Island. If you want to land in the old port through the river mouth, you must pass through the Bangka Strait between Sumutala Island and Bangka Island.

The Ming fleet will enter the Bangga Strait in about the latter half of the night, and then land at the mouth of the river calmly.

The sun was setting in the west, and in the Tanjung Priok port in Batavia, a light cruiser and four destroyers were making final preparations before setting sail.

Colonel Karel Dorman stood on the bridge of the light cruiser Java. His thoughts had drifted far away. The setting sun shone on the sea and drew his shadow through the glass windows. very long.

In history, as the rear admiral commander of the East Indu Fleet of the Royal Netherlands Navy, he led the fleet to launch a brave struggle against the enemy.

Karel Dorman was a special general - he never won a victory or achieved any results, but he was so remembered by the Dutch that later aircraft carriers were named after him.

Today, Karel has not yet been promoted to rear admiral. He is tired of the boring days of sitting in an office at the local naval base and applied for transfer to command a cruiser in the Far East.

Some people actually want to go to a place that many people avoid?As expected, his application was quickly approved.

Now, according to the plan planned by the BDA coalition naval command, the coalition should launch a surprise attack on the Ming army that is about to land, reducing its strength and delaying its progress.

Because there was a huge fleet cruising in the Java Sea that was impossible to defeat, and aircraft were constantly patrolling in the sky, the coalition forces planned to operate at night, leave the port at night, and surprise the Ming army's landing fleet.

According to the plan, the assault fleet will pull anchor and set sail after sunset, rush to Bangga Strait at high speed, and intercept the Ming fleet that has just entered there.

Five destroyers are responsible for the assault mission, and one light cruiser is responsible for the support and cover mission. Naturally, the commander is also in charge of the operation.

When the last corner of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the fleet officially set sail, gradually increasing to a high speed of 29 knots and heading straight to the northwest.

However, not long after, the destroyer USS Iverson suddenly suffered a mechanical failure. One of the steam turbines stopped and the speed was reduced to 19 knots, so it had to leave the fleet and return on its own.

After more than six hours of galloping, the quietly attacking fleet entered the Bangka Strait. Its speed was reduced to 26 knots. Two hours later, there was only a quarter of an hour left to the mouth of the river.

Five battleships sailed quickly in a single column, led by the flagship Java, followed by four destroyers.

The Dutch sailors were in a nervous mood, excited and uneasy. Some were setting torpedo fuses, some were checking gun breechblocks, and some had already put their hands on anti-aircraft gun shells.

At 3:27 on March 5, the lookout post of the light cruiser Java suddenly saw a ship shadow appearing at the ten o'clock direction, followed by the second and third...

"Identify the enemy ship model!"

"Sir, it's a destroyer, maybe Wenchang-class or Dinghai-class."

Colonel Carrel was noncommittal. After a few seconds, he commanded in a deep voice: "Remove radio silence, trapezoidal formation, attack!"

Immediately, telegraph and light signals passed the same order to the remaining four destroyers, and the order issued by Carrel was exactly the same as in history.

"I will attack, (all warships) follow me (Ik val aan, volg mij)!"

(End of this chapter)