The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 103 The bloody battle at Jepara Fortress
"Boom boom boom..."

The naval gun roared suddenly, the sound shook the heaven and the earth, and the large orange ball of gunfire was followed by a dense rain of death bullets, which instantly enveloped the fleeing white soldiers.

Unfortunately, before these white soldiers could run very far, they were torn into pieces by the bullets that hit their faces. Their limbs and broken arms were spread out for more than 100 meters.

The six 6-pound naval guns on the bottom side of the "Zhenjiang" only roared one round of fire, and nearly a hundred white officers and soldiers were killed. The power was extremely shocking.

And this terrifying scene made many white ladies faint from fear...

more than two hours later
Another fleet of sailing ships followed shortly after, and one ship after another anchored into the port. Countless Nanyang Army soldiers in khaki military uniforms disembarked from the ships.

At this time, the vanguard troops had taken control of the entire town of Jepara, and the gunfire stopped one after another.

Jepara is a small town. In addition to a few hundred descendants of white colonists, about one-third of the residents are Chinese. The business of the town is also in the hands of Chinese.

Regardless of whether they welcome or oppose, everyone must surrender in the face of the Nanyang Army's absolute military power.

After the subsequent large forces arrived, the Nanyang Army liquidated the white manor owners as well as the local Chinese forces as usual, so that their hands were stained with the blood of white people.

4pm
Outside the towering and steep Jepara Fortress, more than a hundred corpses wearing khaki military uniforms could be seen lying down. Smoke rose from the scene, creating a cruel scene of a battlefield.

"Commander, please be aware that our 9-pound and 12-pound field guns have basically no effect on such a strong fortress. Hitting them is just scratching the itch. At most, they can explode a few small stone fragments. Look there, there... "

Feng Guohui had just finished handling the affairs in the newly occupied town of Jepara. More than 3500 officers and soldiers landed and surrounded the entire town.

The interior of the Jepara Fortress is quite vast. In the early 19th century, during the battle for Java with the British, nearly 3000 Royal Dutch Army soldiers were stationed here. A large reservoir was built for long-term use.

Only the road to the south connected to the port. About 160 Dutch fortress officers and soldiers were huddled inside. They resisted despite being warned and had killed and wounded more than of our own attacking officers and soldiers.

Learned through interrogation;

He also sent the children of the Chizhi family to join the Nanyang Army, inextricably binding the interests of both parties.

It is known that 6 18-pound cannons were aimed at the mountain road, and more than 100 flintlock muskets were fired intensively, turning the attacking mountain road into a road of death, and no one could enter.

He thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and ordered; "Get more people, unload two of the 32-pound guns from the Zhenhai, and aim them at the city gate to blast them.

After arranging for the soldiers to rest and arranging mules, horses, carts and other means of transportation, he hurried here to supervise the battle. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but darken his face.

I don't believe it, I can't open this city gate.

This Jepara Fortress is a typical Dutch-style fortress that the Dutch colonists enslaved the local indigenous people in the early years and took more than 70 years to build. It is very similar to the style of the German fortress.

That's stupid, big, black and thick, and looks very strong from a distance.

Condescending in the fortress

The entire huge mountain ridge protrudes from the bay, and the Jepara Fortress is built on the mountain ridge, about 242 meters above sea level. It is an extremely dangerous place on three sides.

It happened to be built on a huge ridge that jutted out of the bay. Thousands of walls stood on both sides and below. The waves crashed and roared day and night, but they were unable to shake this solid huge ridge.

"Reporting to the commander, the castle here is extremely solid and has artillery defense. A frontal attack will cause too many casualties."

"Huh, they have cannons, but we don't have cannons?"

Feng Guohui picked up the telescope and looked over, only to see dozens of white dots popping up near the city gate. They were all the effects of artillery bombardment. Obviously, the power was too small.

Seeing the steep mountain roads and the tall and solid fortress castle, Feng Guohui had little choice at this time.

No matter how hard the rock is, our Nanyang Army will smash it, grind it into powder, and go about it. "

"As you command, Commander."

Previously, Hu Laohu, who was in charge of directing the attack here, also thought of this move, but he couldn't do it, so he didn't mention it at all.

Because the navy was under the direct control of the commander-in-chief, Hu Huadong would not pay attention to his orders.

The 32-pound naval gun is the lifeblood of the Zhenhai. It is more valuable than my wife. How can I borrow it?

But there is no problem if the commander-in-chief gives orders and they are executed immediately without compromise.

Everyone used thick ropes to disassemble the 32-pound naval gun together with its base, hung them one by one on the dock, and then transported them over on several mules and horses.

After arriving at the position, reassemble it.

The mules, horses and carts behind them kept delivering cannonballs and more than a dozen large barrels of black powder. It was more than an hour later when everything was ready.

"Aim, launch..."

After the earth-shattering explosion of "Boom...", a 32-pound cannonball was launched, hitting the edge of the city gate hard, and a large cloud of smoke and dust immediately filled the air. The heavy sound of artillery seemed to hit my heart, and its invincible power could not be matched by small-caliber field artillery.

When the smoke cleared, the effects of the bombardment were visible to everyone.

In the upper left corner of the city gate, a huge spider web-shaped crack appeared, three meters square. In the center of the impact point, the large rock had been smashed into a stone powder crater as big as a basin, as if a scar suddenly appeared.

If there is a show... then come again.

The Dutch defenders on the city wall were stunned by the cannon, but they quickly reacted and fired back immediately.

The field artillery group that had been prepared for a long time did not show any weakness. It aimed at the head of the fortress and fired fierce bombardments with "bang bang bang". The two sides fought very lively.

The sound of gunfire rumbled and the smoke filled the air.

The two sides were separated by a distance of five to six hundred meters and fired artillery fire at each other. The Dutch soldiers on the fortress took advantage of their commanding position and posed considerable danger to the field artillery group below.

The hot shells flew and exploded, and the flying shrapnel often caused large casualties among the artillerymen.

The field artillery group did not show any weakness despite having multiple cannons and shells. Howling shells rained down on the fortress. Even if one of the ten shells hit, it would cause a bloody storm.

The two 32-pound heavy guns in the center fired a shell every two or three minutes. The dull sound of the cannon seemed to hit everyone's hearts, and each shell would cause huge damage.

After more than 50 minutes of shelling each other,
The gate of Jepara Fortress has withstood the bombardment of hundreds of 32-pound heavy artillery rounds. The wooden gate, which is more than a foot thick and reinforced with eight-inch iron bars, has been damaged by the heavy artillery bombardment, with large and small holes appearing. .

It was approaching dusk at this time, and the brilliant sunset illuminated the sky, as sad and moving as the color of blood.

A sharp whistle sounded, and soldiers in khaki uniforms swarmed forward. Although the white Dutch soldiers on the fortress fired volleys of flintlock muskets, they still could not stop the attacking crowd.

So far in the battle, more than half of the white Dutch soldiers on the fortress have been killed or wounded, and the total number is less than a hundred.

Three of the six 6-pound fortress guns were destroyed, causing extremely heavy casualties.

The same was true for the attacking Nanyang Army soldiers. More than 13 field artillery pieces were destroyed in the first artillery battalion, and nearly a hundred officers and soldiers were injured and killed. The entire artillery battalion was severely damaged.

The artillery fire from both sides was exchanged, and in the end, the attacking side suffered double the damage.

But this was a heavy price to pay for having no choice. The artillery battalion located in the field artillery position was unobstructed and could only use more intensive artillery fire to fight the enemy head-on and bear the damage with its flesh and blood.

Their efforts were not without reward, as they shared great pressure on the two 32-pound guns.

The heavy artillery of the main siege force lived up to expectations and finally blasted the gate of the Pala Fortress to pieces, creating favorable conditions for launching the final general attack.

Feng Guohui stood behind the artillery position, with a livid face urging the soldiers to carry out successive attacks.

There is no trickery in this kind of fortress attack. They can only rely on repeated strong attacks, using huge casualties to pry open the enemy's fortress defense line, and then break in...

A huge fireball exploded at the city gate, which was the soldiers using explosives to open a way forward.

When the subsequent explosive packs exploded one after another, even Feng Guohui couldn't help but his eyelids twitched fiercely, and his expression became more grim.

he knows,
The explosive packets that exploded one after another in the rear were all lethal weapons thrown by the white soldiers defending the fortress. Each violent explosion of the explosive packets would cause inevitable huge casualties to the attacking Nanyang officers and soldiers.

The arrow is on the string and must be fired.

He could only grit his teeth, let the subsequent attacking troops continue to fill in, and use flesh and blood to carve out a path to victory. There was no other way.

It gets dark very late in the tropics, and the sun doesn’t set until after 7:30 in the evening.

The bloody battle lasted until sunset, when the soldiers entered the Jepara Fortress. The subsequent shouts of killing and screams resounded throughout the world. After more than ten minutes, they stopped completely.

Feng Guohui's order was to kill them all without leaving any survivors alive.

This actually did not require his order. The second and fourth regiments that attacked successively were crippled. All the soldiers who entered had blood-red eyes and slaughtered all the white soldiers in the fortress.

When the soldiers began to clean up the battlefield, Feng Guohui stepped up the steps on the blood-stained stone road, feeling a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

Finally, the Jepara Fortress was captured. The Nanyang Army suffered more than 500 casualties. The 2nd and 4th infantry regiments were crippled, and the 1st artillery battalion was crippled.

This is only the fortress position guarded by more than 160 remaining enemies of the Dutch white people. If more than 630 people of the entire Royal Army are entrenched in the fortress, how much price will it have to pay to defeat it?
If things go wrong, the main force of the 3500 elite Nanyang Army will be trapped here, and they may not be able to take down the fortress.

This reminded Feng Guohui that he should not underestimate his opponent at any time, otherwise he would die very ugly.

Today's tough battle was the cruelest battle with the largest casualties since the establishment of the Nanyang Army, but the performance of the soldiers made him very satisfied.

Every soldier goes forward to charge one after another, and it is this fighting spirit of not being afraid of death and not afraid of difficulties that can allow the Nanyang Army to go further and create more glory.

(End of this chapter)