The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 104 Dozing off and encountering a pillow (please collect, please vote, and support, thank you!)

Jepara Fortress is located 42 kilometers north of Semarang. Due to its dangerous geographical location, it has always been a key defensive location for the Dutch colonists and it was also the hardest nail.

Completely removing this hard nail will greatly boost the morale of all officers and soldiers.

The sun sets in the west, and the setting sun is like blood.

Feng Guohui led his officers into the Jepara Fortress, which is a European-style fortress with a two-level square defense system. After entering the fortress gate, there is a half-moon-shaped square.

Standing in the square and looking up

A taller stone tower was built along the mountain in front of us. As long as the gate was closed, the guarding soldiers could stand down and ruthlessly massacre the enemy soldiers who entered the square.

This half-moon-shaped small square is similar to an urn city, which means "catching turtles in an urn".

Fortunately
Most of the Dutch troops defending the fortress were tricked into the port and were either captured or killed. The remaining 160 or so Dutch soldiers were seriously short of manpower, and they all rushed to the first line of defense for the fortress.

This second line of defense is completely a decoration, and there is no one to defend it at all.

The 4th Regiment under He Qiang, who served as the main attacker, suffered the heaviest casualties. In addition to 69 officers and soldiers killed, there were also 177 minor or serious injuries, accounting for more than one-third of the casualties.

Hearing that a large number of artillery pieces had been captured, Feng Guohui suddenly became interested, nodded immediately and said, "Let's go... let's go see what good things the ghost guy has hidden in this fortress?"

Even if the enemy troops invaded Wengcheng, they would not be able to sustain it for long in the face of huge casualties.

In the circle of stone houses in the upper square, there are mostly warehouses and officers' quarters, as well as some fortress artillery quarters. A large number of weapons and equipment were also found in these stone houses.

The injured soldiers received the full treatment of the doctor. The slightly injured ones were better, but the dozens of seriously injured soldiers might not survive the night.

Feng Guohui walked over and took a look, what a guy!
There are four stone houses full of brand-new shore guns. There are three 4-pound long-barreled bronze shore guns. Looking at the manufacturing nameplates on the guns, they turned out to be from 60.

Standing next to the stone wall, watching the sunset that seemed to be stained with a layer of residual blood on the horizon sinking below the sea level, the nose was filled with gunpowder smoke mixed with the strong smell of blood, and the painful moans of the injured soldiers could be heard intermittently.

Being an artilleryman these days is a hard job. After each artillery shell is fired, a large amount of unburned black powder will form thick smoke.

Counting the time, it has been more than 120 years.

"Report to the commander, we found a lot of good things in Gui Lao's warehouse. There are dozens of brand-new artillery, as well as a large number of firearms and ammunition. Do you want to go and see for yourself?" Hu Huashanman, commander of the First Artillery Battalion He walked over in the smoke, with uncontrollable excitement in his expression.

Winding up the bluestone stairs, you quickly reach the upper level square, where a large castle-like building is built, surrounded by stone houses used as barracks and warehouses, and even a small church.

The strong smell of gunpowder and gunpowder on his body made it obvious from a distance that he was an artilleryman.

Large cisterns, stables and some stone houses used for soldiers to live are all around the lower square, most of which are open. From the arrow stack gap on the upper level, you can easily launch blind-angle firepower or long-range bow and arrow strikes on the lower square area.

In the next step, it is planned to place the 4th Regiment in Jepara Fortress for repairs and assume the responsibility of fortress defense.

Feng Guohui couldn't help but feel emotional at this situation.

Standing by the stone wall and looking down, it was about ten meters high from the small square below.

The clouds were like black mist, smoky the artillerymen like miners emerging from coal holes, with only their white teeth exposed.

The fallen soldiers have been placed together, ready to be burned and their ashes brought back.

As a result, either the city was destroyed, or the attacking enemy troops could no longer stand while suffering huge casualties and retreated with hatred.

Although the 1st Artillery Battalion suffered heavy casualties in the artillery bombardment, due to the need for the next battle, except for the wounded and sick who were left to rest and recuperate, other artillery units still had to fight with the army.

The sun sets very late in Nanyang, and it doesn't get dark until close to eight o'clock.

This is probably the backup for the three main guns of the fortress. Since the fort of Jepara Fortress has not experienced many wars, it has never had the opportunity to be used, so it has been left in the warehouse to gather dust for more than 100 years.

Fortunately, these artillery pieces were regularly maintained. The barrel and barrel were coated with a thick layer of grease, which had turned black and moldy over time. But after it was wiped off, the barrel was as bright as new.

此外还有6门48磅重炮，12门32磅岸炮和12门18磅岸炮，全都是崭新没有用过的，生产日期距今三五十年不等。

The difference between shore guns and naval guns
The former has a longer barrel, a thicker and more solid gun base, and also has a steering function and an automatic return function.

Shore artillery is insensitive to space and weight, so the entire artillery system is bulky and bulky. The artillery has a long range and is powerful, so it controls a large sea area.

The space of sailing ships is small, so the latter are short and thick. They pursue strong firepower and high lethality, but short range.

The so-called automatic return function of the shore gun is that when the shore gun shoots, it suddenly sits back and moves along the upwardly raised gun base rail. At the top, there is a thick spring to stop it.

Through such measures, the huge recoil of shore guns can be offset.

When the shore gun base moves to the top dead center of the triangular gun base, the recoil force basically disappears, and then it slides down to the normal gun position by virtue of inertia, and you can continue loading and firing.

Shore guns are very heavy due to their huge weight.

After the artillery is fired, it will deviate from the original firing position due to the huge recoil force. It cannot be pushed by the artillery alone, so an automatic return function is set up.

Each shore gun is extremely valuable, enough to buy 2 to 3 naval guns of the same caliber. After counting, there were 33 large-caliber shore guns in the warehouse, as well as more than 200 barrels of black powder and more than 1600 flintlock muskets, neatly arranged.

Feng Guohui was very happy to see this batch of arms.

The ammunition required for the coastal batteries of the Seven Star Fortress has been obtained. With these shore batteries equipped, the Royal Netherlands Navy will no longer be able to pose a threat to the Surabaya Port.

Because Surabaya Port is located in the Surabaya Strait, this narrow strait is very easy to be blocked by shore guns and becomes a forbidden area for all sailing fleets.

Consolidating the rear area is of course a good thing.

Although the thirteen field guns lost by the first battalion could not be replaced, the huge gains were more valuable than that loss. These shore guns were good things that even money could not buy.

It's normal to think about it. The Jepara Fortress is a typical coastal defense force. How can it be equipped with field artillery?

Even less likely to stockpile naval guns?

That thing is equipment of the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is incomparable with the weapons and equipment of the Royal Army Fusiliers. Of course, it cannot be found in the warehouse.

It soon became dark, and oil lamps were lit in the fortress castle.

Regardless of the darkness, Feng Guohui and the officers visited the fortress fort with torches.

The fort of Jepara Fortress is uniquely designed. It is divided into three forts: the center fort, the left fort and the right fort. They are all located in the north of the fort facing the sea, with a broad shooting range of 270 degrees.

On each fort, there is a 60-pound rotary heavy gun, which is a rotary shore gun that can turn the entire gun base by shaking the handle. This is the main gun of the fort.

There are three in total, one for each fort.

The next level is six 6-pound secondary guns, two for each fort, which are also rotating shore guns.

After more than 150 years of ups and downs since its completion, the entire fort still guards this maritime territory.

The bronze main guns of more than a hundred years ago are still not far behind. Although the British Armstrong Arms Company has developed a new type of steel hoop gun, among large-caliber artillery, bronze cannons are still the mainstream.

Feng Guohui's original plan was to have a shore gun cast by a steel plant and follow the technical route of a steel hoop gun, but all this remained a paper plan.

It is expected to take some time, possibly 1 to 2 years, to be realized.

Unexpectedly, I fell asleep and encountered a pillow. No... After seizing this batch of weapons and equipment, the problem of the source of the shore artillery was solved.

After inspecting around, Feng Guohui returned to the fortress castle with satisfaction.

Now that the Nanyang Army has taken control of the Jepara Fortress, this small town behind the bay cannot be easily lost. The power of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce can step in and truly gain a foothold.

Eliminate dissidents, suppress and weaken white colonists, and support Chinese forces to thrive. Such changes will become logical.

The Nanyang Army suffered a lot during the attack due to the steep terrain of the fortress.

This was despite the fact that most of the main force of the fortress defenders had been tricked out, and yet they still fought so hard, paying a heavy price of more than 500 casualties.

For the Nanyang Army's expeditionary force, the casualty rate has reached 15%.

Looking at things the other way around
After the Nanyang Army captured the Jepara Fortress, it was already in an extremely favorable situation. It was firmly rooted in the southern region of Central Java and could not be driven out easily.

Even if the Dutch colonial army attacked in large numbers, they would still be beaten to death under this strong fortress.

The strategic situation has become extremely favorable to the Nanyang Army. You must know that although Semarang is the capital of Central Java, this coastal city does not have any dangerous terrain.

The Dutch have only one Royal Navy logistics station locally and no other garrisons.

The main force defending the city is the local Chinese militia. This kind of local militia bullies ordinary merchants and can still meet the needs of maintaining law and order in the city.

If you want to deal with the Nanyang Army that is attacking in large numbers, it is obviously over the top.

Feng Guohui was born as a long-haired remnant. He became a thief when he was more than 10 years old. He had rich experience in marching and fighting, and he had a very clear understanding of the armed forces of the local militia in Semarang.

The so-called militia armed groups are also known as Jianghu gangs.

Most of them use cold weapons such as long knives and sticks. They are rarely equipped with muskets, and their combat effectiveness is vulnerable.

The white Dutch colonists had very strict control over firearms and only allowed white manor owners and residents to legally possess firearms.

It was precisely this kind of restriction that made it difficult for the local Chinese and indigenous people to put up a decent resistance when faced with the Nanyang Army, which was armed to the teeth, and would only be massacred one-sidedly.

Have a night off today

Tomorrow, to strike while the iron is hot, we must capture Semarang, an important town in Central Java, and expand the power of the Nanyang Army to the Central Java area. This will also become the front line for confrontation with the Dutch colonial army.

(End of this chapter)