Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 484 The End of the Dutch

Cirebon is more than 70 kilometers east of Batavia. It was not a small port city in later generations, but at the moment, Cirebon is just a small fishing village. Except for some local fishermen, There was no Dutch garrison present.There are two big rivers between Cirebon and Batavia. It is not easy to reach Batavia from Cirebon. The forests between the two places are dense and the roads are difficult. It took one or two days. Because of this, the Qing army's assault fleet chose Cirebon as the hiding place of the fleet. Of course, the Qing army did not intend to land here at all. What the Qing army really wanted to do was to sneak into Chili Weng River Estuary, landing on the flank of Batavia, the purpose is to attack the Dutch fort from behind and relieve the Dutch's last will to resist.

The Cirion River is a big river. Although the length of the river is not long, the surface of the river is quite wide. The widest part of the mouth reaches nearly [-] meters. The river is also deep enough for medium-sized warships of the Qing army to sail in it. There are many merchant ships and fishing boats on this river, but because the main fleet of the Qing army is parked on the outer sea of ​​Batavia port, neither merchant ships nor fishing boats dare to stay near the mouth of the sea at this moment, and the entire mouth of the Cirion River is empty. Yes, not even a boat in sight.

The sixth day of May in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo has passed, and the entire city of Batavia has fallen asleep. Only the two forts at the port are still brightly lit, but there are not too many Dutch troops on duty, and they have been busy preparing for the whole battle. At this time, most of the Dutch defenders were fast asleep. Only some sentry posts and mobile posts patrolled the fort from time to time. However, the warships of the Qing army seemed to have no intention of attacking at all. Apart from the little lights, the huge fleet looked like giant beasts lying on the sea under the moonlight, which was daunting.

Suddenly, four large ships from the east sailed quietly into the mouth of the Chirion River. The four ships sailed quietly on the river without lighting their lights. After sailing in the river for a while, the four ships slowly Slowly approaching the west bank, anchored at a place called Yazui Rock at the mouth of the river.There was no one at Yazui Rock, and it was quiet at night, and no one would wander around in this place where no birds lay eggs. The arrival of the four large ships did not alarm anyone. After a while, more than [-] small boats came from The four large boats were released, and under the moonlight, one could clearly see that these small boats were full of soldiers with live ammunition. The small boats rowed quickly, rushing to the shore like petrels flying across the sea. , many soldiers on the small boat jumped into the knee-deep river nimbly, rushed towards the shore with their waists bent and guns leveled, and quickly set up defensive formations at several dangerous places on the shore. The dexterity of the movements is astonishing.

The small boat shuttled back and forth, sending batch after batch of soldiers ashore. This series of actions did not alarm others. Cordoa, who was standing on the front deck of the "Yanyan", watched most of the soldiers. The officers and soldiers have all landed safely, and a big stone in their hearts has finally fallen to the ground. They loosened their tightly clenched fists and smiled at Ke Zuomin, the captain of the "Yanyan" standing quietly behind him. He said: "Old Ke, it's time for me to go ashore too, see you later."

"See you, be careful. Our ship will wait here. If there is any disagreement, our ship will cover the brothers of the marine battalion to return." Lieutenant Colonel Ke Zuomin has always had a good relationship with Cordoa. He also knew it in his heart, and when he saw that Cordoa was leaving, he hurriedly exhorted him.Cordoa didn't say anything more, but nodded solemnly, led a few guards down the rope ladder to the boat, and headed straight for the shore.

Yazui Rock is not far from the port of Batavia, that is, a distance of more than ten miles. Apart from passing through two or three indigenous villages that have long been immersed in sleep, there is no dangerous pass. The army is very unfamiliar with the terrain of this road, but with the detailed map provided by the shadow and the help of the bright moonlight, it is not difficult, but it is a bit slow, and by the time it arrives at the port, it is already Yinshi At this moment, it was only half an hour before dawn, and the rooster had already started crowing, and the fighter opportunity was fleeting.

There are two east and west forts at the port of Batavia. The two forts are about three kilometers apart. They are both built on the cliffs, almost parallel, and protect the port of Batavia in the middle. The east fort has 48 guns, and the west fort There are 51 guns, all of which are old-fashioned heavy guns. The range is not too far, about 3000 meters away, and can almost completely cover most of the sea area of ​​Batavia Harbor. If the Qing army plans to use battleships to storm these two forts If it is, even if it can be won, the loss will not be so small.

It is true that the fort is the easiest to break through from behind. Although more than [-] soldiers of the Qing Army Marine Corps have quietly arrived at the foot of the East Fort in Batavia Port, the problem is that there is a problem. In front of the Qing army - the two forts are too far apart, with Batavia Harbor in the middle, it is difficult for a large group of people to pass through Batavia Harbor to reach the West Fort silently, and it is even more difficult because of the contact With the backward methods, it is almost impossible for both sides to attack at the same time. It is already dawn at this moment, and it may not be too late to divide the troops to rush to the West Fort.

Cordoa was lying on a small hill not far from the East Fort, carefully observing every move on the brightly lit East Fort, and found that the defense of the Dutch army had not relaxed because of the dawn of the day. There are many patrols, but most of them are facing the sea, and there is almost no special arrangement on the side facing the land. It is not a problem at all to take down the East Fort with the strength of the Marine Battalion. It is just that after taking down the East Fort, they want to conquer the West Fort. If so, it will be more difficult. How to complete the task of taking down the east and west forts really gave Cordoa a headache. After thinking about it for a while, he couldn’t come up with a good idea. After making up his final determination, he called his two battalion commanders to his side.

"Wang Biao, your [-]st Battalion is ready to launch an attack immediately. The action must be fierce and take down the East Fort as soon as possible. Li Dongguo, when the East Fort is fired, you lead two companies and rush along the pier. Don't worry about the Dutch army along the way. How about inserting it behind the west fort, launching an attack as soon as we arrive, and sending troops to support you as soon as our army takes down the east fort? Is there any difficulty?" Cordoa lowered his voice and explained the battle plan.

"Promise to complete the task." Wang Biao and Li Dongguo looked at each other and replied in a low voice with one voice.

"Okay, the operation begins!" Cordoa didn't say any more, and immediately issued a combat order.

The darkest hour before dawn came, and the moonlight and starlight had disappeared. In the darkness, the Qing soldiers approaching the East Fort silently wiped out all the light and dark sentries behind the fort. After everything was clean, the officers and soldiers of the first battalion, under the leadership of the battalion commander Wang Biao, quietly approached the Dutch army barracks on the mountainside of the East Paotai.

"Fight!" Following Wang Biao's roar, a volley of guns rang out, knocking down a dozen Dutch army sentry posts outside the barracks, and more than 800 officers and soldiers of the Qing army uttered a cry, splitting into two groups like arrows leaving the string. , rushed all the way to the fort on the top of the mountain, and the other way murderously broke into the Dutch army's barracks. Suddenly, gunshots and grenade explosions erupted, and the entire hill where the East Fort was located was in full swing. The soldiers of the Dutch army who woke up in the middle of the night were in a mess, and were beaten to pieces by the soldiers of the Qing army.As soon as the battle at the East Fort started, the two companies of the Second Battalion, led by Battalion Commander Li Dongguo, let go of their feet and rushed towards the West Fort. A group of Dutch defenders.

Xiao Sanlang, who hadn't slept all night, was standing on the front deck of the "Weihai". When he saw the fire on the east fort, he knew that the Marine Battalion had started. Frowning silently, he looked in the direction of the West Fort—according to the original plan, the East and West Forts should have been attacked at the same time, but at this moment, the East Fort had become a mess, but the West Fort was still quiet.

"Old He, what do you think? That boy Kodoana will not screw up his performance, right?" Xiao Sanlang thought for a while and asked without looking back.

"It shouldn't be the case, but the Marine Battalion must have his difficulties. Well, I think Cordoa should have planned to take down the East Fort first, and then make plans. Maybe he also divided his troops to attack the West Fort, but the men and horses haven't caught up yet. Then, how about letting the fleet press down on the west fort to attract the attention of the Dutch?" Rear Admiral He Haitao, Chief of Staff of the Second Squadron standing behind Xiao Sanlang thought for a while and replied.

"Alright, let'Weihua' and 'Authority' lead the three Yanzihao to the west fortress, put a little pressure on the red-haired ghost, and be careful not to enter the range of the Dutch artillery, and the rest of the ships will not move for now. It's gone." Xiao Sanlang raised his head to look at the pale sky, and nodded.As the signal soldiers on the "Weihai" communicated Xiao Sanlang's order to the ships with lights, the warships of the Qing army, which had already been ready to launch an attack on Batavia Harbor, immediately took action, and five ships received the order The battleship turned slowly, hung up its sails, and sailed towards the West Fort, as if planning to storm the West Fort.

The Dutch army on the west fort had already been awakened by the huge movement of the east fort at this time, and ran out of the barracks in a panic. They all gathered on the fort and looked towards the east fort. In the midst of panic, someone screamed suddenly: "Look, the fleet of the Qing Dynasty is coming!" Seeing the five giant ships rushing towards the West Fort in a threatening manner, the officers and soldiers of the Dutch army who were messed up couldn't move any more. Regardless of caring about what happened on the East Fort, under the shouts of the officers, they hurriedly ran to their respective artillery positions, nervously preparing to face the Qing fleet.

The fleet of the Qing army came quite quickly, but it did not enter the range of the coastal defense guns, but just wandered in the distance. This made the defenders of the West Fort somewhat confused. What exactly did the army want to do, but after hearing the sound of gunfire and explosions on the mountain, one could see a group of Qing army officers and soldiers attacking the fort on the top of the mountain under the bright sky. The Dutch army officers and soldiers who could not resist the Qing army's offensive They retreated towards the fort on the top of the mountain one after another, which made the chaos on the west fort even more violent.

The Dutch troops guarding the east and west fortresses each had more than 200 men, which were slightly larger than the Qing troops who launched the attack. However, the Qing army far surpassed the Dutch army in terms of training level, individual combat capabilities, and weapons and equipment. , coupled with the fact that the Qing army was unprepared for their mental calculations, how could the Dutch army stop the powerful offensive of the Qing army? The battle on the East Fort was over in less than half an hour, and the Dutch soldiers who had no fighting spirit were wiped out. After more than [-] people, the resistance stopped one after another. Under the leadership of the commander of the Dutch army, they raised the white flag and surrendered. After taking the East Fort, the Qing army immediately dispatched two companies of troops to assist in the fierce fight with the defenders of the West Fort. The incomparable officers and soldiers of the second battalion, after half an hour of fierce fighting, when the sun rose, the West Fort also fell into the hands of the Qing army.

The main force of the Qing fleet, without the threat of east and west forts, immediately rushed into the port of Batavia, first blasted hundreds of shells into the city of Batavia, and then sent a messenger to order the Dutch governor to surrender unconditionally.

The demonstrative bombardment of the Qing army turned the city of Batavia into a city of panic. Both the local natives and the Dutch officers and soldiers were all frightened by the violent bombardment. The generals of the army swarmed into the fortified governor's mansion, surrounded the governor Glinka who was stunned by the sudden attack of the Qing army, and asked Glinka to come up with an accurate idea.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please be quiet, be quiet." Glinka yelled for a long time with sweat on his face, finally calmed down the panicked crowd, looked around the crowd, and took out Bai Juan from his pocket. Wiped off the sweat on his face, shook his fat cheeks, and said with a sigh of relief: "The Qing side sent a letter, stating that we should surrender unconditionally. As the Governor of Batavia, I cannot do such a thing. It's a major decision, please discuss it, what should we do?"

"How did this happen? Didn't you agree that the Qing Dynasty only needs to pay compensation? Could it be that your governor's mansion has a problem in private. Surrender? Surrender, what about our goods? Your governor's mansion must be responsible for this matter." The businessman shouted wildly, intending to swallow Glinka in one gulp.At this time, the second round of shelling by the Qing army fleet started again. This time the shelling was directed at the Governor's Mansion. He fell to the ground, trembling.

"Surrender, we surrender."

"Surrender, stop firing!"

……

The frightened merchants shouted loudly.Glinka let out a long sigh, and murmured, "Surrender, surrender..."

(End of this chapter)