Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 657 Decisive Battle in West Java ([-])

At noon, Rapini and two companions tiptoed into a forest full of swamps. Ten minutes later, they came to a hill with an altitude of 60 meters, which was already located in Langas Betong. Six kilometers northwest.

The three of them crawled through the weeds, keeping an eye out for any poisonous snakes that might emerge.The venomous snakes on Java Island are no joke. The most vicious ones are cobras that can spray venom more than two meters away.Although they all carried gauze bags to repel snakes and contained realgar garlic powder, no one could guarantee that the disturbed snakes would not bite.

When they came to the top of the hill, they cautiously leaned out from the grass half as high as half a person, and their vision suddenly opened up, and they could see the scene several miles down the mountain at a glance.

The Ujung River runs through West Java Island from south to north, and converges with the Ciberang River in Langas Betong. It forms a large S-shaped circle on the plain, and then twists and turns all the way to the north into the Java Sea. .

Rapini picked up the binoculars, and saw one kilometer to the east of the hill, there were so many densely packed white tents that there were too many to count.He roughly estimated that there must be 1 to [-] people.Red, white and black VOC flags can be seen everywhere in each camp.In addition, a yellow flag was planted in some tent areas, and the three black patterns arranged from top to bottom on the flag were like three big fishbone.Rapini knew all these flags. When he followed Wang Yuanfang to fight against the Württemberg Cape Corps two years ago, the opponent held these two flags.

Speaking of the Württemberg mercenaries, Rapini asked Degigne specifically on the way to France last year, and from this he learned from the other party that the fate of those Württemberg soldiers is really bitter, hehe, with the full Qing's Green Battalion was not much better than that.

According to Deguigne, Duke Karl Eugen of the Duchy of Württemberg is a faint king, with bad conduct and extravagance. He spent a lot of money on the construction of palaces and castles. A regiment of [-] soldiers was leased to the Dutch East India Company.

The reason why VOC signed an agreement with Württemberg is because Europeans in this era would rather stay in their hometowns and work as porters than sign contracts as VOC's overseas mercenaries.

The reason is that VOC's mercenary pay is very low, and the monthly salary is only 9 Dutch guilders.Secondly, due to poor medical conditions, one of the Württemberg mercenaries who came to Southeast Asia would die of malaria every two days. If the number of deaths per year is less than 400, it is considered God's favor!
The problem is that the VOC’s salary system for mercenaries is worse than that of the “Little Jianyin” set up by the Qing Dynasty. They only pay half salary to these soldiers who have been drifting at sea for seven months and have gone through all kinds of hardships to work in Southeast Asia. The money will be paid in one lump sum after the contract expires.

Having been in Bacheng for so long, Rapini has already figured out the value of the Dutch guilder. 1 guilder is equivalent to 0.34 taels of Kuping silver, and 9 guilders are only a little more than three taels of silver, which is less than 15 Beihai silver dollars.You must know that Rapini now has a monthly allowance of 50 yuan, not to mention that the family still has 15 acres of land; as for the servants recruited from the railway workers, the monthly allowance is at least [-] yuan.

The field of view of the telescope extended to the west, and Rapini saw that on the west bank of the Wujun River, there were densely packed figures the size of black ants. Build fortifications and pile up forts.The whole fortification is almost one kilometer long from south to north.

The temperature in June in Java is considered cool throughout the year, with an average of more than 20 degrees.But today is a sunny day, and there is no wind in the air, so the dust flying on the river bank is like a yellow veil covering the construction crowd.

Soon, Rapini discovered that the Dutch had built two pontoon bridges on the north and south sides of the fortification. At this moment, a group of guys who looked like cavalry were passing the pontoon bridge on the south side, entered the other side of the Yimapingchuan River, and then went to Turning north into the main road leading to Bacheng, he galloped eastward, billowing up smoke and dust.He was keenly aware that the purpose of VOC's repair of these two bridges should be to facilitate cavalry troops to attack from the north and south sides.

Rapini was going to catch his tongue, but it was not a good time right now. He decided to go back to the camp and wait until it got dark.So more than an hour later, the three of them recorded what they observed in their notebooks, sneaked back to the woods under the hill behind them, and walked westward along the stream in the quiet and humid rainforest. After two kilometers, we returned to the temporary camp of the special warfare battalion.When he saw the battalion commander Erlu, Rapini immediately made a report.

Erlu asked after listening, "Has the enemy's command found out?"

"There are too many enemies, and the sentinels are placed far away. Their camps are all in the woods, and it is not easy to approach them during the day. I plan to go to investigate at night, and it is best to catch a tongue."

After Rapini finished speaking, he grabbed a pen and began to mark the location of the enemy's fortifications on the map.Erlu nodded expressionlessly and said nothing.He felt that Overstraten's headquarters would not be too far from the front line, and it was impossible for the opponent to stay in Serang, thirty kilometers away, to command the battle.

When Rapini went out at noon, Erlu received a telegram from the headquarters and learned that the attack launched in the early morning had achieved great results.After six hours of interspersed detours, the various units of the Northern Navy that broke through the enemy's defense line from the north and south flanks surrounded more than 8000 enemy troops in the Tangerang area, [-] kilometers west of Bacheng.The headquarters sent a telegram ordering them to check the deployment of Langas Betong and the deployment of VOC troops, but Erlu wanted to find the Dutch headquarters and capture the governor.

At dusk, Rapini left with five men.The temporary base of the Special Operations Battalion is more than a dozen miles away from Langas Betong. If there is no accident, they will be able to reach the periphery of the VOC coalition position tonight.

At the same time, in the Tangerang area, the Northern Navy's attack on the besieged enemy continued.In order to temper the combat skills of the slave army, the headquarters assigned the battalions of the slave army to serve as the main attacking force. The camp, the marine battalion, and the two armored vehicles would only attack when the two sides were in a stalemate.

At dusk, the guns on both sides of the West Sadan River continued to roar, and the most intense exchange of fire between the two sides was a large fort on the east bank of the West Sadan River.

100 years ago, a defected local king of the Banten Sultanate led his men to seek VOC asylum, and later helped to repel the attack of the Banten Sultanate, so he was named the regent of the Tangerang area.After that, the then governor of Batavia sent people to rebuild the outer city wall of Tangerang, replacing the bamboo wall with a 6-meter-thick brick wall and setting up multiple forts.Because the defenders at that time included [-] dark-skinned Makassar people, the castle was also called "Black Fort" by the locals.

After Bacheng was lost, VOC gritted its teeth and spent money to expand the castle, adding more than a dozen cannons and [-] garrisons, making it easier to defend and harder to attack.After the Northern Navy's attack was launched in the early morning, the first reaction of many fleeing soldiers was to go to Fort Black, and the city quickly became overcrowded.However, this also made the defenders in the castle extremely sufficient. They stood in several rows on the wide city wall and kept shooting in turn.

Starting at three o'clock in the afternoon, after more than two hours of continuous shelling, the dozens of 12-pound field guns attached to the servant army were expanded to the eight-meter-thick city wall. Nothing.On the contrary, the shells fired from the long-barreled naval guns on the castle turret caused casualties to the attacking servants.The VOC army in the city even demolished two houses, made two small trebuchets out of wood, divided the gunpowder into 5-pound packets, sealed them in clay pots, inserted a fuse and ignited them, and threw them out. The flames and smoke filled the air outside the castle.

VOC has a high output of black powder in Southeast Asia. It has been produced on a large scale since more than 100 years ago, and there are large stocks in various strongholds.Charcoal is not a problem anywhere, sulfur is available on many volcanic islands, saltpetre can be obtained only by fermenting manure and guano, the hot climate makes the fermentation process easier, and the product quality is much higher than European production gunpowder.In addition, the rivers all over the island of Java also facilitated the hydraulic mill for grinding gunpowder powder.

He Xiwen, who was on the front line leading the servant army, didn't understand until this time why the regular troops of the Beihai Navy fought like cutting melons and vegetables every time. Not to mention strict discipline, the advantages in weapons were too great!
Seeing that it was getting dark, the four battalions of the servant army were still stagnating on the east bank of the West Sadan River. He immediately asked the headquarters for instructions. After Zhao Xin agreed, two armored vehicles arrived with a rumbling sound. It is located two kilometers away from Black Castle.When the two 30mm guns began to spew flames, blasting the various forts on the Black Fort, the defenders in the city suddenly felt that the end of the world was coming, and many locals even knelt on the ground facing the dome of the Kalibasi Mosque Constantly praying, completely lost the will to fight.

When the heavy and iron-covered city gate was blown down in just 2 minutes, two platoons of servants launched a tentative attack, but they all arrived in front of the city gate, and no one shot on the city wall.Seeing this, He Xiwen ordered two battalions of servants to rush into the city, only to see locals kneeling on the ground.

When night fell, when He Xiwen entered the city, the regent of Tangerang actually brought his wives, concubines and children to kneel outside the palace gate, expressing their submission to him, and expressing their desire to admire the "big cannon" of the Beihai Navy. .

Cannon?He Xiwen said in his heart that the cannon barrel as thick as the forearm, although its power is amazing, it is not "giant" no matter how you look at it.

In the subsequent conversation, he learned from the translator that in the culture of Southeast Asia, firearms are collectively called "Bedil". It is regarded as a symbol of great supernatural power.For this reason, many sultans like to build cannons, and the bigger the better; among them, the Banten Sultanate obtained a 180-pound cannon from the Portuguese in the 81.6th century, and the shells alone weighed [-] kilograms !
But the best one belongs to the Bijapur Sultanate of India. They asked Ottoman engineers to build a 55-ton cannon, known as the "Master of the Battlefield".The British East India Company tried to transport it to Britain as a spoil of war, but the thing was so big that the British had to give up, and it became a display for people to worship in the local area.

Therefore, in the eyes of everyone in Tangerang Castle, the artillery power of the Beihai Navy is so amazing, it must be very big, and it is favored by the gods.Such a cannon is by no means something human can resist, so what are you waiting for if you don't surrender?

Black Fort was taken, but the encirclement and suppression battle on both sides of the West Sadan River continued. The torches on both sides of the more than 20-kilometer river bank are shining brightly. The servants of the three battalions are divided into groups of a dozen or 20 people, and the distance between them does not exceed 200 meters. .

This kind of fighting lasted until late at night before it gradually subsided. According to statistics afterwards, the various departments of the Beihai Navy killed and wounded more than 6000 enemy troops and captured more than 2000 people on this day.The Bacheng Chinese who were in charge of cleaning the battlefield were shocked to find that in the West Sadan River and the surrounding small river forests, the bodies of the war dead could be seen everywhere, and many people were so suffocated by the smell of rotting corpses that they couldn't even eat.
Looking back at Langas Betong in the middle of the night, the west bank of the Ujung River was illuminated by countless torches and fires, as if it were daytime. Tens of thousands of people, driven by the whips in the hands of the officers, were desperately building field fortifications.

VOC Governor and Coalition Commander Overstratten also came here to inspect the progress.He was riding tall on a black Irish stallion, wearing a three-cornered hat, and wearing VOC's blue general uniform, surrounded by more than a dozen Württemberg officers.

When they came to an unfinished artillery fortification, the artillery Lieutenant Colonel Schmigal who was in charge of this position rode up and saluted Overstraten.

"How's the progress?"

"General, in two more hours, I can finish the work here. These cannons will definitely make the enemy suffer!"

Overstraten nodded with satisfaction: "Very good. Lieutenant Colonel, your progress here is the fastest."

Shmigal hesitated for a moment, then asked: "General, I would like to ask if there is any news from Tangerang Castle?"

Overstraten shook his head: "Lieutenant Colonel, why are you asking this?"

"I have two very good friends who were sent there and don't know what's going on."

"I haven't received any new information. You can tell them their names. If I know, I will let you know."

"Thank you so much! General." Schmigal immediately reported the names of the two friends.

After the artillery lieutenant colonel turned to leave, Overstraten's originally smiling face drooped quickly.Since the war has progressed to the present, all the changes have exceeded his expectations and caught him off guard.

From yesterday afternoon to noon today, bad news came one after another.The disastrous defeat of the Kabien fleet, the enemy's sudden attack, and the baggage camp that was set on fire three hours ago made him have to get up from his comfortable bed and arrange for people to transfer a batch of supplies from Penderang overnight.After finishing all this work, he was already sleepless, so he simply brought his men down to inspect the construction progress of the field fortifications.

"Damn the painted-faced Siris devil!" Overstraten cursed viciously in his heart.

Since the start of the siege of Bacheng, those Seris spies with painted faces and green clothes have begun to wreak havoc in the territory of Banten Sultanate.They destroyed roads, killed their own officers, attacked patrols, and even attacked the barracks at night bluffing, making themselves in a hurry and tired of coping.

The Württemberg mercenaries hated and feared this group of people. They even dispatched a regiment to encircle and suppress them with the assistance of the local Javanese. However, after setting up the encirclement several times, they were all covered by the other party in the dark Ran away.

But Overstraten still has confidence.He still has 5000 full battle infantry regiments in his hand. In addition to the Javanese soldiers, there are 3000 mercenaries from Württemberg alone, and more than 100 Indian cavalry recruited from Ceylon. In addition, there are [-] soldiers. Multiple field guns.

Just this afternoon, a carrier pigeon brought back good news from Altyn. The coalition army he led from Wandong is progressing smoothly. It is expected that in two days, the vanguard will reach the outskirts of Batavia.

According to the information obtained by the spies placed by the VOC in Bacheng, there are currently less than 6000 Siris troops in Bacheng.In addition, according to the information brought back by the officers who retreated from Tangerang, the enemy's sudden attack in the early hours of this morning used at least 5000 people.As a result, Bacheng's military strength will be seriously insufficient.As soon as Altyn's army arrives, the enemy will definitely return to defense.

Isn't it just two days of defense at the Wurong River defense line, as soon as the enemy starts to retreat, he will immediately launch a pursuit.

As for the navy, I can't bring up bad things!

　18. In the 200th century, a person carrying a big bag in Amsterdam had to earn at least 250-12 guilders a year.If you are a craftsman who joins the guild, your income will be higher; if you are unemployed, the guild will also give you a monthly subsidy of [-] guilders.[-]. There are too many materials to check. Although there is a dedicated website for VOC archives, I am confused by the contents.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)