I want to be emperor

The Chu army is just outside the city, and the top executives of the Dutch East India Company in the city have made up their minds to fight to the end, trying to hold on for a long time, forcing the Chu army to retreat without sustaining.

This kind of thing is not impossible. After all, the Great Chu Empire is an expedition with labor force. Even if troops can be dispatched from the nearby Sumatra Island, many things, especially weapons, equipment and ammunition, still need to be supplied from the mainland.

Once the war is at a stalemate, it will be very uncomfortable for the Chu army who besieged the city of Batavia.

At that time, there may not be no chance for peace talks.

It is very difficult for any country to mobilize troops overseas, especially large-scale mobilization, even for the Great Chu Empire.

Although the Great Chu Empire had started the industrial revolution, even had trains and ships, and its national strength had been greatly improved, but even so, it was still not easy for the Chu army to mobilize troops overseas on a large scale.

This is also the reason why in the early years, the Great Chu Empire would carry out colonial activities in India and the Americas through the establishment of two monopolistic armed trading companies, the Western Trading Company and the Eastern Trading Company.

The purpose is to monopolize the trade of the colonies to obtain enough profits to support colonial activities, thereby reducing the official cost of overseas expansion.

Therefore, if the Dutch can really defend Batavia for a year or so, or even two or three years, the Great Chu Empire may really consider other ways to solve the problem, such as through negotiations.

But can the Dutch really hold on for a year or so or even several years?
The Dutch themselves have this self-confidence and have made full preparations. They have all kinds of materials such as weapons, ammunition, and food.

The total force reached more than 8000 people, which is quite a large number, especially for a colonial company!

There are also many kinds of artillery. The garrison forces in the city and the port fortress have more than 30 large and small artillery pieces. Later, they brought in more than 50 artillery pieces of various calibers from the abandoned warships in the port.

There are more than 80 artillery pieces in total, and the Dutch in the city can't even find enough gunners to use so many artillery pieces.

Sufficient troops plus a large number of artillery, as well as strong fortifications and sufficient ammunition and food supplies.

The Dutch in the city have great confidence in defending the city of Batavia.

In their view, even if the Chu people mobilized [-] to [-] troops to besiege, they would not be able to defeat them.

As for the fact that when the Chu army attacked the aborigines of Nanyang countries, every time they attacked the city, the Dutch said: I am not those aborigines.
The Dutch are so confident, and the Chu army outside the city is even more confident!
Major General Wan Binglin didn't pay attention to these red-haired barbarians when he talked. As for the fact that the red-haired barbarians have higher combat effectiveness than the natives, he also said that it was pure nonsense.

Those aborigines were certainly not very good, but the red-haired barbarians were also not very good, there was no essential difference between the two.

In terms of weapons and equipment, infantry weapons are also mainly equipped with matchlock guns and spears. The red-haired barbarians have more matchlock guns at most, and may also be equipped with some flintlock guns with poor performance. Chu Jun seems to be no different...

Because their infantry combat methods still stay at the same level: mix musketeers and spearmen, and use dense and deep square formations to fight.

In the early years, the Chu army also played this kind of tactic, but that was in the middle and early stages of the unification war. In the later period of the unification war, the Chu army had already begun to deploy flintlock guns, and some main forces had already begun to adopt line tactics. .

Today, in the 23rd year of Chengshun, not to mention, the main force of the Chu army has already begun to install flash caps and percussion guns, and they have been playing various line tactics for 20 years, and they are already extremely proficient.

Under the line of infantry guns, those arquebus gunners and spearmen in a dense formation are living targets.

In terms of artillery equipment, although both sides use front-loading smoothbore guns, even the front-loading smoothbore guns are very different.

Just like the first Opium War in the original time and space, both the Qing army and the British army used front-loading smoothbore guns, but the front-loading smoothbore guns of the British army beat the front-loading smoothbore guns of the Qing army throughout the process.

Because the artillery performance of the two sides is very different.

And this gap in performance is caused by industrial strength. When the Qing army was still using various traditional methods to cast pig iron artillery, the British had already used various industrial equipment to drill and expand the diameter to produce artillery.

Coupled with the gap in smelting technology, it will lead to a huge gap in the weight, ability to withstand chamber pressure, and shooting accuracy of the artillery of the two sides.

And the artillery gap between the Qing army and the British army in the original time and space is exactly the gap between the Dutch and the Chu army today.

Although their artillery are all front-loading smoothbore guns, there is a huge gap in performance.

The actual gap is even bigger, because in the original time and space, the British army did not use large-scale grenades with wooden shells and metal disc fuzes. They still used traditional solid shells and wooden fuze grenades, and there were no shells. .

But the Chu army, but a large-scale installation of grenades equipped with wooden bombs and metal disc fuzes.

The Chu army has always attached great importance to the development of artillery, and also the development of grenades. When fighting, grenades are generally used as if they don’t need money.

To a certain extent, the current artillery technology of the Chu army is ahead of other domestic industries. Up to now, its overall technical level has been equivalent to the mid-nineteenth century of the original time and space, that is, the period of the American Civil War.

Relatively speaking, the development of infantry weapons has been slower, and its percussion guns are probably equivalent to the level of the 20s.

Whether it is artillery or muskets, the equipment of the Chu army is at least several generations ahead of the Dutch!
The Dutch are not even equipped with reliable and mature flintlock guns, and they have not even started to engage in line tactics, but the Chu army has already started to play with the cap percussion gun.

According to the original time and space, the gap between the early flintlock gun and the cap percussion gun is at least 200 years!
The above is only the lead in weapons, and the confidence of Major General Wan Binglin not only comes from the lead in weapons, but also the advanced tactics brought about by the lead in weapons.

Weapons are never alone.

The emergence of new weapons can bring about tactical changes.

The appearance of the matchlock gun led to the classic tactics of the Spanish phalanx, the Dutch phalanx, and the Swedish Gustav phalanx.

The emergence of flintlock guns led to the emergence of line tactics, and developed to its peak in the era of flash cap percussion guns and mini rifles.

And when the breech-loading rifles are mature and used, skirmish tactics will naturally appear... Then with the gradual emergence of magazine rifles, machine guns, semi-automatic rifles, automatic rifles, etc., the combat width of infantry will become larger and larger , expanding from about three meters to five meters, six meters or even more than ten meters.

In the era of line formation, the combat width of a division was only 2000 meters or even hundreds of meters; in the Franco-Prussian War period, the combat width of a division was only a few kilometers; but in World War II, the combat width of a division could reach more than ten kilometers; As for modern warfare, it is even wider. It is not uncommon for a highly mechanized synthesis division to control a battlefield area tens of kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers deep.

Advanced weapons also brought great changes in tactics to the Chu army.

When the Dutch waited for a large number of European countries to stay in the Gustavian phalanx, at most they increased the proportion of musketeers to 70.00%, around [-], and began to use unreliable fusiliers. The Chu army was already Played out the line tactics.

When the artillery units of those armies in Europe were still playing auxiliary infantry combat, they simply fired solid shells to attack the enemy hundreds of meters away, and even when there were not many specialized artillery units, the artillery units of the Chu army had already played After more than ten years of infantry coordination, various specialized artillery units have already been established.

And grenades are widely used in battle, and the shelling distance in field battles has been extended to more than 1000 meters.

The most widely used 13-year-old 115mm field gun in the army, when firing solid shells, the effective range can reach 300 meters. The elevation angle has been increased, the accuracy of the gun bore has been improved, and the propellant has been improved. Its effective range can reach an astonishing 13 meters, and the maximum range can reach 115 meters.

However, the field artillery of the same level used by contemporary European countries, including the Dutch, that is, the 600-pound field artillery, still has an effective range of 800 meters, no more than 13 meters... In this way, it is often better than that of the Chu army. The [-]-year improved field gun is heavier...

The gap between the two sides is all-round!
From weapons to tactics, and even the fighting qualities of the soldiers on both sides, they are all comprehensive.

Wan Binglin did not believe that the Dutch soldiers on the opposite side could eat whatever they wanted with their stomachs open every day, and then carry out intensive professional training for many years. This can be seen from the size of the Dutchmen on the opposite side.

Although the distance is still a bit far, Major General Wan Binglin can still clearly see some of the opponent's soldiers on the top of the city through the binoculars.

The height of these soldiers is generally not high, and they are relatively thin, unlike the soldiers of the Chu army, all of them are more than 1.7 meters, and they are very strong.

Whether the soldier's combat effectiveness is strong can be seen from the size to some extent.

It's not that tall and strong soldiers must be strong in combat, but that thin soldiers must have poor food, and poor food cannot accept high-intensity daily training.

If the daily training is not enough, you have to say how powerful he is in combat, would you believe it?

And the Dutch soldiers on the opposite side don't look like they can eat enough every day and receive high-intensity training every day.

Even the Dutch soldiers are like this, not to mention the Javanese native soldiers next to them, all of them are very thin, just like this kind of Javanese native soldiers, with bare hands, the soldiers of the No.14 Division under Wan Binglin's command I dare not say that one will hit ten, but if you kick it, if you kick it, it will definitely fly one!
After all, his No. 14 is one of the few first-class combat readiness divisions in the Great Chu Empire, and the conditions for recruiting recruits are relatively higher.

At the same time, the recruits in the army are all young people who grew up after the founding of the empire. The average height of the younger generation is much stronger than that of the older generation. Boys aged 1.7 or [-] are more than [-] meters tall.

Therefore, the soldiers in the No.14 Division have an average height of 1.7 meters 1.6, which is much higher than the [-] meters [-] in ordinary troops.

But it was much taller than those Dutch soldiers on the opposite side, and it was much taller than those Javanese native soldiers.

For example, Lawrence, who has sneaked into the city to hide now, has a very typical Dutch appearance, with a light blond hair that looks like red, blue eyes, a high nose, and a clear face.

If he is as tall as the Nordic people of later generations, and if he dresses well and pays attention to hygiene, then he is a very typical handsome European guy.

It's a pity that Lawrence, who has been serving in overseas colonies for a living, is dirty all over his body, and exudes an unbearable rotten smell because he hasn't bathed for a long time. His red hair is already greasy, knotted and wrinkled. Stick it on your forehead.

The most important thing is that he is not tall, only 1.6 meters tall, which is different from the Dutch with the highest average height in the world!
The other Dutch soldiers are also not tall, generally more than 1.6 meters, and few more than 1.7 meters.

Some Javanese native soldiers who fought together were even shorter, generally around 1.5 meters, and few reached 1.6 meters.

Of course, it can't really be said that they are short, after all, this thing has to be compared... In fact, the Dutch are relatively tall these days.

Because the average height of humans in the contemporary world is not good.

Height is based on a rich and balanced nutritional supply. In modern society, except for poor countries in special regions, people in most countries can basically eat enough, and people in some countries can even do it. Balanced nutrition, especially calcium supplements for children.

And in this way, people can grow taller, and if they can't eat enough, they won't grow taller.

Nutrition is the biggest factor in determining a person's height!
In addition to race genes, the living standard of an area determines the average height of people in this area.

If you don't believe me, you can look at the heights of your peers and parents around you, and then look at the heights of those born after zero, and you will find that there is a big gap.

Now the height of the post-[-]s is very scary, even when they were teenagers, they were generally taller than the parents of the post-[-]s.

Children who are only in their teens and still in junior high school can be found everywhere with a height of over 1.8 meters, far exceeding the height of their parents.

why?
Just look at what the post-[-]s ate when they were young, and then look at what the post-[-]s ate when they were young.

In the 3s, except for the children of a few families, how many people can eat meat if they want to?How many can supplement calcium from childhood to adulthood?I am afraid that most of the post-[-]s generation have never even seen calcium carbonate D[-] when they were young...

But today's children dare not say that they can eat whatever they want, but the basic rice, noodles, meat and fish can definitely be eaten as much as they want, and all kinds of calcium and vitamin supplements can be eaten directly as snacks... No, the current ones Parents have to coax them to eat...

This kind of life was unimaginable 30 or [-] years ago!

Rich material living conditions, coupled with the fact that Chinese parents like to give their children all kinds of supplements, so that the height of modern Chinese children soared rapidly.

The average height of young people of this generation has reached 1.7 meters to [-], ranking first in Asia.

In another 20 years, it is estimated that the average height of the younger generation will be 1.8 meters!
And all of this is based on a good standard of living.

If you can't get enough to eat, how can you grow tall!
The European and American men who are accustomed to by later generations are 1.8 meters tall at every turn. That was after the Industrial Revolution, and to be precise, it only started in the middle and late nineteenth century.

The living standards in Europe and the United States continue to increase, and the genes of generations continue to be optimized, and finally the average height of more than 1.8 meters appears.

But now in the middle of the seventeenth century, the living standards of these Dutch people are far from being as sufficient as those of later generations. Even with the genetic blessing of the Nordic race, their height is actually the same, and the normal height is about 1.6 meters. 1.7 meters are less.

This is still an average...

After all, you cannot take the height of the corpses of ancient European nobles excavated from tombs as the average height of ancient Europeans.

The individual height of a specific high living standard group has no reference significance for the average height of the whole society!
Just like the average height of the soldiers of the No.14 Division of the Chu Army, which is 1.7 meters tall, cannot represent the average height of soldiers in the entire army, let alone the average height of the entire empire.

To be honest, apart from the taller young people in the Great Chu Empire, the middle-aged and elderly people are actually not tall. It is common for adult men to be more than 1.6 meters.

Specifically, those in the north are higher, while those in the southern provinces are lower.

Well, this is the average data including the vast majority of poor people... You insisted on telling me that the average per capita of the terracotta warriors and horses was 1.9 meters, so the average per capita in the Qin and Han Dynasties was also 1.9 meters, and you are right!
After all, many officers in the Chu Army are also tall and handsome guys who are about 1.8 meters tall... Who doesn't have a few tall guys!
In the Great Chu Empire, the younger generation of officers are basically long-legged Ouba, they need to be tall and tall, and they need to have a figure, and their appearance is generally not too bad.

Since ancient times, applicants for the imperial examinations have been required to look good, and those who are too ugly or physically handicapped will not be accepted.

The Great Chu Empire was no exception. There was a physical examination for the civil service examinations, and a physical examination was also required to apply for the three major military academies of the military.

If you look too ugly, don't...

Therefore, the officers in the Great Chu Empire are basically not ugly... Coupled with the advantages of figure and uniform, the value of appearance can be added a few points.

At the same time, these handsome guys are either academic masters, wealthy families, or even both.

To become an officer in the Great Chu Empire, one must first apply for the Army Officer Academy, Naval Academy, or Royal Military Academy (Guards, with very few enrollments). To apply for the above three military academies, one must have a high school degree.

As for the young students who can afford to go to high schools these days, except for some top students who got scholarships along the way, most of them actually come from families that are not far behind.

The high school tuition fees in the Great Chu Empire are quite expensive...

Many families are ordinary, and their studies are not particularly top-notch. Students who cannot get scholarships often apply for secondary vocational schools after entering junior high school, in order to learn a certain professional skill to facilitate employment.

But even if it is a technical secondary school, its education is equivalent to high school in the Great Chu Empire, and it can also participate in the provincial imperial examinations.

In fact, in the past five or six years in the Great Chu Empire, quite a few of the younger generation of grassroots officials who have newly entered the officialdom are from technical secondary schools or high schools...

This is not to say that the Great Chu Empire does not want to recruit more college student officials, but that the total number of college students, including junior college students, is too small!
Even though the education reform has been implemented for so many years, dozens of universities have been established, but the number of college students in the Great Chu Empire is still very limited, and some college students have been diverted to scientific research and education.

Even if the university officials who become officials, most of them go directly to the provincial or even Gyeonggi institutions to become officials. If they fail the first-class exam, they can still pass the third-class exam. Even if they fail the general exam, they can also go to the provincial level. For the rural examination, after entering an official position, you start directly from the provincial government office, and you don't need to go to the grassroots level in prefectures and counties to start.

----

Wan Binglin belongs to the group of officers who have a good family, are tall, and have good looks. When he was young, his academic performance was not bad, so he was able to enter the Army Officer Academy.

After joining the army, he was lucky and was assigned to serve in the southern region. He participated in the Burma campaign and a series of expansion campaigns in Nanyang, and made great military exploits many times. Therefore, his promotion speed far exceeded that of his peers.

When one of his classmates was still a school officer, he had successfully crossed the threshold of brigadier general this year and became a major general of the army. He also served as the commander of the first-class combat readiness division of the No. 14 division as soon as he came up.

The higher ups still value him very much!

Let him be the commander of this No.14 division, because he wants Wang Binglin to take down the city of Batavia and even the entire Java Island.

After all, Wan Binglin is one of the few young generals in the army who are most familiar with tropical jungle warfare, and his rank and resume are also suitable.

This is an important reason why Wan Binglin was able to surpass a large number of people and serve as the commander of the No. 14 Division, the first-class combat readiness division.

There are a lot of brigadier generals and major generals in the army, but there are not many people who are familiar with tropical jungle warfare and have past military exploits and qualifications!
Wan Binglin is very clear that leading the army this time is very important to his future military career. If everything goes smoothly, then everything is easy to say, and he will even be sure to make further progress in a few years.

If the battle is unfavorable, then the consequences will not be very good. It is a typical big step, and I am afraid that I will not be able to turn around in the future. .

The internal competition in the Great Chu Empire Army was very cruel, especially the competition among generals.

If a general loses a battle on the front line, those who obviously violated the military order and went to the military court will not mention it, only that there seems to be no violation of military discipline, and those who simply lose the battle will basically be ordered to retire and transfer to the reserve team, the circumstances are less serious Those who may be transferred to the local garrison for the elderly.

Basically won't give you a second chance!
Because there are only so many positions of real power in the army, and there are not many positions for the commander of the first-class combat readiness division. If you go up to someone else, you won’t be able to get up... If you go up, if you can’t do it well, you still want a second chance after losing a battle?Dreaming!
There are still a lot of talented people who are also talented in the future, waiting for the top position. It is impossible for the top to give you a second chance.

Just one chance, do what you can, if you can't do it, get out!

Wan Binglin also knew very well that he only had one chance!
Cheng will stabilize, and after accumulating a few more years of qualifications and experience in leading troops, he can operate and go to Gyeonggi to take up a post, preferably in the staff department.

After staying in Gyeonggi for a few years, you can plan to go further.

Defeat... the military career in this life is basically over!
The big bosses above will not tolerate a defeat of any nature in a first-class combat readiness division.

If anyone dares to defeat a battle with a first-class division, the bosses dare to let him never stand up again!
At that time, the best result is to be transferred to the local garrison for the elderly... Wan Binglin said that he would rather shoot himself than go to the local garrison for the elderly!
He Wan Binglin is one of the most outstanding young generals in the army, he can't afford to lose that face!
Therefore, he will not let himself be in that situation. Once defeated, he has no plan to return to the country, and just commit suicide on the front line. It is really shameless to face the elders in his hometown.

For the Great Chu Empire, this battle may be just a small-scale war of external expansion, but for Major General Wan Binglin, a rookie in the army, this is not only a battle for the upper ranks, but also a battle of life and death. war.

Concerning his own future and even his life, Wan Binglin was naturally more cautious. Even after leading his army to the city of Batavia, he did not have any idea of ​​a wave of war, but solidly built fortifications and waited. reinforcements.

He has to be fully prepared to attack Batavia City with the posture of a lion fighting a rabbit!
Therefore, he had to wait for the second batch of troops under his command and the No.13 heavy artillery regiment that was reinforced from home.

The No.13 heavy artillery regiment is a typical artillery regiment dedicated to siege, with more than 20 [-]mm heavy short-barreled howitzers.

Wan Binglin would never rush to attack the city without a big guy with more than [-] millimeters in his hand.

No surprises, no hope for the Dutch!

This is Wan Binglin's plan!
And Wan Binglin's promotion to major general made a group of naval generals floating on the sea very unhappy... At first Wan Binglin said that he would land more than 30 kilometers away and let the navy wait for them for a few days.

The navy waited, and a large number of warships drifted idle for five or six days outside the port of Batavia.

Now that Wan Binglin finally arrived at the city, the navy thought he was going to start an attack, but he didn't expect to wait until the second batch of reinforcements arrived before starting to act.

Although the second batch of reinforcements has already begun to land, these reinforcements will not arrive so quickly.

Especially the more than 20 heavy siege artillery with a caliber of [-] mm. Although they have landed now, they are moving slowly like snails on the ground. It is estimated that it will take many days before they can reach the city of Batavia.

In this way, the admirals made a calculation: Yes, it will take at least ten days and a half months for these army turkeys to launch a general attack on Batavia City.

How could the navy have the time to wait with them, so they left some warships to continue the blockade, and took part of the small fleet to carry the landing team to the Spice Islands in the east.

Batavia City let the army fight, and their marines went to fight the Spice Islands.