Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 353

  On the road from the city of Semuda to the port, a large number of heavily armed Dutch soldiers left the heavily fortified fortress and headed towards the port.

This is a reinforcement team composed of 4,000 indigenous servants, more than 600 Dutch soldiers and more than 1,000 white militiamen. The equipment is significantly better than the port defenders. The indigenous servants are also equipped with old-fashioned front-loading rifles. Although some rifles are older than soldiers, after all, they are also firearms, and the rifles are as deadly as they are shot out.

  After a long hesitation

  The commander of the Royal Netherlands Army, Colonel Henry, finally sent reinforcements. The port is so important that it must not be lost.

  It can be seen from the composition of the troops that the indigenous servant army is the main force of this reinforcement operation. The purpose is to entangle the main force of the Kalimantan division, try to defeat the enemy and open the way to the port.

  If the enemy is too tricky, the main white army behind the tail quickly retreats, retracts into the tightly defended fortress, and docks to survive.

It was about 4:00 in the afternoon when the Dutch reinforcements left the Semuda Fortress. Six and a half hours have passed since the offensive was launched. The sound of gunfire faintly heard from more than ten kilometers away. The fierce gunfire has become rarer than it was at the beginning. a lot of.

The tropical area near the equator has a long daylight hours. It will only get dark after 8 pm. Judging from the slow movement of the Dutch reinforcements, the marching speed does not exceed 5 kilometers per hour, and it is between 6 and 7 o'clock in the afternoon. Able to encounter the main force of the Kalimantan Second Division.

  The very chicken thieves selected at this time point. If the offense is not smooth, the reinforcements can take advantage of the night to cover and evacuate, if the offense is smooth, they can fight a chaotic battle in the dark and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

The Dutch regular army and militia are equipped with German Mauser 1871 rifles. The length of this singles-one-standard rifle is close to one meter longer than riding a rifle. The advantage of being equipped with a bayonet is very obvious and it is very suitable for nights with poor vision. Chaos.

  The news of the deployment of enemy reinforcements quickly reached the headquarters of the Second Division of Kalimantan. In this simple headquarters located in the jungle, a group of officers were busy.

   "Report to the division seat, the engineer battalion has repaired the road, and the two 95mm artillery battalions participating in the port attack are moving positions, please give instructions."

  "Order the two artillery battalions to immediately enter the preset positions and prepare for battle."

   "Yes, go to the humble post immediately."

   "Hurry up and check, has my 60mm light artillery battalion come up?"

  "Reporter's seat; the 60mm light artillery has ended the siege at the port, and the equipment is being transported by bullock carts. It is expected to arrive in another 40 minutes."

  "Hurge them to move faster, the Dutch are already here."

"Yes, sir."

   "Combat staff, have the first and third regiments all entered the position?"

   "Report to the division seat, the main force of the division has all entered the position and can fight at any time."

   "Where is the second regiment?"

   "The Second Regiment will report that it will end the encirclement and suppression of the port in 30 minutes and rush to the battlefield at a rapid march. It is expected to arrive in about 40 minutes."

   "Oh... so sure?"

  The commander Liu Shan turned around when he heard the map, walked out of the grass shed of the division headquarters to the heights of the hills, and raised the telescope in his hand to observe carefully.

More than a dozen thick black smoke in the direction of the port is very conspicuous in the evening sun. Standing on the hills, the port about 4 to 5 kilometers apart is already in ruins. The house was filled with black smoke.

  The battle situation ahead will be reported every 20 minutes, so the division commander Liu Shan is very clear that there are still two hard nails in the port that have not been pulled out.

  Under this situation, why can the Second Regiment claim to end the battle in half an hour?

  In terms of strength, troops attacking the port can barely achieve a 2:1 advantage.

  The Dutch defenders are not soft persimmons. Their fighting will is at least two levels higher than that of the native servants. Without paying a lot of casualties, it is difficult to win this difficult opponent.

  He took a look at the Swiss gold watch on his wrist. It was already more than 6 o'clock in the afternoon. The Dutch reinforcements were no more than one kilometer away from the blocking position and were coming cautiously. Fierce fighting might break out at any time.

  Now everything is ready, only the 2 regiments, the general reserve team, can hardly be sure whether they can rush to the battlefield in time to form a joint force with the main force of the division, and swallow the reinforcements in one gulp in the future?

at this time

  A bright flame suddenly appeared in the direction of the port, and the crazy fire spread quickly and burned extremely well. Liu Shan hurriedly raised the telescope to observe carefully, and was shocked.

  Even if they are five kilometers away, Liu Shan can feel the violent momentum of this soaring fire, which distorts the air that is burning in the evening, forming a large sea of ​​fire.

  This location should be the port timber storage site. Could it be...

   "Hurry up and send two people to the port on horseback to ask about the battle. What is going on with this fire?"

  Although there was speculation in his mind, the division commander Liu Shan sent two cavalry soldiers to the front line to inquire about the battle situation out of prudent reasons.

  At this time, the worry in his heart finally let go.

  The second regiment did a good job and solved a hard nail without a single shot.

  Timber yard Dutch defenders seem to be unable to cause trouble, leaving a battalion defensive fort the Dutch counterattack, the main force of the second regiment can quickly come to join the battle, forming a dense big pocket to swallow the enemy who dares to invade.

There are more than 5,600 Dutch reinforcements. The main force of the Kalimantan Second Division is only 6,000 (more than 400 casualties). There is no siege battle with the main force of the Second Regiment. The strength of the two sides seems to be different. Easy to say.

  Semuda City on the road leading to the port

  The Dutch army is marching, and the front gradually enters the hilly area. The undulating primitive tropical jungle on both sides is full of green, growing lush and lush.

  The Aboriginal pioneers walking in the forefront, from time to time send a small group of troops into the tropical jungle on both sides of the road, to detect whether there is an ambush by the enemy?

  Walking under the scorching sun for more than two hours, the soldiers were a little dry-mouthed and languid. Many indigenous soldiers took out the bamboo water bottle slung on their shoulders, unplugged the stopper, and poured a few refreshing sips to quench their thirst.

  Suddenly far away

Seeing a large area of ​​fire rising in the direction of the port, half of the sky reflected in red, the distance between the two is about seven or eight kilometers, and the intensity of the fire can be felt at such a distance, which made the Dutch commander terrified. .

  The head of Schmidt, with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Royal Netherlands Army hanging on his shoulders, was surprised. After a little thought, he realized that it must have been a fire in the lumber yard of the port, otherwise there would be no such a big fire.

  Because of the enemy's obstruction, the Dutch commander did not know the extent of the battle, which made him hesitate.

  Has the port completely fallen?

  Move on or retreat decisively?

"Dear Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt, is our army going forward? Looks like this, the situation in the port doesn't seem to be great?" The commander of the indigenous servant army is a nobleman of the Machen Kingdom, named Saikardo, who is fat and fat. He doesn't look like a soldier, but more like a businessman.

The territory of   Machen Kingdom includes part of Central Kalimantan. The Dutch colonists retained the noble class of the original indigenous kingdom and used it to rule a larger number of indigenous tribes. It was a typical dualistic ruling structure.

"It's not a big deal, Mr. Saikado, the fire in the port shows that our army is fighting the enemy bravely. We need to give them a hard time to completely get rid of the arrogance of the Queenslanders. After all, we are the masters of this land. , Did you say so?" Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt would not expose his worries. Anyway, he used indigenous troops to test the enemy, and the main white soldiers followed, so he couldn't retreat.

  In other words, I walked for more than two hours, and it only takes an hour to escape.

"I understand Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, out of prudent consideration, whether we can invest our troops one by one, I heard that the Kunshan Lanren are thugs who kill people without blinking, and they are extremely cunning. You must be careful when dealing with such enemies and prevent them from being hit. Out of their trap."

  As an aboriginal aristocrat with real power, all of his power comes from the indigenous army in his hands. Of course, he is not willing to give up his laurels.

  Sekado understands;

  Don’t look at what the Dutch say is nice, if you don’t have this powerful indigenous army, you are worthless, and you will soon be abandoned and thrown out of the house.

"No, no, no, my dear Commander Sekado, once you find the enemy, I ask you to put all your troops into your full attack, like a clenched iron fist, inflict heavy damage on the enemy, defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, and take advantage of the situation. Let them see how good we are.” Lieutenant Colonel Schmidt shook his head and said with great confidence; “There is only one division that landed ashore. They need to divide their forces to attack the port. The army that can be used to block will never There will be more. This is a very good opportunity. We have to take advantage of the situation to penetrate their defenses in one fell swoop. Please rest assured that there is a steady stream of troops behind us. All you have to do with your men is to rush forward and win this. In the battle, I can guarantee that you will get a lot of gold coins and equipped with a new rifle, you know... this is a rare commodity that money can't buy."

  "As you wish, dear Lieutenant Colonel." The Secardo head replied bitterly.

  There is no fool who can achieve this position. Seccardo knew that the Dutch were using his troops as cannon fodder, but he was unable to resist and did not dare to resist.

The encircling circle set up by the Kalimantan Division to attack the enemy reinforcements of the Dutch army is in a hilly area of ​​4 kilometers long. A dirt road with good road conditions passes through it, forming a huge encirclement.

  Because the Dutch army was shocked by the fire in the direction of the port, the main white army following behind became more and more sluggish, and gradually distanced itself from the indigenous army ahead.

  The first troops of the indigenous army arrived in front of the encirclement circle, and the white army that fell behind had not yet entered the encirclement circle, behaving extremely cautiously and cunningly.

  "Master, what should I do?" the officer asked for instructions.

Liu Shan's expression was calm and calm, and he waved his hand and said; "Don't worry, you can let go of the indigenous pioneers and wait for the white army to enter the encirclement before launching an offensive. Tighten this big pocket. These Dutch ghosts are our key to attack. You can’t let them slip away."

   "Yes, Master."

  The encirclement circle adopts the tactics of pinching heads and tails. Once the Dutch reinforcements enter the encirclement circle, the troops ambushing deep in the jungle will rush out, cutting off the entire road one after another, and attacking the enemies in the encirclement circle.

  On both sides of the tropical jungle, communication is difficult due to dense vegetation, and there are so many insects and snakes that large troops cannot hide.

  (End of this chapter)