1850 American Gold Baron

Chapter 402 The advantage is mine

"The Pontianak was not defended even for a day?"

Tevis, the governor of Batavia, was stunned by the news and was speechless for a long time.

He knew what the loss of Pontianak meant.

The defeat in the naval battle dealt a heavy blow to the Dutch and Indian authorities, but it was not fatal yet.

As long as they are given some time, Tevez can still organize and mobilize a relatively considerable maritime force to fight Umbrella again.

The loss of Pontianak means they have lost the initiative in West Borneo, and the South Borneo area they have worked so hard to manage will also be threatened.

As for the Lanfang Company's armed forces in Dongwanlu, they are obviously unreliable.

Once the Dutch and Indian authorities withdraw from West Borneo, they will be unable to provide armed support to Lanfang Company.

It is hard to say whether the Lanfang Company's armed forces can withstand the armed forces of the local Chinese resisting the company, let alone resist the offensive of Liang Yao's armed forces.

Teves, the governor of Batavia, would not be clear about the nature of the Royal Dutch Army.

The biggest problem of the Royal Dutch Army was that the number of white soldiers, especially the native Dutch soldiers, was too small. They had to rely on local indigenous soldiers, especially the relatively loyal Javanese soldiers, to maintain their presence in the East Indies.

Colonization of the Islands.

There is no problem for such an army to attack local indigenous people and disunited Chinese.

Of course, the upper limit of a ragtag group of people is to fight a smooth battle. When encountering a tough battle, they definitely cannot count on it.

Governor Teves quickly clarified his thoughts. While he asked Cruson to let the crew members who returned from the war rest, he continued to mobilize the maritime power that the Dutch and Indian authorities could control to prepare for another battle with Liang Yao.

After doing this, Tevez ordered Andersen of Kendawangan to defend Kendawangan and wait for reinforcements to arrive before launching a counterattack on Pontianak City.

After Pontianak changed hands, Kendawangan became the only remaining large colonial stronghold of the Dutch and Indian authorities in West Borneo.

Kendawangan must not make another mistake, if Kendawangan loses again.

There is no room for maneuver in the war in West Borneo. Waiting for Tevez to end would be to take the blame and resign.

Kendawangan is not far from Batavia. After a day and a half, General Andersson of the Royal Dutch Army received Tevez's order.

But Andersen seemed unprepared to comply with Tevez's orders.

After learning that it was not a regiment of soldiers who captured the Pontianak Fort, but a small number of armed forces composed of dozens of sailors and more than a hundred Chinese resistance companies.

Anderson felt extremely humiliated!

Rather than saying that Pontianak was lost, it is better to say that they were scared away by one or two hundred local infiltrators.

This made Andersen, who had been invincible in consecutive battles in the East Indies, ashamed and unconvinced.

If he lost to the white commanders of Britain and France, Andersen could still accept it.

But losing to a boy with yellow hair was something Andersen couldn't bear.

Only by retaking Pontianak can Andersen's shame be washed away and he can be punished with meritorious service.

Otherwise, he will become the laughing stock of his colleagues and go from being a famous general in the East Indies to being the laughingstock of the East Indies.

"We are soldiers, and soldiers should obey orders from our superiors."

"There must be a reason why Governor Tevez asked us to wait for reinforcements. Your Excellency, we should not take the risk of attacking."

"Liang Yao's armed combat power cannot be underestimated. It is a safer choice to wait for reinforcements to arrive and then counterattack Pontianak with the cooperation of the navy!"

Anderson's men were opposed to counterattacking Pontianak at this time.

It is true that part of the reason why Andersen's men opposed the counterattack on Pontianak now was because they were afraid of fighting and were not sure of defeating Liang Yao's forces.

But in terms of the overall situation, it is indeed a safer approach to rely on mature defenses in Kendawangan and wait for reinforcements.

And they didn't want to disobey the orders of the Governor of Batavia.

"You cowards! Do you want to retire with shame and return to your hometown? You must know your shame! You must know your shame!"

Andersen severely reprimanded these opinions and his left-leaning men, and also explained that his decision to send troops to counterattack Pontianak at this time was based on rational analysis rather than being influenced by perceptual emotions.

"Liang Yao has just occupied Pontianak and his foothold is not yet stable.

We have been operating in West Borneo for many years, and the local indigenous people are loyal to us.

Lawyer Dongwan’s Lanfang Company is still resisting.

These circumstances are very favorable for us to send troops to regain Pontianak.

More importantly, Liang Yao did not have many troops, so he chose to divide his troops into three groups, attack Dongwanlu all the way north, and defend the coast all the way, leaving only a small number of troops to guard Pontianak City.

Pontianak City is now at its weakest defense, and now is the perfect time to regain Pontianak.

If we wait until Liang Yao builds defenses in Pontianak, we will have to pay a higher price if we want to regain Pontianak!

The war opportunity is fleeting, everyone is ready to go out with me!"

After some fierce analysis, Andersen believed that I had the advantage and now was the best time to counterattack. He insisted on sending troops north to regain Pontianak, without giving his men any chance to counterattack.

After Liang Yao captured Pontianak, Bonham, the third governor of Hong Kong Island, also developed a strong interest in Liang Yao.

Bonham observed the entire naval battle that took place on the Java Sea.

There are not many examples of maritime wars in East and Southeast Asia that can be called naval battles. In Bonham's view, those so-called naval battles in the past were just small maritime military operations to eliminate pirates and could not be called real naval battles.

But this close naval battle that broke out in the Java Sea near Pontianak, Bonham believed that this could be regarded as a real naval battle.

At first, Bonham was not optimistic that Liang Yao could make a difference on the island of Borneo. Although the Netherlands had declined, the emaciated camels were bigger than horses. Before the war, Bonham believed that Liang Yao could not get any benefits from the Dutch and Indian authorities.

But what happened next quickly slapped Wen Xian in the face.

If Bonham expected that the Dutch East Indies took the lead in withdrawing from the battlefield in the Java Sea Battle, then the capture of Pontianak in less than a day was completely beyond Bonham's expectations.

Liang Yao's military strength was stronger than he expected.

Wen Xian then decided to have some contact with Liang Yao first.

Liang Yao and the Dutch and Indian authorities competed for hegemony over the island of Borneo. Bonham didn't care who would win in the end.

What he cared most about was whether Britain's interests in Borneo would be damaged by the change in Borneo's hegemony.

Wen Xian wanted to know Liang Yao's attitude towards the interests of the British Empire in Borneo.

"Your Majesty the Governor, you are a rare visitor." Liang Yao met Wen Xian in Pontianak.

As a native of Xiangshan, Wen Xian looks very gentlemanly even though he has an amiable face and behavior.

But it is really difficult for him to have a favorable impression of the so-called governors of Hong Kong and Macao.

But the headache was that Wenxian had to see him again.

In competing with the Dutch and Indian authorities for hegemony over Borneo Island, Liang Yao still had a good chance of winning.

If Britain, the troublemaker, comes in to disrupt the situation, it can really change the balance of victory for both sides.

In the Victorian era, Britain's maritime power was truly unrivaled on earth.

Even if Liang Yao hates the British as a troublemaker, he still has to find a way to stabilize the British first.

Liang Yao did not expect the British to be on his side, but at least he wanted the British to remain neutral on this matter.

(End of chapter)