Wild North America 1846

The Tang Empire had a clear and definite plan for every colonial expansion goal, which was to adopt a thorough assimilation strategy for the new colonies, digest and absorb them, and precipitate them into a deeper imperial heritage.

This is true for Mexico, it is true for Colombia, it is true for Cuba and the Luzon Islands, and it is certainly true for the East Indies.

Along with military conquest, long-term colonial planning and governance measures followed, and the empire did not hesitate to invest heavily in the infrastructure of the new colony, whether it was town roads or farmland planning, or the construction of bridges and reservoirs.

This was possible because the Tang Empire was so rich.

In order to completely conquer the East Indies (note; Sumatra Islands, Kalimantan Islands, Sulawesi Islands, excluding Java Islands), the imperial government and the royal family allocated a total of 230 million in war expenses, enough to guarantee a year and a half

The high-intensity war requires a large amount of infrastructure materials.

This includes modern cement factories, brick and tile factories, wood processing factories, rice factories, noodle factories, oil factories and other modern industrial facilities, establishing a preliminary industrialization framework for the new colony.

before that

The steel, cement and other infrastructure construction materials required for the new colony can be transported from the nearby Xinxi'an in Paradise Province, and can be transported by sea to cities such as Brazil and Samarinda in East Kalimantan Province, which is more than 900 kilometers of sea transportation.

The distance can be reached by a normal cargo ship in two days and two nights.

In Brazil, Samarinda, Palembang and other places, the imperial troops that landed encountered resistance from Dutch armies of different sizes, but were suppressed one after another.

Facing the Royal Army of the Tang Empire, which was armed to the teeth, the Netherlands did not have an advantage in strength or equipment and could easily be defeated.

This is not because the Dutch have weak combat effectiveness, but because the area to be defended is too vast and there are too many target towns to protect, which inevitably leads to the dispersion of troops.

In addition, the geographical environment is extremely unfavorable for the movement of large armies, so the Dutch's heavy army groups often gather inland.

It's like a shrinking hedgehog, waiting for the enemy to attack.

For example, in the Kalimantan Islands, more than 80% of the Dutch army, totaling about 33,000 troops, focuses on guarding Central Kalimantan.

In the other four provinces, which total about 440,000 square kilometers of land, the total number of Dutch troops is only more than 6,300, including a large proportion of indigenous servant troops. On average, there are only one or two thousand troops in each province.

The main force of the Dutch army is mainly distributed between Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan Province, and the coastal port of Sampet. There is a sand and gravel road about 6.2 meters wide and 347 kilometers long connecting the two places. This is also the center of Kalimantan.

One of the few better trunk roads in the Dan Islands.

Even in the rainy season, it can ensure the difficult passage of freight carriages.

Why do you say that?

Because this road with a history of more than 270 years is hard to explain. It was originally the only jungle passage from the Palangkaraya Aboriginal Kingdom to the seaside port, and has a very long history.

After the Dutch conquered the indigenous people with muskets, in order to allow freight carriages to pass, they recruited more than 7,300 strong local laborers to widen and reconstruct the original road with difficulty. It took more than 4 years to build this high-standard road.

gravel road.

After more than 270 years of ups and downs, this road has long been filled with big potholes and small potholes. It has been repaired and rotten every year. It is difficult to describe it in one sentence.

The Kalimantan Army followed the principle of "easy first, then difficult". After landing, it took the lead in controlling the empty East Kalimantan Province and occupied important towns such as Pasir and Samarinda to gain a foothold.

The next step is to consider going south to South Kalimantan Province and occupy Banchen, the capital of the occupied area.

Another group of royal troops from Lanfang State invaded and occupied North Kalimantan Province.

In the end, the two armies attacked Sampet, which was heavily defended by the Dutch army, and Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan Province, and won in one fell swoop.

Therefore, in the early stages of the large-scale invasion, the Royal Army faced scattered and sporadic Dutch defenders, and their resistance was not strong.

The places where the Sumatran Army landed, such as Palembang and Jambi, are located in the southeast of the island and are also areas where the Dutch army is weak.

In central and northwest Sumatra, including the Aceh region, where the Dutch army is heavily concentrated, the total number of Dutch troops exceeds 100,000 (note, including about half of the indigenous servants), which is a tough nut to crack.

at a high-level military meeting

It passed the strategic deployment of the next military expansion, and also passed the proposal to establish a series of factory facilities such as cement plants in Brazil, Samarinda and other cities, and passed the forced recruitment of no less than 50,000 to 60,000 indigenous laborers to invest in coastal highways.

Grand plan for construction project.

In the early days of the Tang Empire's military colonial expansion, the most mature experience was real-time military control. The large-scale infrastructure construction promoted under military control was rapid and efficient.

The empire already has rich experience in this regard. Many colonial affairs are planned and implemented by colonial officials who arrive with the army. The military only needs to cooperate as needed.

For example, the army was deployed to guard laborers in hard labor camps, and carried out military operations such as armed vigilance, patrols, and raids to cooperate with the work of colonial officials.

The Tang Empire covered a vast area, including the vast tropical rainforest areas of South America.

Most of the legionnaires on the expedition to the East Indies came from the nearby Paradise Province, the Kingdom of Luzon, the Kingdom of Cebu and the Kingdom of Mindanao. They have very good adaptability to the climate in this region and there are no insurmountable difficulties.

In order to conquer the new colonies, the empire made detailed preparations for more than ten years. The soldiers were equipped with mosquito nets, tropical military uniforms, wide-brimmed military hats, medicines to prevent mosquito bites and medicines to treat tropical diseases. These are important aspects that cannot be ignored.

.

After the military meeting, all the senior officers dispersed with a roar, and each got busy in accordance with the military deployment.

Marshal Tang Li Xin came to a castle-style residence not far away, which was his temporary stay.

This was originally the residence of Viscount Van Sternberg, a down-and-out Dutch aristocrat. The towering roof ridges and white round-arched window lattice can vaguely present the old atmosphere of Dutch aristocratic life.

I took off my military uniform and took a shower, feeling relaxed and happy.

After Marshal Tang Li Xin came out, he put on a wide and light Tang linen coat, walked to the rocking chair in the living room and sat down. The military attache immediately presented him with brewed hot tea and cigars.

Lighting a fragrant cigar, Marshal Tang Li Xin took two deep puffs and then slowly exhaled. The surroundings were immediately filled with strong and fragrant cigar smoke.

His brain began to review the battle deployment so far. Are there any gaps?

Among the three islands planned to be occupied, Sulawesi is the simplest. Most of the island is still in an uninhabited primitive state. So far, the total population is only 11,700 people, concentrated in and around two small towns on the southern coast.

area.

The expeditionary force dispatched a battalion of more than 370 troops and took full control of the area.

In the next step, with the entry of Chinese immigrants, the construction of ports in the southern Sulawesi Islands will also enter the advancement stage, and the labor force will of course be forcibly recruited local indigenous residents.

The colonial policy implemented was consistent and unified, that is, all males over 10 years old were sent to hard labor camps to build bridges, roads, wharves, and towns. There was endless hard work to be done, and there was no need to say more about the remaining indigenous women.

.

The initial invasion of the second colonial zone occupation target, the Kalimantan Islands, is progressing in an orderly manner, and there will be no problems in the next two to three months.

Without the cargo ships and passenger ships in the coastal ports, in fact, the various regions of Kalimantan are separated by endless tropical rainforest areas, rivers and valleys, making it impossible for large corps to carry out mobile operations.

This also means

The Dutch army could only concentrate heavily on the line between Sanpete and Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province. It was impossible to threaten the Royal Army hundreds of kilometers away, and it was impossible to attack in a large scale.

The Dutch army could only passively defend the area, build defensive castles or other defense facilities, and establish a solid defense line, striving to inflict maximum damage to the invading enemy.

According to the latest information received by the military;

The Dutch defenders did not make any large-scale construction of defense facilities. Judging from the situation, it seemed that they wanted to have a few head-on confrontations with the Royal Army of the Tang Empire.

This is not surprising. Today, in the late 19th century, the traditional European army's decisive battle theory is still to line up and shoot, that is, line infantry tactics.

Digging trenches, building defensive parapets or defensive fortresses are all considered cowards and cowardly acts, without a symbol of courage, and are shameful to traditional soldiers.

Brave soldiers should stand tall in the face of hail of bullets and stride forward...

The Dutch stubbornly adhere to this tradition. They are not willing to hide in waterlogged trenches like mice, but are more willing to fight vigorously.

This pedantic view is good news for the Tang Empire's army.

His Majesty the Holy Emperor has long said;

Bravery does not mean unnecessary sacrifice. The correct way to fight is to destroy more enemies while retaining your own strength to the greatest extent.

Therefore, the Royal Army of the Tang Empire has begun to try many new methods such as skirmishing line combat, mobile combat, and combined infantry and artillery combat. In this field, it has been at the forefront of the world's infantry theory.

The problem has returned to its original point, and the stubborn resistance of the 33,000 Dutch troops in Kalimantan has been completely resolved. It is a closed-door dogfighting situation, and it is only a matter of time before the final victory is achieved.

The biggest problem lies in the Sumatra Islands. The Aceh War in the northwest of the island has been going on for 25 years. The Dutch Governor-General has continued to send heavy troops and a large amount of supplies to the island.

The Dutch have gathered a heavy force of more than 100,000 troops on the island. In the desperate situation of no way to the sky and no way to the earth, it is possible to break out a strong combat effectiveness.

Lieutenant General Liu Zhongguo led the second regiment of the Royal Guards as the main force, with a total of more than 89,000 people, and did not occupy any strength advantage.

It is fully expected that the fiercest fighting will break out on Sumatra Island.

His Highness Tang Li Xin was already a veteran who was used to seeing life and death. He took a deep puff of his cigar and then slowly exhaled it, his eyes becoming particularly bright.

he has decided

After the Royal Task Force rested for a week, the entire fleet was divided into two, and the main force of the fleet headed to Sumatra to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Dutch heavy force group on the island.

In addition, a cruiser-based fleet force was separated to implement a comprehensive blockade and patrol mission on Java Island to maintain the current separation of the islands.

Divide and conquer, defeat each one.