Wild North America 1846

Riau Province in northeastern Sumatra

upper indragiri district

Riau Province is located on the south side of the Strait of Malacca. It is geographically far away from Singapore, the British Straits Settlements opposite. It is an area with a long farming history.

Before the Dutch colonists conquered this land with swords and guns, there were indigenous political powers such as the Kingdom of Srivijaya, the Kingdom of Srivijaya, and the Kingdom of Sumudutsa.

In 1282 AD, during the Yuan Dynasty, Sumudu Ci State sent envoys to the DPRK. The Ming Dynasty set up the Old Port Xuanwei Department here. At that time, the feudal kingdom was already very prosperous and developed a regional culture with unique South Asian characteristics.

nowadays

The old Dutch colonists and the newly invaded Tang Empire colonists opened a battlefield and used force to compete for this rich farming land. The two sides fought fiercely.

For a time, the sky over the area was filled with war clouds.

In the jungle by the river

His Royal Highness Tang Li Yi, wearing a straight uniform of a brigadier general of the Royal Guards, stood in the woods and used a telescope to carefully examine the front, with an extremely serious look on his face.

In the empty hilly area in front of them, the Dutch army and the Tang Empire army were gathering. There was a forest of shining spears and war horses neighing. The artillerymen from both sides were nervously entering the position and unloading the field artillery from the mules and horses pulling the artillery.

After a break of more than a month, the war is about to start again.

In order to defend the vast plain area in the central part of Sumatra Island from Upper Indragili County to Lower Indragili County, the Dutch army assembled nearly 62,000 troops here and set up a battlefield for a decisive battle.

It can be seen from the uniforms of the Dutch that the Dutch army in front of them is of high quality, with no less than 27,000 Royal Dutch Army officers and soldiers, more than 220 artillery pieces, and about 35,000 relatively elite indigenous servants.

in previous battles

The equipment of the indigenous servant army is poor. About half of them use spears, broadswords, bows and arrows, and the proportion of muskets is no more than 30%. They have solid cannon fodder attributes.

However, looking through the telescope, the indigenous servant army in front of them was equipped with 70% of the muskets. Most of them were wearing the same military uniforms as the Dutch army, which looked much neater, but that was all.

These indigenous servant soldiers still wore various kinds of trousers and cheap and useful plastic slippers on their feet. They lined up like a curved snake.

On the other hand, the Imperial Army of the Tang Dynasty had strict formations, distinctive uniforms, and uniform formations. The soldiers were uniformly equipped with cowhide armed belts and Type 95 bolt-action rifles, showing their high fighting spirit.

Including the newly reinforced Second Mindanao Division, the Tang Empire dispatched a total of three divisions totaling 47,000 people in this battle, as well as an imperial armored division responsible for the main assault mission.

The armored forces led by Brigadier General Tang Li Yi have been reorganized into a fully equipped Imperial Armored Division for several years.

And today is the time for them to show off their talents.

The armored division was lying in ambush beside a forest about 3.6 kilometers away from the main battlefield of both sides. It used the woods to cover up the traces of the armored vehicles. It lurked over yesterday evening, preparing to give the Dutch a big surprise.

before the war

This area is a key area covered by the cavalry regiment to ensure that no information is leaked.

"Master, all units of the Imperial Armored Division have completed preparations for the war and are ready for your orders at any time."

"Stand where you are."

"Yes, sir, stay where you are." The combat officer quickly left and carried out the order.

Brigadier General Tang Li Yi put down the telescope in his hand and turned around, looking over with a satisfied expression.

In the woods, one armored vehicle after another was lined up in an orderly manner. It was as long as one could see, and the dark gray armor exuded a cold murderous intent.

These armored vehicles that he presided over and passed the inspection were officially named Type 96 T-1 armored vehicles by the military, nicknamed "Gray Wolf". They are the first type of tracked armored vehicles that are truly equipped with the military in the world today.

The Gray Wolf armored vehicle is an open combat vehicle, surrounded by a steel armor hoarding about 1.1 meters high. It has a total crew of four and a total weight of 5.12 tons. It can reach an off-road speed of 23 kilometers per hour. The crawler chassis is light, flexible and durable.

Good performance and strong off-road capability.

Gray Wolf armored vehicles are divided into two types according to different equipment and weapons. The first type is an artillery vehicle, which is used to overcome difficulties during assaults and is responsible for the firepower of the armored division.

The Gray Wolf artillery vehicle is equipped with a 12 times caliber 75 mm Colt breech short-barreled gun. This excellent-performance short-barreled gun has small recoil and a high rate of fire. It can provide violent artillery impact in the shortest time and has considerable capabilities.

Strong attack ability.

In particular, the 75mm shotguns equipped on this vehicle will form a large radial shell when fired, and have fatal lethality against enemy infantry.

The corresponding disadvantage is that the range is greatly shortened. The range of the 12-pound gun is less than 2 kilometers, and the armor-piercing ability is also seriously weakened, but this is completely sufficient.

Among the five regiments under the Imperial Armored Division, one armored regiment is equipped with a total of 36 Gray Wolf artillery vehicles, divided into two battalions, each with 18 vehicles.

The other type is a heavy machine gun truck, which is equipped with a 7-barrel Colt 1847 Storm-type hand-cranked heavy machine gun. This type of heavy machine gun is an improved version of the classic 1847 type, and its shooting reliability is greatly improved.

The Imperial Armored Division is equipped with a total of 72 Gray Wolf heavy machine gun vehicles in two regiments. As the main force of the armored division, it has strong assault capabilities.

In addition, the Imperial Armored Division is also equipped with a car regiment, which is used to transport ammunition, supplies and accessories in peacetime, and in wartime it carries armed soldiers to follow the armored vehicles to attack enemy positions and assist in operations.

The last regiment is the logistics regiment, which includes division headquarters guard battalion, engineer battalion, supply battalion, machine repair company, cavalry reconnaissance company, communications company, medical company and other logistics units.

As a new thing in the field of the army, the establishment of the Imperial Armored Division has no reference at all. It was completed by Brigadier General Tang Li Yi and established the basic pattern of the establishment of modern armored forces.

Therefore, later generations respectfully call His Highness Tang Li Yi the "Father of Armored Forces" and "The Founder of Modern Armored Forces."

The "Army Armored Weapons Combat Theory" published by his pseudonym Colonel Lei Xiao is a must-read core textbook for armored weapons academies around the world. It has a lofty status in the world's army field, but that is a story for another time.

About 9:00 am

The main forces of the Tang and Dutch armies arrived on the battlefield one after another and formed an array for the decisive battle. The huge military formations were stacked up in layers that could not be seen at a glance, and a thick shadow of war filled the sky.

General Michels, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch army, was a commander with extremely rich war experience. He had presided over the Aceh War for more than seven years. By driving a wedge between indigenous sect leaders and local nobles, he almost wiped out the Aceh resistance.

If the Tang Empire had not boldly sent troops to completely solve the Aceh problem, it would have been within one or two years.

He knew that the military power in his hands could not resist the Tang Empire's army, which was armed to the teeth. Therefore, he built a large number of dense defensive parapets and circular artillery positions on the battlefield, forming a relatively solid defensive posture.

The number of muskets and equipment of the indigenous servant army was strengthened, and heavy troops were assembled as much as possible in an attempt to attack the invading enemy head-on and cause maximum damage.

The Battle of Upper Indragili actually evolved into a fortified battle, which posed a severe challenge to the Tang Empire's army, which did not have an advantage in military strength.

The equipment of the Royal Netherlands Army is not bad. Its white troops are generally equipped with the German Mauser M1888 Commission-style bolt-action rifle. Its technical performance is somewhat worse than that of the Type 95, but not to the extent of crossing generations.

General Michels also spent a lot of money on the indigenous servant army. He equipped some of the elite servant troops with the Dutch Dreiser needle guns exchanged from the warehouse, greatly improving their strength.

Coupled with the complete parapet defense line and intensive artillery fire, he was very confident to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.

Around 9:10, the Tang Imperial Army took the lead in launching an artillery bombardment. More than 350 artillery pieces roared, and the rumble of artillery resounded throughout the world.

Not to be outdone, the Dutch artillery position immediately fired back.

In an instant

Flames rose on the vast battlefield, and many barbed wire fences and parapets set up by the Dutch army were blown to pieces. The broken limbs and broken arms of the Dutch soldiers hiding behind flew into the sky along with the exploding soil debris, and one defense facility after another was destroyed.

.

"Oh, God, this is simply a one-sided massacre." General Michels punched the wall hard, his livid face shining with anger.

The Colt breech-loading cannon equipped by the Tang Empire's army was very advanced and was loaded with advanced yellow high-explosive gunpowder. It fired quickly, had a long range, and was powerful, giving it an absolute advantage in artillery battles.

The Dutch defense line was heavily bombarded by artillery fire. The defensive parapets and soldiers on the first line were heavily killed and injured in the artillery fire. The Dutch artillery that counterattacked did not have enough range to cause damage to the soldiers of the Tang Empire who were arrayed far away.

The nearest artillery shell also exploded more than 200 meters away.

"Your Majesty General, I'm afraid this is the price you must bear for backward equipment." A Dutch major general officer beside him replied. He looked at the battlefield ahead with a solemn expression, made an estimate and said;

"Fortunately, the first line of parapet positions is filled with servant troops, so we can still afford such a price."

General Michels's face was ashen and he did not answer, but ordered; "The No. 3 artillery position continues shelling and maintains firepower output. The other artillery positions stop shelling. We want to save some artillery shells for the Queen's government."

"As you command, General."

The Dutch army's parapet defense position constructed a total of three lines of defense, separated by about five to six hundred meters in front and back, showing a light front and heavy rear deployment. The first line was mainly composed of more than 12,000 indigenous servant soldiers.

The second line deployed more than 20,000 people, including more than 8,000 Royal Netherlands Army officers and soldiers, and set up more parapet defense lines and positions, as well as a large number of barbed wire fences.

The third line position, that is, the first line position where General Michels's command post is located, has gathered a heavy force of more than 30,000 people, with sufficient strength to reinforce the first and second lines at any time.

After the Tang Imperial Army's artillery fire beyond the extreme range covered the first-line positions, they continued their attack and entered the range of the Dutch artillery positions.

At the same time, the artillery of both sides also entered the firing range, but the Dutch artillery position had a semicircular earth and stone blast wall, which gave it some advantages in the artillery battle between the two sides.

Consider this

General Michels had to suppress the anger in his heart and watched helplessly as the Dutch officers and soldiers on the front line struggled to death in the artillery fire, and then were torn into pieces by the fierce artillery fire...

Faced with this, he had nothing to do.