Chapter 428 Big Bombing

Governor Alexander and Ambassador Reno quickly realized how European powers fought and how cruel European wars were.

Before the Australasian army attacked Batavia, the Australasian navy and air force bombed Batavia and nearby areas for several hours, forcing the Dutch army to huddle in defensive positions. , no one dared to show their head and fight back.

After the enemy's bombing calmed down, Governor Alexander and the Dutch army were surprised to find that the Australasian army was not far from Batavia. They had successfully landed during the bombing period and were close to Batavia.

Just as Governor Alexander planned to order his soldiers to attack and drive the Australasians back, the enemy quickly taught Governor Alexander a lesson.

Compared with the firepower of the Navy and Air Force, the number of artillery equipped by the Australasian Army is not weak at all, and it can even use a large number of rapid-fire artillery to cause more intensive bombing of the defenders of Batavia.

In order to cope with such engineering conditions, the First Division carried a total of thousands of artillery pieces, including hundreds of large-caliber artillery pieces and numerous small and medium-caliber artillery pieces.

Previous naval and air force bombings had dealt a considerable blow to Batavia's city defenses, and the army's intensive small- and medium-caliber artillery evolved into a reminder for the Dutch army.

The solid Liege Fortress could not hold out for long under German bombardment, let alone Batavia, whose city defense strength was insufficient.

Although Batavia's total population was in the millions, it was the largest city in the entire Dutch East Indies.

But most of the residents here are indigenous, and the real Dutch immigrants and mixed-race population are only a few hundred thousand, less than one-tenth of the total population.

The Australasian army quickly approached Batavia, led, of course, by the indigenous troops.

This was a test of the Dutch army by the Australasian army, to test the firepower configuration of the Dutch defenders and at the same time look for areas with weaker defenses in Batavia.

Under the cover of a large number of artillery, 20,000 natives launched an attack on Batavia's defense line.

There are two lines of defense outside the city of Batavia. The first line of defense has more than 30,000 indigenous defenders, and the second line of defense has more than 10,000 Dutch troops and more than 10,000 indigenous defenders.

In order to build these two lines of defense, Governor Alexander mobilized almost all the troops near Batavia. This also meant that except for these two lines of defense, the Dutch East Indies had no means of resistance in the Batavia area.

The previous two rounds of bombings caused a large number of casualties to both the indigenous and regular armies of the Dutch East Indies.

In particular, aircraft, weapons that can accurately drop bombs, caused huge casualties to the Dutch side, whose defensive positions were not very strong to begin with.

Soon twenty thousand colonial troops collided with Batavia's first line of defense. Although the Dutch army had a numerical advantage, the firearms equipped by the Dutch indigenous people were obviously not comparable to those of the colonial troops in Australasia, not to mention that these colonial troops had sufficient fire support.

Some indigenous people are often covered by firepower from behind as soon as they show their heads, and some even cower in their positions and dare not show their heads at all, for fear of facing the bombing from Australasia.

In fact, this is understandable. After all, the Netherlands has not participated in a large-scale war for a long time. The combat effectiveness of the Dutch East Indies army is a problem, let alone these colonial armies composed of indigenous people.

These colonial armies still have a certain degree of combat effectiveness against the unarmed indigenous people, but if they are to face the more well-equipped Australasian colonial army, how much combat effectiveness they can exert is also a question.

You know, although the colonial troops of both sides are composed of indigenous people, there are still obvious differences in the treatment of these indigenous peoples by the two sides.

As for Australasia, Arthur has publicly promised that after the war, he will gently repatriate all the indigenous soldiers and their families who participated in the war, and will give them sufficient travel expenses.

This also means that they do not have to continue to be free labor in Australasia, and they can regain their freedom in other regions.

But the Dutch colonial army was different. Although the Netherlands is a weaker country, the Dutch's attitude towards the indigenous people is still relatively cruel.

Even if they ruled this area for hundreds of years and gave birth to a large population of mixed Dutch and indigenous people, it certainly could not prevent the Dutch from being indifferent and discriminatory towards these indigenous people.

Even if these indigenous troops fought desperately for the Netherlands, they could only get a small reward at most, and it was even impossible to regain their freedom.

The best outcome for a Dutch colonial trooper is to become an ordinary native after serving, enduring exploitation by the Dutch but able to eke out a living.

Comparing the two, it goes without saying who can work harder. At least Australasia's colonial troops are still very disciplined. Under the command of Australasian officers, they can also exert a certain degree of combat effectiveness.

However, after the Dutch colonial army faced the indiscriminate bombing in Australasia, some indigenous soldiers seemed a little nervous, and some even dared not show their faces.

This resulted in that only a very small part of the 30,000 troops, or even less than 10,000, actually braved artillery fire to fight the Australasian army.

Among the remaining 20,000 people, some did not even dare to show their heads, and some occasionally showed their heads and fired a few random shots. How can we guarantee accuracy in such a situation?

Soon, Australasian colonial troops rushed to the Dutch positions, and the Dutch colonial troops launched hand-to-hand combat.

What can I say about the physical fights between the indigenous people? It's a bit eye-catching. Some natives even resorted to gouging their eyes and kicking their crotches and legs, completely forgetting that the bayonet on the rifle in their hands would be more deadly.

However, this is not bad news for Australasia. If we look at the physical fitness of the indigenous people alone, the physical fitness of the indigenous people in Australasia is actually better.

This is not nonsense. There is not much difference between the indigenous people of Australasia and the indigenous people of the Netherlands, but the difference between the colonial troops of the two sides is somewhat huge.

Arthur has always been very generous to the army. Even the colonial troops composed of indigenous people can still get one meal of meat and fruit a day, allowing these indigenous soldiers to recover and strengthen their bodies.

After all, the Australian and New Zealand regions of Australasia are both famous livestock areas. As long as there is no shortage of beef and mutton, it is okay to give some alms to these indigenous soldiers.

This also caused these indigenous soldiers to become much stronger in physique than before after reasonable training, and they looked more robust than the Dutch indigenous soldiers.

As for the Dutch soldiers, although the treatment of the indigenous soldiers was better than that of the ordinary indigenous soldiers, they were not so good that they could eat meat and fruits every day.

Most of the revenue from the Dutch East Indies was transported to the mainland of the Netherlands. The colonial government did not have much available funds, let alone spend money to improve the lives of these indigenous soldiers.

In addition, the soldiers on both sides had different willingness to participate in the war. This also resulted in the 20,000 Australasian indigenous soldiers maintaining a large advantage against the more than 20,000 Dutch indigenous soldiers. Even soon, Batavia's first line of defense was in danger.

"Damn it, let the Third Colonial Division go up and try your best to hold the first line of defense." Seeing that the first line of defense was about to be lost, Governor Alexander, who was commanding from the rear, quickly ordered the remaining Third Colonial Division to go up and block the Australian University. The attack of the Rathian army.

"Let the army retreat and ask the air force for a second bombing." On the other hand, Silvio, commander of the 1st Australasian Division, also ordered the colonial army to stop attacking and continue to use artillery and aircraft to open up the situation.

Division Commander Silvio did not intend to attack Batavia's first line of defense immediately. For Division Commander Silvio, it is undoubtedly more cost-effective to achieve greater results with the least casualties.

Although the casualties were those of the natives, the Western Front did not have many troops, so naturally it had to save a little if it could be saved.

With an order from the commanders of both sides, the Netherlands sent the Third Colonial Division for support, and Australasia also withdrew its colonial troops. The first line of defense returned to temporary peace.

"Mr. Governor, have the enemies been repulsed?" Ambassador Reno asked excitedly in the headquarters in the rear of the Netherlands.

If the Australasian attack can be successfully repelled, even if it is just a small-scale battle, it will be a credit to everyone here.

Faced with such an almost useless achievement, even Renault, who was once a diplomatic ambassador, was a little moved at this time.

"I'm afraid not, Ambassador Renault. The enemy has only sent out colonial troops, and the casualties are not heavy so far. I'm afraid that the enemy's retreat is preparing for a bigger attack. Send an order to let the frontline troops rest on the spot, and be careful of possible bombings and sneak attacks by the enemy. ." Governor Alexander shook his head and replied slightly cautiously.

Sure enough, shortly after the messenger conveyed Governor Alexander's order, there was another ear-splitting roar from the rear of Australasia.

After thousands of artillery pieces stopped for more than ten minutes, they continued to bombard Batavia's defensive positions, causing Governor Alexander and Ambassador Reno to hide in the fortifications and not dare to show their faces.

The enemy's bombing lasted for more than an hour. Seeing that the bombing and shaking outside the air-raid shelter had stopped, Governor Alexander thought that the enemy was short of artillery shells. After all, such bombing had lasted for most of a day, and the number of artillery shells consumed was even more. Countless.

But soon Governor Alexander could no longer laugh. A few minutes after the bombing stopped, Governor Alexander followed the soldiers out of the fortifications. Unexpectedly, he immediately heard a buzzing sound from the sky.

Governor Alexander was not unfamiliar with such a sound. It was this flying thing called an airplane that caused heavy casualties to the Dutch army.

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