Of course, this is not the most terrifying, the terrible thing is that the three Dutch commanders are now completely unclear how many troops the other side has deployed on the island, and whether there is still any hidden trick that has not been used. Yesterday, after the capture of the port, Spikes had thought that the opponent's forces were probably the men stationed in the harbor batteries, but today he has been slapped in the face by the cruel fact that even an army of Sweden that is particular about artillery warfare can never have the luxury of equipping an artillery force of one or two hundred men with two different sets of weapons, so that a total of more than twenty guns could be deployed on such an island.

According to the experience accumulated by the Dutch in the European theater of warfare, twenty guns were at least a regimental or above, and the firepower of about 2,000 troops could only be had, and this inference made it difficult for them to make up their minds to launch a general attack on the second line of defense on the island, because their own forces were far from reaching this number, and if the opponent really had hidden his strength in the previous engagement, it would be a shame to continue the offensive inland. But even if the Dutch had the courage to calculate the strength of their opponents, they would never have imagined that there was such a monster-like force as Haihan in the world, and they really had the ability to equip their artillery with two sets of weapons, and the artillery stationed on Ambuna Island was really only the ones they saw yesterday, and after withdrawing, they would continue to take on the heavy responsibility of firepower on the second line ≡of defense.

"We can't fight like this anymore, we have to think of something else. Brouwer said with a gloomy face. He was on the front line to supervise the battle today, and it was an eye-opener to see the artillery positions on his own position being named by the other side one by one. And the overseer team he brought with him also died inexplicably, and the injuries were all killed by musket buckshot, Brouwer really couldn't figure out how he could still be hit at such a distance, but he still realized the potential danger in time, retreated some distance back, and hid in a makeshift tent.

Even if he was lucky, several snipers on Haihan's side failed to hit him after three rounds of fire, and several guards in front of him and behind him became scapegoats. And Mu Shabai did not expose the big killing weapon in his hand as prematurely to attract local attention, and when he saw that the effect was not good, he immediately ordered the sniper to stop the operation.

Spikes frowned and thought for a while, and said to Van Longen, "Mr. Van Longen, please take a team and go to the flanks to see if there are any other offensive paths." ”

"Flanks?" Van Longen subconsciously looked to the side of his opponent's position, with the stream on the outskirts of the town as the dividing line, and on the other side was the apparently undeveloped primeval forest, and it was impossible to see the situation in the woods - this was the main reason why the Dutch did not intend to attack from the flank in the first place.

"Mr. Brower, please take a group to the flank on the other side, if we can attack from three directions at once, there may be a chance. Break through their defenses. Spikes said sternly, "If we still can't find a chance, then maybe we should consider evacuating from here as much as possible." ”

Spikes is not an ignorant person who only complains, he has also participated in several battles with real guns, and when it comes to this battle, he has naturally realized that the opponent who has not been identified is not a weak chicken, on the contrary, the strength of the opponent is far superior to that of ordinary pirates and Southeast Asian civilian forces, and it is not inferior to the mercenaries formed by the East India Company itself, and if it is determined that the opponent's forces are superior to his own in the next battle, then the chance of winning this battle is indeed very good.

"Retreat, but yesterday you were still holding the harbor and waiting for reinforcements?" Van Longen couldn't help but be a little panicked when he heard Spikes's opinion, and it had only been a long time before Spikes' opinion had changed drastically.

"We decided yesterday to hold the port in order to cut off their access to supplies, but judging by the course of today's battle, they should have much more war reserves than we do!" Brower explained, "If they had limited reserves, they would not have fired first in an engagement." And after our ceasefire, they continued to launch artillery fire, which is clear? In addition to the fact that their artillery performance is better than ours, the ammunition reserves are also very abundant, and they are not worried that they will run out of ammunition because of the battle with us. ”

"So they were ready for this engagement?" Van Longen also recalled after listening to the explanation.

"At least better than we were prepared. Spikes looked helpless: "Although we also made preparations for battle before we set off, we did not estimate the imaginary enemy so strongly. The only good thing is that they don't seem to have armed ships at sea here, so we have to find out what they're capable of and then fight or withdraw to make a choice. ”

It was indeed the luck of the Dutch, after the capture of Ambuna Island, the navy had left two warships stationed here, but last month due to the passage of a typhoon, both warships were damaged on different journeys and had to return to the port of Annam for repairs. And the warship that set off from Sanya to take over was still on the way, and the Dutch happened to hit such a window period, so they occupied a certain initiative in the initial landing battle. If there were two Haihan warships nearby, even the most rudimentary "Exploration-class" warships, at least the Dutch fleet would be able to take care of one or the other in the battle, and there would be no chance of attacking land so lightly.

After yesterday's battle, although Mushabai had sent a telegram to the base camp asking for help, the newly sent warships were still on their way to Ambuna Island, and the two ships were not equipped with crossing officers, so naturally there was no radio to contact, so it can only be speculated from the distance that they will be about a week before they arrive at Ambuna Island, and it is very likely that they will not be able to participate in this battle.

Although the Dutch did not like to march into this tropical primeval forest, they were forced to understand that it was not practical to break through the opponent's defense line from the front, and they could only see if there were any loopholes in the north and south flanks of the town.

Van Longen took fifty men and made a detour south from the harbor to avoid the opponent's field of vision, then turned west and entered the dense forests of the island. Of the fifty soldiers, only ten were Dutch, and the other forty were from Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia, and their complexions were all shades of color, but fortunately, the East India Company gave them uniform uniforms, so that the team did not look particularly cluttered. Half of these people were newcomers who had just arrived in Batavia and had not had time to adapt to the environment of Southeast Asia before they were put on this drudgery.

But there was really nothing that could be done about the equipment, with only twenty of the fifty soldiers armed with arquebuses, and the rest had only spears and knives to use, and the usefulness of these cold weapons in the current combat environment was obviously extremely limited. Van Longen didn't even dare to think about how terrible the battle would have been if the infantry were needed to charge the enemy lines.

Fan Longgen touched the short fire gun on his waist, sighed, and took the lead into the dense forest. This is not the first time he has ventured into the rainforests of Southeast Asian islands, and he is fully aware of the dangers that lurk in this environment. While there are no large carnivorous beasts on these islands, it is the inconspicuous snakes, insects, rats and ants that are more deadly. All kinds of poisons are hidden in all corners of the dense forest, and the slightest mistake will be attacked.

When Van Longen first arrived in Batavia, he followed an expedition into the dense forest for the first time, and in just five days and five nights, seven of the 40 people in the team were immortalized in the dense forest because of the attack of poisonous snakes and poisonous insects, and after leaving the primeval forest, three more died of malaria caused by mosquito bites. For colonists who came all the way from Europe to Southeast Asia, the natural environment was often more deadly and terrifying than the enemy's guns, and Van Longen has since left a great shadow on this primeval forest environment. If he had a choice, he would rather fight the wind and waves at sea in a sailboat than fight the poisonous insects that cannot be seen or touched in this dense forest.

Although Van Longen took the trouble to educate the rookie soldiers about the importance of tightening their trouser legs and sleeves in this environment before entering the forest, there was still a poisonous centipede that slipped into his shoes and bit him fiercely after he stepped into the forest for less than 100 meters.

When the hapless soldier wailed and took off his shoes and socks, his heels were already black - the poisonous insects of Southeast Asia were no joke. Fan Longen sighed and said, "Quickly put a bloodlet on the place where he was bitten!"

With the current medical conditions, there is really no other better way to deal with it, and Van Longen's mention is almost the only feasible means. Fortunately, after releasing some dirty blood, the wounded soldier finally turned from numbness to pain, which basically means that most of the toxicity of the wound has been removed. However, this does not mean that he has picked up this life, but only escaped for the time being. At the moment of lack of disinfection, he can only wrap the wound with strips of cloth, as for whether it will cause tetanus or other complications, it is really fate.

With this experience, the soldiers' vigilance against their surroundings has increased significantly. But the constant appearance of snakes, insects, rats, and ants under the head and feet still greatly slowed down the speed of the procession. It was only a little more than a mile from the starting point to the south wing of the town, and it took the team a full hour to complete.

But Van Longen was not relieved by this, and looking at the stream between the forest and the town, he really couldn't think of an effective way to cross this obstacle.

The stream was only seven or eight meters wide, and if time and conditions permitted, he could have someone cut down one or two large trees in the dense forest on the shore and let them fall over the stream to form a single-plank bridge. But it is clear that these trees on the shore that are hugged by at least two or three people are not cut down in a moment, and the sound of logging can be heard far away, attracting the attention of opponents.

Another option is to wade straight through, the stream is so clear that it doesn't look deep, and if you move fast enough, you can get to the other side in about a minute. But it was also a very risky approach, for Van Longen had noticed that there were scattered people in the houses on the other side of the town scanning the area, and it was almost impossible to avoid their view if they stepped out of the jungle.

"I can only attack. Van Longen made up his mind, and sent a soldier back to his position to report the situation here, and to make clear his intentions for the battle, which was to wait for the main position to launch an artillery attack to attract local attention, and then he waited for an opportunity to cross the stream and enter the town.

The battle plan was very simple and straightforward, and Van Longen was not worried about too much trouble when crossing the stream, he was more worried that his troops were too small, and even if he could reach the other side and attack the town, he would be quickly eaten by his opponents because of his weak forces.

But at this point, there was no room for regret, and Van Longen found a dead stump and sat down, quietly waiting for the signal to attack. He pulled out the short torch around his waist and gently wiped the dust off it with his hands. This firebolt was one of the items given to him by the elders of the family when he set out for Southeast Asia twelve years ago, and although he had hardly actually used it during the past twelve years, it was still very well maintained, and the lead bullet filled with the firearm could pierce the iron armor of ordinary soldiers at a distance of ten meters, and in his opinion it was an excellent life-saving weapon.

"Maybe I really shouldn't have taken this errand, I should have been on my way to the Mughals. Van Longen sighed in his heart, and he was also shaken by the choice he had made before this. When Governor Cohen spoke to him, he was about to lead a fleet to transport a batch of Ming cargo to India, but after listening to Cohen's advice, he chose to abandon this westward trip and turned into a maritime search and rescue fleet sent by the East India Company.

Originally, he thought that most of the merchant ships that had the accident were unfortunately silent due to disasters such as typhoons at sea, but he did not expect that someone would actually intercept and kill these merchant ships halfway, and even the transit and supply port of the East India Company was captured. Van Longen was unprepared for the battle that broke out out of nowhere, and even when he was about to attack, he still didn't understand what he was doing.

"About thirty to sixty people. ”

While Van Longen was still in a daze in the forest, the Haihan scouts, lying on a house somewhere on the other side of the stream, had already made detailed observations of the Dutch army that was quietly lurking.