The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 544: Chapter 427: The Great Bombing

Governor Alexander and Ambassador Raynor quickly realized how Europeans waged war and how cruel European wars were.

Before the Australasian Army attacked Batavia, the Australasian navy and air force carried out a bombardment of Batavia and nearby areas for several hours, forcing the Dutch Army to cower in defensive positions with no one daring to retaliate.

When the enemy's bombardment subsided, Governor Alexander and the Dutch Army were amazed to find that the Australasian Army was already close to Batavia, having successfully landed during the bombing and moved closer to Batavia.

Just as Governor Alexander planned to order his troops to launch an attack and repel the Australasians, the enemy quickly taught Governor Alexander a lesson.

Compared to the firepower of the navy and air force, the number of guns equipped by the Australasian ground forces was no weaker. They could even carry out more concentrated bombings on the Batavian defenders using a large number of rapid-firing guns.

To deal with such circumstances, the First Division carried thousands of artillery, including hundreds of large caliber guns and numerous medium and small caliber guns.

The previous bombardments by the navy and air force had already caused significant damage to Batavia's defenses, and the army's concentrated medium and small caliber guns had become the death knell for the Dutch forces.

Even the sturdy Liege Fortress could not resist the German bombardment for long, let alone the already insufficient defense of Batavia.

Although Batavia had a population of millions, making it the largest city in the Dutch East Indies.

Most of its inhabitants were indigenous, with only a few hundred thousand genuine Dutch immigrants and mixed-bloods, accounting for less than one-tenth of the total population.

The Australasian Army quickly approached Batavia, and of course, the indigenous army took the lead.

It was the Australasian Army's probing of the Dutch forces to test the firepower configuration of the Dutch defenders and to look for the weaker areas in Batavia's defenses.

Under cover of massive firepower, 20,000 indigenous people launched an attack on Batavia's defensive lines.

Batavia had two defense lines outside the city, the first with more than 30,000 indigenous defenders and the second with over 10,000 Dutch troops and over 10,000 indigenous defenders.

In order to construct these two lines of defense, Governor Alexander had mobilized almost all available troops near Batavia, which also meant that the Dutch East Indies had no means of resistance in the Batavia area other than these two defense lines.

In the previous two rounds of bombing, both indigenous armies and regular Dutch forces suffered heavy losses.

Particularly, aircraft capable of precise bomb dropping inflicted massive casualties on the Dutch side, whose defenses were not very strong to begin with.

Soon, the 20,000 colonial troops collided with Batavia's first line of defense. Although the Dutch forces had a numerical advantage, it was clear that the firearms of the Dutch indigenous forces were no match for the Australasian colonial troops, let alone the substantial firepower support of the latter.

Some indigenous defenders were immediately covered by rear-fire as soon as they exposed themselves, while others huddled in their positions without daring to show their heads, fearing bombardments from the Australasians.

After all, Australia and New Zealand were well-known pastoral regions in Australasia, and it was not a big deal to provide meat to the native soldiers since beef and mutton were abundant.

This led to significant physical improvements among the native soldiers after proper training, making them appear even more robust than their Dutch counterparts.

As for the Dutch side, although the native soldiers were treated better than ordinary natives, they still couldn't afford to eat meat and fruit every day.

A large part of the Dutch East Indies' income was transferred back to the Netherlands, and there wasn't much funding available for the colony's government to improve the lives of the native soldiers.

Moreover, the two forces already had different motivations for participating in the war, which gave the 20,000-strong Australasian native soldiers a considerable advantage over the 20,000-strong Dutch native soldiers. In fact, the first line of defense of Batavia was already in peril.

"Damn it, get the Third Colony Division up there and hold the first line of defense as best they can," said Governor Alexander as he hurriedly ordered the remaining Third Colony Division to block the advancing Australasian army from his rear command position.

"Order the troops to retreat and request a second round of bombardment from the air force," said Brigadier Silvio, commanding the Australasian First Division. He ordered the colonial forces to halt their advance and continued to use artillery and aircraft to break the stalemate.

Brigadier Silvio didn't plan to take Batavia's first line of defense immediately. For him, minimizing casualties while maximizing the outcome was undoubtedly more worthwhile.

Although the casualties were among the natives, the Western Army had limited troops to begin with, so any savings were still necessary.

Following the orders of both commanders, the Dutch dispatched the Third Colony Division for support, and Australasia withdrew its colonial forces, restoring a temporary peace to the first line of defense.

"Governor, have we repelled the enemy?" asked Ambassador Raynor, with excitement in the Dutch rear command.

If they could successfully repel the attack from Australasia, even if it was just a small-scale battle, it would be a merit for all those present.

Faced with such easily attainable reward, even Ambassador Raynor, a former envoy, was somewhat swayed.

"I'm afraid not, Ambassador Raynor. The enemy only deployed colonial forces, and their casualties are not heavy so far. Their retreat might be preparing for a larger attack. Order the frontline troops to rest and be vigilant for possible enemy bombardments and surprise attacks," answered Governor Alexander cautiously with a shake of his head.

Not long after the messenger conveyed Governor Alexander's order, the roar of artillery resumed from the rear of the Australasian forces.

Over a thousand artillery pieces resumed the heavy bombardment of Batavia's defensive positions, lasting for over an hour. Governor Alexander and Ambassador Raynor hid in the defensive works, not daring to show their faces.

When the bombing and vibrations outside the air-raid shelter stopped, Governor Alexander thought the enemy might have run out of shells, especially since such bombardment had been going on for most of the day and countless shells had been consumed.

However, Governor Alexander's relief was short-lived. A few minutes after the bombardment stopped, he stepped out of the defensive works behind a soldier and heard the humming of aircraft engines in the sky.

There was no mistaking the sound, as Governor Alexander knew it all too well. The flying devices, known as airplanes, had already inflicted heavy casualties on the Dutch forces.