In order to ensure the security of the colonies, and also to be able to attack the local indigenous princes or the Portuguese nearby, the Datang Western Trading Company established military strongholds and stationed armed personnel in every colony under its control.
, and thus established the garrison headquarters of each colony.
Depending on the size of the colony in which it is located, each garrison headquarters faces different strengths and weaknesses of enemies, and the number of troops under its jurisdiction is also different. It is also worth noting that the commander of this garrison headquarters is often also the local colonial chief officer.
This is because the Tang Dynasty Western Trading Company itself is an armed colonial trading organization. There is basically no boundary between civil and military affairs. The chief officials in each colony basically hold great power.
Of course, this power was only limited to the Western Company, and according to the Western Trade License, administrative affairs in each colony, especially taxation affairs, still belonged to the official.
The Tang Western Trading Company only assists in handling administrative affairs in the colony, and the taxation power cannot even intervene. That is the power of the Ministry of Taxation.
The garrison troops in each colony are no more than a hundred people, which is the size of an army infantry team, but there are many. For example, the Gohe Prefecture garrison has a strength of more than 3,000 people, which is basically a regiment-level establishment.
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Under each garrison headquarters, troops are organized into different organizations according to their different strength. However, this organization is basically the army organization, such as infantry team, infantry battalion, artillery battalion, artillery team and even cavalry team.
However, because the total size of the company's fleet's ground forces is more than 10,000, and they are scattered in nearly twenty colonial strongholds, the fixed establishment is not large. Battalions are basically the limit, and more are still based on teams.
In addition to these garrison troops deployed on the ground, the company's fleet also has a large number of marines on ships, which can also be mobilized to fight ashore when necessary.
In fact, the size of the entire company's fleet is very large, with a total strength of nearly 20,000, of which more than 10,000 are ground combat troops and several thousand are sailors, marines and the like.
Otherwise, why would the Datang Western Trading Company compete with the Portuguese for India, the eastern coast of Africa, Myanmar, West Asia and other regions?
In addition, Datang Western Trading Company is very familiar with the Indian Ocean. Even if the navy goes deep into the Indian Ocean to fight, it will not be possible without the help of Datang Western Trading Company's fleet.
Ding Chen really doesn't care about the navy's follow-up strategy. It has nothing to do with him for the time being anyway. He doesn't even care about other wars in the Nanyang region, because they are local garrison troops in Nanyang, mainly the Bandan Garrison and Luzon
garrison, plus the tasks of the naval force.
He, Ding Chenzhen, has only one mission for his Seventh Army for the time being: to capture Malacca!
The large-scale landing operation lasted for a full five days. This time was longer than the timetable set by Ding Chenzhen, but there was nothing that could be done. The difficulty of subsequent heavy artillery and the transportation of large amounts of supplies far exceeded expectations.
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The large-scale temporary dock set up by the Seventh Ark Bridge Regiment had a problem just after it was put into use. While transporting an eighteen-pound heavy gun, part of the structure of the temporary dock could not support it. As a result, it collapsed on the spot, which directly caused the eighteen-pound heavy gun to sink.
Into the bottom of the sea!
But at any rate, on the fifth day, the artillery of the 19th Artillery Regiment, the 7th Artillery Brigade, and the artillery of the temporarily formed naval heavy artillery battalion were all transported ashore.
During the transportation process, five artillery pieces, all of them heavy artillery pieces, sank into the seabed, which made Ding Chen really heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The difficulties involved in such a large-scale cross-sea landing operation are conceivable. Even if there is no resistance from the enemy on the beach, various mistakes are to be expected.
So the heartache was clear, but Ding Chenzhen was still very happy in the end. After five days of chaos, everyone finally got ashore.
The next thing is to continue transporting a large amount of supplies, and Ding Chen really doesn't care about these anymore, because he has already led his troops towards the city of Malacca, which is four kilometers away.
When marching, the movement of personnel was relatively good, but the transportation of heavy artillery and supplies was very difficult. Even the engineering units and even ordinary soldiers in the previous units went to battle collectively to build roads and bridges, but in a hurry, they
At most, it's just a temporary dirt road.
What's more, when building roads, Ding Chenzhen discovered that the logistics department had made a mistake and had forgotten the cement used for road construction and fortifications in Hong Kong...
Carrying cement to the front line, the Tang Army had done this as early as the Battle of Loop, and originally wanted to do it in the Battle of Malacca to temporarily pave roads or something.
But I didn't expect that I made a mistake while busy and brought everything with me, such as anti-mosquito nets, anti-mosquito bite potions, etc. I even brought several Taoist priests with me, preparing to perform rituals for the fallen soldiers...
But I didn't expect that I forgot to bring the important material cement. After checking, I found that the cement was still in the Hong Kong Naval Base and got a material war readiness warehouse!
However, there is no cement. Although it has an impact, the impact is not too big. After all, dirt roads can also be walked!
As a result, God was unfavorable. On the sixth day of the landing operation, which was the first day when Ding Chenzhen led the army to officially advance towards the city of Malacca, it rained heavily!
Ding Chenzhen looked at the heavy rain pouring down outside, and then at the various supplies that got wet in the heavy rain, as well as the soldiers running around trying to cover various supplies with rainproof sheets.
In the end, I couldn't help but yell!
"Damn it, you bastard from the meteorological team of the Royal Institute of Technology, what you said is just like farting. Didn't you say that it won't rain in autumn and winter in Nanyang? Even if it does, it will only be light rain. Look at this rain, is it light rain?"
When the Tang Dynasty sent troops to Malacca, the timing was not random!
For example, if there is a lot of rain in the first half of the year, they will not come!
It was not until the second half of the year, in August, that troops began to be dispatched. At this time, the rainy season in Nanyang was basically over, and the weather would be relatively good.
Even if the follow-up operations will take several months, the operations will be limited to autumn and winter, and we will strive to end the war in various parts of Southeast Asia and even parts of India before next spring.
As a result, it’s already September, and God still doesn’t show any respect at all. It rains heavily when it says it will rain!
Of course, no matter how bad the climate is in autumn and winter in the Nanyang region, it is still much better than in spring and summer. If we fight in spring and summer, we have to fight in the rain every day. At that time, there is no way to fight.
A heavy rain completely ended the Seventh Army's attempt to march towards Malacca. Even though the landing city was actually only a little more than four kilometers away from Malacca, the vanguard of the Seventh Army had actually fled a few days ago.
Arrive outside Malacca and start digging fortifications.
However, until the heavy artillery troops arrived, there was no way to fight!
Therefore, now the forward force of the Seventh Army, the 57th Infantry Regiment, can only stare at the city of Malacca ahead.
The Army has been slow to take action, and the Navy is finally too lazy to wait!
Supervising military affairs in Southeast Asia, India and other places, the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, Admiral Chen Pengming, sent a letter to Ding Chenzhen, informing Ding Chenzhen in the letter that the main fleet of the navy will officially set sail tomorrow, but the navy will stay
A squadron continues to monitor the port of Malacca and blockade the Strait of Malacca to provide support to the army at any time.
What’s interesting is that this squadron is actually the naval escort fleet in the Joint Landing Fleet!
To put it bluntly, the entire Indian Ocean fleet will enter the Southeast Asia and will not stay in Malacca!
Admiral Chen Pengming is preparing to enter the Indian Ocean, taking with him not only the Indian Ocean Fleet, but also the Fifth Marine Regiment of the Navy. In the words of the Navy, the Fifth Marine Regiment was originally prepared to support the Indian battlefield. Time is urgent and the task is heavy.
When I have free time, I can accompany your army to stare at you in Malacca!
The navy destroyed the Portuguese fleet in the port of Malacca, and also destroyed several Portuguese forts, and then turned and left gracefully, leaving the army alone to face the heavy rain in Malacca and the desperate Portuguese.
Ding Chen really didn't care if the Navy wanted to leave. Their Fifth Marine Regiment was useless anyway, so they just left. Moreover, the Joint Landing Fleet was still there, so the Army had nothing to worry about.
Now that it is pouring heavily, Ding Chenzhen has no choice but to ask the troops to pay attention to rain protection and protect materials, especially gunpowder, from getting wet. In addition, they must be strict not to get sick due to being exposed to the rain, and pay strict attention to hygiene.
In a poor place like Nanyang, you will contract various diseases if you are not careful, especially in the rainy season. Ding Chenzhen has stayed in Nanyang for several years before, and he knows that at this time, fighting is actually not a problem at all.
It's important. The most important thing is to keep it hygienic and waterproof, so as not to get sick, let alone develop any infectious diseases.
Otherwise, if a large-scale infectious disease hits Malacca and even Malacca is not attacked, his Seventh Army will be finished.
Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty immigrated to Nanyang for many years, and domestic research on medical treatment has always been at the highest level. After more than ten years of continuous publicity, the concept of hygiene has gradually become popular and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The Army of the Tang Dynasty also had a complete medical system. The army had military hospitals, divisions had division field hospitals, regiment headquarters and even battalion headquarters had military doctors. Even at the team level, there were medical soldiers.
Before the war, it was considered that the Nanyang environment was complex and disease would be the biggest enemy of the Tang Army, so a large amount of medicine was carried, especially the amount of alcohol used for disinfection.