Chapter 230 Login! Log in!
Portuguese Timor was the second colony occupied by the Portuguese colonial empire in East Asia, and it was also one of Portugal's important strongholds in East Asia.
Portuguese Timor currently has a total population of more than 350,000, of which 90% are local indigenous people, 3% are other foreign ethnic groups, and less than 7% are white immigrants from Portugal and Europe. .
This also means that Portuguese Timor only has a white population of more than 20,000 people. It is a small colony with a small land area and a small population.
But the economic value of Portuguese Timor is not low. Although more than half of the land, that is, the western part of Timor Island, was gradually occupied by the Netherlands, Portugal still held on to its land in the eastern part of Timor Island.
More importantly, although the small Portuguese Timor only has more than 10,000 square kilometers of land, it has a large number of mineral resources including gold, manganese, chromium, tin, and copper. The adjacent Timor Sea also has It has very rich reserves of oil and natural gas resources.
Although there are not many mineral resources discovered so far, Portuguese Timor is an extremely important springboard for Australasia, able to control the center of the Dutch East Indies.
If it can control Portuguese Timor, Australasia will also have the ability to turn the entire Timor Sea into Australasia's inland sea.
Not only that, but with the help of Portuguese Timor, they can also exercise certain control over the western part of Timor Island, that is, Java Island.
Since the two countries declared war on each other, the war has attracted the attention of some Europeans.
What no one expected was that what was originally just a diplomatic conflict turned into a war between two countries.
This can only be said to be Australasia’s determination and Portugal’s refusal to back down.
All major European countries have expressed concern about this war. However, in such a chaotic era, war has become routine for Europeans, and everyone has long been accustomed to it.
Currently, Portugal has a total of three colonies in Asia, located in East Asia, Southeast Asia and India.
But these three colonies all have the same characteristics. They are all small in size and have few people, so they cannot have too many garrisons.
This also resulted in the total size of all Portuguese colonial garrisons in Asia being only more than 3,000.
It is basically impossible to defend the Australasian army's attack with more than 3,000 people.
Of course, Alfonso I did not think of relying on these three thousand people to complete the war. Reinforcements from the Portuguese mainland have already taken action, and it will only take a month to arrive at the fastest.
The Department of Defense had detailed plans long before the war began. Australasia will invest at least 50,000 people, 10,000 of whom will be the vanguard, responsible for quickly conquering Portugal's Timor colony in Southeast Asia.
The remaining 40,000 people were divided into two parts, and one part served as the main force. After the vanguard successfully captured Timor, they landed on Portugal's other Asian colonies.
The remaining part is used as a reserve force and is temporarily stationed in Australasia on a combat readiness basis. Firstly, it can prevent the enemy from possible landing in Australasia. Secondly, it can serve as a reserve force to support the front line in emergencies.
Of course, the most important thing is to quickly capture Portuguese Timor, and then use Portuguese Timor as a springboard to land on Portugal's colonies in East Asia and India.
After losing three colonies in a row, the Portuguese government had to consider the consequences of continuing to fight.
August 8, 1907, four o'clock in the afternoon, Maryborough harbor.
After the Australasian government declared war on Portugal, the 1st Defense Division was ready to seize the beach and land on Timor Island on a transport ship.
The commander of the 1st Division was Silvio Ronny Rodrin, an excellent general who advocated offensive firepower.
However, Silvio Lonnie Rodlin's face didn't look too good at this time. His resolute face actually looked hesitant and filled with worry.
Of course, Silvio Ronny Rodrín was not worried about not being able to win the Kingdom of Portugal, nor was he afraid of the war that had already come.
What made Silvio Lonnie Rodlin feel a little worried was actually an order from Arthur. He must reduce the casualties of soldiers as much as possible and weaken the effective forces of the Portuguese as much as possible, including the Portuguese in Timor. Influence.
It is easy to understand how to weaken the effective strength of the Portuguese. Isn't it just to kill as many Portuguese soldiers as possible?
Reducing the casualties of soldiers can be achieved if you are careful. As long as you use firepower to suppress it before attacking, and use more firepower output in exchange for the survival probability of the soldiers, you can reduce the casualties of the soldiers.
But what can be done to weaken Portuguese influence in Timor? You can't massacre the Portuguese civilians in Timor. Although doing so will weaken the influence of the Portuguese, Australasia will completely become a negative role in this war.
Turning a supported war into a condemned war is by no means cost-effective.
Shaking his head slightly, General Silvio Ronny Rodlin decided to put aside his distracting thoughts for the time being and work hard to capture Portuguese Timor first.
Unless there is a national emergency, it is basically impossible for Arthur's Guards Division to go into war.
This represents Arthur's last trump card, and it is also the most luxuriously equipped and best-trained army in Australasia.
This is also the reason why the 1st National Defense Division is qualified to become the vanguard force. In addition to the Guards Division, the 1st Division is the oldest and longest-trained force in Australasia. Its combat effectiveness is already comparable to the elite German army.
In order to implement the tradition of attaching importance to firepower, General Silvio Lone Rodlin specifically ordered all artillery to carry more than twice the ammunition, and also specifically requested assistance from the navy.
Maryborough is a port city in eastern Queensland. It is not large in scale, which is why the landing force chose it as the place to embark on the ship.
Launching an operation under the public eye in a big city like Sydney would inevitably allow the Portuguese to receive information in advance. Although it will not have a great impact on the pattern of the war, the Portuguese, who are prepared in advance, will definitely cause greater casualties to the Australasian army.
The distance from Maryborough to Portuguese Timor is not short. Even if the fleet sails at full speed, it will take at least ten hours.
This also led to the reason that when the fleet approached Portuguese Timor, it happened to be after six o'clock in the morning and it was still dark.
In addition, it is now winter in the southern hemisphere. Although Portuguese Timor is not very cold, the sky is not bright yet and it is hazy, which is the best time for a sneak attack.
The soldiers of the First Division experienced a long rest on the transport ship. Although the quality of sleep was not very good, they were still full of energy and full of expectations.
"Action!" Following the order from General Silvio Ronny Rodlin, the soldiers of the First Division took small boats from the transport ship and landed on the beach.
Timor Island was still dark at six o'clock in the morning. Even if all the soldiers of the First Division successfully landed on Timor Island, the sky was only just about to light up.
Of course, the real reason why the First Division encountered no resistance was that the location where the First Division chose to log in was located in an area controlled by the Netherlands.
The Portuguese may have been prepared for this, and they also increased their vigilance on the coast. But who would have thought that the landing site in Australasia would be in an area controlled by the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is different from Portugal. The Netherlands has a large number of colonies in Southeast Asia. The Dutch East Indies is composed of many islands, large and small.
This also brought a very obvious problem to the Netherlands, that is, the size of the Netherlands was simply not enough to completely control the Dutch East Indies.
Dutch control over many of the smaller islands and barren areas of the Dutch East Indies was very inadequate.
Although the western part of Timor was acquired through competition between the Netherlands and Portugal, the Dutch center of gravity in Timor was in the cities in the west.
After landing in the middle of Timor Island, Silvio Ronny Rodlin waved his hand and directly ordered all soldiers to advance eastward, with the goal of reaching Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor.
There are more than 20,000 Portuguese people in Portuguese Timor, the vast majority of whom live in Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor.
This also means that as long as you control Dili, you basically control the entire Portuguese Timor.
Of course, in order to defend the most important and only city in Portuguese Timor, a thousand Portuguese troops and about two thousand indigenous troops were stationed near Dili.
Therefore, when the soldiers of the First Division approached Dili, they discovered such a strange landscape.
A certain scale of defensive positions has been built near Dili, including long trenches and positions.
Under the supervision of a few Portuguese soldiers, many indigenous people worked here. It can be seen that the vast majority of this defensive position was built by indigenous people.
It was just dawn, and the Portuguese army could not be seen clearly. But it is very likely that he is still resting. After all, who would have thought that the Australasian army would have arrived in Dili the day after the declaration of war?
Silvio Ronny Rodlin immediately ordered the soldiers to stop advancing and hide their figures, and then asked all artillery to temporarily build positions to bombard the Portuguese and indigenous people in front.
Perhaps because they were too exhausted after not sleeping all night, the Portuguese's attention was always on the natives. The soldiers exchanged a few words with each other from time to time, and then gave the natives next to them a whip.
The experience of the indigenous people was even more tragic. If they stopped for a moment, they would be mercilessly yelled at by the Portuguese, and even whipped. It was impossible to concentrate on discovering the existence of the Australasians.
In addition, the sky was not completely bright yet, which vaguely formed another layer of protection for the First Division. Even after the temporary artillery position was established, the Portuguese did not notice anything.
After receiving the report from his artillerymen, General Silvio Ronny Rodlin nodded with satisfaction, looked coldly at the Portuguese a few hundred meters away, and said coldly: "All artillerymen, the enemy on the target position. , a round of indiscriminate bombing!"
The indiscriminate bombing mentioned by Silvio Lonnie Rodlin was actually a range bombing.
Doing so consumes a lot of artillery shells, which is a disguised form of burning military expenses.
But for the more luxurious Australasians, using the consumption of artillery shells to reduce casualties is an absolutely cost-effective deal.
The First Division is equipped with the CA-1 cannon, the M1897 75mm field gun and the GA1906 105mm semi-automatic artillery.
These three artillery pieces all have the same feature, which is that they are equipped with semi-automatic artillery technology.
Although it will also increase the number of shells consumed, the increase in firepower is huge.
This is also an important reason for being able to achieve indiscriminate strikes within a certain range. It is precisely with these three semi-automatic artillery and the additional ammunition carried by the artillery army as requested by General Silvio Ronny Rodlin.
One of the main reasons why General Silvio Ronny Rodlin was not worried about logistical consumption was the promise from Arthur.
Before the army set off, Arthur specifically asked General Silvio Ronny Rodlin to let go of the fight without worrying about logistical consumption.
Because the military factories had produced a large amount of spare bullets and ammunition long before this, the Australasian fleet would also send these supplies to the front line in a short time.
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