The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 249: Chapter 229: Landing! Landing!

Portuguese Timor is the second colony occupied by the Kingdom of Portugal in East Asia, and one of Portugal's crucial strongholds in Asia.

The currt population of Portuguese Timor is over 350,000. Ninety perct are indigous peoples, three perct are other foreign ethnic groups, and less than sev perct are immigrants from Portugal and Europe.

Portuguese Timor is a small colony with a small population, with just over 0,000 residts.

However, Portuguese Timor's economic value is high. Although the Netherlands gradually occupied more than half of the territory, which is the western region of East Timor Island, Portugal still retained its land on the eastern part of East Timor Island.

More importantly, Portuguese Timor, despite only ,000 square kilometers, contains substantial mineral resources, including gold, manganese, chromium, tin, and copper. The nearby Timor Sea also boasts abundant resources of petroleum and natural gas.

Although not many mineral resources have be discovered, Portuguese Timor is a crucial stepping stone for Australasia, allowing it to control the ctral zone of the Dutch East Indies.

If Australasia can control Portuguese Timor, it would have the ability to turn the tire Timor Sea into its inland sea.

Moreover, with Portuguese Timor, it can maintain some control over the western part of Timor Island, which is Java Island.

Ever since the two kingdoms declared war on each other, this war has attracted some atttion among Europeans.

Unexpectedly, what was initially merely diplomatic conflict escalated into warfare betwe two nations.

This can only be attributed to Australasia's firm stance and Portugal's refusal to back down.

Major European countries have expressed concern about this war, but in these chaotic times, Europeans are accustomed to war and gerally unfazed by it.

At prest, Portugal has three colonies in Asia, located in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and India.

But these three colonies share common features- small in size and population, therefore it is impossible to have a large garrison.

This led to the fact that the total garrisons in all Portuguese colonies in Asia are merely over 3,000 in size.

Holding off the onslaught from the Australasian army with just over 3,000 individuals is virtually impossible.

Of course, Alfonso I is not relying on these 3,000 individuals to win the war. Reinforcemts from Portugal mainland are already moving. The fastest ones will arrive in no more than a month.

Ev before the war started, the Ministry of Defse had detailed plans. Australasia will deploy at least 50,000 individuals, with ,000 as the vanguard, responsible for swiftly occupying Portugal's colony in Southeast Asia - Timor.

The remaining 40,000 will be divided into two parts: a portion will act as the main force and will land on Portugal's other Asian colonies after the vanguard successfully takes over Timor.

The remaining reserve force will temporarily stay in Australasia in a state of combat readiness. On one hand, it can prevt possible emy landings in Australasia. On the other hand, as a reserve force, it can support the frontline in emergcies.

Of course, capturing Portuguese Timor rapidly and th leveraging it as a stepping stone for landing in Portugal's other colonies in East Asia and India is critical.

After losing three colonies successively, the Portuguese governmt will have to consider the repercussions of continuing the war.

On August 8, 907, at 4 pm, at Marlborough Port.

After the Australasian Governmt declared war on Portugal, the First Defse Division was prepared to take a transport ship for a beach landing on East Timor Island.

Brigadier Geral of the First Division is Silvio Lonnie Rodlin, a compett commander who advocates offsive firepower.

However, at this point, Silvio Lonnie Rodlin looked somewhat hesitant, his resolute face clouded with concern.

Of course, Silvio Lonnie Rodlin was neither fretting over defeating the Kingdom of Portugal nor fearing the immint war.

What troubled Silvio Lonnie Rodlin was actually Arthur's order to minimize casualties as much as possible and curtail Portugal's vitality in Timor, including Portuguese influce.

Weaking Portugal's vitality is straightforward, isn't it about killing as many Portuguese soldiers as possible?

Casuallties among soldiers can be reduced with careful planning. This can be achieved by laying down heavy fire before launching an attack, trading increased firepower to hance the survival rate of soldiers, and minimize casualties.

But how can they curtail Portuguese influce in Timor? They couldn't possibly slaughter Portuguese civilians in Timor, could they? Although doing so can weak Portuguese influce, Australasia would th be perceived as the villain in this war.

Turning a supported war into a condemned one is a losing proposition from any perspective.

Shaking his head slightly, Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin decided to temporarily set his worries aside and conctrate on capturing Portuguese Timor first.

Unless it is a national emergcy, Arthur's Guard Division is unlikely to be deployed to war.

It represts Arthur's last card, and it is also currtly the best-equipped and best-trained army in Australasia.

This is why the First Defse Division gets to be the vanguard. Apart from the Guard Division, the First is Australasia's oldest, most trained unit, whose combat capabilities are on par with Germany's elite soldiers.

To uphold the tradition of prioritizing firepower, Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin ordered all artillerym to bring more than double their ammunition. He also requested assistance from the navy.

Marlborough is a small port city in eastern Quesland State, an ideal boarding location for the landing party due to its small scale.

Launching an operation under the watchful gaze of a metropolis like Sydney would inevitably alert the Portuguese ahead of time.

Although it would not significantly affect the war's layout, the prepared Portuguese would definitely inflict more casualties on the Australasian Army.

The distance from Marlborough to Portuguese Timor is not short; ev if the fleet travels at full speed, it would take at least several hours.

This has resulted in the fleet nearing Portuguese Timor at a six in the morning before the break of dawn.

On top of this, it is currtly the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere. Although Portuguese Timor is not too cold, the dim predawn light provides the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.

The soldiers of the First Division have had a long rest on the transport ship, and although the quality of sleep may not be the best, they are full of anticipation.

"Action!" commanded Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin, and the soldiers of the First Division promptly disembarked from the transport ship in small boats, making a beach landing.

At six in the morning, East Timor Island was still pitch dark. Ev wh all the soldiers of the First Division had successfully landed on East Timor Island, daylight was just about to break.

The real reason the First Division countered no resistance, in fact, is because the landing site they chose was located in the Dutch-controlled area.

The Portuguese may have be prepared, forcing security measures along the coast. But who would have expected that Australasia's landing site would be in the Dutch-controlled area?

The Netherlands is differt from Portugal; it has numerous colonies throughout Southeast Asia, and the Dutch East Indies consist of many large and small islands.

This has created an obvious problem for the Netherlands. They simply cannot fully control the Dutch East Indies, giv their size.

Many of the smaller islands and desolated regions within the Dutch East Indies are significantly beyond their control.

Although the west side of East Timor Island was acquired through competition betwe the Netherlands and Portugal, the Dutch's main atttion on the island is focussed on the city in the west.

After landing in the middle of East Timor Island, Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin issued forthwith an order for all soldiers to march eastward, aimed straight for Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor.

Portuguese Timor is home to more than twty thousand Portuguese. The vast majority reside in Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor.

Which means, controlling Dili is tantamount to controlling the tirety of Portuguese Timor.

Of course, to guard the most important and only city in Portuguese Timor, there is a Portuguese garrison nearby of about one thousand soldiers, and approximately two thousand indigous soldiers.

Hce, as the soldiers of the First Division drew near to Dili, they countered this peculiar sight.

Defsive fortifications of a certain scale had already be built a Dili, including long stretches of trches and positions.

Under the supervision of a few Portuguese soldiers, many indigous peoples were working there. It could be se that the vast majority of these fortifications were built by the indigous peoples.

At dawn, the figures of a majority of the Portuguese troops wer't clear. But they were probably still resting. After all, who would have thought that the Australasian Army would arrive at Dili on the second day after proclaiming war?

Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin immediately instructed his soldiers to halt their advance and conceal their presce, th ordered all the artillerym to set up temporary positions to bombard the Portuguese and indigous peoples in front.

Perhaps due to the fatigue of not sleeping all night, the atttion of the Portuguese soldiers was focused on the indigous peoples. The soldiers occasionally interchanged phrases, and th lashed out at the indigous peoples nearby.

The indigous peoples had it ev worse. Any slight pause in their actions would be met with the ruthless shouts of the Portuguese and ev lashes, making it impossible for them to be alert ough to detect the presce of the Australasian soldiers.

Moreover, since daylight had not completely brok, the First Division was giv yet another layer of protection. Ev wh the artillery's makeshift positions were set up, the Portuguese failed to detect anything amiss.

Receiving the artillerym's report, Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin nodded in satisfaction. He eyeing the Portuguese hundreds of meters away coldly and commanded, "All artillery units, aim at the emy on the position, indiscriminate bombardmt!"

What Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin referred to as indiscriminate bombardmt was in fact area bombing.

This method was highly reliant on the consumption of shells, which in turn burned through military expses.

But for the rather extravagant Australasians, trading ammunition expditure to reduce personnel casualties was a win-win deal.

The First Division was equipped with the CA Machine Gun, the M897 type mm field gun, and the GA906 Model 5mm Semi-Automatic Cannon.

The common feature of these three guns was their semi-automatic artillery technology.

Although this would also increase the consumption of shells, the boost to firepower was substantial.

By virtue of these three semi-automatic guns, and the extra shells the artillerym were to carry as instructed by Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin.

One of the reasons why Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin wasn't worried about logistics consumption was Arthur's promise.

Arthur had specially instructed Geral Silvio Lonnie Rodlin before the army set off; to fight freely without having to worry about logistical costs.

Because military factories had already produced a large number of spare bullets and ammunition and the Australasian fleet would quickly deliver these supplies to the frontline.