The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 255: Chapter 234: The Battle of Attack and Defense in Goa

After a brief period of adaptive training, the five airships currtly owned by the Aerospace Laboratory were dispatched to Portuguese Timor and Portuguese India, serving as the trump cards for the defse of both regions.

Since the airplanes needed to be kept confidtial, they could not be used in the upcoming war. However, the airships could play a similar role to airplanes, with good performance in reconnaissance, bombing and other aspects, and could also be used for transportation of supplies.

If there was no war, the five airships would act as transportation tools, each being able to transport more than t tons of supplies and taking much less time than transport ships.

Fortunately, the three occupied colonies had large indigous populations, so there was no shortage of labor wh building the defses, and the construction speed was fast.

After suring that the cemt and steel bars needed for fortification construction were available domestically in Australasia, defse fortifications were quickly established in the three colonies, with those in Portuguese India and Portuguese Timor being more complete.

As time moved into September, all three regions began preparing for war, and ev within Australasia itself, a large number of fleets were deployed for patrols.

What Arthur didn't expect, however, was that September was drawing to a close, and there were still no signs of the Portuguese.

If it wer't for the Portuguese soldiers still working in the Australasian minefields, Arthur would have nearly thought that Australasia had tered a peaceful state with Portugal.

Finally, in late September, a small-scale fleet patrolling near the Indian Ocean finally discovered the traces of the Portuguese fleet.

After layers of reports, the news reached Arthur and the authorities in the three colonies.

Australasian soldiers showed no nervousness in anticipation of the approaching war. Instead, they had only expectation for the merit they were about to establish.

Although Arthur did not personally go to Portuguese India, his speech in Portuguese Timor still reached the ears of the soldiers of the Second Division, in various ways.

With various concerns resolved, the soldiers naturally looked forward to the merits of victory in the war. After all, who wouldn't want to become a noble?

Ev Major Fritz Leiner, the Brigadier Geral of the Second Division, was eagerly rubbing his hands and waiting quietly for the Portuguese to arrive.

Of course, expectations aside, various preparations and response measures were also esstial. Brigadier Geral Fritz wisely abandoned coastal defses and instead built two strong lines of defse outside the urban city.

This was because if the battle was conducted on the coastline, the Portuguese fleet could cause massive casualties to the Australasian soldiers, which Brigadier Geral Fritz did not want to see.

According to Arthur's character, ev if Brigadier Geral Fritz successfully repelled all the Portuguese attacks, the merits would be offset if there were heavy casualties in the army, not only greatly reducing the accolades but also causing Arthur's discontt.

Therefore, Fritz's defsive plan was simple: to abandon the outer coast, and ev the city if necessary, with the goal of reducing the number of available Portuguese forces.

As long as all Portuguese reinforcemts could be eliminated, the war would be dictated by Australasia.

Using a small Portuguese India to exchange for a massive loss in Portuguese reinforcemts was sure to be profitable for Major Fritz Leiner.

To prevt the Portuguese fleet from using ship guns to support the Portuguese soldiers, Brigadier Geral Fritz deliberately built the defse fortifications close to the city, and ev had some of the Portuguese people as labor during the war.

As long as the Portuguese dared to use the ship guns for bombing, Australasia would immediately release on-site photos and the terrible sces of Portuguese people being bombed.

The spectacle of a country's own cannons bombing its own people would surely cause a ssation domestically in Portugal.

On September 8, 907, at the coast of Portuguese India.

After nearly two months of preparation, the Portuguese fleet finally brought the first batch of troops to the vicinity of Portuguese India.

This was a reinforcemt force of ,000 Portuguese soldiers and 9,000 native soldiers, urgtly dispatched by Portugal from its mainland and African colonies.

Of course, this was only the first batch of Portuguese reinforcemts. To ease the tsion and panic within the country, King Carlos I ordered the establishmt of an eighty-thousand-strong army by drawing forty-thousand troops from the colonies, on top of the existing forty-thousand. The goal was not only to take back the three occupied colonies but also to teach Australasia a lesson.

However, transporting such a massive army was also an issue that would take at least three or four journeys.

The first target of the army, after lgthy discussions within the Portuguese military, was set as Portuguese India.

It was, in fact, easy to understand why. Portuguese Timor was too close to Australasia, and reinforcemts from Australasia could quickly arrive. Moreover, there was a concern that the Australasian reinforcemts from Portuguese India could circle the Portuguese army.

The situation was similar in East Asia's colonies, with smaller land areas and fewer inhabitants; ev if conquered, it wouldn't restore much morale for the people or the military.

In contrast, Portuguese India had the largest land area and the most populous of Portugal's Asian colonies, and its indigous people were more obedit than those of other colonies.

If Portuguese India could be reclaimed, it could be used as a springboard to recapture the other two colonies.

Arthur and the Australasian military had long anticipated this, providing Portuguese India with the most resources, and ev reallocating more than 3,000 troops from Portuguese Timor.

This led to Portuguese India having a total of nearly ,000 troops, plus three airships and a large number of firearms and weapons reserves.

On the afternoon of September 8, the Portuguese fleet officially approached the coast of Portuguese India and launched the so-called landing assault.

Surprisingly, the 9,000 indigous soldiers heading the charge found no Australasian soldiers on the coast, nor did they find any defsive positions or structures.

Not tirely reassured, the Portuguese had the natives expand a kilometer outwards, and only after still not finding a trace of Australasians did the Portuguese soldiers confidtly disembark. The commander of the reinforcemts ev laughed and said, "Learning of our arrival, the Australasians have already lost their nerve! You will all be heroes in recapturing Goa City!"

The Australasians offered no resistance and were seemingly abst, causing the Portuguese to completely relax their guard.

Before this, the Australasians had tak three Portuguese colonies in just a few days, causing no small amount of panic among the Portuguese public and governmt.

Now it appeared that the Australasians were not as formidable as previously thought, and perhaps the conquest of the three colonies had already left them badly weaked, now filled with regret.

Under the command of the Portuguese geral, 9,000 native soldiers led the charge, followed by over ,000 Portuguese soldiers as they slowly advanced towards Goa.

The lack of any Australasians in sight motivated the military to quick their pace, with many Portuguese soldiers already gleefully discussing where to drink in Goa after their arrival.

Only upon nearing Goa did the lead native troops discover the Australasian positions.

At the same time, Major Fritz came across these Portuguese forces.

The discipline of the native soldiers heading the charge was loose, and they looked relaxed, showing no awaress that they were cannon fodder.

The Portuguese soldiers behind them were similarly carefree; were it not for the situation, one might have thought they were on a leisure trip.

Seeing this sce, Major Fritz ordered the messger to siltly notify the reserve forces behind to flank the Portuguese soldiers' rear.

He divided the ,000-strong force into three parts: 4,000 at the first line of defse, ,500 at the second, while the remaining 4,500 reserve troops were on standby to support the first and second lines.

With the Portuguese forces so scattered, Major Fritz was confidt that the defse could be maintained with just over 5,000 troops across the two positions and had the 4,000-strong reserve troops flank the emy's rear, hoping to circle and eliminate all Portuguese soldiers as the final plan.

The reserve forces were over a kilometer away from the defsive frontline near Goa.

With vegetation and buildings obstructing their view, the Portuguese military failed to detect the decrease in numbers at the frontline, nor did they notice the disappearance of a group of soldiers outside the defsive positions.

After several reports, the Portuguese geral learned of the situation at the Australasian positions.

However, the Portuguese military was well prepared; the 9,000 native troops were perfect cannon fodder for this kind of trch warfare, while the large number of artillery pieces gathered from Portugal gave the Portuguese army the confidce to not fear such warfare.

After ordering the artillery to target the Australasian positions, the Portuguese geral gave a slight smile and ordered "Charge!"

At his command, the 9,000 native soldiers quickly rushed towards the Australasian positions. It was not that they were extremely brave, but rather, they were driv by the supervising team and Portuguese soldiers with guns aimed at them; if they didn't charge forward, they would surely die at the hands of the Portuguese soldiers.

Don't doubt the ruthlessness of Europeans towards these natives at the time; there were very few Europeans who regarded natives as human beings, so it wouldn't be excessive to describe them as one in t thousand or one in a hundred thousand.

For the vast majority of Europeans, these colonial populations were like livestock; wh they were useful, they were exploited to the utmost, but wh they wer't, their lives and deaths mattered little.

To avoid causing panic in the Portuguese forces, leading them to hastily flee before the reserve forces could successfully circle them, Major Fritz ordered a small-scale defse to hold the emy about 0-00 meters in front of the defsive positions, providing the attackers with the hope of victory in capturing the trches and keeping them temporarily stuck there.