Chapter 32 – The First World War (1671-1674)
Eastern Fortunes and Failures
British Taipei garrison surrenders to Korps Mariniers
While fighting raged in Europe, halfway around the world another campaign was getting underway. When word arrived in Oosthaven of war in July, the Governor-General of the Far East quickly organized the forces available to him to strike at the British and Castillian outposts in the East Indies. Much of the necessary preparations were already taken care of, due to the long running covert war between the Dutch colonial government and Britain’s East India Company. The Governor-General already possessed copies of the East India Company’s shipping tables, allowing the Far East Flotilla to intercept and destroy Castille’s Indian Fleet off Timor. With the help of the local sultanates, the Korps Mariniers were able to capture the British outposts on Taiwan, Luzon and Sulu, while the colonies on Palawan and the Visayas were razed to the ground. With the direct threats to Dutch trade in China eliminated, the task of dealing with the foreign colonies in the Spice Islands was left to Majapahit and Brunei, while the Korps were sent westward to deal with the British presence in India.
On another continent, another Governor-General faced a much more difficult situation. The Dutch Cape Colony was a remote outpost on the southern tip of Africa, relatively isolated from the other European colonies in the region and important only for its gold mines and the harbor at Table Bay. The Governor was able to raise a local militia of four regiments to defend the colony, but the distance from both the home provinces and the Far East precluded any outside reinforcement. So with the small garrison available to him, the Governor gamely set about securing the Cape against outside invaders.
Initially, the Cape Army met with success in securing the western frontier. The militia advanced into British Namaqualand and defeated the small colonial army there, advancing to the edge of the Namib Desert. The inhospitable expanse of the “Skeleton Coast” to the north of them was a formidable barrier to any invasion from the Kongo.
While the Cape Army was in the west, however, a Castillian army appeared on the eastern edge of the Transvaal. The Governor ordered the colonial militia to march to Joannasburg to drive back the invaders. As the Cape Army returned eastward, two additional cavalry regiments were organized to meet them. Unfortunately, even with the additional troops, the advancing Castillians outnumbered the Dutch two to one. But with Joannasburg and Capetown threatened, the Governor had no choice but to order a counterattack.
Luck was on the side of the colonists. The Cape Army managed to surprise the Castillians as they were in the process of crossing the Goud River. Despite significant losses, the militia was able to overwhelm the enemy bridgehead, leading the Castillian commander to withdraw back to the north. Emboldened by their victory, the colonists went on the offensive. They vastly overestimated their abilities though, realizing their mistake when they engaged the regrouped Castillians at Calaveras. The poorly trained Dutch militia fell apart against the prepared tercios, leading to a full scale massacre. With their opponents destroyed, the Castillians resumed their march into South Africa unopposed.
Next – A Second Year of War