The year 1511 AD was a watershed in the course of the entire history of Southeast Asia. The Sultanate of Malacca, which had originally traversed both sides of the strait, lost its capital due to a series of miscalculations. The vast Nanyang region was thus entangled by external forces from the Middle Ages into the category of modern history.
The Battle of the Muar, which broke out the following year, set the tone for the evolution of the next century and a half.....
Portuguese fortress of Malacca under construction
After the fall of Malacca, prince Mahmoud Shah, who had been in power, retreated east to cover his father, Muhammad Sr. Subsequently, he quickly organized a counter-offensive, hoping to retake Wang Du with a series of combined fist blows. Two of the most important measures were to block the supply of the city with endless harassment and regularly ask the Ming Dynasty for help thousands of miles away. Among them, 40 large warships under the command of General Lan Mani have been hidden in the previous operation. Now it has suddenly become active and has become the mainstay of the fight against waterway shipping. However, the distant suzerains were not able to carry it, so that Mahmoud's plan could not be achieved overnight.
The major nobles of the Malacca Sultanate fled in time to the mouth of the Muar River for temporary refuge
On the other hand, most of the Portuguese expeditionary force also returned to India in 1511, leaving only a small number of reserves for the city defenders. In addition to 300 European regulars and a number of plundered local minions, 6 Caral warships, 1 Caravel fast schooner and 1 paddle schooner were ordered to squat. Most of them were inexperienced and unable to effectively contain indirect strategies from local pirates, and the city of Malacca was once very tight with supplies. Finally, I finally found out the location of the other party's base and prepared to relieve the trouble in a pot-end manner.
It is located at the mouth of the Muar River, 20 miles southeast of Malacca City
In early 1512, Perez, who was the defender of Malacca, led a fleet to the mouth of the Muar River, about 20 miles from the city. Although the water level of the latter is not deep, it has a very wide downstream channel, which can be accessed by large ships at will. At the same time, it also crosses the entire Malay Peninsula and is a very convenient transportation artery. It was precisely because Of these key elements that Lambani placed the main base here. Not only can the former king be placed within the coverage, but also can get all kinds of support from the inland in time, and even turn upstream after the situation is unfavorable.
Very traditional Malayan native warships
In addition, he himself had long been aware of the great power of European warships. Because of the unwillingness to make unnecessary sacrifices for political correctness, it is even less likely to be captured and annihilated by the other side. So that after finding perez's main force approaching him, he did not hesitate to order a retreat to the north. It was not until the opponent gave up because he realized that the draft of the Muar River was too shallow, that he did not hesitate to turn around and "recover the lost ground". In fact, Prince Mahmoud also converted the shore villages into army barracks and shrouded the anchorage with artillery imported from India. But this point of symbolic protection is better than nothing, which does not reassure the veteran, but also makes the Portuguese who are eager to fight.
Constrained by size and draft, karak sailboats are difficult to maneuver freely in the Muar
In May of that year, Perez again led his fleet in pursuit in the direction of the Muar River. Anticipating that the Malays would not dare to confront themselves, they arranged in advance for the small Karak schooners commanded by Howter to go south and accompany a small local paddle schooner to ambush near the estuary. Only later did the rest of the men launch a full-scale pursuit, forcing the cunning and suspicious Ramani near the ambush point. The Malacca fleet immediately turned on the transfer mode as in the previous version, only to find that the back road had been directly blocked by a galleon. Forced to do so, they had to pile up in a village protected by artillery. Unexpectedly, the other party was still in hot pursuit, almost trapping all of them in place.
Due to carelessness the Malacca fleet was caught from both sides
At this time, a large amount of seawater poured into the lower Muar River with the high tide cycle. This allowed the previously clumsy galleons to continue to move with motivation, and had already blasted increasing shells into the vicinity of the village. Lanmani also did not ink, and simply took the initiative to sink some extra paddle sailboats on the periphery, hoping to further block the sea ship from approaching him. But Perez had already had each battleship tow 2 more small paddle schooners, enough to carry sailors and small-caliber guns to the shore. At this point, the Malacca artillery did not dare to shoot at the near shore position, allowing the enemy and us to erupt in a fierce confrontation on one small boat after another.
The Malay soldiers in adversity erupted with a will to fight more than ever before
However, the bad situation of no retreat still made the Malay soldiers burst out of more combat. In the case of inferior weapons and armor to opponents, he was still able to rely on the numerical advantage to fight with his Portuguese opponents for more than 3 hours. Although many small ships were captured, the remaining members were able to retreat without chaos. Until the tide gradually receded downstream, forcing Perez to order his men to return to the galleon and stand by. Before leaving, he did not forget to set fire to the captured ships, but they were quickly extinguished by the re-dispatched Malacca soldiers. Instead, artillery was used to keep the fire suppressed, delaying the battle that should have ended until nightfall.
The next day the Malacca Army had completed the construction of new positions
That night, the Portuguese continued to moor their ships in upstream and downstream positions, beware of The Ramani's men taking advantage of the opportunity. But it was not until the next morning that he realized that his opponent had no intention of retreating from the anchorage. Instead, all landed inside the fortified village and formed large positions with newly established fences. The ship's cannons were also carried ashore to strengthen their defenses with the existing Malay and Javanese soldiers. And in the ensuing full day of firefighting, this seemingly primitive defensive deployment successfully withstood the test and did not show any flaws in the indiscriminate bombardment. In the end, all of Perez's ships ran out of ammunition and had to return to Malacca for recuperation in the absence of results.
The Battle of the Muar River was only a first attempt by the descendants of Malacca
To be sure, the Malays performed remarkably well at the Battle of the Muar River. They did not give up as lightly as the capital troops of the previous year, and even went against the wind under almost the unfavorable circumstances of the whole process. But the command, including Prince Mahmoud, saw the dangers of the coastal area and decided not to base it on the lower Muar River. They either continued to retreat to Johor, which borders the island of Singapore, or simply into the Bintan Islands on the eastern side of the strait. The fate that awaits them will be more mixed-up war tragicomedies. This delicate situation of collapse is also about to run through the entire modern history of the Malay Peninsula.