1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 318
Colonel Pete Kurucs, Commander of the Batavia Army of the Dutch East India Company, stood in a watchtower on the city wall, holding up a binoculars, carefully observing the barracks of the Kingdom of Mataland below the city.

In the afternoon, with the help of mercenaries, the defending Ming people and native servants repelled another attack by the Mataran Kingdom army, causing the opponent to discard hundreds of corpses under the city.It has been nearly a month since the siege of the city, and the Kingdom of Mataran has carried out four large-scale attacks in total, almost reaching the top of the city every time, but in the end they were shot by mercenaries who rushed to support and drove them off the city wall.

The artillery below the city bombarded the city wall from time to time, which had already caused small cracks to appear in some sections of the wall. Although it would not collapse immediately, it was still a big worry.

"The natives seem to have increased their troops again." Colonel Pete Kurutz said: "The casualties in the city must have made them feel a little bit of pressure. Are you ready to fight with all your strength?"

"Colonel, do we need to use our reserves?" asked a Dutch officer next to him.

"No, our reserves are useful!" Colonel Pete Kurucs said softly, "We need to give the natives a hard blow!"

"However, the civilians at the head of the city have already suffered heavy casualties." The officer said with some concern: "I'm worried that the natives will attack again on a huge scale, and they may collapse."

"Let them take turns." Colonel Pete Kurucs thought for a while, and then said: "The folks stationed near the dock basically didn't participate in the battle. Change them with the folks at the top of the city."

"Yes, Colonel!" the Dutch officer promised loudly.

After more than 20 days of defensive operations, the people guarding the east and south walls of the city suffered more than [-] casualties one after another, and their morale was already extremely low.In the last two large-scale sieges of the Kingdom of Mataran, at critical moments, it was the mercenaries who were supervising the battle behind and shooting with guns to barely hold their ground so that the natives would not break into the city.

"Bah!" He Qing vomited a mouthful of blood towards several Dutch officers on the watchtower of the city wall, and then continued to gently wrap a piece of cotton cloth around a wound on his arm.

"Dazhu, can you still move?" He Qing looked at Li Dazhu, who was leaning on the wall and closed his eyes to rest his mind. It seemed that he hadn't moved for a long time, and patted him on the shoulder worriedly.

"He's not dead." Li Dazhu opened his eyes, and there was a sense of emptiness and despair in his eyes, "I think that maybe the next time the natives attack again, they might die at the head of this city. He Tou, You said, if we all die here, will the family members know?"

He Qing knew that the "family members" he referred to were the black-clothed guards of Hanzhou.He shook his head and said dejectedly: "Maybe the family members will never know where and why we died. They... are too far away from us."

I don't know what happened to my wife and children in Quanzhou. Oh, yes, there is also the Johor wife who was given by Hanzhou in Jianye City. When she left, she seemed to be pregnant with a child.Hehe, maybe I will never see them again. Deep down in my heart, I feel a little guilty and sad.

The stupid Zheng Zhilong and the goddamn Chen Hui don't know if they will treat the family in Quanzhou kindly according to the agreed conditions.Hanzhou's Johor wife, don't have to worry. The civilian government takes care of the military families very thoughtfully and meticulously. I think they will live a worry-free life in the future.

Just as the people guarding the city were lamenting their future fate, in the evening, a Dutch officer led a large number of Ming and native people to replace them from the city. Afterwards, they were brought to the North City by several Dutch officers. Outside the dock area, a nearby warehouse was stationed.

And He Qing, Li Dazhu, and a dozen people happened to be assigned to the former Hanzhou warehouse. Looking at the familiar environment, the two suddenly felt like a dream.It feels like everything that has happened in the past few months seems a little unreal.

At dawn the next day, He Qing and a group of civilians were driven to garrison inside a low parapet wall on the right side of the pier.Here, one side is close to the sea, and the other side is close to a small fortress, and the defense area is very narrow.When the enemy comes to attack, they can also get the cover of the artillery on the fort, and several armed merchant ships docked at the dock can also bombard the attacking enemy in due course.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Mataran did not invest too much troops in the dock area. Even if they captured it at a huge cost, what they faced behind was still a solid city defense lined with muzzles.

"See, the Dutch are going to attack the natives by boat!" He Qing saw seven or eight armed merchant ships at the pier, carrying Dutch mercenaries and native servants continuously. Looking at the number of people, there were probably There were nearly a thousand people, and the boom on the pier was slowly hoisting several cannons into the ship.

"Damn Dutch, for the past month, they have co-authored us to use up the offensive power of the natives, and by the way, attract the natives to continue to deploy troops from the country to continue to strengthen the offensive. And they are waiting for this time to go to the natives by boat. Behind them, take their lair!" Li Dazhu said in a low voice.

"Tell me, it would be great if I could find an opportunity to report a letter to the natives!"

"I guess we won't be able to get away." Li Dazhu looked back at the heavily fortified city wall of Batavia and sighed.

"Well, the Dutch defeated the natives, and we can regain our freedom." He Qing glanced at the shipyard near the river mouth and said softly, "If there is a chance, I will definitely burn you clean!"

"It's best to slaughter the Dutch!" Li Dazhu murmured.

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Ruan Yucheng sat quietly on the cork pier, with his head slightly lowered, his eyes looking at the floor in front of him, waiting for the inquiry from Guangnan King Ruan Fulan.

Although his surname is Ruan, he is not from the Ruan family of the King of Guangnan. He is just a commoner's son who has gradually accumulated meritorious service and was promoted to deputy commander in chief by constantly fighting against the Zheng family in the north (Later Li Dynasty).

Half a month ago, the King of Guangnan ordered Ruan Fuqing, the governor of the northern border, to select and send [-] elite soldiers to Fuchun (now Hue, Vietnam) to stand by.

Ruan Yucheng was favored by the Metropolitan Governor Ruan Fuqing because of his long battle experience and outstanding strategy.He ordered him to select a group of three thousand elite soldiers from the army and bring them back to Fuchun.

On the way back to Fuchun, Ruan Yucheng already knew the purpose of leading the army this time.On a small island near the Kingdom of Cambodia in the south, four or five thousand Ming people are entrenched, and it is said that they belong to a force called Hanzhou thousands of miles away.He didn't know how powerful the Hanzhou was, but he couldn't help shaking his head when he heard that they were thousands of miles away from Guangnan.

In the past, Daming was so powerful, its military strength was a hundred times that of Annan, and it was also connected to the mountains and rivers of Annan. However, after capturing the entire Annan, it was not because of lack of succession and poor supply. In the end, it had to give up the annexation and ended in embarrassment.

Although the small island is some distance away from Guangnan Kingdom, and it has to attack across the sea.But after all, my Guangnan Kingdom has a much shorter attack distance. Could that unknown Hanzhou come across thousands of miles to support it?I don't know how long it will take for them to rush over after receiving the letter, and how many soldiers and horses can you come to fight my Guangnan army?

For this reason, Ruan Yucheng was somewhat grateful to their chief governor, and this was entirely an opportunity for him to perform a large army in front of the King of Guangnan to quickly destroy the city and destroy the enemy, and then make meritorious deeds.

Although I heard from the envoy from Fuchun that there is a solid and thick city built on that small island, and the Hanzhou people on the island have many firearms and cannons.Ruan Yucheng was very disapproving of this.

The firearms are also equipped in the Guangnan National Army, and they were purchased from the Portuguese in Haojing (Macau). They are indeed amazingly powerful within a hundred meters, and those who hit them will be killed instantly.But how many firearms can the so-called Hanzhou people on the small island have?At most, it was one or two hundred sticks, and what the defeated soldiers said, that there were nearly a thousand firecrackers, and the bullets were like rain, was mostly an excuse to cover up their defeat and return.

In my majestic Guangnan country, all the firearms add up to less than [-]. How can there be so many firearms in a remote island.But to capture that small island, the most worrying thing is that the other party will stick to the city and confront the Guangnan army under the city. For them, it may cause the war to be delayed for a long time due to the lack of supplies, which will make the king impatient.

"Are you certain of winning the capture of that small island this time?" Guangnan King Ruan Fulan asked softly.

"Back to the king, I am sure!" Ruan Yucheng replied confidently.

"The other party has built a city on the island, can it be broken quickly?"

"I want to take two cannons and go with the army." Ruan Yucheng said: "In addition, I also ask the king to allow you to send a hundred craftsmen to make siege equipment for the army on the island."

"Yes!" Guangnan King Ruan Fulan nodded and said, "What else does the Qing family want?"

"Your Majesty, please send another two hundred firearms battalion to join the ranks." Ruan Yucheng gritted his teeth and made another request.

"Yes!" Guangnan King Ruan Fulan replied again, then stared at Ruan Yucheng for a moment, and said, "How long will it take to triumph?"

"...Ten days!" Ruan Yucheng said in a deep voice.

"I'll give you five more days to do my best!" Guangnan King Ruan Fulan said: "The captured soldiers will be slaughtered, and the leader of the bandits will be sent to Fuchun to show their heads to the public. Order Vietnam near Ho Chi Minh City) to garrison troops, build cities and build roads, and reclaim farmland.”

"Your Majesty, obey!" Ruan Yucheng promised loudly, "I will surely live up to the king's order to conquer the bandit army!"

"Very good. After five days, the imperial guards will go out with you on a boat. You will control the whole army. If you don't respect the orders of the generals and shrink from the battle, you can cut them first and then fight!" Ruan Fulan, the king of Guangnan, stood up and looked at the soldiers. Looking at Ruan Yucheng, he said: "Qing, if you return from victory, I will give you wealth and honor for the rest of your life!"

"My lord, thank you, my lord!" Ruan Yucheng couldn't help being excited.

Seeing Ruan Yucheng leaving the side hall of the palace in high spirits, Guangnan King Ruan Fulan nodded secretly. This time, they are all elite soldiers and veteran generals with complete equipment. It is only natural to attack the small island and kill the enemy and seize the city.

Suddenly, Ruan Fulan thought of the worries and warnings of his uncle Ruan Shaoqing. The strength of Hanzhou might not be as weak as imagined.

Hehe, how could it be, how could a small country built thousands of miles away and built by Ming exiles be a blow to my Guangnan army!
(End of this chapter)