1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 368 Attacking Ancient State ([-])
That night, He Qing and Li Dazhu, who were in the Gubang barracks, were so excited that they hardly fell asleep. They never thought that Hanzhou would actually dare to attack Gupang.Does this mean that they can use this as an internal response to help the Hanzhou army break the Gubang City, and then they can return to the Hanzhou mainland.

The next day, before dawn, the Dutch mercenaries broke into their barracks, cursing, kicking and beating them, driving them Ming and native servants out of the barracks, and rushed them to the city gate, preparing to deal with the Han. European attacks, and ready to support the Dutch garrison dock fort.

The Hanzhou people came earlier than the Kupang defenders expected. The Hanzhou soldiers in black (marines) and gray uniforms (village soldiers and native servants) stopped at a distance of 800 meters from the left side of the pier. Come down, and then start to organize the team. It should not take long to launch an attack.

"Lieutenant Ellison, can our fort be held?" Kupang Governor Quennel Rollins asked his magistrate with concern.

"Your Excellency, I think...it's a bit difficult." Lieutenant Vinod Ellison, the sheriff, said bitterly: "There are more than 500 Hanzhou people here, and our defense is too weak. I think , we should abandon the docks and forts, and concentrate all our effective forces in the city."

"Abandon the pier and fort?" Governor Quennel Rollins looked at Lieutenant Ellison in surprise, and said eagerly: "There is a fort at the pier, and there is a small fort nearby, which is enough to delay the attack of the Hanzhou people. If you give up easily, Hanzhou's warships will be able to drive to the pier and provide continuous support for their landing forces. Lieutenant Ellison, are you sure we want to do this?"

"Governor, there are less than 200 armed personnel in the entire Kupang City. If there are too many losses at the pier, it will be fatal to our city defense." Lieutenant Vinod Ellison said solemnly: " The Hanzhou people are good at launching night attacks, and they are brave in battle, and they are not afraid of death. If the defense force of Gubang City is too weak, it will give the Hanzhou people too many loopholes to exploit. Moreover, as long as the Hanzhou people are willing to pay some casualties , the pier fort and nearby castles may be captured by them."

Governor Quennel Rawlins felt nervous when he heard this. Two governors before and after Ambon were captured by the Hanzhou people, and he didn't want to follow in their footsteps.Since Lieutenant Ellison judged the situation in this way, he should follow the advice of professionals.

Niu Hu and other Hanzhou military officers have already mobilized before the battle, and are ready to rely on the superiority of numbers to launch a full-scale attack, launching an attack on the castle near the pier from three directions.However, when the soldiers began to charge with bayonet-mounted muskets, they were surprised to find that after the Dutch defenders at the pier fort destroyed the artillery, they all retreated to Kupang City along with the defenders in the nearby castle.

"It's a bit troublesome now!" Niu Hu held up his binoculars and looked at the city wall of Kupang in the distance. He couldn't help frowning and sighed. It was used as cannon fodder in order to reduce the resistance when attacking the city. Unexpectedly, the Dutch took advantage of the opportunity and retreated to the city. In this way, we may have to pay some price before we can attack Kupang City."

"Is it still a night attack?" Li Fade asked.

"Well, night attack." Niu Hu said: "Climb to the top of the city with some casualties, and fight head-to-head with the Dutch. However, we have to fill in the ravine traps along the road during the day and open a passage , so that they can quickly advance to the vicinity of the city wall at night."

"There are quite a lot of artillery in the city of Gubang!" Li Fade said with some headaches: "I knew it earlier, and brought more native servants over."

Niu Hu smiled. The more than 150 natives brought here are almost the majority of the natives trained in Xinxiangbao. If the natives are recruited temporarily, not to mention whether the training level is enough, their loyalty is also questionable.

I called the captains of the village soldiers of several Xinxiangbao, and asked them to immediately drive the native servants to the city wall, launch a tentative attack, and explore the outer defense facilities by the way, with the village soldiers holding guns behind them.

The captains of the village soldiers who led the team looked at the ancient city wall in the distance, and did not complain. They each drew out their short knives, commanded the soldiers they belonged to, and yelled at the natives who were squatting on the ground to gather together.

More than 50 natives each held spears and short knives. First, they walked quickly to a distance of more than 400 meters from the Kupang city wall, then dispersed their formation slightly, and moved forward slowly.They had seen the power of the artillery and muskets of the Hanzhou people, and they also knew that the city would definitely block and bombard them, so they became very careful.

"Boom! Boom!" The artillery at the head of Gubang City was fired, and two projectiles flew straight towards the natives.Amidst the terrified cries of the natives, it smashed hard into the open space near the natives, then bounced and rolled back.

"Rush over quickly, don't stop!" A village soldier waved a musket and loudly ordered the natives to speed up their pace.

The natives immediately started running forward, trying to get to a safe place when the city fired again.A dozen rural soldiers with muskets in the back carefully scattered around, keeping their eyes on the top of the city.

"Boom! Boom!" The artillery at the top of the city fired again. This time, a bullet fell into the charging team of the natives, smashing a native into two pieces, and the bloody bullet continued to roll back With that, the general brushed past another native, frightened him so that he froze on the spot, and then collapsed to the ground after a while.

The Hanzhou soldiers who followed behind had stopped in their tracks, holding their muskets tightly with both hands, staring nervously at the several cannons at the top of the city, trying to avoid the incoming projectiles when the opponent opened fire.

After the artillery stopped firing, the natives in front ran forward with all their strength. When they were seven to eighty meters away from the city wall, they encountered a deep trench and barely stopped.

But before the natives could stand still, the artillery on the top of the city fired again, accompanied by the sound of muskets firing.Immediately, several natives shook, and then fell headlong into the ditch, while the rest of the natives turned around and ran back.

"Well, there is a trench about 80 to [-] meters in front of the city wall. This must be filled with a passage during the day. ... Or, let the natives prepare some giant logs and build a bridge. Also, before dark, people must Make at least ten wooden ladders, and try to launch a night attack tentatively at night....Those rope and wooden ladders should also be used at night, according to the exercise mode in Hanzhou." Niu Hu held up the binoculars, While observing and talking, a young tactical staff officer next to him quickly recorded with a carbon pen.

Before coming to Kupang, the marines carefully recalled the city defense facilities they saw at that time according to the naval officers and sailors who had been to Kupang two years ago, and according to the description, they chose a certain section of the tall city wall of Jianye City, and repeatedly practiced how to Quickly climb the city, how to consolidate and occupy a foothold.

Now, Niu Hu and other Marine Corps officers are adjusting the steps and specific details of planning to launch a night attack at night while comparing the actual situation in Kupang.

He Qing, who was on the top of Gubang City, watched dozens of natives and Hanzhou soldiers retreat quickly under the attack of artillery and muskets, feeling a little disappointed in his heart.Although, he also knew that it was just a scouting attack just now.But at this moment, he is extremely hopeful that the Hanzhou army can break through the city quickly so that he can get out of the control of the Dutch earlier.

Thinking about my experience as a spy, it was really ups and downs. As Zheng Zhilong, he not only mixed into the black guards of Hanzhou, and learned a lot of information about Hanzhou, but now he is forcibly recruited by the Dutch. People fight.Now, they were unexpectedly sent to Kupang by accident, leading a team of Ming armed forces to help the Dutch attack Hanzhou.Could it be that he was born to be an internal response material?

"Dazhu, after dinner, greet our brothers well, and be ready to do it at any time." He Qing whispered to Li Dazhu.

"Will you attack the city at night?" Li Dazhu glanced at a few Dutch mercenaries over there.

"Probably will." He Qing said: "Didn't you see the people on the other side running towards the distant forest? They must be cutting wood, making wooden ladders, and preparing to launch a night attack at night."

"If our people attack the city wall, will they kill us together because they can't see at night?" Li Dazhu was a little worried. It is easy to confuse the target in night battles. Don't be killed by your own people at that time, that would be a shame. !
"Find a piece of white cloth wrapped around your arm to distinguish." He Qing said: "We must tell them this information as soon as the Hanzhou army attacked the city. Also, find a way to open the city gate. "

"We only have more than 50 armed forces in the Ming Dynasty, and we have to meet the head of the city, attack and kill the Dutch, and open the city gate. I guess we don't have enough manpower. Moreover, some people's family members are still in Batavia, so they may not dare to follow us. Let's fight together."

"... During dinner, tell everyone. Just say that the Dutch are worried that we Ming people will be the internal agents of Hanzhou, and they are going to kill us all." He Qing showed a hint of ruthlessness on his face, and said in a deep voice: "So For one thing, they can't help but stay out of it!"

Li Dazhu nodded. They had more than a dozen ironclads who had won over in the siege of Batavia, coupled with false threats, they would surely be able to coerce all the armed forces of the Ming Dynasty and support the Hanzhou army to break through Kupang.

In the afternoon, the Hanzhou army outside the city launched another attack.This time, they dispatched more than a hundred servants of the natives, some of whom carried a few logs with their branches and leaves cut off, and rushed towards Gubang City under the drive of the local soldiers.

Although the charging natives were very scattered, the artillery at the head of Gubang City still knocked down more than a dozen natives.When the natives carrying logs approached the trench seven to eighty meters away from the city wall, they were fired upon by Dutch mercenaries, and people were shot and killed on the spot.

The terrified native dropped the log, turned around and ran back.

The rural soldiers behind them held muskets and ordered the natives to turn around, pick up the discarded logs, and put them on the trench.

Looking at the gleaming bayonet and the black muzzle of the gun, the native turned back and rushed to the ditch helplessly.

After paying more than 20 lives, the natives reluctantly erected seven or eight logs on the trench and built two "wooden bridges". Afterwards, the natives ran back desperately.

"You guys, go to a dozen people and drag those logs over!" A few Dutch mercenaries came to Ming's servants, pointed to the ditch under the city, and ordered.

(End of this chapter)