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Chapter 1378 Battle of Enbird Port 7
With Enbird City's defensive system, plus more than 1000 Marines and more than 1000 Xhosa warriors, there's no reason why they should be so badly beaten by a small force of the European coalition. Could it be that the enemy used some kind of weapon or tactic they've never seen before?
"...It seems things aren't very peaceful here either, are they? Why don't we go back to the city tonight and talk things over? I can't stay here too long. What if they try to encircle us? It would be disgraceful for me, the commander of the city's defenses, to be locked outside the city!"

Xiao Si wasn't unwilling to introduce the situation in Enbird City, but seeing that all the staff officers in the command tower were looking around with binoculars, receiving messages from all directions, and sending out new instructions, he knew that the enemy was also very close, and he didn't want to disturb Zhu Neng's important business.

"Pah! This is ridiculous! They're trying to take us too seriously. Surround us! Try getting any closer! Stop worrying about me and just tell me what to do, or get out of here instead of loitering around."

Finally, it was his turn to show off. Despite his small stature, Zhu Neng's aura was no less imposing than that of the tall and strong Xiao Si. With a smirk and a sidelong glance, he exuded an air of utter defiance.

However, no one dared to say that Zhu Neng was just bragging, or that he was truly amazing, or that the defense system of Enbird Port was truly amazing, so that any commander of the defending side would have the right to underestimate any enemy.

"Sigh, comparisons are odious! To be honest, after three days of fighting, I still don't know how many enemies there are in the north of the city, and I can't even understand what they're saying."

The hot air balloon lookout said that most of the enemy was hiding in the shadows of the hillside and in the woods below. Based on limited clues, the estimate was probably over ten thousand, with a large margin of error.

In the past few days, most of the siege soldiers they used were black. At first, I thought they were slave soldiers brought from the Americas, but when I captured a few alive, I could understand Xhosa. It turned out they were warriors from some local tribes in the north and east.

But they can't count, they just say lots and lots of nonsense, like how many there are, like the stars in the sky, and that they come from a very, very far place, but they can't explain how many there are or where they come from. It's so annoying!

These guys have attacked the city many times, but their attacks have been of poor quality; they've spent most of their time digging trenches. I know they want to deplete the city's ammunition, but I dare not relax my guard. Those dilapidated walls really can't withstand any bombing; once the enemy breaks through, the civilians alone could scatter all my troops.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have done what other overseas territories did and given the natives military training from a young age. Instead of them wandering around with short spears all day, cultivating the land haphazardly, it's a complete waste of time!"

Compared to the situation in the port area, Xiao Si couldn't help but sigh. It was like two completely different worlds; on one side, everything was orderly and stable, while on the other, ants in a hot pot were completely lost and confused.

The people and leaders of Liksa in the city had been restless since the start of the war, and had repeatedly proposed sending people out of the city to negotiate, but Zhang Yongling refused each time.

Their not-so-bright minds couldn't understand why so many vicious enemies had suddenly attacked. They felt that the enemy was after the sugarcane wine and sugar stored in the city, and that if they took some of it, they might be able to turn hostility into friendship.

The current situation ultimately stems from the naval staff's leniency. For any overseas territory of the Ming Dynasty, besides military occupation, there are also established procedures for economic and educational development. As long as these procedures are followed, major problems will not arise—a conclusion drawn from decades of continuous practice.

However, Enbird Port did not follow this approach; only the port area was entirely occupied militarily. Within Enbird City, besides the Ming governor-general, the Xhosa tribal leaders also possessed a degree of autonomy. The Ming garrison's power was limited, preventing them from arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of the indigenous tribes. This made assimilation education impossible, resulting in the Xhosa people maintaining their traditional lifestyle. Only a small minority were accustomed to using firearms; the majority preferred cold weapons, albeit replacing their original bone arrowheads and stone axes with steel ones.

Discipline is out of the question. Anyone who tries to force the Khosa warriors to obey military regulations will end up with an empty camp, where everyone will desert within a day. To date, apart from the few thousand slave soldiers sent to the Ming Dynasty for training, all the Khosa warriors are still not good at distinguishing left from right, can't count, and have no understanding of military discipline.

Normally, whether they understand or not is irrelevant; it's best if they don't get used to using firearms, since they're not expecting to increase their combat effectiveness anyway. But in special circumstances, the drawbacks of overly lenient management immediately become apparent.

The marines in the city not only had to defend against the enemy, but also had to spare some troops to keep an eye on the Xhosa warriors, otherwise they might actually go out of the city singing and dancing, led by their tribal charlatans, and negotiate face-to-face with the enemy according to their customs.

"..." Zhu Neng fell silent after hearing Xiao Si's predicament. It was incredibly easy for him to criticize others; he could rattle off countless reasons with a mere flick of his lips. But when faced with his own problems, finding a solution proved much more difficult.
"Boom... boom boom..." At this moment, a booming sound was carried into the control tower by the sea breeze, sounding intermittently seven or eight times, and it was still continuing.

"This time the Europeans came prepared, knowing that rushing into the port area recklessly would have dire consequences. Unfortunately, they weren't smart enough; they need to learn from this experience."

Upon hearing the sound, Xiao Si walked to the lookout point, raised his binoculars, and looked out at the sea. He saw nothing, but seemed to know that cannons were firing somewhere. He wasn't nervous at all and was even joking around.

"What a pity! If we could improve Enbird City's defense system, it would truly be an impregnable fortress. Sending hundreds of thousands of troops and fighting for a year or two would be in vain."

Zhu Neng remained unmoved, sitting steadily in the chair near the door, holding his cigar to his nose and inhaling deeply. But he was thinking more deeply than Xiao Si, more worried about the battle situation in the city.

Enbird Port not only had a complete defense system, but also an equally efficient information transmission and command system. Twenty-one watchtowers, each two zhang high, served as the eyes, ears, and mouth of this system, transmitting information collected from various areas to surrounding bunkers and hidden troop shelters through flag signals and a network of trenches.

In wartime, if the wind is not strong, several hot air balloons will be launched behind the port area to compensate for the insufficient height of the watchtowers. If the wind is too strong, the three command towers will serve as lookout towers.

As a commander, all I have to do is stay in the command tower and I can keep track of every little detail within a radius of tens of kilometers. It's so convenient!

The command tower is a large, twenty-meter-high watchtower built of stone, with strong defensive firepower, capable of housing the entire command system. There are only three in total, located behind the military and civilian docks, and one on the sunny side of the hillside south of the naval port, which is the north side.

(End of this chapter)