Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1310 Attack
Faced with the critical situation, Director Jacob and his team quickly made a decision to gather men and begin a breakout. At the same time, the attacking forces on the outer perimeter were also setting up their artillery. Two heavy cannons were slowly brought to position by a dozen men, and preparations for the attack were underway.

Taking advantage of the moment when the enemy was not fully prepared, Director Jacob ordered a breakout. The garrison, under the command of Major Falknir, protected Jacob and James and began their breakout from the north, avoiding the enemy's frontal attack.

Because the breakout came suddenly, and the garrison had maintained a defensive posture for the past few days, coupled with the arrival of artillery, the attacking side seemed a little careless. For a time, they were disoriented and retreated step by step by the breakout guards. A gap was broken in the encirclement, allowing the breakout troops to rush out through the gap.

Upon learning the news, Colonel Cohen hurriedly mobilized his men to pursue and intercept them, and a fierce battle ensued. At this moment, Director Otto, who was stationed in place, also went all out, personally leading the remaining men to launch an attack on the enemy forces in front, thus covering the escape of the other two directors.

The scene was chaotic. Colonel Cohen had never expected the enemy to be so decisive, let alone to break out in this way. However, despite the immediate chaos, Colonel Cohen was, after all, an excellent commander. He quickly mobilized his troops to intercept and pursue the breakout forces, while simultaneously ordering the troops stationed at the front to counterattack their positions. At the same time, he hurriedly prepared the artillery to bombard the positions.

In just over ten minutes, Major Falknir and two directors barely managed to break through the encirclement. However, of the more than one hundred men who had broken out, less than half remained. Moreover, the battle was fierce, and many of them were injured. Even Major Falknir had an arm injury, and he could barely carry a longsword in one hand and a musket in the other, continuing to lead his men towards the military camp.

Behind them, Colonel Cohen's men continued their pursuit, with those lagging behind constantly being overtaken by the enemy. Gunshots, fighting, screams, and shouts rose and fell.

run! Run!

Everyone had the same thought, especially Director Jacob. To be honest, Jacob was already out of breath. Although his physical fitness was much better than that of the obese Director Otto, such high-intensity running was really going to kill him. It could be said that this was the first time since he was born that he had ever escaped for his life under such circumstances at this intensity.

As for Director James, he wasn't in much better shape. Moreover, Director James was a few years older than Director Jacob. Having lived a life of luxury, he wasn't good at running, but now, in this life-or-death situation, he could only run as fast as he could. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and his breathing was so rapid that it was almost like he was working a bellows.

The gunfire continued intermittently, and the pursuers behind him were closing in. Suddenly, another burst of gunfire rang out, and James, who was running, was hit by a bullet from somewhere and staggered and fell.

"Help...help me...help me!" James, the director, was lying on the ground in a sorry state and couldn't get up for a while. He reached out and grabbed at the front of him, as if trying to grasp an invisible straw in the air.

Hearing the shouts, Jacob, who was running ahead, couldn't help but turn around and look. When he saw James lying on the ground, his face contorted with grief as he cried out for help, Jacob felt a pang of pity, but he didn't stop. Instead, he ran even faster.

Although they are good friends, this is not the time to sacrifice themselves to save others. The pursuers are not far behind. If they stop to save Director James, they will not only fail to save him, but may even lose themselves.

Director Jacob was a very rational man, and he certainly understood this principle. So instead of stopping, he sped up and ran away, praying that Almighty God would protect poor James. If James survived, he would sincerely apologize to his friend for his actions.

Watching helplessly as Jacob and the others ran further and further away until their figures disappeared from sight, the flame of hope in James's eyes gradually died out, and his raised hand fell limply to the ground.

Lying on the ground, panting heavily, James felt a sense of relief and ease. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing; at least he was free. He didn't blame Jacob for not helping him, because if it were him, he probably would have made the same choice. He only hoped that Jacob could escape alive. As long as he lived, and even returned with an army, he would still have a chance to survive even if he fell into Reinice's hands.

Just then, the cannons in the direction of the garrison roared, two huge cannon shots like thunderclaps, and even the ground trembled slightly.

"The base is finished too..." James thought to himself. He quietly closed his eyes, no longer thinking about anything else. He didn't even care that the pursuers were right in front of him, and calmly accepted his fate.

Chaos reigned in Batavia, especially after Jacob and his men broke through the siege. The situation changed drastically after Colonel Cohen ordered his troops to open fire on the city's outposts. Previously, the fighting had been confined to the area around the outposts, but with the breakout and the roar of cannons, half the city was affected by the chaos. Everyone's attention was focused on the internal strife, waiting for the outcome. But no one noticed that just outside Batavia's port, not far to the northeast, a massive fleet gradually emerged from the sea, sails full, heading straight for Batavia.

This fleet was the combined fleet of the Ming Dynasty and four other countries. After resting in Sulumay, the combined fleet had completed the integration of the captured warships (armed merchant ships). Except for a portion left to garrison Sulumay, the rest of the main force set off towards Batavia.

On the flagship, Zheng Hongkui stood steadily on the deck, holding a telescope and looking towards Batavia. The fleet was extremely fast, taking only a short time from its appearance to its arrival near Batavia. At this moment, a subordinate reported that news had come from Batavia that the three directors of the East India Company's board of directors and Governor Reines had begun fighting fiercely a few days ago. The fighting was extremely intense, and Batavia was now in turmoil. Apart from the soldiers at the forts, the port was mostly unmanned, making it the perfect opportunity to attack.

Upon hearing this news, Zheng Hongkui laughed heartily, feeling extremely pleased.

"And Brother Nong, you are truly the Zhuge Liang of our time!"

"Brother Rijian, you flatter me. How can I compare to the sages of the past? My mere tricks are only good for dealing with the Dutch. If it were anyone else, such a scheme would be utterly insignificant." Wang Fuzhi shook his head with a smile.

"Brother Nong, there's no need to feel apologetic. You deserve the majority of the credit for today's Battle of Batavia. Without your planning, how could we have achieved this situation?"

Wang Fuzhi smiled and said, "Brother Rijian, let's finish this battle first. Although the plan has succeeded, the big battle hasn't even started yet. The priority now is to take Batavia."

"You're right! Thank you for reminding me, Brother Er Nong!" Zheng Hongkui clasped his hands in greeting, then straightened his expression and immediately ordered the entire fleet to deploy into battle formation. The left flank would advance first, using artillery fire to bombard the Batavia forts and suppress the Dutch defenders. The right flank would attack the port to cut off any possibility of Dutch reinforcements. At the same time, fast landing ships would be dispatched to seize the port and land troops, followed by troop transport ships. The central force would suppress the Batavia city defenses and take the docks and forts as quickly as possible to attack the city of Batavia.

The order was given, and the fleet swiftly executed it, changing formation and heading towards Batavia. As the fleet approached Batavia, the defenders of the Batavian fortresses finally noticed the fleet approaching from the east. Upon seeing the massive size of the fleet, the defenders were utterly stunned. They couldn't immediately recognize whose fleet it was. After a long pause, they suddenly realized what was happening, hurriedly sounding the alarm, shouting warnings, preparing the cannons, and sending messengers to report and request reinforcements.

At this moment, the left-wing warships of the combined fleet rapidly approached, and more than thirty warships were arranged in a long line, with one side facing Batavia, and began a fierce bombardment.

Although the Ming Dynasty's warships lacked accuracy in attacking land-based fortifications from the sea, and the range of their cannons was also somewhat limited, the combined fire of a dozen or so cannons from one side of a single warship, along with the continuous firing of cannons from more than thirty warships, created an extremely impressive spectacle.

The Dutch defenders at the fort were of good quality and reacted quickly, returning fire almost simultaneously with the Ming army's opening fire on their warships at sea. Unfortunately, the Ming army, having prepared well in advance and seized the initiative, possessed overwhelming firepower. Even though the Dutch cannons at the fort fired farther and more accurately, the Dutch defenders were utterly routed by the overwhelming firepower of their own warships, which outnumbered them by several times.

In just a few minutes, although the fort was not destroyed, it was suppressed by the firepower of the Ming fleet. The Dutch counterattack was weakened and their accuracy was getting worse.

Meanwhile, the attack on the port was also underway. The Dutch warships anchored in Batavia had no time to react and were instantly subjected to a fierce barrage. In the blink of an eye, one warship burst into flames, and the other warships gave up resistance. The sailors and soldiers on board fled to the dock in a sorry state, running towards the city of Batavia without looking back.

With the deployment of Ming army landing ships, the port fell into Ming army hands in just half an hour. After the landing troops landed and took control of the port, the army and navy launched an attack on the forts on both sides of the port. Under these circumstances, the fort defenders could no longer hold their ground. If it were only a battle from the sea, the forts could barely hold on, but the enemy had landed and launched an army attack. Under a pincer attack, what was the point of fighting?

Soon after, all the forts on both sides raised white flags and surrendered. Once all the forts fell into Zheng Hongkui's hands, the northern part of Batavia, including the port area, was occupied by the Ming army. Zheng Hongkui commanded the fleet to continue landing, and the warships continued to fire at Batavia. After the army assembled, it marched from the port towards the city, intending to take Batavia in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)