Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 197 Recovering the Great Officials ([-])

Tang Ning sent a fleet to take down the remaining six Dutch ships. There were also two sinking Dutch ships, and the Dutchmen who fell into the water did their best to save them.

These scarred Dutch ships were all escorted to the Northern Line Wei Island, and the Dutch prisoners were also escorted to the island to take care of them.

As for Tangning herself, she quickly led forty warships towards the southeast of Yi Kunshen Island, preparing to land from there.

In the official history, Zheng Chenggong also landed from there, because it is the farthest from Zeelandia City, and the defense of Zeelandia City facing that direction is the weakest, and the artillery on the city cannot hit so far.

The scouts sent by Jialong discovered the direction Tangning was leading the fleet, but they could only watch, or even watch helplessly as the fleet docked, the soldiers landed, and then brought up the cannons on board.

No way, they do not have an advantage in terms of military strength and firepower. The only advantage is the strong city of Zeelandia.

That being the case, field battles are naturally not something the Dutch need to consider, and they can only defend with a strong city.

The only function of the scouts is to scout how many troops the new army has landed and how many artillery pieces there are.

Although many people gathered in the Garon headquarters in Campbell Ferborg, no one spoke.

Until the sound of hurried footsteps came, and the figure of a mid-level officer appeared, everyone's eyes were all on the same page.

Suddenly being stared at by so many high-level officers, the middle-level officer suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, but he still came to Jialong to report: "The navy must have failed."

Although it was expected, the atmosphere became more depressing.

"Let's talk about something else." Jia Long said.

"The new army is landing in the southeast. There are about forty warships, and the strength may be more than 4000."

"They also brought a lot of war horses, and they are transporting the artillery off the ship, which is the kind of advanced artillery."

The atmosphere in the room became more and more dull when it was heard that the advanced artillery was transported to the island.

"Everyone, tell me what we dare to do." Jia Long said calmly.

"Your Excellency Governor, I think all personnel should be withdrawn into the city and the city gates should be closed. No matter how powerful the new army's artillery is, there is no way to blow up the entire city."

"The main attack direction of the new army should be the east or the south. We can mobilize some artillery from the north to defend."

"There is enough food and water in the city to keep us going for more than half a year."

"Yes. We can only rely on our solid castle to withstand the enemy's attack, and this is the only way to persist longer with minimal losses."

"I agree too..."

"I agree too..."

Almost everyone agrees to shrink the troops, close the city gates, and rely on the fortified city to defend the two directions that the new army is most likely to attack.

"Okay, gentlemen, act as soon as possible." Garon also agreed with this strategy, and only this strategy.

All the reconnaissance soldiers sent out were recalled, and reconnaissance was of little significance.

Before the new army officially launches an attack, collect as many materials as possible into the city, especially food.

As for the water source, there is no need to worry about it. There are wells dug in the city, so there is no need to worry about the water source.

Busy until the evening, Tangning's troops basically completed the landing, with a strength of nearly 4000 troops and a total of 35 cannons, including [-] German-style cannons and [-] red cannons.

However, due to the limited number of horses and mules, these artillery were transported to the center of the island in batches.

Fortunately, this island is not very big, so it doesn't need to be transported for a long distance, which relieved Tang Ning from a lot of burden.

Of course, he can also take out some artillery from the arsenal at any time, but he is not going to take out cannons from the arsenal unless it is a last resort.

Because he felt that the German artillery was enough now, and if more artillery was taken out, the ammunition would be consumed faster.

After landing on the island, Tangning did not rush to launch an attack. The soldiers rushed all the way and quickly went into battle. Landing on the island took a lot of energy.

What's more, it will be night soon, and it's time to take a good rest.

The night passed in peace, and the Dutch consciously did not launch a surprise attack.

Maybe it was because of understanding the hard work of the new army. The weather was beautiful, and there was no rain or strong wind at night.

After a good night's rest, everyone was refreshed a lot.

In Tangning's camp, he gathered with the officers and staff to discuss how to capture Zeelandia as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, Tangning's heart skipped a beat, and she found an excuse to leave.

Not long after, he had someone transport a bunch of things from a tent.

Cannonballs are not new to the soldiers of the new army, but there is a very weird mask that they don't know what it is for.

It wasn't until Tangning spoke out and told them how to use it that everyone suddenly understood.

Yes, this kind of mask is naturally not an ordinary mask for hiding one's identity, but a gas mask.

As for those shells, they are naturally gas bombs.

He had never thought of using gas bombs before, because it was impossible for him to use them on his own land. Whether it was against opponents or against the Qing army, it would be too harmful.

But Zeelandia City is different. Although it is also the territory of the Ming Dynasty, all the people living here are Dutch, and it is separated from Dayuan Island by the Taijiang River.

So even if a big killer like a gas bomb is used, it won't cause much damage.

As for causing more harm to the Dutch, that's not something he has to worry about. It's a waste if it's not used at this time.

The German army has almost no record of large-scale use of gas bombs on the battlefield of World War II, but their development level and reserves of gas bombs should not be underestimated.

The famous sarin was invented by the Germans in 1938. They quickly discovered its military value and put it into production, but the Germans did not really use it on the battlefield of World War II.

There are many reasons why the Germans did not dare to use gas bombs on the battlefield on a large scale first, but they have never reduced the production and storage of gas bombs, so it is normal to have gas bombs in the arsenal.

Gas masks are also the regular equipment of German soldiers. They do not use them on a large scale first, but also prevent the enemy from using them first.

But in the end, the Allied forces did not use gas bombs, so the gas bombs in the arsenal were stored as a precautionary counterattack, and now Tangning will show them to the public.

However, no matter what, it would be against morality to use this kind of thing, so Tangning was going to give the Dutch a chance. He sent someone to send his letter of persuasion to the city of Zeelandia.

There are two copies of the persuasion letter, one in Ming script and the other in Dutch script.

Of course, the Dutch version was written by a translator who came with the army.

The meaning expressed in the persuasion letter is nothing more than a few points. First of all, it is stated that the big officials belong to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and it is only natural for the new army to recover their own territory;
The second point is to denounce the brutal rule of the Dutch over Dayuan, and a large number of Han people living in Dayuan asked the new army to drive the Dutch away;

The third point is to clearly tell the Dutch that the new army is bound to win this time, and the Dutch can only fail.

If you don't want the young Dutch soldiers to lose their lives, you have to surrender, and the new army will give preferential treatment to the prisoners.

Last but not least, Tangning clearly told the Dutchman that she had a very powerful weapon, a very powerful poisonous gas that could be fired from cannons.

Tangning also very intimately told Jia Long the symptoms and pain of being hit by the gas bomb.

He gave the Dutch one day to give a definite answer or consider them refusing to surrender.

After doing this, Tangning felt that she had done her best.

(End of this chapter)