A large amount of cloves, pepper, nutmeg, cotton, silk, porcelain, as well as a lot of tea, grain, and sandalwood were stocked in the Castle of Geranze. ℃∮八℃∮八℃∮Read ℃∮ book,.⌒.o≈
It looks like a castle from the outside, but is actually a huge warehouse. However, luxury items such as silk and porcelain are obviously of no use against the powerful Zheng Jun fleet.
Use it to privately bribe the Zheng army generals to show mercy during the attack. It may also show some value, otherwise staying in the castle will really take up space.
With Bolger's permission, in order to hoard as much food as possible and prevent Zheng's army from eating locally, Colonel Jansen has sent six companies to collect food in the jurisdiction on the shore.
All the grain that could not be harvested was burned. The previous task of clearing the country was not done well enough. Taking advantage of the retreat of Zheng Jun's fleet, most of the rice in the remaining areas could be burned.
Although both Bolger and Jansen believed that the Zheng army was not short of food and could continuously transport it from the mainland, and the other party's port was only three hundred kilometers away from the generals, so shipping by sea was very convenient.
But the two of them didn't want Zheng Yiguan's army to get even a bag of food, because they not only wanted to occupy the Dutch Empire, but also bombarded their beloved Relanja Castle to devastation.
Originally, this castle was built tall and beautiful, full of majesty and power. It can be said that in addition to being limited by the terrain, there were no regular geometric earth embankments dug around it, making the entire overlooking picture incomparable with those on the mainland. outside.
In other aspects, especially in terms of protection against heavy artillery attacks, the Castle of Geranje is an absolutely outstanding military fortress. Actual combat has proved that the previous careful construction was very correct.
The castle's ability to withstand strikes was better than Janssen expected. Although the foundation and walls were directly bombarded by hundreds of artillery shells, leaving shocking craters, there were no signs of loosening or even collapse.
After on-the-spot investigation and careful comparison, Jansen and his officers came to the unanimous conclusion that the shell of the Castle of Geranze was enough to withstand the bombardment of Zheng's army's heavy artillery.
The rammed earth foundation is very good at absorbing the energy of artillery shells, providing effective protection for the inner city. Although the city wall has no less than two hundred craters, it is still as strong as ever.
The only fly in the ointment is that Fort Mitte and Fort Gamberfield facing the Taiyuan Bay in the north suffered varying degrees of damage. In particular, Fort Half-Moon, located between the two bastions, was almost directly destroyed by incoming artillery shells.
At present, there is only a huge gap left in the original position, which is five or six meters wide. It is urgent to organize personnel to repair it, otherwise it will inevitably affect the defense capabilities of the bastions on both sides.
Most of the part of the north wall above the ground has been knocked down, leaving only an empty platform. The defenders used wooden boards to defend themselves at night and insisted on counterattack. They performed very well in the difficult environment. Brave and tenacious.
This attack may not have met Zheng Yiguan's expectations. The pirate leader and his huge fleet will definitely come back. It is impossible for Jansen to let his men continue to defend the enemy in this environment. It is necessary to repair the inner city as soon as possible. Defense vulnerabilities.
As for the city walls and foundations, if circumstances permit, they can be repaired urgently using the same building materials as the original ones. If you don't have time, you can also not do it for the time being. The important thing is to send all the food and other supplies from outside to the castle.
Because he did not believe that Zheng Yiguan would unilaterally break the contract and lead a fleet to invade the generals, the preparations in the castle were not perfect. 】eight】eight】reading books,.@.∞o
Min soldiers, women and children can take refuge in the Castle of Relanja. The food in the castle can also be enough for a while, but there is a big problem, that is, there are not enough iron pots for cooking!
Bolger asked his men to count them and found that there were less than fifty iron pots. It was quite difficult to cook for more than two thousand people, even just for one meal.
Even if there are enough iron pots, there is not enough firewood to make cooked rice, because the daily necessities in the castle, especially daily consumables, are not meant for so many people.
Normally, less than ten companies and a certain number of officials' families are stationed in the Castle of Relanjia. That's all. More than half of the combat troops are stationed in Damuan Town and on the shore to "spread civilization and maintain order."
The castle has three main functions. One is to symbolize the rule of the Netherlands and intimidate the local indigenous people. The other is to serve as a barracks and the office of Chief Boerg. The third is to serve as a warehouse to store grain to prevent it from being exposed to wind and rain.
Facing the aggressive Zheng army fleet, Bolger provided the best protection he could for the Dutch women and children on the island, but that was all.
The food can be distributed in place, but there is no guarantee that it will be cooked because the hardware conditions are not met. Therefore, this time we sent people to Damuan Town to collect any living materials that can be used to survive.
Both Bolger and Jansen were ready for a tug-of-war with Zheng Yiguan. As long as Zheng's army retreated, they would let Jun Min in the city go out to collect supplies. Even if they could use some drinking water, it would be a good thing.
If Da Yuan Island is besieged by the enemy for a long time and has only food but no water, everyone will die of thirst. If they can't get out, they will have to rely on rainfall.
To retreat from the enemy, you need storms, and to drink water, you need rain. For the first time, Bolger felt that his life was so humble. Even as a high-ranking officer, he would probably not be any better than the defenders when there was an extreme shortage of water in the castle. go.
There is a lot of rice wine in stock, but the total amount is limited. Even if control methods are implemented, the defenders will drink them all as the siege lasts for a long time.
Based on the calculation of 3,000 people, each person needs one liter of water per day to sustain life, which is nearly one hundred tons per month. It is a big problem to store so much water in advance.
There must be enough food and weapons in the castle, as well as the wounded and Dao Min. The remaining space is already good, but it must be carefully planned to store enough drinking water for a month.
Otherwise, we can only count on God's blessing to have a heavy rain every day to alleviate the drinking water crisis in the castle. At least it can replenish the daily consumption and avoid directly reducing the drinking water inventory.
In addition to collecting grain, the six companies sent ashore by Jansen also needed to collect as much fruit as possible, so as to reduce the possibility of scurvy and beriberi among the defenders.
If they only eat rice, it will only be a matter of time before the defenders suffer from widespread scurvy and beriberi. Beriberi is not sweaty feet in the usual sense, but ulcers on the feet caused by nutritional deficiencies.
Essentially, these two diseases can be avoided by eating fruit, but in wartime, even a small mango is worth the same weight of gold.
No one thought about these two diseases that could kill people. In special times, people don't just do whatever they want. Even Berger and Janssen couldn't guarantee that they would survive.
Jansen originally wanted to transport more troops to the shore, but the battleships and merchant ships here had all left the port early. Except for Baker's fleet to carry out the raiding mission, and the merchant ships in Coku to deliver messages, other large ships They all disappeared.
Fortunately, an armed merchant ship from Batavia arrived at Damian Island, which could be used as a temporary troop transport. Otherwise, the defenders would have to use small boats to cross to the other side.
There was only one large ship available, and it had to transport people and cargo, so the transportation capacity was very tight. In this case, Jansen could only give up the plan to send troops on a larger scale.
Moreover, if the Zheng army suddenly attacks again in a short period of time, these companies will be blocked by the enemy fleet on the shore and unable to return to the castle.
There are about 300 people in the six companies. If they are discovered by Zheng Yiguan's army, they will probably face a siege of 5,000 or even 10,000 enemies. The result can be imagined.
Yang Sen said that the combat effectiveness of one of his soldiers was equivalent to ten or even twenty Ming army soldiers, but he said it casually and it was mostly bragging. It would be good if he could defeat three or four in actual combat.
Once you are surrounded by enemy troops that are ten times your own, you can only hope that it will get dark as soon as possible. Under the cover of night, it may be possible to break through.
Therefore, in order to avoid long nights and many dreams, Colonel Jansen stipulated that within three days, no later than sunset on the third day, all six companies, no matter how much food and fruit they collected, must strictly abide by the agreement and return to the castle on time or in advance.
If Zheng Yiguan's pirate army annihilated six companies of the Dutch army at one time, I'm afraid Colonel Jansen would beat his chest in pain after hearing the news.
Two companies had been lost in the artillery battle from last night to this morning, and Jansen only had twenty companies left in his hands. He could not afford to lose nearly one-third of his troops.
If he didn't have to collect some daily necessities, he wouldn't even want to send out a company. He could just let Min soldiers do those errands. If he kept them but refused to do anything, it would be a waste of food.
Jansen was very dissatisfied with the performance of these temporary soldiers, but at this time, he had no one to dispatch except them. Without their existence, he could only rely on less than a thousand defenders to defend the success of the Castle of Geranze. The odds are even lower.
Due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, apart from the storm, Yang Sen could not think of any other way to retreat from the enemy for a while, especially since Zheng Yiguan also asked for up to five million taels of silver.
He said that he would only take one million taels of silver, and the remaining four million taels of silver would be handed over to the Ming Empire. However, Yang Sen felt that judging from Zheng Yiguan's pirate character, this must be a big lie.
Counting some luxuries in the castle and the existing savings, it may be possible to scrape together the money, but no one can guarantee that Zheng Yiguan, who received the benefits, will not regret it again and confiscate the benefits and Dajuan Island. Have it for yourself.
Bolger was afraid that the pirate leader would act like this, so he did not intend to pay him too many benefits at all, and the benefits were only to delay time and get reinforcements to arrive to relieve the siege.
Thinking of the rescue, Yang Sen felt extremely lost and confused. This would take three months. Who knows what unexpected things would happen during this period.
The powerful firepower possessed by Zheng Yiguan's fleet was beyond everyone's expectation. If all the unknown factors were added, it was very questionable whether the Relanja Castle could be defended.
Jansen did not want to surrender voluntarily, otherwise if the Batavia headquarters learned of it, he would be punished for the so-called treason, or he would be horribly hanged.
The crux of the matter right now is that the defenders have limited strength. They really can't defeat Zheng Yiguan, who has a huge fleet and many troops. There is less than half a chance of holding on until reinforcements arrive.
The heroic words spoken to his subordinates are all used to inspire confidence and boost morale. If you tell the truth in front of everyone, I'm afraid the defenders will surrender in droves to Zheng Yiguan's pirate army...
Janssen felt that he was in the same dilemma as Berg.
On the premise of not surrendering, if the Castle of Geranze really cannot be defended, then the soldiers will have to go to the shore to live. If they go into the mountains, they may be able to hold on until reinforcements arrive.
It can be said responsibly that this seemingly indestructible castle is either their fortress or their tomb, it must be one of the two!
Because after Zheng Yiguan retreated, he had already released his accompanying assistant David Cillessen, translator He Bin, and businessman Ke Ku, and brought a message from the pirate leader.
The content is very simple, that is, the defenders must surrender unconditionally. From today on, he will not accept any conditional surrender.
If the defenders continue to resist and plan to use this castle as a barrier to resist Zheng's attack, then all the consequences will be borne by their own side.
Unconditional surrender!
Yang Sen never thought that Zheng Yiguan would become so tough and arrogant to him one day!
When that day came, he became at a loss like many other "qingren".
Jansen believed that this was definitely not just a harsh word after being defeated by the defenders. It meant that Zheng Yiguan had made enough determination to seize the Dutch Dajuan area. If he failed once, he would try a second time until he succeeded.
The most important thing is that Zheng Yiguan can withstand one, two or even multiple failures, but his own side cannot bear even one failure. Once it fails, it means that Relanzhe Castle has been captured by the Zheng army.
If this idea is known to the Batavia Council, they will definitely feel that they are too pessimistic and are not suitable to be the commander of the garrison in the Danyuan area, and will be replaced soon.
Before the change, Jansen would definitely fight hard to keep this well-paid position. But now, he wished he could escape from this island that was about to be filled with war and smoke.
You can go anywhere in the world, even if you return to the European battlefield where the fierce fighting is going on, it is always better than being annihilated by Zheng Yiguan's pirate army here.
One thousand Dutch soldiers have to stop the attack of 10,000 pirates, and the other side also has a fleet with a combat strength equivalent to at least 50,000 soldiers at its disposal. No matter how you analyze it, it is a dead end that cannot be solved.
On the surface Zheng Yiguan and his fleet have been repulsed, but Penghu is very close to the generals. Zheng Yiguan can come and leave whenever he wants, and the defenders cannot stay and cannot stop them.
Jansen had no appetite for breakfast, so he barely ate some fish and rice just to fill his stomach. The situation did not change fundamentally at lunch.
If he could enjoy a feast, the reinforcements sent by the Batavia headquarters must have arrived. Otherwise, a sumptuous dinner would be better served by giving him ten indigenous soldiers to appetize his appetite.
Except for the two camp soldiers and Bolger, Jansen seemed to have no one he could trust on this island, such as the soldiers who had competed with pigs for watermelons not long ago... 11
