Now that he has figured out an effective strategy, Zheng Zhi'ao doesn't want to just show off his bravery this time. He wants to do some delicate embroidery work to avoid being laughed at by everyone.
As long as the Castle of Geranze no longer sends reinforcements up the mountain to reinforce the small fort on the top of the mountain, he will let his fleet continue to bombard the place until this obstructive fortress is destroyed.
Zheng Zhi'ao didn't believe that the defenders in Relanjia Castle could hold back. He watched helplessly as his troops occupied the top of the mountain, and then calmly bombarded their last stronghold on Dajuan Island.
"Eat and drink enough! It's time to get to work!"
"Quick! Get up! Load ammunition! Get ready to fire!"
Zheng Zhifeng got the signal and immediately asked his subordinates who were digesting the food in their stomachs to resume their old duties. Everyone thought that what they had done just now was enough, and the rest depended on Master Lu's ability.
Unexpectedly, Master Lu fired hundreds of shots without hesitation, and then it was their turn to appear on stage. What on earth was going on? Are tens of thousands of people from the mainland army going to land on the island to pick up trophies on the mountain?
The fleet was anchored in the open sea, and the big guns in the castle of Geranze could not be hit, so there was nothing to worry about. The skilled gunners loaded, aimed, and launched all the steps in one go, very quickly.
Within five minutes, the entire fleet roared for the first time, and a continuous stream of white smoke appeared on the sea again, with frequent dots of fire flashing in the middle.
This tactic is extremely targeted. If the red barbarians do not send more reinforcements, the Zheng army will use naval guns to bombard Utrecht Fort. If the red barbarians send more reinforcements, the Zheng army will bombard the reinforcements with mortars. Anyway, the red barbarians want it no matter what. Being bombarded.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Each salvo fired a thousand muskets to the bottom, shaking the hilltop where Utrecht Castle is located. The castle was also in danger. Under the crazy attack of muskets, cracks and collapses continued to occur. .
Captain Williams and Lieutenant Hendrix, who had just arrived, as well as dozens of subordinates who could still breathe, realized what it means to "live like a year". This is really not a place for people to live.
Captain Ghazi and Captain DeBoer will call for reinforcements. It is normal for people to die. If they continue to persist, the situation in the fortress will become worse, and all the officers and soldiers may be buried alive.
The abominable pirates relied on their numerous artillery and used cannonballs to chew away the outer wall of the fortress bit by bit. Even though the outer wall was ten feet thick, it could not withstand being chewed over and over again.
Captain DeBoer already felt that under the continuous shelling, the wall facing the sea was left with four or five feet of thickness, and he could open holes for ventilation without waiting until nightfall.
Judging from this level of shelling, we may be able to hold on until tomorrow, but we will definitely not be able to last until the day after tomorrow, so we must make plans early.
There is no need to wait for the pirates to attack from the ridge. As long as Utrecht Fort may collapse, they must retreat immediately. Otherwise, let alone holding on, there is no possibility of survival.
If Zheng Yiguan and his pirate fleet were so deliberately fooling themselves, not to mention the Utrecht Castle here, even three similar fortresses would be destroyed one after another.
Only by building the Castle of Relanja here can it withstand the crazy bombardment of the pirate fleet. This is the only feasible way. But the possibility is zero at the moment, because the Castle of Geranze cannot be moved...
The atmosphere in the fortress was extremely depressing. The wounded soldiers were constantly wailing and moaning, and the uninjured people were also in a low mood. A single shelling would make everyone tremble.
No one wants to fight in this situation. The idea of repelling the pirates has long since disappeared. Survival is what everyone wants, even if they run to the inland area on the other side and hide.
"No! I can't help it!"
A soldier named Brewer really couldn't bear the situation of being passively beaten. Under the watchful eyes of his companions, he pushed away the soldiers blocking his way, opened the iron door, and ran out directly.
Min soldiers were recruited temporarily and had no formal training. Many of them had never participated in actual combat, so their psychological endurance was not great. To endure the bombardment required a strong will, but Brewer did not have it.
Many soldiers looked out from the perforations and saw the strong man dodging left and right in the hail of bullets, running for his life in a Z-shaped route. They were lucky enough to not be attacked for the time being...
"boom!"
Just when everyone was congratulating themselves, a cannonball hit the strong man's leg, breaking his calf. Brewer was so painful that he pinched the wound that exposed the bones. Wail loudly.
But no one responded, let alone went to rescue. The defenders in the fortress knew that going out would mean death, and it was not worth being buried with such an ignorant guy. If he was willing to die, he could just let him die alone. .
All the soldiers are as cold and ruthless as their three captains. Any form of pity and sympathy is meaningless at this time. This is the fate of disobeying orders, which can serve as a wake-up call for other soldiers.
He could have waited until the pirates' bombardment stopped before running out, but he had to run away under the rain of bullets. The risks and costs caused by this must be borne by himself. This is the tragic end of a fool.
"You've all seen it! This is the result of going out without authorization! We are a whole, no one can be an exception!"
Captain Ghazi warned in a cold voice, letting his men understand the current situation. If they disobey orders and go out on their own, they will end up like the idiot just now.
"Send a flare! Ask the colonel for help!"
Warning alone is of no use. To give hope to the defenders here, Colonel Jansen must send more reinforcements. Captain DeBoer wants the colonel to understand that Utrecht Fort is already in critical danger.
The fireworks used by Ming people to celebrate can also play a role in conveying information, especially at night, they will become particularly eye-catching. Although it is daytime, for the defenders of Relanja Castle who can look directly at this place, they can It's clear at a glance.
Captain DeBoer's subtext is that if Colonel Janssen does not send the second support army, then the defenders here at Utrecht Fort can negotiate on their own to abandon the fort and retreat to Geranze Castle.
Retreating without authorization is an act of disobedience to military orders, but if the defenders of Utrecht Fort cannot receive follow-up reinforcements and face the danger of being buried alive by pirate naval guns, then they will not care about formal military orders. It is still more important to save their lives.
If the three captains and the hundreds of soldiers under his command all think so, even Colonel Jansen must take everyone's feelings into consideration, otherwise he will lose his command authority.
Mr. Colonel promised that he would continue to send reinforcements to help them hold on to this fortress. He had fulfilled his promise before, but the current situation has far exceeded what he had imagined.
The pirate fleet concentrated all its firepower to bombard Utrecht Fort. Judging from the current situation, they were going to wipe the fortress off the top of the mountain in one fell swoop!
Utrecht Castle is not unsturdily built, but it is obviously not used to defend an entire fleet, especially a fleet with hundreds of large battleships and hundreds of heavy cannons.
Judging from this level of shelling, Utrecht Fort will collapse the day after tomorrow at the latest. Not only will it be unable to hold it, but it will also cause heavy casualties.
Before that, the defenders in the fortress still had a choice. If they continued to hold on, they could contain the enemy's attack, but they would inevitably need reinforcements from the Castle of Geranje.
If we give up here, we can reduce casualties. However, once this commanding height is lost, the consequences are foreseeable, and the overall defense of the Castle of Geranze will be greatly damaged.
"...Why do you need support again?"
Colonel Jansen could see the signal flares rising from the top of the mountain without a telescope, but this time his subordinate's request made him somewhat dissatisfied.
Almost four companies of troops have just been dispatched to support Utrecht Fort. Although there are three companies of minions inside, they can still be considered effective.
How long had passed before reinforcements were sent over? By analogy, if we wanted to hold on to Utrecht Castle, we would need thousands of people in one day. How is this possible?
As a colonel, Jansen planned to send a hundred people a day to the top of the mountain, which would last for ten days. However, compared with the current battle situation, this idea was already unrealistic.
The six companies on the east coast have been cut off from the majority of the defenders by the enemy fleet. It is impossible for them to return from the narrow gorge to the Castle of Geranje during the day. They can only see if they can break through the pirates' defense line at night.
On this basis, the reinforcement of Utrecht Fort can only be mainly based on minions, supplemented by soldiers, so as to ensure that there are enough troops to help hold on to this commanding heights.
"... Do you agree?"
Both Bolger and Jansen knew the importance of this commanding heights, and their demands could be met within the limits of what they could bear, including giving them five times their usual salary.
Once the top of the mountain is occupied by pirates, it will be the beginning of an unprecedented disaster. The outer city of Geranze Castle will be bombarded with unprecedented violence.
"……promise!"
Jansen pondered for a long time before agreeing. He also knew that the pressure on the defenders at the top of the mountain was unprecedented. To what extent the castle of Geranze was bombarded before, they would receive the same treatment there now.
If reinforcements are not sent, I believe that the defenders there will retreat on their own within a short period of time, which means all their previous efforts have been wasted, so they must grit their teeth to support them, even if Jansen is not happy to do it.
"Brian, go over and see what's going on, and then come back and report!"
This time not only did reinforcements need to be dispatched, but the deputy regimental commander, Major Brian Barber, was also asked to go over and conduct an on-the-spot inspection to avoid being misled by the exaggerated defenders.
"yes!"
Major Babel didn't want to go to that ghost place, but as a soldier, even if he was just a mercenary employed by the East India Company, he had to carry out orders.
The highest military rank in the overseas territories under the East India Company is captain, and the military ranks above this are not officially recognized, and are only positions established to facilitate the management of multiple companies.
If the Batavia headquarters knew that he was incompetent, then this fictitious military rank would have no formal meaning, and he might even be severely punished by the council.
Fortunately, the pirates' shellings were all on time, with a quarter of an hour between each time. It was relatively safe to return during the interval between the two shellings. This was the only thing that made Major Babel feel relieved.
After the war started, both at the strategic and tactical levels, our side was suppressed by Zheng Yiguan and his fleet. Only by defending at all costs could we win the support of reinforcements sent by Batavia.
The situation of the defenders of Utrecht Fort on the top of this mountain is exactly the same. Giving up Utrecht Fort is equivalent to giving up Geranje Castle, so Utrecht Fort must be defended, let alone give up voluntarily.
However, the defenders in Geranze Castle also saw the situation where the reinforcements encountered enemy shelling halfway and suffered heavy losses. This was the biggest concern of sending troops to help Utrecht Castle.
"Colonel, I hope to get artillery support from the castle to prevent our troops from being injured by pirates' artillery!"
Major Barber didn't want to be blown to the ground by a cannonball fired by pirates before he could reach Utrecht Castle, or even be killed on the spot.
"No problem! Don't worry! We can use the mortar!"
Colonel Jansen immediately agreed. This request could still be met. Even if the pirates on the ridge could not be completely hit, they could still be greatly frightened.
The vigilant pirates moved very carefully along the south side of the ridge this time, so even though the defenders of the Castle of Geranze had sixteen mortars that could perform direct fire, it was difficult to effectively block the enemy's attack.
Due to issues with the accuracy of shelling, it can only be identified through the observation post of Utrecht Fort on the top of the mountain, and it is very difficult to transmit information between each other. It is not yet possible to identify it with flares or semaphores.
With an uneasy heart, Major Babel, who was fully clothed, could only carry it. All he could do was to protect his head, torso and limbs with armor, just like a knight.
This time he also planned to ride a horse. After all, with a mount, the speed would be faster and the time would be short, thereby avoiding being hit by the pirates' cannonballs. He did not believe that the pirates would specifically bombard him.
"What? Another one coming out? Hongyi is really not afraid of death?"
The two sides have been fighting until now. Zheng Zhi'ao began to admire Hongyi when he saw that he was unwilling to send hundreds of soldiers out to reinforce the fortress on the top of the mountain.
"Then let me take good care of Hongyi!"
Hu Dawei hurriedly ordered the battalion commander Han Xiao to prepare to open fire. The horsemen should be ignored for the time being. Most of the Hongyi infantry must be killed. Such a golden opportunity must not be missed.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The terrifying iron barrel cannon fired again. After achieving more impressive results, no one among Zheng Jun's generals doubted the power of this firearm. It is true that "firearms cannot be judged by their appearance"!
It is this kind of humble-looking firearm that can blow up the Red Barbarians and make them cry for their fathers and mothers and urinate. In the words of the battalion commander Han Xiao, his mortars only speak for their results, because facts speak louder than words. This is The prince said it!
At this time, if the two hundred reinforcements sent out from the Castle of Geranze had turned around and ran back, they would still have time. The impact point of the artillery shells was near the Utrecht Castle, not where they were marching.
But for people without battlefield experience, it is very difficult to make this kind of judgment. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is prophetic. Few people can predict the impact point of the artillery shell in advance.
All they could do was run as fast as possible, hoping to get into Utrecht Castle and take refuge first. However, no matter how fast their legs ran, they could not run faster than the cannonballs falling from the sky.
Major Babel, who was dressed as a knight, only felt the explosions behind him, and the ensuing air waves almost knocked him off his horse to the ground. He was so frightened that he didn't even dare to look back, for fear of being cooked by the fire... …
