Fortunately, the cannonballs fired by the pirates were based on quantity rather than military rank, otherwise Major Babel would have become the highest-ranking officer killed in the Dayuan area.
He whipped his horse and whipped it, causing the mount to gallop into the fortress at a sprinting speed, thereby avoiding the "luxurious enjoyment" of being roasted by the flames or pierced by iron nails.
But the soldiers and soldiers on foot behind them were not so lucky. Large-scale splash damage was unavoidable, and the soldiers with only helmets and breastplates could only defend their main parts.
Min soldiers holding shields may be better. Those who only have offensive weapons, such as matchlocks or spears, can only pray to wish themselves good luck.
Anyone who has experienced this experience will understand that nails flying all over the sky are dozens of times more terrifying than any projectiles. They are completely impossible to guard against. It is impossible for anyone to prevent the punctures of such small things from head to toe. harm.
Even if you are wearing a helmet and breastplate, your limbs will be mercilessly penetrated by iron nails. It is still good to penetrate them, but after they are driven in, they may be left in the bones. If they cannot be removed, it will be really painful.
Colonel Jansen sent an infantry company and two infantry companies, totaling more than 150 people. None of them had any prior experience with this weapon, let alone how harmful it was.
By the time it was discovered, it was too late. Only a handful of reinforcements were able to run into Utrecht Castle. The rest of the reinforcements fell to the ground, rolling on the sand like maggots, constantly squirming, and attacking the people around them. Please help.
The pirates' second shelling was more accurate than the first. About 70% of the shells landed in the designated area, which was about ten to thirty meters northeast of Utrecht Fort.
The previous group of reinforcements who were hit by artillery shells and unable to move quickly could only stay in the shelling area temporarily. Unexpectedly, they were greeted by a new round of bullets before nightfall or climbing into the fortress.
This time the injuries worsened again. Many of the previously wounded soldiers were killed on the spot by the flying nails. Once the nails were driven into the brain, they would be dead. Only a few people could vomit blood, but they would not survive for a while. .
The guys who can still speak are either shouting for help to their companions in the castle, or yelling at the shameless pirates. They all understand that if they continue to stay here, they are waiting to die, and they will die miserably...
The pirates used a very shameless weapon, which was as despicable as their moral character. They did not dare to attack the fortress directly, so they adopted such a clumsy trick. This is definitely not the work of a hero, and does not even lack the courage of a man.
Most of the garrison soldiers were eager to fight the pirates openly and openly. The other side sent a large number of infantry to attack, and then they stayed in the fort with one against ten, using various firearms to block the enemy. This was called a "fair duel."
In the mainland, they used this tactic to resist the Spanish Imperial troops' attack on the Northern Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the pirates should also do the same, otherwise they would deviate from the established combat rules.
"……What?"
Before the wounded soldiers could get up from the ground and limp towards the fortress, a second batch of bullets rained down from the sky. The blow to the slow-moving wounded soldiers was naturally devastating.
Pirates naturally like to hit such low-speed targets, and they will never let go of such a good opportunity easily. Just like before, they will have to hit at least twice before giving up.
The injured soldier who could not move had consciously closed his eyes and decided to resign himself to his fate. Perhaps lying on the ground, the possibility of being injured again would be reduced.
If possible, they would never want to leave the Castle of Geranze again, not even a step, but most of the wounded soldiers had lost the possibility of returning to the castle.
the sky is very blue!
The clouds are very white!
The beach is golden!
The sound of the waves hitting the shore is also very nice!
Dying in such a romantic atmosphere may be a kind of happiness.
However, many people want to live and do not want to die here, especially if they die humiliatingly at the hands of a group of Eastern pirates.
If they had the chance, they would definitely carry out revenge, but this was just thinking about it in their minds. After the war, they would be lucky to become a cripple on crutches.
Thinking about nothing, lying down and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the sky is not bad, but lying on the hot sand is very uncomfortable. The pain of the wound makes everyone even more uncomfortable, but you have to endure it. If you can't endure it, you can only cry. That's all.
No wounded soldier would have thought that he would be knocked down outside Utrecht Castle by exploding shrapnel without even seeing the appearance of a pirate. This means that today is really bad luck and it is not suitable to go to battle...
"Welcome, Mr. Major!"
Captain Ghazi, on behalf of all the defenders in the fortress, welcomed the commander who came to inspect despite the danger, but there was no good gift. Maybe the pirates on the opposite side would fire a "gun salute" as a greeting.
"How's the situation?"
Major Barber risked his life to come here just to understand the specific situation of Utrecht Fort. If it really reached the point where he could not hold on to his life, he must report to Colonel Jansen immediately.
"What you see is the situation we are facing! More than half of the wounded are injured. The pirates have blasted more than a dozen holes in the wall with heavy artillery. There are big cracks on three sides. It is very likely that there will be several shellings in the future. Then it collapsed. We didn’t have many artillery available, and the gun positions were extremely limited. It was difficult to withstand the charge of thousands of enemies. In general, maybe the pirates could launch a single attack and capture this so-called building. For the ruins of a 'fortress'!"
Regarding the commander sent by Colonel Jansen, Captain Ghazi naturally wanted to tell the truth. There was no exaggeration at all. Maybe after three or four shellings, Utrecht Fort would really be reduced to a ruins.
He, Captain De Boer, and Captain Williams, who came for reinforcements before, all believed that the fortress could not be defended, and its fall was only a matter of time, but the Castle of Geranze would not let them abandon the defense here easily.
Captain Ghazi did not want to say from his own mouth that he would voluntarily abandon Utrechtburg, which would mean that he would have to bear the main responsibility after the war, so he let Major Barber explain it to Colonel Jansen.
"...Then how long do you think you can hold on?"
Babel felt that the situation here was much worse than he expected. Facing the stormy bombardment of the pirate fleet, it was questionable whether he could hold on until tomorrow.
"The pirate fleet will bombard every fifteen minutes, four times an hour. If we don't get follow-up reinforcements, it will take up to three or four hours! Maybe two hours! Or even one hour!"
What Ghazi said was not an alarmist. This fortress could collapse at any time. Once it collapsed, it would no longer be able to hold on and must retreat immediately.
"Okay, I will go back and report to Mr. Colonel, and he and Chief Berg will make a decision!"
Babel didn't want to stay here any longer. If he was hit by the pirates with heavy artillery, he would be dead without any body parts. It would be better to find an excuse to escape while there is still no movement.
"Okay! Then please leave it to Mr. Major!"
Ghazi felt that Babel would not plead with Jansen for them. The location of Utrecht Fort was extremely important. As long as it could be defended, it must be defended.
Colonel Janssen didn't want his Castle of Geranje to be bombarded by pirates, so he had to find someone to defend the Utrecht Castle on the top of the mountain, and they were the unlucky ones.
If these people in the fortress do not want to be killed by shells or buried alive by bricks, they must retreat. To retreat, they must disobey orders, and if they disobey orders, they will be punished. This is a contradictory choice.
Otherwise, we have to hope that Berg, Jansen and Babel will all be killed by pirate shells, so that no one can restrain their own troops and can do whatever they want.
At that time, everyone can evacuate if they want, and run away if they want. If they find the ship, they may be able to go to Batavia. Anyway, it is better than continuing to stay in this ghost place, euphemistically called "holding on" many.
But this possibility is very slim. Cursing your boss to die unexpectedly feels extremely evil and unrealistic when you think about it.
"...What? Up to four hours?"
Jansen was astonished when he heard the report of Babbel who had returned from the top of the mountain. He sent more than 360 people to Utrecht Castle, but in exchange he could last four more hours. This is still optimistic. estimate.
Of course, this result will not satisfy Colonel Jansen. He thinks that with the help of so many reinforcements, they have to hold on until next week at least, and they have to hold on for at least five days. If they can't hold on even tonight, then they still need to reinforce them. Well?
"They said that pirates would bombard once every fifteen minutes and sixteen times in four hours. The condition of the walls of Utrecht Castle is already very bad. Four hours of bombardment will definitely cause it to collapse!"
Babel was not willing to let the defenders on the top of the mountain retreat to the Castle of Geranje. Being occupied by pirates on the top of the mountain was undoubtedly the beginning of disaster, but he did not want to see these tenacious officers and soldiers buried alive.
It would be best if they could continue to hold on on the top of the mountain without being buried alive. If the fortress collapsed, they could still fight in the ruins. Although this was a bit difficult, it had to be done.
"...Even if it is lost, we must organize troops at night to take it back! We must not let the pirates occupy the top of the mountain for a long time, not even for a day!"
Colonel Jansen also guessed that the situation there was rarely critical, so he tactfully made some concessions in his words and explained the worst plan.
Since the pirates cannot be defeated during the day, they will launch a night attack. When the two armies engage in a melee, the pirate fleet will not fire easily, otherwise their soldiers will be accidentally injured.
If the position on the top of the mountain can be retaken at night, perhaps we can continue to hold on. Otherwise, if the Utrecht Castle on the top of the mountain is lost, the Geranje Castle will also be bombarded by pirates.
Launching a bombardment from the top of the mountain can cause greater damage to the Castle of Geranze than using naval guns on the sea. Moreover, it can completely avoid the solid walls and foundations and choose to destroy the internal buildings calmly.
The biggest weakness of Relanze Castle is that it is built at the foot of the mountain. This is its fatal weakness in wartime. Once it is controlled by the enemy, our own side will be very passive. It is obvious that Zheng Yiguan has found this breakthrough.
The ensuing battle would be very fierce, but in order to be able to hold on to the castle of Geranze and hold on until the reinforcements sent by Batavia arrived, everyone except women and children took up arms and participated in the battle.
If not, it would be better to surrender to Zheng Yiguan in advance. At least he can keep his family property. If he surrenders now, everyone will have nothing. This condition is completely unacceptable.
"Then can we hold the top of the mountain?"
Bolger was also afraid. He knew the consequences of losing the top of the mountain, but apart from worry, there seemed to be nothing he could do to help Jansen. Mining soldiers had been organized and part of them had been sent out.
But the minions in the castle are also limited and cannot be used at will. It would be fine if there were three to five thousand people, but if there are only a few hundred people, they must be treated with care. When they are all used up, it will be the defenders' turn to fight. .
"...Do your best!"
Yang Sen could not guarantee that he could hold it. The actual situation was that it was very likely that he could not hold it. His troops were so small, and the original intention of garrisoning here was not to fight in the field with Zheng Yiguan's tens of thousands of troops.
Now in order to ensure the safety of Geranze Castle, we are forced to reinforce the Utrecht Castle on the top of the mountain. If it really falls during the day, we will have to launch a night attack. From the beginning of the war to now, all decisions have been passive.
Zheng Yiguan was forcing them to go out to fight the pirate army. This was clearly to put the defenders to death. With such a small force, it was difficult to even defend the castle. How could there be any spare power to go out and fight?
At present, they want to hold Utrecht Fort but are unable to do so, and they want to repel the invading pirate army but are unable to do so. They are already in a dilemma.
If Zheng Yiguan could really be made to withdraw his troops by spending money, this would be a good idea. Unfortunately, the stingy Bolger did not approve of this method.
He didn't think about it carefully. If the castle of Geranze was captured by the pirate army, what would be the use of keeping so much gold and silver? In the end, they were all captured by Zheng Yiguan.
Colonel Janssen is thinking about how to deal with the most difficult battle in his life. If he doesn't fight well, he will die anyway, either in the high-ranking officer's Castle of Geranze or in the prison of Batavia...
"Hiss... very good! It's really amazing!"
Hu Dawei's artillery battalion was truly extraordinary in combat power. A single salvo was able to knock down nearly a hundred red barbarians. Zheng Zhi'ao, who was on the front line, couldn't help but praise him after watching it with a telescope.
I'm afraid calling one's own big blunderbuss can't achieve such an effect. It seems there is still a gap. After all, they are the people appointed by the prince, and they have some abilities.
"Haha, Brother Zheng is so ridiculous! It's a trivial matter!"
Hu Dawei was rarely polite on his lips, but he was extremely proud in his heart. His men had all participated in the battle to regain Datong, and they were very sure of the established targets for shelling.
In particular, Hongyi did not know the power of mortars and came in a dense formation to support the fortress on the top of the mountain. This gave the explosive shells a great opportunity to kill.
As long as it falls into a crowd of people, one explosive pack can knock down more than ten red barbarians, and several explosive packs can have the killing effect of dozens of conventional bullets.
The tactics of using mortars and large guns on ships to deal with the red barbarians on the top of the mountain and in the castle of Geranje are indeed very targeted. In order to ensure that the small castle on the top of the mountain is not lost, they must provide reinforcements.
In this way, the Red Yi reinforcements can be killed repeatedly. After a few times, the Red Yi defenders will be severely weakened and will no longer be able to hold on to the small fort on the top of the mountain.
Soon, the fleet that received Zheng Zhi'ao's signal began to resume the fierce bombardment of Utrecht Fort. This was the first time Hongyi had tasted this kind of offensive routine, but for the first time, he was choked by thousands of shells and almost rolled his eyes...
