Even though he saw that the "Turtle Castle" opposite was in danger, Zheng Zhi'ao didn't even have the slightest intention of entering the army, he was just watching the fun.
After the mortars had finished cleaning up the reinforcements coming out of the Castle of Geranze, he sent a signal to the fleet and asked the naval guns to continue to greet the defenders in the "Turtle Castle".
No matter how hard your "turtle shell" is, it can't withstand the pounding of thousands of bullets. If it doesn't work once, just try it a few more times. Anyway, we won't withdraw our troops if we don't recover the majority this time.
The "Turtle Castle" in front of us is far less strong than the Castle of Relanja down the mountain. It has been riddled with bullets, but the Red Barbarians inside are so badly beaten that they don't choose to retreat even if they don't come out to fight.
Zheng Zhi'ao even doubted whether they were squatting inside and being blown away by the storm of bullets, but judging from the situation just now, they would at least call for support, and it would be some time before they turned into idiots.
Since there was no need to send troops to attack the fort, Zheng Ju, the pioneer officer, became a decoration. His two thousand soldiers also followed on the ridge to watch the excitement. The battle was quite relaxed and enjoyable.
It was entirely our own big guns fighting against the fortress occupied by Hongyi, and the infantry became spectators. If it hadn't been for the hot weather and the fighting, everyone would have wanted to go for a swim in the sea.
"Brother, do you want me to go up and try my skills?"
Zheng Ju really couldn't bear it any longer. If the fleet insisted on tearing down the wall and teasing Hongyi like a mouse, then why would they send the land division here?
This is great. Tens of thousands of people are staring at the shelling scene on the opposite side of Dajuan Island. It is almost like watching a play. During lunch, I really eat and watch at the same time, and from time to time there are cheers and cheers...
"You are in a hurry! Don't even think about it. If our family and horses occupy the top of the mountain, how can the Hong Yi in the castle not be anxious? If the Hong Yi wants to take back the top of the mountain, are you afraid that there will be no battle?"
Zheng Zhi'ao has completely understood the tactics taught by the prince to Zhenhaibo Zheng Zhilong. This trick is so clever that it can be said that it has grasped Hongyi's seven inches, and they can no longer hide and defend.
Originally, the senior officials of the Zheng family planned to land at Damuan Town, occupy this place as a bridgehead, use large guns to engage the defenders in the Relanje Castle, and then send troops across the open ground to carry out siege warfare.
But the consequence of this is that there will be huge casualties. The open space is hundreds of steps wide. The Hongyi can use various firearms to block the attack at the city head. Moreover, there is a base in the inner city of the Castle of Geranze, and the flat ground rises steeply. It is several feet long and extremely difficult to climb.
Therefore, after Zhenhaibo Zheng Zhilong compared the two plans, he was happy to definitely adopt the prince's plan with low casualties and high profits. As long as the Lu Division captured the top of the mountain, they could wait and see.
"Uh... Goodbye, brother!"
Zheng Ju also understood. It turns out that this is to wait for work, to defend before attacking, to sit on the top of the mountain and wait for the red barbarian soldiers to rush up. Isn't this as easy as beating Sun Tzu? .
Even though there are several powerful muskets in the Castle of Geranze that can cover the attack of the Red Yi soldiers, they also have large muskets, much more than the Red Yi soldiers, as well as this inconspicuous but powerful mortar.
Then there will no longer be fear that the red barbarians in the big fort will launch a counterattack, and in this way, the army will be able to return in triumph before long, report the battle to the court, and wait to receive the reward. How happy!
"Go back and tell the kids that you have rested enough during the day. At night, your eyes will be wide open by this general. If you let a Hongyi escape, I will not let you go lightly!"
Zheng Zhi'ao would not let his vanguard troops idle. Not fighting during the day did not mean that they would not fight at night. He did not believe that when it was dark and windy at night, Hongyi would not come out to make a sneak attack.
"Brother, are you saying that Hongyi will launch a night attack?"
Zheng Ju was keenly aware that the situation seemed to have changed. Instead, he slept during the day and worked at night. However, with the roar of cannons, he could not rest well.
"Without the fortress on the top of the mountain, Hongyi still dares to fight our army in broad daylight? One thousand against ten thousand? I will lend him ten courages!"
After seeing the power of mortars, Zheng Zhi'ao became more confident about capturing the "Turtle Fort" and holding the top of the mountain. As long as Hongyi dared to come out of the big fort at the foot of the mountain, they would never want to go back.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Within half an hour, the fleet launched a fourth bombardment. This time it seemed to have reached the critical point that Utrecht Fort could withstand. The bricks building the fort began to be blasted into the sky in pieces, and even fell to dozens of pieces. A place beyond steps.
Dust was flying all around, almost covering the entire dilapidated fortress. Although there were sugar water, glutinous rice, sand pounding and other materials as adhesives, under the continuous bombardment, this seemingly solid fortress finally held up. Can't stand it anymore.
A large piece of the wall was knocked down from the second floor by the cannonball and hit the ground heavily. A huge gap appeared in the upper level of the entire fortress, as if the front teeth were knocked out and air began to leak.
Immediately, a cannonball flew into the fort from the gap, and then there was a blood-curdling scream, but this was just the prelude to the end of Utrecht Fort.
Under the heavy hammer of the fierce rain of bullets, the fortress that had persisted for several hours and suffered thousands of shells finally collapsed.
The joint between the second floor and the first floor was hit the most, causing most of the support structure to be destroyed. The originally uniform force was no longer balanced and tilted to one side, causing a partial collapse.
As a result, more than 20 wounded people lying on the first floor were affected, half of them were directly killed, and the rest were choked by the dust sprayed out and coughed uncontrollably, unable to open their eyes at all.
The defenders inside couldn't bear this hellish combat environment, and poured out from all exits. They rolled and crawled one by one, looking extremely embarrassed, but in order to save their lives, they didn't care so much.
Some guys didn't even bring weapons, so they ran towards the castle of Geranze down the mountain. Without paying attention, they stepped on the ground and rolled down.
At this time, no one will take care of the wounded inside. It would be better if they can escape on their own. If they cannot escape, they can surrender to the pirates.
Those whose legs and feet were still strong all fled down the mountain with a clear mind. After the collapse of chaos, the command authority of Captain Ghazi, Captain DeBoer, Captain Williams and the newly arrived Captain Meyer was gone.
When lives are at stake, no one among the soldiers cares what they say. If these officers are willing to shoot, just shoot. That will directly lead to a mutiny.
Faced with more than a dozen bombardments launched by the pirate fleet, the soldiers had already endured to the limit. Any pressure from the outside would cause them to lose control of their emotions. It would be a piece of cake to shoot their immediate superiors.
Since you are going to die, at least kill someone first to be buried with you. This is cost-effective. Anyone who dares to provoke you has had enough life and is willing to die with you.
Otherwise, it counts, so you'd better not mess with me!
Even if that guy Jansen comes, I won’t buy it!
If he wants to fight pirates, let him go up there himself!
So many people died in Utrechtburg, and nothing was gained in the end. If they continue to hold on, wouldn't they die in vain?
"Lieutenant, what should we do?"
South Fort is closer to the main force of the pirate army than Utrecht Fort. However, the pirates concentrated their firepower on bombarding Utrecht Fort. South Fort can actually survive here.
But now everyone has seen that Utrecht Fort has collapsed, and the defenders inside have completely collapsed. In this case, South Fort has become a tactical island in a practical sense.
Using thirty men to defend against an army of tens of thousands of pirates was a complete daydream. The best option was to retreat immediately while everyone still had their arms and legs broken.
"...Okay! If you have no objections, then we will retreat too!"
Lieutenant and deputy company commander Luke Depay decided to immediately abandon this fortress, which is smaller than Utrecht Fort. If the pirates find that the defenders here have not retreated, then everyone will wait to be buried alive by the shells fired by the opponent.
There is no doubt that this is an extremely wise decision, saving the lives of most of the soldiers in the company. Everyone is secretly glad that they have not been in the same situation as the Utrecht Fort defenders.
According to the visual inspection and estimation of the Nanbao defenders, it was hit by at least a thousand artillery shells, many of which were fired by heavy artillery. Only by being there can you understand how terrifying it is.
If he were stationed at Utrecht Castle, he would have gone crazy long ago. Every bombardment launched by the pirates would be as terrifying as hitting his own heart directly with a hammer.
The relieved Nanbao garrison ran so fast that it was difficult for the pirate artillery on the opposite side to aim at these fast-moving targets, and was finally forced to give up the plan to bombard them...
The South Fort was voluntarily abandoned, and the defenders of the North Fort had no intention of holding on. The remaining half of the company's soldiers also followed the retreat and retreated to the Castle of Geranje, which was their last stronghold that they could rely on.
"Do you know what it means if the top of the mountain is lost?"
Colonel Jansen looked at the five captains and one lieutenant running back from the top of the mountain with a livid face. In less than a day, such an important strategic location was lost. He almost fainted to the ground with anger.
The six officers also remained silent. They had done all the work anyway, and it didn't matter if they were reprimanded by their superiors. If anyone thought they could hold on, they would give all their salary to those people.
If the top of the mountain is lost, the Castle of Geranje will not be able to hold on for even one month, let alone three months. The enemy can condescendingly bombard any building in the castle, and the defenders can only fight with exhaustion.
"In view of the faults and mistakes you have made, tonight, I hope you will lead your respective soldiers to retake the top of the mountain and repel those brutal and dirty pirates. Otherwise, I will report your performance in this battle to Batavia Council!"
Colonel Jansen had no other choice but to use this to intimidate these subordinates who were disobeying orders.
Those people in the council are the ones looking for trouble. Once an officer deserts, they will not let it go.
"However, gentlemen, as long as you lead the soldiers to recapture the top of the mountain, I can give each of you fifty silver coins. If you kill a pirate, you can get a hundred silver coins!"
Bolger, who was observing the situation on the sidelines, used a high reward to relieve the tense atmosphere. He believed that using a high reward could boost morale and stimulate fighting spirit.
Even if there were 10,000 pirates who came to attack this time and they were all wiped out by Jansen's men, he could still afford the money. It would be much better than giving it to that greedy and cruel guy Zheng Yiguan for free. .
"Okay! Go down and get ready! We'll take action at nine o'clock tonight!"
Colonel Jansen calmed down slightly and informed his six subordinates that something must be done, otherwise they would all die in the end, just sitting there and waiting for death.
The enemy has just occupied the top of the mountain, and it is estimated that they still have to clean up the corpses, collect the wreckage, and set up artillery positions. This will take some time, so even if they can bombard the castle at the bottom of the mountain, they will have to wait until dawn at the earliest.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
"Boom boom boom boom..."
Jansen and Berg first heard a burst of gunfire, and then there was a violent explosion, and even the floor beneath their feet was shaking slightly.
This shows that the pirates have begun to bombard the Castle of Geranje. They are too efficient, right? Why wasn't supply to our side so fast before?
"Quick! Use the mortar! Launch a counterattack!"
Jansen had anticipated this situation a long time ago, so he knew that direct-fire cannons would not be able to do much damage to the pirates hiding on the back slope. At this time, they would have to use mortar cannons that could deflect fire.
He hurriedly used his binoculars to check the situation on the top of the mountain. Sure enough, except for some enemy infantry and a few piles of bonfires used for lighting and warning, there was no trace of artillery at all.
That means that Zheng Yiguan deployed all their artillery on the back slope, and this kind of artillery, like the mortars equipped by his own side, can perform direct fire. This is the most terrifying thing.
"Report! Twenty-five soldiers and thirty-seven soldiers were injured!"
Such heavy casualties occurred during the first shelling, which caught Jansen off guard. Not only did the enemy also have mortars, but their power was no less than that of his own.
"Treat the wounded immediately, carry the dead out of the castle and bury them to avoid the plague! Immediately order the soldiers to use mortars to launch a counterattack, and we cannot let the pirates continue to bombard the castle at will from the top of the mountain!"
Colonel Jansen no longer cared about the dead and wounded soldiers, and simply gave instructions to launch a counterattack. If they were bombarded all night, I am afraid that by tomorrow morning, the Castle of Geranze would have been bombarded beyond recognition.
"How is the situation in the outer city?"
Bolger was very worried that his governor's residence would be attacked. It was a beautiful small building with white walls and an orange roof.
"Sir, the enemy's main attack is on the outer city, and many buildings have been destroyed!"
The ordering soldier only made a visual inspection before running over to report. The two officers could clearly see what the specific situation was by looking outside the inner city.
"...Hoo~!"
Bolger immediately ran out, holding on to the city wall and looking in the direction of his official residence. Suddenly he found that it was safe and sound, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
At this moment, the second batch of shells came with a whistling sound, and an explosive package landed on the roof of the official residence, and then it blossomed.
This small building that was deeply loved by Berg was immediately opened with a very irregular and unsightly "skylight", but the process of opening the window was more shocking and dazzling.
"...Damn pirates! Damn Zheng Yiguan!"
Bolger was immediately stunned. He stared at his official residence and stood there for a long time, and then started to curse.
He left so many buildings untouched and hit this one. This bastard must have let the artillery do this on purpose.
Yang Sen glanced at it silently, and then thought to himself: Be lucky, at least you were not inside during the bombardment!
