Through multiple statistics from lookout sentries at various positions in the Castle of Geranze, as well as subsequent summary data, Colonel Jansen believed that the number of mortars owned by Zheng Yiguan would not be less than 300, and may even be as high as six. More than a hundred doors.
This is because the enemy's mortars fired at an extremely high frequency, with extremely short intervals. When the rate of fire was at its highest, it fired seven times in half an hour. For the defenders, this was unthinkable.
If the defenders also fire at the same rate of fire, even if the mortar has a large caliber and dissipates heat faster than the cannon, the heat generated by this rate of fire greatly exceeds its own heat dissipation capacity. The barrel of the mortar is Unbearable.
Therefore, the only reasonable explanation is that the enemy has an extremely large number of mortars and can fire in turns. Only based on such prerequisites, Zheng Yiguan's pirate artillery unit can carry out such a violent bombardment.
During an artillery bombardment, the Castle of Geranze was attacked by a hundred cannonballs, which meant that Zheng Yiguan had at least three hundred mortars!
This is only the most conservative estimate. If we speculate based on the frequency of enemy shelling, each mortar will need to cool down for one-third and a quarter of an hour after firing.
Then Zheng Yiguan would have six hundred mortars, unless he was wealthy enough to use the mortars as disposable weapons, regardless of the fact that overheating of the mortar barrel would cause the chamber to explode.
As a general of the Ming Empire and a former pirate leader, Colonel Jansen really couldn't think of a reason why Zheng Yiguan equipped his army with so many mortars.
The range of the mortar is far inferior to that of the cannon. Its main purpose is to siege cities. It can barely be used in field battles and only when the opponent does not have many conventional artillery.
Zheng Yiguan's army has so many mortars, and it takes a long time to produce these mortars. Could it be that he has long coveted the Dutch Da Yuan area?
A guy who relies on maritime trade as his main source of income purchases artillery for his troops for land warfare, especially siege warfare. This is extremely unreasonable in itself.
The Spanish fleet also carried a large number of artillery when attacking the Netherlands, but that was to regain control of the Northern Netherlands and was also a necessary weapon for the army.
It is understandable that Zheng Yiguan's fleet has a large number of naval guns. After all, it has control of the sea in the Eastern Sea.
But his army was equipped with hundreds of mortars, which puzzled Colonel Jansen.
If the worst possibility is true as he speculated, then the next two months will be a hellish life for the defenders.
It is no exaggeration to say that these 3,000 people in the Castle of Geranze are equivalent to fighting against the firepower output of the Spanish Army equivalent to 50,000 or even 100,000 people.
The Batavia headquarters had to send five to six thousand reinforcements to relieve the siege here. If only a thousand people were sent, it would be regarded as a death rather than a relief.
Even if the company's fleet can defeat Zheng Yiguan's fleet, it is still unrealistic to completely drive the pirate army back to the other side.
They can completely occupy the east coast, collude with the local indigenous people, and use the favorable terrain to attack and harass their own combat troops.
As a pioneer in spreading civilization, Colonel Jansen is very aware of the character of these indigenous people. As long as they can provide some necessities of life, they may turn to Zheng Yiguan at any time, and maybe they have already done so.
Those natives are completely unreliable. They may have cooperated with the extremely wealthy pirate leader. If they want to defend the castle of Geranje, they can only rely on themselves.
However, judging from the current situation of enemy shelling, this idea seems to be a bit too much, because the defenders not only have very few troops, but are also at a disadvantage in terrain.
The sun was shining brightly outside and the scenery was picturesque. However, all the defenders could only hide in the dark basement of the castle. No one dared to go out when shelled.
Facing the aggressive Zheng Yiguan and his pirate army, Bolger felt that they were just a group of human rats. Not long after the war started, they had to live like this.
Perhaps the mice are in a better situation than the defenders. At least if they feel that one place is not good enough, they can go to another place to dig holes and stay there.
On the other hand, the defenders had basically zero chance of going anywhere else except this castle.
Relanje Castle is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with sand dune ridges behind it, all the way south, leading to the narrow canyon facing the east coast. Without the cover of our own ships, the breakout operation will suffer huge casualties.
Even if the defenders could break through the encirclement, it would be impossible to take away the women and children together. They would inevitably fall into the hands of Zheng Yiguan, and the outcome would be difficult to predict.
Even if the defenders fight their way out from here, without the support of the fleet, they still cannot escape from Da Yuan Island, and there is very little hope of crossing the narrow gorge to the east coast.
It is very likely that Zheng Yiguan, who learned about the terrain of the island, was heavily fortified there. Otherwise, the six companies performing tasks on the east coast should have returned long ago.
Jansen believed that there were two reasons why they were unable to return. One was that the enemy had too many troops defending the narrow gorge, making it impossible for them to break through.
Another reason is that these six companies have been annihilated by Zheng Yiguan's pirate troops, so they will never have to come back.
The garrison soldiers in the castle reported that they could vaguely hear the sound of gunfire from the east bank, indicating that the fighting there was still continuing, and perhaps the troops sent to the east bank could still persist in fighting.
It's best that this is the case. The defenders in Relanze Castle have tried their best and caused thousands of casualties to Zheng Yiguan's troops. There is really no spare power to support the troops on the east coast.
If the officers in the company are smart enough, they can see from the current situation that what they want to do is to do their best to protect themselves.
Only in this way can we survive, contain a certain number of pirate troops, and play a due strategic role. This is what Colonel Jansen told the company commanders before.
Whether they go into the mountains to hide or move to other places, they should not confront Zheng Yiguan's attacking troops head-on.
The total strength of the Dutch troops on the east coast was only 300, and Zheng Yiguan was very likely to send 3,000 or even 6,000 soldiers to the beach.
Facing an enemy force that is ten or even twenty times larger than one's own, no matter how brave and skilled the troops are, they will be exhausted.
Jansen believed that even if the troops remaining on the east coast could defeat the pirate army continuously, as long as they failed once, the entire army would be annihilated.
They can also organize Min soldiers into combat orders, but just like these Min soldiers on Da Yuan Island, they can fight with favorable winds, but once they encounter a fierce battle, they can't count on it.
If he could command them, then what Suo had to do was to continuously retreat inland and gradually increase the depth of the pirate army's defense.
If there is an opportunity, detour back to the enemy's flank, use night attacks or ambush methods to eliminate their small forces, and then retreat quickly after success.
Doing this three or four times will tire the enemy's troops, lose their confidence in a quick victory, and prevent the situation from deteriorating excessively.
But this is only the most ideal situation that Jansen can think of. The actual situation is only bad. Maybe the Dutch army on the east coast has been annihilated before the castle of Geranze is captured by Zheng Yiguan's pirate army. .
Referring to the current situation, Colonel Jansen felt that there was no need to send messengers to the east coast to contact the companies there.
As long as they hear the rumble of cannons from Daguang Island, they should know that the pirates are still besieging the Castle of Geranje and they can continue to rely on themselves.
As for the defenders in the castle, they knew that the troops on the east bank were still fighting, and there was nothing they could do to help them. They were satisfied if they could hold on to the Castle of Geranze, and any more thoughts would be to insist on being demanding.
For a commander, especially a military attaché of the highest rank like Jansen, it was customary for him to direct the battle.
However, the current situation faced by the defenders was extremely special. The enemy troops besieging the Castle of Geranze only launched a large-scale artillery bombardment and did not send troops to attack the castle.
After losing the Utrecht Castle located on the top of the mountain, the defenders also lost their favorable terrain and could only huddle in the Geranje Castle.
It sounds nice to say that you are holding on, but in fact you are passively being beaten. The way to break this unfavorable situation is to take the initiative, but there are not enough troops in the castle.
The previous night attack had brilliant results. Apart from not destroying the enemy's artillery positions, the attack was quite effective.
The resulting casualties were also very high. In such hot weather, if there were not enough medicine to treat the seriously injured, they would be killed in advance.
Colonel Jansen tried not to let the healthy soldiers see the painful wounded soldiers, which would affect morale, so he specially sent women to take care of them.
He didn't plan to conduct a similar night attack. If he organized two or three more times, the pirates would not need to attack the castle of Geranje, and all the defenders would be dead after the night attack.
When the pirates launched another bombardment, Colonel Jansen had nothing to do but sit in his command post and think.
The tasks that should be assigned have been arranged long ago. The garrison soldiers all performed their duties, and the outer walls of the castle were very thick. Zheng Yiguan used mortars to launch explosive shells to attack, and at most he could only destroy some buildings. , the damage to the castle wall is minimal.
As long as the city wall does not suffer extensive damage or even collapse, the defenders will have enough confidence to hold on. Even if Zheng Yiguan's troops occupy the top of the mountain, they will be helpless against the Castle of Relanja.
In addition to inspecting the garrison, women and children every day, Bolger was more free than Jansen. At most, he discussed the current situation with the colonel, and then wrote emergency letters and his diary.
Faced with the bombardment of the pirate army, as a senior officer, Bolger could only choose to swallow his anger, or else muster up the courage to go out of the city and fight the pirates.
I believe that this move will greatly boost the morale of the defenders, but for Berg himself, it will undoubtedly be a suicide. The only result of this is that Colonel Janssen will also serve as the chief officer.
Bolger would not use his own life to help Jansen obtain the power he had. He was not prepared to try such a selfless and righteous thing, especially when he was in good physical condition.
He neither wanted to die in the hands of the pirates nor in the hands of the Batavia Council. If he fell into the hands of the former, he would most likely comply with local customs and be beheaded.
If it falls into the hands of the latter and is slandered by some people with ulterior motives, and is blamed for losing a high official, then he will be hanged.
If you want to avoid these two extremely tragic endings at the same time, the only way is to persist in resistance, use the Castle of Geranze to wait for reinforcements, and wait until reinforcements arrive, then you will succeed.
Bolger believed that as long as the ship going south could reach Batavia, the headquarters would definitely send reinforcements to support it. With reinforcements, there would be hope of breaking the siege.
Even if the siege cannot be relieved immediately, it will greatly reduce the huge pressure faced by the Castle of Geranze from being besieged by the pirate army.
The main reason why Bolger refused to surrender and to pay the extremely high extortion money to Zheng Yiguan was because of this, and he also believed that the defensive capabilities of the Castle of Geranze greatly exceeded the offensive power of Zheng Yiguan's army.
Assuming that he died and the money returned to Zheng Yiguan, this would make Bolger die in peace. If he had not died but the money had gone to Zheng Yiguan, it would undoubtedly have caused him great pain.
Bolger did not want to lose his life, nor did he want to lose his silver. If you can save your own life and at the same time keep the silver in the castle, that is the best outcome.
But the deafening explosions and the bits of dust scattered from time to time made the senior officer feel very irritated and angry.
Almost every bombardment launched by the pirate army on the mountain can make the entire castle tremble. Although it is just a feeling, the actual situation should not be much different.
The moment anyone in the castle feels the vibration, their heart will "knock" and they will automatically become nervous. If they are always in this state, sooner or later they will have a mental breakdown.
More importantly, those injured due to night attacks will not only consume the few medicines, but also spread diseases. In a semi-enclosed castle, this situation is undoubtedly very bad.
The situation of the wounded was also not optimistic. Nearly ten people died the next morning after running back. Some died of excessive blood loss, while others died of serious injuries.
Those with slightly less serious injuries became real burdens, unable to participate in defense and requiring round-the-clock care from women, which was even more troublesome than children.
Sometimes Bolger really wanted to leave these wounded soldiers directly to Zheng Yiguan for treatment or execution. At least it would be much better than staying in the castle, but they were all Jansen's men, and Bolger was helpless. The right to make changes.
Jansen is only the nominal commander of this garrison force. The actual military power is in the hands of each company commander. Even if he wants to deal with a soldier, he needs to seek the consent of his company commander first.
The two battalions stationed in Daguang are responsible for twenty-two companies. On the surface, they are a combat force with the same organization as the regular army. In fact, they are twenty-two mercenary regiments.
The company commander and deputy company commander are the boss and second eldest son of each mercenary group. However, compared with their counterparts in the barbaric era, these people have received professional military training, their speech and behavior are relatively civilized, and they are employed by the East India Company. Just abide by the spirit of the contract.
While out fighting at night, all companies suffered a certain degree of losses. Some companies lost almost one-third of their soldiers. Bolger had to pay the bill, otherwise a mutiny would occur.
As for the plan for the second night attack, Jansen no longer planned to do it. With the opposition of many company commanders, his order was in vain.
If there are such large casualties, the number of troops defending the Castle of Relanja will be seriously insufficient. Those minions alone will not be able to resist the attack of the pirate army.
