The song and dance troupe sang twelve songs, each song was catchy and particularly beautiful. Except for "aibia", they were all sung in northern Mandarin. Even if Zheng's officers and soldiers mainly spoke Min dialect, they would feel relaxed and happy.
A smart guy can memorize one and a half paragraphs, and hum a few lines without forgetting before falling asleep. It is very pleasant, but it is more comfortable than listening to the music in the building, and it doesn't cost any money. Good things never happen.
When the prince returned from his study tour in the fairy world, he invented a popular newspaper, composed such a beautiful song, and brought out elixirs to treat his injured companions. The most important thing was that he could count on the rising tide of Luermen.
Now the soldiers who had not believed that the Crown Prince had been to the fairy world could not help but believe it at least seven or eight times. No one dared to deny it, otherwise so many refreshing inventions and creations would be difficult to refute.
The soldiers were also willing to believe this conclusion. After all, with the guidance of the prince, especially the assistance of mortars imitating the weapons of the fairy world, it was a matter of hands to deal with the red barbarian soldiers in the castle of Relanze.
Tonight was a night of rest. As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Zhenhai Bo Zheng Zhilong felt that it would not hurt to take a break once in a while, and this time he was "listening to music under orders", which was the order of the prince.
Since the Zheng family paid for and sent troops, how to fight was their own business, and outsiders were not allowed to interfere. If he was criticized by the government and the public, there would be a prince in the capital to help defend him, so Zheng Zhilong didn't have to worry.
Zheng Zhilong has three goals. The first is to capture the Castle of Relanja as soon as possible and pull out the biggest nail. The second is to reduce the casualties of the soldiers. The Zheng army cannot be seriously injured just to besiege the castle. The last thing is to prevent the retaliation of the Hongyi reinforcements. It is best to block the enemy at sea and prevent our coastal ports from being attacked.
The problem at the moment is that the army did not conquer the Castle of Relanze. Instead, it was defeated by the Red Yi soldiers who launched a night attack. The opponent was repulsed, but the casualties on our side were undoubtedly much higher than those of the Red Yi soldiers. This made Zheng Zhilong Very dissatisfied.
Lien Chan lost nearly 1,900 seriously injured soldiers, which meant that 20% of them were wiped out by Hongyi in one battle. More importantly, the problem of low combat effectiveness of our own soldiers and underestimating the enemy's carelessness has not yet been effectively solved. .
If five thousand soldiers have no chance of winning against five hundred Red Yi soldiers, then when the Red Yi army comes, if five thousand Red Yi soldiers arrive from Batavia, wouldn't I have to use a hundred thousand troops to defeat them? Repel it?
Zheng Zhilong's army was mainly composed of sailors, and the land division could only be regarded as auxiliary, with a scale of less than 50,000, and a mobile force of less than 30,000. In order to protect strongholds and important ports, the rest of the troops were scattered along the coast.
After this battle, Zheng Zhilong even thought about whether to expand his army by 20,000 to prepare for emergencies. If he waits for the Red Yi soldiers to attack and then expand his army, it will definitely be too late.
He had seen the East Palace Guards that the Crown Prince asked Zhou Yuji to train. Their military appearance was unprecedented. Zheng Zhilong was very envious and even wanted the Crown Prince to help him train 20,000 elite soldiers.
Whether the prince agrees or not is another matter. Military training will take at least a year, or even longer. But now it is urgent, no matter how late it is, water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearer.
"Brother, if Hongyi doesn't surrender, can you try using golden juice?"
Zheng Zhi'ao had seen the scene of the artillery regiment firing, and also used a telescope to observe the attack on the castle at the foot of the mountain. It can be said that the artillery bombardment was quite spectacular. The castle occupied by the red barbarians was almost engulfed by the flames generated by the successive explosions. .
However, the explosive package is not like the blunderbuss that can cause serious damage to the building. Only the explosive package that falls from the roof into the room will destroy the building from the inside out after exploding.
Most of the time, the explosives are just for the job. Even if the outer walls of the building are completely devastated, they cannot fundamentally cause much damage to the castle.
The Red Yi soldiers could still hide at the lower level without any worries. This was what Zheng Zhi'ao learned from the captured prisoners, which also forced him to rack his brains to think of other countermeasures.
"...Well! You can give it a try!"
Although mortars are powerful, they still cannot achieve their goals. Zheng Zhilong also thinks that new tactics can be tried, especially to let the red barbarians taste the very special "oriental taste".
This thing had been brought a long time ago, but it has never been used. As a defensive weapon, golden juice is rare when defending a city, but with the mortar, it can also be used when attacking.
Zheng Zhi'ao asked Hu Dawei, but the commander-in-chief was noncommittal, so he asked his men to bring over a mortar for a while, put the hotter gold juice into a cowhide bag, and tied the mouth of the bag tightly.
After that, a thick layer of mud was smeared on the outside of the cowhide bag to withstand the high temperature during launch, and a heat-insulating wooden board was placed underneath. The result was ideal. This "biochemical cannonball" could still be shot out.
The question is whether the cowhide bag will explode as expected after landing, and that depends on luck. If the bag is loosely tied, it will overflow when fired, which will directly make the artillery roll their eyes...
At midnight, bursts of explosions suddenly came from the original artillery position in the north. The Zheng Army soldiers were startled and hurriedly got up, fearing that the Red Yi soldiers would come to rob the camp. However, they did not find any enemy presence near the camp. To the north there are frequent fires.
Fortunately, our own artillery regiment had already retreated to the rear and was able to escape the disaster. Otherwise, Hu Dawei's artillery regiment would definitely be attacked by Hongyi with big blunderbuss. Even Zheng Zhi'ao felt a little scared.
This Dutchman is indeed extremely cunning. He hides in the castle during the day, but at night he acts like a venomous snake. He may bite you at any time. It is really hard to guard against. You must be extra careful in the future.
"Brother Tiger! What do you think this is?"
Zheng Zhi'ao searched for some debris from the front position with his exploration horse, including two broken wooden boards, several pieces of hand-sized linen cloth, several lengths of rope, and dozens of iron nails.
"This...could it be that Hongyi already knows about it?"
Maybe one of them can't explain the problem, but what the combination of these is is really obvious, and Hu Dawei is very surprised by this.
He managed the artillery regiment very strictly. He basically followed the prince's training manual to run the army. Moreover, the officers and soldiers were treated very well. All money and food were distributed to them without any deductions.
Therefore, it is impossible for the artillery regiment to leak to the outside world, especially the performance and structure of mortars and artillery shells to the Hongyi soldiers. The artillery regiment is all northerners. know.
The possibility of Zheng Jun leaking the secrets is even smaller. They can't sell the military secrets they finally found out to Hongyi. Wouldn't that kill their own soldiers?
Zhen Haibo asked for details many times, but Hu Dawei also gave a general outline and stopped at the details. The prince has already spoken. As long as this weapon is exported, it can be equipped with Zheng Jun in large quantities.
The two generals were puzzled. Finally, Hu Dawei told the two battalion commanders under his command. The battalion commander Han Xiaocai said that the humidity at the seaside was very high, and many explosive bags in the headquarters were damp and could only be dried slowly. , maybe part of what was launched was unexploded.
Now the problem became serious. Hu Dawei hurriedly informed Zheng Zhi'ao of the situation. After the Hongyi soldiers also mastered the secret of the explosive pack, both sides had the ability to damage the other's infantry.
The Hongyi soldiers were hiding in the castle and it didn't matter if they were beaten. However, thousands of Zheng's soldiers were stationed on the mountain. Once the explosive package fell from the sky, there was really no way to hide and avoid it, and they could only be bombed in vain.
"This matter will be borne by the next person. Brother Zheng will never be implicated!"
At this point, it was impossible for the Hongyi soldiers to hand over the explosive packets. Hu Dawei could only take all the responsibilities, so as not to damage the harmony.
"Brother Tiger, what did you say? The city is about to be destroyed. Even if there are heavy casualties, we must persevere, otherwise we will fall short. We are all sinners!"
Five hundred red barbarian soldiers killed and injured more than 3,000 troops. This was something that had never happened since Zheng Zhi'ao led the army. He would really be unwilling to lose his army under the castle of Relanze.
"This happened just last night. It seems to me that the Hongyi have just obtained this secret. If our army can besieged for a long time, even if it cannot be solved quickly, the Hongyi in the city can be cut off from the outside world and trapped with this secret. Here!"
When it comes to land warfare, Hu Dawei has much more experience than Zheng Zhi'ao. Now that the matter has developed to this point, it must be rectified immediately, and it is not too late to make up for it.
"God damn Hong Yi! Brother Tiger! We will serve these beasts with golden juice today!"
After Hong Yi mastered the secret of the explosive pack, his soldiers may be attacked at any time. Zheng Zhi'ao could not blame Hu Dawei. He had to come up with a countermeasure immediately. Golden juice was the best weapon to suppress Hong Yi at the moment.
"Okay! Let the artillery regiment get into position now!"
Hu Dawei also wanted to make the red barbarian soldiers in the castle feel even more torture. With the red barbarian soldiers hiding under the building, the killing effect of the explosive pack was getting lower and lower, so it was better to change the routine.
Aren't you hiding in the castle to avoid the battle?
That's just right, I'll give you bags of golden juice!
A lot of Sergeant Zheng vomited after cooking the golden juice, but the wind at the seaside was strong and the smell dissipated quickly, so the smell would not continue forever. Eating some sweet fruit would soon relieve the symptoms.
Zheng Zhi'ao didn't believe that the red barbarians in the castle could also have such a countermeasure. Even if the gold juice was used up, there would still be "fresh cannonballs" produced every day.
In the future, the "by-products" of tens of thousands of troops no longer need to be buried or dumped into the sea. They will all be fired into the Castle of Geranze with mortars to see what should be done with the livestock!
One kilogram per person, or at least a thousand kilograms for ten thousand people, enough to put into five hundred bags and fight. Zheng Zhi'ao didn't believe that the Hongyi soldiers could withstand such a "rich fragrance" in such hot weather. .
To be honest, even he couldn't bear it. If a bag of golden juice was locked in the same room with him, he would vomit and fall unconscious in less than an hour...
Five hundred bags is just two volleys. Zheng Zhi'ao doesn't like arithmetic very much, but he can still calculate such a simple question. If he has to answer it twenty times a day, it seems that there are not enough manpower!
There is strength in numbers. In the face of so many mortars, tens of thousands of people can't supply "fresh shells". Zheng Zhi'ao couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
If he could, he would mobilize a fleet to transport "fresh shells" from the mainland. Since the explosive packs were no longer so bright, he would just stop doing it and bury the Castle of Relanja with gold juice!
The method is a bit dirty, but as long as this place can be conquered as soon as possible and the casualties of his troops can be reduced, Zheng Zhi'ao doesn't care so much.
"Brother! What do you think?"
Without further ado, the transfer would take several days, so Zheng Zhi'ao immediately informed Zhenhaibo Zheng Zhilong of his ideas, hoping to get support.
"...Hmm~! Okay! Let's do this!"
Zheng Zhilong stroked his long beard and pondered for a moment before agreeing. The next storm will come roughly in twenty days. If the fort cannot be conquered as soon as possible, the army will have to return to Penghu and start all over again.
Being in a hurry, he didn't care about so many words. If he could capture the castle of Relanja and force all the red barbarian soldiers to surrender, he could return in triumph and go to the capital to ask for rewards.
"Load the shell! Be careful! Don't break it!"
The commander of the mortar battalion, Han Xiao, was personally supervising the loading operations of the artillerymen on the position. During the day, most of the red barbarian soldiers in the castle at the foot of the mountain did not dare to show their heads. At most, they hid in the dilapidated buildings and peered towards the top of the mountain. Otherwise, they would They were bombarded head-on.
Of course the artillerymen knew what "goodies" were in the bags. If the skin broke in advance and flowed out, it would be very satisfying on the battlefield, so the loaders wore leather gloves and held the boards with extra caution.
After using the gold juice, there was no need to tie up the iron nails. The measured ballistics had to be equal to the weight of the original explosive bag, so the wooden board was thickened, and a large amount of mud was smeared on it. It was weighed before being used. Launch allowed.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
After a series of crisp sounds, countless bags flew into the distance with the artillerymen's ardent hopes, and probably more than half of the cannonballs fell directly into the castle.
Han Xiao used a telescope to observe and found pools of yellow-brown soup in his field of vision. This showed that these improvised shells also exploded as scheduled, but no flames were produced.
"Reload!"
After seeing the expected results, Han Xiao immediately ordered his men to continue their efforts and strike while the iron is hot. It would be best to use these special shells to completely cover the surface of the castle without even a place to stay.
In such a hot weather, when the golden juice emits a strong smell, it will soon attract a large number of flies, and an outbreak of disease will not be far away in the castle.
If Hongyi had prepared lime in advance, he might be able to suppress it. On the contrary, disaster is imminent. As long as there is a gap as big as a fingertip, these flies can get in, which will make the Hongyi people miserable.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
Although it can only be fired twice for the time being, Han Xiao believes that the rear is working hard to produce this kind of artillery shells. In order to capture Hongyi's castle as soon as possible, it will not be a problem for Zhenhaibo to ask his men to get some gold juice.
"Why does it stink?"
Berg felt a special aura in the basement. He had just heard the enemy's shelling, but he did not feel any explosion vibration similar to the previous one.
"Sir, the enemy is firing feces at our troops!"
The soldiers sent by Colonel Jansen reported such great "good news" to the senior officer that the sentries on the lookout had already vomited.
"……What?"
What is Zheng Yiguan doing?
Did he regard the Castle of Geranze as his toilet?
Bolger was so angry that his arms were shaking. Although the castle was strong, it could never withstand the tens of thousands of dung bombs fired by the opponent.
