The black smoke gradually cleared, and the water was littered with hull debris and corpses drifting with the current.

Although the fighting skills of the Helan sailors were more sophisticated, they only lasted less than an hour under the onslaught of four times the Ming warships. After the deaths of Bess and Kaau, Patrick ordered the only moving Routh Dunant to raise the white flag.

Admiral Bess didn't figure it out until his death, although the fleet was slightly inferior in the number of warships, whether it was his own naval combat experience or the quality of the Helan sailors, it should be enough to offset this gap.

According to his calculations, even if he could not defeat these Orientals, at least he would be able to inflict heavy losses on them, leaving Batavia a chance to continue interfering with the Lords in the future.

However, the reality was that the Ming fleet used a very irrational charge to cut off his battle line in an instant, causing the formation of the Helan fleet to be chaotic, and it took less than a day to wipe out the entire army.

However, he no longer had the opportunity to ask the Ming people about these doubts.

It was not until a year later, when the Daming Pacific Fleet again defeated the combined Franco-Dutch fleet with the Nelson method of warfare in the southern Atlantic, that the European continent finally had a systematic understanding of this tactic. Blind in one eye, Cesareo whispers to Bess in front of his tombstone the tactics he used to defeat them.

……

Another day passed, and the soldiers of the fleet, who had been waiting for reinforcements at the head of the city of Geranza, finally saw the Hector, the flagship of the Grand Fleet before the arrival of the Dodrechet.

Immediately the city erupted in cheers. However, when the battleship approached, all the Helan people were stunned.

The only remaining first mast of the Hector was hung with the flag of the Ming fleet, the hull was full of holes, and the open-air deck had collapsed by almost a third, and it looked like it would sink at any moment.

Ovat soon received the news, and then the Ming soldiers sent the entire fleet of the Great Commander, as well as an order for the immediate surrender of the cities of Geranza and Chichi.

In the ensuing emergency meeting of the Great Council, the main battle faction gained a majority of twelve votes due to the strong insistence of Groot, the representative of the East India Company.

Yes, they also had strong bastions, thousands of soldiers, nearly a hundred cannons, and a huge amount of supplies and wealth.

Groot was convinced that with the fighting power of the Easterners, it would not be possible to break through the city of Geranza in a few years, and that the Batavian authorities would be able to find a way to save them.

Even if Batavia doesn't care about them, at least they can use this fortified city to bargain with the Ming Kingdom.

Historically, Zheng Chenggong mobilized 300 ships and 20,000 soldiers and horses to directly attack the city of Gelanza, and finally relied on digging trenches around the city to cut off the city's supplies, so as to force the then great consul to open the city and surrender.

The truth seemed to be the same as Groot thought, and after their propaganda refused to surrender, hundreds of Ming troops tried to get close to the city of Geranza, but were repulsed by heavy artillery fire from the city.

Two days later, the Ming warships transported ten guns to the pineapple orchard on the south side of Geranza.

At first, Ovat didn't particularly care - during this time, the Ming Kingdom had already removed the eighteen-pounder cannon from the warship and bombarded the city of Geranza. However, thanks to the excellent structure of the bastion, the shelling did not cause them the slightest substantial damage.

But soon, his office shook violently with a loud bang outside the city, and then the streets of the city began to scream.

He suddenly felt that something was wrong, and sure enough, Captain Aldorp stumbled into his office, and said with a pale face: "Your Excellency, it's a mortar, there are ten mortars. ”

Owat was not too flustered, nodded and said, "Concentrate the cannon fire to suppress it." Let Berteman calm the city and repair the damaged buildings. ”

Aldorp wiped his sweat and shook his head, "I'm afraid it's hard to suppress it effectively...... The enemy was wielding a thirty-two-pounder mortar, and the heaviest cannon in the city, although capable of reaching them, was close to its maximum range. You know, at such a distance, it is almost impossible to hit accurately. ”

There was another sound of buildings collapsing in the street, and Ovat's face sank like water, and he waved his hand vigorously and said in a loud voice, "Defend as much as you can, Captain." ”

"Yes."

Mortar fire continued throughout the day, and the city of Geranza was littered with rubble.

Aldorp mobilized more than 40 cannons to shoot at those mortars, but the distance was too far, and the Ming army also built a one-man high earthen wall in front of the mortars, and not a single shell could hit those mortars.

The next day, another Ming warship brought six mortars and bombarded them on the east side of Geranza. With the current casting speed of the Fujing Ordnance Bureau, if necessary, the Helan people's fortress can be surrounded to death with large-caliber mortar cannons within ten days.

The number of mortars soon increased to twenty, and every day countless shells drew an extremely curved parabola and fell from the sky into the city of Geranza.

There is not a single open-air building in the city that is still intact. The Ming army then began to fire red-hot bullets, causing frequent fires in the city.

To deal with this kind of lonely city that has become a turtle in an urn, Zhu Linmiao will naturally not blindly use soldiers to attack like Zheng Chenggong in history.

He knew very well that the number of Helan defenders was very small, even if several cannons could kill one person, within half a month, they would give up resistance because of excessive casualties.

His predictions proved to be too conservative.

On the sixth day of the siege of the city of Geranza, after the previous fierce battle, the Daming Naval Division completed a simple repair, except for the most damaged Guangzhou, nearly 30 warships of other sizes slowly sailed under the city of Geranza.

The city of Geranza was just over two miles away from the sea, and it was very clear from the city. When Ovat heard the news, he brought several senior councilors to the city to watch in person under the fire of mortar artillery, and was immediately deeply shocked by this mighty fleet.

Especially the giant ship at the head of the group, which has fifty-four cannons! Bigger than their former ace, the Dodrechet!

After a while, Berthman whispered, "Your Excellency, let's continue to defend ...... Does it really make sense? ”

Ovat closed his eyes hard, yes, losing the Dordrecht, even if he drove all the Batavia fleets now, he would definitely not be the opponent of the Ming fleet.

Without reinforcements from Batavia, what would you be able to do even if you hold on for a year?

A year? He couldn't help but smile bitterly when he thought of these two words, in just a few days, more than a hundred and thirty people had been killed and wounded in the city, and there were fires everywhere, and everyone seemed to be living in an endless hell.

Can this condition last for a year?

I'm afraid it won't be able to last for a month......

A huge cannonball flew over his head with a screeching sound and landed in the barracks not far away, causing an immediate heart-rending scream.

He snapped his eyes open and shouted to Aldorp, "Give up." Raise the white flag. ”

Berthman exclaimed, "Wouldn't we convene a parliamentary discussion?" ”

"No need." "I have to be responsible for everyone here, there's no hope, I can't let those crazy people of the East India Company gamble with everyone's lives." ”

He patted Bertman on the shoulder, "Depay, you go and negotiate with Mingguo, as long as we can return to Batavia safely, all conditions are acceptable......"