When the last Spaniard on the ship fell, Rao was Guo Qing, who was accustomed to seeing life and death on the battlefield of the Dongjiang River, and his legs were slightly weak. Just now, if it weren't for a soldier who accidentally bumped in front of him and blocked a sword for him, he wouldn't have just been left with a bloody streak on his face.

Only then did Guo Qing realize that fighting on a ship and fighting on land were completely different things. On the narrow deck, he can only play three or four points at most. On the contrary, the sailors he had always looked down on were even more at home in this environment.

On his orders, the bodies of the ships were gathered on the deck, the bodies of the enemy on the starboard side, and the bodies of his own men on the port side.

In addition to the few people who jumped into the water when they saw that the situation was not good, there were a total of 49 enemy corpses in front of him.

Perhaps it was the darkness of the night that added to the sense of unease, and no one wanted to leave an element of instability in this battle, so even if the other side was wounded and surrendered, no one wanted to stop.

Maybe it was the dark night that covered up the last shred of people's sanity and released the most bloodthirsty ** in everyone's heart. There wasn't even a single prisoner in this battle.

After inspecting the corpses of the enemy soldiers, Guo Qing looked back at the longer corpses of his own people in the other row. The enemy lost 49 dead, but the 200 men he brought with him lost 62 dead, 19 seriously wounded, 23 lightly wounded, and nearly half of them lost their combat effectiveness.

Guo Qing's face was pale, but he was also secretly glad in his heart, fortunately, this battle took place in the dark night, and these sailors couldn't see their casualties, otherwise the outcome of this battle would be really difficult to say.

He carefully reflected on the course of the battle and found that more than half of the casualties of his own troops were caused by the more than 30 Spanish soldiers on the ship.

After these Spanish soldiers gathered in formation, they formed a local advantage on the narrow deck of the ship, and repelled their attacks several times, if it were not for him temporarily dragging over a cannon on the deck and blasting the formation of this small group of Spaniards, the tide of battle would have been reversed.

The other half of the casualties were due to the fact that these sailors were not used to fighting at night and made mistakes themselves.

"My lord, what should I do next? Do you want to hold the boat? A sailor who was leading the team ran up to him and asked respectfully.

Guo Qing glanced at the light of the fire lit on the "San Juan" in the distance, the distance between the two ships was about seven or eight miles, and the light on the "San Juan" at this distance looked like a small dot.

He thought about it for a while, and then asked: "Stay until daytime, the big ship comes, and we can't resist it, and besides, can you sail this kind of plywood sailing ship out of the port?" ”

Several sailors beside him shook their heads suddenly, and Guo Qing finally made up his mind and said: "Then take advantage of the darkness to quickly withdraw to the land south of the waterway, and send the wounded ashore first, and then the bodies of the war dead." Ten men were left to assist me in preparing to sink the ship into the water. ”

Although the Coalition had won a small victory on the first night, the next few days found themselves in a different dilemma.

On the hill in the middle of Sheliao Island, the commanding height of the island, although there is nothing unusual on the sea, after landing on this side of the waterway, Dong Weixian and Guo Qing found that the Spaniards had built a small half-finished castle on the hill.

Although this small castle is not large, it can accommodate about 100 people at most, but it just chokes the passage to the island.

The Spaniards had apparently built the castle to deal with land attacks from the island, so the side leading from the waterway to the castle had been cleared of all obstacles and trees, leaving only a flat upward slope.

After controlling the safety of the waterway, Dong Weixian did not rush to attack, but established a base camp on the south side of the waterway. As a result, the coalition forces set up a camp on the promontory northwest of Jilong Harbor and the waterway to the east, firmly encircling Sheliao Island.

There are more than 1,800 people in the camp on the eastern waterway, while there are only about 500 on the northwestern promontory. After Dong Weixian and Guo Qing made preparations step by step, they began a formal offensive on the third day.

However, the two soon discovered that the slope in front of the small castle in the middle of the island could spread out for less than 300 people at most. The slope is a shrinking fan, and it is estimated that there will be no more than 100 people standing in front of the castle.

The Spaniards had apparently planned a plan for the defense of the area, with 40 soldiers in armor blocking the gate and 5 or 60 musketeers firing above the wooden wall in the rear.

In just one attack, the Four Seas Battalion lost nearly 40 people, and on this day the Four Seas Battalion organized a total of 5 attacks, but apart from the loss of nearly 200 people on itself, the losses inflicted on the Spaniards were almost negligible.

The results of this day's fighting greatly boosted the morale of the Spaniards on the island and on the ship, and also greatly damaged the morale of the allied forces.

Although the Four Seas Battalion has cultivated a bit of military spirit in the past few months, it has not experienced a real war after all. If it weren't for the fact that this is Taiwan, which is unfamiliar with people, and they don't control the ships, it is estimated that after the fourth attack is over today, a mutiny would have occurred.

On the fourth day, at Guo Qing's suggestion, Xu Xinsu removed the two big Buddha machines from his ship. These two cannons finally posed a real threat to the Spaniards, but what soon broke the eyes of the Ming army was that the Spaniards sent a reinforcement from the city of San Salvador.

Among the reinforcements of 100 people, there were actually 20 cavalrymen. Although the Ming army was ready, and the Spaniards might be prepared to go out of the city to support, they did not expect that there would be cavalry in the city.

Along the flat road between the hill and the coast, this force first broke a small force in front of them, and then routed the Ming army attacking the castle from the flank, and the two large Buddha cannons were destroyed by the Spaniards.

This counterattack of the Spaniards even drove the Ming army off the island, and in two days, the soldiers of the Sihai Battalion who lost their combat effectiveness actually exceeded 400, which was already one-seventh of the strength of this expedition.

The losses in the past two days have made Xu Xinsu, Peter, and Dong Weixian all begin to consider plans to retreat.

Although the indigenous Filipinos on the island did not have much fighting power, the Spaniards were real professional soldiers, and they were simply handy with such small-scale colonial wars.

Whether it's defense, offense, or counterattack, every time the timing is just right. On the other hand, the Sihai Battalion was just the opposite, when attacking, it was chaotic and had no formation to speak of, and it fled in a swarm at the slightest setback, looking like a complete rabble.

The courage of this army is completely tied to the personal bravery of Dong Weixian and several other military attachés. Guo Qing was a little suspicious that if Dong Weixian had an accident on the battlefield, who else in this army would be able to stand up and lead.

And the successive defeats of the Ming army also made Xu Xinsu feel that the Dutch under Peter showed a trace of contempt for himself and the Ming army.

Xu Xinsu still remembered in his heart that the purpose of launching this war was not only to expel the Spanish forces from Taiwan, but also to make the Spaniards and the Dutch awe the Ming force through this war.

If the war had the opposite result, he doubted that His Majesty would still maintain his trust in himself. After all, there are many candidates who can control the sea, and His Majesty has more than one choice.

Xu Xinsu was thinking about whether to discuss with Dong Weixian, first temporarily return to fresh water, let the Sihai Battalion regroup, and then plan the chicken coop.

However, several commanders of the Ming army have not yet discussed a result, and a ship has been sent from Xu Xinsu's men left in Tamsui.

According to the messenger of his subordinates, Zheng Zhilong, a Chiayi man, in the name of the Taiwan Strait patrol envoy, sent three ships to receive Tamsui City.

If it weren't for the fact that the main force stationed in Tamsui City was the people of the Sihai Battalion, Zheng Zhilong's subordinates also knew that the Sihai Battalion was standing behind the palace, so they didn't dare to act rashly, and it was estimated that they would have to use force directly.

Zheng Zhilong's meaning is very clear: He is a patrol envoy in the Taiwan Strait, and Taiwan's coastal defense should be under his management. However, Xu Xinsu is a patrol envoy in the East China Sea, and he cannot control Taiwan's coastal defense. He only wanted the port at the mouth of the Tamsui River, and the inland part remained under the Four Seas Battalion.

Xu Xinsu was a little angry, and he immediately claimed that he would return to Tamsui with the fleet to reason with Zheng Zhilong's subordinates.

Dong Weixian and Guo Qing naturally stopped him, and Xu Xinsu obviously had plans to return to Tamsui to fight with Zheng Zhilong. Perhaps in this way, he could put the responsibility for the failure of the chicken coop campaign on Zheng Zhilong, thus escaping the responsibility for the defeat.

However, Dong Weixian and Guo Qing, who rode this fleet, were passively dragged into the water by Xu Xinsu and got involved in his personal grudge with Zheng Zhilong.

Guo Qing obviously didn't want to be used as a gun by Xu Xinsu, while Dong Weixian was more worried about the future of the Sihai Battalion. After all, on this island of Taiwan, without Zheng Zhilong's assistance, the situation of Sihai Camp would be quite difficult.

Guo Qing soon proposed that he take over the command of the troops attacking the chicken coop, and Dong Weixian returned to Tamsui to mediate the matter. As the chief officer of the Four Seas Battalion, Dong Weixian actually has the identity of representing His Majesty the Emperor's private property. If he comes forward, even Zheng Zhilong himself has to give face.

Moreover, Guo Qing also believed that he had taken advantage of this opportunity to send more than 200 wounded on the shore back to the rear, and the sound of these wounded had seriously weakened the soldiers' will to fight.

Guo Qing's proposal, although Xu Xinsu was a little disappointed, Dong Weixian felt that this was the best way. In his opinion, now that the Sihai Battalion has also lost the will to continue the attack, it is better to let them rest for a few days to recover their morale, and wait for him to come back from Tamsui before making plans.

As Dong Weixian left with a large number of wounded, Guo Qing quickly took command of the Sihai Battalion. There were five members of the military observation group from the capital, and except for two non-combatants, the other three were top students of the Army Military Academy.

Under Guo Qing's arrangement, two non-combatants took over the logistics of the Sihai Battalion, while the other two and himself began to reorganize the soldiers of the Sihai Battalion.

After Dong Weixian left, Guo Qing stopped attacking the Spaniards, and there was a brief lull between the Ming-Dutch coalition army and the Spaniards.

In addition to reorganizing the army, Guo Qing also found a sunny slope to bury the dead sergeants. After a small memorial ceremony, the soldiers of the Four Seas Battalion finally regained some morale.