The Dutch took advantage of the high tide to break into the mouth of the river again, and this time the Ming army did not wait for the Dutch to fire first, but preemptively fired, twelve cannons of the largest caliber of thirty-two pounder cannons were the first to fire, and one after another rows of shells swept over the river more than a mile away, and fell into the river, raising a magnificent forest of water columns on the river. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

A Dutch 500-ton 4-class cruiser was shot, and a 32-pound shell hit the upper light deck of the ship, chiseling a hole in one fell swoop, and the splattered splinters of wood hit several sailors on the deck like shrapnel. The shells burrowed into the gun deck, sawdust flew everywhere, broken planks shot in all directions, and a mist of blood flew inside the gun deck in the blink of an eye.

When the Dutch fleet approached the fort, hundreds of cannons bombarded the fort fiercely, and the dense cannonballs fell on the fort like hail, causing more than 300 casualties among the Ming troops stationed in the fort where Li Dingguo was.

On the other side of the river, the battery was shelled by the Dutch fleet, and more than 200 Ming soldiers were killed or wounded.

Many of the shells from the battery's counterattack also hit the Dutch battleships, causing some casualties. Although the casualties of the Dutch fleet were much lower than those of the Ming batteries, the ships sailing on the surface were no match for the fixed batteries. Turrets cannot be sunken unless they can be completely destroyed. It was impossible to completely destroy the battery with solid shells. And the ship will sink if it is shot too much, especially at the position of the waterline. If a cannonball happens to hit the powder keg, it will be even more serious, causing a chain reaction in the gun deck, and the whole ship will be blown up and sunk.

The two sides exchanged fierce fires, but de Knight did not reap any benefits.

Then came the unfortunate news: a battleship with a deep draft ran into an unidentified underwater object, a large hole was broken in the bottom of the ship, and the personnel on board were plugging the leak in the bilge and rushing to repair it.

De Knight picked up the chart of the shipping line at the mouth of the Great Jinsha River and looked at it, and he could see that there was no reef at the place where the battleship had just hit the rock, but the ship had hit an unknown object. This chart is actually not too old, it is three years old. In the past, the Dutch also entered the Dajinsha River and had trade with the Burmese, and the Dutch navy drew nautical charts at the mouth of the river. It stands to reason that the hydrological situation cannot change so much in three years.

The only explanation is that the shipping course has been altered by man.

"Damn! The waterway here has been changed by the Ming people! They laid out artificial reefs, arranged underwater piles! De Knight understood, and scolded.

Trop shook his head helplessly: "It seems that we can't get in!" Only God knows how many tricks and feet the Ming people have done in this waterway! The forts on both sides can't be broken, and looking at that kind of fortress-like fort, it's too strong! No amount of shells we hit and didn't knock it down! ”

The fort where the thirty-two-pounder cannon was placed was unusually strong, and all twelve of them had been hit by bullets, but the shells hit them like tickles. And in this era, the shells fired from a mile away were not accurate enough to hit the shells through the shooting holes, and the probability was like shooting at the moon.

Unless the Dutch ships continued to approach and fired artillery on the batteries at a distance of two hundred meters. But within two hundred meters, the hit rate of the battery guns will also be greatly improved, even the battleship can not withstand a few thirty-two-pound heavy shells hit, it is estimated that all six heavy guns hit the salvo at close range, and such a battleship of the seventh province will almost sink.

"If we continue to fight, we will suffer! Now the casualties of the Ming people are much larger than ours, and it is estimated that their casualties are about six or seven hundred, and we only have more than a hundred. We've taken advantage of it, so let's get out of here! "From here to Hindu, there are still more than 20 kilometers of waterway, if we all go into it like this, I am afraid that all our ships will sink to the bottom of the water to fill the channel, and we may not be able to see the city of Hindu!" ”

De Knight thought for a moment and felt that the veteran Tropp's words were very reasonable, so he ordered the fleet to leave the mouth of the Great Sands River.

"We can go to Salem and see, the defense of the English and Portuguese over there is certainly not as strong as that of the Ming people. If we go over there, we might make a fortune. Trop suggested.

"Good! If we go to Salian, maybe we will get rich! Sink another batch of ships of the English and Portuguese, so that they too know that if they want to make a fortune in the East, it is impossible to do it without our consent! De Knight sneered.

The Dutch fleet had more than 20,000 naval officers and sailors, and organizing so many people to carry out an expedition was a lot of money just for more than 20,000 people to eat and drink, and in order to fulfill the treaty between the Qing Empire and the Netherlands, the Dutch government spent more than 5 million silver dollars of guilders to organize this long-distance voyage.

More than 5 million silver dollars are only the cost of food, drink and the voyage of the fleet, not including the ammunition consumed in the war, the cost of repairing the ships damaged in battle, etc., and it is not yet known how the next battle will be fought. It is estimated that all the costs of the war will be more than fifteen million silver dollars.

Since it is not a way to spend money in Hindu and Mingguo, it is better to go to Shalian and rob it, and come back with something from the British and Portuguese.

"Anyway, the English are shameless pirates, they have robbed our merchant ships a lot, and it is only natural that we rob them this time!" Trop nodded.

Speaking of the British, the Dutch grit their teeth and hate them. The shameless British actually issued plunder permits to pirates, and those pirates who should be gallows were legal in Britain, and they could hand over a looted gold and silver treasure to the British royal family, and then they could spend a good life in the major cities of England. Moreover, in the British Navy, there are many original pirate members, and the British Navy and pirates are one family.

The Dutch fleet left the main estuary of the Great Jinsha River and headed for the port of Salem to the east.

Salian was home to the British East India Company's branch in Burma and the Portuguese stronghold in Burma, and the port generated a large amount of trade profits every year, making both countries profitable. Although the Ming Dynasty's Hindu was also a port, the conservative Yongli Emperor forbade foreign ships to enter his capital, so the Hindu Port was only a military port, not a trade port, and did not pose a threat to Shalian's status.

Salian's economic position remained unshaken, serving as a springboard for the British before entering the Straits of Malacca and an important supply port for the Portuguese before they left for Macau.

Since Li Dingguo sent troops to Batavia, the British in Salian also took advantage of the fire to loot, secretly transferred troops from the East India Company based in the Mughal Empire, and transferred more than 2,000 British soldiers from Fort William, and after Shalian landed, suddenly attacked the Dutch branch in Salian.

Mobilizing more than 2,000 British soldiers against the Dutch was indeed a bit of a fuss, for the Dutch branch in Salem consisted of only twenty Dutch soldiers, more than a dozen members of the Dutch company, and more than 500 locals employed. The only resistance was twenty Dutch soldiers.

More than 2,000 people beat 20 people, and the result is known without saying.

The British stormed the Dutch branch in Sallen, captured the Dutch, and seized a large amount of gold, silver, treasure, and precious spices.

"You bandits! On weekdays, our two companies are safe in the same city! You're sneaking it over to us today! The captured Dutchman roared angrily.

The British general, General William, looked up to the sky and laughed: "The end of you Dutch people is near! Let me tell you the truth, our Royal Army of England has already moved in the Americas! In a few months, you will know that your colonies in the Americas have been occupied by us! ”

After the Dutch were taken down, the British began to count the spoils. In a surprise attack on the Dutch branch of Shalen, the British killed more than a dozen Dutch soldiers, captured more than 200 people, captured three merchant ships, two gunboats, and more than two million silver dollars, including guilders and Spanish eagles, and even some pounds and gold coins. Other harvests include silk from Japan and Korea, spices from Southeast Asia, etc.

"The Dutch fleet is coming!" The clipper had already fled back to the port of Salem and reported the situation to General William of the Burmese branch of the East India Company.

William laughed: "Come when they come!" Anyway, we're going to leave all the ships and not a single ship left in the harbor for the Dutch! All of us went ashore! ”

The British navy drove captured Dutch merchant ships and gunboats into the vast ocean, avoiding the Dutch. The rest of the Englishmen in Salem all went ashore and took refuge in the castle that had been built not long ago. The castle was on the shore, and there was a fort in the castle, equipped with two sixty-four-pounder cannons and four thirty-two-pounder cannons, plus other batteries to assist in the defense, and the British did their work in the harbor, laying iron chains, arranging underwater piles, and ambushing fire ships upstream, waiting for the Dutch to come and touch the nails.

When the Dutch fleet arrived at Sallene, the Dutch people in the fleet were furious when they found that the Dutch flag that had been flying over Sallene's company had been lowered and replaced with an English flag.

"Damn the English! They actually attacked our company! Snatched our property and boats! ”

"It seems that the English have to be taught a lesson!"

The veteran Trop gave the order to attack: "Attack Shalian!" ”

More than 100 large and small warships of the Dutch fleet sailed from east to west, along the British fortress of Sallene, sailing on the sea, all the gun doors on the left side were open, and they continued to fire at the British fortress of Salem during the march. The Dutch guns opened fire one after another, and the sound was like a long thunderclap, which lasted for a long time.

The cannonballs flying in the sky hit the perimeter of the Shalian Fortress, and suddenly the smoke and dust around the fortress were filled with smoke and dust, and earth and rocks were splashed everywhere.

On the other hand, the 64-pounder heavy cannon of the fortress of Salem was small in number, but it was not inferior to the naval guns of the Dutch. The roaring sound of cannons was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day. Sixty-four-pounder shells struck the Dutch warship with a long whistling sound, and several huge columns of water were lifted in an astonishing manner.

The Dutch fleet had many guns, and the British fortresses were of huge caliber, and both sides had advantages and disadvantages to each other. Moreover, the British fortress was completely sealed, and its ability to withstand artillery bombardment was far better than that of the Ming battery, and it was bombarded by hundreds of cannons by the Dutch, but the losses in the British fortress were not very large.

As long as the Dutch dared to get close to the fortress and bombard it, it was possible to destroy the British fortress with a few hundred naval guns. But closer to the fortress, the British laid underwater piles in the sea, and at the same time, the closer the distance, the higher the hit rate of the battery. If a Dutch battleship had been hit by a sixty-four-pounder cannon, it would not have been a joke.

There were Dutch people who did not believe in evil and tried to get close to the shore and shell the British fortress at close range. But before the battleship could get close to the shore, it was hit by an underwater pile.

The Dutch were startled, and the shells on the shore whistled again, but fortunately the Dutch hurriedly steered their boats to avoid the heavy artillery bombardment.

"Stay away! There are dark piles on the shore! The artillery of the English was too powerful! Someone shouted.

The artillery battle between the two sides unfolded more than a mile away, and each side opened heavy fire on each other, pouring shells as much as they could.

After all, in this era, they are all solid shells fired by smoothbore guns, and the hit rate is low at long distance, and the attack power is even more frighteningly low. In a fierce artillery battle between the two sides, the Dutch fought for more than four hours, the battleships sailed back and forth, the guns on both sides fired in turn, and thousands of naval guns fired tens of thousands of shells. And the British were not to be outdone, dozens of large-caliber heavy guns fired hundreds of shells.

It would seem that the number of guns and the number of shells fired by the British were much smaller, but the British fortresses were much stronger than the Dutch battleships at sea, and after four hours of artillery battle, the Dutch fleet was instead scarred.

"Shalian doesn't seem to be a piece of fat, but a tough bone! Damn the English, they were prepared! Not only robbed our company, but also built forts, fortified the castle, and did tricks in the river! Trop Road.

Seeing this posture, de Knight was also helpless: "If we continue to fight, we will only waste precious gunpowder and shells in vain!" Maybe you will accidentally sink a ship or two. It's not a way to spend here with the prepared British! Our mission is to defeat the fleet of the Ming people and get goods from the Qing Kingdom, not to come here to waste gunpowder and show fireworks for the English! ”

In the artillery battle just now, although the Dutch battleships were not seriously injured and the casualties were not large, the Dutch fired about 100,000 catties of gunpowder, which was an astronomical amount! At that time, gunpowder was extremely expensive, and a pound of gunpowder cost almost the price of a silver dollar.

Continue to fight like this, the British fortress has not yet been killed, and the Dutch themselves have beaten themselves to the poor.

The Dutch mobilized such a powerful fleet to the East to make money, because the Manchus were willing to give them great benefits and give them a lot of goods. As for coming to Shalian, it was originally to take the sheep and rob the British and leave. If the British had been prepared, why should the Dutch waste ammunition here.

Someone asked: "General, they robbed our company, did we land and attack the castle and get back what we lost?" ”

"Landing and attacking the castle?" De Knight shook his head, "That's not a good idea, how much time and manpower does it take to build a castle?" How much gunpowder does it cost? (To be continued.) )