John Masuiju stood on the top of the castle and looked at the slopes outside Batavia, and his face was extremely pale. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info It would have been fine if the slope had been completely muddy, and after a few rounds of shells, the slope would have been flattened. However, there were a lot of sandbags piled up on the slope, and there was sea sand on the outside.

Indonesian people kept coming up from behind the dirt slope, carrying a dustpan to the slope, and a dustpan full of sea sand fell on the slope, sliding down the slope, and piling up on the slope.

The Dutch army in the city opened up shells, and the shells hit the slope, and the kinetic energy of the solid shells was absorbed by the wet sea sand, and the shells fell on the slopes, and they plunged headlong into the sand and could not be ejected again, only to see a patch of dirt sprayed around. Naturally, if a large number of shells are used to bombard at any cost, sooner or later the slope will also collapse. But how many shells does that have to consume? It is estimated that the slope has collapsed, and there is no gunpowder in Batavia to defend the city.

Since the Dutch army of the East India Company was mainly dealing with pirates and the navies of Spain, Portugal, England and other countries, the city of Batavia was also equipped with cannons and not mortars, so there was no way to deal with this kind of slope made of sand and mud.

At that time, Western countries were not equipped with wooden shells to shoot flowering shells, that is, cannons could not fire flowering shells, only mortars could fire flowering shells.

Imagine what would happen if you used a cannon to fire a flowering cannonball without a wooden stock. If the fuse of the cannonball is facing outward, and the fuse is lit from the muzzle of the cannon, and then the cannon is lit, how long does the fuse of the cannonball take? If the fuse is pointed inward and the fuse is ignited with hot gunpowder gas, the problem arises again: you don't have a wooden butt, and the gunpowder gas is poured directly into the shell through the ignition hole of the shell, so that the shell explodes in the barrel, then the flowering shell does not blow up others, but blows itself.

In the Western countries of the seventeenth century, only short-barreled cannons and mortars had flowering shells, and this is the reason.

Wang Xinyu created a flowering shell fired by a cannon, using a wooden bullet butt and a cork fuse, but the ignition success rate is not very high, the reliability is actually not very good, and the cost of the shell is expensive, so it is only used in a small amount in naval warfare, and in land warfare, it is the most reliable thing to use a mortar to launch a flowering shell.

John Ma Suiju could only watch as the slopes built by the Ming army continued to rise and advance towards his own city, and he felt uneasy.

"Your Excellency the Governor, we need not worry! If the enemy wants to bombard us with artillery, they must set up their cannons on the slope, right? When they set up their cannons, we'll be able to hit them! If they don't set up their cannons on top of the platform, but advance under our city, our cannons will be able to hit them when they get closer. General Derka came up and said.

But John Masuiju always felt bad, because he had a vague sense of danger.

The opponent took great pains to pile up a slope, and it would certainly not be stupid enough to push the slope all the way to the bottom of the city to be shelled, and it should not be directly on the slope to set up cannons to bombard the city, as long as the Ming army really set up cannons on the slope to bombard the city, then the Dutch were not afraid at all.

The cannons in the city have a long range and are powerful. It is impossible for the Ming army to carry naval guns or heavier battery guns, and if they want to attack the city, is it mortar?

Thinking of the mortar, John Ma Suidu's heart suddenly stirred, and his whole body trembled: "Mortar! The enemy is definitely going to use mortars! I remembered! Our castle in Formosa was bombarded by the Ming people with mortars! ”

Derka exclaimed: "It looks like we have to take the initiative!" If the enemy sets up mortars behind the slope, then they are the only ones who will hit us, and we will not be able to hit them at all! ”

After all, John Masui was an old fox, and he thought for a moment before he spoke: "The enemy wants to bombard us, and they have to carry mortars down from the ship. We'll wait for them to come with their mortars, and then we'll hit them! Don't ask for anything else, just destroy their mortars. ”

Derka and his men organized a counterattack force of 2,000 men, consisting of 500 Dutch soldiers and 1,500 black soldiers, who were on standby in the city. After waiting for five days, the Dutch at the head of the city saw that the Ming army had brought mortars down from the ship and were preparing to transport them behind the slope.

"Children, fight out and kill the mortars of the Ming people! As long as we knock out their mortars, we win! John Marsui-dug gave the order.

After the twelve mortars of the Ming army were unloaded from the ship, they were loaded on four-wheeled vehicles and escorted by a thousand infantry.

Five hundred auxiliaries and three hundred gunners, plus a thousand infantry, a total of 1,500 Ming troops carrying mortars, driving cattle and pulling cannons, drove from the dock to the back of the slope.

With two thousand men, Dirka waited at the gates.

"Open the door!" There was a shout from the city.

The gate was suddenly opened, and Dilka rushed out of Batavia with 2,000 men and horses, killing the Ming convoy transporting mortars.

"The red-haired ghost in the city has come out of the city and attacked! Their goal is our mortar! Someone reported to Zhang Yukun.

Li Dingguo, who was sitting in the big tent of the Chinese army, was very calm, he didn't speak, just picked up the teacup, wiped it lightly with his right hand on the top of the teacup, removed the foam on the tea, and then took a sip of tea from the teacup.

"Lord Wang, the red-haired ghost has come to rob our cannon! Send someone to protect the mortars! The man said anxiously.

Li Dingguo didn't hurry to finish a cup of tea, then he stood up and asked his soldiers to give the order: "This vassal will lead two thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry to eliminate the red-haired ghost who left the city!" ”

"No!" The pro-soldiers retreated.

Li Dingguo turned his head to Zhang Yukun again: "Zhang Yukun, the Chinese army camp will be handed over to you!" Don't let the red-haired ghosts attack the camp! ”

"No!" Zhang Yukun arched his hand.

Li Dingguo picked up his spear, walked out of the camp, lit up his soldiers and horses, and went to the avenue to kill.

The Ming army was transporting mortars, and the Dutch suddenly slaughtered out of the city. The Ming army that protected the mortar artillery was only a thousand people, and the rest were auxiliaries and artillery with little combat effectiveness. Seeing more than 500 Dutch soldiers with more than 1,500 black soldiers killed, the gunners and auxiliaries were immediately disorganized, dropped their cannons, turned around and ran. However, the 1,000 Ming infantry did not disorganize, but relied on vehicles and cattle as shelters to meet the battle.

The Dutch and the black soldiers rushed to them in an instant, and the muskets roared, and the rows of muskets spewed fire, and bullets rained down like a rain.

Most of the Ming army were also musketeers, and when they saw the Dutch rushing over, the Ming army stood behind the artillery carriage and set up muskets to shoot at the Dutch. The gunshots like fried beans continued, the projectiles were all over the sky, dense as rain, and the hot bullets pierced the black soldiers in front, and a large number of black soldiers were shot and fell.

However, the Dutch army was numerous, and the Ming army also suffered heavy casualties here, and the rainstorm of bullets drilled through the gaps in the vehicles and hit the Ming soldiers, and many Ming musketeers were shot.

Dense bullets rained down, and the oxen pulling the cart spewed blood mist and fell with a cry of grief.

"Unstoppable! Let's withdraw! A Ming garrison stood up and shouted.

The Ming musketeers lost about half of them, and the rest saw that they couldn't resist it, so they dropped the artillery carriage and turned around and ran.

Derka shouted: "Go up and destroy their cannons!" ”

The Dutch and the black soldiers shouted excitedly and rushed forward. They rushed to the cannon and prepared to destroy it. But at this time, several Dutch soldiers were stunned: "How can it be a wooden cannon?" ”

The mortar that appeared in front of Deerka's eyes was actually made of wood, and it was shoddy and poorly made, in fact, some broken wooden planks were hooped up with rattan and painted with a layer of black paint, which looked like real guns from a distance. As we got closer, the wooden mortars were revealed.

"Fooled!" Derka shouted.

Before the words could be spoken, the earth trembled violently as if there had been an earthquake, and the pre-planted mines exploded one after another, causing the gunpowder contained in the false mortar to explode.

A violent explosion rang out, fireballs burst out, and the false mortar turned into countless fragments in an instant, and the pieces of wood and the iron beads and stones filled inside flew out, and pieces of Dutch and black soldiers fell in pools of blood.

"Let's go!" Dirka shouted anxiously.

The Dutchman's formation was in disarray, and everyone turned and fled, trying to escape back into the city as quickly as possible.

In fact, the training of the Dutch soldiers at that time was not bad, and in the era of queuing to shoot, the Dutch soldiers could bear a lot of losses and keep the formation unchaotic. But there is no enemy in front of you, only mines and explosives, and only seeing your own people falling, but not being able to hit the enemy, in this case any army will collapse.

In the grove, the Ming army brought by Li Dingguo had appeared, and the two thousand Ming infantry were all musketeers. Before the people could get closer, the muskets roared, and rows of bullets burrowed into the crowd of Dutch and black people, and the blood mist sprayed wildly, and both the Dutch soldiers in thick armor and the black musketeers without armor were all pierced and fell to the ground by the bullets.

A small number of Dutch and black soldiers counterattacked with muskets in their hands, but the few counterattack firepower was soon drowned out by the dense gunfire of the Ming army, and the few stubborn people were all beaten into a sieve.

The rest of the Dutch and black soldiers either threw away their guns without bullets and fled, or they scrambled to reload them.

"Kill!" The spear in Li Dingguo's hand pointed forward.

Five hundred horsemen rushed out, their horses' hooves on the ground, a deafening roar, their horses neighed, their speed increased to the maximum, and they rushed into the formation of the Dutch and the Negroes.

A Dutchman was trembling as he loaded his bullets, and he had just loaded the gunpowder, and before the projectiles had been loaded, he saw a general rushing to him. The Dutchman had no choice but to raise his musket to block.

"Kill!" Li Dingguo burst into a shout, and the spear collided with the Dutch soldiers. Under the effect of horsepower, the Dutch soldier flew backwards, and in the blink of an eye, he was trampled into pulp by the war horse.

Li Dingguo dropped his spear, drew his saber and slashed in the crowd of Dutch soldiers. The sword borrowed horsepower, and wherever it passed, the Dutch soldiers and the black soldiers were either in different places, or they were cut in two by the waist.

Five hundred cavalrymen rushed into the formation of the Dutch and the blacks, their hooves trampled and their swords flashed.

The muskets of the Dutch army had become flint sticks, and the muskets that had not had time to be loaded with bullets and gunpowder were actually inferior to the burner sticks, and they were not equipped with bayonets, only short knives or axes. But using these melee weapons to collide with cavalry is no different from committing suicide.

The cavalry was so fast that the Dutch soldiers' short knives and axes could not even reach the side of the cavalry, so they were knocked away by their horses or cut in two by their sabers.

The Dutch and the blacks fled in the direction of Batavia, and Li Dingguo pursued them with cavalry. A man's two legs can't outrun a four-legged war horse. The Dutch and the blacks were caught up and cut down one after the other.

Dirka did not run away, wearing a bright military uniform and a high black hat, he was recognized by Li Dingguo at a glance. Western armies had not yet evolved into the eighteenth-century style of all brightly colored military uniforms, and ordinary soldiers wore cloth uniforms with a cuirass and iron helmets. Only senior officers are those who wear black military caps, bright uniforms, and feathers and other decorations, and can be recognized at a glance on the battlefield.

Li Dingguo chased after him on horseback and cut off Dilka's head with a single sword.

The rest of the Dutch and black soldiers, seeing that they could not escape, fell to their knees and surrendered.

The Dutch army went out of the city this time in an attempt to destroy the mortars of the Ming army, but 2,000 people went out of the city, but they fell into Li Dingguo's plan, and the artillery did not destroy one, but instead lost all the 2,000 men and horses outside the city. More than 1,300 people were killed, and the remaining 700 or so were all taken prisoner by the Ming army.

"Take it away!" Li Dingguo ordered the captives to be taken down.

John Marsui, who had been standing at the top of the castle and watching the battle, was so happy that he almost jumped when he saw Derka with his men repelling the Ming army protecting the artillery and rushing to the cannon. But then he saw a sudden explosion in the ground, and those "artillery" also exploded one by one, and the Dutch army suffered heavy losses, and his face was a little unsightly, and then when he saw Li Dingguo rushing out with more than 2,000 people and cavalry, John Ma Suiju felt a pain in his chest, his throat was sweet, and a mouthful of blood spit out.

"Lord Governor!" Several soldiers hurriedly supported John Masui, who had almost fallen.

"The people of the Ming Kingdom are too cunning! A trap was set up for us to be fooled! Two thousand men and horses were lost! John Masuiji said bitterly.

The transport of false mortars filled with gunpowder and stones was a predetermined plan by Li Dingguo. At the site where the enemy was lured and annihilated, the Ming army had already laid mines at night. During the march, the Ming army controlled the speed, and when the Dutch came over, the convoy just entered the minefield.

The mine was detonated by pulling the fire, using a flint wheel to pull the fire and ignite the primer, causing the mine to explode. When the Dutch came, the Ming army in ambush in the woods on the side of the road pulled a mine, causing the mine to explode, and then detonated the gunpowder in the false mortar to explode, blowing up the Dutch, and Li Dingguo's men rushed over again.

The Dutch army in Batavia was devastated, especially the loss of fifteen hundred black soldiers, which was irreparable. The quality of the black soldiers was much higher than that of the local indigenous soldiers, and the loss of one was one less. (To be continued.) )