While Zheng Zhilong was actively preparing for battle, the transport fleet of the Qiongzhou battalion was sailing along the southwest coast of Xiamen Island under the cover of the fleet, approaching Zhongzuo Suocheng. According to the pre-war deduction www.biquge.info, if Zheng Zhilong hadn't died, he would definitely have fled to the city to hold on, so the army directly attacked here, instead of landing from the dock and pushing all the way through, which was too time-consuming and energy-consuming.

The city is located on the southwest coast of Xiamen Island, backed by Wulao Mountain, and across the sea from Gulangyu Island, which is roughly the location of Xiamen University. To the east of the castle is the famous Huli Hill Fort. Because this place guards the key point of the waterway between Gulangyu Island and Xiamen Island, it is known as "the gateway of Fujian, the key to Tiannan". The location was so important that Zheng Zhilong erected several ship-borne 24-pounder cannons bought from the Portuguese.

According to the level at that time, the fortification of this Hulishan Fort was not simple, although there were only three or four cannons, and there were less than 100 Taiwanese soldiers, but they were all large-caliber sophisticated artillery, and there was no spare salary to make up the number, which was much more capable than the tattered Guangdong Humen Yaniang Shoe Battery. Zheng Zhilong was more knowledgeable in coastal defense than the bureaucrats in Guangdong, so he still invested a lot in the defense of the center-left office.

William judged the threat of this battery with the sensitivity of a fleet commander - although these cannons could hardly threaten ships sailing at sea, they were a nuisance after all. The range of the special artillery was able to reach the beach where the Army was expected to land, so it was necessary to destroy the battery before launching a landing battle.

The mixed fleet sailed past the Waixin Stone, then anchored in the sea, and locked on to the target at a distance of more than a mile.

It was difficult for ordinary solid shells to inflict fatal damage on a stone-made battery at this distance, so William directly ordered the use of bombardment.

Solid shells used in the first round of shelling are used to determine the landing point and correct the angle. A few solid bullets sparsely landed around the battery, crumbling a corner of the battery, and rubble flew everywhere. The defenders of the battery hurriedly counterattacked, and the 24-pounder guns opened fire, but the accuracy was too poor, and most of them fell into the sea, splashing high waves.

After finding the landing spot, the two Yongle-class bombardment guns were replaced with explosive shells. "Boom, boom", the four guns on the left side opened fire in unison, and the four huge explosive shells landed in the battery accurately, followed by an even louder sound, and the air wave generated by the explosion threw the heavy 24-pounder gun and the gunner's body into the air, and the rubble was splashed, and the entire battery collapsed directly.

After the destruction of the Huli Hill Fort, the city of Zhongzuo, which is located by the sea, has no cover. You can do whatever you want. The convoy sailed safely past the Huli Hill Battery, and then the ships lowered their anchors, and Xia Nan personally ordered: "Start landing!" ”

The landing site was chosen on the beach in front of the Huli Mountain Fort, which is about two kilometers away from the city of Zhongzuo. One after another, the ships lowered their sampans, and the soldiers who had been stuffy below the deck for a long time began to board the sampans one after another and row to the beach. The officers in charge of counting the number of people and coordinating the landing kept urging "Hurry, hurry!" "A landing operation is no better than a naval battle, and the target is a thousand cities, and the political risk is much greater, so it must be resolved quickly.

At the same time that the Qiongzhou battalion began to land, Zheng Zhilong was making the final mobilization in the city government office: "Order the grain station, send 300,000 taels to the gatehouse, I want to reward the three armies!" The brothers who go out of the city to face the battle will be rewarded with ten taels each, and those who defend the city will be rewarded with five taels each! As long as the Qiongzhou battalion is repulsed, each person will be rewarded with another fifty taels! In addition to the bereavement pension, those who died in the war will also be rewarded! ”

There was a commotion in the crowd, this is not a heavy reward, it is simply incredible. Under normal circumstances, if you win a battle, you will only be rewarded with four or five taels, and you must have military merits or "bring flowers" to reward more than ten taels, which is already extremely generous in various armed forces in the late Ming Dynasty, not to mention officers and soldiers like Huazi. Now as long as you go out of the city to face the battle, there are ten taels, and after the victory, there are fifty taels, this reward is too amazing.

Zheng Cai couldn't help but stand up and admonish: "This, big brother...... Isn't it too heavy...... As soon as this opening is opened, if there is no such heavy reward in the future, the sergeants will not be willing to fight with their strength......"

"Now is the time for everyone to sell their lives, is it worth buying a life for a few dozen taels of silver? I think it's worth it! Zheng Zhilong said, "If we lose the land battle again, and even the city is lost, we will have nothing, how can there be a future!" ”

Zheng Zhilong is very aware of the current situation, if he loses this battle again, the Zheng family will completely fall. Instead of being defeated like this and sending the treasures and goods of the city to the Qiongzhou camp in vain, it is better to spread out to buy people's hearts and fight to the death, maybe there are still some opportunities.

“…… Stay in the green mountains without worrying about no firewood, as long as our brothers stand firm in the city of Zhongzuo, even if the people and ships are all gone, they can still turn over! Zheng Zhilong said loudly, "The daughter is gone and comes back, our brothers are all doing big things, so we have to be a little bold!" ”

Provoked by his words, everyone was enthusiastic, feeling that since the eldest brother regarded property as a mustard, he didn't have to suffer from gains and losses, as long as he desperately took away the Qiongzhou camp, he would not worry about not having the opportunity to turn over the book and eat it all, after all, they were also forced to almost a dead end by Li Kuiqi back then, and then they turned it back.

Everyone bowed together: "May only the general be the head of the horse!" ”

After the arrangement was completed, Zheng Zhilong took his generals and soldiers down the city tower, only to see the commotion at the city gate, the soldiers were receiving the reward, seeing that although the ranks of their own soldiers were a little chaotic, but all of them were well-dressed and armored, and the equipment was bright, much stronger than the officers and soldiers, and he couldn't help but feel a little comforted. Although Lu Shi is not the core of the Zheng family, he has not invested less money in it over the years, and his equipment and military salary are all preferential, and he has won several battles for him - he was also transferred to Guangdong by the imperial court to fight Pai Yao. Now his only hope is to be able to withstand the final blow of the Qiongzhou battalion in a land battle.

After making a round, he instructed his soldiers: "Call Matos and Totaro." ”

Matos and Totaro were the heads of his Black Guard and the Japanese Guard. Zheng Zhilong's black guards were recruited from the Portuguese, and most of them were Portuguese fugitive slaves.

According to records, there were "850 Portuguese with families" in Macau at that time,...... They had an average of 6 armed slaves. The largest and best of these are the Curry, but there are also other people,...... The Portuguese and these men had excellent birds, spears, and other weapons. There are very few Portuguese who do not have 6 or 12 muskets or flintlock pistols". The Curryli people were black slaves from East Africa, most of them were trained in military affairs, used to using Portuguese arquebuses, fought bravely and would not have the problem of betrayal, so they were very trusted by Zheng Zhilong, maintaining a scale of five or six hundred people all year round, and were known as thousands to the outside world.

As for the Japanese Guard, his relationship with the peace of the feudal clans and his former Catholic status were enough for him to recruit hundreds of Japanese soldiers of Christian origin.