After cooking the secret sentry set up by Shibachi last night, Qian Tiandun handed over the matter of cleaning the battlefield to Takahashi Nan, and returned to Nanri Village to conduct a surprise interrogation of the two pirates he caught. ∮ ∮ ∮ Xiao∮ said that although these two pirates were only low-level personnel and did not know much information, they still explained some content that Qian Tiandun was very interested in, such as the Dutchman who came to help Shibazhi, and Zheng Zhihu, the pirate leader who led the team to attack Nanri Island.

Although Haihan had already discovered the Dutch armed fleet that had appeared in the southern seas a few days ago, after reconfirming the Dutch's combat intentions from the prisoners, Haihan's response was more calm. The Dutch were reluctant to send their infantry into battle, instead choosing the sea, where they were more adept, as an area of operation, which would undoubtedly greatly reduce the pressure on the defenders of Nanri Island in terms of defense. However, Qian Tiandun did not intend to exclude the Dutch from this war, since the Dutch themselves came to the fore, and did not leave them a lesson, wouldn't it be a waste of such a great opportunity? Moreover, considering the current international situation in which Haihan was located, Qian Tiandun thought that perhaps he could win a better international status for Haihan through the war on the Fujian side.

Natuna Island in the South China Sea has begun a tug-of-war with the Dutch over ownership, and as the war unfolds, the identity of the "pirates" that the Haihan militia used to disguise the purpose of the operation will sooner or later be exposed. All Haihan needed to do was to take over the Natuna Islands from the "pirates" in the most reasonable way possible before the Dutch found out the truth.

What kind of way can be called reasonable? The view of the Executive Committee was that it was first necessary to grasp the handle of the Dutch and make it famous, and the fact that the Dutch took the initiative to jump out on the Fujian side gave Qian Tiandun an inspiration -- Haihan's future military action against the Dutch East India Company could be used as a pretext to retaliate against the Dutch's undeclared war.

Of course, before dealing with the Dutch, Qian Tiandun still had to concentrate on clearing out these pirates on Nanri Island first. Eighteen Zhi's team left the port camp and marched south, although it was only three or four miles apart, but because Eighteen Zhi's attack on Nanri Island brought a large number of artillery, it took a lot of work to send these important goods to the battle line. With the exception of a few carts pulled by mules and horses, a considerable part of the artillery and ammunition were transported from the port to the front line by pirate manpower.

In the process, the defenders in the Nanri village did not choose to attack or open fire, and there was silence on the wall. The commander of the Ming Army stationed on the island is also a son of the Xu family, named Xu Jiaqi, and he is also Xu Xinsu's son and nephew.

Xu Jiaqi was selected by Xu Xinsu to be the commander of Nanri Island, and naturally he was appreciated by Xu Xinsu because of his outstanding qualifications, and he intended to cultivate him. However, he is different from Xu Yuzhuo, who is in charge of the sailor, and he has not gone to Shengligang Military Academy for further study, so his sense of awe for Haihan is not as strong as Xu Yuzhuo.

Xu Jiaqi saw that the men and horses of Eighteen Zhi were calmly arranging artillery positions on the plain one mile away from Nanri Village, so he couldn't help but question Qian Tiandun: "Why didn't General Qian order to attack at this time, and take advantage of the fact that the thieves were not firmly established, or they could cause chaos in their military formation!"

Qian Tiandun glanced at Xu Jiaqi and said unhurriedly: "If we just want to repel Eighteen Zhi, then they won't even have a chance to land on the island." The purpose of letting them go to the island is to deal them as hard as possible. If you had shown your means to scare them away early, it would have ruined the original battle plan. ”

Xu Jiaqi said: "The enemy has so many artillery pieces, which are comparable to our army, and if we fight like this, we will inevitably have casualties." ”

"In battle, casualties are inevitable, as long as the enemy dies more quickly than us, then the effect will be achieved. Qian Tiandun's face still had no expression, and the successive years of conquest had made him gradually lose the value of human life on the battlefield: "If we can use this battle to destroy the elite of Eighteen Zhi, then when we attack Penghu in the future, the loss will be smaller." ”

"Attack Penghu!" Xu Jiaqi's eyes immediately lit up. For a young general like him, attacking the Eighteen Zhi Lair in Penghu is undoubtedly an extremely distant dream, but since the emergence of the Haihan people, the realization of this dream seems to have become not so unattainable.

"It won't be long. Qian Tiandun patted Xu Jiaqi on the shoulder and said, "After taking care of these people, do you think Zheng Zhilong still has the courage to continue to send troops to attack places like Nanri Island? ”

"What does General Qian mean by the intention of annihilating this group of people?" Xu Jiaqi was also a smart person, and immediately responded with understanding.

"The leader of the team led by Eighteen Zhi this time is Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhihu, how can I let him go again!" A mocking smile appeared on the corner of Qian Tiandun's mouth: "He has been sent to the door, of course I have to try my best to keep him!"

"This is the information obtained by General Qian from the battle in the village last night?" Xu Jiaqi was also in the village last night, but Qian Tiandun personally led his subordinates to attack in the dark, but he did not inform him in advance, and it was not until the morning that he knew that Haihan's side went out to carry out a sweep last night, and cleared all the secret posts arranged by Shibazhi in the wilderness, and also captured two live mouths.

What is Zheng Zhihu's identity, Xu Jiaqi, as a disciple of the Xu family who has been fighting with Eighteen Zhihu for many years, naturally knows very well. A pirate leader like Zheng Zhihu, no matter whether he lives or dies, as long as he wins it, it will be a great achievement, and Xu Jiaqi will naturally feel hot about such military exploits. However, when the Ming army fought with Eighteen Zhi, most of the time it was in a passive defensive state, and it was rare to be able to take the initiative on the battlefield, let alone capture the bandit leader. If it weren't for the Haihan militia stationed on Nanri Island, Xu Jiaqi probably wouldn't dare to think that he would have the opportunity to catch a pirate leader like Zheng Zhihu on the battlefield, and it would be a great luck to be able to defend Nanri Village without losing it.

Qian Tiandun said confidently: "According to the prisoner's explanation, this time the Eighteen Zhi only sent more than 2,000 people to Nanri Island, and they don't even have an advantage in troops, so why should they fight with us who are waiting for work? Just rely on the Dutch rescue troops they moved in? The Dutch are all problems to protect themselves, how can they protect them!"

Although Eighteen Zhi tried his best to buy a large number of guns and artillery from different sources to equip his own men, after all, it was only a civilian armed force, and its combat efficiency and battlefield response were completely amateurish. A large group of people were busy in a mess for two or three hours, and the artillery positions had not yet been arranged. Qian Tiandun saw that the time was already noon, and he couldn't help but laugh and said, "It seems that today will at least drag on until the afternoon before the war starts...... Notify the logistics department and give the fighters food in batches. ”

After Xu Jiaqi next to him heard this, he also drew a gourd and asked his subordinates to do the same. The Ming army had the power to act independently on Nanri Island, and did not need to follow the orders of Haihan. But this is just an official statement, Xu Xinsu after the last attack on Nanri Island, knowing that the difference in strength between the two armies is too big, privately still asked the Ming army officers below Xu Jiaqi to try to cooperate with the Haihan arrangement, especially during the battle, a qiē is subject to the order of the Haihan commander, and even the time for rest and dinner must be consistent with the Haihan militia.

However, Xu Jiaqi himself did not have to eat in his own camp, he also had the status of a military observer, and he could have the treatment of eating and living with the officers of the Haihan militia, and after he ate the food of the officers on the Haihan side, he was unwilling to return to the Ming army camp to enjoy those dry military rations.

Although the environmental conditions on Nanri Island do not allow the supply of food to be at the same level as that of other military bases in Haihan, the senior officers of Haihan are still very particular about the three meals, maintaining at least two kinds of poultry and animal meat, and they can also eat fresh fish, shrimp and shellfish nearby, and even have a limited supply of alcoholic beverages for officers who are not on duty at dinner. Of course, the most important thing is that there are a lot of spices and seasonings available in the kitchen of the Haihan militia, and the dishes made are much better than the rice porridge batter of the Ming army, which has nothing but saltiness. Even Xu Jiajun, who was known for his better treatment in the Fujian Ming Army, could only use "luxury" to describe the food supply of the Haihan militia, after all, in this era, those who could use all kinds of Nanyang spices to cook could only enjoy such treatment in high-end restaurants and restaurants and a few powerful mansions.

Xu Jiaqi himself is also a general who leads the troops, so he naturally knows that such a level of logistics supply in wartime is actually a manifestation of strength. The Haihan people are not only well-fed but also well-fed, which is one of the main reasons for the huge gap between the two sides in their daily military training tables.

After the defenders had eaten lunch in a hurry, Eighteen Zhi finally completed their position and began to line up to prepare for the attack. However, at this time, Haihan's artillery had already been calibrated many times, and all the muzzles were aimed at several major artillery positions in Shibazhi. These areas had been demarcated more than ten days earlier, and the number of sights was determined by the test shot. It can be said that when Eighteen Zhi was still stunned, they were already within the range of Haihan's artillery fire.

"You don't have to wait for them to fire first, let's do it when the time is almost up!" After a long time, Qian Tiandun didn't have much patience to continue waiting. His battle plan was to destroy the opponent's heavy and ranged weapons in the first phase of the battle, so that it could not form an effective blow to the fortifications of Nanri Village. After losing these artillery, Eighteen Zhi wanted to continue to attack Nanri Village, and the only way was to fill it with human lives.

Takahashi Minami comprehended and went to the artillery position with the order. They had already practiced this tactic of suppressing artillery fire when they were in Annam, not to mention that this time they also occupied the advantage of the home field, and drew a clear line of fire early on. The artillery that Eighteen Zhi worked so hard to transport to Nanri Island was just a group of live targets in the eyes of the Haihan militia.

Zheng Zhihu did not come to the front line to command, and his position was still a mile away from the most advanced artillery position, which was also one of his means of self-preservation. The last time he was attacked by the Haihan militia, he had already seen the power of Haihan artillery fire, so he chose a relatively safe distance to command this battle.

However, the clumsy appearance of his subordinates did make it difficult for him to relax, and it took nearly three hours just to transport the artillery to the front line and set up positions. Fortunately, the defenders in Nanri Village were stupid, and they didn't take this opportunity to take the initiative to attack and catch themselves off guard. Zheng Zhilong decided to tell them what a mistake it would be for them to miss this fighter plane with heavy artillery fire next.

"Bring the wine! Lao Tzu wants to drink while watching the blood of the Haihan people flow like a river!" Zheng Zhihu exclaimed very proudly.

However, before the wine was delivered to him, the rumbling cannon sound sounded on the wall of Nanri Village. Zheng Zhihu didn't expect the other party to suddenly start a war at such a moment, and for a moment fell into a state of confusion. When he came back to his senses, he immediately shouted and ordered: "Open the cannon! Order our men to open fire! Fuck it!"

Speaking of which, there are indeed a lot of artillery pieces put on the battlefield by the Eighteen Zhi this time, in addition to the 20 Dutch artillery pieces purchased temporarily, there are also 18 artillery pieces that they own, all of which were specially transported from Penghu Laowo, in order to suppress the enemy's firepower in the process of attacking Nanri Village, so as not to be overwhelmed by Haihan's artillery fire because of the difference in firepower like last time. And this time, judging from the number of artillery pieces alone, Eighteen Zhi has even surpassed the Haihan defenders, and the number of paper jù has a certain advantage.

In order to be able to use so many artillery pieces at the same time, Eighteen Zhi even paid extra money and hired a group of gunners from Dayuan Port to fight on Nanri Island. The gunners were not Dutch, they were a relatively pure mercenary.

However, the artillery provided by the East India Company and the foreign gunners temporarily hired could not save the disadvantage of the Eighteen Zhi in this special battlefield, and the first round of shelling by Haihan carried out a brutal scrubbing of the artillery position on the left, and more than 20 shells almost all fell within the pre-aimed firing range, plowing the position of more than ten artillery pieces through the plow. In a matter of seconds, artillery fragments, rubble, and incomplete fragments of human bodies were flying everywhere, mixed with terrible screams and the sound of gunpowder detonation.

Just forty seconds later, a second round of shelling returned to the area, and the gunners, who had not had time to escape, had already regained their lives by death. At this time, not a single intact artillery piece could be seen on this position, and at the first moment of the battle, this artillery position had completely lost its combat effectiveness.

Although Zheng Zhilong was a mile away, he could also see the black smoke rising from his own position, and his heart was also tight, so he hurriedly asked someone to check the situation.