1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 321
"Boss, the Portuguese captain who was requisitioned by us, Major Conrad Costa, came to ask, shall we return to Jianye directly via Beikoubao (now the small town of Newlandbai in northern Australia) tomorrow?" Huang Zijia left Going to Qi Tian's side, he asked softly.

"Do you want to go back to Jianye City earlier?" Qi Tian asked with a smile.

Five days ago, Qi Tian and his party took the "Yangbo" from Weihai Fort (now Cairns, Australia) all the way north to Cape Fort (now Bamaga Town, Northern Australia), and then temporarily rested here for a day.

After nearly two years of development, Cape Fort has a population of more than 180 people as a supply point to the east, and they also control a nearby indigenous tribe of more than 50 people.Because the settlements are set more than 700 meters deep inland, and there are large forests covering the coast.Unless someone tries to land and look deep into the coast, the camp is generally not found at all.

Therefore, although Cape Fort has a fort in its name, the outer defense is only a simple wooden fence and a few watchtowers, supplemented by more than 100 muskets, but it is more than enough to deal with some wild animals and the natives deep in the interior.

The forest here is dense, the terrain is uneven, and the population is not strong, so only more than 1000 mu of land nearby have been reclaimed scatteredly, and some potatoes, corn, sorghum and many vegetables have been planted.The output will also be limited. If there is no external material input, although they will not starve to death, they must live a very hard life.

However, with the outbreak of the Han-Dutch War, a large number of materials and personnel came and went through Cape Fort, and this place happened to be between Weiyuan (now Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) and Weihai.The so-called geese leave their feathers, and the passing ships will leave various production and living materials, which has greatly promoted the development of local people's livelihood.

The local residents sold the vegetables they planted, all kinds of fresh meat, eggs, poultry and other daily necessities to the ships passing by here, and they really got a lot of money.

The three fishing boats entrusted to Jianye Shipyard to catch some fish in the nearby sea also improved the nutrition of local residents.Generally speaking, the overall life of the residents of Haijiaobao is quite comfortable. Of course, you have to ignore that they are lonely at the protruding corner of the northernmost tip of Hanzhou, with a population of only more than 100 people. The mountains, or maybe some stupid natives in them too.

"It's been more than a month since I left Jianye City, so I naturally want to return sooner." Huang Zijia smiled, "However, it seems like a waste of capacity for our big ship to sail back to Jianye City empty."

Qi Tian looked with satisfaction at the former little prince Boni, who had lived in Hanzhou for the past four years. His thoughts, behavior habits, and even his value orientation were more and more closely connected with Hanzhou.

"How do you think we should plan our return route?" Qi Tian asked.

"We will set off tomorrow, passing Beikoubao, and then head northeast to Niu Island. It has been more than a month, and there must be a lot of wild buffaloes caught there. Our empty boat can pull at least 20 to [-] head." Huang Zijia said: "After pulling the cows, go to Xinxiangbao, allocate more than a dozen heads to them, and then free up some space to load the rice. Finally, return to Jianye City. However, in this way, I am afraid it will take more than [-] days .”

"No problem! As you said, we traveled to several places to transfer the urgently needed supplies." Qi Tian said affirmatively.

"In this way, I don't know if we will meet Dutchmen on the way." Huang Zijia said with a smile: "If our luck is too bad."

"Don't worry, our luck has always been good." Qi Tianwu said as he looked at the dark night sky outside.The sea is vast, and no matter how many Dutch boats there are, they will not just catch their boat.
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It took most of the day for the Guangnan army to land, and by the evening, some supplies and equipment were still not unloaded from the ship, but their temporary camp on the shore had already been set up.Wooden walls, towering watchtowers, several deep trenches outside the camp, and the entire camp has a well-organized system, which looks like an elite division that has experienced battles.

It was already late at night, but the camp of the commander of the Guangnan army was brightly lit and crowded with people.All the main generals of the Guangnan Army gathered here, discussing the enemies they faced in a low voice.

Ruan Yucheng, the commander-in-chief of the Guangnan army, looked gloomy, holding the saber under his waist in his right hand, and walked around the several leading generals under the tent without saying a word.

"Commander, looking at the city at noon, the general thinks that our army may not be able to conquer it in a short time." Ruan Jingqing, the deputy commander of the Fuchun Guards, said in a deep voice.

"Wangcheng has been living comfortably for a long time, and it is impossible to attack a strong city!" A border town general who had followed Ruan Yucheng for a long time said eccentrically.

"The dog thief is talking so nonsense, do you want to try my blade!" Ruan Jingqing, the deputy commander of the Fuchun Guards, said coldly.

"I just wanted to see how good the imperial guards are!" the general in charge of the border town said nonchalantly.

"Then invite this general!" Ruan Jingqing held the long knife under his waist in his right hand, and pointed out the tent with his left hand.

"If you don't go, it will appear that I'm afraid of you!" The general of the border town stepped out of the line, ready to walk out of the tent.

With a "cang clang", Ruan Yucheng, who was sitting in the main seat, pulled out the saber from his waist and threw it on the ground.

"Before leaving, Your Majesty has explained that anyone in the army who does not obey the general's order can be killed first and then played!" Ruan Yucheng said coldly.

When everyone heard the words, their hearts were shocked, and then they all looked at the two people who caused trouble in the tent.

The general in charge of the border town immediately turned around and knelt down to plead guilty, leaving Ruan Jingqing, the deputy commander of the Fuchun Guards, standing abruptly in the big tent alone, neither retreating to one side nor kneeling to plead guilty.

"You step back for now." Ruan Yucheng said softly to Ruan Jingqing.After all, they are relatives of King Guangnan, so don't embarrass him too much.Then he scolded the Bianzhen General and ordered him to stand aside.

"The generals gathered here today are to discuss how to attack the city tomorrow." Ruan Yucheng said in a deep voice: "I only offer suggestions, and don't care about anything else. You can hear me clearly."

The general in the tent bowed his hands and promised to obey.

"During the afternoon, I watched the city on this island with you. The shape and scale of the city are huge, the walls are high and thick, and there seem to be a lot of soldiers and horses in the city. What do you think, how to capture this city?"

As soon as the voice fell, the tent suddenly became quiet.Everyone looked at each other, shaking their heads in silence.It seems that Guangnan's previous defeat did not lie. The city on the island is really huge and strong, and it cannot be captured in a short time.So in this way, it is nothing more than a long-term siege, or a strong attack with exhaustion.But if you want to fight consumption and storm, the more than 4000 soldiers and horses brought by this may not be enough.

"Tomorrow, drag those two cannons off the ship and bombard them close to the city wall." The general who provoked the incident just now said, "After a few days of bombardment, I don't believe that this city is still made of huge stones!"

"Commander, can we show weakness before the battle to lure the enemy out of the city, and then take advantage of the situation to cover up and attack and attack the city." Another general suggested.

"Alternatively, the enemy might come back tonight to steal the camp and attack the village. We might as well set up an ambush and hide our troops near the city wall to seize the city!"

"..."

Many generals of the Guangnan Army in the tent were chattering, discussing how to lure the enemies out of the city, but they were determined to avoid storming the city.

Ruan Yucheng became anxious when he heard this, and everyone pinned their hopes on annihilating their vital forces when the enemy troops left the city, and took advantage of the situation to attack the city.But what if the enemy army relies on the fortified city to stay behind closed doors.Don't forget, the King of Guangnan only gave him fifteen days to break through the city, and he had to win the battle quickly and capture all the enemy troops.

Discussion until midnight (one to three in the morning), still no clue.In desperation, Ruan Yucheng had no choice but to set up an ambush in the camp with the attitude of giving it a try, and secretly hid a group of troops less than 400 meters away from the city wall.

As for attacking the city at night, he was powerless and had no siege equipment in hand.Moreover, the soldiers in the army were exhausted physically and mentally from the long-distance boating, and they had no fighting spirit to launch a strong attack.

However, until dawn of the next day, there was no movement in either the enemy's city or the outskirts of the seaside camp, which disappointed many generals of Guangnan Kingdom.

Ruan Yucheng and several leading soldiers observed the city on the island again, feeling even more helpless in their hearts.If the city is fully equipped with soldiers and horses, let alone four thousand elite soldiers, even if there are four thousand more, it may not be possible to capture it in a short time.It seems that the fifteen-day period agreed with King Guangnan cannot be realized.

"Let the craftsmen in the camp build siege equipment quickly, and drag the artillery on the ship to the camp on the shore." Ruan Yucheng ordered.

"The commander-in-chief is going to attack?" a general asked softly.

"Let's try it first." Ruan Yucheng frowned, looking at the tall city from a distance.How could such a majestic city be built on this small island, and there are several small castles nearby.This kind of defense is comparable to the core city of my Guangnan and North borders!
At this moment, he felt some deep sympathy for Ruan Shaolong who led the army to attack the island for the first time. Even if he was not defeated by the opponent relying on "many" troops, even if he attacked the city, it would be very difficult.

But as the commander-in-chief whom the King of Guangnan gave him high hopes, he had to bite the bullet and do everything possible to conquer... a series of castles on this island.

Even if all the 4000 people brought in are defeated, they cannot retreat lightly.Damn, are the so-called Hanzhou people on the island all cowards?To build such a tall castle, there are actually several more!

Just after returning to the camp, thinking about how to reduce casualties and how to use equipment to attack the city, a border town officer who followed him ran into the tent with a happy face.

"Commander, the enemy is out of the city!" The general said, "It looks like their soldiers are coming out of the city to form arrays!"

"Oh?" Ruan Yucheng cheered up, and the enemy army actually left the city!Is this my luck?
Immediately, Huo Ran got up and ordered loudly: "The whole army gathers immediately and sets up the camp!"

(End of this chapter)