I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 245
Chapter 244

The Dutch in Batavia also realized that if they could not regain control of the fort and the port, they would definitely be finished, and they would be finished tonight.

Thousands of Dutch soldiers were organized to attack the fort in an attempt to recapture the fort. They surrounded the fort with flintlock guns.

Huggins, who was in charge of attacking the port, had a psychological advantage, that is, the Ning Navy's landing force seemed to be equipped with only cold weapons like the indigenous army, and in this era, cold weapons have been completely outdated.

The army of the Dutch East India Company is different from the Spanish army. In theory, a combat wing in Spain consists of ten companies, each with 250 or [-] people. However, the ratio of pikemen to musketeers is two to eight. There are eight spear companies and two musketeer companies.

Until the Spanish army encountered the French army, it suffered a lot. In the seventeenth century, the Spanish phalanx was changed. In order to make a difference in history, the later phalanx was called the improved Spanish phalanx. .The specific change is that the share of pikemen has been greatly reduced and the share of pikemen has been increased. Generally speaking, pikemen account for 20.00%70.00, while pikemen have reached [-]%[-].

The military reform of the Netherlands has been baptized in actual combat during the 30-year war in Europe. Even if the improved Spanish phalanx has the same proportion of musketeers, it is still difficult to resist the firepower of the Dutch phalanx of the same size.In fact, even the Morris phalanx and Gustav phalanx that have been adjusted and optimized cannot fully exert the power of the new musket.Due to the limitation of gun posture, even if soldiers in the same row want to hold guns and shoot at the same time, they are limited to three rows at most, and the remaining soldiers can only be used as a reserve.

The musketeers in Gustav's phalanx are good at relying on three rows of volleys to cause heavy damage to the approaching enemy. When the enemy approaches, the original six rows of musketeers quickly change into three rows, the first row kneeling, the second row Bending down, the third row stood up, raised their guns and fired at the same time.

In theory, this arrangement can undoubtedly make more reasonable use of all the firepower of the musketeers.But in fact, the most commonly used tactic of the Dutch musketeers is still the reverse marching shooting method, that is, six rows of musketeers shoot in sequence and then retreat from the gap between the soldiers in the back row to reload and maintain continuous firepower.

If this shooting method was invented by Mu Ying, the famous founding general of the Ming Dynasty, more than 200 years ago and applied to actual combat, not to mention Ning Haijun, in fact, most of the musketeers of the Ming Army adopted the three-stage shooting method invented by Mu Ying. Of course, cold weapons are actually the same. Crossbowmen and Musketeers adopt the same tactics and use them alternately.

"The Ming army on the opposite side is just an army equipped with cold weapons, rush up and shoot them to death..."

There was no mistake in Huggins' arrangement, but the problem was that he underestimated the fighting style of the Ming army. When he led the army to the rhythm of bugles, he marched slowly until he entered the range of the Dutch muskets.

The muskets that the Dutch are now equipped with generally use "Blunderbuss" to refer to the main firearms used by the Dutch army in that era. ", also known as "Dutch firecrackers" in later generations.

They have two models, one is light and the other is heavy. The light gun has a caliber of about 15mm and weighs ten pounds.Heavy guns weigh more than eighteen pounds and have a caliber of 17.8mm-23mm.It is worth mentioning that the weapons of the current Dutch army are not standardized.

In all fairness, the power of this Dutch firearm is quite good. The light matchlock gun fires 14g lead bullets, while the heavy matchlock gun fires lead bullets that can reach more than 56 grams.A heavy musket can penetrate armor from 100 yards and kill a man or horse from 500 yards.

However, the problem is that there is a fatal weakness that cannot be solved, that is, the barrel has no rifling, and the accuracy is very poor. Generally speaking, muskets are not used as precision lethal weapons in the hands of the Dutch, they are just covered, like bows and arrows, in general That's right.

But the problem is that when the musketeers of the Dutch army came to the port, the first thing they saw was rows of defense lines built with sandbags. The sandbag walls were about three feet high. Once they were in a prone position, they could not see Target.

"Your Excellency Colonel, what should we do now?"

"Keep going!"

"Yes!"

The Dutch soldiers resolutely carried out Huggins' order, but the problem was that at this moment, heads were peeking out from the sandbags, and the crossbow machine of Ning Haijun's jumping battalion had already been wound and aimed at the attacking Dutch soldiers.

"Fire arrows!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

A burst of metal trilling made the air vibrate, and a row of crossbow arrows shot out in bursts of cold stars by the wind!

After shooting, the soldiers of the Ning Navy handed the crossbow to the back, took the stringed crossbow handed over by the second row of soldiers, glanced briefly, and pulled the trigger again.

When the dense sound of breaking through the air sounded, the Dutch subconsciously raised their muskets, but their professional army, unlike pirates, saw the target, and instinctively attacked with all weapons that could be fired.

But the professional army is a disciplined force that executes orders.

"Fire!"

This is really unfair. The Ning navy soldiers lay behind the sandbags. In order to ensure that they would not be shot by muskets, the sandbags were placed with small holes for shooting.This small hole is not big, only one foot square.

The accuracy of the flintlock guns was so poor that it made people cry. It was extremely sad to hit the people behind the sandbags, but the Dutch soldiers had no cover, and they became the living targets of Ning Haijun, and they were knocked down one after another.

Huggins was very angry and roared at Ning Haijun: "You are still knights, come out and fight bravely..."

However, what responded to him was rows of crossbow arrows.

In fact, the advantages of weapons and equipment in battle are indeed very effective, the key is to see if there are effective supporting tactics.

If the officers and soldiers of the Ning Navy were really allowed to directly set up their positions at the port, the Ning Navy would definitely suffer heavy losses in the face of such a volley of gunfire from the Dutch musketeers.

Located about 500 meters from the front line, Li Weiluan was observing the battle ahead with a telescope. After the battle lasted for a quarter of an hour, more than 1000 Dutch soldiers voluntarily retreated.

In this battle, only nine Ning Navy soldiers were hit by stray bullets, while the attacking Dutch soldiers killed and injured more than 300 people.

As the governor of the Dutch East India, Breuer scolded Huggins as a waste, more than 500 elite Dutch soldiers were killed and wounded, and it was difficult to get past the mine!

A commander of the Dutch East India Army saw this scene and said: "Your Excellency, we have to admit that the tactics of the Ming army are more targeted to the tactics of our Dutch musketeers, even if our entire army is suppressed , the result is probably still the same!"

"What now?"

"Let those natives go!"

Of course, this native is not an armed member of an indigenous tribe, but an indigenous colonial army trained by the Dutch, with a total of more than 26 people in [-] regiments.

If it weren't for Batavia's lack of food, and if Batavia had low food production and severe natural disasters like Ming Dynasty, it would be impossible for the Dutch East India Company to feed so many colonial troops.

It is a common practice of colonial powers to hire soldiers and natives as the colonial army, just like the British conquest of India. When the British East India Company launched the Battle of Plassey to conquer India on June 1757, 6, the East India Company at that time The British army led by only 23 people, and another 900 mercenaries, these mercenaries were recruited locally in India.In the end, it was with this 2000 troops that Britain won the Battle of Plassey and started the process of colonizing India.

Although the British troops stationed in India have greatly increased, they are basically locally recruited mercenaries, including Gurkha cavalry, Punjabi cavalry, Sikh cavalry, Bengali light cavalry, Bengali infantry and so on.It was by relying on the Indians that Britain conquered the whole of India, making India a British colony for more than 200 years.

In order to prove that the Dutch army is indeed stronger than the colonial army, the governor of the Dutch East India sent eight regiments in one go, nearly one-third of the troops.

In Brewer's view, more than 1 fierce native colonial troops should be able to retake the port of Batavia.

However, mobilizing colonial forces will take time.

Brewer's back was sweating a lot now, and an indigenous girl servant came over silently with a plate containing whiskey and a bottle of soda water.Covered with a towel, is an ice bucket.

"Would you like some more, Your Excellency the General?"

"Your Excellency Governor, you don't have to worry, everything will return to balance. This is also for the long-term stability of His Majesty's territory."

"I was thinking about how to write a report to His Majesty the King!"

The current King of the Netherlands is the son of the former founding father and the younger brother of Maurice of Nassau. Maurice of Nassau was a Dutch military reformer who developed military strategy, tactics and military engineering, making the Dutch army the most modern in Europe at that time. army.

One thing he bears a striking resemblance to Emperor Apocalypse is that he had no son and passed the throne to his younger brother, now Frederick Henry, King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Unlike the Emperor Apocalypse, Maurice of Nassau was fortunate that his younger brother Frederick Henry received military training in Mauritz's army at his youngest age.He had outstanding military talent, and he made great contributions to the Netherlands in the decisive struggle with Spain.In 1625 he began to lead all the troops of the Inter-Provincial Republic in the Thirty Years' War.

The Dutch army successively captured Geronlo (1627), 's-Hertogenbosch (1629), and Maastricht (1632) ruled by Spain, forcing the Spanish Empire to recognize the independent status of the Netherlands.

It is precisely because of the nature of the king that the Netherlands gives priority to the military in terms of conduct. If war is not enough, even if another governor can make money, it will not work.

It can be said that Breuer, the governor of the Dutch East Indies, decided to target Cheng Shijie's tentativeness in order to vote for the king's favor. The principle he considered was military interests, that is, the Spanish Empire promised them that they could hand over the ownership of the senior officials. , Once the "military" victory is achieved in terms of senior officials, the governor's term expires and he can be transferred back to the country.

It's just a pity that Brewer kicked the iron plate.

Brewer sighed, and took a sip of whiskey: "I just didn't expect that the Duke who was born as a commoner would react so violently. I really don't know what he was thinking? Anyway, I do I will bear all the consequences of my decision. Your Excellency General, please remember that no matter what, those Chinese cannot be harmed by the natives! I just hope that they will leave obediently with their tails between their legs!"

Unknowingly at this time, Brewer was really scared.

But the problem is that the Chinese now came with the Ning Navy and fought with the Dutch in Batavia. They seized the fort immediately and repelled the Dutch attack.

This made the Chinese in Batavia also feel strange.

Located in a luxurious mansion in Batavia City.

"Father, shall we go?"

A young man anxiously persuaded an old Chinese man: "Now that the officers and soldiers are fighting with the Dutch, it's hard to guarantee that the Dutch won't take care of us..."

"No, no!"

The Chinese elder was Li Sixi, a well-known tung oil merchant in Batavia. Li Sixi said, "Let's see, how many years have passed, and there has never been a large army from the imperial court here. Could it be that the imperial court is planning to manage Southeast Asia?"

"Hey, my dad, what are you thinking? Last year we received a letter from our cousin, who said that the tax was too heavy, the food was in short supply, and the army hadn't paid their salary for thirteen months. Those soldiers were worse than bandits. Still ruthless!"

"Clean up and prepare a generous gift. I'll meet the high officials of the imperial court!"

Li Sixi had learned about the Luzon Incident more than two months ago, and also knew that Luzon had established the executive committee of Ning Haijun, while Wu Shangzhi and Li Guoqun became members of the executive committee of Cong Wupin, one in charge of business and one Responsible for diplomacy.

Li Sixi and Li Guoqun can also be regarded as the same family. Of course, the same surname was a family 500 years ago.

Li Sixi also wanted to take a risk, but he didn't have a channel to contact Ning Haijun, so now was his chance.

Of course, there are also huge risks, which means big risks and high incomes.

Just like the line in "Hurricane", the greater the wind and waves, the more expensive the fish.

Li Sixi's logic is very clear, because if the court fights, there are only two results. If the Dutch win, they will be slaughtered. If the court wins, they will gain greater power and benefits.

At first, the Chinese representatives just went to Batavia West Port tentatively, but seeing that the Dutch soldiers who blocked them did not intend to stop them, these Chinese representatives became more and more bold.

They went to the west port area of ​​Batavia one after another, and by noon, 800 people had already arrived. These people either brought money, or grain, cloth, wine, and meat.

Looking at the mountain of gifts, Li Weiluan finally understood why Cheng Shijie wanted to fight Batavia, because these Chinese were so rich.

According to incomplete statistics, he received a total of 3000 boxes of silver ingots, 180 taels per box, as many as 300 taels of silver. If cloth, silk, meat and other property are included, the value of these materials is as high as [-] million taels of silver. The Chinese voluntarily contributed.

The jumping camp soldiers were also very happy at this time. After eating canned food for more than a month, they could finally eat fresh meat and fruits.

The second battle for Batavia was fought the next morning.

When more than [-] colonial troops from the eight regiments rushed to the port, Li Weiluan suddenly realized that these colonial troops had only a few muskets, most of them were holding scimitars, and only a thin military uniform. There is no need for passive defense at all, and you can show off Batavia.

"All of them, attack!"

The jumping battalion is a heavily armed unit. When all the heavy infantry put down their helmets and carried their swords, they lined up in a row, crossed the sandbag defense line, and crashed into the surging Dutch colonial army formation.

The Dutch colonial army also had archers and musketeers, but they couldn't form a neat formation like the well-trained Dutch. There were more than 100 steps away before the colonial army began to shoot or shoot.

The whole body of a hoplite is wrapped in thick iron armor. The thickness of the breastplate, shoulder armor, and greaves is even more amazing. When the arrow shoots up, it bounces away with a sting. Not strong, but the musket bullets hit the armor of the jumping camp like a hammer, making the soldiers of the jumping camp gasp!
"Shoot the knife, chop!"

Following the short order, more than 1000 Mo Dao soldiers in the front row raised their Mo Dao in unison, and slashed at the soldiers of the Dutch colonial army.

At the same time, the epee and spears in the hands of the Dutch colonial army also handed over to these heavy infantry!

The Mo Dao slashed down with the strong wind, and a rain of blood splashed immediately. The colonial army was not equipped with armor, and the heavy and sharp Mo Dao easily cut and split their bodies. Facing such a violent attack, the fierce colonial army almost completely Without the power to fight back, hundreds of thousands of people were knocked down one by one.

Brewer, who was watching the battle in Donggang, shivered involuntarily when he saw this scene.

The Mo Dao of these fierce colonial troops and the Ming army were chopped down like chickens and dogs, turning them into broken corpses, but the epee they chopped on the heavy infantry of the Ming army, and the spears that stabbed the Ming army Without exception, they were bounced off by the Ming army's iron armor, without hurting a single hair of the Ming army!
"cut!"

The blood-smeared Mo Dao was raised again, and the Dutch colonial army retreated in horror.Facing these invulnerable steel monsters, these Dutch colonial troops were terrified.

But the problem is that they wanted to run away, but the colonial officers who were prodded by the promise of huge profits urged them to come forward. After all, the officers of the Dutch colonial army were all Dutch, and the natives should only worry about the lowest-ranking officers. The officers above the grassroots level are all uniform Dutch.

This is a common feature of any colonial army.

The colonial army in front wanted to retreat, but behind them were densely packed colonial soldiers, and they wanted to retreat. The problem is, they can't fly, so where can they retreat?

The Mo Dao fell mercilessly and was splashed by the blood of the colonial army. Whether it was an ordinary native soldier or a white officer, they were all knocked over equally. The heavy infantry stepped on their twitching corpses and walked towards the colonial army Slow but unstoppable advance.

"kill!"

The soldiers in the jumping battalion were shouting in unison, brandishing their swords, and pressed them up like a wall. Every colonial soldier standing in front of them found in despair that the weapons in their hands were nothing against Ning Haijun. Nothing works.

"what……"

There were heart-piercing screams, and groups of fierce colonial soldiers covered their bloody wounds and fell down with distorted faces. The Mo Dao was too long, and they didn't have any weapons like swords. When they were handed over to the Ming army, the Ming army's sharp knife smashed their bodies like chopping melons and vegetables.

The slashing action of the heavily armed Mo Dao soldiers is simple and sharp, like a windmill. The Mo Dao of the first row of Mo Dao hands falls, the Mo Dao of the second row raises, the second row of Mo Dao falls, and the Mo Dao of the third row raises. From the beginning, as long as the knife is drawn, it will be cut in two. There is absolutely no accident. Some of these colonial troops can't even make a scream, and they fall down like cut wheat.

The colonial army was smashed into rows, and the battle was almost one-sided!
Brewer is also a governor from the military system. He was completely dumbfounded. He has experienced many battles. In his career, such one-sided battles are not uncommon, but they are all Spanish native troops. He never dreamed that the colonial army trained by the Dutch would be regarded as an elite army even on the European battlefield, far better than those farmers who were temporarily recruited, but they had no chance to resist.

The Chinese representatives who were watching the battle shouted and cheered: "Good kill!"

On the port of Batavia, after the colonial army was killed in pieces, the whole army finally retreated. Not to mention, these thin and small indigenous colonial soldiers were as agile as monkeys and ran very fast.

The soldiers of the Jumping Battalion in heavy armor really couldn't catch up with them, and the screams gradually stopped, while the Chinese people jumped over the defense line of the Dutch army and rushed towards the west port of Batavia recklessly.

The Ning navy officers and men began to clean up the battlefield.

Brewer was dumbfounded watching this scene. From the beginning of the battle to the end, in only half an hour, more than six or seven thousand colonial troops were killed, and there were almost no wounded soldiers. Those wounded soldiers were caused by running or killing each other. of.

Breuer had heard more than once that Ning's navy was good in marine warfare. Of course, this was only Zheng Zhilong's opinion. In fact, when the Dutch fought against Zheng Zhilong, the army won and the navy defeated.

Brewer sighed: "I now know why the Spanish army is vulnerable to them..."

In Brewer's impression, the Spanish army has the world's largest army and the world's largest navy. After the Morris reform of Nassau in the Netherlands, the Dutch can defeat the Spaniards on land. Of course, their victory is not easy. .

But the problem is that when the Ning Navy and Army fought against the Netherlands Army, they won very easily.

No wonder...

The Ning Navy's heavy infantry can defeat the Dutch Army, so they are the world's number one army?
But there is no doubt that the Dutch East India colonial army, including the Dutch army, had no chance to recapture the port of Batavia.

"Gentlemen, God is merciful. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, I have decided to restart negotiations with Ming. What do you think?"

Brewer's logic is that it is not shameful to be defeated by the world's number one army. If the king wants to dispose of him, then do so. He would rather go to jail than fight with Ning Haijun.

(End of this chapter)