Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 231 The Future of Fort Good Hope

Several solid iron ball shells flew down from the city and landed on the ground. The 4-pound iron ball bounced and bounced on the dry and hard ground, then fell into the soft wheat field, and was finally absorbed by the soft soil, staying on the ground without moving.

Although the shelling did not cause any damage to the Eight Banners soldiers, it also caused a commotion among the armored spearmen standing on both sides of the wheat field, which did not stop until some Kralls yelled loudly.But the slaves in the wheat fields were unmoved. After careful consideration, they felt that the British shells might not necessarily fall on their heads. As long as they persisted, they would probably be among the top one hundred in the end , so that you and your family will be detached.Therefore, only a very small number of them turned around and fled yelling, most of them were still buried in harvesting the wheat, and their movements tended to speed up.And those slaves who ran away shouting and screaming were shot down by the Eight Banners soldiers with bows and arrows, and soon died.

"Don't worry! Keep harvesting the wheat! The coachman hastened to move forward, the spearmen are ready, and the officers all go down to suppress, otherwise these bastards will blow up your camp." Sun Shengjun stood behind the carriage full of boxes, and put A group of chiefs and deputy chiefs surrounded by him all blasted out.

These Eight Banners soldiers have been rectified and trained by the East Coast people for a long time, and now they are somewhat decent.The morale of the soldiers has also improved a lot, at least the situation where many people run away while walking is unlikely to happen again.

The British artillery continued to fire. At the beginning, their main targets were the slaves who were harvesting wheat in the wheat field, but they soon discovered that the power of solid shells was very limited in the soft soil of the wheat field. After firing a dozen or so shells, they couldn't even kill a single person.

After seeing that the effect was so poor, the British decisively stopped shelling the wheat fields, and started shelling the Eight Banners spearmen standing in line on both sides of the wheat fields.The four cannons were divided into two parts, each responsible for one side. After firing more than a dozen shells, one or two shells finally fell into the crowd, knocking down several Eight Banners spearmen in a row.

The formation of the spearmen was a little turbulent, and the Kralls who were officers were also a little at a loss.The remaining limbs and organs of the spearmen who were rubbed by the shells were scattered all over the ground, which was shocking to see and nauseating to hear.

The British fired several rounds again, and another seven or eight spearmen were hit by ricochets and lay in a mess on the ground.The wounded who hadn't died for a while lay on the ground and howled mournfully. Sun Shengjun felt a little upset when he heard it from a distance.

Seeing those Eight Banners soldiers and Kralls looking at him frequently, Sun Shengjun, who understood what they meant, waved his hand helplessly, telling these timid soldiers to temporarily disperse and retreat to the artillery bunker for a while, and at the same time ordered to set up The good artillery began to fire back at the British artillery positions at the head of the city.

So the two sides fired at each other in such a boring way, while the slaves scattered in the field were still buried in harvesting the wheat, seemingly turning a deaf ear to the artillery battle between the two sides.The [-] acres of wheat, totaling nearly [-] hectares, is such a large area that nearly [-] slaves have to harvest at least three days in a row to barely finish harvesting.And the British will give you three days?

"Mr. Heywood, things can't go on like this." Second Lieutenant Porter rushed into Knight Heywood's office in the Fort of Good Hope, and said anxiously: "The soldiers are obviously influenced by rumors. They are indifferent to everything that happens outside the city, they only care about those stupid gossips. Sir, please come forward and clarify the facts as soon as possible, the morale of the soldiers is quite low at present, and these barbarians have picked a good time to come."

Knight Heywood rubbed his face tiredly. The difficult years in Cape Town seemed to have drained his vitality, making him obviously several years older than before he came here.

"Aaron, sit down first." Knight Heywood said in a hoarse voice, then he picked out a letter from the pile of documents on the table, handed it to Second Lieutenant Porter, and said, "Please read this letter first." .”

Lieutenant Porter took out the letter suspiciously and read it. After reading it, he asked in an even more puzzled manner: "Mr. Chris said that the domestic situation has undergone major changes, but what does this have to do with us?"

"Aaron, read more when you have time. Your sensitivity to this information is too low. What is the difference between you and those stupid country farmers?!" Knight Heywood gave Aaron a dissatisfied look. Then I had to explain patiently: "Originally, the domestic situation was under the control of the gentlemen in London. The Scots defeated the local troops loyal to the king in the north of the kingdom, and then went all the way into the kingdom. Just when everyone Just laughing...well, waiting for the situation to develop, in January, the king led 1 people to Newcastle. The Marquess of Hamilton also led part of the army to join the king, and the local gentry and nobles even raised a fortune Military expenses were paid to the king, and militia regiments were formed to join the king's army."

"And then?" Second Lieutenant Porter was fascinated by what he heard, and couldn't help asking.These detailed letters about the war were not introduced, and in such a remote corner of Cape Town, only the well-informed Knight Heywood would know a little bit.

Knight Haywood lit his pipe, and then continued: "The two sides fought at the end of January. The king invested 1 men in this battle, but there were also many poorly trained militias; The size of the Scots army was as high as 9000. However, the results of the battle were jaw-dropping. The king's newly formed 13000 new army shined in this battle. Their intensive firepower volley beat those Scottish idiots. There were no spearmen, all flintlock guns, and even equipped with more than 2000 Tatan cannons. The Scottish army in a dense formation could not even last more than half an hour in the face of such ferocious firepower. According to the comments of battlefield observers, The form of the war in the future may change accordingly, and the Spanish phalanx is already somewhat outdated."

Lieutenant Porter's mouth opened wide in surprise after hearing this, and he could almost stuff an egg into it.

"After the war, the king awarded this army the title of 'Royal Model Army'." Knight Haywood said quietly, smoking a pipe: "The Scots have already begun to retreat to the border areas. And the king is also temporarily absent due to lack of supplies and military funds. The pursuit has stopped, and it is said that the two sides have started informal negotiations. Moreover, the most important thing is that the king is likely to take advantage of this victory to convene parliament to force the upper and lower houses to agree to his tax collection request."

"The king can't do this!" Lieutenant Porter finally realized at this point that he was also a member of the parliamentary faction, so he was very worried about the king taking advantage of the power of defeating the Scots to convene a parliament to oppress the members.

"So the gentlemen in London are very worried at the moment." Knight Heywood said, "Some gentlemen suggested a compromise with the king, but they were criticized by more people. The spirit of the "Magna Carta" cannot be violated! The king is gone now On a perilous path, he is too enamored with the power of force to neglect the ancient traditions of liberty. Gentlemen believe that the king's ambition must be curbed, and this requires first of all the concentration of our own forces. Unfortunately, good hope Fort has cost the company a huge amount of more than 3 pounds in the past two years, but it has not made any profit. The company council is already negotiating with the Dutch and preparing to transfer the Cape Town colony."

"What?" Second Lieutenant Porter finally couldn't sit still after hearing this, "They can't do this! We paid a lot for this castle, and many people died for it. How could they... how could they soak this castle like this? The castle we worked hard for is transferred? No, I can't accept it!"

"You have to accept it, Aaron." Knight Heywood's face was also very ugly, "It is unlikely that there will be any new aid from the country, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. Showing hostility towards us, if the east coast people are willing, it is difficult for us to hold this castle. This castle is also my heart, and I also want to trample all the east coast people here like bedbugs to death But... the domestic situation is tense now, and civil war may break out at any time, the company has no time to take care of us."

"Did this year's struggle take advantage of those damned Dutchmen?" Second Lieutenant Porter was still a little furious.

"I don't hide it from you. Mr. Green and Mr. Chris have written to me and asked me if I have the confidence to maintain this castle without any external assistance? As long as I have the confidence to persevere, they will I was sure to persuade the other directors of the company not to sell this place to the Dutch for the time being. However, after thinking about it all night, I still rejected their offer. I carefully analyzed the balance of power between the enemy and us, and I found that I was really not sure. As long as the East If the shore people know that there is a war in our country, maybe they will come and attack our castle with artillery next day, believe me, they will do so. And as long as they come, we can't hold this place." Knight Heywood said while smoking his pipe, his eyes wandering.

Second Lieutenant Porter choked and didn't speak.The supreme officer of the Cape Colony is so unconfident, what else can he say as a militia leader?Second Lieutenant Porter sighed heavily, and he suddenly lost the will to go out of the city to fight the barbarians.

After saluting to Knight Heywood, Second Lieutenant Porter walked out with a heavy heart.

(End of this chapter)