open sea

Chapter 1510 Takeover
The outcome of naval battles in this era does not immediately determine the fate of a country like land battles.

Behind the naval battle is the protracted economic and strategic confrontation between the two countries.

After the Battle of Lepanto, Ottoman remained intact because of its strong production capacity. After only one year, a brand new fleet could join the army.

But for a small new country like the Netherlands, which was blocked on three sides, only one successful sea raid was enough to seriously injure its vitality.

A few days after the first confrontation between the Han and Dutch fleets in the North Sea, separate ships from both sides met and fought at sea, causing Yang Ce to lose three small boats.

But the biggest harvest has been obtained by Yang Ce. His Flying Shark fleet intercepted four merchant ships full of oak.

This was enough for Yang Ce, his parachutist couldn't afford another naval battle.

Yang Ce had already seen the coastal fortifications in Amsterdam, so with the captured cargo ships and unowned warships picked up from the battlefield, nearly [-] warships and merchant ships sailed southward.

His goal was The Hague, a town without walls.

Although it was besieged in the naval battle, many people died on the Parachute General, and it was still devastated after replacing the new sails, but the leader Yang Ce was in a good mood.

His head was wrapped in a white canvas, and his left arm was also hung around his neck with a canvas. He looked a bit embarrassed, but his face was particularly vigorous. He pointed to the front and said to Yang Jizhong, who was temporarily taking over command of the fleet from him: "Although the parachutist has suffered this , but the Dutch have already paid me the materials for repairing the battleship, and now I just need to grab a port to repair the ship."

"You said Earl's Tomb, there is really no city wall?"

"That's what the Spaniards say." Yang Jizhong nodded and said, "They say that the Earl's Tomb is the capital of the Dutch, but the scale has always been small, and it was not until recent years that the permission to establish a city was obtained."

The city they speak of is The Hague, a very small town with a high administrative status in Holland.

"They collected the money, but they didn't want to build the city wall. Instead, they used the money to build a yamen, so the Spaniards have been trying to break through that, so it should be very easy."

"Spanish……"

With his arms hanging, Yang Ce turned around and walked towards the cabin. After walking two steps, he remembered that his captain's cabin was burned down during the artillery battle, and many documents were gone. He simply stopped and asked, "Where is the Spaniard?"

"I don't know, I just know that Palma Jr. has been fighting in the Netherlands."

"They seem to have mentioned it." As he spoke, Yang Jizhong showed a distressed expression: "General, it's hard to remember their names, and they should be responsible for what they don't like."

Yang Ce looked at Yang Jizhong for a while, sighed helplessly, raised his hand and said, "Forget it, first grab a port to repair the ship, and then talk about the rest."

Originally, Yang Ce wanted to simply contact the Spanish troops left behind in Yilan and sail over directly. The round trip from Dover would only take four or five days.

When the enemy gathers according to his strength, and the Spanish Legion under his command also arrives, he will be able to snipe the enemy in The Hague with multiple troops.

But right now I don’t know where the Spaniards fighting in the south are, so I can only try my luck in the past. It’s best to repair the ship there.

They were not far from The Hague. According to the identification of the Dutch captives on the merchant ship, the lights of the distant port could already be seen from the ship two hours before sunrise the next day.

They were not familiar with the hydrology of the local coast, and worried that the large ships with deep draft would touch the hidden reefs. The fleet anchored off the coast, put down nearly a hundred large and small landing craft, and sent two thousand-man teams to the beach in three trips.

When they finished their assembly, the sky turned white, and the nearest fishing village was controlled by pirates.

It's not that they wanted to rob the fishing village, it's just that the fishermen who went fishing saw their movements and were intercepted on the way home when they tried to run home. Immediately, a group of pirates blocked the entire village to gather information.

Immediately afterwards, [-] pirates, led by Yang Jisheng, walked through the ancient noble hunting grounds, and took control of the square and streets before the city residents who woke up early in the morning went out, completely sealing off this small and lovely town.

When the old nobleman who lived in the city woke up, he opened the window and saw a few shirtless or armored soldiers not far away raising the barrels aimed at him.

People may never know exactly when Yang Ce's troops occupied the city. They only know that their hundreds of town guards in the barracks hurriedly assembled after hearing the sound of muskets in the city.

They lined up in a dense formation to meet Yang Ce's thin black line.

Soldiers from all over the world were tanned at sea. Most of the pirates were shirtless and barefoot, and some of them put on looted clothes and shoes. The military appearance was not awesome, but it was Astounding expertise.

Their line formation was meticulous, and they met the Hague Guards dressed in black and holding halberds in five horizontal formations. According to the order of the officer, the soldiers in the front row carried Spanish heavy matchlock guns and went out to spread out the distance between the two. At ten paces a precise volley was fired.

While they were shooting, the second row of soldiers armed with Portuguese muskets, Japanese iron cannons, and Daming matchlocks followed closely behind them, firing a second round on the enemy's charge path.

The soldiers in the last two rows carried all kinds of flintlock guns on their shoulders and continued to move forward in the smoke of the friendly army. They were the rare elite among the pirates of the Han Dynasty. They used the best weapons and had the best mental outlook. Many people wore armor such as chain mail, and stopped with great courage in accordance with military orders at a very close distance from the enemy, and took aim with their muskets.

Behind them, two rows of musketeers who had finished firing were reloading on the spot while keeping an eye on the situation ahead.

The soldiers in the last row are not musketeers, but younger soldiers among the pirates. They have no combat experience, and they stand at the end and are responsible for the front troops to enter hand-to-hand combat or defeat the enemy as toolmen.

After the elite shooting at the front was completed, three rounds of musket strikes had defeated the enemy's line, and pieces of The Hague Guard were shot to the ground before they could react to what happened.

The people who were hit by the heavy muskets were almost out of breath at this moment, and the soldiers who were hit by the light muskets fell to the ground and howled and rolled. Only a dozen people looked at each other in blank dismay, choosing the latter between throwing down their weapons and running away or charging with them.

Perhaps this has nothing to do with courage, but when everyone is stupid, there is one person who is guilty and leads everyone to charge.

However, this did not solve the problem. The pirate veterans at the front had already dropped their flintlocks casually, and everyone took out handguns and Sanghai Zaoming waist knives from left to right, and launched a counter charge against them.

Yang Ce, with his arms hanging, took over and inspected this wealthy and beautiful small town under the protection of the guards, standing in the distance and watching the one-sided battle from beginning to end.

He has fought many battles, and land battles are not less than sea battles in plundering. Relying on this method of warfare, he has never lost against an enemy of the same strength, no matter who the opponent is.

(End of this chapter)