A letter of persuasion written by the staff of the Shouhan army was placed in front of the two governors, Putmans and Debaul.

"The deacon led more than a thousand hungry, tired, wounded, and crippled soldiers to the city. How can it be enough to resist our army? With artillery fire also? Take the ship also? Or is it a deep ditch and a high base? And Yu You blames the deacon's unwisdom. The people of the world are not happy to die unexpectedly, and the rest of the deacons will be covered with the lives of the people of your country, and they cannot bear to fall into the devastation. Now I will send the messenger again to pay respects, and may the deacon think about it. Today, whether you are fighting or peace, living or dying, it is all in your ears! If the deacon knows that he is invincible and surrenders the city, then Yu should treat each other with sincerity, otherwise our army will attack the city, and the deacon will start to unveil the white flag, then Yu will also stop the battle and wait for the future. When our army entered the city, Yu Yan ordered the soldiers, and the autumn did not commit any crimes, and when he heard that the people of your country were gone, if there were those who were willing to stay, Yu also defended them, and the Chinese were the same. The husband was defeated and reconciled, there was a clear precept in ancient times, and the matter was continuous, and the wise man ridiculed it. The people of your country have crossed the ocean and run Taiwan Island as a last resort, and they have no choice but to seek a way to defend themselves. However, Taiwan, China's land has also been occupied by your country for a long time, and now that I have come to ask for it, the land should belong to me, and Zhen Yao's things that are not in a hurry will be listened to and returned. If the deacon does not listen, he can unveil the red flag and ask for battle, and the rest of the country will immediately watch, and the mother will not be decided. The power of life and death is in the palm of the rest, and it is done at the opportunity, not only the deacons all day long. ”

Captain Debell stood at the doorway with a group of officers and company clerks, nervously awaiting the decision of the two governors.

This letter of surrender was sent by a captured Dutch sailor. Shouhan made it very clear in the letter that with a two-day deadline, either surrender or fight. In the event of surrender. Tear off the red pennant at the head of the city and replace it with a white flag within two days, and if you want to die, just continue to hang the red flag!

"Gentlemen, General Li's letter is here, what are you going to do?"

Putmans made up his mind in his heart, and he was ready to take this letter of persuasion from the Han as a signal: the Nanzhong army was not well prepared, or was unwilling to stay under the fortified city for a long time under the city of Geranza, and was anxious to solve the war here, so he wrote a letter to persuade him to surrender.

"We don't surrender!"

"We will hold on until the moment of final victory!"

A clamor echoed through the Governor's office.

The next day. Captain Debell acted as a messenger in reply. Flying a white flag out of the city of Geranza, his mission was not only to send back the letter, but also to observe the movements of the South China Army and spy on the military aircraft.

"Even if it is life-threatening, it is because of duty and honor. The lower class must also continue to defend the city of Geranza. Until the moment the general's army entered the city. ”

Putmans' reply was written very politely. However, the meaning of the words is that the master is here. If you have what it takes, attack the city!

Shouhan looked at the reply letter and smiled, "The two governors have misinterpreted the virtue of Ben Shuai. It's okay, after sunrise tomorrow, everyone will see each other on the battlefield! ”

"Sending off!"

On the way back to the city, Captain Debell diligently observed the barracks and artillery positions along the way, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that many soldiers were transferring artillery, and the cattle pulling the artillery on the road between the positions and the barracks made a burst of neighing sounds, presumably due to fatigue.

"Are you sure they're transferring artillery?"

"Your Excellency! When I left the city, I deliberately counted the number of guns in the artillery position to the east, and when I came back, I counted again, and there was a difference of seven guns on both occasions, which was only a morning's number! ”

Captain Debelle gave a truthful report to Governor De Baul of what he had seen and heard.

Everyone ushered in a new round of sunrise in surprise, doubt, and apprehension.

Sure enough, as Captain de Bel had said, the artillery fire on the city of Geranza was much sparser than it had been in the previous days.

However, it seems that the artillery fire on the side of the Red Embedded City is getting faster and faster!

"General, the villain has a plan to offer, so that the big army can take the Red Embedded City without blood."

Shouhan looked at the head of the Pingpu clan in front of him, if it weren't for his appearance and the tattoos on his body that were occasionally exposed due to the friction of his clothes, he almost thought that this guy was a Zhangzhou man who had been reclaimed in Taiwan.

"Speak of the head of Balai. If it is beneficial to the army to conquer Chiji City, the official position and property, this commander will not hesitate! ”

"Dashuai, the villain has also been coerced by the Dutch, and has been to the Red Embedded City and the Geranza City, in the Nageranza City, the Dutch have been operating for a long time, there are wells and granaries, etc., and this Red Embedded City is newly built, and many facilities are not complete, especially the drinking water for people and animals, and they rely on the water source outside the city every day. If the commander can send someone to cut off the water source in the city, it will only be a few days, and the city will be at your fingertips! ”

So, under the construction of the Balai head people, the Shouhan ordered the Phoenix Battalion and the Guards Battalion to each send a sentry to follow the Balai head people into the mountains to cut off the water source of the Red Embedded City, and on the other hand, to remove some of the cannons of the city of Gelanza for maintenance and repair, "Gerancha is the last hope of Hongmaoyi, and this hope cannot be cut off for him!" ”

Under the repeated bombardment of more than 100 artillery pieces of various sizes, such as the Kelon cannon, the mortar cannon, the 12-pounder cannon, and the 8-pounder gun, the hundreds of defenders of the Red Embedded City were able to support it at first, and from time to time they returned fire to the outside of the city, so that the two field guns were torn apart, and the gunner was hit by the shells and died on the spot.

However, in the afternoon, the soldiers in the city did not feel good.

I don't know when the trickle of the past has stopped!

According to modern medical statistics, 70% of human life, which is mainly composed of carbohydrates, is water. If you don't eat food for seven days without drinking water, you can still have vital signs, but if you can't drink water, it will be over in three days at most.

What's more, in the tense situation of the constant rumbling of artillery fire and the constant passing of shells over the ears and heads, the need for water is much greater than usual.

Finding that the water source was cut off, the soldiers began to agitate!

Hearing the roars and scolding of the Dutch soldiers coming from inside the Red Embedded City during the interval of the shelling, Li Shouhan and his entourage, who were observing the movement of the Red Embedded City from the artillery position, could not help but let out a knowing laugh.

"The Ma Tan Shoujie Pavilion back then seemed to be finished by Sima Lao Immortal who cut off the water source!"

The Balai head on the side also smiled proudly. From the moment he first screamed and scolded, he was appointed as the mayor of the town by Shouhan, and rewarded him with twenty sets of ploughing oxen and ploughshares, one hundred dyed cotton cloth, and five hundred catties of refined salt!

"Lord, do you want the children to add fire to the red-haired people in the Red Embedded City?"

Zhang Xiaohu is well versed in the principle of watching the excitement and not being afraid of big things, so he blinked his small eyes narrowly and proposed to Shouhan to build a yì.

What he meant was to use the Red Castle as a target for rockets, and to use rockets to demoralize the defenders in the city again. No one can resist the thrill of coming to this fire and ice!

"Forget it! For now, the initiative is mine, you just need to arrange the artillery fire. Constant bombardment of the defenders of the city. Believe that they will surrender soon! ”

Shouhan vetoed Zhang Xiaohu's mention without thinking, and in the afterglow of his eyes, he saw Shi Lang standing behind Zhang Xiaohu, and Shouhan was still a little uneasy about this child. Rockets and this kind of thing. If you can keep it secret, keep it as secret as possible! He didn't want his ship to be burned by someone else's rocket.

It turns out. This group of Dutch people did not have the spirit of Shangganling at all. It lasted less than a day, and early the next morning, a second lieutenant of the Dutch army came down from the city with a white flag.

"Water! Give me water! ”

He was just pressed to the ground by several soldiers of the South Central Army. Searching to see if he was carrying a weapon, the second lieutenant didn't care to resist, just shouted in half-baked Chinese in a hoarse voice.

A lieutenant stopped his soldiers from searching the messenger and untied a kettle from his waist and handed it to him, and the second lieutenant poured it into his mouth with a large gulp, ignoring the decency and demeanor of the officers of the past.

"What's going on in the Red Castle?"

Several of the heads of the Inspection Unit and the Investigation Chamber began interrogating the Courier in their tents.

"Since yesterday afternoon, there has been no water in the city!"

The lieutenant licked his lips and began to explain the situation in the city.

The city's drinking water and other domestic water supply completely depends on a few streams outside the city, and the only domestic water reserve is only a few water tanks, how can it meet the needs of hundreds of Dutch soldiers and thousands of soldiers and natives auxiliary soldiers in the castle?

As a result, only priority was given to officers and businessmen.

But since last night, attacks and infighting have been going on against officers, businessmen, and priests who have water to moisten their throats. The natives attacked the merchants, and the soldiers attacked the natives, and the Dutch snatched the pitiful few mouthfuls of water from the soldiers.

And those wounded and sick soldiers can only cry and moan in wailing, constantly crying and calling the names of their parents, wives and lovers, and one or two lines of tears flow out of their eyes, losing the precious water in their bodies.

"What are the food reserves in the city?"

The Wooden Tooth Dog suddenly asked this question directly.

"Flour and salt should be enough for the whole city for at least half a year, and if you count the rice, it will be enough until next Christmas." But, sir, have you ever seen people living in the desert eating? ”

"Tell me the terms of your surrender!" Niu Qiandao tilted his head back, and threw a word to the messenger with his nostrils facing to the sky.

However, the conditions put forward by the messenger next made the three spy leaders Rao is usually boastful of being able to control the situation, and he was also so angry that he jumped up from his chair.

"Our demands are this: allow us to choose for ourselves whether to go to the city of Geranza or somewhere else, allow us to take away what we can take, allow us to keep our weapons for self-defense, allow us to clear our debts to the natives and Chinese. As a sign of our sincerity, we will hand over all the cannons in the city and allow General Lee's troops to enter the city and other forts......"

"Someone!"

The messenger greedily replenished the water in his body with tea, and chattered endlessly about the surrender conditions of the Dutch army in the Red Embedded City, but this so-called surrender condition had already made the three spy leaders and three corpse gods angry. The wooden tooth dog, who is the most pretentious and calm on weekdays, shouted and called his men outside.

"Give me this guy one step at a time! One less stick, and you make up for it yourself! ”

The soldier in charge of the investigation room picked up the military stick in his hand and hit it headlessly, just outside the tent, they also heard this bullshit surrender conditions, where is this surrender? It is clear that Lao Tzu disdainfully fights you here. I'm going to fight you again in another place. And it's still a swaggering face.

Damn! We followed the generals to fight in the south and the north, and how many kings and sultans knelt down at our feet and begged for their lives, just how long do you red hair Yi have a head?!

Beat!

The second lieutenant was soon beaten with his head in his hands and rolled and wailed.

"Well, a few men dragged him to the edge of the city, let their men take him back, and tell the people in the city, this is our answer to their terms of surrender!"

Hearing the sound, the defenders who rushed to hear heard the surrender conditions of the defenders of Chichicheng were also frosty on their faces.

Seeing a few alpine native soldiers using ropes to pull the messenger to the city like a fat pig, Huang Leiting waved the red command flag in his hand, "Attention all artillery!" Fire! ”

The shells of the mortar drew a beautiful curve over the walls and landed inside the castle. The cannonballs of the Kroncannon made a dull loud noise on the outer walls of the heavy walls. A little smash against the city wall like the battering rams and stone throwers used in Europe in the Middle Ages.

The twelve-pound and eight-pounder guns were replaced with shotguns in a very undisciplined manner, and they bombarded the parts and objects that might have the characteristics of life at the head of the city.

After a round of artillery fire, the city fell into a deathly silence. There were only a few parts that were hit by shells. The flames crackled. Cheerful tongues of fire licked wooden doors, windows, ladders, and floors.

"The armor artillery of each battalion and each outpost is on duty as the artillery on duty, and it is on duty for one hour and one hour later. Switch to B artillery on duty! The personnel take turns to rest, each gun replenishes ammunition, and the barrel temperature is checked! Determine the shooting elements! ”

The sparse but incessant sound of cannon rang out around the Red Embedded City for a full night.

The next day, it was early in the morning again.

A lieutenant struggled to sort out his black and white uniform, which had been stained by gunsmoke and fire, and appeared at the head of the city with a white flag.

"Don't fire! I'm here to negotiate! On the question of our capitulation! ”

"Your surrender issue, my lord's meaning is very clear, and it is very simple, it is one, all lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally! In this way, our army can guarantee the safety of your lives and personal belongings. Otherwise, in two days, today and tomorrow, we will take the Red Castle! ”

This time, the three spy leaders were not at all angry with the representative who came to negotiate, and they did not even send a glass of water, and only a group of soldiers greeted the representative with raised eyebrows.

Just talk about it, and fight it.

Just when the three guys of Muya Dog, Niu Qiandao and Bao Zhongchen announced the position of the Southern Chinese Army to the Dutch lieutenant, Huang Leiting still commanded the gunners to bombard the Red Embedded City in turn.

Those artillery boys are too addicted.

The artillery tactics that were rarely practiced on weekdays, the salvo of artillery fire with the sentinel as a unit, the clearing of the single artillery package, the alternating shooting of each artillery, and all kinds of tactics and shooting tricks were taken out by the soldiers and used on the Red Embedded City.

The masonry on the city wall was gradually uncovered by numerous shells, revealing the rammed earth layer inside, and the lieutenant knew very well that such a rammed earth wall would be opened up if it could not withstand several rounds of artillery fire.

After that, it's pretty straightforward.

Crowds of Orientals roared into the fortress, just as the Turks stormed Constantinople.

But fortunately, today I am here to talk about the surrender on behalf of the defenders of Chichicheng City.

"I would like to ask General Lee to give civilian treatment to the merchants and priests in the fort."

"Impossible!"

The wooden tooth dog refused.

"In our eyes, there are only the living who can fight and the dead who cannot fight, and the wounded who have lost their ability to fight! Those merchants of yours, what the hell did they know if they used artillery to bombard us? Didn't those priests in Taoist robes encourage the soldiers to charge at our positions? It seems that they also participated in the treatment of wounded and sick soldiers, right?! ”

"These acts are all direct or indirect assistance to military operations! They are also combatants! ”

Bao Zhongchen pulled the lieutenant to the outside of the tent and pointed in one direction with his finger, "Look! ”

Dozens of four-wheeled transport trucks loaded with wooden barrels whirled in the direction of Chichicheng City. The lieutenant was naturally knowledgeable, and he clearly saw the sign on the barrel that strictly prohibited fireworks, "This is the gunpowder that our army prepared for the breakthrough of Chiji City." Please go back and tell the steward of the city! The decision to be made is just before sunset today, after sunset, our army will close the camp gate, and it will be too late for your army to surrender! ”

The lieutenant hurriedly crawled over the position of the Southern Central Army and returned to the city to report the news.

The soldiers at the front heard a lot of noise in the Red Castle, a few shouts and the sound of firecrackers, and after a long time, the gates of the Red Castle slowly opened, and the Dutch flag on the castle tower, with the blue, white and red East India Company flag with the letter V connecting O and C, slowly fell, and a white flag made of bed sheets was raised. A group of dejected native soldiers walked out with each other in their arms.

Behind the natives were the charcoal-black soldiers, and then the Dutch, who were trying to maintain their manners.

After walking past a group of soldiers of the South Central Army armed with guns and knives, dozens of huge wooden barrels appeared in front of these soldiers, which were full of clear water.

"Water!"

In the face of great physical pressure, people could no longer maintain discipline and demeanor, and everyone rushed forward to drink water.

The Southern Chinese Army quickly rushed into Chichicheng to take over the city defense, renovate and clean up the fortifications, check the materials and belongings in the warehouse, and turn this Dutch fortress on the island of Taiwan into a command post to eliminate the Dutch!

The stronghold of the Dutch on the main island of Taiwan was uprooted by the South China Army! Only the besieged city of Geranza remained.

"It's over! The Red Castle held out for less than three days before it was taken by General Li, so that he could concentrate all his forces against us. Let's hope our reinforcements will arrive sooner! ”

Looking at this scene in the Red City, Putmans and Debaul, who were trapped in the city of Geranza, felt more and more cold.

They looked south, trying to see the shadow of the sail in the distance. (To be continued......)