On the sea off Tainan, the remnant sun is like blood, the boundless afterglow fills the sea and the sky, and on the calm sea, there are golden-red light waves dancing, and large flocks of seagulls scream and chase among the ships of the Tiger Army's sailors, rising and falling. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In this quiet and calm atmosphere, Li Xiao, who was walking on the bow of the Shenglong, stood like a sculpture, and his fresh wind cloak was blown by the fierce sea breeze.

But his gaze was full of complexity towards his deputy chief of the sailors, the Dutchman Joseph.

At noon, Joseph proposed to Li Xiao that he should hoist the Dutch flag in order to paralyze the Dutch defenders on Dayuan Island, so that he could take advantage of the chaos. Li Xiao was quite appreciative of his suggestion, immediately agreed, and gave Joseph thirty taels of silver as a reward.

It's just that Li Xiao found that although Joseph got the silver, there was a faint worry and uneasiness in his eyes.

Li Xiao thought about it for a long time and decided to talk to Joseph alone before the fleet arrived on Dayuan Island.

"Joseph, do you feel guilty in your conscience for making this suggestion to this official today? After all, our army is going to war with your home country next. “

Li Xiao asked directly from the point, looking directly at Joseph, who was embarrassed.

Joseph, who was reclining on the side of the ship, had a gloomy face, he did not speak for a long time, and there was an inexplicable sadness in his sky-blue eyes.

"Master Li, I've thought about this question many times, so I've decided to face reality now." Joseph straightened up, but with a wry smile on his face: "Now the Tigers are strong, well-equipped, and several times the strength of our Dutch army. So I suggested to Lord Lee that I want to end the war as quickly as possible, so that more Dutch people will not die in the war. ”

"Your idea is very correct, if you can end the Tainan War as soon as possible, it will be a good thing for both sides." Li Xiao said calmly: "Joseph, this officer can assure you that as long as the Dutch stronghold in Taiwan can be successfully captured, our army will never kill a single person indiscriminately, and all the Dutch residents will be safe." In the future, whether they return to Batavia or the Netherlands proper, our troops will be at their mercy. And if they are willing to abide by the laws and regulations of our army, they can even continue to stay in Tainan to do business. ”

Joseph's eyes suddenly flashed, and he laughed loudly: "Lord Li, you are a true knight, and serving you is really the most correct decision in my life. On behalf of all the Dutch people in Taiwan, I would like to thank Master Li for his grace. ”

After another hour, the sky was completely dark, but in the bright moonlight, the vague shadow of Dayuan Island was already visible.

"Master Li, there is Dayuan Island in front of you." Joseph whispered.

Li Xiao sighed, and his face became more and more solemn.

In his previous life, when Li Xiao listened to the historical story of Zheng Chenggong's recovery of Taiwan, he also had a superficial understanding of this Dayuan Island.

Dayuan is transformed from the name of the Taiwowan Society of the Pingpu ethnic group in southern Taiwan. Originally, it referred to a coastal sandbar in southern Taiwan, also known as "Da Kun Body", located in Anping District, Tainan City, today. Later, the scope of the term "Dayuan" was expanded and sometimes used as a synonym for the whole of Taiwan.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were 11 sandbanks off the coast of Tainan, which were named "Haiweng Line", "Jiaxing Bay", "Gap Tsai", "North Line Tail", "Da Kun Body", and "Er Kun Body...... As for the "Seven Kun Body", these sandbar islands form a lagoon inland sea surrounded by the coastline, called the "Taijiang River". Among them, the waterway between the end of the northern line and the body of Da Kun is the deepest, which can accommodate sea ships to pass through, and is the main port channel in and out of the Taijiang River.

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company established the city of Geranza on the Dayuan Sandbank as a merchant house and ruling administrative center. The Chief Executive is the chief executive and is in charge of the administrative affairs of the whole island. At the same time, there is a council of senior members, which is the highest decision-making body. It was not until the Dutch advanced to the interior of Taiwan and built the Chichicheng that the political center of the Dutch in Taiwan was transferred from the city of Gelan to the Chichicheng.

With the change of history, by the middle of the 17th century, these sandbanks were gradually approaching and even connecting due to the siltation of sea sand. By 1661, when Zheng Chenggong sent troops to attack Taiwan, the seven Kunshen islands had been connected into a long strip of sandbar peninsula connected to the mainland.

The inland sea of the Taijiang River between the Kunshen Peninsula and the main island of Taiwan gradually silted up during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, and in 1882, it suffered another catastrophic flood, and the harbor was filled into flat land, and finally the landization disappeared, connecting with Tainan.

Since there is only one waterway to communicate with the outside world, the city of Gelanjia, which was built on Dayuan Island, has become an extremely dangerous and difficult place to defend.

In addition, the Dutch also built the Sicao Sea Fort on the North Line Tail Island and the Rebefeilu Fort on the Heung Line Island. These two small fortresses, one on the left and one on the right, formed a defensive trend against the city of Gelan on Dayuan Island.

On this bright moonlit night, Li Xiao's fleet was like a hidden dragon, quietly coming to the mouth of the Neijiang River, close to the side of Sicao Sea Fort.

On the fort of the four seas, torches were immediately lit, and the Dutch soldiers guarding the fort climbed to the top of the fort, and after observing it with a clairvoyant, they waved the torches and sounded a few whistles, as if to convey some signal.

"Lord Li, are they asking, are we the Dutch fleet returning from Lukang, or are we ships coming from Badawi?"

Seeing the Dutch defenders give this signal, Joseph, the deputy commander of the naval division on the side, explained in a low voice.

Li Xiao was secretly proud in his heart, seeing that his own fleet had successfully paralyzed the Dutch guarding the fort under the banner of the Dutch, and they had regarded their own fleet as Dutch ships without any doubts.

"Tell them that we are returning from Lukang and are now going to the city of Gelanji." Li Xiao said with a smile.

Joseph nodded, and immediately a rhythmic flurry of whistles rang out.

Li Xiao saw that after the Dutch defenders heard this series of air whistles, they didn't hesitate, waved their torches a few more times, responded to a few whistles, and retreated downstairs.

"Master Li, the signal is right, they say we can pass." Joseph smiled.

"Very good, the whole fleet will pass directly through the Neijiang River, sail to the city of Relanjia, and then act according to the plan." An inexplicable smile appeared on Li Xiao's face.

Half an hour later, Li Xiaojun's entire fleet smoothly crossed the Neijiang Sea Road and came to Dayuan Island.

At this time, Li Xiao and a group of escort cavalry had already changed into the originally captured dragoon armor.

Li Xiao, who wore the delicate steel armor of the former commander-in-chief of the Dutch Army, with the family crest printed on it, looked at himself in front of the bronze mirror, and was very satisfied with his handsome appearance.

After the guards were transformed into dragoons, the 600 marchers were replaced with the appearance of Dutch spearmen, and the other 600 Manchurian infantry were replaced by the uniform of the familiar servants.

These soldiers in Dutch uniforms were amused and made fun of each other when they saw their strange appearance, which was completely different from the past.

"Okay, don't laugh, everyone is ready, and when you and Lord Li join you, you will enter the city in disguise and kill the Dutch by surprise!"

Li Dingguo, the commander of the Pingnan battalion, who also disguised himself as a spearman of the Dutch army, held back a smile and gave a serious order to these soldiers.

Soon, the Thang Long lowered its gunwales, and was headed by Joseph, the chief of the naval division who was also disguised as dragoons, and Li Xiao led a hundred fake dragoons, 600 fake Dutch spearmen, and 600 fake familiar servants, from the ship one after another, straight to the direction of the city of Gelanjia in the center of the island, and marched in formation.

Not long after, under the hazy moonlight, after Li Xiao's whole army bypassed a small hill, a very Western-style castle appeared in front of them, and this castle was the city of Relan.

"Master Li, in front of you is Relan Jiaocheng." Joseph whispered, gesturing with his hand.

Li Xiao nodded, unconsciously stopping to take a closer look.

The city in front of him was indeed much bigger and more majestic than the Sicao Sea Fort he had just seen. In history, this city was formerly known as Orange City, and in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, it was renamed Relan Jiacheng, and the Han people often called Taiwan City, which is the oldest castle in Taiwan.

Later, the Netherlands saw that this place was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so they decided to spend great efforts to build, and rebuilt this city into a large-scale castle Orange (Orange), in 1627 in the name of the Dutch province Zeeland Province, rebuilt and named Zeelandia, to 1632 began to complete the first phase of the fort project. Since then, the castle has been the main hub of Dutch rule over the entire island of Taiwan and foreign trade.

In 1662, Zheng Chenggong captured the city of Geranza, successfully expelled the Dutch from Taiwan, and established the first Han regime in Taiwan's history. At the same time, the Zheng family changed the city to Anping City, which is the origin of the name of the modern Anping Castle. Three generations of rulers of the Zheng Dynasty all lived in this city, so it was also called Wangcheng.

In 1683 (the 22nd year of the reign of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty), Shi Lang, the commander of the Qing Dynasty, defeated the Ming Zheng army, Taiwan was included in the territory of the Qing Dynasty, and the government moved to Dong'anfang (now Tainan City), the royal city has since lost its status and changed to the Taiwan Military Uniform Bureau, the importance of the castle is decreasing, and the walls are also in disrepair, and the city of Anping is gradually abandoned.

In 1874, Shen Baozhen, the minister of the late Qing Dynasty, came to Taiwan to deal with the "Peony Society Incident" in which the Japanese were mistakenly killed. At this point, this once noisy Anping City has not been restored, leaving only some broken walls for future generations to hang on.

In this late Ming Dynasty, this majestic castle was built on Dayuan Island, and the whole castle covers an area of about 40 acres, with a length and width of nearly 200 meters. To the southeast of it is the town of Dayuan, which is the political, economic and military center of the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan. Since Dayuan is the most prosperous place in Taiwan at this time, Dayuan is often used as a synonym for Taiwan.

The city is a typical modern European fortress with strong castles and complete defenses. There are moats around the perimeter, and the slope earthen embankment is the foundation, and the wall is made of red bricks. The circumference of the city is more than 200 zhang, more than 3 zhang high, divided into 3 layers, the lower layer goes deep into the ground for more than 1 zhang, "the city wall is pounded and sticked with sugar water glutinous rice oyster shell gray sand, the red brick is rebuilt, and it is solid in stone". The four corners of the city protrude outward, and dozens of cannons are placed.

In addition, the city is divided into two places, the inner city and the outer city, and the inner city is square and has two floors. The length and width are 115 meters, the wall is about 9 meters high, 1.2 meters thick, and the four-corner fortress is 1.8 meters thick. The basement is a warehouse, which is used to store ammunition, food and sundries, and the upper floor is equipped with the governor's office, a church, a lookout, a soldier's barracks and other facilities. The four corners of the outer city are rectangular in shape, 160 meters long and 77 meters wide, slightly lower than the inner city, and there are all kinds of office residences, staff dormitories, office conference halls, hospitals, warehouses and other public buildings.

Such a castle, if there are more than 1,000 garrisons, can basically resist the siege of 10,000 people for half a year or even a year. This is also the main reason why Zheng Chenggong besieged the city for 8 months when he attacked the city of Relan.

At this time, Li Xiao recovered from the myth of history and began to give orders to Li Dingguo and other generals.

"Pass my military order, our army will go straight to the gate of the castle of Gelanjia, everyone will remain silent, no noise, and after entering the city, listen to Benbo's order, and then make the next move."

"I understand below."

After Li Xiao finished shouting in a low voice, he turned to Joseph and said, "Joseph, you will take the lead later, lure open the city gate, and go straight into the city." If the enemy has not yet seen through the city after entering the city, they will go straight to the general's mansion and force the general to surrender. “

Joseph nodded: "Don't worry, Master Li, I will definitely do my best." “

Soon, Li Xiao and his entourage came to a place not far from the gate of the castle of Relanjia, and Joseph rode his horse and walked outside the gate alone.

Immediately some of the soldiers shouted in Dutch, asking them where they came from and what they were to come to the city.

Joseph immediately stepped forward and replied loudly to the soldier who asked the question: "I have come to the city of Relan, but I have come on the order of the governor to strengthen the garrison and prevent the Ming army from attacking the city of Relan. ”

The soldier looked Joseph up and down, then at the fake Dutch soldiers who were not far away in the darkness, and then said loudly, "Do you have a letter of introduction from the Governor?" ”

Joseph was stunned, he didn't expect the guard guarding the city to be so vigilant, he thought for a while, and then said: "Of course there is, but this letter is confidential, and there is a secret order from the governor, which can only be given to the general guarding the city to see, but not you can see it." ”

When the guards heard him say this, they did not ask any more questions, but let him wait outside the fortress gate, and he himself went into the city first.

Soon, Colonel Albert, the general stationed in the city of Gelanja, received news from the guards guarding the gate.

"Oh, these bastards really didn't come at the right time, so late to come to the Relan Land to garrison?"

Albert, who was about to strip to bed, listened to the soldier's report, but couldn't help but yawn long, and his face was dissatisfied.

"Yes, they are waiting outside the fort gates, and the dragoon lieutenant says that he has an important letter with a secret order from the Governor to hand it over to you personally." The guard replied.

Albert thought for a moment, and then said to him: "Most of the soldiers and horses in my city have been sent out to Taichung to attack the Ming army, and now it is getting late, so we can't be less vigilant." In this case, let my lieutenant Henk go and have a look, and if there is nothing abnormal, then let them in. ”