The gunners adjusted their angles and fired at the fleeing boats. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info A hundred cannons roared, and shells rained down on the ships of the Dutch. I saw only one shell smashing into the boats, smashing the boats several meters long into pieces. In the indiscriminate bombardment of hundreds of cannons, all the 11 small boats that escaped were blown up by the cannons and sunk in the sea.

The Dutch soldiers were either killed by shells or fell into the sea and swam desperately towards Fort Geranza. But the port of Chikan Fort is more than ten miles away from the small island where the Fort of Geranza is located, and not everyone can swim through. I am afraid that most people will sink into the sea with all their strength and die in the belly of a fish.

Li Zhi's soldiers laughed, put away the gun carriage, and drove towards Chikan Fort.

Chikan Fort was built on a small mound, and after more than ten years of operation by the Dutch, a commercial settlement developed under the fort, which was a town without walls. The town was inhabited by Han Chinese slaves captured by the Dutch, free Han traders who traded, and some Southeast Asians from the South Seas.

Seeing that the white and foreign Han armies in Chikan Fort were fighting, these people closed the doors one by one and hid in their homes. These residents of Chikan Town are very afraid of whites on weekdays, and they have to avoid the road and let the whites go first. A single look from a white man can make them nervous and escape.

In the eyes of these people, the Dutch whites were strong and invincible.

At this time, seeing that the sound of the cannon had stopped so quickly, they had the courage to open the door and take a look at the situation. As a result, they saw the white flag fluttering above Chikan Fort, and they were speechless with wide eyes.

The whites in Chikan Fort were defeated so quickly?

Li Zhi's soldiers and horses entered Chikan Fort and saw the red-haired corpses lying in the fort. The soldiers searched the fort and found more than 100 taels of gold and more than 3,000 taels of silver. It seems that the Dutch only used this Chikan Fort as an armed stronghold and did not store a lot of money in Chikan Fort.

In Li Zhi's Chinese army, the bound guide opened his mouth in surprise when he saw that Li Zhi's artillery easily defeated the three hundred red hairs of Chikan Fort and attacked Chikan Fort. He marched with the army, and when he reached the bombed Chikan Fort, he no longer shivered, and his face regained some composure.

However, he was still very afraid of the two thousand Dutch sailors in the main fort of Geranza, and said anxiously to Li Zhi: "Uncle might as well do it and return here!" The Fort of Nageranza is different from the Fort of Chikan, there are 2,000 red hairs in the fortress, and the defense is tight, and there are dozens of heavy artillery pieces alone. Those cannons stand behind the strong forts, and the uncle's 100 cannons are probably no match for them..."

Li Zhi didn't let the timid guide continue to ramble, interrupted his nonsense, and asked, "Is the small island where Fort Geranza is located connected to the land at low tide?" ”

The guide shook his head and said, "No." That island is extremely dangerous, so don't commit it yourself..."

Before the guide finished speaking, he was kicked in the stomach by Lu Hu. Lu Hu scolded: "You can say whatever you want, what do you do with so much nonsense?" ”

The guide didn't dare to say anything more and kept his mouth shut.

Li Zhi groaned and said: "In this way, we can only attack it with a boat." ”

Li Zhi let the fleet into the harbor in front of Chikan Fort, loaded 4,000 soldiers and cannons onto the ship, and sailed to the small island where Fort Geranza was located.

Before landing on the island, Li Zhi asked the ship to circle around the island and carefully observe the topography of the island with a telescope.

The island is long and narrow from east to west, narrow from north to south, and there is a small bastion on the high ground to the north.

On the boat, Lu Hu pointed to a high ground on the north side of the island and said: "Uncle, although the east side of the island is vast, and landing on the island from the east can be far away from the artillery fire in Fort Geranza, but the terrain on the east side is too low, and it is not good for us to attack Hongmao from there. I don't think it's better to storm the heights to the north with artillery fire. As long as you take that high ground, you can bomb the red hair from a high position. ”

Li Zhi looked at the high ground north of the island with a telescope, nodded, and secretly said that Lu Hu was worthy of being an artillery soldier and had quite an idea about artillery battles. The high ground to the north is the commanding height of the entire island, and there seem to be several cannons in the small bastions on it. Concentrate a dozen large ships to bomb, and it can still be taken.

As long as you take that high ground, it will not be difficult to take the castle of Geranza.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Okay, storm the high ground north of the island." ”

The flotilla turned around and sailed to the north of the island. The sea bottom on the north side of the island is very shallow, and in many places it is impossible to sail boats, and only twelve ships can be spread out at a time. Li Zhi sent twelve steamers towards the north of the island, and as soon as they came into range of the enemy, the small fortress on the high ground opened fire.

Only a few cannon booms were heard, and the heavy artillery in the small fort fired eight shells. The cannonballs pierced the sky and headed straight for the twelve-wheeler. Seven shells missed, and a huge column of water was stirred up in the sea near the steamer. A cannonball hit the port side of a steamer, making a big hole in the ship's boat.

Twelve steamers rushed forward under artillery fire, drove to within three miles of the commanding heights, and aimed their port side at the small fort on the hill. One hundred and eight heavy guns fired. The sea was turbulent and difficult to aim, and the hit rate of the shells was not as good as that of the land artillery, but there were also seven shells that hit the small fortress.

The flowering shells exploded in the fortress, and the shotgun projectiles in the shells shot out like raindrops, and a ghost crying wolf howled in the fortress.

The men in the small fort were clearly badly damaged, and when they fired the second round of artillery fire, only five cannons were fired. This time, all five cannons missed, and not a single shell hit Li Zhi's twelve large ships.

One hundred and eight eighteen-pounder guns opened fire again on the small fort, which received another seven or eight shells.

The Dutch sailors in the small fort collapsed. In just two rounds of artillery fire, the interior of the small fortress was blown to pieces. Half of their men were killed, and there was no room for gunners to fire. The dozens of red-haired people who were still alive did not dare to fight again, so they escaped from the small fortress with their heads in their hands and ran towards the Fort of Geranza below the high ground.

Li Zhi had a company land first, ascend to the high ground and take control of the small fortress. He then landed the fleet calmly on the north side of the island and transported seventy heavy guns to the high ground.

Li Zhi himself climbed the high ground, standing on the high ground overlooking the Fort of Geranza at the foot of the high ground.

In the telescope, the Dutch defenders in the castle of Geranza looked panicked. Now that Li Zhi's troops with strong firepower had taken the high ground to the north, Fort Geranza was completely exposed in front of Li Zhi's cannons. There were constant people running back and forth in Fort Geranza, as if to convey changing orders and appease the defenders.

The artillery at the top of Fort Geranza was constantly pushing up the elevation angle of the cannon, as if preparing to attack Li Zhi's artillery on the high ground.

Li Zhi sneered.

The rule of the Dutch in southern Taiwan for more than ten years is coming to an end.