Several solid iron ball shells flew down from the city and landed on the ground. The 4-pound iron ball bounced on the dry and hard ground, then fell into the soft wheat field, and finally was absorbed by the soft soil and absorbed all the kinetic energy, and stayed on the ground.

Although the bombardment did not cause any damage to the Eight Banners, it caused a commotion among the armored spearmen who lined up on either side of the wheat field, which did not stop until some of the Krars shouted loudly. However, the slaves in the wheat fields were unmoved, and after careful measurement, they felt that the British shells would not necessarily fall on their heads, and as long as they persevered, they would probably be able to mix in the top 100 at the very least, so that they and their families would be detached. As a result, only a few of them screamed and turned to flee, and most of them were still harvesting the wheat, and their movements tended to speed up. The slaves who fled with shouts and screams were quickly killed by a burst of bows and arrows from the soldiers of the Eight Banners.

"No matter! Keep harvesting the wheat! The coachmen hurried up, the spearmen were ready, and the officers all went down to suppress them, or these bastards would blow up the camp for you. Sun Shengjun stood behind the carriage full of boxes and blasted out a group of chiefs and deputy chiefs who were gathered around him.

After a long period of rectification and training by the people of the East Coast, these soldiers of the Eight Banners are now initially a bit presentable. The morale of the soldiers has also improved considerably, at least the situation where many people are separated while walking is unlikely to happen again.

The British artillery continued to fire, and at first their main targets were slaves who were harvesting wheat with their heads covered in the wheat fields, but they soon discovered that the power of solid shells was very limited in the soft soil. More than a dozen shells were fired. They didn't even manage to kill or injure a single person.

After seeing the effect so bad. The British decisively stopped shelling the wheat fields and began shelling the Eight Banner spearmen standing in line on both sides of the wheat fields. The four guns were divided into two parts, each responsible for one side, and after firing a dozen shells, one or two shells finally fell into the crowd and knocked down several spearmen of the Eight Banners in succession.

The formation of the spearmen was a little commotional, and the Krars, who acted as officers, were also a little at a loss. The stumps of the spearmen who had been grazed by the shells were scattered all over the ground, which was shocking to watch and disgusting.

The British fired several rounds of shells again. Seven or eight more spearmen were hit by ricochets and lay in disarray. The wounded who had not died for a while were lying on the ground and screaming miserably, and Sun Shengjun listened from afar, feeling a little upset.

Seeing that the soldiers of the Eight Banners and the Clare were frequently looking at his side, Sun Shengjun, who understood what they meant, waved his hand helplessly, allowing these soldiers who were a little frightened to temporarily disperse and retreat to the artillery bunkers for shelter, and at the same time ordered the artillery that had been set up to start firing back at the British gun position at the head of the city.

So the two sides were bored and firing at each other, and the slaves scattered in the fields were still burying their heads in the wheat, as if they were turning a deaf ear to the artillery battle between the two sides. Eight hundred acres of wheat, totaling nearly five thousand acres. With such a large area, nearly a thousand slaves had to harvest for at least three days in a row before they could barely complete the harvest. And will the British give you three days?

"Mr. Heywood. Things can't go on like this. Inside the Fort of Good Hope, Second Lieutenant Potter burst into Knight Heywood's office and said anxiously, "The soldiers are obviously influenced by the rumors, they are indifferent to what is happening outside the city, they only care about the stupid gossip. Sir, please come forward as soon as possible to set the record straight, the morale of the soldiers is quite low at the moment, and these barbarians have chosen a good time to come. ”

Knight Heywood rubbed his face wearily, the hard years of Cape Town seemed to drain his life force, making him noticeably several years older than he had been before.

"Aaron, you sit down first." Knight Heywood said in a hoarse voice, then he picked out a letter from the pile of papers on the table, handed it to Ensign Potter, and said, "You look at this letter first. ”

Ensign Potter took out the letter suspiciously and read it, and after reading it, he asked in an even more confused manner: "Mr. Chris said that the situation in the country has changed significantly, but what does this have to do with us?" ”

"Aaron, read more books when you have time, your sensitivity to this information is too low, what's the difference between you and those stupid country farmers?!" Knight Heywood glanced at Aaron dissatisfied, and then had to patiently explain: "The situation in the country was under the control of the gentlemen of London, and the Scots defeated the local armies in the north of the kingdom that were loyal to the king, and then fought all the way into the kingdom. Just when everyone is watching and laughing...... Well, while the situation develops, in January, the King arrived in Newcastle with 2,000 men. The Marquess of Hamilton also led part of his army to join the king, and the local squires and nobles raised a sum of money for the king's army, and also formed a militia to join the king's army. ”

"And then?" Ensign Potter listened with some fascination and couldn't help asking. These letters of the details of the war are not covered, and in such a remote corner of Cape Town, only the well-informed Heywood Knight would know a little.

Knight Heywood lit his pipe, and continued: "At the end of January the two sides engaged in a battle in which the king threw in 9,000 men, but which included many ill-trained militiamen; Their opponents, the Scots, had an army of 13,000 men. The outcome of the battle, however, was jaw-dropping, as the King's new army of 2,000 shone in the battle, and their barrage of firepower swept the Scottish idiots into their heads. This army had no spearmen, all flintlock guns, and even more than twenty Tatartan cannons, and the Scottish army, which was in a dense formation, could not even hold out for more than half an hour in the face of such ferocious fire. According to battlefield observers, the form of warfare may change in the future, and the Spanish phalanx is already somewhat outdated. ”

Ensign Potter's mouth was so surprised that he could almost stuff an egg into it.

"After the war, the king bestowed on this army the title of 'Royal Model Army'." Knight Heywood smoked his pipe and said quietly, "The Scots have begun to retreat to the frontier for now. The king also temporarily halted the pursuit due to lack of supplies and military spending, and the two sides are said to have begun informal negotiations. And, most crucially, the king is likely to take advantage of this victory to convene Parliament and force both houses of parliament to agree to his tax demands. ”

"The king can't do that!" Speaking of which, Second Lieutenant Potter finally reacted, and he himself was a member of the parliament, so he was very worried about the king's victory over the Scots.

"So the gentlemen in London are worried at the moment." Knight Heywood said, "Some gentlemen have suggested a compromise with the king, but they have been rebuked by many more, and the spirit of the Magna Carta of Liberty cannot be violated!" The king has now embarked on a dangerous path, and he is too obsessed with the might of force to ignore the ancient tradition of freedom. The gentlemen believe that the king's ambitions must be curbed, and that this requires first of all the concentration of our own strengths. Unfortunately, Fort Good Hope had already cost the company a huge sum of more than £30,000 in the past two years, but had not made any gain, and the board of directors of the company was already in discussions with the Dutch about the transfer of the Cape Town colony. ”

"What?" Hearing this, Second Lieutenant Potter finally couldn't sit still, "They can't do this!" We have given so much for this castle that many people have lost their lives. How can they ...... How can we just transfer this castle soaked in our hearts and souls? No, I can't take it! ”

"You have to accept it, Aaron." Knight Heywood's face was also not good-looking, "It is unlikely that there will be any new aid from the country, and the soldiers have no fighting spirit. The barbarian tribes who have taken refuge in the Easterners are still hostile to us, and it will be difficult for us to hold this castle if the Easterners are willing. This castle is also my heart's work, and I want to trample all the people here here like bedbugs under my feet. But...... Now that the domestic situation is tense and a civil war may break out at any time, the company has no time to take care of us. ”

"Is this year's struggle cheaper than those damned Dutchmen?" Ensign Potter was still a little furious.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, Mr. Green and Mr. Chris have written to me to ask if I have any confidence in maintaining this castle without any outside aid. As long as I was confident that I would persevere, they would be able to convince the other directors of the company not to sell the land to the Dutch for the time being. However, after thinking about it all night, I rejected their offer. I carefully analyzed the strength of the enemy and the enemy, and I found that I was really not sure. As soon as the people on the East Coast learn that war has broken out in our country, maybe they will come and attack our castle the next day with artillery, and believe me, they will do it. And as long as they come, we can't hold this place. Knight Heywood said as he smoked his pipe, his eyes wandering.

Ensign Potter choked and did not speak. The supreme governor of the colony of Cape Town was so discouraged, what could he say as a militia leader? Ensign Potter sighed heavily, and he suddenly lost the mind to go out of the city to fight the barbarians.

After saluting Knight Heywood, Ensign Potter walked out of the house with a heavy heart. (To be continued......)