Wang Jiayin didn't know what Su Yue meant by the so-called lack of time, but he was very keenly aware that there might be a conspiracy behind this war.

The siege lasted from late March to the end of April, and the Malacca area had a tropical rainforest climate, with hot and sunny mornings, followed by thicker cumulonimbus clouds in the skies, and then torrential downpours in the afternoon, after which the weather became cooler and continued the following day.

This kind of weather caused a lot of trouble for the Acehnese, but with the help of the officers sent by the Ming Dynasty, this time the Aceh army finally learned to build a barracks that would not accumulate water and isolate the diseased.

Sultan Iskandar of Aceh. Muda finally couldn't bear it anymore and crossed the strait with his court to the west bank of the Malacca River to supervise the war.

On the morning of May 1, Iskanda. Muda traveled to the outer part of Malacca to try to encourage his men to continue the war. However, this was clearly a wrong decision, and during his rounds, a violent explosion occurred, which not only destroyed Iskandar. Muda was sent to heaven, and even the court ministers who accompanied the Sultan on his tour were killed and wounded.

Aceh Sultan's nephew Iskanda. Tani, Malmuda, and Japak accused each other of arranging the explosion, and just when the two sides were about to fight under the noses of the Portuguese, Wang Jiayin led 800 people to insert between the two sides, allowing both sides to calm down temporarily.

Subsequently, Su Yue and Yang Tiansheng invited the two sides to negotiate. Under their mediation, Malmuda and Japak decided to file a petition with Iskanda. The Tani swore allegiance in return for which they would receive the ruling power of South Sumatra.

Iskanda. After Tani obtained the inheritance of the Sultan of Aceh, he announced to the soldiers together with Malmuda and Japak that the Sultan Iskandar. Muda was actually hit by Portuguese artillery and did not die in a conspiracy.

The trio also announced to the soldiers that the war was over because of the Sultan's death. They will return the Sultan's body to Aceh, and each soldier will receive a reward from the treasury when they return to Aceh.

The unanimous announcement of the three commanders of the army soon pacified the Aceh soldiers. After grinding under the Portuguese castle for more than a month, the bad climate and the Portuguese defense made the Aceh soldiers lose the courage to fight again, and began to worry about whether the Portuguese reinforcements would come.

The death of the Sultan made these soldiers want to go home as soon as possible and leave this ominous place. Therefore, after listening to the joint announcement of the three generals, the soldiers quickly recognized the birth of a new sultan and the decision to withdraw the army.

Iskanda. Thani, Malmuda, and Japak all accompanied the body of the former Sultan across the strait as soon as possible, hoping to get the country to accept the agreement they had reached under the city of Malacca as soon as possible.

The trio took only their closest troops, leaving tens of thousands of people behind under the city of Malacca. These Acehnese were soon hired by Su Yue, and were immediately assigned to Wang Jiayin to lead them.

Wang Jiayin brought out two battalion-level units composed of immigrants and criminals from Taiwan this time, and an assault brigade composed of Gao Shan Shengfan, who had defected to the Ming Dynasty, with a total of 1,800 people left and right.

After re-planning the siege formation, Wang Jiayin erected the banner of the Ming Dynasty, and then sent people to shout to the Portuguese in the castle on St. Paul's Hill, asking them to surrender unconditionally, and the Ming would guarantee their lives and personal belongings.

Akito's shouts received little response other than a few rounds from the Portuguese. It seems that the Portuguese inside the castle are very tough and have the momentum to defend to the end.

But in fact, the castle of Famosha is also on the verge of collapse. Agostinius, a representative of the Macau Restoration Committee, came to Malacca more than half a year ago.

With his Portuguese status, he quickly blended into the Portuguese community of Malacca. Although there are more Portuguese here than in Macau, there are only 1,600 or 700 people at most.

The Portuguese missionaries here were more enthusiastic than the Macanese missionaries, and with the exception of the Chinese and the merchants, everyone who wanted to settle in Malacca had to be converted, especially the Malays.

Malays who did not want to convert were either exiled to Goa, Macau, and Manila to be sold into slavery or had to pay a very large ransom to maintain their religion.

These Portuguese missionaries even set up an Inquisition in the city of Malacca to try heretics who they considered to have sinned. This also made the Portuguese extremely resentful of the Malays and Celestials.

However, the Portuguese, with their castle on St. Paul's hill and guns in their hands, were able to suppress the disobedient heretics in the city.

However, after repelling the Acehnese attack more than two years earlier, the governor of Malacca repented of the payment he had promised to pay the soldiers, and if it was paid as agreed, Malacca would go bankrupt. This incident caused the soldiers to lose trust in the Governor of Malacca.

This was Agostinius' best chance, and after he waved his purse full of gold coins, one captain and three ensigns in the Malacca army fell to the Restoration Committee in Macau.

When Agostinius heard from a Portuguese ensign about the appearance of the Ming army, he realized that the time had come to act.

"Ensign Paul, it seems that our long-awaited opportunity has arrived. Please tell Captain Barreto that I would like to meet with him to discuss the plan we are going to execute. ”

The second lieutenant in his early thirties was still a little hesitant, and he said with some unease: "But those indigenous soldiers have withdrawn a lot because of internal strife, and the number of Chinese troops is not large, is it necessary for us to carry out this plan?" ”

Agostinius raised his head and stared at the captain sternly until he looked down to avoid his own.

"Ensign Paul, are you going to betray your fatherland and swear allegiance to our enemy, the King of Spain?"

Second Lieutenant Paul quickly shook his head and said, "No, I didn't mean that, it's just that those Chinese helped the natives attack us, and after they got this city, will they really help us restore the country?" ”

Agostinius's gaze finally softened a little, "Her Royal Highness Isabella is the wife of His Majesty the Emperor, and His Majesty the Emperor will naturally help His Highness restore the country."

Besides, it is the Restoration Committee that is paying you now, not your general who withholds military salaries. Or are you going to continue to go hungry to defend your general? ”

Hearing Agostinius mention the general, Ensign Paul's face changed suddenly. This aristocratic general, who can get 4,000 kruzados a year, but still has to take half of the money from them, and anyone who dares to complain will be sent on the most dangerous mission, if it is not for the indiscriminate slaughter of the natives who invade the city, the officers and men of Malacca are happy to send this superior to the natives for punishment.

Ensign Paul lowered his head and said, "Well, for the sake of the motherland. I will inform Mr. Captain as soon as possible..."

After gathering the reliable Catholics from the outer city into the castle, the governor of Malacca soon opened his arsenal and recruited 1,200 militiamen to defend the castle.

The castle built on the hill not only encompasses the entire summit of St. Paul's Mountain, but also forms a key point in the defense of three sections by relying on the mountain. This three-dimensional defensive castle made it impossible for the Aceh army to break through the first line of defense of the castle.

And even if the Ming army came up, the staff officers around Wang Jiayin also believed that it would be impossible to break through this castle with manpower. It is impossible to capture the fortress unless the heavy guns on the ship are relocated, and then a gun barrier of the same height as the city wall is built, and the castle structure is destroyed little by little.

In fact, they had already taken advantage of this attack, and after the last siege of Malacca by Aceh, the Portuguese had already begun to build another fort on the small island at the mouth of the river to control the port and support each other with the castle on St. Paul's Hill.

However, the Portuguese bureaucracy made the fort not yet complete, and even the 12 cannons placed near the mouth of the river were captured by the Acehnese.

But no matter how strong the castle is, once there is a ghost inside, it will not be able to hold it. Under the planning of Agostinius, at about 12 o'clock that night, Captain Barreto, who was stationed in the first and second lines of defense, opened the gate with his subordinates and put the Ming army into the castle.

The third line of defense of the castle is actually the flattened hill of St. Paul's Hill, which is not only a small square, but also the governor's palace, an arsenal, the residences of dignitaries and a small church.

Even if the first and second lines of defense were lost, the governor of Malacca kept watch with his cronies until dawn. It's just that there are at most 2 or 300 people guarding it, and when those soldiers from the Taiwanese Gaoshan tribe climbed to the top of the mountain, the Portuguese dignitaries who hid in the governor's palace finally raised the white flag.

Although the treasury in the castle was less than 200,000 kruzades, three or four million taels worth of silver were recovered from the homes of these captured dignitaries. The Governor of Malacca alone contributed one-sixth of these possessions, equivalent to his 100-year governorship.

The money in the treasury was given to the soldiers outside the city, and Captain Barreto and his 224 men received 500,000 taels. Although this figure did not reach the figure promised by Agostinius, the Portuguese officers and soldiers did not raise objections.

For the captured Portuguese and the surrendered Portuguese soldiers, Su Yue gave them a choice, those who were willing to be loyal to Her Royal Highness Isabella were sent to Macao, and those who were unwilling were sent to Goa.

About three-fifths of the Portuguese expressed their allegiance to Her Royal Highness Isabella and their willingness to contribute to the restoration of the country. These people have lost their possessions and have become beggars even if they go to Goa, so they want to stay and try their luck.

As for the other two-fifths of the Portuguese, most of them have relatives in Goa, and are not willing to risk following Her Royal Highness Isabella, who does not know whether it is true or not.

After the next discussion, it was decided that Yang Tiansheng would escort 1.5 million taels of silver back to China to contribute to His Majesty the Emperor, and requested that the Anbuna Town Guard Mansion be promoted to the Nanyang Patrol Mansion and moved to Malacca City.

As a representative of the Four Seas Trading Company, after capturing the city of Malacca, Su Yue immediately announced that he would lower the taxes of Malacca and distribute some of the land around the city to the Chinese and the Acehnese who were loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, he sent people to take back the Sultan of Johor and rebuilt the Sultanate of Malacca in the city of Malacca, but this Sultanate was under the protection of the Ming Dynasty. As for the Kingdom of Aceh, because of the death of the Sultan, there was also a constant internal struggle, and the state was not as strong as it used to be for a while.

With the help of the power of the Kingdom of Aceh, the Heavenly Merchants who monopolized trade in Sumatra and the Malay region also had to cede many places to the Chinese merchants to trade, and the most affected was the Indian cotton cloth business.