Having sunk two uninvited guests, Silva was about to order the "Queen Mary" to fill the rudder and continue to attack the ship that was docked on the shore, when he suddenly saw a large ship with oars not far in front of him leave the shore and rush towards him, apparently the enemy ship was trying to engage in a broadside battle. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Silva hurriedly ordered his men to turn around and aim the bow at the enemy ship to avoid being rammed and sunk. Looking at the enemy ships that were getting closer and closer, Lin Heshui couldn't help but close his eyes and prayed to Mazu to avoid the collision.

Perhaps Mazu heard Lin Heshui's prayers, and the tide helped the "Queen Mary", when the collision occurred, the hulls of the two sides rubbed against each other, the oars broke, and a broken oar flew over Lin Heshui's head, piercing a sailor through the spear-like sharp fracture, and blood immediately spurted out, and Lin Heshui subconsciously shrank for a moment.

"For Our Lady, for Spain!" A dozen grappling hooks were thrown, Silva drew his sword, and the first to step over the railing was met by the sailors of the enemy ships, but like most Spanish warships, the Queen Mary was accompanied by soldiers in iron armor armed with swords, spears, and halberd axes, in addition to sailors. The Spaniards swept through like a torrent, chopping down, impaling, and driving the Dutch into the sea. Silva made his way through the scuffle, searching for the captain of the enemy ship, but before he could get close to his opponent, he fell under a spear. He was standing next to the corpse of the captain of an enemy ship, contemplating whether he should be given a proper funeral, when he was attacked from behind with a cutlass, but fortunately his helmet withstood the test. His head was buzzing, and he subconsciously fell to the ground and rolled over, trying to distance himself. The sneak attacker shouted and rushed forward to deliver a fatal blow, but Silva's instinctive hands grasped the sword, the blade pointing diagonally upwards, and stabbing the incoming man in the lower abdomen first.

"Mr. Major, are you alright?"

Lin Heshui clumsily helped Silva up from the deck, Silva took off his helmet and touched the back of his head to confirm that there was no wound: "Luckily, that guy is a chop and not a thorn!" Silva looked at Lin Heshui, only to see that the other party was carrying a Japanese knife in a strange posture, the blade was as clean as new, he smiled and did not speak, and looked around. The vast majority of the enemy was either dead or surrendered, and only a few surrendered, and there was no irreconcilable religious hatred between the Dutch and the Spaniards, in addition to conflicts of interest. Silva wiped the blood from his face and turned back to his ship, his caution as he went, the deck covered in sticky blood and visceral intestines. The first mate reached out and helped him over the railing.

For the next brief moment, there was a brief moment of calm on board the Queen Mary, like the eye of the storm at the center of the storm. The ships moored on the shore of the city of Geranza were burned and crackled, several round-bellied cargo ships were entwined, and with the gentle drift of the waves, people drove small sampans on the seashore to save people who had fallen into the water, and most of the first attacked ship had already sunk into the water, leaving only the bow tower and mast still above the water, and there was a bell from the lower city, like the heartbeat of a dying man, and rows of lights rose in the city of Geranza in the distance, and it was obvious that the troops stationed inside were driving out.

A perfect surprise attack! Silva felt a wave of ecstasy in his heart, and in the darkness he even felt the approval of some Supreme Will, the Lady of Mercy smiling at his valor and boldness, and the Most High punishing these heresies through his hands, who had betrayed their lords, kings, and gods, and who would be severely punished both in this world and in the Hereafter.

"Mr. Major, we can retreat, the Dutch fleet is finished, there is no need to be more-" Lin Heshui asked cautiously, in his opinion, since he has won the bet, he should be cautious to keep the capital, the expeditionary force is not short of ships, but there are very few warships like the "Queen Mary" that are specially used for naval battles, the key to the success of the expedition depends on who can control the two entrances to Dayuan Bay and the sea control inside the bay, after seizing the northern line of the tail sandbank, the expeditionary force has controlled Luermen, And across the main waterway into Dayuan Bay across the Dutch. Therefore, ensuring the safety of the "Queen Mary" was especially necessary for the expeditionary force, so that she could ensure the safety of the transport ships and ensure that the Dutch could only obediently stay in the city of Geranza and watch the expeditionary force gain a foothold.

"No, it's not enough!" Silva's eyes almost burst into flames: "We have to do more to be worthy of Our Lady's protection and approval!" He turned around and shouted in his loudest voice: "Prepare rockets and attack the Dutchman's Lower Town!" ”

On the dock side of the lower city, Horn, who was covered in dirt, looked at the scene in front of him blankly, more than a dozen large and small ships that were still intact half an hour ago had fallen to the ground, or sunk, or fell crookedly on the water, the water was full of floating human heads and corpses, people were wailing, crying for help, cursing, he didn't know what hell was like inside, but it was not worse than the scene in front of him. He fell to his knees, stretched out his right hand, grasped the cross hanging from his chest, and prayed to God for the first time in twenty years: "O God, please forgive us sinners!" ”

"Scum, get up and help! Hurry, hurry! ”

Behind him came the gruff sound peculiar to soldiers, and the whooshing sound of a leather whip tearing through the air, Horn stood up, only to see the malevolent, always angry face of the garrison captain Second Lieutenant Teller facing him: "You scum, unbelieving bastards, get me up from the ground, go to save people, pull ropes, go to separate ships, whatever you want!" Otherwise, I, old Teller, will hang you all from the coconut trees next to the docks. ”

Teller's whips and threats worked, and the panicked people began to get busy, their main purpose being to separate the burning ships from the ones that were not, so that they would not be burned together. Teller saw that everyone began to get busy, his heart was relieved, looking to the mainland, there was a burst of gunfire in the southeast, he knew that it was Prominsha Street, obviously the invaders entered the bay and took advantage of the night at the same time to attack the fleet of ships on the dock and the stronghold on the shore at the same time, the night covered everything, he did not know how many people and ships there were in total, all the action could only start after dawn, hoping to leave a few ships that could be used.

Just as Teller was worried about the loss, he suddenly heard a sharp hissing in the air, and as soon as he looked up, a flash of fire pierced the night sky and landed in the lower city, splashing a ball of fire. Before Teller could recover from the surprise he had just had, he saw a series of fires flying over his head and falling one after another, and clusters of fire rose from the lower town, the docks, and the boats. Teller's wrinkled old face like tree bark showed a desperate expression: "It's over, it's all over!" ”

"It's beautiful, it's so beautiful!" Silva stood on the side of the ship, holding on to the railing, intoxicated by the scenery in front of him, more than 400 rockets like an invisible multi-armed demon, each holding a long whip, and with a wave of the whip, there was a fire. The boats, the equipment on the docks, and the houses in the lower town were all in flames, and the flames were like a devil who did not know how to eat, gobbling up, and a sampan trying to avoid bad luck bypassed the cape and fled to the safety of the sea on the other side of the cape, but was shot by a rocket, and the burning rocket mixed with sulfur and grease set the man and sampan on fire like a candle, and the sailor screamed and jumped into the water, leaving only the sampan floating and burning on the water.

"Left full rudder!" Finally satisfied with the beauty on the shore, Silva commanded the Queen Mary to sail towards the mainland, leaving only the flames, death and destruction behind it.

The city of Geranza.

Looking at the tragic scene before him, Governor Thomson's face turned pale, and the morning light rising from the horizon had already torn through the shroud of night, revealing the ugliness and misery. The wreckage of ships was everywhere along the docks, and it would be more appropriate to say that the remains of the ships were in shambles, and the lower town was also a mess, with fire destroying shops and hospitals without discrimination. People who have lost everything are searching the rubble to see if they can recover a little bit of their losses, and people who have lost their loved ones and possessions are wailing by the roadside. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, reached out to cover his eyes, and turned his head away.

"Where's Old Teller! Let him come to me right away! Governor Thomson shouted, "Also, bring me a glass of whiskey, right now!" ”

It took two glasses of liquor in a row for Governor Thomson to gradually control his emotions, but his hands were still shaking, and fear had taken control of the hapless fellow. The Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, was probably the wisest and most ruthless ruler of its time. This limited liability company, established by charter from the United Republic of the Netherlands, had the power to organize its own mercenaries, issue currency, and be allowed to make formal treaties with other nations, establish colonies, and rule them, and the governors of the colonies were the uncrowned kings of the land, but if they were deemed by the seventeen-member board of directors to be detrimental to the interests of the shareholders, he would be served long prison terms, heavy fines, and even the death penalty. When Thomson arrived, he tried his best to fight the two rivals, the Spaniards and Zheng Zhilong, and turned the big man into an important stronghold on the vast trade network of South China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and the company's headquarters in Batavia praised his work, but all this came to naught overnight, and he didn't even know where the enemy came from. Thinking of this, Thomson poured himself another full glass of wine.

"Lord Governor!" Teller walked into the room quickly, and he couldn't help but frown when he smelled a strong smell of alcohol. Yes, he also loves rum and prefers whisky, and it would be great if there were French wines. But now is not the time to drink, the enemy's fangs are about to cut our veins, and the dead will not be able to drink anymore.

"Hmm!" Governor Thomson put down his glass: "How's the situation now?" ”

"It's bad!" Teller sighed: "The ship was either sunk or seriously damaged, only a spinnaker clipper can still be used after repair, and the lower city was also burned very badly, many shops and houses were burned down, more than two hundred people died, and more than four hundred were injured, not including the Puluo Street on the mainland, I don't know the situation over there, but there is more than luck!" ”

"Where's the ship's storehouse next to the dock?"

"It's also burned, the fire has been extinguished, but most of the cables and canvas inside are burned!"

"Uhhhh Governor Thomson let out a groan of despair, and the worst happened. Seventeenth-century sailing ships did not need coal and oil, but they did not need ropes, canvas and wood to repair the boat, especially the first two, the ropes would wear out, break and the canvas would be torn by storms. Neither of these things was readily available, the ropes used in galleons were made of fine flax or jute, and canvas required special skill and factory. The burning of the stockpiles in the warehouse meant that even if they could fix a few boats, they wouldn't be able to get him to sea properly.

"Lord Governor, it's not all burned out, there's one more point. At least the arsenal, powder magazine, and grain depot are in the castle, all intact! Teller whispered comfortingly.

"How many more?"

"There was enough food for the soldiers and the citizens of the lower city for six months, and gunpowder was 1,000 bushels (volume unit, 0.035 cubic meters)."

"Okay!" Thomson breathed a sigh of relief, but his face was still as pale as rotten milk, with a hint of green. For him, who was thousands of miles away in the port of Dayuan, the ship was the source of life, and no matter how much food, weapons and gunpowder he had, he would run out one day, and the loyalty of the mercenaries defending the city was only worth expecting if there was still hope of breaking the siege.

"Lord Governor!" Teller hesitated, but still whispered: "With all due respect, we should send a messenger to Batavia to report the situation there while the enemy has not completely cut off the exit of the waterway." ”

"Cut off the waterway exit?"

"Yes, Lord Governor!" Teller whispered: "Last night, the shelling of ships and the rocket attack on the lower city was a galleon, with a displacement of at least three hundred and fifty tons, no other power in East Asia has such a large ship except the Spaniards, and someone saw the Hercules Pillar (the pattern on the Spanish flag) on the sails, I suspect that the attack was on the Philippine Spaniards." ”

Thomson nodded, from the middle of the sixteenth century, the Low Countries were the sworn enemies of the Spanish Empire, political and economic interests were mixed with religious hatred, and hatred of the Spaniards had long been in the blood of the Dutch. In order to defeat their opponents in the war, both sides did everything they could, the Dutch plundered the Spanish convoys to and from the Americas, and used guerrilla tactics against Spanish troops and officials; The Spaniards retaliated with massacres and persecution, and even Prince William, the leader of the Dutch and commander of Orange, was killed by the Jesuit Assassins who supported Spain. Although King Philip III of Spain was forced to sign a treaty recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic in 1609, the colonists on both sides continued to wage brutal wars outside Europe. Not long ago, the Dutch East India Company in Batavia had sold weapons to the indigenous people of the Philippine Islands, bringing them together to form an anti-Spanish coalition, and the Spaniards had chosen Port Dayuan to retaliate, which was not at all surprising to Thomson. (To be continued.) )