"Nope!" Du Gu shook his head in disappointment: "I think the same as you, only by draining the water first, it is possible to capture this place." Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Yes!" Silva glared over the wetlands again, the sun had sunk below sea level, leaving only a faint yellow glow from the atmosphere that shone lifelessly on Fort Utrecht and the barren battlefield. He let out a rare sigh and said to Du Gu, "It seems that the only way to do this is to continue the siege, hoping to solve the problem with hunger." ”

Du Gu nodded silently, these two battle-hardened veterans knew in their hearts that this battle was beyond their control, the siege was about to enter the most brutal, and it was also a stage that both the offensive and defensive sides did not want to see, the defenders often showed amazing tenacity, grassroots, leather, rats and even human flesh could make them hold on, and two months had passed, and reinforcements from the Dutch could appear at any time, and at that time, the besieging side would have to pay a heavy price for not taking the castle.

As the two men pondered worriedly about what to do in the worst-case scenario, several gunshots rang out from Utrechtburg. Startled, Dugu was surprised to see a man leap out of the trench of the castle and run towards him, no, more crawling than running, and the guards of the city were shooting at the creature who was struggling in the mire.

"It's a deserter, it's a deserter from the Dutch!" Silva reacted faster, and he shouted excitedly: "Quick, shoot at those guys at the head of the city, and also, you guys, get that guy alive, remember, live!" ”

Du Gu also reacted, and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Yes, yes, a few of you also go over, bring a rope, you must live!" ”

A few minutes later, the soldiers brought the soldier to Dugu and Silva, and the dim light helped. Du Gu carefully observed the deserter, from the skeleton it looked like a large man, but it was frightening, protruding eyes, wide mouth, bare skin rough and dark, unkempt hair like vines, connected with the beard, and emitted a foul smell all over the body, as if rolling in a dung pit. Du Gu subconsciously covered his nose, and Silva on the side looked at it carefully, and asked in German (Dutch is a branch of Low German): "What is your name and who is it?" Why escape? ”

Wallace looked at Silva in surprise, he didn't expect to meet a European here, and then he replied in a low voice: "My name is Wallace, Ben. Wallace, is a mercenary of the company. Can you give me something to eat? I'm starving! ”

Silva translated Wallace's answer into Chinese, Dugu nodded, and one of his soldiers took two pieces of dry bread from the bag of dry food around his waist and handed them over. Wallace snatched it, but he didn't bother to break it and stuffed it into his mouth and bit it. Soon he choked on the dry, hard cake, and he grabbed his throat and retched as if he had been poisoned.

"Bastard, who made you eat so fast, this doesn't choke!" Dugu laughed, and he saw the same smile on Silva's face - it seemed that the enemies in the fortress were not having a good time, at least not enough food.

With the help of others, Wallace finally spit out the dry cake stuck in his throat, drank a few more sips of water, and finally recovered. He carefully stuffed the leftover bread into his arms and put it away, and said in a low voice: "Two nobles, can I have a small request before answering the question?" ”

Silva exchanged glances with Doogue, and nodded. Wallace breathed a sigh of relief: "I know you have Christians here, if you want to put me to death, can you find me a priest and let me confess before I die?" ”

"No problem with this! I swear in the name of the nobles of the empire that as long as you answer my questions honestly, I guarantee your life! Silva replied.

Wallace took a relieved look on his face at Silva's assurance, and he began to answer questions.

"How many guards were there in Fort Utrecht? How many artillery? ”

"One hundred and twenty soldiers, sixty helpers, six three-pounder guns, two six-pounder guns, and two twelve-pounder guns, but the direction of the twelve-pounder cannons is towards the sea, and it is inconvenient to move towards the land side."

"And in the city of Geranza?"

"Five hundred soldiers, plus a few civilians."

"What is the morale of the soldiers?"

"It's bad, we eat poorly, the food is scarce and of poor quality, many people have dysentery, and if it weren't for the reinforcements from Batavia, it would have been over a long time ago."

"Then why is it that only you surrender for so long?"

Hearing this, Wallace's face showed a look of shame, and finally he whispered, "Because of Second Lieutenant Teller, he is in control of the army, and everyone is afraid of him." He told us that we were besieging heretics and infidels, and that if we caught the Christians, we would be crucified and roasted to death. I came here because I'm a Catholic and I hear Mass on your side these days and know that you have a Cheechitan army here. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm afraid that when I'm dying, I don't have a dying confession, and the Dutch will certainly not prepare a Catholic priest for me! ”

"The man was Scottish, and like me, Catholic, and Dutch, Protestant." Silva whispered to Dugu, who still looked inexplicable: "If he and you are both Catholics, why are you soldiers under the Dutch?" ”

Silva was stopped by Dugu's question, and he thought for a moment before replying: "Render to us Europeans Caesar's what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Faith is a matter after death, and when you are alive, you still work for whoever pays you. ”

"That's strange, I heard you say that decades ago, you Europeans fought for hundreds of years in order to worship this Bodhisattva, worship that Bodhisattva and kill you. Since faith is a matter after death, why fight while alive? Have you ever seen a dead man come back to life? ”

"This—" Silva was dumbfounded, he subconsciously felt that Dugu's words were wrong, but he couldn't come up with any well-founded rebuttals. Seeing the other party's appearance, Du Gu smiled and said, "Forget it, don't talk about this, we have more important things here." This guy seems to have said that there is a second lieutenant Teller, who is the head of the city, is it true? ”

Listening to Silva's question, Wallace thought for a moment and replied, "The supreme commander here is Governor Thomson, but since the fleet and docks were attacked by you that night, he has been hiding in the house and drinking all day, and he rarely even goes out of the door, and most of the affairs of defending the city are in charge of Second Lieutenant Thom. ”

"Hiding in the house and drinking all day?" Du Gu was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "We are so tightly surrounded, he still drinks all day?" Is this guy crazy? ”

"It's not crazy. You don't know, the company is very strict with the management of its officers, and you have burned so many ships and goods in this attack, and the lower town of Geranza has also suffered a lot of damage, most of which are the property of the company, and the board of directors will definitely punish him very severely! ”

It took Silva a lot of effort to explain the organizational structure of the East India Company to Dugu, who couldn't help but be amazed: "I see, but why don't you let it be guilty?" Like him, I'm afraid it won't do your company any good, right? ”

"Guilty of meritorious service? General Du, you still don't understand! Silva laughed: "This company was founded by a partnership of businessmen, the purpose is to make money, and the governor who broke the capital of the owner is the greatest sin, what merit should be made to compensate for it?" ”

"Yes!" Du Gu thought for a while and smiled: "If according to what you said, those Dutch actually let a group of businessmen rule the country, and the businessmen value profit over righteousness, and the country will inevitably be divided up and down, how can it be a country?" It's strange that you Spaniards can't even put down such a group of traitors! ”

Silva's face couldn't help but blush when he heard this, Europe in the thirties of the seventeenth century was in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, and Spain at this time was still a first-class power on the European continent although it had declined, and if you took into account their Austrian relatives, the Habsburgs, who served as Holy Roman Emperors, their overall strength was firmly the first in Europe. But the great power of the country also attracted more enemies, and the Dutch, the British, the Protestant princes within the Holy Roman Empire, the Danes, the Swedes, and even the French, who also believed in Catholicism, and the Turks, who believed in Islam, united against it. In this protracted war of attrition, the blood of the empire gradually dried up, not to mention recovering the lost territory of the Low Countries, and even maintaining the vast territory of the empire became increasingly difficult. As a nobleman and military officer of the Empire, Silva knew all about this, but had no idea how to turn things around.

"Forget it, let's not worry about things thousands of miles away!" Du Gu slapped his thigh and said with a smile: "What is this Wallace, if it is according to you, the key to victory lies in this second lieutenant Teller, as long as he dies, this city will be self-defeating, isn't it?" ”

Wallace thought for a moment, and replied cautiously, "Well, if this man were dead, at least it would be much easier." ”

Dugu and Silva glanced at each other, and they both saw excitement in each other's eyes, it was indeed difficult to take the castle, but it was much easier to kill someone.

"Wallace, come here, if you do something for us, not only will you be able to save your life after the deed is completed, but I will also reward you with a thousand taels of silver."

The halls of Utrecht Fort are made of black stone and coconut wood, with high ceilings and are smoky despite being spacious and airy. The stone walls were dotted with huge white patches of mold and moss, and there were only a few bits of charcoal in the brazier in the corner. A long table, with one leg missing, was placed in the center of the hall and occupied most of the space, where soldiers dined and gathered when there was no war.

Teller sat at the long table, looking sluggish, next to an empty croissant with a little bit of beer foam on the rim. Since that night, he hadn't drunk his beloved liquor or slept a decent night's sleep. Governor Thomson had collapsed completely, a puddle of mud, and someone had to step up. He was like a clockwork alarm clock, constantly running, checking the city defenses, distributing lead bullets and gunpowder, formulating food distribution plans, checking posts, etc., there were countless things to deal with in the besieged castle, and when he stopped occasionally, Teller would be surprised that he could hold on for so long and not collapse, could it be that so many years of drinking and sleeping have allowed him to accumulate enough energy? But even so, he still felt that his energy was flowing irreversibly, like a wire that was constantly bending, and could break at any time. As a veteran, Teller is sensitive to the emotions of the soldiers, and the Scottish deserter named Wallace yesterday is a signal that the soldiers' patience has reached a limit, and if they don't do something, they may collapse in the next second.

The door of the hall was pushed open, Teller looked up, and several laid-off soldiers walked in and sat down at the table, each with an indifferent look and a wandering gaze, they needed wine, they needed women, they needed hot food, clean hot water, clean clothes, everything that would make them forget everything in front of them for a while, so that their nerves could relax a little for a while, and no one could be so tense forever.

Just as Teller was racking his brains to think about what to do, the door was suddenly pushed open, and an officer walked in quickly, holding a lead cannonball in his hand, walked to Teller's side with a frightened expression, put the cannonball in front of Teller, and said in a low voice: "Look, Mr. Ensign! ”

On the shot put was written a few simple lines in Dutch: "Kill Teller, then run over and you will get five hundred gold ducats!" "Below is a crooked signature - Ben. Wallace.

"Where did it come from?" As soon as Teller's words came out, he found out that he had said something stupid, who else would be carving words on the shells at this time? Sure enough, he heard the expected answer from his subordinates: "It's coming in from outside, second lieutenant, this idea is against you, be careful!" ”

"How many of these shells are there? How many people have seen it? Teller asked in a low voice, no wonder he was so careful, in most of ancient times the relationship between commanders and soldiers was not harmonious, many times generals regarded themselves as animal trainers, and their own soldiers as beasts, not only to drive them to attack their opponents, but also to be careful to grasp the stabbing stick and leather whip so as not to be eaten by them. Teller was no exception, he was a rude and stern man, and few of these soldiers had not been subjected to his whip and club, and if they were usually under the threat of whips and gallows, the soldiers would have behaved tamely. But now under siege, hunger and precariousness had crumbled the authority of the company, and in fact the soldiers were tormented more by the fear of the enemy, which had now been dispelled by Wallace's example. (To be continued.) )