Chapter 729 of the text is between offense and defense

For the Mata Blue Army, which has a size of tens of thousands, the morning offensive is just a tentative attack, and testing the strength of the city defense with hundreds of lives is just an ordinary combat method for the commander of the Mata Blue Army. 『Words*Feelings*First*Strike≥ The casualty rate that the defending army could not bear was not too much of a problem for the Mata Blue Army. The tactical intent of the Mata Blues was clear, which was to use a simple offensive to find a breakthrough in the fortifications of Batavia. At least after the morning's encounter, the Dutch defence has been exposed, and the Mada Blues will be more targeted after a few hours of adjustment.

The troops of the Mata Blues stopped a little farther than in the morning, and then began to set up the trebuchet. When Bart noticed this, his face became even more gloomy. Although the trebuchets in the Mata Blues were slow to fire, had limited lethality to personnel, and were no match for the city's fortifications in the morning battle with the defenders, and were destroyed by shells several in the course of the battle, Bart was well aware that this primitive weapon had its advantages.

First of all, the accuracy of this weapon determines that its target is not a single point, but an area. For example, if a section of the city wall is targeted, the probability of hitting this area is much more accurate than hitting the trebuchet with the city's artillery, which is the main attack method used by the Mada Blues. Secondly, the lethality of this weapon for personnel is relatively limited, but the damage to the fortifications can not be ignored, although the rammed earth walls of Batavia can resist ordinary shelling, but the heavy stone projectiles whizz down, but can gradually smash the city wall out of gaps and cracks, if the opponent has been using trebuchets to concentrate fire somewhere, the defenders actually have no special effective defensive measures available, can only watch the stone projectiles falling from the sky to destroy the city wall little by little. Thirdly, the trebuchets used by the Mata Blue Army this time had an extremely long range, and there was no obvious disadvantage compared to the artillery at the head of the city, which made it impossible for the defenders to use the range advantage of their own weapons to suppress the opponent's long-range firepower output.

The morning's engagement had apparently allowed the Matar Blues to detect the accuracy of the city's bars at that distance, and they had consciously pulled the trebuchets back a little, partly to reduce the chance of the trebuchets being hit by the city's guns, and on the other hand, presumably to switch the target, which was one of Barth's greatest fears.

In previous engagements, only about half of the casualties of the Matar army under the city were caused by blows from the city's head, while the other half were caused by the small wedge-shaped fortresses outside the city that made it difficult for the Mata Lans to attack along the line. Although only one or two hundred soldiers were often stationed in these forts, the firepower from the platoons of guns formed by them was able to lock the Mataran army that tried to attack the city through the Guò ladder bridge near the moat.

Since the besieging troops were almost entirely lightly armed, their weapons could hardly do much damage to the fortified fortress - in fact, the Mataran infantry could not even charge within twenty paces of the fort before they fell under the fire of the musketeers inside and outside the city. With such crossfire, the Mataran infantry could not fight head-on with their short spears and bows and arrows, and their means of attack proved to be extremely limited, although they also killed and wounded some of the defenders in the forts, but they were unable to capture these troublesome forts and advance the offensive under the city of Batavia.

When the first stone bullet sliced through the air and smashed into the moat, Bart knew that the commander of the Mata Blue Army was clearly aware of this, and had shifted his priority from the walls to the garrison fortress outside the city.

After the first round of ejections, the trebuchet on the opposite side stopped for calibration. Bart didn't dare to wait for the opponent to adjust slowly, and immediately ordered all the artillery within range to open fire, trying his best to bombard the enemy's trebuchet.

The wedge-shaped fortresses outside the city were almost all built after the last war, and as a peripheral fortification, the height, thickness, and solidity of the retaining walls could not be compared with the main city walls, and their ability to resist attacks was naturally much worse. When the Mataran trebuchet launched its second round of projectiles, several stone projectiles hit the outer wall of the fortress outside the city, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

The forts outside the city were also equipped with artillery, but due to the limited space inside the forts, there were only two or four small-caliber guns in each fort, which were mainly used to kill troops who forced their way across the moats, and trebuchets hundreds of meters away were not within their range. Therefore, the garrison in the fortress had no effective means of responding to the trebuchet's attack except to shout and hide everywhere like headless flies.

After the Malta Blues retreated the trebuchet, the Dutch artillery hit rate began to decline. Although Bart adjusted his tactics in time and let the artillery on the city walls start to concentrate fire in different areas, the effect was still not satisfactory. After five rounds of shelling, only one trebuchet was hit, and Bart was so anxious that he almost jumped to his feet.

Of course, Bart did not dare to order the army to go out of the city to counterattack, that would definitely be the will of the other party, and the Mada Blue Army would like the defenders to go out of the city to fight, and then force it with the advantage of troops. In addition, the defenders had already destroyed several passages in the moat before the Matar Blue Army landed, leaving only the passage in front of the north gate, but if the battle was unfavorable, the troops who went out of the city to fight would probably not be able to retreat to the city in time because of the narrow passages. Under such a double risk, Bart naturally did not dare to act rashly.

The Matar army carried out a two-hour stone attack on several forts outside the city, and hundreds of stone shells flew from the Matara Blue army position to the Dutch fort, knocking the fortress wall into dust. During these two hours, the Dutch defenders also hit twelve trebuchets, but the casualties were too far away to be counted.

The commander of the Matar Blues was obviously more patient than the Dutch had expected at the start of the battle, and in this round of encounters, the opposing side did not send infantry to charge again, and basically used long-range weapons to attack the fortresses outside the city throughout the battle. Although these trebuchets require more manpower, they are actually much less expensive to use than artillery, and the trebuchets can fight almost non-stop during the two-hour engagement, but the artillery on the city needs to be cooled intermittently, and the commander must also take into account the consumption of ammunition and the loss of gun life. In contrast, the defenders, although more advanced, were much more passive than their cold-weaponized opponents.

In the end, it was twilight that saved the defenders in the fortress outside the city from almost crumbling, and the Mata Blue Army unhurriedly packed up the siege equipment and slowly retreated to the large camp three miles away. The defenders, on the other hand, seized the time to count the battle damage outside the city.

The results of the inventory really made Bart feel worried, the six fortresses outside the north wall, only the two fortresses next to each other outside the north gate because of their dangerous location, have the function of covering the passage into the city, when they were built, they were already stronger than the other fortresses, so the damage was okay, and it was not a big deal to make small repairs. But the other four forts were not so lucky, and the parapets collapsed in many places. In one of the most severely damaged fortresses, a third of the parapet has collapsed or cracked, making it much more difficult to defend as a result.

In addition, the casualties were even worse than in the morning, and the number of soldiers killed by stone bullets or the collapse of the parapet in the fort exceeded the number of killed in the morning, and the number of wounded was as high as nearly 100. Such battle losses were absolutely unacceptable for the defenders with limited troops. If the fight continues like this, I am afraid that in less than ten days, the Ma Da Blue Army will be able to rely on this primitive tactic to grind off the elite of the defenders little by little.

The following will be re-edited at a later date, and the following will be re-edited at a later date

Since the besieging troops were almost entirely lightly armed, their weapons could hardly do much damage to the fortified fortress - in fact, the Mataran infantry could not even charge within twenty paces of the fort before they fell under the fire of the musketeers inside and outside the city. With such crossfire, the Mataran infantry could not fight head-on with their short spears and bows and arrows, and their means of attack proved to be extremely limited, although they also killed and wounded some of the defenders in the forts, but they were unable to capture these troublesome forts and advance the offensive under the city of Batavia.

When the first stone bullet sliced through the air and smashed into the moat, Bart knew that the commander of the Mata Blue Army was clearly aware of this, and had shifted his priority from the walls to the garrison fortress outside the city.

After the first round of ejections, the trebuchet on the opposite side stopped for calibration. Bart didn't dare to wait for the opponent to adjust slowly, and immediately ordered all the artillery within range to open fire, trying his best to bombard the enemy's trebuchet.

The wedge-shaped fortresses outside the city were almost all built after the last war, and as a peripheral fortification, the height, thickness, and solidity of the retaining walls could not be compared with the main city walls, and their ability to resist attacks was naturally much worse. When the Mataran trebuchet launched its second round of projectiles, several stone projectiles hit the outer wall of the fortress outside the city, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

The forts outside the city were also equipped with artillery, but due to the limited space inside the forts, there were only two or four small-caliber guns in each fort, which were mainly used to kill troops who forced their way across the moats, and trebuchets hundreds of meters away were not within their range. Therefore, the garrison in the fortress had no effective means of responding to the trebuchet's attack except to shout and hide everywhere like headless flies.

After the Malta Blues retreated the trebuchet, the Dutch artillery hit rate began to decline. Although Bart adjusted his tactics in time and let the artillery on the city walls start to concentrate fire in different areas, the effect was still not satisfactory. After five rounds of shelling, only one trebuchet was hit, and Bart was so anxious that he almost jumped to his feet.

Of course, Bart did not dare to order the army to go out of the city to counterattack, that would definitely be the will of the other party, and the Mada Blue Army would like the defenders to go out of the city to fight, and then force it with the advantage of troops. In addition, the defenders had already destroyed several passages in the moat before the Matar Blue Army landed, leaving only the passage in front of the north gate, but if the battle was unfavorable, the troops who went out of the city to fight would probably not be able to retreat to the city in time because of the narrow passages. Under such a double risk, Bart naturally did not dare to act rashly.

The Matar army carried out a two-hour stone attack on several forts outside the city, and hundreds of stone shells flew from the Matara Blue army position to the Dutch fort, knocking the fortress wall into dust. During these two hours, the Dutch defenders also hit twelve trebuchets, but the casualties were too far away to be counted.

The commander of the Matar Blues was obviously more patient than the Dutch had expected at the start of the battle, and in this round of encounters, the opposing side did not send infantry to charge again, and basically used long-range weapons to attack the fortresses outside the city throughout the battle. Although these trebuchets require more manpower, they are actually much less expensive to use than artillery, and the trebuchets can fight almost non-stop during the two-hour engagement, but the artillery on the city needs to be cooled intermittently, and the commander must also take into account the consumption of ammunition and the loss of gun life. In contrast, the defenders, although more advanced, were much more passive than their cold-weaponized opponents.

In the end, it was twilight that saved the defenders in the fortress outside the city from almost crumbling, and the Mata Blue Army unhurriedly packed up the siege equipment and slowly retreated to the large camp three miles away. The defenders, on the other hand, seized the time to count the battle damage outside the city.

The results of the inventory really made Bart feel worried, the six fortresses outside the north wall, only the two fortresses next to each other outside the north gate because of their dangerous location, have the function of covering the passage into the city, when they were built, they were already stronger than the other fortresses, so the damage was okay, and it was not a big deal to make small repairs. But the other four forts were not so lucky, and the parapets collapsed in many places. In one of the most severely damaged fortresses, a third of the parapet has collapsed or cracked, making it much more difficult to defend as a result.

In addition, the casualties were even worse than in the morning, and the number of soldiers killed by stone bullets or the collapse of the parapet in the fort exceeded the number of killed in the morning, and the number of wounded was as high as nearly 100. Such battle losses were absolutely unacceptable for the defenders with limited troops. If the fight continues like this, I am afraid that in less than ten days, the Ma Da Blue Army will be able to rely on this primitive tactic to grind off the elite of the defenders little by little.