The castle of Malacca, whose real name is Fort Santiago.

But there are too many Fort Santiago, and Portugal and Spain have built a whole bunch of Fort Santiago all over the world. The one in Macau is called Fort Santiago, the one in Manila is called Fort Santiago, and the one in Malacca is also called Fort Santiago.

The central castle is built on the mountain, and the highest watchtower is more than 30 meters high from the sea. The fortress wall is 3 meters thick, and the actual wall is about 5 meters high.

There are also city defense guns, but strangely, the cannons are semi-stationary, and the muzzles are always facing the direction of the city, and they are not used to defend against enemies at sea.

Because when the Portuguese built the castle, they thought that the enemy would not come from the sea, but from the army of the Sultan of Malacca, as well as the Han Chinese and natives who might rebel inside and outside the city.

The castle had two other turrets, one of which was relatively intact and the other was destroyed. It was destroyed by the Dutch, and it has not been repaired yet, and the Dutch are just busy repairing the outer walls, thinking that the central castle will not be attacked—until the British take Malacca,

The Dutch have not yet repaired the turrets.

They didn't even bother to repair the central turret, so you can imagine how arrogant the Dutch defenders were, and they didn't think that this place would be attacked at all.

"How much gunpowder is available?" Sanders asked.

Hendrik replied embarrassedly: "The gunpowder in the arsenal, except for the outermost one, which is often used and ventilated to dry, is all damp. “

Sanders roared, "I'm asking you, how much gunpowder is available!" ”

Hendrik said: "In the battle a few days ago, I carried a lot of gunpowder to the outer city wall, but I didn't have time to bring it back when I retreated. Now there are only six barrels of available gunpowder left ...

Sanders listened and asked, "How did you become an army commander?" “

Hendrik asked rhetorically: "Why is the salary of army soldiers only one-sixth of that of the navy?" Only a small amount of military money is allocated to me every year, and I have to maintain law and order inside and outside the city, and the soldiers are poor enough to work in the city, where do they have time to maintain the arsenal? “

"It's a decision by the company council, and it's not up to me to have the final say!" “

The two parted unhappily, and both felt justified.

The Dutch soldiers were even more angry, because Malacca had been war-free for a long time, and the army salaries here were lower than those in Taiwan. Moreover, they have to be deducted by the commander, and the soldier's monthly salary is even less than the income of the Han shoemaker in the city.

The number of soldiers defending the city was still small, and the colonial authorities did not want to spend money on servant troops. This situation led to the autonomy of all ethnic groups in the neighborhoods of the city, and the aborigines outside the city were completely free-range, and the collection of agricultural taxes was purely watched by the landlords. The Dutch army in the castle, let alone bullying the natives outside the city, did not even dare to go to the city to loot the Han Chinese.

The military salary is small, and they are deducted by the commander, and they can't exploit the people, what do you let these Dutch Army soldiers in Malacca do?

Now, working in the city has become their main job, and returning to the castle to serve as a soldier is a side job!

Sanders thought about it and called Hendrick again: "I see that the soldiers are depressed, you give them a month's back salary." Tell them that during the defense of the city, they will be paid double their salaries every month. ”

Hendrik said, "No money. ”

Sanders pulled out a warrant he had issued: "Go to the treasurer and get the money." “

More than 100 Dutch soldiers received their back salaries, and their morale was slightly boosted.

They took out all the powder kegs, took the risk, broke the hardened gunpowder little by little, and then took it to the open field to dry. The air here is too humid to dry it to do anything, so simply light a flame and bake it farther away.

How many of them can be used, the ghost knows.

The writer Newkhoff threw the rusty musket aside, took out a pen and paper and continued to write:

"I'm a little scared, I don't know what the future holds, and maybe Malacca won't be able to hold it. The Army of Fort San Diego, as always, was chaotic. As long as there is no war for more than a year, these army soldiers will be in a hurry. They either have nothing to do and bask in the sun while they are on duty in the city, or they go to work in the city to earn money when they are on vacation..."

"It's not what a professional soldier should look like, but unfortunately that's what the Dutch Army is. It's true in Brazil, it's true in India, it's still true in Malacca. “

"When I was working in Brazil, there were even only 2 Dutch soldiers in that castle. There are also few inhabitants, almost none of the Dutch, and all of them are of mixed Portuguese and South American descent. In order to make a living, the Dutch soldiers went out of the city to extort these half-bloods. At one point, four mixed-race farmers,

With their slaves, they rebelled en masse, killing the Dutch soldiers and throwing off their armor. From then on, the Dutch soldiers did not dare to leave the city ...

"Did the shareholders and parliamentarians of the East India Company know about the living conditions of the soldiers of the army? Their salaries are so low that decent people will not be in the army, but only drunks, gamblers, vagabonds, and the like. Even these people are gradually unable to recruit, so they can only recruit down-and-out Europeans overseas. “

"No matter what country you come from, as long as you are willing to be a soldier, you can be the overseas army of the Netherlands. The combat effectiveness of the colonial army is getting worse day by day. And the commanders' opinion of the Army is getting worse day by day, and even their pitiful salaries are being reduced."

"If you go on like this, it's no problem to deal with the barbarian natives, but when you encounter a big country like China, can you really rely on them to fight?"

"Artillery is sounding again outside, the Chinese have already begun to attack, I don't know how long I can live ...

The central castle of Malacca, built halfway up the hill near the top of the mountain, can be bombarded by cannons under the mountain, and even warships can hit the guns.

It's just that the hit rate will be low.

Two central turrets, when the Netherlands attacked that year, they bombarded one by themselves, and now the Datong army is concentrating on bombarding the second one.

As mentioned earlier, neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch thought of strengthening the artillery of the central castle, and they placed most of the city's defense guns on the outer walls.

Today, the Datong Navy dismantled the ship-based guns and moved them down the hill to bombard the turrets, and the Dutch defenders were almost only bombed.

After four days of continuous bombardment, the only remaining central turret was destroyed, and only the battery positions aimed at the city were still usable.

Hendrik didn't even dare to let go of his hand to fight back, he only had six barrels of gunpowder to use. Once the gunpowder is used up, how can you use the musket to defend?

"Boom!"

But it was Hendrik who ordered the artillerymen to open fire with dried gunpowder. At the beginning, the two cannons went off, and when the third cannon was fired, I don't know if it was too much ammunition or a problem with the gunpowder, and one cannon blew itself up, killing and wounding several artillerymen by the way.

"Let the natives attack first, and tell them that if they can get twenty feet closer to the castle, they will receive twice the amount of food they can receive today! Storm the castle and reward 50 catties of white rice! “

Kwong's order was issued, and the morale of the Malay natives was greatly boosted.

They had no formation at all, carrying bamboo ladders or wooden ladders and climbing up the hillside. Anyway, if you rush closer, you can reward food, and if you die, you will be unlucky, and if you are lucky, you can survive, after all, there are not many defenders in the castle.

"Bang bang bang!"

The castle rang out with sporadic gunfire, and the Dutch defenders all fired cautiously, after all, there was not much gunpowder to spare.

As a result, nearly two Malay natives rushed to about fifteen meters outside the castle. It was only at this time that the gunfire of the Dutch finally intensified, and the casualties of the natives increased rapidly.

As the casualties increased, the natives collapsed in an instant, threw down ladders and weapons and fled, and if they escaped alive, they would receive food rewards.

The natives did not feel cheated, but thought that the Chinese officials were very generous.

Rush a few more times, and you won't be hungry this month, which is really a very cost-effective deal.

As the commander of the navy, Hong Xu has gone ashore at this moment and used a clairvoyant mirror to observe the situation throughout the whole process. After several charges, he worried:

"This castle is not easy to fight, and there are no loopholes to drill. No matter which direction you attack the city, you will be greeted by firearms. Fortunately, there are not many enemy troops defending the city, otherwise how would we be able to defeat it. “

It is clear that the attack of these natives, in addition to consuming the gunpowder of the defenders, is mainly to de-flesh reconnaissance fire.

After paying more than 100 indigenous lives, Hong Xu and Kwong Hong can already confirm two points:

First, the number of defenders was seriously insufficient to concentrate in one direction. When there was a sudden increase in the number of attacking forces, the Dutch defenders had to urgently transfer men to the defense.

Second, the castle has 360 degrees without dead ends, and no matter where you attack, you will be beaten.

Chen Erxun, a local Chinese leader, begged to meet: "Two adults, the casualties of the assault are too great, it is better to send people into the city to negotiate, maybe you can take this city without blood." ”

Kwong Hung asked, "Will the red-haired ghost surrender?" “

Chen Erxun said with a smile: "The red-haired official may not surrender easily. But the red-haired soldiers are all bitter haha. My family's workshop in the city,

There are often red-haired soldiers who come to do odd jobs to make money. Their salaries were low, barely enough to feed themselves. Once you marry a wife and have children, or if you like to drink and gamble, you have to work to earn money to get by. “

Kuang Hong instantly realized: "The negotiation is fake, and it is true to incite the defenders to surrender." Mr. Chen's good strategy! ”

Chen Erxun was also helpless, his great-great-grandfather gave the Portuguese an idea to help him successfully drive out the Sultan of Malacca. He himself, ten years earlier, had given the Dutch the idea to help them drive out the Portuguese.

Now, Kuang Hong seems to be not going to leave without breaking the city, and he still has to stand up and give Kuang Hong ideas.

Anyway, no matter who comes and whose power is superior, his Chen family will choose who to help, so that he can stand tall in Malacca.

"Who's going to negotiate?" Kwong Hung asked.

Chen Erxun arched his hand and said: "The grass people recommended themselves. “

Kuang Hong smiled: "You are very bold. “

Chen Erxun said: "The red-haired ghosts bully the weak and fear the hard, and when they do not have the upper hand, they are still polite and courteous, and it is impossible to kill the negotiators." As for when they gain power, it is impossible to say. The grass people have seen too many barbarians, and they are all afraid of power but not virtue. Once the barbarians gain power,

Etiquette, righteousness, honesty and shame are completely disregarded, that is, the old and weak, women and children all say that they will kill. ”

Kuang Hong nodded: "Then please, Mr. Trouble will go." “

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