On the island of Kalimantan, Hugh Gough finally arrived at Mala Harbor after several days of terrified marching. This is so entirely because of the "mines" and landslides that appear from time to time.

The rainy season makes the roads, which had been destroyed once by the Nanming army, even more muddy.

But what made Hugh Gough most depressed was that along the way, he didn't even see a single hair of the Southern Ming army, and even the aborigines disappeared.

The gunfire that rang out from time to time at night was only a fight between the Indians and the British, and he even suspected for a moment that the Southern Ming army had given up the pursuit of him.

But the smoke that rises from time to time in the mountains tells him that death never leaves.

The port of Mara, which had survived two wars, had become empty, not even a single body remained, and only the wreckage of a few warships still stood next to the dock.

Hugh Gough was stunned by the sight of the huge battleship being blown in two, and not even the shore defense guns of Fort Portsmouth could have had such power.

Blow the battleship in two, unless it hits the ammunition depot directly, causing a chain explosion.

But the wreckage of the four battleships on the shore was identical, as if some sea monster had torn it apart from the middle. He even thought of the oriental superweapon described in "The Travels of Marco Polo".

The soldiers checked around the port of Mala and found no survivors, no shadow of the Nanming people, and certainly not a grain of grain, even the wood used to make the fire was taken.

This made Hugh Gough feel very tired, and his supplies could last for a while, but how to leave, should he build his own ship?

Maybe you should choose to surrender but you can be shameless, can the British Empire lose face? Not to mention the fact that there were two and a half thousand soldiers under his command, as well as ample ammunition and food.

But now the biggest problem and confusion in front of us is the houses and firewood, and how the Nanming army defeated the defenders stationed in the port of Mala before.

Hugh Gough had inspected the outer walls, and only the gates had been destroyed, and the fighting around it was not fierce, but the city was full of signs of fighting, most of the houses had been burned, and there were bomb craters around the docks.

He could be sure that the enemy was not coming from the sea, nor had they rushed in from outside the walls, so there was only one possibility – to suddenly appear from the city.

But this was very strange, because the British army at that time almost killed all the men among the local aborigines for safety.

But if it weren't for the rebellion of these aborigines, how could they explain the fact that a large number of enemy troops would suddenly appear in the city?

Hugh Gough suddenly thought of something, and immediately ordered the soldiers to rotate in three shifts and be on 24-hour alert. He believed that the eerie calm of the present was the calm before the storm.

It's just that seven days have passed, and Nanming's troops still haven't even captured a shadow.

Of course, Hugh Gough's army was not idle, they had repaired the broken walls and houses, and also found some food hidden in the ground, and also used some grease to make a fire to obtain a batch of dry firewood that could be used.

Hugh Gough even felt like he was about to become the protagonist of Robinson Crusoe, and maybe he could actually build a ship to lead his men out of here.

But there was something strange about him, that is, not a single merchant ship had passed by these days; Even if the port of Mara is not a big port, it should not be so deserted.

The herald's report interrupted his thoughts.

"The rain has stopped!"

"Great!"

Hugh Gough walked out of the room and looked at the sea that was reborn after the rain, and he seemed to see the shadow of the sailboat, which made him very excited.

"Bring the binoculars."

The adjutant on the side hurriedly took out the binoculars from the suitcase and handed them to the general.

Hugh Gough raised his binoculars, and he really saw a fleet, and it was a British fleet flying the flag of rice and St. George.

He shouted excitedly, but he couldn't recover the low morale of his own side, after all, there were many soldiers who died of hypothermia and starvation due to long-term mental tension and hypothermia.

Many people were still immersed in grief, and they could not feel the excitement of the general.

"It's our fleet, the fleet of the British Empire, who has come to pick us up! We're going home! ”

Only then did someone raise their heads and look into the distance, and then someone ran to the shore, one or two shouting excitedly, they were finally going to leave this hell that was hot for a while and cold for a while.

As the sun slowly rose, the fleet approached the shore, but it was like a flirtatious beauty. The ships of the fleet did not go ashore directly to reward them warriors, but lined up in a row at a distance.

The anticipatory British soldiers on the dock did not know what was happening in front of them, they thought it was a show.

But Hugh Gough, a battle-hardened man, immediately realized that something was wrong, picked up his binoculars, and saw a scene of despair.

The gun doors of more than a dozen armies opened one after another, and then the muzzles of black holes were revealed.

But even at this time, Hugh Gough still had a hint of luck in his heart, maybe this was a "salute" to comfort the warriors.

But as the cannon sounded, green smoke came out of the muzzles of a door, and a large iron ball smashed towards the shore.

A few seconds later, the railroad set off a flower of flesh and blood in the crowd, and the naval guns were far more powerful than the common field guns of the army.

And there are many tricks, such as incendiary bombs and flowering shells, a cannonball after crushing several British soldiers, rolled in front of the last British soldier, just when the latter thought he could escape, the iron ball exploded, a huge wave of air lifted it into the air five meters high, and then fell heavily.

"Enemy attack! This is not our ship, this is Nanming's ship! Shoot back! ”

Hugh Goff shouted and calmly commanded.

"Retreat into the fortress, the enemy must be trying to flank us on both sides!"

He guessed correctly, at this time, a large number of Nanming troops appeared in all directions outside the city at the same time.

With the pitiful strength of his own side at this time, it is impossible to deal with the siege from all sides at the same time.

Then the only way to do this was to retreat into the fortress built on the mountain, so that he only needed to deal with the frontal attack of the Nanming army, and in terms of firepower, he did not think that the Nanming army had a way to break through the defense of the fortress.

It's just that Hugh Gough missed one thing, and even if the earthen artillery of the Southern Ming army naturally couldn't do it. But the naval guns on the British warships could, and these large-caliber naval guns were stronger in both range and power than the field guns brought by Hugh Gough.

Under the bombardment of large-caliber naval guns, the British troops hiding in the fortress became turtles in an urn.

The devastating shelling made the British desperate, and every shell explosion caused a wave of earthquakes. Seeing his brave soldiers skewering like headless flies, he couldn't help but feel like a knife.

"Fight back! Shoot back! You damn Ah San, inferior. Hugh Goff grabbed an Indian gunner by the collar and roared.

The Indian gunner said with a look of frustration.

"General, our cannons can't reach them."

(End of chapter)