The Dutch invaded and occupied Taiwan for more than 20 years. In the 15th year of Chongzhen's reign, they defeated the Spanish who occupied northern Taiwan and thus completely controlled the entire island of Taiwan.

The city of Geranje, which has been in business for more than 20 years, is the center of Dutch rule in Taiwan.

Due to the urging of tens of thousands of troops, Zhu successfully recovered Taiwan more than ten years earlier than in history. The Dutch could only huddle in the city of Relanje to resist.

It was almost evening, so Zhu Chenggong divided his fleet into two and sent thirty large ships to block the entire outer waterway. The other group took advantage of the high tide in the evening and rushed into the bay from the shoal in the north of the bay.

There were bright spots of fire on the east side of the bay. As I got closer, I discovered that there was a large area of ​​cultivated land, and a village was built next to the river in the cultivated land.

Yang Guimin followed the second group of people and landed in a small boat, and found that the people in the village were not Hongyi.

The villagers were all driven to the river beach by the soldiers. They all looked the same as the Zhejiang, Fujian and Han people. An older villager greeted the soldiers enthusiastically, "My lord, you have worked hard all the way."

This familiar scene and this familiar accent made Yang Guimin wonder, "Are you Han Chinese?"

The villager cupped his fists and bowed to Yang Guimin and said, "Master Mingjian, we have lived on the big island for countless generations. Although we are alone overseas, we dare not forget that we are citizens of the Ming Dynasty."

Soon the third group of people who landed came ashore. Zhu Chenggong walked over from the soldiers. When he saw the soldiers driving the villagers to the river beach, he hurriedly said, "Don't disturb the people. Tell everyone to go back!"

The villagers were stunned for a moment. Zhu Chenggong stepped forward and said, "Everyone is scared. Our army is only here to drive away the Hongyi people. We will never harm you. It's getting late. Everyone, please go home!"

The villagers tried their best and soon left. After a while, the older villager came back with a few people, holding a clay pot and a pottery pot, and said to Zhu Chenggong, "I never expected that I would see it here in my lifetime."

Master Wang, please bring some food and water to welcome Master Wang."

Zhu Chenggong quickly added, "My fellow countryman is interested."

The older villager sighed, "Alas, this place is only two or three hundred miles away from Fujian, but the court left it alone. It is said that the Hongyi people, whose hometown is thousands of miles away, actually reached out to Taiwan."

Zhu Chenggong said, "Taiwan has been a place of China since ancient times. How could the imperial court not care about it? Don't worry, fellow villagers. From now on, the Han people will have the final say in the place where the Han people live, and they will never let the Hongyi people dictate what they want."

Several villagers heard this and said happily, "Great, great!"

Zhu Chenggong asked, "How is the Dutch defense on the island? How are supplies delivered to the city of Relanja?"

The older villager said, "Young people don't know, but there is Chikan Town to the south along the bay. There are shops and markets there. Many people deal with the Hongyi people, so they should know a lot about it."

Zhu Chenggong thanked the villagers, then organized his troops and marched from the land. The fleet also marched along the bay and rushed to Chikan Town.

It was getting very late, and there was only one business shop with lights on in Chikan Town. Zhu Chenggong led people into the business building, and saw only two people inside talking about something with the lights on.

Hearing the footsteps, the two people looked back and were startled. After a long time, one of them pointed at Zhu Chenggong and said, "You, are you, Fusong?"

The guard behind him shouted, "Bold, this is King Yanping..."

Zhu Chenggong stopped his guards, stepped forward and said, "Uncle Guo, you're fine."

The man hurriedly stood up and said, "It's really you. Why are you in Taiwan?"

Yang Guimin said, "Do you know each other?"

Zhu Chenggong said, "This is my father

His old subordinate Guo Huaiyi."

Zhu Chenggong said to Guo Huai again, "This is the envoy of the Chinese Army, Yang Guimin."

After a few greetings, they went to the Yage and sat down. Yang Guimin understood from the conversation that after Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, many of the Zheng family's old tribesmen who were unwilling to surrender to the Hu people, like Zhu Chenggong, broke away from the Zheng family, and Guo Huaiyi was one of them.

one.

After learning the purpose of Zhu Chenggong's trip, Guo Huai was overjoyed, "The Dutch have been oppressing the Han people on Taiwan Island for a long time. To tell you the truth, this is my good friend Wu Hualong, who was just now discussing how to deal with the Dutch."

Wu Hualong said, "The Dutch are extremely hateful. The Han people are treated like slaves and are intensively supervised and worked in the colonial area. They also impose heavy taxes on the rice produced on the island."

"There is a large area of ​​flat land in the north. With a little cultivation, there are thousands of hectares of fertile land. However, the Dutch did not allow the Han people to plant it. The year before last, they also ordered that all Han people were prohibited from going to the northern area. If caught, they would be killed."

Yang Guimin heard this and said angrily, "The Dutch are so hateful, they dare to oppress the Han people in our Han people's place."

Zhu Chenggong asked, "How is the Dutch's defensive strength?"

Guo Huai said, "I know this. I often deal with the Dutch. Their warships are extremely powerful. There are six large ships near Taiwan, especially a warship called 'Hector'. There are seventy or eighty people on board."

A cannon with amazing firepower."

Zhu Chenggong said, "We had already fought on the way here, and the warship had been bombarded to the bottom of the sea."

Guo Huaiyi exclaimed in admiration, "It's very good. As a result, the Dutch only have one city left, Relanja. I often go into that city. It is built of bluestone and divided into two floors. I will draw it for you."

He found paper and pen, and while drawing, Guo Huai explained to several people, "There is a bastion around the upper city wall. Each bastion is equipped with 12 artillery pieces. The lower level is composed of four semicircular forts and city walls. Each semicircular fort is equipped with

3 guns, in addition to two bastions, each with 4 guns."

"In addition, on the commanding heights in the south of the castle, there is an independent bunker fort called Utrichburg. I have never been to that place, so I don't know the configuration of the artillery. In addition to these bunkers, there is a wooden fence on the outermost edge of Geranze.

."

As soon as Guo Huai finished speaking, he picked up the blueprint and showed it to everyone. Zhu Chenggong took it and looked at the blueprint densely marked with cannons, and fell into deep thought for a while.

After a long time, Zhu Chenggong said, "This kind of castle built by the Hongyi people has no blind spots in defense. It is extremely difficult to break with artillery and guns. If you want to break the city, you can only find other ways."

The people discussed it until midnight before dispersing. Early the next morning, the Han people saw that the bay was full of Chinese ships and that Chikan was surrounded by Han troops. The Han people cheered in unison, and the whole Chikan city was in an uproar.

Amid the cheers, soldiers suddenly came to report that four Dutch ships had escaped from the southern waterway at dawn, three of which were warships that had escaped from yesterday's naval battle.

Zhu Chenggong said angrily, "You are a bunch of losers. I left thirty ships to blockade them, but you can still let the Dutch escape."

The soldier said, "The Dutch are insidious and hid behind the rocks in the southern waterway. They found it too late at dawn."

Zhu Chenggong said, "When the Dutch get the news, they will definitely send reinforcements as soon as possible. Come and drag this guy out and behead him!"

Yang Guimin advised, "The matter has come to this point. Killing a messenger will not help. We should defeat the enemy as soon as possible."

Zhu Chenggong said, "If you please forgive me, I will spare your life."

The soldiers were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Yang Guimin repeatedly.

Zhu Chenggong said, "I thought about it all night last night. If I want to break the city of Relanja, I can only break the southern system first."

Fort Utrich on the high point. If we attack the city first, the fort and fort on the commanding heights can provide fire support, but if we attack Fort Utrich first, the city of Geranze can only watch."

Guo Huai said, "But Utrich Fort is on the hill on the south side, and it is extremely difficult to attack it."

Zhu Chenggong took out the blueprint from last night and said to several people, "Look, for all the forts on this paper, the key direction of defense is the island. The defensive force on the sea on the south side is not strong."

Yang Guimin suddenly realized, "Does King Yanping want to attack from the sea on the south side?"

Zhu Chenggong said, "Yes, the Dutch think that they have fleet defense on the sea, so they don't pay much attention to the defense on the sea."

Guo Huaiyi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, don't be careless. We don't know the artillery distribution of Utrichburg. It is very likely that the Dutch placed the southern defense there."

Zhu Chenggong chuckled, "Then let's make a bet."

Guo Huai asked, "What are you betting on?"

Zhu Chenggong said, "Bet the Dutch are confident that their fleet is invincible and leave all the defense on the sea to their own fleet."

According to Zhu Chenggong's order, seven thousand soldiers and horses were deployed in Chikan. The gongs and drums were playing loudly, the flags were fluttering, and ships of all sizes came and went, attracting the attention of the city of Relanja from the mainland.

Zhu Chenggong personally led thirty large ships, maneuvered from the south side of the island, and observed the city of Geranje and the Utrich Fort on the commanding heights in the south. Soon, Zhu Chenggong found an excellent place on the south side of the Utrich Fort.

offensive position.

Fifteen large ships gathered together, mounted their artillery pieces on the bows, and fired at the Utrich Fort on the hill.

Two rounds of cannons fired, and the gravel and soil from the hill were splashed. On the Dutch castle, there was only the sound of one cannon. A cannon flew out in the distance and hit the sea dozens of meters away on the right side of the fleet.

superior.

Zhu Chenggong saw the flying white water column, smiled at Guo Huai and said, "It seems we won the bet!"

Guo Huai said, "The Dutch are too confident in their fleet."

Zhu Chenggong said, "Send the order, don't stop the cannon until the castle on the mountain is flattened!"

After firing for more than half an hour, the sound of the cannons stopped, and the soldiers came over to report, "All the cannons on the ship have been fired."

Zhu Chenggong looked at the hill and asked, "How many rounds did it take?"

The soldier said, "Probably more than thirty rounds."

Zhu Chenggong said, "The boat that has finished the fight will go aside, and another boat will come and continue the fight."

The artillery fire continued until noon. The big ship firing the gun was changed three times, but there was no movement from the Dutch on the hill.

Zhu Chenggong looked at the top of the mountain again and again, finally ordered to stop the bombardment, and ran out of two small boats to investigate.

The boat approached the island, and the soldiers hurriedly jumped out of the boat and walked toward the hills. After a while, a soldier looked over and waved to the fleet.

Zhu Chenggong saw the gesture and shouted, "The ship is docked!"

The fleet slowly moved towards the island, and Yang Guimin followed Zhu Chenggong up the hill. The hill was in a mess, and the Dutch Castle had been blown up by artillery.

Dutch artillery and corpses were scattered everywhere. Zhu Chenggong ordered the artillery on the ship to be pulled up to the hill.

As soon as Guo Huai mobilized the Han people, a large group of Han people sailed to the south, helped pull the artillery up the hill, set it up on the ruins of the Dutch Castle, and bombarded the city of Relanja from here.

In order to break the city as soon as possible, Zhu Chenggong ordered people to cut off the water source in the city.
Chapter completed!