Putmans decided to encircle and annihilate the most powerful army of the Ming Dynasty. If possible, it would be best to capture the Marquis alive. In this way, the Ming army had no last hope and had no choice but to surrender.
So, he called all the pirates, big and small, together overnight to discuss the military situation.
First of all, Putmans described a good prospect to these people. As long as they win this battle again and the Ming Dynasty surrenders, the compensation alone will be a huge sum of money.
Putmans once again promised these pirates that half of the compensation would be distributed to these pirates. In addition, because the Dutch in the Far East were limited, the Ming Dynasty's import and export trade would be handled by these pirates, helping the Netherlands.
People do things, and the profits are divided into two percent.
If the pirates still want to clear their name and become an official of the Ming Dynasty like Zheng Zhilong before him, he can also fight for them.
What are the pirates after? Wealth. After hearing Putmans's promise, the stupid ones among them can no longer calculate how much money they can get. Anyway, it is probably more than what their ancestors have earned in eight lifetimes combined.
.
What do you want to do after you have money? Of course, return home in glory! Putmans can also help them get the treatment of Ming Dynasty officials. Isn't this just a way to show off in their hometown openly?
As a result, the pirates who were discussing the matter were so happy that they howled with joy and wished they could go immediately and kill all the Ming troops.
But after Putmans waited for these pirates to get excited, he said that this kind of treatment can only be given to the bravest group of people in this battle. Those who rush to the back and kill the fewest people in the Ming army will receive less treatment.
a lot of.
When the pirates heard this, they thought it was okay. They just had to be braver than their companions and charge ahead.
Thinking of this, when the pirates looked at each other, they wanted to eat their competitors in one bite.
In order to prevent the Ming army from escaping, Putmans decided to go out tomorrow night. During this period, he asked all the pirates to gather together and stop going out to steal chickens and dogs. There is no need to make small troubles. If this battle is won, everyone will benefit greatly.
As the meeting was disbanded, a kind of excitement spread throughout Zhenjiang City. Each and every one of them dreamed of being promoted, getting rich, and returning home in fine clothes, and began to prepare intensively.
Putmans was very attentive to this battle. While waiting, he even sent his own people, led by the pirate leader who first discovered the traces of the Ming army, and went to the north coast again to conduct a reconnaissance of the Ming army.
Military movement.
The result of the Dutch spies' report back to Putmans made him put aside his last doubt.
To sum up, it means that this Ming army is slightly stronger than the Ming army encountered before, and its weapons are slightly better. But judging from the momentum of its sergeants and the patrol situation, there is no shadow of that elite and toughness at all.
Putmans was able to confirm this, because the spies he sent had very poisonous eyes. If the elite were pretending to be mediocre soldiers, the spies could tell at a glance.
In order to prevent the Ming army from discovering his intention at night and thus scaring away the Ming army, Putmans waited patiently until dark the next day before giving the order to set off.
These days are full moon days, so there is no need to light torches, so it is a good time for a sneak attack.
All the pirates and Dutchmen got on their ships and sailed across the Yangtze River.
The big ship cannot enter the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, so it stops at the intersection.
At this time, the troops were divided into two groups, and they continued to go up the canal in small boats, preparing to cut off the Ming army's retreat.
The other way is to get off the boat at the interchange and then set off by land.
Fortunately for the Dutch, the pirates were a little confused in such a large military operation, scrambling to get out first. As a result, you didn't let me, and I didn't let you, and even blocked the canal for a time.
Putmans had no choice but to send an order to the pirate leaders to find out who was blocking the road and affecting the march. Even if they were at the front, they would not be able to get the biggest share of the cake.
After much tossing and tossing, it wasn't until the sky got slightly brighter that the combined forces of the pirates and the Dutch appeared near the Ming army's camp.
The camp of the Ming army was on the east bank of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, backed by a hill, namely Heitaling. To the south was the official road to Jiangdu, and to the east was a river twenty miles away, of course.
Leading to the Yangtze River.
The allied forces went north along the canal and detoured behind Heita Ridge, cutting off the Ming army's retreat. Then they attacked from the north and south. The Ming army was surrounded by rivers to the east and west and could not escape, thus achieving the goal of annihilating the Ming army in one fell swoop.
Purpose.
The movement of the pirates was really quite big, and the sky started to light up again, which alerted the Ming army.
Putmans discovered through the telescope that the Ming soldiers were really panicking and were in a mess.
The pirates looked at the fat in front of them and charged towards the Ming army camp one after another without waiting for the order to attack.
Suddenly, the sound of shouting and howling resounded over the land.
Putmans looked a little helpless, but he could also understand that these were just pirates. It was unrealistic to expect them to strictly abide by military discipline and obey orders like our own army.
But this is fine, let them test the strength of the Ming army first.
Two thousand Dutch troops were arrayed behind Putmans, watching the battlefield to the north.
A few miles behind them, there was a boat that would take them ashore, as a retreat if they failed to win. In any case, Putmans was quite cunning.
After the pirates roared and rushed towards the Ming army's camp, the Ming army began to rely on the camp fortifications to start a counterattack.
Putmans discovered through the telescope that the firearms of this Ming army were indeed better than the firearms of the previous Ming army.
At least he could see that none of the muskets exploded during this time. The quality of the Ming army was also good. Under the pirates' offensive, not a single Ming army lost their guns and escaped. Although their faces were frightened and pale, they were still stubborn.
Fire shooting.
There were even some small artillery that began to fire, and the rate of fire was not slow. Putmans recognized them as the so-called Franco machine guns in the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing this, he was a little regretful that his battleship could not come over, otherwise he could have destroyed the Ming army's camp with the bombardment of naval guns.
It was unrealistic to transport the naval gun here, it was too heavy. But the real reason was that he didn't think it was necessary, otherwise he would have found a way to do it no matter how heavy it was.
Under the desperate counterattack of the Ming army, the pirates' offensive was frustrated, and they were unable to rush into the Ming army's camp in one breath, and were stalemate there.
Putmans had been observing with a telescope. When he saw that the movements of Ming's soldiers gradually slowed down, and even a small number of soldiers began to escape while the officers were not paying attention, he knew that the time was ripe.
A general attack was ordered.
Two thousand Dutch soldiers formed a neat queue and began to advance with matchlock guns in hand.
The Ming army in the past, which could compete with the pirates, collapsed after firing a few rows of guns under the momentum of the Dutch devils.
Putmans had reason to believe that under the current situation, he would be able to open the gap with a few casualties, rush forward and fire a few shots. Then the pirates around him would be able to rush in, and then there would be no more problems with the Dutch army.
, I just don’t know where the Marquis of the Ming Dynasty is. Can he be caught?