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  Chapter 707 704 [Bitter Dutch Army]

   Malacca Castle, its real name is Fort Santiago.

  But there are too many Santiago Forts. Portugal and Spain have built a lot of Santiago Forts 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 tallest watchtower is more than 30 meters above the sea. The fortress wall is 3 meters thick, and the actual wall is about 5 meters high.

  There are also city defense guns here, but the strange thing is that the cannons are placed semi-fixedly, 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 believed 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 indigenous people who might rebel inside and outside the city.

  The other two turrets of the castle, one turret is relatively intact, and the other turret was destroyed. It was destroyed by the Dutch, and it has not been repaired until now. The Dutch are just busy repairing the outer wall, thinking that the central castle will not be attacked. Historically, until the British captured Malacca, the Dutch had not repaired the turret.

   Even the central turret was too lazy to repair. It is conceivable how arrogant the Dutch defenders were, and they didn't think it would be attacked at all.

   "How much gunpowder is there?" Saunders asked.

  Hendrick replied embarrassingly: "The gunpowder in the arsenal, except for the outermost one, is often used and ventilated to dry, and the rest are all... damp."

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

   Hendrick said: "I fought a few days ago and moved a lot of gunpowder to the outer city wall. I didn't have time to bring it back when I retreated. Now there are only six barrels of gunpowder left..."

  Sanders almost cracked when he heard it, and asked, "How did you become an army commander?"

Hendrick asked: "Why is the salary of soldiers in the army only one-sixth of that in the navy? I am only allocated that little military expenditure every year, and I have to maintain law and order inside and outside the city. Soldiers are poor enough to work in the city. How can they have time to maintain it?" arsenal?"

   Sanders said: "This is the decision of the company's council, and I am not the only one who has the final say!"

   The two broke up unhappy, and both felt that they were justified.

  The Dutch soldiers were even more angry. Because there has been no war in Malacca for a long time, the army wages here are lower than those in Taiwan. Moreover, they will be deducted by the commander, and the monthly salary of the soldiers is not even as good as the income of the Han Chinese shoemakers in the urban area.

  The number of soldiers defending the city is still small, and the colonial authorities do not want to spend money to hire servants. Such a situation led to self-government of all ethnic groups in the city blocks, the complete free-range state of the aborigines outside the city, and the collection of agricultural taxes was purely paid by the landlords. The Dutch army in the castle, not to mention bullying the natives outside the city, did not even dare to search for the Han people in the city.

  The military pay is low, and it is deducted by the chief, and there is no way to exploit the people. What do you want these Dutch soldiers in Malacca to do?

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

  Sanders thought about it, and called Hendrick again: "I saw that the soldiers were depressed. You give them a month's military pay. Tell them that during the defense period, they will be paid double every month."

  Hendrick said, "No money."

  Sanders took out the warrant he issued: "Go to the treasurer to get the money."

  More than a hundred Dutch soldiers received back pay, and their morale was slightly boosted.

  They moved out all the gunpowder barrels, took risks, and smashed the hardened gunpowder bit by bit, and then took them to the open space to dry. The air here is too humid, and drying in the sun has no effect, so simply light the flame and put it away to bake.

   How many can be used, the devil only knows.

  The writer Neuhof threw the rusty musket aside, took out a pen and paper and continued writing:

"I am a little scared. I don't know what the future will hold. Malacca may not be able to defend. The army in Fort Santiago is as chaotic as ever. As long as there is no war for more than a year, these army soldiers will slack off. Sun, or go to work in the city to make money during the rotation..."

   “It’s not what a professional soldier should look like, but sadly, that’s how it is in the Dutch Army. It’s true in Brazil, it’s true in India, it’s true in Malacca.”

"When I was working in Brazil, there were only 20 Dutch soldiers in that castle. There were few residents there, and there were almost no Dutch people. They were all mixed descendants of Portuguese and South American natives. Dutch soldiers went out of the city to blackmail these mixed blood in order to make a living. Once, four mixed-race farmers, with their slaves, rebelled collectively and killed the Dutch soldiers. Since then, the Dutch soldiers dare not leave the city..."

"Have the shareholders and members of the East India Company understood the living conditions of soldiers in the army? Their salaries are so low that decent people can't serve in the army, but can only recruit drunks, gamblers, vagabonds and the like. Even these people are gradually unable to recruit, and they can only recruit poor Europeans overseas."

"No matter which country you come from, as long as you are willing to serve as a soldier, you can serve as the overseas army of the Netherlands. The combat effectiveness of the colonial army is getting worse day by day. And the views of the officers on the army are getting worse day by day, and they even cut their poor salaries. ..."

   "If this continues, it will be no problem to deal with barbaric aborigines, but if you encounter a big country like China, can you really rely on them to fight?"

  "The cannons are ringing outside again, the Chinese have already started to attack, I don't know how long I can live..."

  The central castle of Malacca was built on the mountainside near the top of the mountain. It can be bombarded by setting up artillery at the foot of the mountain. Even warships can be fired, but the hit rate will be very low.

   Two central turrets, one of which was destroyed by the Dutch when they attacked, and now the Datong Army is concentrating on bombarding the second one.

   As mentioned earlier, neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch thought about strengthening the artillery power of the central castle. They placed most of the city defense artillery on the outer city wall. Today, the Datong Navy dismantled the ship-borne guns and moved down the mountain to bombard the turrets. The Dutch defenders were almost left to be bombed.

  After four days of continuous bombardment, the only surviving central turret was destroyed, and only the fort positions aimed at the city could still be used.

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

   "Boom!"

   It was Hendrick who ordered the artillery to fire with dried gunpowder. At the beginning, the two cannons rang. When the third cannon was fired, it was unknown whether it was filled with too much powder or there was a problem with the gunpowder. One cannon exploded by itself, killing and wounding several artillerymen by the way.

   "Let the natives attack first, and tell them that as long as they can get 20 feet closer to the castle, the food they can receive today will be doubled! If you attack the castle, you will be rewarded with 50 catties of rice!"

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

  They have no formation at all, carrying bamboo or wooden ladders, climbing up the hillside. Anyway, if you get close, you will be rewarded with food. If you die, you will be unlucky. If you are lucky, you will survive. After all, there are not many defenders in the castle.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

   Sporadic gunshots sounded from the castle, and all the Dutch defenders fired cautiously. After all, there was not much gunpowder to be used sparingly.

   As a result, nearly two thousand Malay natives rushed to about fifteen meters outside the castle. It wasn't until then that the gunfire from the Dutch finally intensified, and the casualties of the natives increased rapidly.

   Casualties increased, and the natives collapsed in an instant. They threw down their ladders and weapons and turned around to flee. If they escaped alive, they could receive food rewards.

  Indigenous people don’t feel cheated, but think that Chinese officials are very generous.

  Rush a few more times, and you won’t have to worry about going hungry this month. It’s really a good deal.

  As the naval commander, Hong Xu has already landed at this moment, and is observing the situation with binoculars throughout the process. After the aborigines charged several times, he said worriedly: "This castle is not easy to attack, and there are no loopholes to exploit. No matter which direction you attack the city, you will be served by firecrackers. Fortunately, there are not many enemies defending the city, otherwise How can we beat it?"

   Obviously, in addition to consuming the gunpowder of the defenders, the most important thing for these indigenous attacks is to go to the physical body to reconnaissance firepower.

  After paying more than a hundred indigenous lives, Hong Xu and Kuang Hong can already confirm two points:

  First, the number of defenders is seriously insufficient, and they cannot concentrate on defending in one direction. After a sudden increase in the offensive force somewhere, the Dutch defenders had to urgently transfer people to defend.

  Second, the castle has no dead ends in 360 degrees, no matter where you attack from, you will be beaten.

  Local Chinese leader Chen Erxun begged for an interview: "My lords, the casualties in the storm are too great. It is better to send people into the city to negotiate. Maybe the city can be taken without bloodshed."

  Kuang Hong asked: "Will the red-haired ghost surrender?"

Chen Erxun laughed and said: "The red-haired officials may not surrender easily. But the red-haired soldiers are bitter haha. My family's workshop in the city often has red-haired soldiers to do odd jobs to make money. Their salary is very low. It’s only enough to support yourself. Once you marry a wife and have children, or you like to drink and gamble, you have to work to earn money to live.”

  Kuang Hong understood instantly: "The negotiation is fake, but it is true to incite the defenders to surrender. Mr. Chen is a good plan!"

  Chen Erxun was also helpless. His great-great-grandfather gave advice to the Portuguese and helped them drive away the Sultan of Malacca. He himself had advised the Dutch ten years ago to help them get rid of the Portuguese smoothly.

   Now, it seems that Kuang Hong will not leave until he breaks the city, and he has to stand up and give Kuang Hong advice.

   Anyway, no matter who comes, whoever has the upper hand, the Chen family will choose to help, so that they can stand firm in Malacca.

   "Who is going to negotiate?" Kuang Hong asked.

  Chen Erxun cupped his hands and said, "Caomin recommended himself."

  Kuang Hong smiled and said: "You are very courageous."

Chen Erxun said: "The red-haired ghosts bully the weak and fear the strong. When they don't have the upper hand, they are still polite and polite. They will never kill the negotiating envoy. As for when they gain power, it is uncertain. Caomin has seen too many foreign countries. The barbarians are all fearful of power and do not cherish morality. Once the barbarians gain power, they will completely disregard propriety, justice, integrity and shame, even the old and weak, women and children, will kill as soon as they say it."

  Kuang Hong nodded: "Then please, Mr. Trouble."

  (end of this chapter)