King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 682 I Can Take It Myself

Although Zhu Jinghong's words were strange, everyone present understood his meaning.

Everyone was relaxed at the moment. They were fully confident that they could capture this isolated city and add a brilliant chapter to their resumes.

"Your Highness, after two rounds of shelling, the enemy has not fought back...either their morale has been lost, or they are short of ammunition!" Zhejiang Navy Admiral Xu Minglin analyzed.

The purpose of sending several Class C ships this time is to test the enemy's strength.

At this time, Zhu Jinghong had put away the telescope, turned around and looked at several subordinates and asked: "You have all seen the situation around the city, tell me how to fight this battle!"

Unlike the Spanish port that had been captured before, Kota Key City, as the governor's residence, was defended by three regiments of infantry stationed in Spain, with a total strength of about 4,000 people.

These four thousand people are not a mob. It is not easy to defeat them, so careful planning is needed.

After some discussion, everyone set their sights on the hill to the east of the city, which was high and could overlook the city. If they could take it, they could directly attack the city.

The only problem was that a castle was built on the hill, and it would take some effort to take it down.

After discussion, everyone agreed that they should take the hill first, so they discussed the specific strategy.

During this process, several Class C ships that had advanced forward withdrew. They had already fired five rounds of salvos, and even though their accuracy was not high, they still caused damage to the city.

Some people were hiding from the gunfire, some were treating the wounded, some were carrying water to put out the fire, and some were taking advantage of the chaos to loot...

Simmons had retreated back to the Governor's Palace, which was out of the range of the Ming army's artillery fire.

He first ordered someone to call several generals to discuss the matter, and then ordered the garrison in the city to maintain public order.

After arranging all this, Simmons walked to the desk, on which was placed the defense map of Kota Key City.

"Governor Andre, you have seen it all... The Ming army has already opened fire. If they take down Gedaji today, it will be your port tomorrow!"

"If you don't care, you can leave now. Otherwise, quickly mobilize troops to fight against the Ming army with me!"

Holding a glass of red wine, Andre looked serious. He was still considering the feasibility of the matter while assessing the possible damage to himself.

While Andre was thinking, Simmons went to another room, and several generals had already arrived in the next room.

The fortress on the hill on the east side has always been the Spanish army's key defense position. In the fortress, which is less than 100 meters long and wide, they directly arranged a regiment to defend it.

Therefore, the main content of this meeting was to discuss the internal defense arrangements of the city and the conscription of citizens in the city to participate in the defense.

The matter was huge and there were many things that needed to be coordinated. The meeting ended after an hour, and then Simmons went next door, where Andre was already waiting for him.

"You haven't left yet?"

Andre replied: "I can dispatch troops to help you contain some of the Ming army, but I will not go to war with them!"

Andre has been thinking about it for so long, it is too difficult to continue to persuade him to give more support, Simmons immediately said: "Then you should quickly mobilize troops, it's too late... I'm afraid this city has already belonged to someone else!"

"goodbye!"

Andre left, and at this moment, two miles east of the city, the advance troops of the Ming army had already landed.

The Ming army had 3,000 soldiers for the landing operation, which on paper seemed smaller than the Spanish army, but the actual deployment was completely different.

The 4,000 Spanish troops had to be dispersed throughout the city to defend, while the 3,000 Ming troops could be concentrated at one point to attack.

This does not conform to the ancient rule of "surround them if there are ten of them". This is because the war situation has changed nowadays, especially with gunpowder and artillery being deployed in large quantities on the battlefield.

After landing, part of the Ming army was responsible for guarding, while the other part cut down trees and built fortifications to guard against Spanish sneak attacks.

By gaining control of the sea, the Ming army could obtain continuous supplies and was not too afraid of fighting a protracted war.

The Ming army's actions were soon discovered by the Spaniards, but they did not respond.

Actively attacking outside the city was very risky, so Simmons only prepared for war in the city and recruited as many citizens as possible to join the war.

However, due to the recent reports of defeats, not only was the morale of the Spanish defenders low, but the immigrants in Kota Kinabalu had also lost confidence.

All citizens were planning to flee, and very few people volunteered.

After all, most people come here to make money and gain benefits, not to fight for the king.

Two days passed quickly and the Ming army had established a firm foothold outside the city. They dismantled some of the naval guns and transported them to the shore, preparing for a strong attack on the fortress east of the city.

The main force of the Ming army also advanced to 300 meters offshore, ready to provide fire support if needed.

"Your Highness, you can attack at any time!" Wang Long stepped forward to report.

Wang Long was in charge of the front-line command of this offensive, and he came here to ask for instructions and report.

Today's offensive mission is to destroy the coastal artillery position of the fortress east of the city, so the infantry will basically not attack today, and all attacks will rely on artillery.

Knowing that there were sufficient defenders in the city, the Ming army also prepared catapults to kill the enemy while destroying the artillery batteries, but they only threw gunpowder bags.

Artillery can basically only fire directly, and it is much easier for catapults to launch parabolic attacks at close range.

So at the beginning, the catapult was tested, using stones of the same weight as the explosive packs. After the trajectory was measured, the explosives were used to launch the projectiles.

During this process, the Ming army also pushed the artillery to the front and began shelling the fortress.

When the defenders of the fortress saw that the Ming army was really attacking, they fired back, and the two sides fought back and forth in a lively manner.

In order to avoid being hit, both sides of the war constantly adjusted their artillery positions. The direct losses between the attack and defense were actually not large, but it still caused damage to the city defense itself.

For example, the fortress's sea-facing gate was riddled with holes every once in a while, and its defensive capabilities were minimal.

Half an hour later, several catapults had found their trajectory and began firing gunpowder bags into the fortress.

A few breaths later, the fortress exploded, and the rubble and iron nails in the gunpowder bags caused great damage in the fortress.

In an instant, continuous wailing sounds were heard from the fortress, and even Zhu Jinghong, who was far away on the flagship, could vaguely hear it.

Of course, the news could also be heard in Kota Kinabalu City. Although Simmons was extremely anxious, he still ordered all units in the city not to move to prevent a surprise attack by the Ming army.

The battle lasted the entire afternoon. In addition to dropping explosive packs, the Ming army also threw a lot of gravel into the battle, so they had almost unlimited ammunition.

At this moment, it seemed that catapults were more useful than artillery, so Zhu Jinghong immediately ordered more to be made.

The first day of attack and defense was over. Only a dozen Ming soldiers were injured, while more than forty Spaniards were killed and nearly seventy were injured to varying degrees.

The next day the Spaniards were ready for battle. They had replenished the fort with ammunition the previous night and sent an additional hundred soldiers as reinforcement.

But the Ming army did not attack today, which made the Spaniards dare not be negligent and they remained cautious and on guard.

There was nothing to do on the third and fourth days, but the Spaniards were not idle. They found that the Ming army was building catapults, and they even recruited local indigenous craftsmen to do the work.

On the fifth day, nearly fifty catapults were lined up on the north bank of the fortress, which directly frightened the defenders of the fortress.

On the Ming army's flagship, Wang Long reported: "Your Highness, I think... we can take down the fortress in one fell swoop today!" Wang Long was full of confidence. He was not bragging, but really believed it.

The enemy's fortress is no more than two meters high. It is very likely that they can be suppressed by the "unlimited firepower" of the catapults and climb the city wall in one fierce attack.

Zhu Jinghong understood this. His concern was that if reinforcements were sent from the city, the attack might fail and cause heavy losses to the Ming army that landed.

If the fortress is lost, the city will be lost, so Zhu Jinghong believes that Simmons will do everything he can to provide reinforcements.

At this time, Zhu Jinghong looked at Zhao Chengwu and asked, "Are you ready to block it?"

To prepare for the attack, it is not enough to just bombard with naval guns, but also to send troops to land when necessary and attack the city using the "besiege Wei to save Zhao" method.

Zhao Chengwu replied: "Liaodong Navy, follow your orders at any time!"

"very good!"

After praising him, Zhu Jinghong looked at Wang Long and ordered, “Today, it’s up to General Wang to show his might!”

"I will definitely fulfill your mission!" Wang Long replied.

All the generals had their own tasks, and they all returned to their positions before the battle began. Only Zhu Jinghong sat on the flagship, holding a teacup and observing the battle situation.

At the beginning of the war, because of the absolute advantage, the Spanish army in the city was really suppressed, allowing the Ming army infantry to slowly approach the city wall.

Even though they were suppressed by the thrown stones and faced the threat of gunpowder explosions, the Spanish defenders still risked their lives to shoot and prevent the Ming army from advancing further.

However, to the south of the fortress, a surprise attack by the Ming army also used catapults to launch catapults, causing great casualties to the Spanish defenders.

Of course, relying on these alone, it would be a fantasy to think that you can capture the city in one attack.

The first attack failed, so Wang Long organized the second, third, and fourth attacks...

The Ming army was always suppressing the Spaniards, so their morale was very high. Finally, when the sun was setting, the fifth attack hit the city wall, and then the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat began.

Hand-to-hand combat is even more of a test of morale. The Spanish defenders were in low spirits and only held out for less than half an hour. Their remnants retreated from the south gate of the fortress, allowing the Ming army to occupy the fortress.

During the whole process, Simmons sent reinforcements, but they were all blocked by Zhao Chengwu, and he even eliminated a lot of them while he was at ease.

It took a total of six days to finally capture the highland fortress, and the city of Kota Key was already in our possession.

But Simmons did not give up. Instead, he called on the entire city to defend itself, and even if he fought to the last man, he must not let the Ming army enter the city.

At night, people in Kota Kinabalu were almost sleepless due to concerns that the Ming army would launch an attack, but this night was very quiet.

The next day, the Ming army sent envoys to demand that the Spanish garrison surrender in exchange for their lives.

This trick was very effective and shook the determination of the Spanish defenders and citizens to defend the city to the death, which made Simmons extremely worried.

On the one hand, he had to appease his subordinates, and on the other hand, he placed his hopes on the Portuguese, expecting the latter to send a fleet to support him as soon as possible.

Normally, it takes Andre ten days to travel to Kotaki and back. Six days have passed now, which means that the city of Kotaki has to resist for at least four more days.

Now that the fortress had been captured, the city was completely exposed to artillery fire, and it would take a miracle for it to hold out for another four days.

In the headquarters, Simmons was thinking, and his adjutant said, "Mr. Governor, this is a letter from the commander of the Ming army to you!"

This is a letter written by Zhu Jinghong. Its main content is to persuade Simmons to surrender. It guarantees Simmons' life safety and promises that he can take everyone away safely.

The Ming army lost more than 300 lives to capture the fortress, so Zhu Jinghong would be very happy if he could defeat the enemy without fighting.

So he wrote this letter, hoping to persuade Simmons to surrender.

"Write back to the Ming army and tell them we can negotiate!" Simmons ordered.

The purpose of the talk was to delay time so that Andre could come.

So the negotiations began at noon that day, and the stalemate lasted for two days. Zhu Jinghong also realized that Simmons was fooling him, so he directly ordered the fortress to launch an attack.

The stones and gunpowder bags from the catapults rained down on the city of Kota Kinabalu, quickly taking away many lives.

The fortress was occupied and the city was exposed to the Ming army's attack range, making it very easy to inflict casualties on the defenders.

On the 24th day of the first lunar month, Zhu Jinghong was woken up early in the morning because an urgent military report had been delivered.

Upon closer look, Zhu Jinghong realized that it was the Portuguese fleet that had arrived and was now parked thirty miles west of the island.

The Portuguese came at this time, and with a main fleet of more than 40 warships, Zhu Jinghong did not dare to be negligent at all. He immediately ordered the main fleet to adjust its position so that it could meet the invading enemy at any time.

Zhu Jinghong was furious when he realized that Simmons was delaying time just to wait for the arrival of the Spanish fleet.

So he immediately ordered the people in the fort to open fire, which could be regarded as a revenge against Spain.

At the same time, Zhu Jinghong was also on high alert against the Portuguese, and adjusted the position of the fleet again, so as to be ready to attack at any time.

The Portuguese had only fifty warships, while the Ming army had more than eighty, giving them a great advantage in combat power, so they were not afraid of the Portuguese.

However, the naval battle that Zhu Jinghong had anticipated did not break out. After the Ming army assumed a fighting stance, the Portuguese retreated twenty miles instead.

They were in competition with the Spanish, and Andre would not dare to make such a decision as to use their fleet to fight for the Spanish, no matter how stupid he was.

This happened on the first day, the second day, and the third day, and the city of Kota Kinabalu was littered with corpses.

Simmons knew that the Portuguese were unwilling to get involved and that he would be defeated if the fight continued, so he chose to surrender under pressure from the situation.

On the 28th day of the first lunar month, less than half a month later, the Ming army captured the city of Kota Kiev.

The Spanish Governor Simmons was brought before Zhu Jinghong.

"General Simmons, we meet again!"

On the deck, Zhu Jinghong spoke with a smile.

The last time we met was at the beginning of last year. At that time, the Spanish were aggressive and sent a delegation to Beijing for negotiations, attempting to control the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders...

But now, not only did the Spaniards not gain any benefits, but they also lost all their territories in the Far East. The situation has changed drastically.

"Your Highness, what do you plan to do with us?" Simmons was not in the mood to joke, so he asked directly.

"You rejected my previous negotiation, but now I have captured the city by force. Do you think you are still qualified to negotiate?"

"I can give you something in exchange for letting me live!"

Zhu Jinghong smiled and then asked, "Tell me what it is!"

Simmons replied: "Craftsmen, technical officers, excellent sailors... I can provide them all!"

Zhu Jinghong laughed again, and then said: "I can take these things myself!"

(End of this chapter)