I

  Chapter 274 272 [Macau offensive and defensive battle]

  The Dutch are not here for Guangzhou, but want to seize Macau!

  From India to China, the Netherlands has only four colonial strongholds.

   Two of them are on the east coast of India, one is in Batavia (Indonesia), and one is in Taiwan City (southwest of Taiwan).

  As the world's number one maritime power, the Netherlands is doing a bit miserably in the East.

  After passing the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the supply point for the Dutch is Mauritius, which is not shitting.

   Looking around, there are Portuguese colonial ports in all directions.

  The Dutch fleet left Africa and had to bribe the Portuguese to get supplies in India. Even Denmark's colonial stronghold in India is much better than the Dutch port.

   Arriving in the Straits of Malacca, the Netherlands had to pay Portugal again so that they could get supplies to go to Batavia.

   What is even more ridiculous is that the Netherlands has to pay protection fees to Zheng Zhilong when it trades in East Asia and Southeast Asia...

  Don't look at Portugal's fight for independence. Once it becomes independent from Spain, it will be hit hard immediately. A port on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and the all-important Malacca, were all to be taken by the Dutch.

  …

  Abel Tasman is 35 years old this year. Due to his outstanding performance in several expeditions, he renewed his ten-year contract with the Dutch East India Company last year.

  Historically, in another year, he will serve as the deputy commander of the North Pacific Expedition of the Dutch East India Company. Then, sailed from Mauritius to uncharted waters, discovered New Zealand and many nearby islands, and explored around Australia.

  At this moment, Abel Tasman is just a senior civilian member of the expedition.

  Their task this time is to explore the coastal area of ​​Taiwan, find out how big Taiwan Island is, and draw a coastal map of Taiwan.

  Not long after arriving in Taiwan, the expedition ship was recruited and sailed to the port of North Vietnam together to transport Taiwan's goods there.

  After unloading in North Vietnam, the fleet waited for half a month, waiting for the Batavia fleet in the Netherlands.

   "Abel, do you think you can succeed this time?" asked his friend Patrick.

   Abel Tasman replied: "I am skeptical."

  Both of them stopped talking, lying on the side of the boat and looking at the stars, thinking that their governor was mentally retarded.

  Last year, the Netherlands raided Malacca, and the raid turned into a formidable battle, blocking the strait for half a year and besieging the city of Malacca for three months. Nothing was done, but the trade was delayed.

  This year I came to fight Macau again, and I seem to forget how badly I lost in the attack on Macau 16 years ago.

  At that time, a total of 1,300 Dutch soldiers, Japanese mercenaries, and Malay servants landed. With such confidence in mind, the Dutch commander refused the British participation in the battle, and let two British warships stand aside to watch the fun.

  The Portuguese defenders and Chinese auxiliary soldiers all went to Beijing to serve as mercenaries for Emperor Tianqi.

  The defense of Macau is empty, with only 80 musketeers left, and the rest are all civilians and black slaves.

  After the battle, 136 Dutch soldiers were killed and 126 were injured. More than 600 Japanese soldiers and Malay soldiers were killed or injured in total. On the side of the Macau defenders, 4 Portuguese soldiers and 2 Spanish soldiers were killed, and some black slaves were killed or injured.

  Abel Tasman lay on the deck, looking up at the bright starry sky.

  He likes to explore unknown areas, rather than running to fight a war, let alone a war that is difficult to win.

  Governor Batavia received two messages.

  First, free trade in Guangzhou, except for the Dutch.

  Second, the Portuguese in Macau expel the Spaniards, the Macau Guard has been disbanded, and Macau is now garrisoned by the Chinese.

What are you waiting for?

  Hurry up to seize the opportunity, knock down Macau, and then force China to do business.

  Two days later, 15 Dutch warships and 12 armed merchant ships began to bombard the harbor of Macau and the Garth Lane Fort. Abel Tasman's expedition ship took advantage of its speed to investigate and observe around Macau Island.

   "Boom boom boom!"

  Fei Ruhe was dismissed from his post and temporarily stopped fighting. Now he is training in Macau.

  Macau defenders are now divided into two parts.

  One is the Coast Guard Division, which has 100 artillerymen, more than 80 gunners, and 150 artillery auxiliary soldiers. The commander is Huang Yunxiao, and half of the artillery soldiers are Portuguese and fishermen from Xiangshan County recruited on the spot.

  One is the Xiangshan Inspection Department, which has 200 firearms soldiers and 150 ordinary soldiers. The commander is Tu Tingye, whose duty is to combat smuggling. Although he is stationed in Macau, he will go to Xiangshan County to inspect the coast and along the river from time to time.

   "Damn it, call me!" Huang Yunxiao yelled.

  The Garth Lane Fort opened fire immediately. Both the Han Chinese gunners and the Portuguese gunners hated the Dutch to the bone.

   Especially the Portuguese from Macau have been disgusted by the Netherlands for more than 20 years.

  These Dutch pirates ransacked Portuguese merchant ships twice in three days because they could not go to Guangzhou to purchase goods.

   How did you bully the Portuguese?

  Portuguese merchant ships in Macau directly abandoned the European sea-going ship standard and replaced them with Chinese-style offshore sailing ships. This kind of Chinese-style sea-going ship runs fast in the coastal waters, and will immediately slip away as soon as it encounters a Dutch warship.

   "Boom boom boom!"

   During the half-hour long shooting, a Dutch warship and two armed merchant ships were severely damaged. They hurriedly left the battlefield and sailed slowly to a safe area.

  As for the Garth Lane Fortress in Macau, there is nothing wrong with it.

   During the period when the two sides were firing, more than 60 Dutch small boats, carrying 1,200 soldiers, landed near the dog ring under the cover of artillery fire.

  The Dutch ignited the damp gunpowder, and thick smoke suddenly rose from the shore, obscuring both sides' vision of the battlefield.

   "General of China, I will help you fight!" Congressman Cavallino said.

   This is Cavallino's villa, the closest to the Dutch landing site.

  Huang Yunxiao glanced at it, and warned: "After this battle is over, hand in all the firecrackers you have hidden!"

   "No problem, let's beat the Dutchman away." Cavallino laughed.

   Cavallino's family joined the battle, along with six black slaves, who owned a total of eight matchlock guns.

   This guy reloaded the ammunition very quickly. He smiled and said in a bad man: "Sixteen years ago, 800 Dutchmen also attacked from here. I led 150 civilian warriors and shot and killed more than 40 enemies on the beach."

   "Not bad, very powerful." Huang Yunxiao praised.

   Cavallino pointed to a female black slave and said: "In the final pursuit, she killed two Dutchmen, one of whom was a Dutch colonel."

  Huang Yunxiao looked over curiously, and saw that the female black slave looked about forty or fifty years old, with big arms and a round waist, and it seemed that the usual food was good.

Cavallino boasted: "Nine hundred Dutch soldiers were killed or injured in that battle, but we only killed less than ten people. Priest Geronimo (Italian Jesuit) fired a shell casually and hit the Dutchman by the sea. Temporary arsenal. The sound of the explosion was so wonderful that I could feel the ground shaking even when I retreated to the fort."

   "Boom boom boom!"

  Twenty field guns bombarded the beach from the fort. Due to the smog, it is unknown what the result of the battle will be. Anyway, Huang Yunxiao can't see clearly.

  Beach direction, suddenly came a burst of Japanese.

   But I saw hundreds of Japanese ronin, their faces covered with gauze, rushing out of the thick smoke caused by wet gunpowder.

  At this time, the Dutch Army had the Japanese and Malays as the backbone. In Batavia, the Dutch colonial lair, there were even Chinese soldiers.

  When Batavia was besieged for the first time, 20,000 Sudanese soldiers surrounded the castle, and the Dutch defenders had only a few hundred people. It all depends on the Chinese, Japanese, and Malays to guard it. Otherwise, the Netherlands would not be able to gain a foothold in Nanyang, and the colonial port has long been occupied by the Mata Lan Sultanate.

   "Put it closer before hitting!" Huang Yunxiao shouted.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

   Cavallino has already led his family and black slaves to open fire. They have no formal training and only know how to aim at the enemy and shoot freely.

   Eight muskets fired indiscriminately, only knocking down one Japanese soldier.

   While cleaning the barrel of the gun, Cavallino shouted to Huang Yunxiao: "Huang, quickly order your soldiers to shoot!"

   "Don't worry." Huang Yunxiao said with a smile.

   At this time, hundreds of Malay soldiers also rushed out of the thick fog, trying to occupy the villa.

  Huang Yunxiao only had 100 Datong firecrackers under his command, and he divided them into four groups to shoot in rounds.

   "First row, raise the gun!"

"shoot!"

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

   Twenty-five Datong gunfire soldiers hid in the courtyard wall of the villa and fired salvo at the rushing Japanese soldiers.

   After shooting, reload immediately.

   "Second row, raise the gun!"

"shoot!"

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

   "The third row...no need to shoot."

  At a distance of about 20 meters, after two consecutive rounds of shooting, the Japanese ronin fell like cutting wheat.

  The third row hadn’t fired yet, and the remaining Japanese ronin all collapsed, bringing the Malay soldiers behind them to flee together.

   Cavallino was dumbfounded. He knew that shooting at close range was very powerful, but he had never seen any country's army dare to put the enemy so close before firing.

   "Boom!"

  A cannonball flew in and smashed a big hole in the roof of Cavallino's villa.

  These Dutchmen disassembled the shipboard guns and were shooting at a certain beach, and they immediately drew back fire from the Macau Fort.

  Thousands of Dutch, Japanese, and Malay soldiers reorganized and circled to both sides of the villa.

   At this moment, 150 soldiers from the inspection department were sent by Tu Tingye to support them.

   "Why didn't Lao Tu come?" Huang Yunxiao asked.

A military officer replied: "Tu Xunjian asked us to fight slowly. Zheng Zhilong's fleet has been hiding in Guanghaiwei, and it is probably still on the way. Let's beat the Hongfan ghosts away now. How can we deal with the Hongfan ghosts?" Fleet? The town has an agreement with Zheng Zhilong that we can share half of the captured Hongfan ghost warships."

   "Then don't fight, I'm afraid I can't help but wipe out these red ghosts," Huang Yunxiao said, "Get out of the back door!"

   Cavallino's family and black slaves were forcibly taken away by Huang Yunxiao, and the villa was directly handed over to the Dutch.

   Not long after they withdrew, they heard cheers behind them.

  The Dutch commander drew out his saber: "Take advantage of the victory and pursue, the enemy has already collapsed!"

  Thousands of enemy troops were divided into two teams and attacked the two forts respectively.

  The Japanese ronin are even more crazy, thinking that after rushing into Macau, they can loot the civilians there. The salary given by the Dutchman is very low, and it all depends on the dividends from the usual robbery.

  Running and running, the Malay soldiers came from behind and rushed ahead of the Japanese ronin.

  Huang Yunxiao retreated to the turret, looking at the completely out-of-form enemies below, he felt an urge to counter-charge after shooting in bursts.

   Just a burst of fire and a direct counter charge, and he can wipe out this gang of mobs.

  (end of this chapter)