I

  Chapter 708 705【Surrender can wear silk】

   "Negotiation?"

   "Yes, the other party wants to negotiate, probably because they want us to surrender."

   "Let's talk about it, it will be a day if it can be delayed."

   No matter how clever Kuang Hong was, he would never have imagined that the gunpowder of the Dutch defenders was about to run out. The Dutch Army's coquettish operations caused the muskets to rust and the gunpowder to harden. This situation had occurred in Tainan, but it was encountered by the Han rebels, and the Datong Army had no knowledge of it.

  At this moment, the Dutch defenders are still drying gunpowder.

   "Son of a bitch!"

  Commander Hendrick was inspecting the gunpowder situation. As soon as he arrived at the place, he couldn't help swearing and shouted a Dutch word klootzak.

  He rushed over quickly and kicked over the soldiers: "How many times have I told you that hardened gunpowder is not allowed to be knocked, and it must be slowly ground into powder!"

  These army soldiers all belong to prenatal education education, and they have never fought a war after serving as soldiers, let alone suffered from gunpowder explosions.

   To be honest, the Dutch were lucky enough. A large amount of gunpowder in the arsenal was damp, and it was possible to release heat and explode on its own. They have been next to the "giant bomb" all these years, and it is their ancestors who have not all ascended to heaven.

  Generally speaking, gunpowder that is compacted and wet must be ground and then slowly dried. You have to use the sieve again to sieve out the fine powder and then configure it, so that it can be used normally.

   But the air in Malacca is too humid, and there is no time to wait for it to dry, so it is risky to bake.

  When baking, the temperature is slightly higher, and the gunpowder may be ignited.

  Hendrick looked at several bonfires, gunpowder placed randomly, and hammers for hammering, and suddenly had an urge to open the city and surrender.

   "This second lieutenant, come here!" Hendrick pointed to a soldier.

  The second lieutenant in the Netherlands is not a military rank at this time, but a grassroots cadre position, which is equivalent to the corps leader of the Datong Army, and has received a little bit of education. The late Governor of Batavia, Van Diemen, started out as an Ensign.

  A second lieutenant ran over, his name was Rial, and he could barely read some words.

   Hendrick instructed: "Whoever dares to hit gunpowder with a hammer again will have his head twisted off and stuffed in shit!"

   "Yes!" Rial held his head high.

  Hendrick left immediately, and Rial was instantly sluggish, lying there very lazily, and said to the other soldiers: "Grind slowly, don't knock. The enemy is not attacking today, everyone take this opportunity to rest."

  As soon as this remark came out, the hardened gunpowder was not dealt with, and the Dutch soldiers sat together and started chatting.

  The Dutch Marine Corps will not be formed for more than 20 years. In the Dutch army at this time, the navy is the navy, and the army is the army. The navy looks down on the army, and the army hates the navy.

  Anyway, the army does not want to fight tough battles, and only likes to bully the natives.

  If it wasn’t for spreading the plague in Tainan, the Dutch army wouldn’t even be able to win against the natives of Taiwan. How would they want to go head-to-head with the Datong army?

   "I heard that we will negotiate today. It would be great if it succeeds. I plan to go to the city to drink and find a woman to sleep with for the salary that was reissued yesterday."

"When I earn enough money, I will open brothels in urban areas and catch Malay women as prostitutes in the suburbs. Those brothels run by Klings (Hindus) and Nyonya (mixed-race Chinese) are really good at making money. Jealousy is dead!"

   "Haha, if you open a brothel, we will catch women for you. A Malay woman, how about selling you 50 dong?"

   "50 dong is too expensive, 20 dong at most. There are Malay natives everywhere in the suburbs. As long as you bring a musket, you can easily catch them."

   "Joan, that idiot, actually married his wife last year, and she was a Malay woman. Haha, after his wife became pregnant, he even gave up drinking and had to go to the city to work."

   "I persuaded him, why don't you enjoy the money? Isn't it bad to drink and visit brothels? This fool exhausts himself half to death every day."

   "I'm afraid you are very envious in your heart? After Joan got married, she can wear clean clothes every day, and often washes her hair and bathes. She looks as clean as a nobleman. How about you? You are all homeless."

   "Even if I want to get married, I will not look for a Malay woman, I will look for a Nyonya woman in the city!"

   "Nyonya like you? They are all very rich."

"When the company sends more soldiers, we will gain a firm foothold in Malacca, and then we will impose heavy taxes on those Nyonya! Let me tell you, I was transferred from Batavia, and the Chinese there have to pay heavy taxes. .We Dutch soldiers have many opportunities to blackmail the Chinese. Unlike here, we still smile at them when we see Nyonya.”

   "..."

   On the negotiating table.

   Dai Hui, the deputy envoy sent by Honglu Temple, sat at the head of the negotiation, and beside him was Chen Erxun who assisted him in the negotiation.

Dai Hui didn't come to negotiate at all, and he said in an orderly tone as soon as he opened his mouth: "You are already surrounded, you only have more than a hundred people, and you can't defend Malacca at all. Don't think about reinforcements, Bandan's army is attacking Batavia. Batavia is too busy to take care of himself and cannot spare any troops to rescue you. In order to avoid greater casualties on both sides, as long as you surrender immediately, you will be spared!"

   This passage was translated, and Sanders was shocked and angry when he heard it.

   Anger less surprise more.

   Batavia is under attack?

  If that is the case, Malacca will definitely not be able to wait for reinforcements. Even if the stronghold in India sent troops to rescue, they would definitely go to Batavia first.

  Sanders pretended to be calm and said: "Fort San Diego is extremely strong, and it is impossible for you to capture it. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, I can call the shots and give you a sum of money, but it is absolutely impossible to surrender."

  The two sides talked like chickens and ducks, from morning to mid-afternoon, there was no progress at all, and they could only break up unhappy.

   When leaving, Sanders sent a few soldiers to hang them out of the castle hanging basket.

When the local Chinese leader Chen Erxun sat in the basket, he said to the two Dutch soldiers next to him: "As long as you surrender, each will be rewarded with 50 guilders, and you will continue to be employed as soldiers. The military salary will be doubled compared to before. , you can marry wives and have children, and your salary is enough to support your family. If you don’t work in the city, you still have the money to drink every day. Tell these words to other soldiers. If you serve as a soldier for the Chinese, you might even become a nobleman.”

  Two Dutch soldiers looked at each other in dismay at what Chen Erxun said.

   After surrendering, each person will be rewarded with 50 shields, and the military salary will be doubled directly?

   Sending off the "negotiator", the two soldiers whispered:

   "Are the Chinese serious?"

  “I heard that China is full of gold. If you serve them as a soldier, your salary may be doubled. I am 34 years old and I don’t want to go to a brothel anymore. I want to get married and have a son. What about you?”

   "How can the two of us surrender?"

"Tell other people, there must be people who are willing to surrender. The Chinese said that it is possible to become a nobleman if you serve as a soldier in China. Even if you can't become a nobleman, you can make more money, and maybe you can wear it. silk."

   "..."

   That night, these words spread throughout the castle.

  Some people were tempted, some people were suspicious, but no one dared to take action, and there was no leader, but instead the informant soldier appeared.

Sanders was very frightened, fearing that the soldiers would mutiny collectively, he convened a speech overnight: "There are some rumors among us. Let me tell you, those are all fake. The Chinese will not pay you double wages, but will kill you." They are heretics to us. We are heretics to them. The emperor of China catches the heretics and will burn them in the capital of China. Once the castle is breached, you will all die and must hold Only then can you survive! Of course, you have worked very hard to defend the city, and now each of you will be rewarded with 1 Dutch Guilder..."

   Coaxed and frightened, the soldiers finally dared not surrender.

  Although Sanders usually does not regard them as human beings, they are all from the Netherlands after all, and their emotions make them believe what Sanders said. For them, China is too strange, and they cannot believe what the Chinese say.

  However, there are very few people who still plan to take risks.

  Jide’s grandfather is from Portugal, and their family has lived in Malacca for hundreds of years. Since my grandfather's generation, I have mixed blood, mainly Malay blood.

  After the Netherlands captured Malacca, he was enlisted as a half-European because too many soldiers died of illness.

   night.

  Jide said to the soldiers guarding the same enemy station: "Jacques, I want to go out and try."

  Jacques was surprised: "Aren't you afraid of being killed by the Chinese?"

Ji De said: "What's the future of staying? You can't read, and I can't read. Unless you make great contributions, it is impossible to be promoted. And, can we really hold here? I want to be like a businessman in the city, able to wear Silk clothes! Would you like to?"

   "Think!" Jacques gritted his teeth and said.

  Because the number of defenders is too small, they have to take turns at night, so there are only two of them here.

  This place is 5 meters above the ground, and they have no rope, so they can't find a way to go out and surrender.

  The two men took off all their clothes and trousers, tore them into pieces of cloth, tied them up into long ropes, and wrapped the matchlocks of the matchlock gun together for reinforcement. The upper end is tied to the arrow stack on the city wall, and it hangs down more than two meters from the ground, enough to jump out of the castle along the rope.

   They dropped the muskets first, and slipped away without a sound, without being noticed by others.

   The two guys were naked and ran all the way down the mountain, but were caught by the sentinel halfway.

   "An enemy surrendered? Hahahaha!"

  Kuang Hong was very happy to hear that, and said: "As promised, reward them with money!"

  1 guilder, about 10 grams of silver, and a reward of 50 guilders, only more than ten taels of silver (sixteen taels per catty).

   Hearing that the two defectors had no clothes on, Kuang Hong asked Chen Erxun to get silk, and asked them to wear them and negotiate with them tomorrow.

  Jide and Jacques, happily dressed in silk clothes, set off with Dai Hui and Chen Erxun.

   A group of people slowly climbed up the mountain and came outside the castle.

   It was explained that they were here for negotiations, and bamboo baskets were soon hung from the city.

  Chen Erxun angrily reprimanded: "It's fine once, the second negotiation, why don't you let us go through the door? Let's not talk!"

  The Dutch officers and soldiers on the city were baffled by these words.

  Chen Erxun turned and left, Jide and Jacques took off their hats, and shouted to the city: "We won't talk!"

  After they left, the defenders on the city whispered:

   "Those two people looked familiar just now."

   "It looks familiar, it's Jade and Jacques, they must have run away last night!"

   "They seemed to be wearing silk."

   "Can you wear silk if you surrender? That's something only nobles can wear."

   "..."

  (end of this chapter)