I

  Chapter 825 822 [Zhang Xianzhong's strategy]

  The castle in Palembang is very simple, built with rammed earth, and is still being strengthened.

  The Netherlands has gathered more than 600 troops and more than 3,000 Indian soldiers on the east coast of India. So they joined the Nanyang and Indian Ocean fleets and came over mightily, trying to capture Palembang by surprise.

  However, they passed through the Strait of Malacca halfway. How could the Chinese army not receive the news?

   "Boom boom boom!"

  The ship-borne artillery kept bombarding the rammed-earth castle, and even fired at the pier, but the pier was dead silent, and there was no panic and escape at all.

  Naval Commander Balthazar Burt immediately realized that something was wrong and ordered: "Evacuate immediately, the Chinese are ready!"

  More than 30 Dutch ships, carrying reinforcements, headed north, but did not leave the Strait of Malacca. They bypassed Bangka Island, went to the southwest coast of Kalimantan Island, and landed in their own country Sukardana, forcing the Sudan to send food and fresh water supplies immediately.

  Only six hours after the Dutch fleet left Palembang, the Chinese fleet came to attack, but it was completely empty.

  The Chinese fleet pursued immediately, all the way to Sukadana. In the end, it was still in vain. The Dutch fleet had already left, only knowing that it was heading southeast.

  Balthazar Burt originally planned to dock in Semarang, let the reinforcements brought from India join the Matalan reinforcements, and then go to support Batavia together. Unexpectedly, when they arrived in Semarang, they were greeted by shelling.

  The Datong Raising Dragon Flag is planted on the head of the city, and there is also a temporary green flag.

  The city of Semarang is very magical. There is a Zheng He Temple in the city, which is completely Chinese Taoist style. In addition to Zheng He, it also worships Mazu. At the same time, there are mosques and Catholic churches, but because of the uprising during this period, the Catholic church has been burned down. On the mountain outside the city, there is also the Buddhist Borobudur Tower, and there are even Hindu temples in the farther mountains.

  The Han people have completely occupied the city, and the three major families of Zheng, Wang, and Ma have jointly ruled Semarang temporarily.

  Many Han people have changed their surnames. The Zheng surname claims to be a descendant of Zheng He, and the Wang surname claims to be a descendant of Wang Jinghong (Zheng He’s deputy eunuch). There is no need to explain the Ma surname.

  The city was in a mess, a large number of blocks were burned, no Europeans were left, and even a few Arabs were killed by mistake.

  Zheng Yongshou was wearing a leather armor he got from nowhere, stood on the top of the city with his hand on the handle of a knife, and shouted angrily: "Close the city gate quickly, people outside the city, go around the city and hide in the countryside to the south!"

  Balthazar Burt looked gloomy, and scolded Sultan Matalan countless times in his heart.

  This puppet sultan is so muddy that he cannot support the wall. The Netherlands has already helped to suppress the rebellion, and in just two years, the rebel army has grown bigger again.

  Mataram's Sudanese army must pass through Semarang if they want to support Batavia. If Semarang is not captured, there will be no reinforcements for Matalam. The Dutch’s intention to gather troops is tantamount to bankruptcy—Balthazar Burt doesn’t know that Matalam has already had rebels everywhere.

   "Go East!"

  Balthazar Burt gave an order, the Dutch fleet did not sail directly to Batavia, but went in the opposite direction.

  The Dutch fleet left for about two hours, and the Chinese fleet came after them.

  The envoy landed in a small boat, revealed his identity, and was immediately invited into the city by Zheng Yongshou.

  The envoy asked, "Where did the Dutch go?"

  Zheng Yongshou said: "To the east."

   "Farewell!" The messenger turned and left.

  Zheng Yongshou quickly said: "Your Excellency, wait a moment. I will establish myself as the governor. Semarang is willing to submit to the Celestial Dynasty. Please help me pass the news."

   "I know, you guard the city and don't let the Dutch break the city." The messenger left in a hurry.

   Zheng Yongshou finally showed a smile on his face. The governor told the court that what he really wanted to be was the sultan. There are quite a few city-state sultanates in Nanyang, and he has no plans to expand his territory. He only needs to own Semarang and surrounding villages and towns, because the living space of the Han people is only so large.

  The Han people in Semarang, although they believe in the Green religion, belong to the improved Green religion. They still keep the tradition of worshiping ancestors, insist on offering sacrifices to Zheng He, and at the same time keep the belief in Mazu. In addition, there are academies and righteous schools, which teach Confucianism. They even mixed Buddhism into it, believing in reincarnation and reincarnation.

  What kind of religion is this?

  The Chinese fleet did not continue to pursue, but returned to the waters near Batavia. No matter where the Dutch fleet goes, it will go there to support, just wait and see.

  But it said that the Dutch fleet, after leaving Semarang, went straight to Surabaya Port (Surabaya).

  Just by hearing the name "Sishui", one knows that there must be Han Chinese.

  When Zheng He sailed to the West, according to the Javanese name, it was transliterated as "Sulu Mayi". There are more and more Han people living here, and they feel that the place name is too difficult to pronounce, so they shorten it to "Silimu". Because the port is connected to a river, the intellectuals among the Han people simply named the river Sishui and the city Sishui City and Sishui Port.

  The Dutch fleet sailed here, and Balthazar Burt looked at the flag at the top of the city, and fell into despair again in an instant.

  The Javanese landowners and nobles, religious leaders and the Han people in Surabaya joined forces to capture the city. The Europeans and officials sent by the Sudan were slaughtered by the rebels. They couldn't stand the rule of the sultan, the tax was too high, and they couldn't stand the Dutch preaching everywhere.

  The Dutch fleet could only continue eastward, and soon came to the waters off Bali.

   Can't beat Semarang and Surabaya ports, and can't beat the natives of Bali?

  The Dutch fleet bombarded the royal city crazily. The Dutch army landed with Indian soldiers and captured the city in two hours. The Sultan fled with the royal family and his relatives in a hurry.

   After some burning, killing and looting, some fresh water and food were obtained, and the Dutch fleet circled to Batavia from the south coast of Java Island.

   Halfway through the waters of Banten Kingdom, the Banten Navy did not dare to resist, allowing the Dutch fleet to pass swaggeringly. However, the Dutch reinforcements did not dare to land near Batavia. The fleet sailed close to the coast, and the army was disembarked dozens of miles in advance, and went all the way to support the governor.

   "My lord, Bandan bandits are burning and killing all over the countryside!"

   Outside the city of Batavia, Liu Hanyi received an unexpected message.

  The Wandan Kingdom, which has been accepted by China as a vassal, not only did not send troops to help, but took the opportunity to plunder Han Chinese farms. This was often done before. Han landlords provided food for the Netherlands, and it was normal for Bandan to plunder Han farms, but it is different now.

   There is no way to hold them accountable after the fact. Even if China pursues the investigation, Banten Sultan can push it to the thieves, saying that it was not the regular army who looted the Han farms.

  This battle was fought in a mess, and the Netherlands' vassal state, Ma Dalan, was fighting a civil war everywhere. And China's vassal state, Wandan, came to take advantage of the fire to rob the manors of the Han people, and they didn't know how to write the word "dead".

  After discussing with Tie Hong, Liu Hanyi said to Zhang Xianzhong: "You take people to drive away the Wandan bandits!"

  Zhang Xianzhong immediately led his troops to rush there. After marching for about 20 miles, he saw a large area of ​​farmland burned, and some Bandan bandits were driving livestock.

"kill!"

  The Wandan robbers, a group of thirty or fifty people, scattered all over the countryside to rob things.

  Because the Han people are helping to besiege the city, the rest are old, weak, women, children and slaves. They were no match for the Bandan bandits at all, so they could only choose to run away, which made the bandits even more unscrupulous, and they didn't even bother to send people to guard.

   Zhang Xianzhong gave an order, and four hundred ronin drew their swords and rushed out, running the fastest.

  The local Han rebel army under his command, in order to protect their homeland, also charged wildly, and did not lag behind those ronin.

  Only the farmers and soldiers brought by Zhang Xianzhong from Taiwan, in groups of five and ten in a team, have always maintained the organizational system and are not as messy as other rebels.

  The same is true in wars. The ronin and the local Han people rely on blood and courage, while the Taiwanese peasants and soldiers know how to cooperate with each other.

  Zhang Xianzhong was too lazy to do it himself, and more than 20 robbers were killed in front of him. He simply divided his troops into three teams, one to the west, one to the south, and one to the east, chasing and killing the scattered robbers.

   "The end of the hero, grandpa, what kind of **** am I fighting?" Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but sigh.

   After two full days of hunting, all the troops returned to the army to assemble, and two local Han people died, and no one else was killed in battle. As for those Wandan robbers, more than 200 were beheaded and killed, and the rest left behind the looted goods and fled.

  Zhang Xianzhong withdrew his troops and rushed back to Batavia, continuing to follow the siege.

  The food in the city is getting less and less, and it will bottom out in a few days. But the castle of the Dutch refused to take out a single grain of rice.

  Suddenly, smoke was ignited in the west, and the sentry found the Dutch reinforcements coming on foot.

Tie Hong ordered: "Johor soldiers will continue to garrison the south of the city, and all Datong troops will move to the southwest of the city. Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang will lead the rebel army to the west of the city. Remember, don't let the enemy's reinforcements enter the city. If there are many reinforcements, lead them to the southwest of the city. , I will lead the army to intercept and outflank."

   Zhang Xianzhong and Sun Kewang cheered up, finally having a decent fight.

  Governor Rainiers, after seeing the wolf smoke, also realized that the Indian reinforcements were coming. He was very entangled in this, whether he should continue to stick to it, or cooperate with the friendly army to fight out of the city.

Commander Clapp was called to discuss, and Clapp said: "With 300 troops, you can defend the castle. The rest of the army, take the militia out of the city to fight. The number of enemies is not very large, and it may be possible to win with reinforcements. Once defeated, Immediately retreat to the castle. Even if you don’t go out of the city to fight, the food in the city is not enough to eat. Those Javanese, Indians and Arabs will give up sooner or later. It’s better to let them go out of the city to fight the Chinese, causing more casualties to the Chinese army .”

   "Okay, let's fight like this, I will stay in the castle." Rainiers immediately agreed.

  Even if the troops outside died, he led 300 soldiers to defend the castle, and he could defend the castle for a year or two until the food was eaten.

   Both inside and outside the city are mobilizing troops.

  The hot air balloon rose again to observe the movement trajectory of the Dutch army.

  Zhang Xianzhong, who was leading the troops to the west of the city, saw movement in the city, and immediately ran to Tie Hong himself: "General Tie, if you can't fight during the day, you can attack the city at night tonight."

  Tie Hong didn't want to understand: "Why did you seize the city tonight?"

  Zhang Xianzhong explained: "When the enemy's reinforcements arrived, they thought about how to cooperate with each other and thought that our goal was to fight for reinforcements. They certainly didn't expect us to attack and seize the city at night. Tonight's city walls must be the most lax!"

   Tie Hong scratched his head, after a long time he finally cleared his mind, nodded and said, "Then take the city tonight."

Zhang Xianzhong continued: "We can make a noise in the west of the city first, pretending that we are fighting the enemy's reinforcements in the west of the city. The attention of the defenders in the city will be attracted to the west of the city, and they may even go out of the city to help. At this time, we will quietly ambush our troops. In the east of the city. The east of the city is the most difficult to attack, with the most gates, enemy towers, and fortresses. It is absolutely impossible for us to attack the city from there!"

   Tie Hong convinced himself: "You are still good at fighting, you are worthy of being the leader of the bandits."

  (end of this chapter)