Although Zhu Jinghong’s words were strange, everyone present understood the meaning.
Everyone is very relaxed at this moment. They are fully confident that they can win this isolated city and add a brilliant touch to their resume.
"Your Highness, after two rounds of shelling, the enemy has not counterattacked...either their morale has been lost, or they lack ammunition!" Zhejiang Navy Admiral Xu Minglin analyzed.
This time several C-class ships were sent to test the enemy's strength.
At this time, Zhu Jinghong had put away the telescope, turned to look at several subordinates and asked: "You have also seen the situation around the city. Please tell me how to fight this battle!"
p>
Different from the Spanish ports that were previously pulled out, Kotaji City serves as the governor's residence. Spain has stationed three regiments of infantry for defense, with a strength of about 4,000 people.
These four thousand people are not a mob, and it will not be easy to kill them, so careful planning is required.
After everyone discussed it, they focused on the hill to the east of the city. The terrain there is high and they can overlook the city. If they can capture it, they can directly attack the city.
The only problem is that a castle has been built on the hill, and it will take a lot of effort to take it down.
After the discussion, everyone agreed that the hill should be taken first, so the specific method of play was discussed next.
During this process, several Class C ships that had gone forward withdrew. They had already fired five rounds of salvos, which caused damage to the city even if their accuracy was not high.
Some people avoided artillery fire, some treated the injured, some carried water to put out the fire, and some took advantage of the chaos to rob...
Simmons had returned to the Governor's Mansion at this time, which was within the range of the Ming army's shelling. outside.
He first ordered people to call several generals to discuss matters, and then ordered the garrison in the city to maintain law and order.
After arranging these, Simmons walked to the desk, where there was a defense map of Kota Kei City.
"Governor Andre, you have seen it...The Ming army has opened fire. Today they have taken down a few brothers, and tomorrow it will be your port!"
" If you think it doesn’t matter, you can leave now, otherwise quickly mobilize your troops to resist the Ming army with me!”
Holding the red wine glass, Andre looked serious, he was still thinking about things! Feasibility, while assessing the possible damage to yourself.
While Andre was thinking, Simmons went to another room, and several generals were already in the next room.
The fortress on the hill on the east side has always been the key defensive position of the Spanish army. In the fortress with a length and width of less than 100 meters, they directly arranged a regiment for defense.
So the main content of this meeting is to discuss the internal defense arrangements of the city and the recruitment of citizens in the city to participate in the defense.
The matter was complicated 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?"
p>Andre replied: "I can send 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 and continues to persuade. It was too difficult for him to give more support, and Simmons immediately said: "Then you should mobilize your troops quickly. It's too late... I'm afraid this city belongs to someone else!"
"Goodbye!"
p>Andre left, and at this moment, two miles east of the city, the Ming army's advance troops were already landing.
The Ming army landed 3,000 soldiers, which on paper seemed to be less than the Spanish army, but the actual use of troops was completely different.
The Spanish 4,000 men must be dispersed throughout the city for defense, while the Ming army's 3,000 men can concentrate on one point for attack.
This is inconsistent with the so-called rule of "ten sieges" in ancient times. This is because the war situation has changed now, especially when gunpowder and artillery are put into the battlefield in large numbers.
After landing, part of the Ming army was responsible for guarding, while another part cut down trees to build forts to guard against Spanish sneak attacks.
With control of the sea, the Ming army can continue to receive supplies and is not afraid of a protracted war.
The actions of the Ming army were quickly discovered by the Spaniards, but they did not react.
It is very risky to take the initiative to attack out of the city. Simmons only prepares for the war in the city and recruits as many citizens as possible to participate in the battle.
However, due to the recent continuous reports of defeats, not only the morale of the Spanish defenders was low, but also the immigrants in Kotaji lost their confidence.
All citizens are planning to escape, and very few people take the initiative to apply.
After all, most people are here to make money and gain benefits, not to fight for the king.
Two days passed quickly, and the Ming army had established a foothold outside the city, dismantled some of the naval guns and transported them to the shore, and was ready to storm the east fortress of the city.
The main force of the Ming army has also advanced to 300 meters offshore, and can provide fire support at any time if necessary.
"Your Highness, you can attack at any time!" Wang Long came forward to report.
Wang Long was in charge of the front-line command of this storming attack. He was here to ask for instructions and report.
Today's offensive mission is to destroy the coastal fort on the east side of the city, so the infantry will basically not attack today, relying entirely on artillery strikes.
Knowing that there were sufficient defenders in the city, the Ming army also prepared additional catapults in order to kill and injure the enemy troops when destroying the forts, but they only used gunpowder packets.
Artillery can basically only shoot directly. The close-range parabolic attack method is much easier with a catapult.
So at the beginning, it was a test launch of the catapult. Stones with the same weight as the explosive bags were used. After measuring the trajectory, the explosives were projected.
During this process, the Ming army also pushed the artillery forward and began the bombardment on the fortress side.
The fortress defenders saw that the Ming army was really attacking, so they fired back and the two sides fought lively.
To avoid beingAfter the attack, both warring parties constantly adjusted their gun positions. The direct losses between offense and defense were actually not large, but they still caused damage to the city defense itself.
For example, the gate facing the sea of the fortress was drilled with several holes every moment, and its defensive capabilities were minimal.
Half an hour later, several catapults had found their trajectory and began to fire powder packets into the fortress.
A few breaths later, an explosion broke out in the fortress. The gunpowder packets and gravel and iron nails caused great damage in the fortress.
In an instant, continuous wailing sounds came from the fortress, and even Zhu Jinghong could vaguely hear it from afar on the flagship.
Of course it could be heard in Kota Kei City. Although Simmons was extremely anxious, he still ordered all the ministries in the city not to move to prevent a sneak attack by the Ming army.
This fight lasted all afternoon. In addition to dropping explosives, the Ming army also dropped a lot of gravel, 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 people on the Ming army were injured, more than 40 Spaniards were killed, and nearly 70 people were injured to varying degrees.
The Spaniards were on standby the next day. They replenished ammunition to the fort last night and sent an additional hundred soldiers over.
But today the Ming army did not attack, but the Spaniards did not dare to neglect, and they were still on guard.
Nothing happened on the third and fourth days, but the Spaniards were not idle. They found that the Ming army was building catapults, and they also recruited local indigenous craftsmen to work for this purpose.
On the fifth day, nearly fifty catapults were lined up on the north bank of the fortress, directly frightening the fortress defenders.
On the flagship of the Ming army, Wang Long reported: "Your Highness, I thought... we can capture the fortress in one fell swoop today!"
Wang Long was full of confidence. Bragging, but really think so.
The enemy's fortress is no more than two feet high. With the "unlimited firepower" of catapults to suppress it, it is extremely possible for a wave of fierce attacks to reach the city wall.
Zhu Jinghong understood this. His concern was that if reinforcements were sent from the city, the attack might fail and the Ming army that landed would suffer heavy losses.
Once the fortress is lost, the city will be lost, so Zhu Jinghong believes that Simmons will do whatever it takes to provide reinforcements.
At this time, Zhu Jinghong looked at Zhao Chengwu and asked: "Are you ready to block the attack?"
To prepare to block the attack, it is not only to bombard with naval guns, but also to use naval guns when necessary. Send troops to land and attack the city by "surrounding Wei and rescuing Zhao".
Zhao Chengwu replied: "Liaodong Navy, carry out His Highness's orders at any time!"
"Very good!"
With a compliment, Zhu Jinghong looked at Wang Long , ordered: "Let's see General Wang show off his power today!"
"I will live up to my orders!" Wang Long replied.
All generals have their own tasks.Before the battlefield began, they all returned to their respective positions. Only Zhu Jinghong was sitting on the flagship, holding a teacup and observing the battle situation.
When the war began, because of their absolute advantage, the Spanish army in the city was really suppressed and beaten, allowing the Ming army infantry to slowly approach the city wall.
Even though they were suppressed by thrown stones and even with the threat of gunpowder explosions, the Spanish defenders still risked their lives and fired to prevent the Ming army from continuing to advance.
However, south of the fort, a surprise force of the Ming army also launched an attack. They also used catapults to launch attacks, which caused great damage to the Spanish defenders.
Of course, relying on these alone, it would be a fantasy to capture the city in one attack.
The first attack failed, and Wang Long organized the second, third, and fourth attacks...
The Ming army always suppressed the Spaniards, so morale was They were all very high. Finally, when the sun was setting, the fifth attack hit the city wall, and then came the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat.
Hand-to-hand combat tested morale even more. The Spanish defenders were demoralized and lasted less than half an hour. The remaining troops withdrew 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 many of them were killed while waiting for work.
After a total of six days, the highland fortress was finally captured, and the city of Kota Kei was within reach.
But Simmons did not give up, but called on the whole city to defend. Even if the last person died in the battle, the Ming army must not be allowed to enter the city.
At night, there was almost no sleep in Kota Kei City for fear that the Ming army would attack, but it was very quiet that night.
The next day, the Ming army sent an envoy, asking the Spanish defenders to surrender in order to let them live.
This move was very effective and shook the determination of the Spanish defenders and citizens to defend the city to the death. This made Simmons extremely worried.
On the one hand, he wanted to appease his subordinates, and on the other hand, he placed his hope on the Portuguese, counting on the latter to send fleet support as soon as possible.
Normally, it takes Andre ten days to travel to and from Kota Kei. Six days have passed now, which means that Kota Kei City will have to resist for at least four days.
Now that the fortress is occupied and the city is completely exposed to artillery strikes, it will take a miracle to continue to resist for four days.
In the headquarters, Simmons was thinking, and his adjutant said, "Mr. Governor, this is a letter written by the commander of the Ming Army to you!"
This is a letter written by Zhu Jinghong, mainly the content. It was to persuade him to surrender, which guaranteed Simmons' life safety and promised that he could take everyone away safely.
To capture the fortress, the Ming army sacrificed the lives of more than 300 soldiers, so if they could defeat the enemy without fighting, Zhu Jinghong would still be very happy to see it happen.
So he wrote this letter, hoping to persuade Simmons to surrender.
"Reply to the Ming army and say we can negotiate!" Simmons ordered.
TalkIt was to delay time, to wait for Andre to come.
So the negotiations began at noon that day. Two days passed after this wrangling. Zhu Jinghong also felt that Simmons was fooling him, so he directly ordered the fortress to attack.
The stones and gunpowder bags from the catapults fell like raindrops on the city of Kotaji, quickly taking away the lives of many people.
The fortress was occupied and the city was exposed to the attack range of the Ming army. It was indeed very simple to kill the defenders.
On the twenty-fourth of the first lunar month, Zhu Jinghong was called up early in the morning. It turned out that an urgent military report was delivered.
After looking at Zhu Jinghong, he realized that the Portuguese fleet had arrived and was now parked thirty miles west of the island.
The Portuguese came at this time, and they were a main fleet with more than 40 warships. Zhu Jinghong did not dare to neglect at all, and immediately ordered the main fleet to adjust its position so that it could meet the invading enemy forces at any time.
Perceiving that Simmons was delaying time just to wait for the arrival of the Spanish fleet, Zhu Jinghong could be said to be furious.
So he immediately ordered the people in the fortress to fire cannons and attack, which could be regarded as revenge against Spain.
At the same time, Zhu Jinghong also guarded against the Portuguese and once again adjusted the position of the fleet to be ready to attack at any time.
The Portuguese only have fifty warships, while the Ming army has more than eighty. They have a huge advantage in combat effectiveness, and they are not afraid of the Portuguese anymore.
However, the naval battle that Zhu Jinghong expected did not break out. After the Ming army assumed a fighting posture, the Portuguese retreated twenty miles.
They are in a competitive relationship with the Spanish and use their fleet to fight for the Spanish. No matter how stupid Andre is, he would not dare to make such a decision.
It was like this on the first day, and it was still like this on the second and third days, and the city of Kota Kei was already littered with corpses.
Simmons knew that the Portuguese were unwilling to get involved and would lose if they continued to fight, so he was forced to surrender due to the situation.
On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, in less than half a month, the Ming army captured Kota Kee City.
Spanish Governor Simons was escorted before Zhu Jinghong.
"General Simmons, we meet again!"
On the deck, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile.
The last time we met was at the beginning of last year. At that time, the Spaniards were so aggressive that they sent a mission to the capital to negotiate in an attempt to control the Ming Dynasty...
But now, not only have the Spaniards not benefited, They also lost all their territory in the Far East, and the situation changed drastically.
"What does His Highness plan to do with us?" Simmons was not in the mood to joke, so he asked directly.
"You rejected the previous negotiations, and now I have captured the city. Do you think you are still qualified to negotiate terms?"
"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, outstanding sailors... I can provide them all!"
Zhu Jinghong smiled again, and then said: "I can provide these things myself. Take it! "The transcoding has been serious recently, which makes us more motivated and updates faster. Please use your little hands to exit the reading mode. Thank you