I

More than a hundred years ago, when the Portuguese designed the fort, they planned to build the Malacca Fort into an irregular pentagonal bastion group.

However, manpower and material resources here are limited, especially stone, which is very difficult to obtain. In the end, the Portuguese only completed the central castle as planned. As for other areas, only the outer walls are being built continuously, and the outer walls have not yet completely surrounded the area.

The Dutch occupied Malacca for nine years and continued the Portuguese fortification work, finally building the outer city wall to the slopes of St. Paul's Hill.

At the same time, a bastion-like building (not very formal) was built on the east and west sides of the outer castle. The rest of the outer city walls only have enemy towers for crossfire at their five corners.

If you want to complete the original design drawings of the Portuguese and build a complete irregular pentagonal bastion group here, according to the construction speed of the Malacca colonists, it will probably take another hundred years...

At this moment, the Eight-Nation Allied Forces attacking the city were under crossfire from two enemy towers.

But to be honest, the crossfire of only 30 people was still using old-fashioned matchlock guns.

This kind of matchlock gun can fire two rounds per minute, and it belongs to the top elite infantry. As for the Dutch Army, except for the slightly decent garrison in Batavia, the other colonies were all rubbish. They used to be adventurers, ruffians, and even vagrants. With a meager salary, no training all day long, and occasionally working in the city to earn extra money, being able to shoot one bullet in two minutes is considered qualified.

On average, one bullet is fired every 1.5 minutes. If all 30 people are regarded as sharpshooters, and the matchlock firing rate is considered to be 100%, it will only take six minutes to kill 120 siege soldiers.

What does it mean if 120 people die in an attack with thousands of people?

The actual situation is that when the Datong navy soldiers began to climb the city wall, the siege party suffered less than 50 casualties, including some who were injured after rolling down the hillside.

Unfortunately, Johor, which sent the largest number of troops, lost all 3,000 soldiers.

Influenced by the Johor soldiers, most of the Sumatra soldiers also fled inexplicably. Then it became a chain reaction, and soldiers from Dashi, Ding Jialu and other countries fled one after another.

Because the hillside to the north of the city wall was covered with bushes, the Dutch were too lazy to clean it up. It is difficult for the various coalition forces to see each other's actual situation clearly, and they do not know the strength of the defenders' firepower during a battle. Anyway, I heard the crackle of gunfire, and then saw the largest number of Johor soldiers collapsed. I subconsciously thought that my side was defeated, so I followed the crowd and fled.

"Bang bang bang!"

The intersecting energy of the Dutch defenders continued, but was noticeably sparse and disorganized.

The outer city wall is very short, and it is easy to climb up with the help of pillars. Seeing that the siege team was about to enter the city, the 30 Dutch soldiers guarding the enemy tower became increasingly panicked and could not even refill their ammunition normally.

"Reinforcements, please request reinforcements!"

"Come on, come on, hold on for a few more minutes!"

There are nearly a hundred Dutch defenders on the east and west sides running towards this direction. However, Kuang Hong's attack was too sudden, and the Dutch commander needed time to react. At this time, it may be too late.

But they came anyway. The first batch of more than 20 Dutch soldiers rushed to the enemy platform in the north for reinforcements and fired at the siege soldiers in a panic.

"Old Sun!"

The first Datong soldier to ascend was Sun Junsheng from the Shanghai Fleet. He was shot and fell to the ground before he could gain a foothold. He fell from the edge of the city wall and hit the climbers behind.

Lao Sanjin was climbing the ladder and watched as Sun Junsheng's body fell down, wiping his left arm. He roared angrily, his eyes turned red, and he climbed up faster.

Both of them were from the Yangtze River Navy. Half of the navy had been abolished before, some were converted into postmen and some were converted into navy soldiers. They have been comrades-in-arms for many years, and they were not injured when they killed the Tatars, but they did not expect that Sun Jun would live and die overseas.

Two more soldiers who climbed the city fell, and Lao Sanjin finally climbed up the city wall.

He carries a flintlock gun on his back, a bayonet and ammunition pouch on his waist, and a relatively thin waist knife.

At this moment, Lao Sanjin pulled out his sword and started to kill the Dutch defenders on the enemy platform. There are more than a dozen Dutch soldiers here, their bullets have been fired, and they are all in the process of reloading in a panic.

"Quickly retreat!"

Finally, a low-level Dutch officer yelled to run away.

The outer city wall is too long and cannot be taken care of by 180 defenders. Divided into each enemy tower and bastion, there are only ten people in one place on average. How can they stop thousands of enemies from attacking the city?

Lao Sanjin quickly chased after him and chopped down one of them with his sword. This was the unlucky guy who didn't retreat in time.

On the other side of the enemy platform, Datong navy soldiers also climbed up, blocking the retreat of the more than ten Dutch defenders. After a fight, only three Dutch soldiers managed to escape and fled directly into the bastion further away.

Lao Sanjin led his men in pursuit, but encountered a burst of bullets, instantly knocking down four Datong soldiers.

"Retreat to the enemy base just now!"

Lao Sanjin shouted and led his men to retreat in a hurry. The bastion in front of us is really difficult to break through. To attack by force is simply to lose your life.

Another enemy tower, Prince Narai of Siam, has also boarded the city. Behind him were Yang Dongkui and Huaer Kang, two adventurer rangers, one in the middle and one in the west. The three of them formed an arrow and rushed out, cutting down several people one after another, and finally occupied this place.

Nalai looked back at this time and saw that except for the Siamese army, the troops of other countries that cooperated in sending troops had been defeated by 70 to 80%.

Na Lai sneered disdainfully: "Coward!"

maritime.

The moment the siege battle started, Hong Xu put down his telescope: "Fire the cannons, attack with the whole army, and the sailors also take up weapons to attack the city!"

There is a difference between sailors and sailors. Sailors generally do not participate in war.

But most of the sailors were sent to the north to attack the city. At this time, the sailors also had to take the lead.

Dozens of allied warships rushed toward the outer walls of the castle from the east, west, and south, firing cannonballs as they advanced. The Malay natives in the sea also rowed small wooden boats and rushed forward with great excitement, because as long as they climbed into the city, they would be rewarded with food.

There were too many ships attacking the city at sea, and the Dutch artillery couldn't take care of them at all. What's more, the northern city wall had been captured. At this moment, I felt panicked. If it weren't for the fact that there was a bastion on the north and south sides of the outer city wall, the Datong army that had climbed up the city wall would have already rushed over to seize the fort.

In some places, large ships would run aground, warships would lower their boats one after another, and sailors and sailors would row their boats towards the city wall.

In order to form crossfire, the outer city walls were also built in a pentagonal shape, with land gaps in many places. Under normal circumstances, if you want to attack the city through these openings, you will be tilted by crossfire, which is a hell zone for the siege party.

However, the number of Dutch defenders is too small!

After paying more than 200 casualties in the Datong Navy, as well as the sailors and sailors of the fleets of various countries, as well as the indigenous people fighting for food, it was obvious that the Dutch could not bear it anymore.

"Withdraw! Everyone withdraw into the bastion!"

Commander Hendrick quickly ordered.

The Dutch defenders retreated quickly. The artillerymen had no time to destroy the cannons, so they abandoned the city wall and fled collectively.

Councilman Sanders, has now returned to the central castle. He saw the Datong army ascending the city from the north, unable to conquer the bastions on both sides, and entering the city along the ladder. They wanted to directly bypass the bastion and attack the central castle. He was so frightened that he immediately ordered: "Tell Hendrick to give up." The outer bastion blocks the passages, and all of them must withdraw here!"

At this point, all the peripheral defense systems of Malacca Castle were captured by the coalition forces, and the Dutch could only defend the central castle.

"Well done, well played!"

Kuang Hong stood on the top of the mountain and observed the battle with a telescope. He was so happy that he praised him again and again.

Chen Erxun, the local Chinese leader, said: "Sir, when the Dutch attacked here ten years ago, they quickly occupied the outer city wall. But when the Portuguese withdrew to the central castle, the Dutch could not penetrate."

Kuang Hong asked: "How did the Netherlands capture this city?"

Chen Erxun said: "After being surrounded for more than half a year, the Portuguese were so hungry that they left the city and surrendered."

Besieged the city for more than half a year?

Kuang Hong felt a little uneasy. This was a diplomatic conflict and he had no authority to besiege the city for more than half a year.

Kuang Hong was worried, and so was Sanders.

"How many casualties did our troops have?" Sanders asked.

"Thirty-one people were lost," Hendrick said.

Sanders frowned suddenly. There were only 180 defenders here, and the loss of 31 people was one-sixth.

"Let civilians and their families take up arms, too," Sanders said.

There are also some non-military buildings between the central castle and the outer city walls. It was the office of the Dutch East India Company and the residence of its employees and their families. As for the Dutch settlement in Malacca city, all Dutch businessmen and immigrants live there.

By the way, Dutch army soldiers are basically single, and they cannot have a family here.

In other words, the Dutch rule in Malacca has not yet reached the level of allocating women to the army.

For example, in Taiwan, after the Dutch colonists established a foothold, they directly killed all the men on Xiaoliuqiu Island and snatched the women and assigned them to the soldiers to solve their physical problems. The remaining women and children were either kept as slaves or sold as slaves.

The Dutch had not long ruled Malacca. Under normal circumstances, it would have taken a few years before they would do this, and they would have to find an indigenous tribe that was easier to attack.

The travel writer and painter John Newhoff received a matchlock at this time.

"Sir, can you shoot?" the officer asked.

Neuhof looked at the musket in his hand and said extremely depressed: "I do know how to use a matchlock, but what you gave me was a fire stick!"

The officer explained awkwardly: "This was left behind by dead Nordic mercenaries ten years ago. It has been left in the warehouse without maintenance."

Ten years ago, when the Netherlands attacked Malacca, they only sent a few hundred troops. The real main force was more than a thousand mercenaries.

Those mercenaries fight for money, how can they be willing to sacrifice their lives in a siege?

Therefore, after relying on indigenous soldiers and Han armed forces to take down the outer city wall, the European mercenaries began to fight in various ways, unwilling to attack the central castle. In the end, more than half of the mercenaries suffered casualties, because many of these guys came from Northern Europe and could not withstand the tropical climate of Malacca. The main casualties were all caused by tropical diseases.

The number of mercenaries who actually died in battle was only in the single digits... They all relied on siege and deprivation of food to achieve victory.

At this moment, the matchlock gun in Neuhoff's hand was a relic of a mercenary. The barrel is rusty and the wooden stock is moldy. This thing is used to defend the city and can only be used as a stick to fight the enemy in close combat.

From the arsenal of the central castle, powder barrels were moved out one by one.

The moment he pried open the gunpowder barrel, Neuhof couldn't help but hold his forehead. The gunpowder inside was not just damp, it was all solidified together.

After the Dutch captured this place, the defenders had not fought for almost ten years. Who was interested in maintaining the inventory in the warehouse?