I

Malacca Castle, its real name is Fort Santiago.

But there are too many Fort Santiagos. Portugal and Spain have built a lot of Fort Santiago all over the world. The one in Macau is called Fort Santiago, the one in Manila is called Fort Santiago, and the one in Malacca is also called Fort Santiago.

The central castle is built on the mountain, and the tallest tower is more than 30 meters high from the sea. The fortress wall is 3 meters thick and the actual wall height is about 5 meters.

There are also city defense cannons here, but what is very strange is that the cannons are semi-fixed, with the muzzles always facing the direction of the city, and are not used to defend against enemies at sea.

Because when the Portuguese built the castle, they believed that the enemy would not come from the sea, but from the army of the Sultan of Malacca, as well as the Han and indigenous people who might rebel inside and outside the city.

Of the other two turrets in the castle, one turret was relatively intact and the other was destroyed. It was destroyed by the Dutch and has not been repaired until now. The Dutch were just busy repairing the outer city walls, thinking that the central castle would not be attacked. Historically, until the British captured Malacca, the Dutch had not repaired the turrets. .

Even the central turret was too lazy to repair. It can be imagined how arrogant the Dutch defenders were and did not think that this place would be attacked.

"How much more gunpowder is available?" Sanders asked.

Hendrick replied awkwardly: "Except for the gunpowder placed on the outermost side, which is frequently used and ventilated to dry, all the gunpowder in the arsenal is... damp."

Sanders roared, "I'm asking you how much gunpowder you have left!"

Hendrick said: "In the battle a few days ago, we moved a lot of gunpowder to the outer city wall, but we didn't have time to bring it back when we retreated. Now there are only six barrels of usable gunpowder left..."

Sanders was about to burst into tears and asked: "How did you become an army commander?"

Hendrick asked back: "Why is the salary of army soldiers only one-sixth of that of the navy? I am only allocated a small amount of military expenses every year, and I have to maintain public security inside and outside the city. The soldiers are so poor that they have to work in the city. How can they have time to maintain it?" arsenal?"

Sanders said: "This is a decision made by the company's council, and I don't have the final say alone!"

The two broke up on bad terms, both feeling that they were justified.

The Dutch soldiers were even more angry. Due to the long-term warlessness in Malacca, the army wages here were lower than those in Taiwan. Moreover, the soldiers had to be deducted by the commander, and the monthly salary of the soldiers was not even as good as the income of Han shoemakers in urban areas.

The number of soldiers defending the city was still small, and the colonial authorities did not want to spend money to hire servants. Such a situation has led to the autonomy of all ethnic groups in the city's neighborhoods, while the indigenous people outside the city are completely free-range, and the collection of agricultural taxes is purely paid by the landlords. The Dutch army in the castle did not even dare to go to the city to raid the Han people, let alone bully the natives outside the city.

The military pay is low, and they are being deducted by their superiors, and they are unable to exploit the people. What do you want these Dutch Army soldiers in Malacca to do?

Now, working in the city has become their main job, and returning to the castle to serve as soldiers is their side job!

Sanders thought about it and called Hendrick over again: "I see that the soldiers are in a low mood. Please give them a month's extra military pay. Tell them that during the defense of the city, they will receive double military pay every month."

Hendrik, a bachelor, said: "No money."

Sanders took out the warrant he had issued: "Go to the treasurer and get the money."

More than a hundred Dutch soldiers received back pay, and their morale was slightly boosted.

They took out all the gunpowder barrels and took the risk to break up the hardened gunpowder bit by bit, and then took it to the open space to dry. The air here is too humid, and drying it will have no effect. Simply light the flame and bake it farther away.

How many can be used, only the devil knows.

The writer Neuhof threw the rusty musket aside, took out a pen and paper and continued writing:

"I'm a little scared. I don't know what the future will be like. Malacca may not be able to defend it. The Army in Fort Santiago is as chaotic as ever. As long as there is no war for more than a year, these Army soldiers will slack off. They will either do nothing and sunbathe during their shifts to defend the city. Sun, either go to the city to work and make money during your days off..."

"This is not what a professional soldier should look like, but unfortunately, this is how the Dutch Army is. It is like this in Brazil, it is like this in India, and it is still like this in Malacca."

"When I was working in Brazil, there were only 20 Dutch soldiers in that castle. There were also few residents there, and there were almost no Dutch. They were all mixed descendants of Portugal and South American natives. In order to make a living, the Dutch soldiers went out of the city to extort these mixed bloods. Once, four mixed-race farmers and their slaves rebelled collectively and killed the Dutch soldiers until they lost their armor. From then on, the Dutch soldiers did not dare to leave the city..."

"Do the shareholders and parliamentarians of the East India Company understand the living conditions of army soldiers? Their salary is so low that decent people will not join the army and can only recruit drunkards, gamblers, vagrants and the like. Even these people are gradually unable to be recruited, and they can only recruit destitute Europeans overseas."

"No matter which country you come from, as long as you are willing to serve as a soldier, you can join the Dutch Overseas Army. The combat effectiveness of the colonial army is getting worse day by day. And the leaders' view of the army is also getting worse day by day, and they even cut their pitiful salaries. …”

"If this continues, we will have no problem dealing with the barbarian natives, but when we encounter a big country like China, can we really rely on them to fight?"

"There's gunfire again outside, and the Chinese have begun to attack. I don't know how long I can survive..."

The central castle of Malacca is built on the mountainside near the top of the mountain. It can be bombarded by cannons mounted at the bottom of the mountain. It can even be hit by warships, but the hit rate will be very low.

Of the two central turrets, one was destroyed by the Dutch during their attack. Now the Datong Army is focused on bombarding the second one.

As mentioned earlier, neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch thought of strengthening the artillery power of the central castle. They placed most of the city defense artillery on the outer city walls. Nowadays, the Datong Navy has dismantled the ship-borne guns and moved them down the mountain to aim at the turrets for bombardment. The Dutch defenders almost only had to be bombed.

After four days of continuous bombardment, the only remaining central turret was destroyed, and only the battery position aimed at the city could still be used.

Hendrik didn't even dare to let go and fight back. He only had six barrels of gunpowder left. Once the gunpowder is used up, how can we use muskets for defense?

"boom!"

But it was Hendrick who ordered the artillerymen to fire with dried gunpowder. The first two cannons were fired. When the third cannon was fired, I don't know if there was too much charge or there was a problem with the gunpowder. One of the cannons exploded on its own, killing and wounding several artillerymen.

"Let the natives attack first and tell them that as long as they can get closer than twenty feet to the castle, the food they can receive today will be doubled! If they capture the castle, they will be rewarded with fifty kilograms of white rice!"

Kuang Hong's order was issued, and the morale of the Malay indigenous people was greatly boosted.

They had no formation at all, carrying bamboo or wooden ladders and climbing up the hillside. Anyway, if you get closer, you will be rewarded with food. If you die, you will be unlucky. If you are lucky, you will survive. After all, there are not many defenders in the castle.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Sporadic gunfire rang out from the castle, and the Dutch defenders all fired cautiously. After all, there was not much gunpowder and they had to use it sparingly.

As a result, nearly two thousand Malay natives rushed about fifteen meters outside the castle. Only then did the Dutch gunfire finally intensify, and the casualties of the natives increased rapidly.

As casualties increased, the natives collapsed instantly, threw down their ladders and weapons and fled. If they escaped alive, they could receive food rewards.

The indigenous people do not feel that they have been cheated. Instead, they think that the Chinese officials are very generous.

Make a few more purchases and you won't have to worry about going hungry this month. It's really a very cost-effective deal.

As the naval commander, Hong Xu was already ashore and used a telescope to observe the situation throughout the process. After the natives charged several times, he worriedly said: "This castle is not easy to fight. It is built without loopholes. No matter which direction you attack the city, you will be attacked by firecrackers. Fortunately, there are not many enemy troops defending the city, otherwise How can we defeat this?"

Obviously, in addition to consuming the defenders' gunpowder, the most important thing for these indigenous attacks was to use physical reconnaissance firepower.

After sacrificing more than a hundred indigenous lives, Hong Xu and Kuang Hong can confirm two points:

First, the number of defenders was seriously insufficient and they could not concentrate on guarding in one direction. When the offensive force suddenly increased somewhere, the Dutch defenders had to urgently mobilize people to defend.

Second, the castle has 360 degrees of blind spots, and you will be beaten no matter where you attack.

Chen Erxun, the local Chinese leader, asked for an audience: "My lords, the casualties from a force attack will be too great. It is better to send people into the city to negotiate. Maybe we can win the city without any blood."

Kuang Hong asked: "Will the red-haired ghost surrender?"

Chen Erxun smiled and said: "Red-haired officials may not surrender easily. But red-haired soldiers are all hard-working. In my family's workshop in the city, red-haired soldiers often come to do odd jobs to make money. Their military pay is very low. It’s just enough to support yourself. Once you marry a wife and have children, or like drinking and gambling, you have to work and make money to live.”

Kuang Hong understood instantly: "The negotiations are fake, but inciting the defenders to surrender is real. Mr. Chen has a good plan!"

Chen Erxun was also helpless. His great-great-grandfather gave the Portuguese advice and helped them successfully drive away the Sultan of Malacca. He himself gave advice to the Dutch ten years ago and helped them successfully drive away the Portuguese.

Now, it seems that Kuang Hong will not leave until he breaks the city. He has to stand up and give Kuang Hong advice.

Anyway, no matter who comes and whose power is dominant, the Chen family will choose to help whomever, so that they can stand firm in Malacca.

"Who will negotiate?" Kuang Hong asked.

Chen Erxun raised his hand and said: "The ordinary people recommended themselves."

Kuang Hong smiled and said: "You are very courageous."

Chen Erxun said: "The red-haired ghosts bully the weak and fear the strong. When they do not have the upper hand, they are still polite and courteous in dealing with things. They will never kill the negotiators. As for when they gain power, it is impossible to say. The common people have seen too many foreign countries. Barbarians are afraid of power and have no morals. Once the barbarians gain power, they have no regard for propriety, justice, integrity, and will kill even the old, weak, women, and children at will."

Kuang Hong nodded: "Then please, sir, please come and go."