Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 629: Filling the trench

On the 17th, the morning was sunny.

The rumbling sound of drums began to sound, and along with the drums that boosted the morale of the army, the artillery aimed at the city began to be fired. In order to better kill the defenders in the city, the artillery had been replaced with shrapnel shells.

There were deafening sounds of artillery shells being fired, and a large number of shells hit the northwest side of the bastion. Although the Qian army's artillery could hit the bastion city, the attack range was not enough to cover the entire city.

Therefore, in the first two months, the number of defenders in the bastion city who died from artillery bombardment was not large, and Zheng Chenggong's main attack direction was naturally the northwest which could be covered by artillery.

When Ru Hansuige saw that the Qian army was about to launch a large-scale attack, he could only send people to defend the city even though he knew they would be attacked by artillery.

However, Ru Hansuige felt that if the Qian army wanted to threaten the bastion, it would be impossible for them to fill up the continuous trenches outside the city within two months. At this time, the trenches were already filled with water.

Accompanied by the continuous sound of shrapnel exploding, the vanguard troops arrived not far in front of the trench. The first trench was not wide. Teams of soldiers carried pre-prepared logs and sandbags and ran to the front of the trench, throwing the filling materials in their hands into the trench.

At this time, the artillery in the bastion also began to fire. The battle began. The defenders no longer cared about saving supplies and frantically fired at the soldiers filling the trenches.

The Dutch in Batavia were still using solid bullets at this time. Shrapnel bullets had actually appeared in the West at this time, but they were similar to the shrapnel bullets in the Ming Dynasty. They were not favored by generals because of their high failure rate. Therefore, in the fortresses of various colonies, solid bullets were still the mainstream of the Dutch army at this time.

Dozens of solid bullets were thrown at them. Some of the shells failed to hurt anyone, while others ricocheted after hitting the ground and even smashed through dozens of people.

On the bastion, many cannons are not on the top layer, but in the holes in the middle. In this way, the cannons of the attacking party cannot threaten the cannons inside the bastion, and the defenders can fire boldly without any worries.

The position of the artillery was designed to tilt outward, so that after firing, it would reset itself due to the tilting ground.

After suffering more than 400 casualties, several teams of firearms soldiers of the Qian army had already formed up and opened fire at the bastion. At this time the distance was still quite far, and the kinetic energy of the muskets could only barely hit the bastion, and the accuracy was already as bad as it could be.

However, when firearms soldiers opened fire, on the one hand, they created plumes of smoke on their own battlefield to affect the defenders' line of sight, and on the other hand, they put mental pressure on the defenders.

For a moment, muskets roared and gunpowder smoke filled the sky above the battlefield. Under the cover of firepower, the soldiers who were filling the trenches raced against time. When the bottom was almost piled up, the soldiers placed logs one by one on the trench, and then piled up sandbags layer by layer.

After filling the first trench, there is another trench more than thirty steps forward. This one is wider, with more than three meters between the two sides. This is the most important trench in Batavia Fort, or it would be more appropriate to call it a moat.

When the Qian army approached this place, the defenders in the bastion could use muskets to threaten the Qian army filling the trenches.

The Qian army, which had crossed the first trench, began the second river filling operation, while in the rear, more soldiers were continuing to fill the first trench. They wanted to expand the scope of the filled area so that the subsequent climbing equipment could be more and closer to the city wall over a larger area.

On the first day, after suffering more than 1,200 casualties, the Qian army filled a path about 20 feet wide in the first trench, but did not fill a path in the second trench.

As the horn sounded, the Qian army slowly retreated. On the battlefield, the smoke had not yet dissipated, and the setting sun was as red as blood, reflecting a tragic scene.

Many wounded but not dead soldiers were still lying on the ground groaning. The retreating soldiers could not bear it and helped the wounded up and retreated to the camp with difficulty.

Most of the injured were wounded by firearms. If they were hit by muskets, they might still be saved, but if they were hit by artillery shells, the survivors would have broken legs and arms, and blood was dripping from the wounds. Even though everyone knew that in this situation, the chances of survival were slim, if they were not saved, they would surely die. If they returned to the camp, there might still be a chance of survival.

On the battlefield, the fallen soldiers were lying everywhere, some on the edge of the trenches, some on the sandbags used to fill the trenches, weapons were scattered all around, and there were bloodstains all around, which showed the cruelty of the war.

Just the first day of attack caused a sudden increase in the number of wounded soldiers in the Qian army camp. So many people were lost in one day. Judging from the situation, it would take at least two days to fill the second trench. The loss of troops would reach more than 5,000 people, which is already 40% of the landing force.

Therefore, after the first day of the war, all the generals looked a little sad. Zhang Shun looked at such a cruel and bloody battle, and he could feel that this group of barbarians were not like what some ignorant scholars said, that they were barbarians who ate raw meat and drank blood.

The war with the Western Barbarians is different from the time when the emperor pacified the world. Firearms have become the mainstream of warfare. In today's battle, all the casualties among soldiers were caused by firearms.

Zhang Shun believed that such a violent attack would result in too many casualties among the soldiers, so he asked to see Zheng Chenggong.

At this time, Zheng Chenggong was also frowning, staring at the bastion sand table intently. When he saw Zhang Shun coming in, he didn't even raise his head. All his attention was focused on how to break through the bastion.

Zhang Shunyi bowed and saluted, saying: "Prince"

Zheng Chenggong looked up at Zhang Shun, hummed, and then said, "General Zhang, are you here for something important?"

Zhang Shun replied, "Prince, our army suffered heavy casualties in today's battle, but we have only managed to fill up one trench. In my opinion, if this continues, I am afraid that after the trench is filled up, with our current strength, we will not be able to break through the bastion!"

Zhang Shun's words sounded like bullshit to Zheng Chenggong, who asked angrily, "How can a soldier not be killed in a battle? Batavia is located at a strategic point, and we should know that the longer the night, the more trouble we will have. If we don't take this city, how can we conquer Malacca?"

Zhang Shun shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I am not against your attack on Batavia, but I think that if our elite troops are used to fill the trenches, and we lose them every day, it will hurt the morale of the army over time."

Zheng Chenggong asked, "What do you think, General Zhang?"

Zhang Shun replied, "My Lord, my opinion is just a commonplace."

Seeing Zheng Chenggong's puzzled expression, Zhang Shun continued, "In the past, when Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others were rampant throughout the world, when they encountered a city that was difficult to conquer, they would forcibly conscript civilians from everywhere, use them as soldiers, and climb the city walls like ants. Why don't you follow their example, Prince?"

Upon hearing this suggestion, Zheng Chenggong said unhappily, "I thought it was a good plan. Since the army landed, the natives around Batavia have already fled. They are hiding in the dense forests. How can we catch them? Although this plan is good, it cannot be used."

Zhang Shun heard this and smiled faintly, saying, "Prince, there is no one in Batavia, but there are plenty of people in Brunei!"