Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 333 What is this? !

Chen Si felt a little regretful.

I really regret it.

Although he now holds the hereditary title of a thousand households, the difference between him and the coolie chief in Yingtian City is huge.

But compared with his brothers who already command tens of millions of troops, he, a hereditary commander of a thousand households, is just a middle-level wealthy man and has nothing to brag about.

There was nothing that could be done about it. When His Majesty was in trouble, he had shown his disdain more than once and even had other rebellious thoughts in his mind.

Thinking about it now, not only His Majesty had already seen through it, but even the brothers could probably guess something.

"ridiculous.

How ridiculous.

A person like Your Majesty can be dethroned with just a few simple words, and a coolie leader like me who has not seen much of the world is actually thinking of using the emperor to control the princes?"

This is the only conclusion Chen Si came to after reviewing the situation again and again.

However, what people who have experienced hardship lack the least is resilience.

After realizing what an opportunity he had missed, Chen Si neither climbed to the palace gate to cry nor became depressed. Instead, he asked his former brother, the current commander of the imperial guards, to find him a job.

It is obvious that Xiang Rensheng is a sentimental person.

Even though he thought that his fourth brother shouldn't have had such thoughts in the first place, he still settled him down with Mei Chun.

The rest is simple.

There weren't many people in Meichun to begin with, and after receiving the militiamen from Yingtian, they couldn't even put up a basic structure.

And this Chen Si had at least led some people before, and he trained hard and studied seriously.

Not only did he quickly become a captain leading three squadrons, but his squadron was also one of the first troops to be equipped with self-propelled muskets.

just
"The first and second battalions, move forward 200 steps and form a battle array! The third battalion, get ready!"

"Order!"

Chen Si's 1,000-man detachment was the first to land on the island where Fort Zeelandia was located.

But unlike what was previously thought, after seeing the huge fleet, the Dutch only sent a few hundred people to garrison the high ground outside the city and did not stop the landing Ming army.

Seeing this situation, Chen Si did not take it lightly. He sent two of his general teams to the front to stand guard before sending a signal to the troop transport ships waiting behind.

He attaches great importance to this battle.

Others thought that he still had the determination to fight for a future, but he knew that apart from this, he also had the intention of competing with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, this does not mean that he still wants to "use the emperor to control the princes."

It's just that his brothers were taken away by someone else and he was left aside for such a long time. For someone like him who has fought his way through countless difficulties, it's inevitable that he wants to prove himself.

Look, even without the support of the emperor's son, I still have the ability to make a name for myself!
Therefore, during training, he, a man of official status, suffered more hardships than anyone else, and during breaks, he did not hesitate to ask the foreigners brought by the missionary for advice on tactics.

At this point, Chen Si did not dare to brag too much, but looking at the generals and officers of the Ming army, he did not think that many of them could match his attainments in firearm tactics.

"Brother Chen!"

Just as Chen Si was constantly observing the high ground in the distance, a shout came from behind him.

When he turned around, he saw a man with the same equipment as him walking towards him.

"Boss Zhao? Why are you here first?"

"Red Hair didn't make any move, so we asked Old Qian for a favor."

After hearing the words, Chen Si looked towards the beach and saw a large group of soldiers building a hanging platform.

According to the original plan, the two 1,000-man brigades of firearms should be the first to land on the island where Fort Zeelandia is located, and the artillery team would only take its turn after the landing site was stabilized.

But now, with only one captain of his company on board, the artillery team had already taken the lead, which made Chen Si speechless.

This must be extremely dangerous.

Although this landing was as smooth as going home, if the Dutch attacked now, his 1,500 new soldiers who had never seen a battle might not be able to hold out.

By then, let alone whether they can escape back to the ship, even if they are lucky enough to do so, they will definitely not escape military punishment.

Thinking of this, Chen Si wanted to say a few words, but then he thought again, these people were from the Xiaoling Guard, how could he, an outsider, have any grudge against them?
"How much effort did you put into this?"

"It's mainly because the big ones take time, but the small ones can be unloaded by three or two people. The big ones are all on a boat, and once the small ones are unloaded, the boat can go first. It won't take more than an hour to clear the beach."

After hearing these words, Chen Si felt a little relieved. He then made some changes to the defensive arrangements on the beach and turned back.

Previously, he ordered the first and second battalions to go forward for defense because the other thousand-man corps would be able to land soon, but now the situation has changed significantly, and it is reasonable for him to change his arrangements.

But to his surprise, when he was about to return to the beach after a circle, Mei Chun came over from the inner harbor in a small boat.

"Who allowed the artillery team to land first?!"

"Marshal, I don't think the red-haired guy dares to attack us."

Snapped!
"I'll let you see!"

Snapped!
"I dare you not to attack!"

Watching Mei Chun kicking him one after another, Chen Si suddenly had a headache with the lawsuit.

This kind of scene was really embarrassing for him.

Give him some advice, he is just a "newcomer" who has been here for a few months, and he may get himself involved if he is not careful.

But if you don't advise
Oh~~~~it’s difficult.

With a sigh in his heart, he finally ran forward quickly. After he got close to Mei Chun, he didn't care about anything else and simply hugged her, and then started shouting.

"Don't worry, Marshal. The red-haired men have already set up camp outside the city. It's all right!"

"Let me go! I will see if I can't kill him today."

Chen Si was no match for Mei Chun in a head-on fight, but he was extremely strong. Mei Chun struggled for a few times and then said angrily: "This guy was always a clever guy in the mausoleum, and now he is the same on the battlefield. If we don't get rid of his bad habits at once, he will definitely cause trouble in the future!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

The three were still fighting when the sound of muskets firing was heard in the distance.

Seeing this, the other two were stunned for a moment, but Chen Si immediately let go of his hands and ran directly to the place where the noise came from.

Damn!

There was no movement before, so how come he suddenly attacked us?
As the sound of muskets in his ears became clearer and clearer, Chen Si's resentment grew stronger, but he did not just greet Zhao Qian's family. Instead, he quickly thought about the current situation.

It was obvious that there were not many Dutch soldiers in Fort Zeelandia, otherwise how could they have landed safely?

Now that we are coming at night, I guess there won’t be too many people.

Thinking of this, Chen Si suddenly felt relieved. After running to the location of the third battalion, he patiently explained it again, and then ran forward at full speed. The distance of more than 200 steps was not far, and he arrived in front of the first and second battalions in just a moment.

But to his surprise, although the soldiers from the two camps continued to fire forward, there was neither anyone coming nor any fire in the darkness, as if they were fighting against the air.

"What's going on? Did you see the Dutch?"

"I saw them. There are about fifty or sixty of them."

"What about people?"

When the captain heard the question from his own captain, he didn't know how to answer.

But I had clearly seen a lot of human figures looming in the darkness before, but I didn't know where they had gone at this time.

Seeing this situation, Chen Si was naturally a little suspicious.

Although this army was well-equipped, they were essentially just new recruits, so it was inevitable that they would feel nervous as they faced a battle for the first time.

With this in mind, Chen Si stopped asking questions. But when he was about to make some more arrangements, he saw from the corner of his eye that the darkness in front of the army formation was cut by several flashes of fire, and then it fell into dead silence again.

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

"Stop! No firing!"

Chen Si's reaction was quick, but even so, his soldiers still fired a round of muskets into the darkness.

He now had some guesses that the Dutch might be planning to use this method to consume their gunpowder.

Thinking of this, Chen Si turned his head and looked at the soldiers. When he saw that the dozen or so small wooden barrels as thick as thumbs had been opened halfway, he became more certain of his guess.

These small wooden barrels are used to store gunpowder, and the gunpowder in each barrel is enough for the musket to fire once.

I heard that this was a method thought up by His Majesty so that the soldiers would not make the mistake in loading the wrong amount of gunpowder due to panic.

It has to be said that this is a very effective method. It not only shortens the time between two firings, but also effectively reduces the possibility of barrel explosion.

It’s just that the number is too small.

Forget it, let the third battalion come up and take over first.

As soon as the idea came to his mind, Chen Si planned to have the 1st and 2nd Battalions exchange their stationing positions with the 3rd Battalion. However, before he could give the order, several flashes of fire flashed in the darkness ahead, and then a shout that he could not understand at all came from the rear of the army formation.

"lading!"
-
Puyol is not a mercenary, at least he doesn't think so.

He had accompanied the Prince of Orange in the capture of Breda and had visited Antwerp several times.

If those guys in Amsterdam who only recognized gold coins had not betrayed the United Provinces, he would have been able to defeat the pure-blooded bastards of the Habsburgs under the leadership of the prince.

But the prince was ultimately unable to withstand the betrayal of his own people, and he was seriously injured outside the city of Antwerp.

Although he had to work for the East India Company to make a living, Puyol always felt that he was fighting for the United Provinces Republic.

Therefore, after receiving Kalon's order, he did not refuse, but gathered his soldiers as quickly as possible, and then took them to the high ground outside the city, ready to give the Ming natives a head-on blow.

However, Puyol had participated in so many battles that he naturally knew that underestimating the enemy was a fast track to defeat.

Especially after seeing that the Ming natives had double-decker galleons, he immediately realized that this army was not a barbarian like the Qing army.

But people's ideas always change for one reason or another.

When he saw from afar that the Ming landing troops were all composed of musketeers and did not even bring any hand-to-hand combat troops, he could no longer suppress the thoughts in his mind.

It is well known that the Musketeers are extremely powerful when facing distant enemies in dense formations.

But once the enemy suddenly approaches, the musketeer with only a fire stick will be like a lamb to be slaughtered.

You know, even in continental Europe where gunpowder weapons decide the outcome of wars, only 60 to 70 percent of a troop are musketeers.

Now these Ming people who only know how to use cold weapons dared to rely on their numerical advantage and only sent musketeers ashore. How could Puyol miss such an opportunity?
"charge!"

With a loud shout, two hundred melee soldiers armed with various weapons, led by Puyol, immediately rushed out of the darkness to the rear of the Ming army formation.

Thirty steps.

The Ming army, realizing that their retreat had been cut off, was in a panic. Even though the generals kept shouting at them, they were unable to turn the situation around.

Clearly, his strategy worked.

Under the attraction of the muskets in front and the cover of the terrain, the Ming army never expected that the enemy would rush out from the rear, and that there would be so many hand-to-hand combat soldiers.

Seeing this situation, Puyol was not too excited. He used his pace to barely maintain the formation from being too scattered, while carefully looking for the position that was most likely to become a breakthrough point.

Twenty steps.

As Puyol and his melee soldiers approached, the Ming generals seemed to have given up the idea of ​​adjusting the military formation, and the Ming soldiers also stopped.

Is this a complete abandonment?

But why didn't they run away, but instead kept groping around their waists?

Is this the Ming people's unique way of surrender?
It seems I haven't heard of it.

Never mind, let’s defeat them first and then talk about other things.

Thinking of this, Puyol immediately dispelled all distracting thoughts in his mind.

When he was only ten steps away from the Ming army, he shouted and moved the weapon in his hand to the easiest position for chopping.

"Prepare!"

As the news spread, Dutch soldiers on the entire front line raised their weapons, which were shining with cold light.

But when Puyol couldn't help but imagine the scene of Ming soldiers being killed, a cold light flashed across his sight.

Then he saw the Ming soldiers draw short blades from their waists and press them against the barrels of their muskets.

what is this?
Why have I never seen it?
The doubts in Puyol's heart did not slow down the speed of the Ming soldiers. When there were only four or five steps left between the two sides, the lamb to be slaughtered in his heart actually turned into a spear.

Then, a not-so-regular gun formation appeared in front of him.

"kill!!!"

"aanval!!!"

Although the two languages ​​are completely different, there is no essential difference in the meanings they express.

However, the Dutch melee soldiers were only equipped with simple leather armor, while the Ming army soldiers were wrapped in cotton armor all over their bodies.

After just one encounter, more than a dozen Dutch soldiers who raided the Ming army were knocked down.

At this point, Puyol finally understood why the Ming army musketeers had no melee soldiers by their side.

just
"Surround them! Don't let the red-haired man escape!"

(End of this chapter)