Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 119 Governor-General Koichi, reinforcements have arrived

August 1661, Yizhou.

Fort Zeelandia has been under siege for four months.

One difficult night, a Dutch soldier hurried from the bunker to the castle, shouting:
"Reinforcements are coming, reinforcements are coming. I see four ships appearing on the horizon."

Upon hearing the sound, Kiichi and the parliamentarians and officers immediately climbed the stairs and stood on the high ground, looking to the south.

However, there were only some white clouds floating on the horizon as usual.

By the next morning, the Dutch were still disappointed to find nothing at sea.

Facing the rebuke of the parliamentarians, the Dutch soldier swore:

"Indeed, I saw four Dutch ships. They were not big-bellied merchant ships, but warships armed with artillery."

"I could even see the mizzen sail clearly. Not only me, but also the three soldiers standing guard with me saw it."

Kiichi said helplessly to the councilors and officers, "It seems God is still testing us."

“God’s mercy has not yet come to us.”

The Dutch were silent for a moment.

Many people have already lost hope.

How can God show His mercy?
Formosa Island has become a God-forsaken land, and God has pointed his sword of condemnation here.

Let those Chinese enemies destroy the churches they worked so hard to build and kill and imprison the Dutch.

Perhaps it was a punishment for not siding with the Pope during the Thirty Years' War.

In four months, Fort Zeelandia had only welcomed one Dutch ship.

Or they were sent by Batavia to arrest them.

Because VanderLan and Felberg slandered them, saying that they were mistreating the Han people and exaggerating the threat of attack from the Grand Master.

Batavia dismissed all the leading officials of Formosa and brought them back to Batavia for trial.

What’s funny is that the congressman who came to take over the position of governor disappeared the next day after he found out that Koxinga had actually attacked and occupied Formosa Island.

Kiichi did not punish the soldier who falsely reported reinforcements.

Fort Zeelandia has been suffering.

Suffering together with Koxinga of Provintia.

Both sides were short of food and disease was rampant.

Even the king of the East China Sea Kingdom has gone crazy, so it is normal for the soldiers to be a little dazed.

In fact, soldiers have falsely reported reinforcements more than ten times in the past four months, but it has become more frequent recently.

Walking down the stairs of the bunker, without the sea breeze blowing on his face, the stench of the city immediately hit Kiichi.

Fort Zeelandia, which could only accommodate more than 700 people, is now crowded with more than 2,000 people.

This was after the Dutch had only accepted women and children from the suburbs outside the city. Except for the last Fort Zeelandia, all the Dutch on Formosa Island had become captives of Koxinga.

At least people in the city could still eat their fill, as Koxinga, who had long been short of food, had already starved many Dutch prisoners to death.

But Fort Zeelandia was still short of food, and the Dutch, with only rice and venison, could not maintain the nutritional needs of the human body.

Scurvy and beriberi were common, and almost everyone had some symptoms.

There are more than 500 seriously ill patients in the hospital.

It was originally used to store pepper and cloves, but now serves as the hospital's spice warehouse. Patients are unable to empty their chamber pots, and feces and urine are everywhere.

Coupled with the hot summer, local fevers are becoming more rampant.

Perhaps before Koxinga conquers the city, Zeelandia will become a dead city.

Kiichi's face was gloomy, and he prayed again with the parliamentarians.

Pray to Almighty God to bless the soldiers with weapons, grant health to the sick, and bless the ships from Batavia to arrive safely.

After the prayers, Kiichi convened a council in the castle.

Koichi took out a letter from Koxinga urging him to surrender:

"The horses that are besieging us outside the city have brought us a letter from Koxinga."

"The cunning and arrogant Koxinga actually said he had never thought of conquering Fort Zeelandia."

"He couldn't do it even if he wanted to."

Kiichi stared intently at several members of parliament who had wanted to surrender since the defeat at the start of the war:
"The Renaissance bastion that God has given us Europeans has never been breached by the enemy." "It is even less likely that the pagans in the East will be able to breach this fortress."

"If you ask me, even if all of Koxinga's soldiers starved to death, he still couldn't capture Fort Zeelandia."

Some Dutch officers wanted to say that the Persians had captured the Portuguese bastion.

But when he met the fierce look in Governor-General Koichi's eyes, he swallowed his words back.

The Formosa councillors were discussing this.

Both the Dutch and Koxinga knew that Zeelandia had follow-up reinforcements.

But I don’t know when the reinforcements will arrive and who will come?
It is a merchant ship that comes to the East China Sea to trade on the south wind.

It was the Maria that sailed south to seek help, and reinforcements were sent from Batavia.

As Koxinga said, Formosa Island is now completely occupied by them.

Even if there were more than a dozen warships and one or two thousand Dutch soldiers, it would be difficult to land and fight Koxinga.

The only thing that Kiichi and his men are holding on to now is the information gap.

Koxinga believed that the Dutch were now facing headwinds and could not seek help, and would have to wait until the winter north winds moved south. Reinforcements from Batavia would not arrive until at least next year.

But they knew that the Maria had sailed successfully against the wind under God's protection.

With the south wind, reinforcements will arrive in the summer.

"Koxinga knows nothing about the One True God," roared Koichi.

"He has given us, the Dutch, this powerful castle and brave soldiers. Even if the blockade continues for another year, Koxinga will not be able to harm us at all."

The governor's secretary took out Koichi's reply and read it aloud to many members of parliament.

After hearing this, the parliamentarians gritted their teeth.

The soldiers are crazy, Koxinga is crazy, and you, Kiichi, are crazy too.

Why reveal the Maria's affairs to the enemy?

"We can't tell the King that Batavia will send reinforcements, or he will attack us immediately."

Another council member nodded in agreement. "Indeed, when the reinforcements arrive, Koxinga will realize that he cannot defeat God's followers."

"He might be surprised, shocked, or even scared."

"Besides, if the reinforcements don't arrive, telling Koxinga would just make him laugh."

"In the name of God, condemn him and tell him that God will take revenge on the Netherlands."

After sending the letter to angrily denounce Koxinga, Koichi continued to suffer with the soldiers and civilians of Zeelandia.

Another week of enduring the scorching heat.

On a sunny and cloudless day, the Dutch soldiers on the fort shouted loudly, alarming Kiichi and the parliamentarians.

"Reinforcements are coming, Your Excellency the Governor, reinforcements are coming!"

Countless people hurried up the stairs, crowded on the parapet, and looked at the more than 30 ships on the sea.

Under the enemy siege, the Dutch people who had held out for four months hugged each other and cried.

Many people knelt on the ground to thank God for his grace and protection.

Kiichi leaned his hands on the city wall and opened his eyes wide, fearing that it was his own hallucination.

Then I used a telescope to see that the ships were flying the Dutch flag.

After being tense for over a year, Kiichi finally breathed a sigh of relief:

"It's a good thing those idiots in Batavia weren't stupid enough to give up Formosa, even if they had fewer warships."

"The gunpowder, rice, and wine on those merchant ships are enough for me to continue defending."

Kiichi made the sign of the cross on his chest and said, "Thanks to Almighty God, we have waited for such a large reinforcement."

"May your holy name be praised forever."

……

Zhu Cixuan held up a telescope and looked at the Dutch in Fort Zeelandia.

Why is there another fortress?
Zheng Yanping hasn't recovered all of Yizhou yet?
Zhu Cixuan waved to the Dutch on the castle:
"Your God has sent his two sons to help you."

(End of this chapter)