Southern Ming Rebel Army

As the saying goes, you can tell whether it is a mule or a horse by taking it out for a walk. Qin Wenxuan's words were decisive, and Meng Jun did not have many talented people who could manage the river, so Meng Jun decided to let Qin Wenxuan give it a try.

Afterwards, Meng Jun issued an imperial decree, appointing Qin Wenxuan as the general manager of rivers, specifically in charge of the construction of the Qiantang River embankment. He also gave him a secret box, allowing Qin Wenxuan to deliver it directly to the emperor. Officials from various departments and the cabinet had no right to read the contents.

Before leaving, Meng Jun looked at the other side of Haining, and he recalled the battle of Qiantang River in the past. In that battle, it rained heavily, and all the soldiers fought bravely. In one battle, the Bolo camp was defeated. It was a pity that Bizhi also died in that battle.

In the eighth year of Zhaowu, at the beginning of February, Meng Jun's first southern tour ended at Haining. As for the prosperous Hangzhou in the south, Meng Jun no longer had the heart to inspect it. It had been nearly a year since he left Beijing, and Meng Jun was somewhat worried about the capital. So on the tenth day of February, Meng Jun formally gave the order to set off back to the north.

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Just as the emperor finished his southern tour and returned to the north, Zheng Chenggong in Batavia finally received reinforcements from the Brunei Kingdom.

After the envoys arrived at the capital of Brunei by speedboat, the Brunei Sultan Bolkiah Mahan heard that the Prince of Nan'an of the Celestial Empire needed some strong men, and he was overjoyed.

The Celestial Empire had helped him quell the rebellion selflessly. Now, because they were far away, he needed to recruit some laborers nearby. Ma Han, who was worried about not having a chance to repay the Celestial Empire, immediately patted his chest and agreed.

Afterwards, Brunei quickly mobilized an army of about 3,000 people and recruited about 9,000 men in the capital. Mahan said that the money and food for these people would be borne by Brunei alone.

When the reinforcements from Brunei arrived, Zheng Chenggong told them that he had only one request: to fill the trenches.

During the days of waiting, Zheng Chenggong had prepared a large number of sandbags and logs under the city of Batavia, and he would start filling the river as soon as the laborers arrived.

Although Zheng Chenggong used the civilians of Brunei as cannon fodder, the normal process of the battle still had to be followed. Once the war started, there was a blast of artillery fire and the momentum was terrifying.

Many of the soldiers and civilians from Brunei were seeing such a large-scale artillery attack for the first time. All they heard was deafening artillery fire, accompanied by huge shells hitting the bastions, with flames shooting up into the sky and earth and rocks flying everywhere.

Such a scene was enough to scare them to death. The local soldiers looked towards the Qian army formation with awe in their eyes. They privately marveled at the powerful strength of the Celestial Empire, which was simply beyond their imagination.

Following an order, the soldiers began to carry heavy sandbags and logs, shouting in disarray, and running at such a speed that one could only wish their parents had given them two more legs.

Before approaching the second trench, muskets fired from the top of the bastion and bullets rained down. The soldiers walking in the front were hit by firearms from time to time. Those who were shot fell down with screams. Some people saw this tragic scene and fled back in fear.

But even if those who escaped dodged the bullets, they could not escape the Qian Army's supervisory team in the rear. These people were all regarded as deserters and beheaded on the spot. Their heads were also hung on the flagpole where the sandbags were transported.

At the same time, the translator kept shouting, "Military orders are as strong as a mountain. Anyone who dares to run will be killed without mercy!"

These civilians had no idea that war was so cruel. If they advanced, they might die, but if they retreated, they would certainly die. Some were frightened and became insane, while others ran forward madly, shouting and screaming.

There were more than 600 laborers in the first wave of filling the trench. After most of them had thrown sandbags and logs, only about 300 people returned to the rear.

The officer in charge of filling the river waved his hand, and the second wave of laborers rushed forward. They all saw the scene of the laborers who had just retreated being killed. Although everyone was afraid, they also knew that they had to throw sandbags into the river no matter what. Only in this way could they save their lives.

Therefore, the second wave of civilians did not dare to stop, and continued to move forward even if they had to step on the corpses of their companions. However, the Dutch defenders on the bastion also knew the importance of this trench, and they poured firearms madly downwards.

Wave after wave of bullets penetrated the bodies of the civilians. Some of them had just thrown down their sandbags and before they could even rejoice, they were hit in the chest and struggled to the side of the trench.

The trench was soon filled with corpses, and blood gathered into a river, flowing into the river along the terrain, and the water in the trench was also dyed red.

The second wave, the third wave, the fourth wave, the fifth wave... until dusk, when the afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the bloody battlefield, dyeing everything red.

At this time, from the sandbag pile to the front of the trench, there were corpses everywhere, and the blood even gathered into puddles in the low-lying areas.

Despite heavy casualties, the trench-filling operation continued. When each wave of laborers set out, there was fear in everyone's eyes, but they knew that retreating would be a dead end, so they could only bite the bullet and rush forward.

As it grew darker, Zheng Chenggong thought that the darkness would affect his vision, so he ordered a halt to the filling of the trenches.

Those soldiers and civilians who had managed to survive collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Their eyes showed their relief at surviving the disaster, as well as their fear of the battlefield.

Zheng Chenggong stood on a high place and said to Zhang Shun with a smile: "Fortunately, we have these civilians, otherwise our soldiers would have been wasted in filling the trenches."

Zhang Shun nodded and said, "As long as the trench is filled, this low bastion can be broken by a strong attack by the army!"

At this time, the personal guard came to report that the general of Brunei's reinforcements wanted to see the prince.

Zhang Shun laughed and said, "They must be here to report today's casualties. I think the Brunei people want to retreat."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chenggong snorted coldly and said, "We have helped Brunei to quell the rebellion. Today, we will lose at most 2,000 men. Why should we retreat?"

Zheng Chenggong said this, but when he saw the general of Brunei, he asked with a smile what the reason was for wanting to see him.

The Brunei general was accompanied by an interpreter, and Zheng Chenggong looked at the general with an embarrassed expression. He heard the interpreter's words: "Prince, our country sent troops here to serve the Celestial Empire, but the casualties in today's battle were too heavy, so...so I hope that Prince can let us rest for a while."

Zheng Chenggong nodded and said, "You have done your best in today's battle. I will write to the court to ask for credit for Brunei. But we cannot just rest. Batavia is of great importance. If we can conquer this place, the Western Barbarians' strongholds in Southeast Asia will be lost, which will be of great benefit to the stability of Brunei. I hope the general can comfort the soldiers. Tomorrow, our army will fully cooperate and strive to fill the trenches and capture the bastions as soon as possible."

After hearing the interpreter's words, the Brunei general could only nod his head. Although the battle was fierce, they could not just leave after arriving. So the Brunei general could only turn around and return to the camp. He wanted to go back to appease the people and stabilize the morale of the army.