Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

The master's orders could not be disobeyed, so the Tianquan opened all its gun ports and immediately unleashed a volley of fire at Fort Zeelandia.

The immense impact at the same time meant that Chi Honghai on the deck had to exert force to keep his balance.

At the highest point of the mast, a signal flag for attack was hoisted by a designated person.

The city wall was immediately dented by the bombardment, and some cracks and even gaps appeared in the severely damaged areas after this round of shelling.

Some of the less fortunate Dutchmen on the city walls were either maimed or killed by flying stones, or were particularly unlucky enough to be caught by flying cannonballs and rush over the city walls, only to be smashed into some corner of the city, leaving them a bloody mess, barely recognizable as human.

The fixed gun emplacements within Fort Zeelandia also showed no weakness, turning their cannons to bombard the Tianquan ship on the sea.

However, the hasty firing, coupled with the high accuracy requirements of artillery at long range, resulted in a rather poor hit rate. The shells landed on the surrounding sea but did not hit the hull of the Tianquan.

Furthermore, the fact that these ships specifically targeted the fortifications of other warships made the Dutch on those fortifications even more fearful and uneasy.

Although they could fight back from the gun emplacement, they were met with shells several times their own size. A wisp of white smoke appeared in the distance, followed by several black dots coming from that direction, either flying over their heads or hitting them on the side. The psychological impact was considerable. If it weren't for training, civilians would have been frozen in place with their pants soaked.

Chi Honghai's shells were not precise either, hitting from a distance. They could only be said to be aiming at the general area. As for where the shells would eventually hit, no one could say for sure. The only thing that could be guaranteed was that they would hit Fort Zeelandia.

However, the lack of precision can be compensated for by quantity. The bombardment of dozens of cannons is enough to cover the gun emplacements on the high ground of Fort Zeelandia that can threaten ships at sea. As long as they are suppressed and dealt with first, the pressure on fishing boats passing through Luermen will be much less.

Otherwise, fishing boats are not warships or reinforced sailboats. If you hit one with a cannon, the whole boat will be scrapped. Most importantly, the people on board will be submerged in the sea and lose their fighting ability.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

From the direction of Luermen, nearly a hundred ships squeezed through, splitting into two queues once again.

One force advanced directly towards the foot of Fort Zeelandia, while another pressed towards the port of Khocha. The pace of their advance and landing was remarkably orderly, with almost no congestion.

Those who had already landed did not rush to attack, but instead waited on the shore to support their brothers who were about to land, and then launched a collective attack after they had assembled.

While things were bustling outside, the situation inside the city had also changed.

Based on past training, there shouldn't be a fourth round of shelling after the first three rounds.

Liu Qingjiang immediately ordered his men to split into teams and scatter to hunt down the Dutch.

Their initial targets were the armory and the Dutch on the city walls. After the group split up, they pretended to be frantically dodging cannonballs. Taking advantage of the fact that the Dutch guarding the armory were not strong enough, they stabbed them all in the gut. Then they opened the armory door and took control of all the remaining firearms in Fort Zeelandia.

When they reached the city wall, they saw the Dutchmen looking at them with an incredulous expression.

What is unbelievable is that at this time, the Dutch were all crouching or bending over, in order to avoid cannonballs and flying stones. Some even climbed on the walls. However, after being bombarded, those who climbed on the walls, although they had no visible wounds, coughed up blood and died in agony.

Liu Qingjiang's men, however, walked briskly up to the city wall with their backs straight.

The kind-hearted Dutchman saw this and was about to pull them down to signal them to squat down quickly, otherwise the shells would come.

Liu Qingjiang showed no courtesy whatsoever to the Dutchman. He raised his long knife and cleaved the Dutchman's outstretched hand in two. Amidst the Dutchman's screams, he silenced him with another blow.

The Dutch people nearby were initially taken aback, but then immediately realized that the people in the city were the same group as those at sea!

They immediately tried to sit up, hold their muskets, and prepare to fire.

But beyond three steps, the gun was fast; within three steps, it was uncertain. Liu Qingjiang's subordinates rushed forward and hacked at the Dutchman who had not yet stood up.

When the Dutch elsewhere saw this, they tried to organize a strong counterattack, but it was too late.

Although there were still three or four hundred people in the city, the casualties and chaos caused by the shelling earlier had caused the Dutch, who outnumbered Liu Qingjiang by two, to lose their combat advantage.

Most importantly, Liu Qingjiang and his men had already established a foothold on parts of the city walls, and they also had people in some areas inside the city.

Meanwhile, the troops that landed on the sea below the city were desperately approaching the fortress.

Liu Qingjiang led his men to stand firm on the high ground while using their superior position to shoot down the Dutch soldiers below with muskets and arrows, thus providing support for his brothers who had approached the foot of the city and begun their assault.

Once the ladders from the ship were placed against the walls of the bastion, the people below began to provide cover for those climbing, holding up shields and muskets. Even so, it was almost inevitable that for every person who went up, one would die.

Liu Qingjiang and his men also realized that even if they captured Fort Zeelandia by breaking through this corner, the casualties would not be small.

He observed carefully, thinking of the city gate closest to this direction, and immediately picked up his sword, handed this place over to his subordinates, and led a group of people to rush towards the city gate.

The difficulty at the city gate wasn't the Dutch guarding the area—to be precise, there weren't many guarding there—but rather the fact that if the gate below were opened from the inside, it would be attacked from three directions. While our own troops only occupied one direction, the other two directions would still fire at and pick off enemies near the gate.

The passage of time intensifies the surge of adrenaline and inner tension.

Every minute that passed, more people died, and the Dutch army heading north moved one step closer to Fort Zeelandia.

Liu Qingjiang glanced at the shield bearers on his left and right, deciding he couldn't worry about anything else.

He gathered all the shield bearers together, while the soldiers without shields searched the surrounding area for planks or even food bags, bundled them together, and then rushed to the city gate.

The shield made a "thump, thump, thump" sound as countless bullets struck it and bounced off.

Fortunately, the city's armory was under the control of their own men, preventing the Dutch from firing the remaining cannons.

On the contrary, their own men had already finished assembling the cannons in the warehouse, and the warehouse doors were opened at this time, with a light cannon being pushed out of the warehouse.

"Bang!"

The cannon fire inside the city stunned the remaining Dutch who were stubbornly resisting.

Meanwhile, Liu Qingjiang's men had captured the city gate. As soon as the gate was opened, Liu Qingjiang rushed out and shouted at the men who were still holding ladders up to the side.

"Over here! Over here! Over here!!!"

Immediately, the group changed direction and surged into the city.