Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

The fighting at Fort Zeelandia was fierce, while the area around Wachau Port was captured by Pang San's forces with little resistance.

The Dutch who were stationed at Hecha Port had already retreated to Chikan Castle.

Meanwhile, inside the Chikan Castle, both sides were completely bewildered, unsure of who was attacking. Was it the Spanish?

But when Liu Qingjiang's troops climbed the city wall and looked out, they saw the Tianquan ship anchored at sea in the distance.

"Isn't that the Tianquan? It seems to belong to Master Chi?"

"Master Chi? Wasn't he cooperating with these Dutchmen? How come he suddenly started fighting with them?"

"Look at the troops pressing in from outside. Aren't they all our men? Master Chi is definitely going to teach these Dutchmen a lesson."

"..."

After everyone saw it, the news spread to all the Easterners in Chikan City.

Everyone understood that it was time to turn hostile and take action.

They first identified the location of the cannons in Chikan City, and then divided the brothers into several small teams to sneak up to the cannon positions.

Along the way, the Dutch in Chikan City did not fully realize that the Easterners inside the city and the Easterners outside the city were in cahoots. After all, they had seen scenes of Easterners fighting each other before.

Once the Easterners were standing near the cannon positions in the city, they looked at each other, nodded, and immediately began to fight, taking control of the cannons.

By the time the Dutch realized what was happening, the cannons had already been turned around and were firing at the Dutch positions in the city. Combined with the fire from the muskets, the Dutch in the city suffered heavy losses in a short time and had almost no strength left to resist.

But after a round of shelling, the Dutch took advantage of the lull to regroup and began firing and moving toward the fort, attempting to regain control of it.

But what's lost is not so easily taken back.

Each of the gun emplacements was supported by two heavy shields, which ordinary musket bullets could not penetrate. They would only make a "thump thump thump" sound before the bullets lost power and fell to the ground.

The Dutch, who pressed forward, didn't gain much advantage either.

Faced with the charge of the light shield and the slash of the long sword, even if you just reacted, the person with the spear immediately thrust forward the next second.

For a time, the Dutch in Chikan could only huddle in some towers and corners to avoid the bombardment of the fortresses, putting up a last-ditch resistance and hoping that reinforcements from the direction of Fort Zeelandia would arrive to relieve the siege.

Despite their prayers, the soldiers inside the castle witnessed a group of ships landing at Fort Zeelandia, which then suffered the heaviest artillery bombardment.

At this moment, the only thing they could pray to was God, who was powerless to do anything.

Pang San led his men, carrying ladders, and rushed to the front of Chikan City. Along the way, he found that apart from some muskets, his men had not been attacked by cannons.

Upon getting closer, he saw that the faces on the cannon platform were already his own, and only then did he understand Master Chi's original intention.

With the ladder successfully erected, the Dutchmen in Chikan Tower, seeing this, lost all will to resist and surrendered immediately.

Right now, only the enemy at Fort Zeelandia is still struggling to hold on, but holding on is useless.

Chi Honghai, observing the development of the entire battle from the deck, immediately ordered the Tianquan to dock.

"Sir, isn't this dangerous?" his subordinate reminded him.

"Danger? Which of the brothers here isn't in danger!"

As the Tianquan ship docked, Chi Honghai led his men to attack Fort Zeelandia. The hundreds of Dutchmen inside the city, despite holding a partial advantage, were helpless against the thousands of men.

After a couple of rounds of gunfire, they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The soldiers behind them told them that the Chikan Castle seemed to have been lost. Upon hearing this news, the remaining enemy immediately lost their will to fight and surrendered.

Chi Honghai walked into Fort Zeelandia and looked at everything inside. Everything he had ever wanted was now right in front of him.

He was incredibly excited, but he didn't show much emotion on his face.

He walked up to the Dutchmen and looked at them.

"Traitor! Traitor! You traitor! God will punish you severely!"

"You wretch! We helped you so much! And you betrayed our contract! You have no integrity whatsoever!"

Faced with the Dutch criticism, Chi Honghai remained calm and responded to each point.

"I am a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty does not believe in God, so your God cannot punish me."

"Furthermore, I have not broken my contract with you."

Hearing Chi Honghai's words, the Dutchman's face turned as red as a monkey's butt: "Bullshit! You were the one who signed the contract! You! You slut!"

"The person who signed the contract is indeed me, but you signed the contract with the Guangzhou government, and I am not from the Guangzhou government, do you understand?"

"Take him away!"

All the Dutch in the city were arrested, and the surviving artisans and merchants were also imprisoned without exception.

Chi Honghai was well aware that the reason they were able to occupy Fort Zeelandia so easily was not only because they had their own inside agents in the city, but also because their main force had gone to cause trouble for the Spanish.

We've only gained a foothold here, but we haven't established a firm foothold yet.

Even though their numbers outnumbered the army led by that old man Hans, they still could not let their guard down.

According to his own prediction, Hans should have captured the Spanish stronghold and was heading towards Fort Zeelandia at this time, which would lead to two possibilities.

The best-case scenario, of course, would be that they conveniently destroyed the Spanish stronghold in the north. In that case, with both the north and the south lost, their more than a thousand men would have nowhere to go. Staying on the island would mean not only no chance of turning the tide, but also no possibility of establishing a foothold again.

However, if the other side fails to destroy the chicken coop's stronghold, then the situation will be different.

When Hans discovered that the south had been completely lost, even though he was furious, he dared not attack. No one wanted to directly confront the bastion in this era, especially the Westerners.

He will definitely lead his army back to Keelung, using Keelung as a base to fight against Chi Honghai.

Chi Honghai absolutely cannot accept this situation.

There are enemies on the island, and the other side is about to become enemies. Neither force should be underestimated, and we absolutely cannot accept that there are people other than ourselves on the island.

"Gather the troops, leave some in Fort Zeelandia and Fort Chikan, and the rest shall set off from the north immediately."

Just as everyone was filled with joy, the old man's words brought them back to their senses and they quieted down.

After assigning personnel and replenishing their food and ammunition, the 10,000-strong force marched from Fort Zeelandia towards Keelung.

The troop strength this time was comparable to ten to one, and Chi Honghai had never fought such a well-funded battle in his eight lifetimes.