Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

Hans looked at his disheveled men, the panic still lingering in his ranks. Some soldiers were still marveling at how lucky they were to have escaped with their lives.

Most people knew that Fort Zeelandia had been lost. The Spanish stronghold was short of food and water, and even the castle was dilapidated. If the enemy caught up, they would have many ways to deal with them. It was more like they had survived a little longer than that they had been given a second chance.

The remaining five hundred men, under Hans's command, kept searching for things to strengthen the fortifications and also sent men to garrison the fortress above. After a round trip, they themselves became the Spanish.

As the commander of this remnant army, Hans's current concern is how to get out alive, not how to stay alive on this land.

He looked at the ships he had previously sent to destroy in the small harbor outside the castle, and felt a pang of regret. If the ships were still in good condition, he could have simply boarded one and escaped. If he could hold out longer, he could have sent someone to request reinforcements.

Even if the ship is in good condition, calling for help is nothing more than leaving a group of people here to die while the others go off to their deaths.

Fortunately, one of the originally destroyed ships did not completely sink; only its mast was damaged.

This small sailboat became the only hope for these five hundred people.

What surprised Hans was that this small sailboat was entirely propelled by the sails; the boat was too high to be rowed.

Faced with this situation, Hans ordered his men to find whatever resources were available to repair the mast, and to do everything possible to fix it. On the other hand, he sent men to search the surrounding area, trying to find local villages and buy or seize some usable boats.

But after the men they sent out circled the area, apart from some distant ruins, they couldn't find a single person, let alone a ship.

He stood on the city wall, anxiously looking in the distance from which he had just fled, knowing that the pursuers behind him should be catching up soon.

Here, it's no different from waiting to die.

Anxious and worried, he immediately went to the harbor outside the castle, boarded a sailboat, and watched his men trying their best to repair the broken mast, but without much progress. Those who truly understood shipbuilding had stayed in Zeelandia. These men were, at best, sailors. Although they knew a little, they were far from being able to repair it.

He remembered whipping the soldier's back with the whip he used to lash the horse's rump, making the soldier scream in pain, but he dared not say anything.

I want to live! I want to live!

Chi Honghai, on the other hand, was in no hurry at all. He walked to the vicinity of the chicken coop and stopped there.

This move was puzzling to Pang San, Liu Qingjiang, and even Instructor Lang. The enemy was right in front of them, and final victory was just around the corner, so why did they stop at this moment?

Faced with everyone's doubts, Chi Honghai explained it as follows.

They have just returned from breaching the Spanish castle, and must have destroyed everything usable there. Even if they wanted to repair it, it wouldn't be able to be fixed in a short time.

What's worse is that most of the dry rations they brought for this battle have already been used up. Now they're trying to fight like cornered beasts, so why should we rush them?

After hearing Chi Honghai's explanation, everyone understood. However, everyone had one concern: the enemy was short of supplies, and we ourselves hadn't brought much dry rations with us.

"Have you forgotten the name of the city we just captured?"

"Zelandia, sir, how could I not remember?" Liu Qingjiang said.

"Will there be a shortage of food in Fort Zeelandia?" Chi Honghai looked at everyone. "When the time comes, we'll send people to transport the food from Fort Zeelandia directly here. I'd like to see what Hans is made of, and how many days he can go hungry?"

He told everyone to rest for a day and set off again the next day.

"By the way, send the order back and bring the Tianquan ship over."

"Sir, are we only operating the Tianquan ship?"

"Um."

……

The morning sun had just begun to shine on him, and the sentry on duty was still feeling very sleepy, but soon he was no longer sleepy.

Looking at the dark mass in front of me, I thought it was just a hallucination from being too sleepy, but after rubbing my eyes and looking again, I realized that it was the enemy!

The sentry hurriedly shouted, ordering everyone to go up the city walls and prepare for battle.

Hans climbed the castle and, looking through his telescope into the distance, clearly saw the figure leading the way.

"Chi Honghai? How could it be him?!"

He never expected that the force that had come was Chi Honghai! He originally thought that this group of people were reinforcements sent by the Spanish, or Zheng Zhilong's troops. After all, at that time, Zheng Zhilong did have some foreigners under his command, and even some black cotton among them.

No matter how much he guessed, he never expected that the visitor would be Chi Honghai! His former ally had betrayed him, and Hans was furious. Standing on the castle, he unleashed another torrent of curses.

But even if he curses, the other side can't hear him, and he can't do anything about it.

Chi Honghai's army arrived and surrounded Chicken Cage Castle, leaving only one side open, as if to show some leniency.

"Chi Honghai! You broke our agreement and still have the nerve to show your face in front of me!" Hans shouted.

"Oh, Governor, what's the rush? Such talk is ungentlemanly," Chi Honghai mocked.

He ignored whatever was being said inside the city, but he did not immediately issue an order to attack.

Instead, they stationed the entire force outside of firing range.

Hans understood that Chi Honghai did not intend to launch a full-scale attack, but rather wanted to wage a war of attrition against him.

He was uncertain, but looking through the binoculars, he discovered that Chi Honghai's army didn't seem to have enough food to sustain so many people, so now it was a matter of who could hold out the longest.

Two days later, everything remained calm, both inside and outside, and Hans finally became anxious.

Under the cover of night, he sent men out of the castle and into the woods. Although he had little hope, he still hoped to find some wild fruits to eat, and it would be even better if they could hunt some game in the woods.

Although the sound of firing a gun poses a risk, the risk of starving to death is even greater if one does not fire a gun.

On the third day, gunshots rang out from the forest. Hans, inside the castle, realized that his men were hunting. He was somewhat excited, as he hadn't eaten meat for some time since leaving Zeelandia.

Chi Honghai also heard the gunshot, and he naturally understood that Hans had sent men up the mountain to hunt.

Both men had their own plans, but the gunshots weren't just one, nor were they two...