Late Ming Dynasty: The Counterattack Begins with Sea Pirates

As both sides gazed upon the Tier III battleship, the most excited were undoubtedly the Dutchmen inside the castle.

Seeing the enormous vessel suddenly approaching, Hans and the others were filled with excitement and smug satisfaction.

In their view, it was absolutely impossible for Chi Honghai to possess this third-class battleship; such a thing could only exist in the West, so it must belong to their own fleet.

It must have been their own people who sent reinforcements of battleships, and after arriving at Fort Zeelandia, they discovered this situation.

By this time, Fort Zeelandia should have already been recaptured by their own people! Otherwise, why would they have driven directly to Keelung to provide relief?

In response, Hans also spread the word throughout the city, telling his soldiers that reinforcements had arrived and that Fort Zeelandia had been recaptured.

Cheers erupted throughout the city.

"Sir, what are they shouting about in the city? Are they going crazy because they're about to die?" Pang San asked, listening to the commotion in the city and watching the Dutch cheering on the walls.

"I think so?" Chi Honghai grinned. He knew perfectly well why the city was suddenly so cheerful. "Didn't we see that ship coming?"

"That ship?" Pang San asked, puzzled.

"They believe that the Tianquan belongs to them."

"Bullshit!"

As Pang San said, everything Hans and his subordinates thought was bullshit.

They were so caught up in the joy of the reinforcements that they didn't even have time to see what flag was hanging at the stern of the Tianquan.

Overjoyed, Hans stood atop the city wall and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Chi Honghai! Do you see that? These Tier III battleships are already here! Aren't you going to surrender?"

Chi Honghai also shouted back.

"You're the one who's surrounded, so how come I'm the one who surrendered?"

"Haha, you still haven't seen it clearly? This ship can see this far! That means Fort Zeelandia has fallen! You have nowhere to stay here, so shouldn't it be your turn to surrender? Otherwise, wait for those ship cannons to blast you all to smithereens?"

Chi Honghai turned to look at the third-tier battleship, showing no sign of panic: "You mean the one at sea?"

"You've never experienced its power! But you'll see how formidable it is when it fires."

After hearing Hans's words, Chi Honghai burst into laughter, leaving the other side completely bewildered. Could it be that he had gone mad at the last minute?

Whether he goes crazy or not is none of my business; what I want is for him to die here today.

"I haven't experienced it before, but you will in time."

Even now, Hans still doesn't understand what Chi Honghai is saying. He simply thinks that seeing this behemoth has broken down his mental defenses, which is why he reacted this way.

After a while, the Tier III battleship sailed to the sea near Chicken Coop Castle. Hans looked at the ship with a smug expression, as if he had just won the lottery, and he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

But soon, the third-rate battleship turned sideways and aimed itself at him.

This move left everyone in the city feeling uneasy and their minds blank.

What is this for?

Hans, still clinging to his last shred of reason, couldn't believe that the ship's cannons were pointed at him. He picked up his binoculars, wanting to take a closer look.

I finally saw the flag at the stern clearly; it was a pure black flag.

Not the tricolor flag? Not the tricolor flag? Not the tricolor flag?

Hans put down the telescope, wiped his eyes, and looked with the naked eye only.

It's not the tricolor flag!

So this third-tier battleship!? It belongs to Chi Honghai?

"Did you see clearly, Governor Hans? Whose ship is this? Who wants to experience its power?"

Chi Honghai's sarcasm lingered in his ears, and Hans's spirits instantly vanished.

He wasn't the only one aware of this news; the black sails on the ship were clearly visible, and the cannons pushed out of the gun ports were aimed directly in his direction.

Inside the castle, all the soldiers looked up at the sky, praying for God's blessing; this was the last thing they could do.

Of course, there is another type, which is upheaval.

Hans knew that the only way to survive was to surrender.

If he continued to order resistance, even if he wasn't killed in one salvo by those third-tier battleships, his subordinates might stab him and use him as a pledge of allegiance to Chi Honghai, forcing him to surrender the city.

Before the artillery fire starts, it's still not too late to surrender.

With a loud crash, the castle gates opened, and a white flag was raised atop the castle walls.

Upon seeing this, Chi Honghai stopped and prepared to give the order to fire at the distant Tianquan.

Watching the group of Dutch soldiers, dejected, raise their muskets high above their heads as they left the city, they lined up in two rows in an open space, awaiting their fate.

"Pang San, go and disarm them."

"Yes, sir."

After their weapons were removed, the five hundred men were taken away in batches. Chi Honghai walked up to Hans and pretended to be puzzled.

"Have you ever witnessed its power?"

Hans glared at Chi Honghai with resentment, but did not reply.

"If you haven't seen it before, why don't you withstand two rounds of it? Why are you in such a hurry to surrender? I still want to see its power."

After making his sarcastic remarks, Hans was led away.

At this moment, Liu Qingjiang leaned over and asked, "Master, shouldn't we kill this scoundrel?"

"Kill, but not now."

Liu Qingjiang nodded and then looked at the group of indigenous people.

"Sir, what should we do with them?"

"Ask them if they'd like to come with us, then they won't have to live on the mountain anymore. You know our conditions here, just tell them."

Liu Qingjiang received the instructions, ran over happily, and began to relay them to the group of indigenous people.

Then another cheer came from not far away.

But these indigenous people all went back up the mountain, which puzzled Chi Honghai.

When Liu Qingjiang returned, he asked him, "These people don't want to come with us?"

"No, no, no, sir," Liu Qingjiang quickly explained, "There are still many of them on the mountain. I told them we would meet at Zeelandia."

This approach is not inappropriate, since the main base will be in Fort Zeelandia anyway, and the newly conquered city will need to be redeveloped.

We can't just forget about our old home once we have a new one and bring all the people from Hong Kong Island over, can we? It's been a long and difficult process to develop that area.

With this group of people here, they can help me to vigorously develop this area.

Most importantly, whether they were native inhabitants or migrants, they were all subjects of the Ming Dynasty, sharing the same bloodline, thus eliminating internal and external conflicts.

With the forces effectively integrated, there's no need to worry too much about someone causing trouble every now and then.

Looking at the castle at the chicken coop, Chi Honghai issued an order.

One thousand people were to remain here, living permanently in Chicken Cage City, and the previously abandoned strongholds were to be gradually restored.

Then, he led his troops toward Fort Zeelandia.