Li Dingguo stood by the sea and observed the city of Zeelandia on the island with binoculars.
The island is located at the estuary of the river. It is a sandbar alluvial by the Taijiang River, which is somewhat similar to Chongming Island.
On one side of the island is the castle, and on the other side is the residential area.
Li Dingguo could only see the outside of the castle, but couldn't see what was inside. But just the peripheral defense gave Li Dingguo a headache,
It's this kind of bloodbath group again.
Yes, Bastions!
There is an earth slope on the outermost periphery, and the second defense is the city wall.
The front building has a semicircle fort and two prismatic firepower platforms on the side. This is the office of the governor and officials of Taiwan. Once the siege party breaks through here, all personnel can withdraw inside.
The first line of defense inside is a semi-circular fort on each side, the four corners are all prismatic enemy towers, and there is a square firepower tower on the front.
There is a second line of defense inside, a total of two semi-circular forts, with four bastions at the four corners.
There is almost no difference between sending 10,000 people to attack such a well-designed bastion group and sending 100,000 people to attack. .
The siege artillery of the seventeenth century could not be forcibly destroyed. It was nothing more than filling with human lives and using human lives to consume the ammunition of the defenders. Digging a B-shaped tunnel is useless, at most it can break through a few outer defenses. After attacking, there is no way to dig a hole. The four innermost bastions and one half-round fort are too unreasonable.
"If we attack by force, I am afraid that one of our divisions will have more than half of the casualties to attack. This is because the number of defenders is not large, otherwise it is useless to fight a division." Li Dingguo sighed.
Wu Hualong said: "The general has been here for a few years. The red-haired ghost's Taiwan City (Zelandia City) has only been built for a few years. The outer semi-circle city wall (Semi-Circle Fort) was also built at that time. Some angular walls (bastions) of the upper city were also added.'
Li Dingguo said: "If you don't fight, you have to fight. You can only besiege the city and fight for reinforcements, forcing the defenders to surrender after running out of food."
Wu Hualong said: "I'm afraid it will take more than half a year to be surrounded. There are wells in the city and a lot of food." After speaking, Wu Hualong was very angry, "If I knew this, I shouldn't have helped the red-haired ghost build the city!"
? For the entire Zeelandia Bastion Group, the Tainan Han people were the main builders, and the local aborigines cooperated in the coolie work. The Dutch colonists only needed to design and command.
At this moment, a group of aborigines came to Chixian City.
They wore linen trousers, most of the men were topless, and the women covered their chests with a piece of cloth. Moreover, all of them are sallow and emaciated, which can be seen as long-term malnutrition.
Li Dingguo went to meet the leader, and Wu Hualong introduced: "This is the aborigine of Huweilong. More than ten years ago, the red-haired ghosts sent troops to attack, burned all their houses, and robbed them of all their food. A large tribe of thousands of people , Nearly half of them died of starvation that year, and after that, they could only honestly feed the red-haired ghost.
The leader was very excited to see Li Dingguo, wow, danced and danced, and finally leaned on an earthen spear and knelt down to Li Dingguo on one knee.
Wu Hualong translated and said: "This is Uma, the patriarch of Huweilong. He heard that the general led troops to attack the red-haired ghosts. He brought all the clan members who can fight. These women and children can also fight, although they usually don't have enough to eat. But they have been insisting on practicing their skills, just waiting for the day when they can kill the red-haired ghosts for revenge. If the general looks down on them, they can help move things. When attacking the city, they can also rush to the forefront.
Li Dingguo looked at these aborigines. They were ragged and emaciated, but even the old and weak women and children looked at him expectantly.
These people really came to fight, and they were determined to die.
Li Dingguo suddenly stopped complaining about Wu Hualong. The Han people must have been forced to die for their early uprising. Just like these natives, if there is hope of revenge, they will fight even if they die.
Because if you don't fight, you will die sooner or later, and you will be exploited by the Dutch until you die!
After pacifying the aborigines, Qian Huanyong, the chief missionary officer, pulled Li Dingguo aside and said, "The people's hearts are available, so we can send people back and contact the navy. The nearby sea is blocked and the Dutch are not allowed to transport food and supplies from other places. Then , Our army has transported food so far, and distributed some to the Han people and indigenous people to help them tide over the difficulties.
"If we distribute food to the common people, we may not have enough food," Li Dingguo said.
Qian Huanyong came up with an idea: "Your Majesty treats the families of the soldiers preferentially. The first batch of more than 3,000 people who migrated here, each household has food donated by the imperial court.
The family members themselves also brought food reserves. Talk to the soldiers and their families and let them borrow the food and return it after the imperial court replenishes the army food.
Li Dingguo nodded and said: "This plan is feasible."
If it is placed at the end of the Ming Dynasty, let aloneEven if there were rumors about the soldiers asking for food, the entire army would be full of resentment, and there might even be a direct mutiny.
However, the Datong court, both the government and the army, has always had a very good reputation.
? If it is a loan, it is a loan, and it is absolutely impossible to renege on the debt.
Today, the salaries of officials are paid with official tickets, and the military pay of soldiers is paid with military tickets. Both kinds of tickets can be cashed at the nearest Datong Bank. Due to the extremely high credibility of the imperial court, officials and soldiers have the habit of storing bills, unlike in the beginning when they get the bills and redeem them. Because of this, in the face of successive years of natural disasters, Zhao Han can continue to send troops to fight, and not Increase the exploitation of the people.
You must know that due to the severe damage in Henan and Shandong provinces, only half of the land tax is collected for all land, and the collection of full land tax will not be resumed until next year. Many prefectures and counties in Beiping, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Liaoning, Yunnan, and Guizhou are also in the state of land tax reduction and exemption.
Especially in Hebei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaoning, and Beiping, the policy of free land tax will continue for several years!
Even Mao Pijiang, an outcast scholar who could not understand Zhao Han's policy of seizing land from landlords, couldn't help feeling: "Since ancient times, the emperor's benevolent government has not been as good as that of the current dynasty. How fortunate are farmers.
The Annan Zheng family, with a population of 3 million, can support more than 50,000 standing troops (one-third of the land is used to support the clan and nobles, and officials, scholars and soldiers do not pay taxes). The Annan Nguyen family has a population of 1 million and can support more than 20,000 standing troops. Annan Mo's family has a population of 100,000 and can support 8,000 standing troops.
However, with a population of 90 million, Zhao Han only supported 200,000 troops, and he often lamented that the military food was not enough. It is because in a large number of provinces, the land tax is either halved, or not collected at all, and money and food have to be allocated for disaster relief, and money and food continue to be spent on immigration.
Qian Huanyong continued: "While using military rations to help the Han people and the indigenous people, let the missionary officers in the army temporarily act as local officials, and first set up the official shelf here. Especially the indigenous people, I heard that there are more than 200 tribes around There are thousands of people in large tribes and only one or two hundred people in small tribes. You can ask local Han people to be general guides.
?While going into the mountains to distribute food relief to the aborigines, while preaching policies to establish villages and towns. Village and town chiefs are all appointed by local people to avoid conflicts. In this way, before the enemy's castle is surrounded, the people here will be used by me!
"Okay, you can handle this matter." Li Dingguo was very good at fighting, but he was so-so in governing the people.
The places that have just been conquered are automatically regarded as military-administered areas, and the army can temporarily appoint officials until the court gives corresponding instructions.
A few days later, Wan Bangyan came with the Taiwan fleet and cruised to blockade the waters near the city of Zeelandia. They didn't dare to get too close. Each bastion of Zeelandia City was equipped with 12 city defense guns. There were nearly a hundred guns in total, which could bombard the sea from all angles.
Similarly, the Dutch warships did not dare to sail out of the port.
Of the four Dutch warships, one went to Batavia to rescue troops. The remaining three ships dare not be tough with the more than 30 ships of the Datong Navy.
After blocking the sea area, they began to transport grain to Chixian City. Every time, the time of high tide is pinched, and with the help of the tide, it lands at Luermen, and continuously transports grain to the Han people and aborigines.
As for the soldiers and their families, this year they will have to tighten their belts to live a hard life before the army rations and supplies arrive from the mainland.
But the effort is worth it, and it pays off immediately.
The Han people and aborigines in Tainan are increasingly exploited by the Netherlands. When the Datong Army came, even if they just announced tax exemption for this year, they would all be grateful, not to mention sending food relief.
The nearby indigenous leaders spontaneously gathered for a meeting, and then came to thank them together.
In front of Li Zicheng, they huffed and knelt on the ground. Mo Na had killed the leader supported by the Dutch, and became the patriarch of the Madou Society himself. He knelt in front of him and said in Chinese: "The general is our great benefactor. From now on, the deer skins we hunt will only be sold to the general. The grain we grow will also be paid to the general. If the general is short of people If you want to fight, just let us know, even if there are not enough warriors, the women in the clan are willing to fight for the general!"
Li Dingguo quickly helped him up, and said to the other leaders: "Brothers, please get up quickly. His Majesty the Emperor said that all people in the world are brothers.
The Han people are elder brothers, and you are all younger brothers. It is the elder brother's responsibility to help the younger brother tide over the difficulties, so why should the younger brothers kneel down? "
As soon as this remark came out, Mo Na was so moved that he burst into tears. The native warrior actually shed tears on the spot.
He translated Li Dingguo's words to other leaders, and these leaders were also inexplicably moved. All of a sudden, there was a quarrel, and they all clamored to be sworn brothers with Li Dingguo. Some directly tore off the necklaces on their chests, holding them in both hands and giving them to Li Dingguo as gifts.
Those necklaces are their amulets, mostly made of animal bones or teeth.
Either it was the first prey caught, or a large beast was captured. They will grind animal bones or teeth and string them into necklaces. Once they are given away, they will be regarded as life and death friends, and they can die for each other at any time.
Li Dingguo didn't know why, but also felt that this kind of bone chain was not valuable, so he accepted it all with a smile.
Seeing Li Dingguo accepting the necklace, the leaders were even happier.
It wasn't until several days later that Li Dingguo realized what he had received.
Where is this necklace?
This is the friendship of many tribes in Tainan. In the future, if Li Dingguo gives an order, all the aborigines in Tainan will be dispatched. </div>??Amulets are mostly made of animal bones or teeth.
Either it was the first prey caught, or a large beast was captured. They will grind animal bones or teeth and string them into necklaces. Once they are given away, they will be regarded as life and death friends, and they can die for each other at any time.
Li Dingguo didn't know why, but also felt that this kind of bone chain was not valuable, so he accepted it all with a smile.
Seeing Li Dingguo accepting the necklace, the leaders were even happier.
It wasn't until several days later that Li Dingguo realized what he had received.
Where is this necklace?
This is the friendship of many tribes in Tainan. In the future, if Li Dingguo gives an order, all the aborigines in Tainan will be dispatched. </div>