The Dutch garrison in Malacca really only had 180 people, so this situation was normal.
Taiwan actually has a Dutch garrison, which is quite outrageous. The reason is that there are frequent indigenous rebellions in Taiwan, and the local Han people in Taiwan are also very tough, so the Netherlands has to gradually increase its garrison.
Except for Batavia, in other colonial cities in the Netherlands, one hundred and eighty people is the limit, and the remaining castles only have thirty or fifty people.
Think about how big the Netherlands is. With such a pitiful population, if they want to colonize the world and have more than 10,000 merchant ships sailing, how many Dutch people can be left?
The same is true for the UK, which has 28 offices in India, with a total of only more than 90 employees...
"Chen Erxun, an overseas Chinese citizen, pays homage to Lord Angel!"
"Get up."
Chen Erxun is the Chinese leader in Malacca. He has been living here for two hundred years. What is rare is that he has not yet mixed blood.
Ordinary Chinese do not have this ability. At most, they will be mixed for one or two generations and often marry Malay women. Such mixed-race descendants are also called Nyonya, and their full name is Nyonya.
"Data Nyonya". A mixed-race man is called Baba, and a mixed-race woman is called Nyonya.
Chen Erxun was actually very unwelcome to Kuang Hong, an uninvited guest.
Because the Han Chinese in Malacca have mixed blood and have achieved a high degree of autonomy, they are not discriminated against. Instead, they are the upper class race here - second only to the Dutch.
This is something they fought for themselves.
During the rule of the Malacca Sultanate, the Han people were oppressed. When the Portuguese came to kill them, the Han people not only provided architectural plans for the palace (castle), but also formed an army to help Portugal fight the war.
Later, Portugal also began to exploit the Han people, and the Han people in Malacca helped the Dutch fight the war.
The Dutch had ruled Malacca for less than ten years, and were very weak. They had not had time to fall out with the Han people, but had to rely on the Han people in all aspects. Therefore, the tax rate for the Han people here was very light, and the relationship with the Dutch colonists was very good.
For Chen Erxun, the leader of the Chinese in Malacca, the Chinese army is the real aggressor, breaking their beautiful and prosperous life!
Chen Erxun asked: "Lord Angel, do you want to capture Malacca?"
Guang Kuanghong did not give a direct answer, but asked with a smile: "Otherwise, what would I do with my troops? Tell me how many defenders there are."
Chen Erxun complained secretly, but his arms couldn't twist his thighs. In order not to be implicated, he had to cooperate and replied: "Less than 2."
Kuang Hong's eyes lit up when he heard this. This guy was very young and he was obsessed with meritorious service. That's why he forced the Dutch Governor to sign a contract. After completing Emperor Zhao's mission, he had to make a fuss. He had no intention of actually taking Malacca, but if he defended it, There are not many troops, so why not take it?
This is such a great achievement!
Moreover, due to the disastrous defeat of the Dutch fleet last year, although the number of warships has recovered, most of them are temporarily recruited armed merchant ships and they simply do not dare to fight a decisive battle with the Datong Navy at sea.
Such a good opportunity must be seized!
Kuang Hong returned to the naval ship and discussed with the naval commander Hong Xu: "General Hong, I haven't fought many battles. There are not enough defenders in the castle."
200, how to defeat him?"
Hong Xu said: "I observed the castle with a telescope and asked a few locals. There was no other way. The soldiers climbed up the city wall in boats and fought their way in.
Malacca Castle is very disgusting and was built by the Portuguese.
Built on a protruding part of the river's mouth, it is surrounded by the sea on three sides, southeast and west, and a mountain on the north. After more than a hundred years of expansion by the Portuguese, the outer walls of the castle have become longer and longer, directly connected to the mountains.
If there were more than a thousand defenders inside, Hong Xu would definitely turn around and leave, and it would be impossible for tens of thousands of troops to storm down.
However, the Dutch defenders only had more than a hundred troops and could not take care of so many long outer walls.
At least, the outer fortifications of the castle can be easily taken down.
"Then get ready to fight!" Kuang Hong said.
There is not much else in the area around Malacca, with endless woods and bamboo forests. The Dutch colonists even complained that the land of Malacca was nothing but jungle.
In fact, food was grown here before. After the establishment of the Malacca Sultanate, maritime trade was fully developed, regardless of the agricultural development outside the city. As time went by, agriculture degraded, the surrounding farmland decreased, and the forests and swamps became more and more
more.
After the arrival of the Portuguese and Dutch colonists, this situation became even more obvious.
The Netherlands even only controls urban areas, handing over all land outside the city to landlords, and only collects a nominal agricultural tax every year.
Chen Erxun was a landlord (and businessman) who usually lived in the city and sent his servants to the countryside to collect rent. He often lamented that there were too few Han people here, all concentrated in the city, and the Malay natives did not know how to farm, so the land was left uncultivated.
What a waste of resources.
Therefore, Malacca cannot produce its own food and has to buy it from other places every year.
The Malay natives gathered outside the city were sent by Kuang Hong to cut down trees. The boundless forest was cut down at will. After the trees were cut down, the city's craftsmen were asked to build siege equipment and a large number of disposable wooden boats.
Within the castle.
Congressman Sanders muttered: "Are we going to have reinforcements?"
Army Commander Hendrick said: "Even if there are reinforcements, I'm afraid it will be difficult to hold on until that time."
Each colony sent reinforcements to each other, and the time was often measured in months.
The closest Dutch colony to Malacca is Batavia, which originally had nearly 2,000 troops, but a lot of them were sunk by ships last year, and now only a little over 1,000 are left. The others are all in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
), the average number of defenders in each colonial stronghold was less than a hundred, and even if they were all mobilized for rescue, they would not be enough to collect 500 people.
"Damn Vanderlyn, he shouldn't have angered the Chinese!" Sanders said angrily.
He is a member of the Council of the East India Company and one of the big bosses, but he is usually based in Malacca, and his representatives are usually present when parliament is held. Malacca is very well-off, and Sanders finally got this job.
When they had enough, they were attacked by the Chinese.
Destroying someone's wealth is like killing one's parents.
Sanders did not hate the Chinese, but instead hated Governor Vanderlyn.
"If there is enough food, are you sure you can keep it?" Sanders asked.
Hendrick said: "The outer wall is too big. With our current strength, it is impossible to hold it. However, the core area of the castle is
180 people can still defend it."
Sanders said: "At the critical moment, abandon the outer walls and hold on to the castle to wait for reinforcements."
"Dang-dang-dang!"
A bell sounded outside the castle, signaling an enemy attack.
Sanders immediately ran out and climbed onto the outer city wall to check the situation. He saw hundreds of small boats rowing across the sea on the southeast, southeast and west sides. They were all disposable small wooden boats, which looked more formal than rafts.
Without city defense artillery bombardment, it might be overturned by a wave.
"fire!"
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Both sides were firing, and the Datong Navy ships kept cruising, shooting at the outer walls of Malacca Castle. Malacca's city defense guns were shooting at small boats in the sea.
Often a cannonball would hit, still two or three meters away from the boat, and the waves would overturn the boat.
It doesn't matter if it capsizes, everyone can swim, just take the boat and swim back.
At this time, if the artillery wanted to directly hit the sparse boats, it would be as difficult as winning the lottery.
In fact, it was all a feint, and the boats were filled with paid Malay natives!
These Malay natives are not even qualified to live in urban areas. They live like dogs on weekdays. Just give them some food and you can make them work hard.
When the Portuguese attacked Malacca, they hired thousands of natives at one time.
The Dutch fired artillery for a long time. Although numerous boats were capsized by waves, they only killed and drowned more than twenty natives.
Although Kuang Hong had never fought in a war, he had read military books and learned some military theory.
Letting the natives row boats to feign an attack not only consumes the Dutch defenders' artillery shells, but also paralyzes the Dutch defenders.
For several days in a row, the natives continued to attack with rowing boats. Every time they were several hundred meters away from the outer city wall, the natives could no longer hold up the cannon and retreated.
Use the boat to quickly escape from the shooting range.
What the Dutch paid was cannonballs, and what Kuang Hong paid was just food.
He went out to sea on a trading trip and earned a lot of gold and silver. With this gold and silver, he could buy food from nearby Banten and Johor countries, so he didn't have to worry about insufficient military rations at all.
Gradually, the Dutch artillerymen became numb, and they just fired at the boats at sea every day. The other Dutch defenders listened to the sound of the cannons and counted lice.
He also complained that the quality of food had declined, and the most disgusting thing was that he could not go to the city to find women.
To the north of the city, St. Paul's Hill.
5,730 Seven-Nation Alliance troops, plus 1,000 Datong Navy soldiers, have all carried light bamboo ladders up the mountain.
They hide in the dense forests in the mountains and will not be discovered by the defenders.
The defenders were attracted by the feint on the sea. There were only three Dutch soldiers on the mountain in the north. Moreover, the feint attacks on the sea for several days had caused the Dutch soldiers on the mountain to become a little slack.
"Enemy attack!"
Thousands of people approached the city wall in the woods, but they were not discovered until they were dozens of meters away. Moreover, it was only someone on the attacking side who accidentally slipped and rolled down the hillside, causing a movement that attracted the attention of the defenders.
There are no cannons on this side of the city wall.
Because it is aimed at hillsides and woods, the shells cannot bounce, and the effect of firing them is not much different from shooting directly.
“Bang bang bang!”
Three Dutch defenders fired randomly into the woods. There were actually dozens of Johor soldiers who were frightened and ran away immediately when they heard the gunshots.
No wonder the country of Johor was beaten and moved its capital several times. These Johor soldiers were all armed with matchlocks and wore leather armor. As a result, some of them fled when they encountered each other.
"Come on!"
When the soldiers of the Datong Navy saw their situation exposed, they immediately rushed down the hillside, and some even slid down the hillside.
"The first one to get there will be rewarded!"
Among the seven-nation coalition forces, Prince Narai of Siam was the most courageous, leading the charge with a spear in hand.
His two consultant friends are also fierce men.
Yang Dongkui carried a Chinese-style waist knife, and Hual Kang carried a Western-style long sword. They followed behind Na Lai and shouted excitedly. The two of them regarded fighting as an adventure game.
“Bang bang bang!”
As the distance got closer, the Dutch's musket fire became more accurate.
Of the 3,000 Johor soldiers, only a dozen were actually killed, but they turned around and ran away one by one. But this was a hillside. It was easy to come down, but hard to climb up. In fact, it was safer to charge forward.
On the contrary, there are several small countries, usually sandwiched between the "big countries", and the soldiers' will to fight is much stronger.
Kuang Hong stood on the top of the mountain watching the battle. When he saw this situation, he was so angry that he cursed: "Damn it, what kind of cowards are these Johor soldiers? This is their former capital, and they don't even know how to fight to regain their old place!"
When Datong navy soldiers and Siamese soldiers rushed to build ladders outside the city wall, all 3,000 Johor soldiers had been routed, and it was the Johor prince who took the lead in escaping.
No wonder there were very few Dutch defenders in Malacca, because the Malacca colony was surrounded by the territory of the Kingdom of Johor.
Faced with such garbage soldiers, how could the Dutch colonists station heavy troops for defense?