Chapter 732 Siege Battle
On July 16, the Batavia garrison, which had been struggling for several days, finally got a chance to breathe. The enemy's trebuchet tactics used in recent days caused a lot of damage to the trebuchets on this day. Almost all the trebuchets on the east, north, and west battlefields suffered extensive damage on this day. From this, it can be inferred that these trebuchets were indeed manufactured uniformly, so their service life loss rate also tends to be consistent.
Seeing a few trebuchets still persisting in throwing stone bombs on the enemy's position, the defenders on the city wall cheered, as if they had won a great victory. Although the council in the past two days finally agreed to Van Diemen's proposal to abandon the tactic of using artillery to destroy the opponent's trebuchets at long distances, and approved the military's temporary abandonment of fortresses outside the city to retain effective forces, this was followed by The group had been suppressed by opponents who had always been regarded as barbarians for several days, and the frustration in the defenders' hearts never found a suitable outlet. The enemy's trebuchets began to be damaged, which also indicated that the two sides would finally enter the stage of hand-to-hand combat. This did not seem to be bad news for the defenders who had been unilaterally stoned for several days.
But for commanders like Van Diemen and Bart, they dare not relax at all. They knew very well that the enemy's main goal in the previous confrontation was only to destroy the fortifications outside the city, not to kill people. The war had not yet entered a truly cruel stage. In the following close combat, the defenders' weapons and equipment may have a certain advantage in terms of lethality, but the close combat will inevitably greatly increase the casualties of the participating personnel. Compared with the previous few days, the Dutch army's personnel losses It will only increase, not decrease.
As the cowhide drums of the Ma Da Blue Army were beating, the military formation outside the city began to slowly advance towards the city wall. This time the advance was no longer a small-scale invasion at the beginning of the battle. From the top of the city, it could be seen that at least a dozen phalanxes were advancing simultaneously, and each phalanx contained thousands of soldiers. There are a large number of engineers carrying ladders and planks interspersed between the square formations. It seems that the Ma Da Blue Army will continue to use the ladder bridge tactics that they have achieved good results in the past to conquer the trenches outside the city. This simple tool is much easier to make than a trebuchet. Using horses to defeat the manpower of the Blue Army, hundreds of ladder bridges can be built every day. However, it is not easy for the defenders to destroy them.
When the Ma Da Blue Army entered the range of the city defense artillery fire, the rumble of artillery began to ring out from the city wall. At this time, the drumbeat of the horse-beating blue army became more urgent, and the soldiers gave up their slow way of advancing and began to trot.
After the engineers running in front arrived at the moat, they quickly used the tools at hand to build the ladder bridge. The speed was even faster than the offensive a few days ago. On the offensive line that was more than a mile wide, there were more than thirty ladder bridges being built at the same time. This combat strategy made it difficult for the defenders on the city to concentrate their firepower to attack it. The fortress outside the city has been reduced to ruins, and the musketeers cannot be expected to snipe the construction work of these Madalan engineers at close range.
Just a few minutes later, a group of horse and blue infantry brandished scimitars and rushed across a ladder bridge that had just been built and rushed to the bottom of the city wall. Behind them are several soldiers carrying long ladders. This long ladder also has a long iron hook on the front. Once it is set up on the top of the city, it may hook the city wall, making it difficult for the defenders to push it away. city wall.
"Musketeers, listen to my orders and prepare to shoot!" Bart loudly issued the combat order.
The musketeer team he personally commanded was composed of 130 people, 125 of whom were combat personnel. They were divided into five horizontal teams, with 25 people in each row. The rotational shooting method was used during combat. Following the order, the musketeers in the first row extended their rifles from the top of the city wall and pointed their guns at the horse-fighting blue army outside the city like a dense swarm of ants.
"Fire!" As Bart waved his saber, the first row of musketeers pulled the trigger. Driven by the mechanical structure, the burning match rope was pushed into the fire door, igniting the black powder in it and pushing the projectiles out of the gun chamber. As for whether the bullet can accurately hit a distant target, it largely depends on luck.
After finishing shooting, the musketeer quickly left the firing position and retreated to the back to reload ammunition. Another row of musketeers behind him immediately added up, raising their guns and aiming outside the city. Bart's musketry team are all veterans who have participated in many battles. They are also relatively skilled in using matchlocks. They fire in five rows in rotation and can basically fire a volley every 20 seconds. The defenders in the city It can be considered a relatively excellent level.
Since the enemy troops outside the city had to pass through the moat to attack the city, a large number of soldiers gathered in front of the ditch. The musketeers on the city head almost didn't need to aim when shooting these targets. The 25 rounds of lead bullets fired each time were at least 100%. 70% of the time it will hit someone. Among the horse-fighting blue troops below the city, people kept being shot and fell to the ground, and wailing and screaming kept coming one after another.
However, the Ma Da Blue Army had no intention of using human lives to consume the defenders' ammunition. Soon, under the command of the officers, they launched a counterattack at the top of the city with bows, arrows and short spears. Of course, it is much more difficult to stand low and shoot high than to shoot from a high place. But it is undeniable that such a counterattack still caused an interference to the defenders' operations that could not be ignored, and despite the armor, the defenders inevitably began to suffer casualties.
The first siege ladder climbed up the city wall faster than Bart expected, but before the Matalan soldiers below the city could climb up, a log tied with iron chains at both ends was pushed out from the city wall, and the ladder was The siege ladder was blocked and crushed.
The second siege ladder set up on the city wall also suffered similar treatment, but the difference was that what was smashed down from the top of the city was a square of stones. The stone slid down the middle of the ladder. The middle of the ladder had no time to avoid the three soldiers, and it hit the ground together with the people on the escalator at the bottom. The first person to bear the brunt died on the spot, and the person on the back below could not escape the end of having his hands and feet broken. However, the offensive of the siege troops has not slowed down because of the resistance of the defenders. More and more siege ladders are being transported to the city.
"Move all the trebuchets in the city and don't let these monkeys get close to the city wall easily!" Bart grabbed a subordinate and yelled an order to him. The frightened subordinate held his helmet and hurried down the city wall to deliver the order.
The defenders also deployed a small number of trebuchets in the city. The shooting routes of these trebuchets were carefully calculated to ensure that the highest point of their projections would pass through the city wall, and then fall not far from the city wall under the combined effects of air resistance and gravity. Outside the city, its attack area is to the north of the defensive trench, which is where the Mada Blue Army is currently gathering and waiting to pass the ladder bridge.
The troops in the city did not disappoint Bart. Soon there was a roar, and a row of stone bullets flew over the city wall and hit the Ma Da Blue Army outside the city. "You wild monkeys! Let you also have a taste of the power of the trebuchet!" Bart, who had been suppressed by Ma DaLan's trebuchets for many days, finally had a chance to vent. He stuck his head out from the crenellations of the city wall and yelled, while Ma DaLan The army responded with a volley of dozens of bows and arrows. If the adjutant hadn't pulled him back quickly, Bart would probably have to pay for his yelling with a few more holes in his head.
However, the psychological deterrence effect of this kind of projection is far greater than the actual damage. A dozen stone bullets hitting the city will not prevent the Ma Da Blue Army from continuing to attack the city wall through the moat. Only one of the stone bullets hit a ladder bridge on the trench without any bias, causing the bridge deck to collapse directly. As a result, seven or eight soldiers fell into the water, which slightly slowed down the enemy's offensive.
Three minutes later, the trebuchet in the city fired another round. This time it was no longer stone bullets, but burning oil cans. This thing broke into pieces after it hit the ground. The fire ignited four to five meters around the impact point, causing the enemy troops outside the city to become chaotic.
"Well done! Burn these damn infidels!" Bart shouted to cheer up the soldiers on the city wall, while directing the musketeers to continue firing volleys at the enemy troops outside the city.
The offensive of the Ma Da Blue Army lasted from early morning to the afternoon. After paying thousands of casualties, the Ma Da Blue Army saw that they still could not attack the city, so they angrily chose to withdraw their troops.
After Bart saw the horses and the blue army retreating from the city, he didn't even have the strength to take off the heavy armor on his body, so he sat down on the ground. He had shouted hoarse during the morning's command, and now his voice was hoarse, so he could only let his adjutant temporarily exercise command authority on his behalf.
Although they repelled the offensive of the Ma Da Blue Army and caused a certain amount of damage to the enemy, the price paid by the defenders was not low at all. Only the musketeers under Bart's personal command had only ninety-seven men still in the formation at the end of the battle.
Of course, compared to the defenders, the personnel losses of the Ma Da Blue Army were undoubtedly much more serious. The corpses outside the city alone were shocking enough. Although a detailed count has not yet been carried out, Bart estimated that in the battle on the northern city wall alone, the number of casualties of the Ma Da Blue Army would be around 1,000 to 1,300. This number was almost two thousand on the first day of the battle. times, which also shows the intensity of today's battle.
The only area in relatively good condition on the entire northern city wall is probably outside the north gate. The two forts guarding the north city gate and the only passage on the moat are still standing, although in the days since the war began, thousands of stone bullets have been dropped by enemy trebuchets, causing the walls to crack in many places. However, the efforts put into the construction of these two forts still played a significant role. While other fortresses have collapsed, these two fortresses can still stand outside the north gate. In today's battle, the Dutch soldiers stationed at the two forts also used artillery and muskets to inflict heavy blows to the attackers at close range, so much so that the Malta Blue Army did not even use the North Gate as the focus of their attack, but chose other options. Build ladder bridges in weakly defended areas and cross the moats to attack the city.
Of course, this may also have something to do with Van Diemen personally taking command at the North Gate. Almost all the most elite Dutch troops in the city are concentrated here. The musketeers on the top of the city are even equipped with flints shipped from Europe. Shooting guns, the combat capability is more than one level better than Bart's musketeers. Moreover, there are many artillery pieces in the fortress outside the North City Gate. If the enemy attempts to pass through the passage in the moat, these artillery pieces will definitely kill people faster than they can charge. After only a brief attempt by the Madrid Blues in the morning, they gave up the idea of attacking this area.
But neither Bart nor Van Diemen will take the retreat of the Horse and Blues lightly. Especially the North Gate, which is the most critical part of the northern city wall. Van Diemen would never believe it if the Mada Blues had completely given up their pursuit of this place. He was convinced that as long as the Ma Da Blue Army thought of a suitable attack method, they would definitely come back and attack the North Gate area again.
Since they didn't know whether the Ma Da Blue Army would launch another offensive after taking a short rest, the defenders in the city did not dare to be careless. The soldiers were not even allowed to take off their protective armor and could only rest with their armor on. Fortunately, there is currently no problem with the food supply in the city, and the soldiers can still get hot food in time to replenish their exhausted energy.
Of course, Bart, who has been eating Xiaozao for several days, is a little different. His attitude towards military food is very clear now, which means dissatisfaction in capital letters. The dining culture of the Dutch has always been lackluster, but there seems to be nothing unusual about being born and raised in this environment. But after trying the small stove specially provided by a Chinese businessman, Bart seemed to have a window to a new world opened in front of him. ——It turns out that the food in the world is not just toast, cheese, pea soup and kielbasa, but there are so many good things that I have never tried.
After many days of constant routines, the personal relationship between Bart and Cheng Dapeng also improved by leaps and bounds. To put it more seriously, in terms of personal life, Bart and Cheng Dapeng may be closer than he and Su Keyi, and have more common topics to talk about. After all, one of them came prepared and deliberately catered to her, while the other was outspoken and unprepared. After going back and forth, the two of them became friends.
After successfully finding Bart, the first-hand intelligence source, Cheng Dapeng's work became much easier. He no longer needs to search for intelligence fragments through various connections every day, and carry out complicated identification and piecing together work. As long as he prepares a dinner, he can get many of the latest battle situations and details of the battle between the two armies from Bart. describe. Although Cheng Dapeng was not from the military, he had gained a lot of understanding of military knowledge after dealing with Bart for so many days. After he returned to Mihang after listening to Bart's story, he could slowly restore the battlefield conditions of the battle between the two armies together with his colleagues with a military background.
(End of chapter)