one
Tang Qi did invest a lot of money in Kokura City, and its rise also brought huge benefits to Tang Qi. It can be said that in the past six months, the trade between Ming and Japan was controlled by Kokura City, and the tariffs between the two countries were as high as 700,000 taels of silver in the past six months. Tang Qi did not have to pay these tariffs to the unsuspecting Emperor Chongzhen, nor did he have to pay them to Japan. How could Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch not be jealous?
This time, Zheng Zhilong brought 10,000 men and the Dutchman Putmans brought 1,200 men, and they marched towards Japan aggressively. Of course, Zheng Zhilong did not send all his troops to attack Kokura Castle, in order to prevent Tang Qi's men from attacking his lair in turn.
Zheng Zhilong was well aware of Tang Qi's weapons and strength. He knew that Tang Qi's current naval strength should not be underestimated. He also heard from intelligence personnel that Tang Qi's muskets seemed to be more powerful than those of the Dutch. If all of Tang Qi's men were in Xiaocang City, Zheng Zhilong would not dare to come and fight. But now Tang Qi did not leave many troops in Xiaocang City. Zheng Zhilong, who was jealous of the huge benefits of Xiaocang City, naturally would not miss this opportunity.
When Zheng Zhilong saw the dock outside Kokura City through the telescope, the Kokura City defenders guarding the watchtower also saw Zheng Zhilong and his fleet. As the alarm was sounded, Zheng Zhilong saw that the dock, which was originally bustling with people, quickly became deserted, and even the army training on the beach fled towards Kokura City in the shortest time.
There was no defense to be seen on the seashore. The previous artillery positions were gone, and the defensive bunkers were gone too. When Zheng Zhilong and his fleet arrived at the dock, Zheng Zhilong even saw through the telescope that the people in Xiaocang City were fleeing with their families. This scene made Zheng Zhilong very satisfied. Obviously, the other party had not expected his sudden attack, which led to such a situation. The only thing that puzzled Zheng Zhilong was that there were many chevaux de frise outside Xiaocang City. What use were they?
For a city without walls, relying solely on those chevaux de frise for defense seems to be of no use, Zheng Zhilong thought doubtfully. He was also a man who had fought in many battles. Although there were some things on the chevaux de frise that he could not understand, it was obvious that these things could not stop the attacks of his people. What's more, from the telescope, there was no soldier outside the Kokura City, and it seemed that they had all fled. In this case, these chevaux de frise could only slightly block the pursuit of his people.
Although the scene before him seemed that the enemy had been scared away, Putmans was still very careful and ordered his men to bombard Kokura City before boarding the dock. Seeing those fleeing people crying and screaming in chaos, it didn't seem fake, so Putmans ordered his men to land. Seeing this, Zheng Zhilong also ordered his men to land quickly, fearing that the Dutch would snatch all the good things in Kokura City.
There are two cement roads from the pier to Kokura City. Neither is very wide, only about three meters. Usually, people on this road keep to the one on the right, which means that people coming and going are not on the same road. But at this time, it is a good opportunity for Zheng Zhilong's men and the Dutch. These people have never seen such a flat road, so they all rushed to try out the feeling of walking on this kind of road.
In fact, except for these two roads, other places are bumpy and difficult to walk on. With good roads to walk on, who would be willing to walk on those difficult places? When Zheng Zhilong stepped on the road, he couldn't help but sigh that Lord Tang had so much money that he could make a place with only roads so good.
Although Zheng Zhilong's army was brave, they had not received much training, unlike Putmans' men. Although Putmans' men were mercenaries (the Dutch themselves did not have many troops, and most of their forces when they colonized overseas were mercenaries), these mercenaries were strictly trained. They were lined up in neat rows on one road, while on the other road were Zheng Zhilong's men. They had no formation at all, but fortunately they did not mix together, and they marched towards Kokura Castle in an orderly manner according to their respective flags.
Zheng Zhilong and the Dutch, totaling more than 11,000 people, formed two long teams on the two roads. Zheng Zhilong, who was left behind, met Putmans and greeted each other when they heard the sound of drums and gongs in Kokura City.
Hearing this voice, Zheng Zhilong suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. This kind of voice was used by the Ming army to command the army. Zheng Zhilong was naturally very clear about it. Although he was not from a regular army, he had fought many battles with the Ming army. How could he not know it? Putmans was also stunned for a moment. After looking at Zheng Zhilong, he raised the telescope to look at Kokura City at the same time, but it was obvious that the movement in Kokura City was still the same as what he had seen before, and no army of the other side appeared.
When Zheng Zhilong was wondering, a series of explosions shocked him. He saw countless bombs exploding on both roads, and countless blood and flesh flying everywhere, like Western artillery shells falling among the crowd. In just a few breaths, 70% of Zheng Zhilong's 10,000 men and more than 1,000 Dutch were killed or wounded.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
