Chapter 3567
Chapter 3567
Chapter 3567
After receiving the report, Zheng Agui was still relatively cautious. He first asked the lookouts to confirm that there were no traces of enemy warships near the river mouth. Then he ordered the fleet to sail to the nearby coast and land as close to the colonial settlement as possible.
The reason why he did not let the fleet rush directly into the river mouth and go upstream was because the width of this small river was only twenty or thirty feet, and there were many sandbars in the middle of the river. He was worried that the hydrological conditions here were not sufficient to support the navigation of his own fleet, and there was no need to land at the risk of the ships running aground.
Perhaps because they did not notice the arrival of the Hai Han fleet or because they were afraid, the landing process did not encounter any interference from the settlements. Not even a single person was seen, and Zheng Agui's company arrived on Songba Island very smoothly.
After the assembly was completed, Zheng Agui handed over the retreat to the sailors on the warship, and led the company to deploy a formation, slowly moving towards the inland settlement in the north.
Not long after they walked, they saw tracts of farmland, mostly planted with corn and vegetables. The natives on the island probably did not have such farming technology, so they must have been Western immigrants who settled here.
This settlement was only two or three miles away from the coast, so Zheng Agui's company did not need to carry too many supplies and could travel lightly through the fields.
The cross on the church spire was faintly visible in the distance. Zheng Agui issued an order, asking the few reconnaissance cavalrymen in the company to advance in the east and west directions to confirm the defense situation of the settlement and whether there were any signs that the people were fleeing.
There is currently no information about the settlement in front of us, and Zheng Agui is unable to determine whether there are organized Spanish armed personnel stationed here.
But from past experience, the Spanish usually built settlements into fortresses with certain military functions and equipped the immigrants with a certain number of light weapons. Moreover, this area was once the territory of the Dutch. Even if the Spanish were not on guard against Hai Han, they would definitely be on guard against the Dutch coming back.
Therefore, even if there were no troops stationed here, there was a high probability of encountering resistance from armed immigrants. If there were any small-caliber cannons or something like that in the settlement, then we had to be especially careful in dealing with them.
Zheng Agui ordered the entire company to divide into platoons and disperse their formation while marching to avoid being attacked by the enemy's concentrated fire.
When they were about a hundred feet away from the outskirts of the settlement, Zheng Agui ordered to stop advancing and observe the situation ahead with a telescope.
The fact that there was no resistance during the previous landing could be explained by the fact that the other party might not have noticed the arrival of the Hai Han fleet. However, now that they had advanced to such a close distance and still hadn't seen any movement from the other party, Zheng Agui had to consider that the other party was already prepared for a defensive battle.
Looking through the telescope, the buildings in this settlement are basically typical Western-style wooden houses, but the doors and windows are closed and there is no one walking around. This is obviously not the normal state of an immigrant settlement during the day.
Soon, the reconnaissance cavalry also reported back that there were brick and stone barricades on the main road leading to the settlement. This practice of blocking the road was obviously intentional.
Zheng Agui immediately gave the order to continue advancing slowly, and each squad could open fire on their own when they spotted a fighter plane without having to ask for instructions.
In the end, it was the other side that lost their patience first. Someone fired a shot in a bunker somewhere, which immediately attracted a concentrated fire attack.
Seeing the other side open fire, Zheng Agui's mood calmed down. Judging from the muzzle flash and smoke when the other side fired, it was not difficult to judge that the one used was a standard flintlock rifle commonly used in Spanish colonies.
However, this flintlock rifle is not the same as other flintlock rifles. Its combat performance is far inferior to that of the flintlock rifles produced by Hai Han. Whether it is the range, accuracy, loading speed, or successful firing rate, they are not at the same level.
Of course, you get what you pay for, and the cost varies greatly. That is why the Spanish distributed a large number of these cheap flintlock rifles to the settlers in the colonies as their self-defense weapons.
If there were only civilians guarding the settlement instead of an organized military unit, it would not be too difficult for Zheng Agui's company.
The enemy's firepower point that opened fire first soon became silent under the Hai Han army's concentrated fire, presumably because it had been filled with bullets.
After this opening of fire, the situation in the settlement was exposed, and the silent measures became completely meaningless, so other guards hidden in the buildings also opened fire.
However, they were limited by the environment and could only hide separately, and could not concentrate their fire at the same place. The shooting accuracy of the smoothbore flintlock rifle was a joke, and a single firepower point could hardly cause effective casualties.
Moreover, because they were too nervous, they hardly noticed that the current exchange of fire was too far away and the enemy's position was beyond the effective range of their weapons.
This dispersed combat method also makes it impossible for them to confirm the status of other companions. They can only fight on their own, and how they fight depends entirely on their personal performance.
Zheng Agui's troops were well-rested and took advantage of the situation. They aimed at the exposed firing points on the opposite side one by one and began to call out names with their rifles.
For civilians who have not actually participated in such a battle, even if they have weapons in their hands, it is difficult to maintain stable emotions in a state of combat, let alone calmly analyze the battlefield situation and judge their own situation and the enemy's situation.
Civilians who lack professional training often stick their heads out or even expose most of their bodies when shooting. In the eyes of the Hai Han army, they are sitting ducks, and it is only a matter of time before they are hit.
Even if some people were lucky enough not to be hit by the bullets fired from the opposite side, they would often use up the few rounds of ammunition in their hands, trembling with fear, and then they could only shrink into a hiding place at a loss and dare not move again.
Of course, there were some people who never fired a shot from beginning to end. It was not because they were more patient, but they were simply frightened by the sound of gunfire coming from outside.
It didn't take Zheng Agui's company too long to complete the three-sided encirclement of the settlement, while several cavalrymen rushed to the north to block the only way out.
Several riders rushed out of the settlement and tried to break out, but they were too big a target and fell off their horses before they got far under the intensive fire from the outside.
Zheng Agui was not in a hurry either. He kept directing his men to slowly complete the encirclement and tighten the encirclement bit by bit.
About half an hour later, someone on the upper floor of the church in the settlement waved a white cloth and shouted loudly in Spanish.
Zheng Agui didn't even need a translator to know that the other side was conveying their intention to surrender - he had witnessed such scenes more than once in the battle with the Spaniards two years ago.
Zheng Agui then asked the Spanish translator to go forward with a tin loudspeaker and shout, demanding that everyone in the settlement immediately lay down their arms and surrender, and not to show any resistance, otherwise they would be killed without mercy.