Chapter 362: Daring to Fight

"Very well! I admit that Mr. Putmans and the Colonel's words carry great weight! For the sake of fair trade continuing long into the future, I, on behalf of the East India Company, agree that the Dutch army may resolve this matter by force! But I hope that once the war begins, there will not be heavy casualties among the civilians—especially no killing of women and children, for such conduct would be utterly inhumane! The East India Company will send men to accompany the army during this war to observe these matters and submit a report to me upon their return!"

After deliberating for a long while, Balevit finally agreed to this military action.

"Your decision cannot be wrong, Mr. Balevit! Our objective is to destroy the Ming army. As for the civilians, they will still need to produce goods for us in the future—unless by accident, we will not open fire on civilians!"

Van Dyke rose happily to his feet and extended his right hand to Balevit. Balevit smiled and reached out, clasping Van Dyke's hand firmly in his own.

"Excellent! Now we have finally reached an accord! Colonel, how many men do you intend to take on this expedition? The Ming army is not small in number—with the two camps combined, their total strength should be around fifteen hundred. Our troops are skilled in battle, to be sure, but if we send too few men, I fear we may fail to achieve a decisive victory; yet if we send too many, the defense of Zeelandia and Tayouan becomes a problem. Colonel, do you have the best solution to these difficulties?"

With the question of dispatching troops settled, the next matter was how to fight this battle well. Owing to his concern over the large number of Ming troops, Putmans still offered Van Dyke a word of caution.

"Your Excellency, at present Fort Zeelandia holds one thousand and fifty-three soldiers, Fort Provintia holds three hundred and forty-six, and Fort Utrecht holds fifty-four. I have already taken the situation of the Ming army you mentioned into account. This time I plan to take six hundred men from Zeelandia, draw two hundred from Provintia, and leave the soldiers at Fort Utrecht in place. That gives us eight hundred in total—these officers and men can form a complete regiment. Adding my twenty guards, that comes to eight hundred and twenty. The remaining six hundred-plus men are more than enough to defend the two castles, and our Fort Utrecht's powerful firepower will hold the enemy outside the walls of Zeelandia!"

When he mentioned Fort Utrecht, Van Dyke's face revealed abundant confidence and pride, and Putmans likewise nodded with a smile to show his agreement.

Fort Utrecht was built on the only land route leading from the outside world to Fort Zeelandia, a mere ten li from the city.

This castle was a typical European bastion fort. Its platform base rose about one zhang above the ground, and the castle was constructed atop that base.

Fort Utrecht was equipped with eight gun platforms mounting cannons of various calibers, capable of delivering uninterrupted fire upon enemies approaching from far to near. The platforms were designed in a staggered arrangement that allowed for crossfire, minimizing wasted firepower to the greatest extent.

The fort's loopholes were also arranged in three tiers—upper, middle, and lower. Should the enemy break through the cannon barrage and approach the walls, they would be shot down by muskets firing from different angles.

Though the fort was ordinarily garrisoned by fewer than a company of soldiers in peacetime, once battle began, the forces at Fort Zeelandia could rapidly reinforce it.

Every Dutch soldier on the island, from officer to private, had reason to believe that unless they faced a siege by tens of thousands of enemies throwing away their lives without regard, Fort Utrecht would simply never fall.

"Then let me offer my congratulations in advance on your triumphant return, Colonel! When the time comes, I shall report to the States-General yet another great victory won by our forces!"

"Old Sun, Chen Dashuan takes a thousand men to meet the enemy head-on. Apart from the troops guarding the camp, I'll take three hundred men to lie in ambush five li to the left of the camp, and you take three hundred to lie in ambush on the right. Once Chen Dashuan gets tangled up with the red-haired devils, the two of us charge out from our separate directions—you cut around to their rear, and I'll lead the men to smash into their flank. This time we'll teach those red-haired devils that they can come, but they cannot go back!"

Just as Putmans and the others were deliberating their attack on the settlement, Wu Qun was likewise laying out his battle plan to the two Battalion Commanders under his command.

"Assistant Regional Commander, better that I lead the charge and you cut around to their rear. You are our commander—charging the enemy line is far too dangerous. If anything should happen to you, Dazhuan and I would both be beheaded by the court, and that would be a terrible injustice for the two of us!"

"That's right! We'd be more wronged than Dou E!"

Chen Dashuan, standing off to the side, muttered under his breath.

"Bullshit! I'm not dead yet! What injustice do you have to complain about?! Chen Dashuan, are you cursing me, you little bastard? Are you itching for another taste of the military cane again?! Hmm?!"

"Heh heh, Assistant Regional Commander, don't be angry now. I was just following Old Sun's line of talk, that's all—I wouldn't dare curse you, sir! Besides, even if you did die, the Assistant Regional Commander's post wouldn't fall to me anyway, would it?"

Chen Dashuan's heedless, carefree manner left Wu Qun and Sun Rengui at a loss between laughter and tears, while Lin Rong, who had been invited to join the council, could not hold back his loud laughter.

"Scram! One word from you, you blockhead, and you'll anger me half to death! Get back and make your preparations at once! I reckon those red-haired devils may well attack within the next few days. This is the first time our imperial troops have fought against foreign barbarians—we absolutely cannot lose, or it would be far too shameful!"

"Rest assured, Assistant Regional Commander! With your Old Chen here, red-haired devils or blue-haired devils, they'll all be devils beneath my blade! I won't say another word—I'll just go up there, raise my blade and bring it down, one strike for each man. All you have to do, sir, is lead the men along to collect the heads!"

"Scram!"

Watching Chen Dashuan swagger out of the wooden hut with a grin on his face, Sun Rengui smiled and spoke up: "Assistant Regional Commander, when the fighting starts, do it the way I said. I'll lead the men to smash into their flank, and you encircle from the rear. With a three-sided pincer attack like that, those red-haired devils couldn't lose even if they tried!"

"Battalion Commander Sun, you must not underestimate the red-haired barbarians. Even the mighty Earl Jinghai would not lightly break with them! I've heard it from more than one person—all the nations on these seas hold great fear of these red-haired barbarians! They say the cannonballs fired from their ships' guns can burst apart upon landing, and their killing power is truly astonishing! I only wonder whether their infantry are equally formidable!"

Lin Rong's words made Wu Qun and Sun Rengui's hearts grow somewhat heavy.

Regarding these Dutchmen entrenched at Fort Zeelandia, Wu Qun had also made inquiries among the captains and sailors of the Zheng family fleet. These fierce men who made their living on the seas year-round were usually arrogant in the extreme, yet whenever the red-haired devils came up in conversation, fear showed on their faces.

The head of the Zheng family fleet had even said bluntly that the Dutch possessed extremely formidable firearms and maintained very strict military discipline—in battle they were fearless of death. Unless one outnumbered them several times over, it was best not to meet them head-on in a fair fight. Otherwise, not only would one lose the battle, but casualties would also be heavy.

"Assistant Regional Commander, how about we report to the court and request additional reinforcements? These two thousand brothers followed us from Shandong to this island over a year ago. In that time, more than ten have already died of disease and plague. If we fight, who knows how many more we'll lose. If the casualties are too heavy, how will we explain ourselves to the folks back home in Shandong when we return?"

"Old Sun, don't bring up requesting reinforcements again! A soldier eats the king's grain and serves the nation with loyalty—that is only right and proper. What is there to explain? How many years have you been in the imperial army now? Has the court ever shorted us our military pay and provisions? Have I, Wu, ever skimmed from the brothers under my command? Compared to our days serving under Wu Shangwen, it's like the difference between heaven and earth! His Majesty has treated us well—the military pay is issued on time every month, and haven't the brothers all sent it home? Haven't their parents and siblings back home shared in the benefit? So why shrink back at the mere mention of fighting and dying? Could it be that a year and more of peace has made your courage shrink?"

Wu Qun looked askance at Sun Rengui, his tone full of displeasure.

"Assistant Regional Commander, your Sun Rengui is no coward who fears death! It's just that I've heard the red-haired devils are hard to fight, and that's why I think we shouldn't meet them in a head-on clash! What I think is—if the red-haired devils come to attack, we hold the advantages of time, place, and unity. If we could think of some way to keep our lads' casualties as low as possible and still win in the end, wouldn't that be all the better?!"