Upon receiving the report that the Ming army was approaching the castle, Van Diemen panicked and hurriedly ordered the mercenaries to leave the city and lead tens of thousands of natives to meet the enemy.

Whether mercenaries or natives, they are just cannon fodder for the Dutch. All Dutch soldiers have not left the city. They are standing on the city wall, holding flintlock guns in their hands to defend the city. They will not rush to the front line easily.

.

More than two thousand Japanese rogues armed with samurai swords and more than a thousand Western mercenaries armed with flintlock guns rushed out of the Batavia Castle with strange screams and led the troops to form a formation under the city.

Three Ming armies arrived one after another and surrounded the castle from the outside. They did not launch an attack immediately. The Dutch had become the turtle in the urn and were in no rush to attack for the time being.

Soon, Emperor Shenwu personally led the fourth army to arrive, and Zhu Cihong was escorted by a hundred AK47 gunners.

Zhu Cixiang looked at these mercenaries with cold eyes, and then at the array of Ming troops surrounding them. He did not direct the battle.

The four generals Huang Degong, Zhang Shuting, Li Shouting and Yan Yingyuan were all present, so he could just watch the battle from the sidelines.

Huang Degong looked at Emperor Shenwu not far away. He waved his hand and issued an order:

"Artillery preparation, fire."

"Here!"

The cannon fodder on the opposite side has not yet realized that he is about to face a disaster, and the mercenary leader is still encouraging his subordinates:

"Brothers, don't be afraid. The Ming people are all cowards. They have surrounded us for a long time and they dare not attack. The governor said that if you kill a Ming army, you will be rewarded with five silver coins. This is a very good deal. Get ready to fight..."

After the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese began to look down on the Chinese, and these ronin even lorded it over the Chinese in Batavia.

Seeing the Ming army arrayed in front of them, although there were more people, they didn't take it too seriously.

There are many black mercenaries beside them. These black people are also very powerful in combat, and close combat is their strength.

As the leader of these mercenaries, Mimura Fude also wanted to show off, just like a general conducting a military parade, to boost the morale of the mercenaries.

These mercenaries were all former pirates who were later adopted by the villagers of Yamaguchi to form a mercenary group. Van Diemen began to hire them two years ago.

To be honest, it was very easy to use. None of them were kind. After hearing the words of the three villagers, they all screamed:

"Don't worry, boss. Akito is like a paper man in front of us. As long as we shoot in a row and charge one after another, they will definitely be defeated."

"Rumble..."

…

Just when these people were going rampant, Huang Degong waved his hand, and hundreds of mortar shells exploded among them.

"Bang bang bang..."

…

The Japanese ronin and the black natives were instantly exploded, and their limbs were flying in a mist of blood. The Yamaguchi villager, who had been arrogant just now, turned pale in an instant.

As a mercenary who often crawls in the hail of bullets, Yamaguchi Villager was not slow to react and shouted hurriedly:

"Everyone, get down quickly..."

"Rumble"

…

Before he finished speaking, many artillery shells exploded again. This time the target was the mercenary group. They were instantly hit hard by mortars, with almost more than 500 casualties.

Before they could lie down, they were suddenly bombarded by hundreds of mortar shells. The crowd immediately fell into chaos, and more than a thousand people were blown to pieces.

When Yamaguchi saw that this was not possible, it was equivalent to waiting for death, so he either dispersed to avoid it, or approached the Ming army to shoot.

Looking at the intensive firing of artillery shells by the Ming army, Yamaguchi felt that there was no point in spreading out and would definitely be bombed, so he decisively chose to charge.

"Brothers, for the sake of white silver coins, we must get closer to Ming Gou, otherwise we will all be killed. It is best to engage them in close combat, maximize our strengths, rush forward, and kill those who retreat on the spot..."

These Japanese rogues and black mercenaries are all desperadoes. They are afraid of death and will not do this job at all. Looking at their companions who were killed by the explosion, they quickly got up from the ground and led more than 20,000 natives to rush towards the Ming army.

.

Van Diemen on the city tower held a single-tube telescope and was always paying attention to the mercenaries and the Ming army.

Seeing the mysterious weapons of the Ming army and their lethality against mercenaries, their faces turned pale. The Ming army's firearms were too advanced.

However, he was also very satisfied with the performance of the mercenaries. If it were not for these mercenaries and indigenous people, it would be the Dutch soldiers who were bombed today.

Seeing that they were charging like crazy, Van Diemen felt that they would definitely cause great damage to the Ming army, so he felt a little calmer.

When Zhu Cixiang saw the mercenaries leading the charge, he couldn't help but sneer...

Huang Degong did not expect that the other side would dare to charge. In order to avoid scaring them away, Huang ordered the mortars to stop bombarding.

"Stop the shelling. The gunmen are ready to move these desperadoes 150 paces closer and then attack them. Kill them all without leaving a trace."

"Here!"

More than 10,000 tiger soldiers stood in three rows, with 3,000 people in each row. The first row quickly raised their rifles, and at the same time, the Ming Dynasty's muskets were ready to fire.

Seeing the artillery fire stop and the Ming army aiming their guns at them, Yamaguchi showed bloodthirsty eyes.

He instinctively thought that the mercenaries were all sharpshooters, and the Dutch soldiers were a little wary of them. The Ming army was definitely not as good as the Dutch musketeers.

"Brothers, rush in 120 steps and shoot. Kill the Ming army commander first."

There is already a problem with setting the shooting range. The Ming army fired at 150 steps and the mercenaries fired at 120 steps. Don’t underestimate the distance of 30 steps. It is the distance between the world of heaven and the underworld.

Yamaguchi led the mercenaries two hundred steps closer to the Ming army. They all raised their flintlock rifles and prepared to shoot in the movement.

As soon as he rushed to the Ming army formation about 150 steps away, Huang Degong waved his hand:

"Fire"

The Ming army gunners immediately pulled the triggers, and bullets shot out instantly.

Seeing that the Ming army actually opened fire at about 150 steps, Yamaguchi laughed:

"To actually shoot from such a long distance, how do you have time to reload ammunition? It's like looking for death..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly saw the indigenous people in front of him falling one by one, and then heard the miserable howls of the indigenous people...

"Bang bang bang..."

"Puff puff puff..."

"Ahhhh..."

…

"How is this possible? The Ming army's flintlock gun can't have such a long range? Rush..."

Yamaguchi was dumbfounded in shock. After reacting, he hurriedly ordered a rapid charge. However, he quietly slowed down and gradually fell behind the team.

"Go ahead..."

"Bang bang bang..."

A group of desperadoes ignored the rows of fallen companions and rushed towards the Ming army at all costs, but what greeted them was a dense barrage of bullets.

Three rows fired in volley, and the reloading speed was very fast. The shooting never stopped. The distance of thirty steps became their life restricted area.

At the same time as the rifle volleys were fired, dozens of large Mingshen guns in front of the formation continued to spray out their fury.

As long as you are hit by a bullet, you will definitely be dead or injured. Soon, more than a hundred steps in front of the formation will be piled with corpses of the indigenous people...

More than three thousand mercenaries were killed and nearly half injured by mortars. Now, although they are charged in the middle, hundreds of them are still shot and fell.

There are no injuries on the body, and the mercenaries can continue to charge. At this time, there are less than a thousand people, and if you still charge forward regardless of everything, then you are not a mercenary, but a death squad.

Not being afraid of death does not mean that you will die. At this time, the mercenaries were so frightened that their legs were shaking, and they began to turn around and flee.

Yamaguchi spent a lot of effort and money to form this mercenary team. No matter how much money the Netherlands gave, he would not let all the team die here.

Seeing the natives falling one by one, Yamaguchi's calves were trembling. This was not a war, it was completely suicide.

Isn't there a saying in China that says if you want to keep the green hills without fear of running out of firewood, just grease your feet and run away first? Batavia will definitely not be saved.

Worried that the mercenaries would run wild and die, they hurriedly shouted:

"Quickly retreat, flee to the left wing, and leave Batavia by sea..."

The fleeing mercenaries quickly headed towards the Utrecht Gate after hearing the boss's call.

Seeing the mercenaries escaping, the frightened natives immediately dispersed.

It was impossible for them to return to the city. The Dutch would never open the city gate to them. The self-aware natives hurriedly fled with the mercenaries...

"Bang bang bang..."

…

No matter how fast they ran, they could not outrun the bullets. When they escaped, they left thousands of corpses behind.

Huang Degong was just about to order his men to pursue him, but Emperor Shenwu waved his hand to stop him:

"Don't chase. Li Shouting and Yan Yingyuan are over there. They can't escape. Let's attack the city!"

"According to the order!"

Huang Degong received the order and waved his hand to his subordinates to bring the heavy artillery...

Van Diemen also hoped that the mercenaries and natives would severely damage the Ming army, but as soon as the fighting began, Yamaguchi took the lead in escaping.
To be continued...