lcionline Chapter 245 After the War
Chapter 245 After the War
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Before being forced onto the troop transport ship of the Qiongzhou camp, Van Bommel glanced longingly at Fort Zeelandia behind him. Perhaps after being captured by these barbarians, he would never have the chance to return. The soldiers left behind in the castle should have seen everything that happened in the harbor. Even if the sentries were slacking off and dozing, the loud noise of the ship's cannons would have woken them up, but more than two hours passed without any movement from the castle.
However, Van Bommel could understand their actions. There were fewer than 800 soldiers left in the castle, the rest being officers' families, the elderly, women, and children. They could grit their teeth and hold out in defending the city, but going out to rescue them was beyond their capabilities, and could even be described as lambs to the slaughter—the enemy's more than 1,000 heavily armed soldiers, under the cover of a powerful fleet, were more than capable of annihilating all the defenders who went out of the city.
After turning his gaze away with a touch of sadness, Van Bommel looked again at the unconscious Putmans—who was being carried onto the ship by two Dutch soldiers—and shook his head self-deprecatingly, sighing that perhaps being unconscious was happier than being awake in this situation.
On the shore, Yan Guang and the others watched as the Qiongzhou soldiers escorted the prisoners, while also taking in the sights of Fort Zeelandia.
Looking at the sturdy castle, Xu Yifan said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity we didn't take down the Red Hair's lair in one fell swoop. It's not quite perfect!"
Qin Tian said, "Our goal this time is to finish off the naval battle, with the main objective being to capture prisoners. The red-haired castle is not our target; we cannot reverse our priorities. Besides, we didn't bring any siege cannons with us, and it's not worthwhile to attack such a fortified castle with our bare hands."
Yan Guang nodded and said, "The general has repeatedly emphasized that we should not touch the Red Hair's castle unless necessary, so we cannot act on our own. However, we have arrested all the Red Hair's officials, and the city is leaderless. It is not too late to deal with them when we have time."
About an hour later, about a thousand pirates and several hundred Dutchmen were all put on the troop transport ship, which, escorted by eight Wuyi-class warships, left the port and sailed towards Qiongzhou, fully loaded with cargo.
In Zhongzuo Fortress, officials and soldiers celebrated wildly, reveling in their victory over the "unauthorized border provocations" and "brazen invasion" of the British fleet. This battle had earned both the vanguard Zheng Zhilong and the other Fujian soldiers great merit, and rewards were assured. However, amidst the revelry, everyone overlooked the key force that had turned the tide of the war—the Qiongzhou Camp, this visiting army, which they had intentionally or unintentionally forgotten.
Liu Ye didn't take it to heart. As a guest force, without any officials supporting him in Fujian, getting the credit and rewards he deserved was harder than fighting a war, so he didn't bother. Although Governor Zou Weilian kept saying he wouldn't forget the Qiongzhou Camp's contributions, one should only take the words of the imperial officials with a grain of salt. Besides, he had already achieved his strategic objectives, and he didn't care about the court's empty rewards. After the fleet entered port for rest and resupply, Liu Ye politely declined Zheng Zhilong's "enthusiastic" invitation to stay the next day and embarked on his return journey.
When he left, Zheng Zhilong personally saw him off at the port, took Liu Ye's hand and said sincerely, "Thanks to Lieutenant General Liu, the battle of Liaoluo Bay was not in vain. I am deeply grateful and will definitely help you win the credit you deserve in front of the governor."