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Zheng Zhilong sailed into the Yangtze River with his powerful fleet and arrived at Jingjiang in the hazy morning light.
Di Zhongxing, Zheng Sihai and Gu Rong had a total of more than 700 warships of various sizes, which were ready for battle upstream.
Di Zhongxing first sent a small boat to ask Zheng Zhilong about his purpose, and claimed that the Qin army was fighting a fierce battle with the Tartars, and in order not to affect the transportation of food and grass, he asked him not to enter the upper reaches of Jingjiang River for the time being.
Since Zheng Zhilong came under the banner of "Northern Expedition", the Qin army naturally had to use courtesy before force to avoid giving others a chance to criticize him in the future.
Once you have seen the sea, all other waters are but puddles; except for Mount Wushan, all other clouds are but mounds. For Zheng Zhilong, who was used to seeing strong winds and waves, how could Di Zhongxing and his friends, who had only swam back and forth in the bathtub, be of no use to him.
Zheng Zhilong was able to achieve what he has today after many bloody battles and bloody mergers. When dealing with potential opponents, it is best to strangle them to death when they are weak. Zheng Zhilong naturally understood this principle.
The Qin army's navy is still weak now, but with Qin Mu's emphasis on the navy, it will sooner or later threaten Zheng's dominant position at sea, so Zheng Zhilong came and wanted to strangle this weak baby to death in the cradle.
Moreover, he had already learned that Hong Chengchou was besieged in Nanjing, and he could not delay for a moment. After Qin Mu occupied Nanjing, all of Jiangnan would be in his possession, and the rise of Qin would be unstoppable.
Zheng Zhilong is not a fool. After Qin Mu captured Jiangnan, his next target must be the Zheng family in Fujian.
If Qin Mu does not allow others to sleep beside his bed, how could he allow Longwu to be independent in Fujian
Moreover, the Qing Dynasty was not comparable to the corrupt Mongols. If Qin Mu wanted to unify the world, he had to integrate the south first before he could march north to the Central Plains.
In short, as long as Qin Mu takes over Jiangnan, the days of the Zheng family's dominance will inevitably come to an end.
For the Zheng family, the most ideal situation is to let Qin Mu and the Qing army maintain a balance of power, so that the Zheng family can continue to dominate Fujian. And they can also have the best of both worlds.
It was too easy to find an excuse to start a war with the Qin navy. Zheng Zhilong also sent a small boat to order Di Zhongxing to clear the waterway, claiming that he was ordered by Emperor Longwu to march north to Nanjing to drive out the Tartars.
Of course Di Zhongxing refused to allow the meeting, and the two sides had a dispute. Then, Zheng's small boat caught fire for no apparent reason. Zheng Zhilong used this as an excuse and claimed that it was the Qin army that launched the attack first, so he ordered hundreds of large and small warships to launch an attack.
The Zheng family fleet at this time could definitely be described as strong ships and powerful guns, and it was rampant on the sea. The sailors were skilled in sailing and controlling the boats, and the two columns were sailing upstream at a very fast speed. The small boats appeared and disappeared in the misty waves, like sharks flying in the waves.
All together, the enemy and our side had more than a thousand large and small warships, with cloud-like sails blocking the sun and drums of war rumbling. It was a massive and bloody battle.
The Zheng family's front main gun roared first, and huge projectiles were sprayed out with flames. Then Zheng Zhilong gave an order, and the column drew a perfect "Z" shape, and the cannons on the side also opened fire.
Almost at the same time, the artillery array deployed by the Qin army on Jingjiang Island also roared. Together with the gunboats upstream, two hundred projectiles at a time were like meteors chasing the moon, filling the sky and falling on the river surface. It stirred up columns of water that shot up into the sky, which was thrilling.
What Zheng Zhilong never expected was the accuracy of the Qin army's shore artillery. It was simply shocking. In the first round of salvos, ten projectiles accurately hit his ships, three of which were hit twice;
The power of the solid bullet weighing more than 20 kilograms was incredible. It hit the hull like a meteorite, instantly smashing two huge holes in the hull. The side of the ship was completely shattered, and the river water immediately poured back into it, making it difficult to sail.
Zheng Zhilong had no idea that the Yangtze River waterway was limited after all. The Qin army had already determined the amount of gunpowder, measured the landing point of the shells, and used buoys as marks. They waited until Zheng Zhilong's ships entered the target position before firing, so the shooting effect was extremely good.
In the first round of shooting, Zheng Zhilong severely damaged five gunboats, slightly damaged four, and sunk three small boats.
Although compared with his five or six hundred warships, there was no serious damage; but this was only the first round of salvos after all, and the Zheng family's fleet was still only aiming at the target, but the Qin army's artillery shells severely damaged so many of his warships, which was undoubtedly a serious blow to the morale of the Zheng family fleet.
Once the battle started, no matter how many casualties there were, there was no room for grief. The Qin army's thousand-jin falconet cannons continuously poured shells at the Zheng family fleet at a rate of three rounds per minute. The thick smoke instantly made the river surface confusing.
The Zheng family's fleet also fought back fiercely. The sailors went into battle shirtless, the gunners' faces were covered in soot, they kept shouting, and they operated the sails and fired the cannons with great skill. Their shooting speed was no slower than that of the Qin army.
Just as Zheng's army was gradually turning the tide, a huge explosion was heard from the front. The bow of a warship was thrown out of the water by the violent explosion and broke into two pieces in the huge fire. Then the gunpowder on the ship exploded and the entire giant ship was engulfed in a raging fire.
This is a mine, a mine as big as a water tank, and its depth has been improved. Small boats cannot hit it, and only huge ships with a deep draft can hit it. The smoke is everywhere, and it is difficult to see far away. It is difficult to detect underwater threats in advance. No matter how big the warship is, it will be reduced to ashes if it hits a mine.
The huge burning ship was soon engulfed by the river water, the flames went out, and only large pieces of broken wood and corpses were left floating on the water.
The enormous power of the mines once again dealt a heavy blow to Zheng's navy. The ship capsized in the ditch. Zheng Zhilong's anger was beyond words. Under his drum command, the Zheng's navy poured all their anger into the cannonballs, which gushed out with tongues of fire.
The Qin army's artillery array on the shore had built fortifications, but the navy ships that were firing at the Zheng army were unprotected and were constantly hit by bullets, with their decks cracked and water entering their hulls.
In this naval battle, both sides deployed more than a thousand warships and six or seven hundred large and small cannons. Although not all cannons could fire at the same time, the sky was still filled with the whistling of shells.
The sound was so great that the sky and the earth changed color, and the river was covered with huge waves. Thick smoke enveloped the vast river surface, choking people to tears and almost suffocating them.
The Zheng family's small boats were not afraid of mines and rushed like a pack of wolves. They were the first to kill into the Qin army's fleet. Rockets flew into the sky, gunshots banged, and the surface of the river was like a pot of porridge, boiling.
At this time, the morning sun was just rising, and the thousands of golden rays of light could not penetrate the thick smoke on the river surface, and the rustling river breeze could not blow away the wave-like sounds of killing.
On the south bank of Jiangyin City, Su Jin, who had led 30,000 troops to attack the city all night, had just retreated to Jiangyin City within an hour. The Qing army, who had been fighting all night, went to the river to get water for cooking, but was surprised to find that the river had dried up.
The Xicheng River, which was originally nearly two meters deep, was now reduced to a trickle, and large schools of fish and shrimp were jumping around in the shallow water and mud. The Qing army did not understand why and happily went into the river to catch fish.
Some people were alert and reported this strange phenomenon to Li Chengdong. Li Chengdong did not dare to delay and hurried to the river to check.
At this moment, a huge explosion suddenly came from not far upstream, followed by a dull rumble coming from far away. The war horses in the Qing army camp became restless and neighed one after another. Some even broke free from the reins and ran madly, knocking down the Qing soldiers in the camp, and the scene was in chaos.
Li Chengdong looked upstream, his pupils shrinking rapidly, and finally he screamed miserably as if he had seen a ghost: "Run! Run, the flood is coming..."
Yes, Li Chengdong had foreseen the situation, but it was too late. The flood came too quickly, in an instant, with turbid waves emptied out and surging in.
Those Qing soldiers who are still fishing in the river will have no chance to enjoy the delicious fish and shrimp. Instead, they will become delicacy in the stomachs of the fish and shrimp.
Huge waves rushed in, and the huge momentum made people terrified. In order to facilitate water, the Qing army set up camp by the river. In the face of the huge waves, the walls of the camp were collapsed like paper, and the tents in the camp were also washed down. The Qing soldiers who failed to escape were swept in and drowned countless people.
Those outside the tents were much luckier. After all, Jiangyin was not in a mountainous area, and the terrain was open. The huge waves that rushed down were actually only up to a person's waist. After being pushed out more than ten feet, people could often struggle up. Of course, if they were injured or killed by stones and wood brought by the waves, that was another matter.
In short, although the flooding of the seven armies did not lead to the annihilation of the Qing army, thousands of people died, the camps were destroyed, the weapons were lost, and all the survivors were in a state of panic.
As soon as the wave passed, Su Jin led 30,000 troops to charge out of the city again. Upstream, more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians were waving swords and guns, carrying hoes and shovels, and rushing down like another huge wave.
The frightened Qing army no longer had fear in their eyes, but despair.
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ps: I am so unlucky that I can choke to death even if I drink water. There is nothing more tragic than this. I went to withdraw money at five o'clock and found that my bank card was stolen. I didn't know when it was stolen today. I quickly called to report the theft and then rushed to the bank, but it was closed. It is not clear whether the money in the card is still there. There is still four dollars and sixty cash left in my wallet. If the money in the card is gone, I will have to go out to beg the day after tomorrow.
I can't calm down and write tonight, but I still have three chapters saved, and tomorrow... I'll cry first... (To be continued...)
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