Penghu has always been under the control of Daming. The residents on the island are all Han people, mainly from Xiamen and Quanzhou in Fujian. They warmly welcome the arrival of the Daming fleet and are willing to provide all conveniences for the South China Sea Fleet. Let go of his house and prepare to spend the night for the soldiers of the South China Sea Fleet who are about to arrive.
Hearing that the arrangements have been made before, Zheng Zhilong can rest assured that the soldiers will rest at night and they will be refreshed tomorrow.
Not long after, a bonfire lit up on the sea ahead.
"Commander, there is Magang, our people are leading the way for the South China Sea Fleet."
The soldiers cheered immediately, and after a day of bumps in the sea, they were finally back on land again.
After another half of the voyage, the fleet finally arrived at Mar Harbor. The well-trained soldiers did not scramble to disembark, but anchored the ships one by one, and then landed in an orderly manner, leaving two on each ship. The soldiers guard the ship.
In the houses on the shore, people and soldiers who arrived earlier served hot meals, but there was no distilled alcohol. According to Ming's military law, no alcohol was allowed during the war, and those who violated the order would be severely punished.
While the soldiers were eating, Zheng Zhilong gave the order to the fleet to cook four meals tomorrow and five meals, and set off from Magang in Mao.
After a day’s ride on the sea boat, the soldiers are very tired. After all, taking a boat is different from sitting in a tea shop and drinking tea. The sea is bumpy, making people unconsciously tired, like a baby in a cradle, shaking. A few times, they would be drowsy. Therefore, all the soldiers who had eaten hot meals fell asleep except for those who were on duty at night.
At Mao's hour, the sky was already bright, the Guangzhou Ship took the lead, the flagship "Nanhai" was in the center of the fleet, and the Fu Ship and Cangshan Ship escorted at a later position on both sides.
On the wide sea, the warship was fully open, following the northwest wind, and advancing at full speed to the southeast.
In the first naval battle, there are naturally many unknown situations, but the soldiers who have been rigorously trained did not show much tension. At the mobilization meeting before the war, Zheng Zhilong had analyzed the enemy's situation to them. The Dutch warship was less than 30% of Da Ming, and the soldiers were less than 10% of Da Ming.
What Commander Zheng said, everyone felt reasonable. Otherwise, why would the South China Sea Fleet and the soldiers of the Marine Corps still stay in Xiamen and Guangzhou
The fleet sailed on the sea for more than two hours, and a huge island faintly appeared in front of it. Under the direct sunlight, even the vegetation on the mountain could be seen clearly.
The soldiers suddenly became nervous. The enemy was about to appear. It was impossible to say that they were not nervous at all. Zheng Zhilong was walking on the deck with a smile. The soldiers were nervous now. When they met the Dutch, they had already passed the initial nervousness. Period, there is no tension anymore.
After another half of a stick of incense, the soldiers have seen the Dutch ships parked in the open sea. I don’t know if it is a pure merchant ship or a ship. Maybe it’s too far away. It looks much smaller than the ship. .
"Why is the Dutch ship so small? It's about the same as the Fortune Ship, but far behind the Guangzhou Ship."
"No wonder Commander Zheng only brought so many ships."
"With this kind of tortoise shell, you dare to show off on Daming's territory?"
…
The soldiers' tense mood just now relaxed temporarily.
The Dutch discovered the ship on the sea.
A large number of ships, uninvited, must have hidden ulterior motives.
The Dutch soldiers are more nervous than the Ming army. Which country's fleet is this? The sun and moon military flags have never been seen on the sea.
But this sea area belongs to the Dutch. Since the enemy is uninvited and undeclared to fight, the Dutch will never give in. No matter which country’s fleet is, it will be overturned first. Otherwise, the Dutch will still pay How do you get stuck in this area
The Dutch soldiers began to unwind and board the ship, and the fleet greeted the northwest. They tried to seize the limelight.
In the era of sailing, seizing the upper hand, not only has the momentum to dive downwind, but can also increase the speed of the ship. In case of defeat, it can also use the wind to quickly escape the battlefield.
The Ming Navy came from the upper hand, how could it easily give the Dutch the upper hand
The flagship of the "Nanhai" issued a semaphore: Twenty Cantonese ships lined up, heading east, and the goal was to block the Dutch warships on the leeward coast. The Fu ship and Cangshan ship on the right slowed down and followed Behind the Canton Ship, let the starboard side of the Canton Ship ran out, and the Fu Ship and Cangshan Ship on the left speeded up, passed the Canton Ship, and were ready to intercept the Dutch ship.
There are six large ships and eight small and medium-sized ships in the Netherlands, which are much less than those of Daming. Moreover, their large ships are still a bit smaller than the Guangzhou ships, but they are equipped with 20 artillery. More than Guangzhou Ship.
Seeing that the momentum was wrong, the Dutch immediately issued a semaphore, asking why the Daming fleet broke into their territory, and asked which country's fleet came.
The flag bearers knew little about the Dutch semaphore. The Ming navy was formed soon. This is the first time to go to sea. There has been no formal communication with the Xiyi navy. There is no unified semaphore for the navy in the world.
Zheng Zhilong can understand. He has been in the South Seas since he was sixteen. He has shuttled between various forces. He has also served on Dutch merchant ships. He is very familiar with the Dutch who dominate the southeast coast. .
After becoming a pirate leader, in order to fight for the supremacy of the sea, he did not rarely fight with the Dutch, but the Dutch East India Company relied on strong financial resources to build an armed ship far surpassing Zheng Zhilong's department. Zheng Zhilong's battle with the Dutch won less. Negative too much.
Today is different. Zheng Zhilong has turned into the commander of the Daming South China Sea Fleet, and with superior ships, Zheng Zhilong must teach the Dutch well in public and private.
The standard bearer looked at Zheng Zhilong blankly, and Zheng Zhilong waved his hand: "Leave them alone." He did not believe that in this case, semaphore could replace fighting and resolve disputes between the two countries. The Dutch were willing to negotiate peace, but Zheng Zhilong was not willing yet. , If you don’t hit the Dutch hard, they will never give up Taiwan.
Sometimes war is the only way to solve the problem.
Seeing that Daming's fleet was unreasonable, and the Fu ship and Cangshan ship had already seized the upper hand, the Dutch fleet slowed down, and they placed their combat formations and were forced to fight against the unknown fleet.
The upper-end Canton Ship has been adjusted, and the starboard muzzle is facing the Dutch ship.
Zheng Zhilong once again issued a semaphore, ordering the ships to concentrate their firepower to strike the Dutch flagship.
At the same time, the Fu ship and Cangshan ship on the left and right sides gradually outflanked the two sides. With the addition of the Guangzhou ship, the Ming army had surrounded the Dutch fleet on three sides.
Zheng Zhilong released almost all the ships, he was pulling a posture to fight the Dutch desperately.
The Dutch found that they were surrounded on three sides, and their rear was a land coastline, they couldn't help panicking, but relying on their superior firepower, they were still ready to fight.
In fact, the Dutch can't help the Dutch to fight or not, unless they are ready to surrender.
Surrender is unthinkable for the Dutch who are invincible in the sea. That is, the Spanish and British fleets can only be beaten in front of the Dutch.
However, they forgot that it was a real Dutch warship, not an armed ship.
"Boom... boom..."
Guangzhou Ship took the lead in firing the cannon. The gunners were testing the water, and then adjusted the muzzle according to the landing point of the cannonball.
The flowering bomb landed about a hundred paces away from the Dutch ship.
The artillery battle on the sea is different from that on land. Not only is the enemy ship moving, but the own ship is also constantly moving. With the influence of wind and current, it is extremely difficult to aim, although the Ming army’s naval gun All equipped with front sight and cover, the hit rate is still not very high.
The war is fair, and the other side’s aim also has the same problem, depending on whose soldiers are of high quality and whose firearms are more advanced.
"Boom... boom..."
The Ming Army’s artillery tested the water again. This time the bomb had landed within thirty steps of the Dutch ship. One bomb had almost hit the Dutch ship. The huge splash of water splashed when the bomb exploded was already Pounced on the Dutch ship.
The port side of the Dutch ship has also begun to test the waters.
After the two sides tested the waters, the formal naval battle was about to begin.
The ten cantons in the middle are all aimed at the flagship of the Netherlands. Each cannon has six starboard guns. The ten cantons are sixty starboard guns. Even if they have only a half-percent hit rate, they will have three starboard guns. One flower bomb fell on the Dutch flagship, and if the hit rate reached 10%, it would be six flower bombs.
According to Zheng Zhilong’s previous statistics when he was a pirate, the gunner participated in the battle for the first time. Due to tension, fear, lack of experience and other reasons, his shooting rate was probably only half. If the gunner matured, the shooting rate could reach 10%, but Da Ming All of the naval guns are now equipped with sights, and the hit rate should be slightly improved.
The Ming army’s bombardment was the first to hit the opponent’s ship. It was not that the Ming army’s gunners had a higher level than their opponents, but that the Ming army’s naval guns had a range that surpassed that of the Dutch naval guns.
The Dutch flagship was the first to be hit. The bomb fell on the deck. The Dutch soldier near the bomb had just celebrated that he had not been shot by chance. Unexpectedly, the bomb exploded.
The fragments of the blooming bullets and the huge shock wave suddenly blasted a two-foot-square hole on the deck. The Dutch soldier who was still celebrating just now crouched on the deck and groaned. Of course, two soldiers groaned. Without sending it out, they went straight to their heaven.
The commander-in-chief of the Dutch fleet, Jenson, heard the explosion on the deck and thought that the Ming army’s artillery had detonated some explosives on the ship. When he saw the big hole on the deck, he knew that the Ming army was using a bomb.
"Oh, God, did we meet the devil?" Jenson murmured to himself, completely forgetting that he was the commander-in-chief of the fleet, and he was also responsible for the task of commanding the fleet.
More and more bombs fell on Dutch ships, and every explosion would cause casualties.