Chapter 224: General Cheng, you are in big trouble

Author: tx Cheng Zhi

Chapter 224: General Cheng, you are in big trouble

Chapter 223

The Battle of Wusongkou ended with a disastrous defeat for Zheng Zhilong and the Zheng fleet.

This battle only lasted for most of a day, but it was extremely brutal. The Zheng fleet fired tens of thousands of artillery shells at Wusongkou, while the Ning navy also fired thousands of high-explosive bombs at the Zheng fleet. Or brimstone.

Although the artillery shells fired by the Ning Navy only fired one-tenth of the cannonballs of the Zheng fleet, the problem was that the impact on the Zheng fleet was very significant. In this battle, the Zheng fleet had a total of sixteen large ships. The Junk battleship was directly sunk, and twenty-five Wuwei battleships were sunk. In addition, more than a dozen battleships were rammed and sunk in the chaos, causing rollover accidents.

More than ten warships were severely damaged and were abandoned by the Zheng fleet on the sea at Wusongkou. The fragments of the ship's hull drifted with the current, sinking and floating. More than 3,000 sailors of the Zheng Group were carrying everything that could float on the sea. He struggled hard and cried out for help to the boat that came to retrieve people. He even took out all the valuable things on his body and tried his best to hand them over to others.

Cheng Shijie looked at this scene, then looked at Wu Sheng and smiled: "Does this scene seem familiar?"

"Deja vu?"

Wu Sheng was slightly startled, a little confused as to what Cheng Shijie meant.

"It was in Baliwan!"

After hearing Cheng Shijie's words, Wu Sheng reacted instantly.

This is indeed the case. When they were at Bali Bay, the arrogant Jiannu cavalry were defeated by the artillery fire and thunderbolts of the Ning Navy. The Jiannu who were also rampant among the white mountains and black waters were also in such a mess, and they abandoned them in the same way. Their pride was like forgetting that they thought they could crush Ning Haijun's arrogance like an ant.

Jiannu, who had always been fearless of death, lost the will to resist and the confidence to fight after the defeat. Even a small force from the Ning Navy could chase thousands of them and fight them fiercely.

Thinking of this, Wu Sheng smiled and said: "What the commander said is very true, it really looks a bit familiar!"

At this moment, Tang En came over and asked, "What should we do with these prisoners?"

Before Wu Sheng had time to answer, Cheng Shijie said calmly: "Are there any young prisoners?"

"There are more than a hundred more. The warriors are very lucky these days. They actually escaped the fierce fire!"

Tang En interrogated these young prisoners and found out that when they landed, they accidentally stepped on the iron caltrops placed by Ning Haijun on the shore and pricked their feet. In desperation, they fell behind and were not burned by Ning Haijun's fierce fire. arrived. During the fierce bombardment, the main target of Ning Haijun's artillery was the main battleship of Zheng's fleet.

Instead, they escaped disaster.

Cheng Shijie said calmly: "Put them together with their companions and burn them on fire. I don't want to see a Japanese dwarf carrying a knife and stepping onto the land of the Ming Dynasty and still breathing!"

Wu Sheng vaguely understood Cheng Shijie's attitude. As long as he was a commoner of the Ming Dynasty, as long as it was not excessive, he could still have a life anyway. But slaves or those who lived a small life would not have such good treatment.

Tang En was not feeling unwell and was preparing to carry out Cheng Shijie's order.

Shen Boyun said: "Commander, it is unlucky to kill prisoners!"

"I don't believe this!"

Cheng Shijie pointed to the Zheng pirates fished out of the sea and said: "Screen these prisoners, kill those who deserve to be killed, and put those who deserve to be sent to labor camps!"

Shen Boyun murmured to himself: "Killing prisoners is unlucky after all. Commander, the famous Tang generals Su Dingfang and Xue Rengui were all responsible for killing prisoners, but..."

Cheng Shijie was too lazy to listen to Shen Boyun's nonsense.

In his childhood, Cheng Shijie would kill everyone on sight and would never show any mercy.

These surrendered pirate prisoners were driven by Ning Haijun and asked to dig holes. Soon more than 3,000 prisoners started making noises, kowtowing and crying to Ning Haijun's officers. Of course, the most common ones were begging for mercy.

.

Cheng Shijie walked over and realized that these prisoners were worried that Ning Haijun would dig a hole and bury them alive.

Just like a child who sees a group of ants falling into a pit and has a pile of sand at hand, he can't help but think of pushing the sand over to bury the ants.

This thought shocked Cheng Shijie. He didn't know why he had such an impulse, because this was not the original plan.

"Is it the evil thoughts in my heart?"

Cheng Shijie doesn't know.

But when this thought appeared, it seemed so natural.

Thousands of people were sentenced to death with a wave of their hands.

This is such a great authority. Although it is evil, it is also full of temptation.

Cheng Shijie now indeed has such power and ability.

Cheng Shijie thought for a long time. Suddenly, he understood why Xiang Yu, Bai Qi and others would do such evil things. Maybe it was not only a military necessity, but maybe it was also a hidden psychological need.

impulse.

Fortunately for these prisoners, Cheng Shijie did not want to kill them. Although the pirates of the Zheng family and the backbone of the Zheng family were hateful, the problem was that most of their soldiers were just for a living.

Those waiting for the prisoners of Zheng's fleet must not be buried alive. The reason why Ning Haijun rushed them here is that Wusongkou Fortress is full of lead balls embedded in sandbags or staying on the ground. The entire fortress needs to be repaired.

Of course, the prisoners did not have such good luck in their childhood. They were driven around and covered with kerosene.

The shrill screams of the young warriors could be heard in my ears.

Cheng Shijie thought of Professor Ai's famous saying: "The sin lies in the present, but the merit lies in the future!"

The original Ming Dynasty had a chance to catch up with the last train of the Age of Discovery. If history could be repeated, of course, the Ming Dynasty would continue to stand among the nations of the world. The people of the Ming Dynasty would always have strong self-confidence and would not go anywhere.

They all kneel down and lick the shepherd dogs.

Nowadays, the people of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how poor they are, do not want to marry a woman from a foreign race, because they are worried that they will give birth to a child, which will disgrace their ancestors. This is the same in Liaodong and the Central Plains.

To be fair, the losses of Zheng's fleet in this battle were not light, but the problem is that Zheng Zhilong owned more than 3,000 ships, and in fact there were 800 or 900 main battleships. The loss of 50 or 60 main battleships would make Zheng Zhilong feel uncomfortable.

It hurts, but it doesn't cause serious damage.

Even with Zheng Zhibao's defeat in the naval battle, the Zheng fleet still had seven to eight hundred main warships, and the loss was only one-tenth.

If Zheng Zhilong heard what Cheng Shijie was thinking, he would definitely retort: ​​"It really doesn't hurt to stand and talk!"

Since the battle with Ning Haijun, Zheng's fleet has failed in three battles. The squadron led by Zheng Zhibao previously lost more than 50 main warships and more than 200 small warships. The most important thing is that he took away the combat power of Zheng Zhilong.

The strongest marine force, the more than 6,000 little Japanese samurai under Taro Kumamoto, were lost.

This time, the more than 2,400 little warriors under the command of Morimoto Ikku, who had just been recruited, were burned to pieces by Cheng Shijie. Even Morimoto Ikku did not come back.

In addition to the losses in the Battle of Liaodong, not counting the more than 8,000 young warriors, he had lost more than 8,000 sailors.

On the outer sea of ​​Hangzhou Bay, hundreds of warships were scattered on the sea. Each warship lit up its lights early, and the lights merged into a sea of ​​lights. The entire fleet was like a floating city, which was spectacular.

That bright sea of ​​lights is a silent warning to everyone that the Zheng fleet is the most powerful maritime force in this country, even if they just suffered a huge defeat, they are still the same!

Zheng Zhilong was very depressed at this time. The battle at Wusongkou failed. This third defeat, whether it was an artillery battle or a land battle, the Zheng family failed. They had no power to fight back and were constantly being crushed and beaten.

The land battle is okay, after all, Ning Haijun is famous for his toughness. They have beaten the Mongolian Tatars, the Manchurian slaves, and the Japanese pirates all over the world. They also occupy the advantageous location, and their firearms are unparalleled.

Taro Kumamoto fell into the hands of Ning Haijun, not to mention Kazuki Morimoto. Although it was unexpected, it was also reasonable.

However, the Zheng fleet was resentful of the failure of the artillery battle, like a thorn in the throat. They had always been the only ones to bully others with their fierce artillery fire, whether it was the Dutch or the Ming Dynasty Navy, facing

Their huge fleet that can cover the sea and the overwhelming artillery fire can only make you tremble!

However, this time they were beaten by Ning Haijun with only about twenty cannons, and they were unable to fight back. The long range, high accuracy and power of Ning Haijun's cannons completely exceeded their most exaggerated imagination!

In fact, as early as the fifth year of Tianqi, when he fought against the Dutch for the first time, he had already discovered that the iron cannon in his hand had lagged behind. Both in terms of range and power, it was far inferior to the Dutch. In the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay, he was defeated.

After the Dutch, the British once approached Zheng Zhilong to sell their naval guns.

After the Royal Navy of Great Britain defeated the Spanish Empire's Armada, Great Britain at this time did not have colonies around the world to support the mainland, and the huge Royal Navy fleet could not support it.

To be fair, it was a lot of luck that the British fleet was able to defeat the Spanish Armada at that time. For example, the original general of the Spanish "Invincible Fleet" at that time was Santa Cruz, who was an experienced naval general. However, just before the fleet set off, he

He died suddenly. The Spanish navy was not without talents, but Philip II had a sudden idea and appointed Sidonia, a former army general, to command the "Invincible Fleet".

It was Philip II's arrogance that paved the way for Spain's failure.

The British warships are indeed not as large as the Spanish ones, and their cannons are not as large as the Spanish fleet in number and caliber, but their ships are fast and maneuverable, and they use broadside tactics, which allows the British warships' cannons to have a longer range.

There are no dead ends.

If Zheng Zhilong had purchased the main naval guns of the British Royal Fleet, whether it was the naval battle of Liaodong or the outcome of the naval battle of Wusongkou, I am afraid that it would have been rewritten. You must know that among the British naval guns, there is a caliber of

The 160mm cannon can shoot at a range of more than 3,000 meters, but the range advantage of Ning Haijun's artillery is not obvious.

But the problem was that the price of the large-caliber naval guns sold to him by the British at that time was too expensive for Zheng Zhilongxian. The Dutch were one-third cheaper for the same-caliber guns, and the Portuguese were one-fifth cheaper.

Under this circumstance, Zheng Zhilong only purchased some small-caliber naval guns.

After the failure at Wusongkou, Zheng Zhilong finally realized what he was doing. He rushed to Shi Daxuan and said: "Daxuan!"

"What are your orders, Lord Admiral?"

"Go to the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and British and tell them that I want naval guns, powerful naval guns. Don't use old naval guns to deceive this admiral!"

Shi Daxuan smiled bitterly and said: "Admiral, those Westerners will probably raise the price!"

"Ha ha!"

Zheng Zhilong smiled disapprovingly and said: "Tell those Westerners that I am going to adopt a bidding method. Whoever has more naval guns, whose delivery time is faster, and whose price is lower will win my friendship!"

Zheng Zhilong started out as a trader, especially with rich experience in trade. He still has a monopoly on trade rights, so he uses the binding of trade power to force Xiyi to make concessions. Although naval guns can make money, it is just a one-time deal, but

The ocean-going trade rights between the Ming Dynasty and Europe are long-term benefits.

Zheng Zhilong invited the Western Yi to negotiate together and provoked internal competition among the Western Yi. Everyone knew how huge profits could be made by monopolizing trade between the Ming Dynasty and Europe. Not to mention selling Zheng Zhilong's naval guns, they were willing to give it away even if it was for free.
To be continued...