Qiongzhou covers a huge area and is the second largest island in China. Compared with the north and the south, the waves of the Qiongzhou Strait are far less powerful than those of the sea outside Yazhou.

The islands, reefs, and corals along the coast form a barrier against waves. The waves seen along the coast are incomparable to those in the open sea with no wind and three feet of waves. Even the Pearl River Estuary in the heart of Guangdong has such a huge depression in the Lingding Ocean.

The isolation of Lengting Mountain, Wengxie Mountain, Laowan Mountain, and even Hong Kong Island, Taixi Mountain and a series of islands inside also makes this place not as rough as the outer sea.

The coast of the archipelago has abundant food sources and is a good fishing ground. Fishing boats come and go and fishermen cast their nets, making the diet structure of the people here not as simple as that in the inland. It is also the most important food source for the local people to survive.

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The background of the small fishing boat is not only the island, but also the land. There are also Ming warships cruising back and forth. It sets off from Hong Kong Island and goes straight to Shizimen to the outer sea line of Langbai, and then returns from there. It goes back and forth in this way to protect this place.

The waterway is safe, and it can collect royalties. At the same time, it also blocks the maritime trade routes of the two Shang Geng vassals. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

This kind of work has not been done by Jiang Mei'ao for many years. I think back then, when Zheng Cai was a guerrilla for Watong, he followed Zheng Cai on a cruise in Zhongzuo Suo and its surrounding waterways until Zheng Chenggong seized the island and Zheng Cai escaped.

In total, it has been nearly three years, especially in the second half of the fifth year of Yongli, when Chen Kai persuaded Zheng Cai, and he followed Chen Kai and switched from the navy to the land division, and then changed back to the navy not long ago.

The establishment of the division, not to mention the officers and soldiers of the headquarters, even he, an old general who has been on the sea, will inevitably feel unfamiliar with these maritime activities. Fortunately, this experience is still there, and the work of Lin Cha's headquarters is slowly taking over.

It only takes time to adapt slowly.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief, we have captured a ship using an old license plate and has not paid its license fees overdue."

"Well, according to customization, we will escort you back to Hong Kong Island. Let the officials of Hong Kong Island handle other matters."

Jiang Mei'ao waved his hand, and the officer retreated. Hong Kong Island was recovered by Chen Kai, but the biggest source of income here was the officials sent by the Zhongzuo Institute. This was a tacit understanding between them. On the one hand, Chen Kai was responsible for this.

He is a member of the Zheng Group, a member with a very high status. On the other hand, Chen Kai uses the navy transferred from the Zhongzuo Institute, so he naturally wants to get a piece of the pie from the Zhongzuo Institute.

These are all things that are on the surface. Privately, Jiang Mei'ao also knows that the children of the Zheng family are not friendly to Chen Kai, and there is hostility towards people with foreign surnames. As for Chen Kai, there is also

It's not that he has no intention of forming his own faction. Being able to place him in such an important place is based on this consideration. Therefore, the more it is because of this, the more he has to be cautious about his words and deeds, and not let anyone pick him out in the slightest.

Trouble comes.

The ship was escorted back to Hong Kong Island and parked at a special pier. The sea-going ship and its cargo were confiscated, and the owner and helmsman were detained. The officials scolded the owner and helmsman who begged for mercy, and then waved their hands, and soldiers escorted them to

Prison. At the same time, the officials took the laborers from the dock to move all the goods off the ship, and after filing, they were sent to the warehouse. This was also a development in Hong Kong Island.

The work of moving is still going on. In the distance, in the tea shop on the dock, several ship owners and merchants are watching from a distance, recalling the last time they paid their rates and how long it is. They are either feeling relieved or secretly feeling lucky.

To name a few.

"Speaking of which, the King's fleet is still majestic at sea. I heard that Chen Fujun and Lin Hou took the fleet to the west, maybe not to attack Qiongzhou."

"This is possible. On Qiongzhou Island, there are naval forces shielding the strait, which is enough to keep the enemy at bay."

The merchant twirled his beard and said the words, and then he thought about the pros and cons of Qiongzhou and Hong Kong. If he thought about it more carefully, it was just that the goods that could be purchased were different, and the rates were unavoidable. But how to sell those goods when they were shipped back, always

Contact relevant trading partners again.

But no matter what, the chaos in Qiongzhou Prefecture is about to subside. With the Ming army's fleet here, both the Qing army and the pirates will inevitably be attacked. The sea is safer, which is also a good thing. Only that person was the first to notice

The Ming army escorted the ship back to port, but the owner of the ship said quietly, "The king's army is the lord at sea, but he still doesn't dare to compete with the Tatars on land."

This is a real problem. Since the Ming army stationed in Hong Kong Island, the fleet has been stationed here, but there has never been a land division stationed at the town level. The ones guarding the island are only the navy and the garrison in the military camp next to the town, nothing more.

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Without a powerful land division, it would be impossible to launch an effective attack on the areas occupied by the Qing army. Not to mention the faraway Kowloon Peninsula on the other side of Hong Kong Island, where the Qing army's camps had been built for a long time, even if Lin Cha was still there

There was no raid or dismantling of this when we were here. Now that the scale of this wave of Ming navy was far smaller than Lin Cha's fleet, there was even less time to spare.

"Last year, Mr. Chen defeated the Jingnan clan twice. It was said that it was also a defensive battle. This year, the King of Xining marched eastward. I heard yesterday that he was defeated. It seems that the Tatars should not be underestimated."

"Yes, I heard that there are many Tatar cavalry, and the king's division will not take advantage of them in wild battles."

"Moreover, the Tatars in Fujian are also trying their best to increase their troops. It seems they still want to fight to the death with Guoxingye. At this time, Mr. Chen is afraid that even if he wants to make a big move against Guangzhou, he may not dare to take the risk."

"Hey, the Tatars are still powerful."

A sigh, but it also revealed the reality here. The Qing army went south, the Hongguang Dynasty in Nanjing, Lu Wang Jianguo in Hangzhou, Lu Jianguo in eastern Zhejiang, Longwu Court in Fujing and even Shaowu Court in Guangzhou, these places

It was thrown away too quickly, and the Ming army was suddenly pushed to the edge. It was not easy to fight back.

However, the current situation is still improving. The King of Xining did not mention it. Thanks to Chen Kai's efforts, Guangdong not only defended the base area, but now also captured Qiongzhou, which can be regarded as regaining lost ground. It is nothing more than returning the lost territory.

It takes time to recover slowly and wait for good opportunities. They still have some confidence in Chen Kai, who has always been steady and steady.

The recovery of Qiongzhou was unlike other prefectures and counties. Because of the special existence of the island, people had greater confidence in persevering in it for a long time.

The same is true for those maritime merchants and shipowners, and the same is true for the Ming army. In the injury and illness hospital, the two guys who were sick have left, but there are always new sick and injured soldiers staying here, so there is always no time to relax here. Nie

When Yi Niang came to inspect, the heated discussion about the Ming army's recapture of Qiongzhou Prefecture was still going on. This was not the first time, but the interest of these Ming army officers and soldiers in this matter was still undiminished. Speaking of which, the more important thing was to watch

We have achieved hope, and we have actually regained lost ground.

"In three years, at the end of the fifth year of Yongli, you said you would regain Guangzhou within three years. Now it is the seventh year of Yongli, Hong Kong, and Qiongzhou, is this the beginning?"

Nie Yiniang's thoughts flew far away, so far that she could no longer reach her sight. A faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and the excitement inside was gradually blocked by her. Until, a moment later, the people in the military camp

A burst of noise woke her up again. Looking up in the direction pointed by the soldiers, she could vaguely see wolf smoke rising straight into the sky.

"The beacon tower of Daxi Mountain! It is the Guangdong Navy of the Tatars!"

………………

In order to ensure the actual control of the Pearl River Estuary, the Ming army set up observation towers and beacon towers at intervals on this series of islands. Observation towers were used to observe the surrounding situation, and beacon towers were naturally used to report to the enemy after discovering the enemy's situation.

The Ming fleet used beacon smoke during the day and beacon fire at night to provide early warning.

Daxi Mountain is not the northernmost point of the Pearl River Estuary Islands controlled by the Ming Army. To the north of Daxi Mountain, there are Ming Army observation towers and beacon towers on Neilingding Island, Longgu Island, and Shazhou Island. They are the ones who monitor the Pearl River.

The front line of the situation. At this moment, the beacon tower of Daxi Mountain is lit, which means that Neilingding Island, Longgu Island and Shazhou Island have been warned. The smoke will send dangerous signals to the Ming army like a contagion.

The core territory of the Pearl River Estuary—Hong Kong Island.

The left army of the Navy under Lin Cha's command followed Chen Kai on his expedition to Qiongzhou. It was Jiang Meiao's Pearl River Navy who took over the defense here. The Pearl River Navy was a recently reorganized unit from the Guangdong General Standardization Battalion, not to mention this.

, just saying that the ships are far from comparable to the Navy Zuojun.

To control the Pearl River Estuary, the navy is indispensable, so Chen Kai is still dispatching ships and naval forces from Fujian. However, time is still short. There is only this navy here, and they are divided into batches according to shifts on weekdays.

Cruise, most of the cruising navy was already outside. Seeing the smoke rising, Lieutenant General Jiang Mei'ao hurriedly followed the regulations left by Lin Cha and led the fleet in Hong Kong to fight against the Qing navy.

The fleet set sail and set out from the waterway. It chose a channel according to the direction of the smoke, bypassed Daxi Mountain, and soon discovered the Qing navy.

The sailors on the lookout looked far into the distance and reported what they saw to the lieutenant general. The lieutenant general recalled the intelligence they had collected. It was obvious that the entire Guangdong Navy of the Qing Army was dispatched. This was a big deal at once.

"More than forty warships, as well as some merchant ships and fishing boats, under the banner of Guangdong Navy Commander Gai Yipeng..."

"How dare you come out with just this little thing to be conspicuous? I'm glad that this old thief is full of food?"

The Pearl River Navy was not large in scale, but it had about a hundred large and small warships. Even the deputy admiral who stayed at the port had more than thirty ships. It was at a disadvantage in terms of quantity, but the Ming army's ships were better in shape than those of the Qing army.

The sand ships and the small Guangzhou ships were much larger than the Fu ships, especially the flagship watercraft. The Qing army did not have such big guys. At this moment, Mo looked at the Qing army's many ships, but the Ming army had no fear at all.

It was the Qing army that showed even more generosity and tragedy, as the wind rustled and the water became cold, and the heroes were gone and never returned.

"Should we ask the commander for help?" The deputy general thought for a while, but still felt that he should be more stable and ask Jiang Mei'ao to come back for help. When the two navies join forces, the Qing fleet will not be able to escape.

Thinking of this, the deputy general issued an order, and the fleet immediately rushed forward, like a tiger shark rushing towards a school of sardines. The bow cannon fired first, splashing water jets one after another. The ships on both sides quickly approached, and the Qing army

Relying on the advantage of going down the river, it seemed faster, but the Ming army was not to be outdone. The fleets only staggered, the portholes on both sides opened, and the artillery crackled at the Qing ships.

The shells swept across, and the Qing warship on the port side had its mast broken and a hole in the outer plate.

At such a close distance, a lot of them were actually shot away, which is really below the standard. However, it has been less than two months since the Pearl River Navy was transferred back to the naval establishment. Its combat effectiveness is still recovering, but it has no

What method? Fortunately, the ships had the upper hand, and the Ming army was condescending. Fire blunderbuss, arrows, and even those fire rods and fire bricks were all thrown over at once, and even the Qing army's warship was ignited in many places.

The fleet passed by, and the place turned into a sea of ​​water and fire. The Qing army hurriedly jumped into the water to survive, and they were in a panic.

The Ming army relied on its larger battleships, more cannons, and stronger outer plating to achieve a good exchange ratio in the first confrontation.

The ships of the Qing army were small, and much smaller than those of the Ming army. It is no wonder that the large ships of Zheng Chenggong's Qing army were much larger than the medium-sized ships in his fleet. There is no way around it.

The thing is, the navy of the Zheng Group was the overlord of China's seas in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, especially along the coast. However, when the Qing army was in Liaodong, it lacked attention to the navy, and even more so after entering the customs. Although it is now

He is dominant on land, but it is inevitable that he will be beaten all over the sea.

At this moment, even if the Qing navy comes out in full force, it is still no match for the Ming fleet. It's just that these Ming troops have been transformed into land forces for a long time and are not very skilled now. They want to completely solve this Qing fleet.

It will obviously take more time to drop.

"You didn't even run?"

In the moment of the confrontation, the losses of the Qing army could be observed with the naked eye, while the losses of the Ming army were minimal. The combat effectiveness of the two sides was not on the same level at all, but the Qing army still fought with the Ming army's fleet.

His willingness to risk his own life really made the lieutenant suspicious.

Sure enough, the smoke from Daxi Mountain that had been extinguished when the exchange of fire started rose again. This time, the initial smoke did not rise from Neilingding Island in the north, but instead rose from Hong Kong Island where the fleet set sail.

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On the pier of Hong Kong Island, the boatmen stared dumbfounded at the Kowloon Peninsula on the other side. The auxiliary soldiers of the Qing army carried small boats that could only carry a few people, ran from the camps, and rushed straight to the seaside. Next,

The auxiliary soldiers retreated and the soldiers boarded the boats. Then the auxiliary soldiers worked together to push the small boats into the sea one after another, allowing the Qing army soldiers to rock and paddle and slowly sail towards this side.

The Qing army selected the nearest waterway between the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island, which was only two or three miles apart. Densely packed small boats swarmed in like a swarm of mosquitoes, but there was no fleet on the island. Those who came

There were quite a few merchant ships for trade and payment of rates, but no one could have imagined these and allowed the Qing army to row over.

"The old prince has an order to massacre all the men and women in Hong Kong Island, and all the money seized will belong to you!"

The first small boat boarded a beach near the pier. Guangdong Navy Vice Admiral Qiang Shiju raised his flag and waved his hand. The Qing troops who landed passed his flag one after another and shouted towards the distant port.
Chapter completed!