A sea battle lasted for nearly an afternoon. It was not until sunset that the area around the Penglai Islands finally returned to calm. There were only dozens of crooked blessing ships floating on the sea under the afterglow of the setting sun. The sunset glow reflected on the sea like blood.
, those broken ship planks drifting with the current stretched for several miles on the sea.
Wan Lei looked at the desolate scene, and felt a sense of sadness in his heart. War, this is war! Behind the halo of victory, there is the destruction of blood and fire. Wan Lei does not like war, nor does he like killing, but there are
Some killing is necessary, not only for justice and evil, but more importantly for survival. Only the winner can survive better.
"Sir, the general of the Ming Navy has sent someone to ask for surrender." Liu Wenxiu reminded in a low voice beside Wan Lei. This battle almost destroyed all the warships of the Ming Navy, and those damaged warships were
Unable to move, the sailors had no choice but to surrender.
If they do not surrender, even if the four sharp gunboats do not kill them all, as long as they are left on this vast sea, they will have no food and fresh water, and they will eventually die. Seeing that the situation is over, Li Gao, in order not to starve to death or die of thirst,
I had no choice but to surrender.
"Send people to accept the surrender, let them all gather on some relatively intact warships, and then transport them to Huwei Island for resettlement." Wan Lei is disgusted with war, but Wan Lei's mind is still clear, and he will not do it because he doesn't like war.
Just bury his head in the sand. From now on, he will fight the battles that need to be fought and kill those who need to be killed.
The officers and soldiers of the Peking Army have done things like surrendering and receiving prisoners of war many times, and they are considered to be very skilled at the job. During this period, they encountered some people who were unwilling to fail and were struggling to death. The Peking Army would not be merciful and would just kill them and throw them away.
Going to the sea, the remaining soldiers of the Ming army were completely obedient and squatted aside with their heads in their hands, waiting for the Peiping army to respond.
Soon, four warships dragged a dozen ships filled with prisoners of war to Huwei Island. Wan Lei did not go ashore, but met Wang Jingong on the ship who came from the island to ask for surrender. Compared with
Li Gao's army, whose warships were almost completely destroyed, and Wang Jin's army were not much better off. More than forty warships were all destroyed. Even if they were repaired, it would take a month or two to repair more than a dozen ships, and all of his warships were destroyed.
Grain obviously can't last that long.
In addition, Wang Jinggong would not be so stupid as to think that the four sharp gunboats would watch him repair the ship. Like Li Gaobu, he had no choice but to surrender.
"You are very cautious and good at naval battles. It's a pity that you have met a stronger opponent." Wan Lei looked at Wang Jinggong who was kneeling in front of Chi Fu and said in a very calm tone.
"Your Excellency, the gunboats are invincible and cannot be defeated by our army. We are willing to be defeated." Wang Jinggong did not dare to raise his head, but he still disagreed in his heart. He believed that Wan Lei's victory was all due to the sharpness of the warships. Without such a powerful battleship,
The ship, he asked himself, would not be defeated.
"No, you are wrong. Our army is not just about invincible warships and weapons. War is a contest between people, and it is people who ultimately determine the outcome of the war. You will never understand this." Wan Lei shook his hand,
He signaled to pull Wang Jinggong down and imprison him.
Wan Lei would not use a reduced general. Even if he wanted to use it, he would have to follow the military regulations of the Peking Army. Everyone must start as a soldier and accumulate enough military merits before they can go to the military academy. Only those who pass the military academy examination can
Appointed as a general, after all, the Peking Army is different from ordinary troops. It doesn't mean that you can become a general if you are asked to do so. You also have to have the soldiers below to obey you.
"Sir, these sailors are good and in good health, but I don't know if they can be used for my own use," Liu Wenxiu said.
"We recruit people for the Peiping Army. It is better to have fewer people than to overwhelm them. These people must be inspected for a year and a half before they can be accepted as residents if they have no dissatisfaction. As for joining the army, they are still far away."
"I'm just saying that our navy is too short of manpower, and many ships are short of manpower." Liu Wenxiu naturally knew the principles of recruiting troops for the Peking Army, but he really wanted to expand it, because with the capture of various lucky ships, the navy
There are more than fifty warships that are still in good condition. These ships can be used as cargo ships after repair. If some of the damaged Fuzhou ships are dismantled, it will be enough to build at least ten new Zhenyuan ships.
The more ships there are, the more sailors are needed. Of course, there are also a lot of cannons used. As for consumables such as gunpowder and shells, there are even more. Once the cannon is fired, there is ten thousand taels of gold.
"Go back and select people from the army. This time the navy fought a good battle. There will be many soldiers rushing to join the navy. Just wait and select people." Wan Lei smiled slightly and said: "It's better to lack than to waste, let's go.
It is the line of elite troops, not the tactics of a sea of people."
"Understood, everything is at your discretion, sir." Of course Liu Wenxiu knew that the expansion of the navy would involve many issues, especially financial issues. These issues can only be made by Mr. Wan, who is in charge of the overall situation. Without Mr. Wan's overall planning, the military expansion would not be possible.
Just talk.
"The most difficult battle is finally over. Here is the order to rest here tonight. The Zhenyuan will return with the grain ship early tomorrow morning. The Dingyuan will patrol this area and guard the prisoners on the island, waiting for the follow-up troops to arrive.
Respond."
"We're finally back! My brothers can't wait any longer."
"The sea is vast. As sailors, they should adapt to the pain of leaving home as soon as possible." Wan Lei shook his head and muttered to himself. The navy is now just messing around in the Bohai Sea, but in the future it will go as far as the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and even the South China Sea.
Going far to the west and across the Pacific, how could the Age of Discovery be ushered in without brave and fearless sea athletes?
Across the sea from the Penglai Islands, along the coast of Dengzhou, Shandong, the remnants of the Mingshui Division, like drowned dogs, under the leadership of General Logistics General Yu Min, finally found a small seaside port and began to repair warships and replenish food and water.
also
Just when Yu Min was deciding whether to fight or flee, a Qianhu man named Wang Hun also fled to the coast of Shandong with a broken boat and brought Yu Min a terrible news: Wang Jingong and Li Gao's navy were defeated and surrendered.
Hearing the news, Yu Min was completely frightened. A large force of one hundred and ten warships were eaten by the pirate army. He only had a dozen broken ships, which were not enough for others to bombard him. As soon as he thought about it
At this time, Yu Min once again carried forward the spirit of running away, even leaving the boat, and went ashore overnight, taking the land road to Dengzhou Fucheng.
He escaped, but he could not escape the responsibility for the defeat. Yu Min went to the state capital early and stayed for a few days. After some ideological struggle, he finally gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and returned to the harbor with hundreds of soldiers.
He also grabbed two warships and sailed north. As for the destination, naturally it was not Shuntianfu, but Liaodong.
Yu Min knew that as a defeated general who also lost Wang Ning, the current prince-in-law, the Ming court would definitely not let him go. Now the only option was to flee. As for who to defect to? He was more optimistic about the King of Liao.
Because he has experience fighting the pirate army, he will definitely be put to good use. As for his family, he doesn't have to worry about so much now...