Guangdong is a maritime territory with a relatively large naval force, both inside and outside rivers. It was originally necessary to set up a navy admiral to oversee the province's navy and strengthen coastal defense. But I don't know how the Qing government considered it. Historically, it was not until the third year of Kangxi that
The post of naval admiral was only established. Even so, we still adhere to the principle of using civility to control military force, and using governors to control the town, so that the naval admiral who ranks first rank does not have the freedom to act with full authority.
There is no supreme commander, and those sent by the Governor are not familiar with naval warfare. Naturally, it will be difficult to subdue the heroes who are mostly reckless. The navy of Wu Liuqi, Su Li, and Xu Long is the most powerful. If they are all here, they will be able to negotiate well.
Dare to disobey. But now, one of the three people has not arrived, one is buried at the bottom of the sea, and only Xu Long is left. It is difficult for everyone to bow their heads and obey orders.
Angrily, Xu Long also knew that it was difficult to win with his own strength. It was not what he wanted to spend all his money to make a wedding dress for others. Therefore, he tried his best to take over the tasks that others were unwilling to undertake.
Come down and discuss and assign other tasks.
"The enemy only has more than 20 ships. Although they have many cannons, our ships have a numerical advantage when combined. The cannons of each ship add up to hundreds." Xu Long
After discussing with everyone, the layout was completed. Seeing that everyone was in low spirits, he had to cheer everyone up again, "As long as the port blockade is broken, everyone moves forward vigorously. If we fight with more than less, how can we be invincible?"
"Yes, yes." The supervisor sent by the governor was a civil servant. He had been given a splitting headache by a group of elite Qiu Ba. He just recovered and stroked his beard and said: "Sun Tzu said: If you fight quickly, you will survive. If you don't fight quickly, you will survive.
Those who fight will perish. It is a place of death; it is also said: when encircling a place, one plots, and when a place of death is fought, it is said again: when one is thrown into a place of death, he survives; when he is trapped in a place of death, he survives..."
"What the Lord said is true." Xu Long rolled his eyes in anger, and quickly interrupted this sour scholar, "Damn it, you damn thing, you didn't even look at your fucking words, and you didn't even start to beat me. It's like
It seems like it is doomed, "Our army can only escape from danger by fighting forward. If we wait for the enemy's reinforcements to arrive, we will be trapped in the harbor. I don't need to say more about the outcome, right?"
"Sir Xu has said it thoroughly. Everyone understands it. How dare you fight and cower?" Rao Ping's general Chen Shirong said with emotion: "Our army will fight to the death to avenge Master Wu and avenge the dead brothers."
Xu Long bowed his hand to Chen Shirong and smiled appreciatively. Although he had a high official position, he was very grateful to Chen Shirong for supporting him.
"Hit, beat his mother*."
"It's blocked at the door of my house. It's really bullying."
"If we don't fight back the enemy, they really think we are just a mob!"
There was a commotion and shouting. In any case, the morale seemed to be boosted. A group of Qiu Ba slapped the table and glared, rolled up their sleeves and exposed their arms, showing a bit of bravery.
……………
The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, especially in naval battles. The weather changes. The direction of the wind is unpredictable and does not depend on human will at all.
The layout of the Qing army took too much time. The balance of the war quickly tilted towards the Ming army. Not to mention how long this wind direction could last, the main force behind them had already sent reinforcements to Baigemen Water Village. Dozens of ships
The Pioneer Clipper took the lead, constantly adjusting its sails and sailing against the wind in a zigzag pattern, only a few dozen miles away from the port.
The moon was in the head and the night was still deeper. The fire attack tactics deployed by the Qing army finally began. As several shallow boats carrying grease, firewood, sulfur and other materials drifted out of the port, the sentries on the Ming army's surveillance ships immediately sounded the alarm.
.The intercepting ships started to move forward to block it.
Bright flames rose, and some fireships began to burn, making the target more obvious. Some fireships were manned and not ignited, but they were faster.
After such a long delay, the Ming army was well prepared and did not appear panicked. The decks of several captured Qing ships were already filled with vessels filled with sea water. The sails were adjusted and the small ships were rammed diagonally.
The board paddled the oar board, approached the fire ship, and used a long pole to prop up the fire ship.
The delay not only allowed the Ming army to prepare, but also caused the wind direction to deviate, greatly reducing the power of the Qing army's fire attack tactics.
"Boom!" An unlit fire ship suddenly exploded after being intercepted. The intercepting ship was severely damaged and began to sink slowly. Two small boats rushed over to rescue it.
Yang Yandi did not put down the telescope in his hand, but he frowned. Fire ships are easy to deal with, but explosive ships that die together are a bit more difficult. If there are too many such ships——
They fell into chaos, scrambling to avoid, and colliding with each other... The scene that Xu Long and other Qing generals hoped for did not appear. It was only the Ming army's interception fleet that was busy. Due to the deflection of the wind, the fire ship drifted away.
, it is no longer in the original direction, and the Ming army ships in the back can easily avoid it.
The rockets shot out from the Ming Dynasty ship, like meteors in the sky. After experiencing two attacks from the explosive ships, the Ming army had already thought of a way. If you don't light the fire, I will light it. Even if the target is obvious, it can also ignite the ship.
of gunpowder to eliminate danger in advance.
More than twenty fire ships were launched quickly, but they failed to loosen the Ming army's blockade line and cause chaos. But Xu Long could not just return without success and retreat again.
"A bunch of bastards, wasting time." "Damn moon, why isn't the damn wind stronger..."
Continuously cursing all the imaginable reasons, Xu Long bit the bullet and led the ship out of the port. However, when the remaining navy of Raoping Town, eager for revenge, rushed forward, Xu Long did not act according to the plan, but took his headquarters ship with him.
The ship deflected its course and sailed close to the shore, trying to escape from the expected hole.
Generally speaking, it is unfavorable for large ships with deep drafts to sail close to the coast, and there are more reefs. Xu Long relies on his familiarity with this sea area, and also feels that it is more advantageous for his own ships with shallower drafts to stay closer to the coast.
.
The naval battle started again. Although the fire ship tactics failed to have a great effect, the interception line was arranged, and in order to avoid the fire ships, all the Ming army's combat ships had anchored and moved slightly back, outside the harbor.
Give some space.
The first to leave the port was the remaining Raoping Town Navy. The leader of the team, Chen Shirong, was Wu Liuqi's brother-in-arms when he was a pirate. He had a deep sense of loyalty. This guy's eyes were wide-eyed. He shouted and cursed the sailors on the ship and steered the warship while firing cannons.
While rushing forward.
The large and small ships that intercepted the fire ships dispersed to avoid them. The first line of blocking warships appeared in front of the Qing fleet, and made a sharp turn. The side guns bombarded fiercely, and the smoke emitted covered the entire hull of the ship.
Covered up.
However, Xu Long led the fleet to flee suddenly, leaving a gap for the Qing army's outbound fleet. The Ming army's roundabout detachment spread its sails and suddenly came out from the flank, wedged into the gap of the Qing army's fleet. The sound of artillery was like thunder.
The Qing fleet in the vanguard was divided and surrounded, and the artillery on the other side was used to bombard the port, blocking the Qing ships' attempts to continue leaving the port.
The ship was almost surrounded by water jets stirred up by the shells. The main mast fell, the large sail yard was broken, and the broken sails shook in the night wind.
Chen Shirong was bleeding profusely and was going crazy with pain. But he still held a hook spear. On the deck covered with flesh, dead bodies, and wounded, he roared angrily, shouted at his subordinates, and directed the battle. The Ming army's warship seemed to be closer.
, is about to enter the blind spot of the artillery range.
On the deck of the Ming Dynasty warship, a swivel gun aimed its muzzle at the approaching enemy ship under the manual rotation. This is a smaller artillery, specially designed to fire deadly lead pellet shot at the enemy ship. On the two ships
It is a very effective support firearm during hand-to-hand combat.
There was a muffled "boom", only a few dozen meters away, but Chen Shirong ended his final madness. Hundreds of lead bullets sprayed out, sweeping across the ship, including the sailors and soldiers on the deck, together with this "brave"
The Avengers were knocked to the ground. The Ming warship turned its hull to avoid the enemy ship, which had been basically paralyzed due to heavy casualties.
The wind became lighter, and the Qing warships that had been riding on the wind were attacked from the front and back. They finally had no intention of fighting anymore and gave up the idea of breaking through the blockade and breaking out. They all turned around and retreated. However, the ships that were sunk in the port were
The ship was damaged, smoking and burning, and unable to move, which made their retreat more difficult.
No longer worried about the fireships, the Ming warships began to press on, mercilessly attacking the crowded enemy ships, forcing them to be killed or wounded and forced to flee in all directions. The port was blocked again, even more tightly than the last time.
There was a faint sound of thunder in the distance, and the fleeing Xu Long's troops unexpectedly encountered the Ming army forwards who came for reinforcements, and a fierce battle broke out. Although Yang Yandi did not know the specific situation, he knew that a Qing army fleet was following them.
Sailing ashore, he broke out after being sunk and damaging several ships. Since the fighting outside the port had not stopped, he only sent three British warships and one Ming warship to monitor. Now that the battle situation was determined, he freed up his hands and launched another
Two warships were dispatched to assist in the battle.
……………
Water columns rose up next to the ship's side, and the ship shook violently. Xu Long, with a livid face, firmly grasped the gun mount and directed the ship to turn and avoid.
After being sunk and damaging several ships, Xu Long finally succeeded in breaking out with more than 20 ships, but his subordinates behind him were intercepted again. Most of his capital was lost, and he was heartbroken to death, but found out
The enemy ship did not give up, and he himself was not out of danger. It was impossible to turn around and attack the enemy ship.
The four warships of the Ming Army sailed in the outer sea, always suppressing the Qing fleet, and continuously bombarded the enemy with artillery from a long distance, causing damage to the enemy.
There were usually two types of naval guns at that time: cannons and long cannons. Cannons had a large caliber, heavy shells, and sounded like a bell when fired. The maximum range was more than 1,800 meters; while long cannons had a smaller caliber, and their shells were not as powerful as cannons.
, but the range is hundreds of meters longer than that of a cannon. Because the tactics of each country are different, the navies of each country are also equipped with different artillery. For example, the Spanish like cannons, while the British prefer long guns.
The three British warships took full advantage of their long guns and bullied the Qing ships from a long distance, but the Qing ships' artillery could not do anything to them.
Ships continued to be hit, and Xu Long was naturally unwilling to just take a beating without fighting back. So, he used the tactics used by the Zheng army to deal with Dutch warships in the Taijiang naval battle, using the numerical advantage of the ships to approach the enemy ships with the intention of
siege.
The British ship was not fooled. You chased me, so I retreated to the open sea. First, I kept a distance and continued to fire. Second, the sea outside was deep and wide, allowing more freedom of movement and making it less likely to be surrounded. After the Qing warships followed and reached the deep sea,
, the British warships and the Ming army warships spread out, shelling around the Qing warships, and at the same time looking for opportunities, they suddenly turned, either parallel, or passed through the middle of the enemy ships. Once, twice, constantly using the sides of the ship.
The artillery launched a platoon bombardment, causing the Qing warships to suffer heavy losses.
Xu Long was so angry that he couldn't come up with an effective method. If he had more ships, for example, with a ratio of sixty to three like in the Battle of Taijiang, not only the encirclement tactic might be effective, but also
Taking a strong attack is like a charge in a land battle - braving the enemy's intensive artillery fire and getting close to the enemy at the cost of huge sacrifices, so that the enemy's artillery fire advantage no longer exists.
But now, the number of ships under Xu Long's command is not enough to implement these two tactics, and they are getting fewer and fewer, with the tendency of being used up by the enemy.
How to choose has now become a headache and heartache for Xu Long. Escape in all directions, and it is obvious that some ships can escape the danger; if they travel in a group, the target is too big, and they will inevitably be eaten bit by bit by this maggot-like enemy with bones.
Before he could make up his mind, the battle situation had changed and he was not given any chance. Dozens of ships from the Ming army appeared in his sight and pressed up, leaving him with only the last way left.
, fled towards the coast.
In the wars of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, both sides sought to consolidate their territory and expand their power, and fought for the use of local forces and bandits. There were many generals and armed forces in the navy who came from shabby backgrounds. Generally speaking, these people were not particularly determined.
Consider your own interests.
Among them, Wu Liuqi and Xu Long, who took refuge in the Qing Dynasty, were special. They allowed themselves to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty regardless of the storm. Several times the situation changed, but they remained steadfast and refused to be instigated by the Ming Dynasty. Xu Long even conquered Chaozhou.
, one of the brave generals who defeated Hao Shangjiu's forces who rebelled against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty. Because of his unwavering loyalty and repeated military exploits, he was awarded the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Nanyang Army, the title of Commander-in-Chief, and the title of "Imperial Library".
Therefore, even though the war situation was getting out of control, Xu Long still had no intention of surrendering. Instead, he fled towards the coast. The only result would be that the ship ran aground, and then he abandoned the ship and fled deep into the land.
At this point, regardless of Xu Long's final outcome, there is no doubt about the victory of this naval battle. The Qing warships were firmly blocked in the port, and it was only a matter of time before they were completely wiped out.
When the sea fog at dawn dissipated, the Qing troops in the harbor saw hundreds of Ming military ships outside the harbor. Their hopes were completely shattered, and they all knew that the tragic ending was doomed.