Zheng Zhilong's preparation process made Zuo Hua eager to learn.
Zuo Menggeng didn't know much about how to fight naval battles in the era of sailing battleships, and he couldn't teach the navy.
And Zheng Zhilong is the best teacher at the moment.
Zuo Hua asked for Zheng Zhilong's consent, assigned the people he brought to all the warships, and carefully studied all the steps.
Even more so for himself.
"General Hong, why is the gunpowder placed at the bottom of the boat? Isn't it very troublesome to carry it back and forth during the war?"
The people of the Zheng family are very proud and do not think that anyone can surpass them in today's Ming Dynasty offshore.
Therefore, Hong Xu's precautions are not strong.
"When the ship is at sea, the bottom of the warehouse is underwater. Because of the unloading force of the water, it is not easily damaged by artillery. In this way, there is no fear of gunpowder detonating and destroying the entire ship."
Zuo Hua looked calm on the surface and quickly kept this tip in his heart.
This is the experience gained by Zheng through countless battles and bloody lessons, which is enough to help the new army avoid many detours.
"My little brother knows that the Western warships have artillery on both sides, and one ship has dozens of artillery pieces. How can the Zheng family respond?"
Hong Xu glanced sideways at Zuo Hua.
"Thank you, General Zuo, for your concern. I, the Zheng family, are willing to sacrifice their lives and will not let the Dutch become arrogant and domineering."
If he didn't say anything, Zuo Hua couldn't ask further.
Anyway, when we fight together, everything will be bright.
While Zheng was actively preparing for war, the game outside the battlefield was also always going on.
As early as July 14, Zheng Zhilong had already sent someone to submit a letter to the Dutch fleet.
The Dutch were asked to release the detained Chinese merchants and explain the reasons for invading China's coast.
It can be said that during this period, Chinese and Westerners despised each other.
The Chinese feel that they are the sovereign state of heaven and the rest are barbarians.
How can we allow the Dutch to become arrogant along the coast of China?
The Dutch relied on the strength of their ships and their guns, and paid no attention to China's lucky ships.
I don't think that these simple ships alone can pose a threat to the Dutch fleet.
Faced with Zheng Zhilong's questioning, Hans Putmans didn't take it seriously at all and continued to go his own way.
Not only that, a clipper ship also arrived from Batavia.
Councilor Anthony van Diemen came over personally.
As the future governor of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, Anthony is now very powerful.
"Hans, please remember, no matter what, our purpose is to do business. Don't offend Zheng and Daming too much. This is not in our interests."
Hans Putmans was very dissatisfied with Antony's warning.
"No matter what, my priority is to ensure the safety of our Dutch soldiers. Mr. Congressman, please remember that once we fail, not only will we not be able to protect our own interests, we will also be buried in the sea."
Antony did not dare to push too hard lest Hans Putmans blame himself for the defeat.
"What I convey is Batavia's decision. Of course, I fully support your decision."
Since the Ming Dynasty had no way to deal with the Dutch invasion, local merchants in Xiamen had to personally organize a batch of supplies to be sent to the Dutch ships in exchange for the Dutch not to invade the coast.
On July 24, Zheng Zhilong once again sent people to the Dutch fleet and proposed conditions.
As long as the Dutch stop the war and withdraw their officials, the Ming Dynasty will send ships to the officials to trade with the Dutch.
This condition completely failed to satisfy the Dutch's ambitions, so they rejected it.
During this period of time, Zou Weilian's urgent memorial of eight hundred miles was sent to the capital and received a reply from the court.
Two days later, the two sides exchanged conditions again.
The Dutch thought they had taken the initiative on the battlefield, so the conditions were very harsh.
They asked the Ming government to stop trade with Spain and Portugal and only do business with the Netherlands, otherwise there would be another war.
The Dutch don't even look at what Ming Dynasty is like.
The Ming Dynasty's answer was that the Dutch had to compensate for war losses and then return the money to senior officials before they could negotiate business and other issues.
Obviously, the two sides are talking about chicken and duck, and it is impossible to reach an outcome through the negotiation.
Hans Putmans believed that the losses suffered by the Ming Dynasty were not severe enough, so he decided to attack Xiamen again.
But this time, the Ming Dynasty was already well prepared.
Guerrilla Zhang Yongchan and Tong'an County Magistrate Xiong Rulin led their troops to attack, but the Dutch army was defeated and had to retreat after more than ten people were killed or injured.
Zhang Yongchan took advantage of the situation to pursue, but when they reached the open sea, the wind direction was unfavorable and the speed of the Ming Dynasty's ship could not be compared with that of the Dutch ship, so he was never able to catch up.
The defeated Dutch army retreated to the sea and cruised for more than 20 days, but still did not dare to attack Xiamen again.
After much thought, Hans Putmans decided to attack Kinmen and then threaten Hai Cheng.
What the Dutch army did not expect was that Liang Zhaoyang, the magistrate of Haicheng County, actually took the initiative to attack Wuyu Island secretly at night and caught the Dutch army's vanguard fleet.
In this battle, three Dutch boats were burned and five were captured, causing the Dutch to flee in panic.
After two consecutive defeats, the Dutch were devastated and no longer dared to approach the Ming Dynasty's coastal waters.
Hans Putmans was deeply aware that his fleet was still too small in strength, and the battleships were expensive and he could not afford to lose them compared with the old battleships of the Ming Dynasty.
Under such circumstances, he and Anthony thought of Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu.
Taking advantage of the typhoon rampage in August and September, which made it impossible to fight, Hans Putmans sent someone to contact Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu and put forward conditions. He expressed his hope that the two pirates could join forces with the Dutch army.
In order to obtain the support of Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu, the Dutch offered very generous conditions.
They would allow Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu to trade freely in Dajuan, Batavia and other Dutch strongholds.
In other words, the Dutch opened up the entire Nanyang to Liu Xiang and Li Guoshu.
The conflict between Liu Xiang, Li Guozhu and Zheng Zhilong has been around for a long time.
When Shibazhi became sworn friends, Liu Xiang always felt that he was the biggest.
But he didn't get any of the legacy left by Yan Siqi.
This naturally made him jealous of Zheng Zhilong.
For this reason, he joined the Portuguese, helped Portugal fight for shipping routes, and plundered merchant ships from other countries.
This created a conflict of interest with the Dutch and Spanish represented by Zheng Zhilong.
But the Portuguese had long since declined and could not support Liu Xiang's ambitions.
After Zheng Zhilong broke with the Dutch, Liu Xiang took advantage of the situation and defected to the Dutch.
Li Guozhu even harbored a grudge against Zheng Zhilong.
He is Li Dan's son.
He always believed that Li Dan's legacy should be inherited by him.
It was Zheng Zhilong who took away everything and turned him into a lonely ghost.
He would not let go of any opportunity to regain his foundation from Zheng Zhilong.
Prompted by various conditions, Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu decided to send troops to fight Zheng Zhilong to the death.
The war to determine who is the hegemon in the Taiwan Strait is about to break out.