Chapter 143 The Battle of Luoluowan: One-sided Massacre
June 18th, morning.
On the sea a few miles southeast of Kinmen Island, the Dutch fleet has completed its assembly.
Eighteen large Galenic ships were deployed in a horizontal formation, the largest of which was more than 800 tons, and the smallest of which was more than 400 tons.
Moreover, each Galen ship has two or more decks, and each layer can be equipped with three to twelve heavy cannons (i.e., red barbarian cannons), so that the total number of cannons on the ship ranges from 12 to 72, and the firepower is very high.
fear.
And a total of eighteen Galenic ships are like eighteen hills on the sea.
The total number of heavy artillery pieces exceeds 500.
Such a powerful fleet is more than enough to sweep across the east and defeat the Zheng family without any difficulty.
Hans Putman, a middle-aged white man with a hooked nose and brown hair, is the supreme commander of the Armada and a shareholder and manager of the Dutch East India Company. In essence, he is also a
A businessman.
Standing high on the ship's deck.
Holding a monocular telescope in his hand, he observed the islands and land coastline in front of him.
Putman's pale yellow eyes revealed endless greed, yearning and longing, as well as the sadness and loss that he had repeatedly asked for but could not get. It was like a string that had been chasing a goddess for many years, but what he got was dismissive.
Rejection and rejection, even ear-scratching.
Even so, the Dutch, including Putman, still remain obsessed with and longing for this land.
Although there is about to be a raid and attack on this land.
Putman still believes that he is peace-loving. He is an absolute pacifist and a businessman who only wants to make money. The fundamental reason why he was forced to raise the butcher knife and set up artillery today is that he was forced to
Yes, it is a last resort!
Because tea, silk, porcelain and other products whose prices are comparable to gold were only available in the Ming Dynasty, but he could not buy them as he pleased. He could not go to the place of origin to buy them, and he had to be stuck by the Zheng family and charged high intermediary fees.
In the past two years, an endless stream of magical objects such as mechanical watches, soaps, glass mirrors, lighters, and bicycles have appeared. After being spread to Europe through merchant ships, they have aroused the greed of countless Dutch people.
want.
They want it, want it very much, want it like crazy, snap up as many as they can, regardless of the price for the time being.
only……
Just like traditional oriental specialties such as tea, silk, and porcelain, new oriental products such as mechanical watches, soaps, and glass mirrors are equally expensive. They also have to accept the exploitation of the Zheng family as an intermediary. They cannot buy as much as they want.
It is difficult to cross the strait controlled by the Zheng family fleet (that is, the Taiwan Strait), go directly to the place called Xujiazhuang, and buy it at a cheap wholesale price, resulting in a greatly reduced profit margin.
Can't bear it.
I really can’t bear it this time!
It's all the Zheng family's fault, it's all the Zheng family's fault that forced them to come to this point and have to deal with countless producers of oriental specialties in this way.
"This time, we are going to teach the Zheng family a painful lesson, force them to surrender, and then let them become our hounds and slaves, obediently purchasing goods for us. As for how many bones they can reward, it all depends on their performance and our
Feeling."
"It's a pity, it's a pity that we only have the force to defeat others, but we can't produce such exquisite products. We can only cooperate with them, instead of controlling the production places and craftsmen in our hands to maximize profits."
"But the population of the Ming Dynasty is too large. The combined population of the seven Dutch provinces is only more than one million. If my country has 10 million people and an army of more than 500,000, we are willing to be inspired by God.
I would rather give up everything I own to conquer this eastern country and control the infinite wealth. Even if there is a possibility of failure, I am willing to try."
Putman stroked the mechanical watch on his left wrist and murmured what was in his heart.
Yes, he is not really peace-loving, but the Netherlands lacks strength. It is no problem to conquer some backward island countries. To conquer the Ming Dynasty, the whole of Europe must unite. But Europe is in a mess, how can it be united?
Conquering the Ming Dynasty was just an impossible dream.
"Master, the negotiator we sent to the Zheng family was killed, and our request was rejected." An adjutant came in to report.
"They are choosing failure and death!"
Putman was angry and immediately ordered: "No need to wait any longer, attack, launch the attack immediately, we must hit the Zheng family until they repent and beg for mercy, and then find someone to replace them!"
"But today the wind is from the north, and the wind direction is not good for us." The adjutant said in surprise.
"Even if the wind is against us, we must destroy the Zheng family. We have eighteen ships. This is our strength to destroy the Zheng family!"
"Yes!" said the adjutant.
…
The Dutch fleet took action.
In anger, Putman led the fleet northward, even against the headwind, heading straight for Quanzhou Bay, about two hundred miles away.
Under headwind conditions, a sail warship can only move forward in a z-shaped route, so its forward speed is very slow, only two or three knots.
It was not until noon on June 19 that it arrived at the outer sea of Quanzhou Bay. Then it sailed from west to east and accelerated into Quanzhou Bay.
Putman asked people to put out a flag: After defeating the Zheng family fleet, they can go ashore and plunder for three days. No matter whether they kill, rape, or rob, they will be guilty and innocent. Anyone who can capture Zheng Zhilong will be rewarded with 10,000 silver dollars!
After this semaphore was issued.
The morale of the Dutch fleet was immediately boosted, and they made countless sounds of howling wolves and ghosts:
"Kill!"
"This time I want to enter at least five fragrant Ming women."
"Snatch all the Zheng family's treasures!"
"This should have been done a long time ago. This is the revenge and punishment of civilized people on barbarians!"
…
now.
In Quanzhou Bay.
Facing the menacing Dutch fleet.
Through the beacon posts set up on the seaside, the Zheng Group had already noticed the incoming opponent, made preparations in advance, prepared for it, and set up a formation to face the enemy.
The Zheng family fleet has more than 200 large ships, more than 500 small and medium-sized ships, and more than 300 specially designed fire ships.
There were thousands of large and small ships in total, more than fifty times the number of the attacking Galen ships, occupying a clear numerical advantage.
but……
Wearing iron armor and a long sword hanging from his waist, Zheng Zhilong, who has just turned thirty this year, stands on the deck with a relatively young and heroic image. As the backbone of the Zheng family, he has led the Zheng family fleet to countless victories.
Just by appearing in this military uniform, he stabilized the morale of the soldiers and gave them the courage to continue fighting.
But with a high-powered telescope, I saw the Dutch fleet more than 20 miles away, approaching with overwhelming force.
A huge shadow fell over Zheng Zhilong's heart, and he felt extremely bad.
Although there are not many eighteen Galen ships, due to the success of the ship design, these ships have advantages in tonnage, firepower, and speed. There is no large ship in the Zheng family fleet that can match them.
Once the Dutch fleet adopts the kite-flying tactic, the Zheng family's fleet will be at the disadvantage of being unable to catch up, unable to attack, weak in firepower, and fragile in defense. It will be exhausted and dragged to death bit by bit, and no matter how many there are, it will be useless.
Half an hour later.
The straight-line distance between the two fleets is less than fifteen miles, and they will soon be within firing range.
"Attack all fireships!"
"Burning a Dutch ship will get you 200 taels of silver, and getting a Dutch head will get you 50 taels of silver!"
"If unfortunately he dies in battle, each family member of the deceased will receive 100 taels of pension money, and he will never be owed even half a penny!"
Zheng Zhilong also asked people to play flags to publicize the reward rules.
In order to boost morale and win this naval battle, Zheng Zhilong had to spend a lot of money, because more than 300 ships were set on fire, and each ship had 16 sailors, which was a death squad of more than 5,000 people. It was unclear whether they could burn the Dutch ship.
, if the fire fails and everyone dies in battle, hundreds of thousands of taels of pension will be paid.
But there is no way, if he loses, he will have nothing. In order to win, no matter how big the price is, no matter how much money he has to spend!
"Woooooo~"
The horn of attack sounded.
After hearing this voice.
The front of the Zheng family fleet.
On a fire boat that looked like a small dragon boat, Zheng Cai, shirtless and with a towel tied on his head, shouted: "Paddle! Row as fast as you can!"
Hua Hua Hua~
Then all the sailors, including Zheng Cai, took a wooden oar and tried their best to move the water like an arrow, making the fire ship move forward quickly, performing this extremely dangerous mission.
At this moment, Zheng Cai, who was a member of the death squad and led the ship at the front, had no feeling of fear, because it was useless to be afraid of death. As a sailor, if he was unfortunately shot and killed next, he would be Zheng.
If the hero enshrined in the ancestral hall escapes from battle or jumps into the sea in time, in waves five to six feet high, even if he has excellent water quality, he will drown or die of cold very quickly if no one else rescues him.
Even if they are lucky enough to be rescued, they will be accused of desertion and will be scorned after death. They will not be able to enter the ancestral hall, enjoy the incense, and their families will not receive pensions. Instead, they will be implicated and unable to hold their heads up.
So he had no choice, no way out, he could only risk it all!
"Come on!"
“Only by rowing the fastest can you survive!”
"Don't be afraid of dying in battle. The pension of one hundred taels will be enough for your family to enjoy for several years. Our filial piety has been fulfilled!"
Zheng Cai roared, encouraging the crew.
Thirteen miles.
Ten miles.
Nine miles.
Eight miles.
About to enter the gun range of the Dutch ship.
At this time, in order to deal with the hundreds of arson ships, the eighteen Galen ships had slowed down, lined up their hulls, opened the gun windows, and pushed out red cannons one after another, with black holes in the muzzles,
They all aimed at Zheng Cai, the fire ship running at the front.
It was targeted by more than two hundred artillery pieces, with the accuracy of Western-style Hongyi cannons.
An extremely strong sense of death enveloped me.
hundred percent.
Zheng Cai had a premonition that as long as he was attacked by these Dutch ships with concentrated fire, the probability of his death was 100%, and there was no chance of survival.
Boom boom boom boom!
After hearing this voice, Zheng Cai couldn't help but close his eyes. Regrets, his heart was full of regrets. Not to mention owning one of Xujiazhuang's steamships, he had no chance to see it again, and there were also those things that were impossible to achieve.
Ambition and dreams all turned into regrets at this moment.
"Several Dutch ships have been hit!"
"Someone was helping us, someone attacked the back of the Dutch ship."
"Hit again, those Dutch ships were hit again!"
Boom boom boom~
There was also a Galen ship of the Dutch fleet that was instantly blown to pieces due to a gunpowder explosion. This scene made countless sailors on the fire ship cheer.
Zheng Cai's eyes widened suddenly.
It wasn't until he saw three tall smoke pillars appearing behind the Dutch fleet that he remembered that he had contacted Xujiazhuang three days ago and the other party promised to send reinforcements as soon as possible.
"Steamboat, Xujiazhuang's steamboat!"
"Xujiazhuang reinforcements are coming, they are here to save us!"
"We win, we will definitely win this war!"
fanaticism.
At this moment, Zheng Cai transformed into Xu Chui, the most enthusiastic person, and fell into an almost crazy state.
…
The rear of the Dutch fleet.
Xujiazhuang's support fleet is indeed here. It arrived at the outskirts of Quanzhou Bay yesterday afternoon, and then found a place to repair for the night. The next day, it followed the intelligence instructions and caught up with the naval battle at the most appropriate time.
At this moment.
The Yaowu took the lead and ran at the front. A semi-mortar reinforcement company on the deck, with a total of 40 80mm mortars, was divided into two groups and launched a rapid concentrated fire attack on the two Galen ships eight miles away.
Haiyun No. 7 and Haiyun No. 8 followed behind, forming an isosceles triangle layout. 15 mortars were also arranged on the deck, each aiming at a Galen ship, and they also carried out rapid concentrated fire.
That is, four Dutch ships were covered by mortar fire at the same time, and were attacked by shells falling from overhead.
These artillery shells fall with precise precision and are as dense as rain, and will explode when they fall on the deck. There are also special incendiary bombs that will cause wood and canvas to burn violently and cannot be extinguished.
Attacking for just four or five rounds will put a Galenic ship in flames.
In just a short moment, the three large steamships from Xujiazhuang supporting the fleet changed their attack targets twice, causing the twelve Galen ships to burst into flames or cause fatal explosions.
Massacre, this scene is like a one-sided massacre at sea!