Chapter 142 The Battle of Luowan: The Hardcore Xu Chui and Zheng Cai
June 15th, morning.
After thorough preparation and formulating an extremely thorough and complete combat plan.
Xujiazhuang dispatched the fleet, started the three-cylinder steam engine, sounded the whistle, and officially left the port.
On the wide sea surface, among the waves several feet high.
Three large ships were cutting through the waves, forming a long serpentine formation, sailing straight south.
Due to carrying too much supplies and to save fuel, the speed of the three large ships was only about 12 knots.
The 'Yaowu' currently sailing at the front is in the control cabin of the ship building.
Captain Zuo Xianfu was having a conversation with the captains of the two ships behind him on the public channel through radio broadcasting equipment.
"At this rate, we can reach the waters around Quanzhou and Xiamen in Fujian Province in about three days, and then demonstrate our maritime strength in Xujiazhuang."
"This time, in the name of our fellow Chinese people, we went south to aid the Zheng family. Although I admire the owner of the village for his profound righteousness and far-reaching pattern, Zheng Zhilong of the Zheng Group is just a profit-seeking businessman. He first recognized a thief as his father and became a pirate businessman.
In order to please the Japanese shogunate, he married a Japanese girl and kept his wife as a hostage in the Japanese country to gain the trust of the shogunate. Later, he defected to the Dutch and helped the Dutch run their business. He worked as a thug and worked as a thug. Only then did he get the Dutch title.
People's support has gradually gained momentum, and now it has a monopoly on the southeast sea trade. It has decisively turned against the Dutch for profit. It is the slaves of the three surnames who are responsible for it. It is a shame for Chinese blood to see profit and forget justice! It is not worth our help at all, but the owner of the village
Being tolerant and kind, and not caring about Zheng Zhilong's sordid past, he got a big advantage."
Sun Cheng, the captain of Haiyun No. 7, specially studied and understood the development history of Zheng Zhilong and extremely despised his character for repeatedly jumping sideways.
"Zheng Zhilong is just like a mouse, not as good as the owner of the village. After helping the Zheng family this time, if Zheng Zhilong knows the truth, he will jump to our Xujiazhuang and become a vassal force of the Xujiazhuang. If he doesn't know the truth, he will not come back.
If there is a chance to jump, even our three ships can give the Zheng family a heavy blow!" Liu Guangshan, the captain of Haiyun No. 8, said.
"Never say that!"
Zuo Xianfu, the captain of the Yaowu, shook his head and said: "The owner made the decision to assist Zheng Zhi, not for Zheng Zhilong, but for the more than 50,000 professional sailors of the Zheng Group. These talents are exactly what we urgently need.
There are also a large number of mature shipbuilding craftsmen. It is mainly for these things that we embarked on this expedition. Moreover, there are more than 500 Fujian sailors on our three ships. They are all dedicated and capable. It is for these own people.
I also have to go on an expedition."
"Yes, yes, what Brother Zuo said is that my consciousness is far inferior to that of Brother Zuo."
"If we perform better this time, not only to defeat the foreign enemies, but also to intimidate the Zheng family, we might be able to make the Zheng family our vassals. By then, more than 50,000 professional sailors will be able to control at least a thousand steam ships, and then we can obtain
The shipbuilding craftsmen of Fujian and Xujiazhuang can increase the shipbuilding efficiency by at least three to five times, allowing more large ships to be launched faster. Thinking about it this way, the benefits brought by aiding the Zheng family may be far greater than the benefits of defeating the Zheng family. After all,
Once the Zheng family is defeated, they will take the people to operate the boat and run away. The sea is so vast that we may not be able to find them, and we may be left empty-handed."
Sun Cheng and Liu Guangshan said one after another.
Zuo Xianfu concluded: "No matter what, all the decisions made by the owner of the village are correct and unquestionable truths. We ordinary people may be confused and difficult to understand for a while, but we must resolutely implement them! Do you understand?
"
"Yes, understand!"
"I have understood it thoroughly for a long time, and I have never had the slightest doubt."
Sun Cheng and Liu Guangshan are two people.
…
now.
Interior of Ocean 8.
Because the surface waves are small and the boat speed is slow, it is very suitable for sea fishing.
Zhang Fugui, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Marine Brigade, took out the fishing rod he had prepared in advance, threw out the baited fishing line through the ventilation window on the lower deck, and waited for the fish to take the bait.
There are only more than fifty ventilation windows available, so there are more than fifty fishing rods fishing at the same time.
The marine fish under the sea surface not only have a large number of species, but also bite when they see the bait. They are so silly and cute that they quickly take the bait.
There are also soldiers who report on the harvest.
"One sea bass was hooked."
“A turbot fish weighing more than two kilograms was hooked!”
"Here comes a white pomfret."
"Caught a red-headed fish weighing more than ten kilograms."
"Caught a twenty-pound large yellow croaker."
"The battalion commander also caught a fish here, and caught a hairtail weighing more than three kilograms." Zhang Fugui ran the pole three times in a row and finally caught one. The soldier next to him suddenly shouted loudly.
"Forget it, my fishing skills are poor. Is there anyone who is better at fishing? Come and take over my fishing rod." Zhang Fugui said, sea fishing requires certain skills. He is not good at fishing, while the sea fishing next to him is good at fishing.
A competition has begun about who can catch more fish and who can catch bigger fish. He might as well not get involved and just watch their competition from the sidelines.
"Batalion Commander, let me do it. I guarantee that I can catch a lot of big fish." Luo Xingwang, a Marine Corps soldier, said in a heavy Fujian accent. He was one of the original prisoners of the Zheng Family Firearms Army, and now he has joined
In the Marine Corps, he became Zhang Fugui's soldier.
Such Fujian soldiers accounted for about half of the more than 500 men in half a battalion brought by Zhang Fugui this time, which can be said to be quite a lot.
The current fishing competition is mainly a PK between Fujian soldiers and Yangzhou local soldiers. The atmosphere of competition between them is also very strong. If Zhang Fugui had not handled the matter impartially, regional conflicts would have broken out and they would have fought each other.
His head was broken and bleeding.
soon.
The results of the fishing competition are out.
Among the top ten fishing masters, seven are Fujian soldiers, and Lin Jiaquan in first place, Chen Damao in second place, and Shi Lang in third place are all Fujianese. Luo Xingwang ranked tenth. It can be seen that here
In this kind of competition, these Fujianese soldiers who were born as professional sailors did have an advantage, and the local Yangzhou soldiers had to accept it even if they refused.
After the results are announced.
Zhang Fugui gave praise and encouragement to the cheering Fujian soldiers, but they must process all the more than 3,000 kilograms of fish they caught, eat or pickle them, but they must not waste them, and they will be punished if they are found to be wasted.
Wiping the deck (this is the most tiring job on the ship).
"Hahaha, Fujian boy, how can you eat so much fish?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to eat only fish for at least three consecutive meals~"
"Fortunately, we only caught more than 1,500 kilograms. If we get some help from some people and grit our teeth, we will definitely be able to finish it all."
"So what if I win the game? I'm just worried that my stomach will suffer?"
Facing these ridiculing voices, the Fujian soldiers who were originally very happy were dumbfounded. There were more than 200 of them, but they had such a big belly. How could they eat more than 3,000 kilograms of fish?
"Batalion Commander, I don't accept it! We obviously won the game, why are we punished to eat so many fish?" Lin Jiaquan, the fishing champion, protested to Zhang Fugui.
"If you win, eat fish. How can this be called punishment? Isn't fish delicious and can't be eaten?" Zhang Fugui asked.
"But, we can't eat so much, and we are required to finish it all. Isn't this a punishment?" Lin Jiaquan said.
"If you can't finish eating, you can ask your colleagues to help you eat. There are four to five hundred people here, including Yaowu and Haiyun 7. We mobilize everyone to eat together. How can we not solve the problem with just a few kilograms of fish?" Zhang Fugui
road.
"But...but they Yangzhou guys won't help us Fujian guys." Lin Jiaquan said.
"Impossible, as long as you show your skills in cooking fish, bring it to these colleagues in person, and ask brothers to have a taste, and ask brothers to appreciate your face. If you show such sincerity, do you think you will be criticized by these colleagues?
Refuse? Can they harden their hearts and refuse?" Zhang Fugui asked.
"Uh, let me wait and give it a try."
Lin Jiaquan and others had no choice but to follow what the battalion commander Zhang Fugui said, and organized a dozen people with the best fish cooking skills, including sashimi, fried fish cubes, and fish soup, to create dozens of specialties.
The delicious dishes, even those with carved dragons and phoenixes, were made very gorgeously, and all the techniques of pressing the bottom of the box were used, and they were personally brought in front of the Yangzhou soldiers and asked these colleagues to taste them.
"It's delicious. It's really delicious. Please give it a try."
"The fish I cook is so fresh, you will definitely regret not eating a bowl of it."
"Brother, good brother, please help me."
"Brother, good brother, let's have a taste."
Facing the meal-like service provided by these Fujian soldiers, hearing their sincere pleas, and smelling the tangy aroma of these dishes, I was so hard-hearted that I refused to eat even one bite. Instead, I was conquered by the cooking skills.
, gave it a thumbs up, and even said it was delicious, and that all the fish caught in the future would be handed over to their Fujian chefs.
This is a happy, harmonious and friendly scene.
The young man Shi Lang not only saw it, but also thought deeply about it. He admired the battalion commander Zhang Fugui extremely and regarded him as his idol in life.
He secretly said: "I want to learn from Mr. Zhang and become the same person as him in the future!"
…
The other side.
Fujian, Quanzhou Port, and the base camp of the Zheng family fleet have entered a state of full combat readiness.
Since June 1st, the Dutch fleet had started an undeclared war and sent out a number of large Galenic ships, divided into multiple routes, and successively attacked and plundered Nan'ao Island, Xiamen Port, Kinmen, Lieyu Island, Gulangyu Island and Dayuan Island (
Taiwan), coming and going like the wind, and its whereabouts are erratic, like a hunter who is hunting. As long as he seizes the perfect opportunity, he may launch a fatal blow to the Zheng Group at any time.
On June 15, the Dutch fleet sent a negotiator to Quanzhou Port and made five demands on the Zheng Group:
First, surrender to the Dutch East India Company and hand over five million taels of profits every year.
Second, traditional goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain will be purchased by the Dutch in the future. The Zheng family needs to provide assistance and is not allowed to increase the price in the middle.
Third, the Dutch must buy new goods such as mechanical watches, glass mirrors, soaps, lighters, and bicycles at wholesale prices without quantity restrictions.
Fourth, at the port site controlled by the Zheng family, the warships and merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company can dock at will without charging any fees.
Fifth, Zheng Zhilong sent the proton to Batavia, and he will always be loyal to the Netherlands.
Regarding these five terms, Zheng Zhilong's face turned red, he burst out in anger, and shouted at the negotiator: "Zheng can't agree to any of these conditions, and would rather die together!"
"Death together?"
The negotiator smiled coldly and said: "These shabby ships of your Zheng family want to be destroyed together with our eighteen large Galenic ships (the original historical timeline was thirteen ships, but due to the butterfly effect of this time and space, it has increased to eighteen ships)?
Zheng Zhilong, what gives you such arrogance and courage? You must agree to all these five terms, otherwise when the fleet comes to the border, you will not have a chance to agree."
"Come here, push this man down and kill him! I, Zheng Zhilong, would rather die than be a slave of the Xiyi people!"
Zheng Zhilong's bloody side burst out and wanted to kill the envoy and burn the book to show his determination to fight.
However, after his words were released, no one in the conference hall dared to stand up and arrest the envoy. Instead, everyone was hesitant and even persuaded Zheng Zhilong that it would be better to leave some leeway if the two countries were not to kill the envoy during the war. After all, the eighteenth
Galenic sailing ship, this challenge is too heavy.
"You don't dare to kill him, I will kill him!"
Among the senior members of the Zheng family, Zheng Cai suddenly jumped out, grabbed the messenger by the collar, dragged him to the entrance of the lobby, and then stabbed the messenger into the back of the heart, splattering his own blood.
"Don't kill the messenger, let him go immediately!"
At this time, Zheng Zhilong also reacted and realized that it was inappropriate to kill the messenger, but Zheng Cai did it too quickly. When Zheng Cai, who was covered in blood, returned to the hall, Zheng Zhilong, who realized that it was impossible to recover, slumped in his seat, with a pale face.
He was so ashes that he pointed his finger at Zheng Cai and was speechless.
Other senior executives also accused Zheng Cai:
"How can you be so impulsive?"
"The Dutch are so angry that they invade in large numbers. How can our Zheng family respond?"
"Zheng Cai, you are trying to kill our Zheng family!"
"Come here, take Zheng Cai down quickly and leave it to the Dutch to do whatever they want to see if it can be saved."
for these voices.
Zheng Cai said tit for tat: "What's so scary about the Dutch? Even if our Zheng family is not their opponent, it doesn't mean we can't defeat them. As long as we form an alliance and cooperate with Xujiazhuang, please ask Xujiazhuang to send a steamship to help.
Lun sailing ships, let alone eighteen, are twenty-eight, one hundred and eighty! They are by no means a match for Xujiazhuang steamships. As long as we join forces with Xujiazhuang, this sea is ours, and we can destroy all barbarian forces.
Dear elders and uncles, I have a way to contact Xujiazhuang here. As long as you leave the request for Xujiazhuang to me, reinforcements from Xujiazhuang will arrive in half a month at most, and we will win!"
Hearing Zheng Cai's words.
The top brass of the Zheng Jiazhong, including Zheng Zhilong, finally couldn't stand it any longer for his die-hard Xu Jiazhuang Chui (referred to as "Xu Chui").
"Xujiazhuang, Xujiazhuang, since you returned to Quanzhou last year, you have been talking about Xujiazhuang every day. Have you been bribed by Xujiazhuang? Are you a spy planted by Xujiazhuang?"
"On weekdays, it's just a boast. For the sake of cooperating with Xujiazhuang, we can still tolerate it. What time is it now? The Zheng family may die tomorrow. You are still saying good things about outsiders and damaging your own people's affairs.
, we must lure the wolf into the house!”
"Behead him, drag Zheng Cai down and behead him! Such a traitor to the Zheng family can be killed to frighten those who harbor disloyal intentions!"
"The only one the Zheng family can rely on is themselves, not Xujiazhuang thousands of miles away!"
"The Zheng family may be destroyed in these days. Even if reinforcements from Xujiazhuang arrive half a month later, will our Zheng family still be there by then?"
"I must kill the bastard who caused this big evil today!"
Amidst the shouts of beating and killing, Zheng Cai's situation was extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, the leader of the Zheng family, Zheng Zhilong, was more rational and did not want to cut off another escape route after cutting off another escape route, so he spared Zheng Cai from the death penalty and asked him to contact Xujiazhuang immediately and ask Xujiazhuang to send reinforcements to support the Zheng family. After the contact was completed,
, Zheng Cai was demoted to the captain of the fireship. He could only command 16 people, including himself, and he had to serve as the vanguard. As long as the Dutch warship came, he must lead the ship to the front, get close to the enemy ship and set fire to it.
It's actually a death squad.
Faced with such severe punishment and a task that could lead to at most ten deaths and three lives (30% survival rate), it was impossible for Zheng Cai not to regret.
but!
He has no regrets about becoming a die-hard "Xu Chui" and will insist on doing it to the end.
"Hey, it would be great if the steamship from Xujiazhuang can arrive in time. As long as I can see the beauty of the steamship, I, Zheng Cai, will be willing to die in battle!"
