Chapter 145 The Battle of Luowan: Chasing and Fighting
In fact, the Yaowu battleship is not a real ironclad ship, it is just covered with a layer of painted steel plate.
even so.
Zuo Xianfu and others were still very satisfied with the reaction and performance of the Zheng family's senior executives, who believed that they had achieved the goal of intimidating the Zheng Group.
This is also one of the main purposes of Xujiazhuang's support fleet heading south this time.
In the evening, at the grand celebration banquet, everyone related to Xujiazhuang undoubtedly became the protagonist of the banquet.
The first type is Xu Chui like Zheng Cai. Now, not only has he not been excluded or suppressed, but he has become the most popular celebrity:
"I said that Xujiazhuang will come to support us, and they will definitely come!"
"Have you seen it? Everyone has seen it today, right? Is the steamship big, fast, and powerful?"
"To form an alliance, our Zheng family must form an alliance with Xujiazhuang! Instead of cooperating with those Western Yi ghosts, we must work with Xujiazhuang to destroy these ghosts! Occupy their colonies and burn their ships. From now on, the eastern sea frontier will
Come on, our Zheng family has the final say with Xujiazhuang!"
Zheng Cai held a jar of wine in her hand and drank heavily while shouting wildly, arousing a chorus of agreement and approval.
"Okay, well said!"
"From now on, we Chinese people must have the final say on the sea in the East!"
"Not only that, our fleet will also fight back to the hometown of the Xiyi people to make them feel how it feels to be bullied by us!"
"That's right, cooperate with Xujiazhuang, and then bring down the entire world's oceans."
"..."
The second group in the C position and the focus position are the Fujian sailors in the Xujiazhuang support fleet.
There were more than 500 Fujian sailors. They were spread out and sat on more than 500 tables. Then they became the protagonists at the wine table. They talked about their experiences and treatment in Xujiazhuang in a tone as if they were returning home in fine clothes, which aroused more than five people.
Thousands of people listened carefully.
Lin Jiaquan said: "After being captured by Xu Jiajun, I originally thought that I was destined to die. Otherwise, I would be forced to work as a slave in the mines. Unexpectedly, I was not mistreated. Instead, I was valued by Xu Jiajun and was quickly placed on a fishing boat.
For work, I get 20 to 100 work points according to the number of fish caught. 1 work point is 1 cent of silver, and 100 work points is one silver dollar. Every time I go to sea, I can get more than 80 work points, and I can earn 20 points a month.
There were many silver dollars, and the income was ten times that of Fujian. At that time, I thought that it would be great to be a fisherman on a fishing boat, and I would like to do it for the rest of my life..."
Luo Xingwang said: "Originally, I thought it would be good to be a fisherman, but the steam cargo ship "Haiyun" was launched and could carry nearly 10,000 shi of cargo each time. Seafarers on this kind of steam cargo ship can make a lot of money just by traveling to Shandong.
With a subsidy of twenty silver dollars, I could make five trips a month and earn hundreds of silver dollars, which was much more promising than working as a fisherman, so I found a way to find a way to find a job on the cargo ship Haiyun. I worked as a freighter for several months and saved a lot.
It’s enough to have three or five wives for your silver coins..."
Chen Damao said: "Being a steam cargo ship is stable for a long time and the income is very high. More than half of the Fujian sailors have boarded steam cargo ships and become professional seamen. But I don't like this kind of boring life, so I signed up to join the navy.
The salary plus subsidy is only 50 silver dollars per month, which is a lot lower income. But this is an opportunity, an opportunity that can change our future. As long as we work hard and work hard, we will continue to be promoted and the salary will be better.
We will continue to improve, and even be promoted to first mate, captain, commander, colonial governor, etc. A bright road is in front of us..."
The young man Shi Lang said: "Xujiazhuang is very short of sailors now. In the future, it will recruit at least tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of professional sailors. This is a very good opportunity. As long as you are a sailor and want to join Xujiazhuang, Xujiazhuang will accept all comers.
You can also bring your family with you, so you don’t have to worry about the family being small. When we come here this time, we actually plan to take our family to Harbor City to enjoy the fun. Prices there are low and wages are high, and locals don’t bully outsiders. Compared to here in Fujian
So much better…”
Hear these introductions.
The sailors from the Zheng Group sitting at the same table couldn't help but feel excited.
The monthly income of a fisherman in Xujiazhuang is more than 20 taels. They work hard for the Zheng family every day and their monthly income is only 23 taels. They might as well go to Xujiazhuang to work as fishermen.
As for the lucrative job of cargo ship seaman, there are definitely people rushing to take it, and there is no fear that they will not be able to recruit.
Joining the Xujiazhuang Navy is a very good choice, and there is a lot of room for development.
The family can also leave this poor place in Fujian and go to Xujiazhuang to enjoy the blessings and solve their worries.
If it weren't for the fact that this was the territory of the Zheng family and they had to be careful, there would probably be many sailors who would have applied to join Xujiazhuang on the spot and asked what channels and methods they could use to join.
Even if it is difficult to act now, the seeds of job-hopping have been planted. He may abandon the Zheng family at any time and choose the stronger and more promising Xujiazhuang. After all, people go to higher places and their legs grow on themselves. Can the Zheng family
You can stop it for a while, but you can't stop it for a lifetime.
Anyway!
Under the joint influence and drive of Zheng Cai and the Fujian sailors in the Xujiazhuang support fleet.
It is obvious that the number of Xu Chui within the Zheng Group is increasing rapidly. The number of sailors who have planted the seeds of job hopping and want to join Xujiazhuang is in the tens of thousands.
This is about to form a force that cannot be ignored. In normal times, the senior officials of the Zheng family would have been extremely anxious and would have taken immediate action to restrict and suppress them. But now, sitting in the banquet hall, they were politely receiving Zuo Xianfu, Sun Cheng, Liu Guangshan, etc.
The top brass of the Zheng family had no effort to stop it. They could only watch Xu Jiazhuang's influence penetrate deeply into the Zheng Group without daring to express any dissatisfaction.
Even if we want to take action, we have to wait until the Xujiazhuang support fleet leaves.
In the banquet hall.
After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.
Zuo Xianfu said to Zheng Zhilong, who was sitting at the top, who was always worried, in a trance, and forcing a smile: "Captain Zheng, I have a cooperation proposal here. Are you interested?"
"Captain Zuo, please speak." Zheng Zhilong did not dare to neglect and said in a very low manner.
"Our support fleet went south this time, firstly to assist the Zheng family, and secondly for the purpose of actual combat training. But we didn't expect the Dutch to be so incompetent. They fell before we could use our full strength. They were weak, too weak.
.”
"Yes, that's what Captain Zuo said." Zheng Zhilong's eyes twitched and his smile became more forced.
"We still want to continue fighting! Continuing to improve our naval battle experience, Captain Zheng, can you help find some suitable opponents? Then the two families will join forces to operate on them and practice their skills. Don't worry, our Xu family fleet is at the front. You guys can follow
Just build up your momentum at the back and take advantage of it. You don't need to put in too much effort. When our goal of training is achieved, we will go back north and we won't disturb you for too long. We only have three large ships and have no plans to expand our territory.
.”
Zuo Xianfu said that he knew the worries of Zheng Zhilong and others and used these words to dispel their concerns.
Hear this.
Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao and other senior members of the Zheng family looked at each other and saw a glimmer of light in each other's eyes.
Chance!
Xujiazhuang offered it on his own initiative to help eliminate Zhengjia's maritime competitors.
In addition, their worries were successfully dispelled, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Captain Zuo, there are not only suitable opponents, but many!"
Zheng Zhilong changed his face and said with great enthusiasm: "For example, Liu Xianglao's pirate army is currently entrenched in Kinmen and blockading Xiamen Port. They collude with He Yi to work for outsiders, beat us Chinese people, and help outsiders.
Those who plundered the good people of our Ming Dynasty are extremely abominable and must be eliminated!"
"In addition, the Dutch have built several castles in Penghu and in the south of Damuan Island. They have continuously encroached on our Chinese land, killed and enslaved the surrounding Chinese people, and forcibly implemented their Catholic baptism. They want to destroy the Chinese cultural traditions and the unity of heaven and man.
Anger, if we don’t get rid of it, it will become a serious cancer for our Chinese people!”
Bang!
Zuo Xianfu punched the table in front of him with a loud bang.
He stood up and said: "There is nothing to say. Fight, we must fight! We will set off tomorrow to destroy these internal thieves and foreign invaders!"
"Thank you Captain Zuo!"
Zheng Zhilong and other senior officials of the Zheng family all had ecstatic expressions on their faces. With the help of Xujiazhuang's powerful support fleet, what opponent could not be eliminated? The Zheng Group's maritime hegemony on the southeast coast is now truly stable.
…
the next day.
The three large ships of the Xujiazhuang support fleet continued to leave the port to perform combat missions after replenishing a batch of fresh water, vegetables and other supplies.
More than two hundred Zheng family warships followed slowly behind. Zheng Zhilong and others wanted to personally participate in this action. However, the steamship was too fast. They could only hate that their own ship was too slow, and they all longed to own even one.
Steamboat, this slow pursuit is too painful.
June 21, morning.
Outside Xiamen Port, it is located in a sea area called "Liaoluo Bay" in the southwest of Kinmen Island.
The real naval battle of Liaoluo Bay broke out.
It's just that the target of the battle is not the Dutch Galen ship, but the pirate coalition of Liu Xianglao and Li Guozhu. They have a total of 150 large and small ships, which is considered a considerable maritime force.
Even though the scale seemed large, when faced with the attack by three large steam ships from Xujiazhuang, it took only two or three hours to sink and damage hundreds of ships.
Seeing that the situation was bad, the remaining dozens of ships wanted to escape, but the Zheng family's fleet rushed over in time and blocked the pirate coalition forces of Liu Xianglao and Li Guozhu in the bay, making it impossible to escape.
"I didn't expect that today would be the end of me, Liu Xiang, Zheng Zhilong, I'm waiting for you under the Nine Springs!"
In despair, Liu Xianglao, the giant sea pirate, drew his sword and killed himself. He died extremely unwillingly.
Li Guozhu and others chose to surrender and begged for their lives, but the middle and lower-level pirates could survive. Thieves like Li Guozhu, about 300 people, were placed in front of the muzzle, and then executed with artillery fire. From then on, this area
A new rule was established at sea:
"In the future, if any Chinese people work for foreign barbarians and harm their fellow Chinese people, we will shoot them to death!"
June 23, Penghu Island.
Zhang Fugui's Marine Corps came in handy. Facing the strong bastion built by the Dutch, although half a battalion of Marine Corps was not enough, it was equipped with a mortar company (20 mortars).
Coupled with the powerful protection of 400 electric breech-loading guns and protective suits.
In just over half an hour, the bastion was breached, more than 300 Dutchmen were annihilated, and the Marines suffered zero casualties.
June 25, southern Taiyuan Island.
The Marine Corps led by Zhang Fugui took only two or three hours to break through the Chizhan Fort built by the Dutch, killing and capturing more than 700 Dutch people, and only five Marines were injured.
…
June 28, morning.
Xujiazhuang supported the fleet, and after vigorously pursuing and sweeping away all the targets in the southeastern waters, it successfully returned to Quanzhou Port. Because the next July and August were the peak season of typhoons, they could no longer fight. Therefore, this actual combat training operation could only be carried out.