Chapter 144 The Battle of Luowan: The Shock of the Zheng Family
In Quanzhou Bay, on the side of the Zheng family fleet.
When I saw the Dutch warships, one after another suddenly caught fire and even exploded violently.
Zheng Zhilong and others, who were paying close attention to the battlefield situation, were stunned.
"Why did the Dutch ship burn?"
"Reinforcements, reinforcements are coming to help us!"
Zheng Hongkui said excitedly that through the telescope, he saw three small spots behind the Dutch Galen ship. The first ship was painted with red paint (steel plate anti-rust paint). There was no mast and the root was rising.
The chimney has a strange shape, but it is larger than all the Dutch galenic ships!
"Are the Spaniards helping us?"
Zheng Zhilong said that he is a master of interpersonal communication. In addition to the Dutch, he has very good relations with the Spanish and Portuguese because he was baptized by the Catholic Church and took a Western name called Nicholas Yiguan.
, the Portuguese had very frequent trade exchanges, so these Westerners affectionately called him Yiguan, and the relationship was not generally good.
Looking at this relationship, the Spanish, who had the ability to defeat the Dutch, sent several large ships to support themselves. This is unlikely, but it does not mean that it is completely impossible.
"Brother, fourth brother, I saw the big flag on their ship. There is a huge word 'Xu' on it. This is reinforcements sent by Xujiazhuang!"
Zheng Zhibao put down the telescope and said.
"Xujiazhuang?"
Zheng Zhilong was very surprised. Xu Jiazhuang, who killed his second brother Zhihu, actually put aside his grudges and came to support the Zheng family quickly, instead of waiting for the Zheng family to fight with the Dutch and then come to take advantage. This was really unbelievable to him.
What shocked him even more was the strength of the Xu family fleet. In just a short time, 12 of the 18 Dutch Galen ships caught fire or exploded. The remaining few were so frightened that they turned around.
He could run away, but depending on the situation, it was impossible to escape the pursuit of the Xu family's warships.
The fierce Zheng Zhilong thought of two things in Xujiazhuang that his nephew Zheng Cai often boasted about: steamboats and fireworks.
Could it be that everything Zheng Cai said was true and not a single lie?
"Brother, we have won. The Dutch have been defeated. Let's attack with all our troops and beat up the drowned dogs!" Zheng Hongkui reminded.
"Brother, don't be in a daze, raise your command quickly!" Zheng Zhibao also urged.
"Yes, yes, raise the flag and annihilate the He Yi!"
Zheng Zhilong said quickly.
…
now.
Aboard the Middelburg, the flagship of the Dutch fleet.
fire.
There is fire in every direction.
There were also horrific scenes of being burned by fire and earth-shattering ghost screams.
And the sound of jumping off the ship.
Standing on the deck, Commander Hans Putmann stared blankly at all this and has not reacted until now.
What on earth is going on? In just a moment, the situation has suddenly turned like this?
"God, is this your punishment for me?"
"Why do you want to extinguish my hope and take away my glory?"
"I am devout enough to the Lord, but you protect my enemies and bring down fire for them."
Putman murmured as he looked at several soldiers rolling in the fire.
"Master, this ship is going to be destroyed. Let's jump off the ship and surrender to the Zheng family. Zheng Yiguan will not harm our lives." The adjutant with a black face ran over and said.
Putman shook his head at him, still staring blankly ahead.
The adjutant had no choice but to jump into the sea.
Boom boom!
In the end, the fire spread uncontrollably to the ammunition depot on the lower deck. The flagship Meadeburg and Commander Putman were all reduced to countless pieces of wood and debris in the explosion.
…
The other side.
The original purpose of controlling the fire ship was to launch a suicide attack by Zheng Cai and others. Now they no longer need to carry out the fire attack mission, but instead capture prisoners.
"Anyone who dares to resist will be beheaded!"
"Catch all those who give up resistance, and don't kill any of them!"
"These Dutch prisoners can also be exchanged for silver rewards and ransoms, which may not necessarily be less than the head rewards."
Zheng Cai said loudly, handed the oar to a Dutch sailor who was struggling in the water, pulled him on board like a lobster fishermen, and kept reminding loudly not to kill those who fell into the water, but to capture as many prisoners as possible.
Because an experienced sailor takes a long time to train and is willing to be recruited by any maritime force. Zheng Cai has only a dozen people under his command now. If he can capture hundreds of He Yi, he will find a way to recruit them.
If they are his subordinates, then as long as he gets another big ship, he will be the captain of the big ship.
If that didn't work, he could also make a deal with Xujiazhuang and sell these Hoi sailors to Xujiazhuang at a high price, two to three hundred silver dollars each. Xujiazhuang would definitely ask for it. He knew very well that Xujiazhuang was very short of professional sailors.
…
The perspective returns to the Xujiazhuang support fleet.
After the Dutch fleet suffered a catastrophic sudden attack, twelve ships were quickly set on fire. The remaining six Galen ships had no choice but to turn around and flee in all directions.
However, the wind direction at sea is northerly, and these galenic ships are subject to side headwinds. Even if the sails are fully raised, the speed is only about 8 knots.
The Yaowu and other steamships were able to run at an ultra-high speed of more than 20 knots under full pursuit, and soon caught up with the escaping Galen ship. Boom boom boom, mortars continued to attack, but at high speeds
The terrain was relatively bumpy, and the mortar hit rate was significantly reduced. We had to lower the firing angle, use free fire, and continuously close the distance to improve the hit rate.
After a while of pursuit.
The remaining six Dutch Galen ships were also emitting thick smoke. If the sailors on the ship had not desperately fetched water to put out the fire, they would have been caught in the fire and could not prevent the spread of the fire. If they wanted to survive,
, the only option left is to jump ship.
"Surrender, we are willing to surrender!"
"Stop fighting, don't fight again."
"Your strength has won our respect, and we are willing to surrender!"
Finding that the six Galenic ships were unable to escape, they had no choice but to fly a white flag and send out a semaphore message of willingness to surrender and requesting a ceasefire.
Yaowu, in the ship's command room.
"Captain, the Dutch have surrendered. Do you accept their surrender?" the first mate asked Zuo Xianfu.
"Since you surrendered, why didn't you lower the sails and show no signs of slowing down? The barbarians are cunning. You asked the flag soldiers to send out a signal and order them to lower the sails. All the crew members jumped into the sea. It is indeed a true surrender. Then fish them out.
, if they are unwilling to listen, we will continue to attack until they are burned down." Zuo Xianfu said.
"yes!"
Obviously, in the face of these conditions put forward by Zuo Xianfu, three of the six Dutch Galen ships ignored them and continued to escape. However, they were caught up and attacked by Yaowu, Haiyun 7, and Haiyun 8, and they quickly burned.
An unquenchable fire started.
The last three remaining Galenic ships had no choice but to be obedient and aware of the current situation. They lowered their sails and all the crew members jumped into the sea and surrendered obediently.
At five o'clock in the afternoon.
The battlefield on the sea outside Quanzhou Bay has been basically cleaned up, and the results of the naval battle have been calculated——
In the Dutch fleet, fifteen of the eighteen Galenic ships were burned and three were captured. More than 700 sailors were killed and drowned, and more than 1,500 were captured.
The Zheng family's fleet was capsized by wind and waves, resulting in the loss of dozens of sailors and the capture of more than 900 prisoners who fell into the water.
Xujiazhuang supported the fleet with no casualties, captured more than 600 prisoners, and captured three Galen ships.
This is an extremely brilliant victory for the Chinese people and will surely go down in history!
The fleets of the Western maritime powers were completely annihilated in the coastal waters of the Ming Dynasty. The losses of the Ming Dynasty's forces were slight and negligible, and they won a complete victory.
This undoubtedly proves that the era when the fleets of Western maritime powers could roam rampant in the coastal waters of the Ming Dynasty is gone forever, and a new era of sea power belonging to the Chinese has begun.
This is partly due to the Zheng family fleet, but mainly due to the Xujiazhuang fleet.
But today for the Zheng Group.
Defeating the Dutch fleet is certainly worthy of joy and worth celebrating for three consecutive days.
But at this moment, the senior executives of the Zheng Group, including Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao and others, are not filled with joy and joy, but fear and shock.
Because the three large steam ships from Xujiazhuang entered Quanzhou Port under the guidance of the pilot, and slowly docked at the Quanzhou Pier. They parked in front of Zheng Zhilong and others at close range, allowing them to observe carefully.
First of all, it is big. The hull is very huge, more than twice the size of the largest warship in the Zheng family fleet.
The Dutch Galenic ships are also incomparable. Unless they are giant Galenic cargo ships of over a thousand tons, they may be roughly equivalent.
Secondly, the ship shape is smooth and beautiful, the structure is simple and grand, and it looks like a work of art.
It also has the advantages of smooth driving, extremely fast speed, powerful firepower and so on.
But there are two main things that attract the most curiosity and concern among the senior executives of the Zheng Group: steam engines and mortars.
"As long as it is equipped with a steam engine, such a huge warship can run two or three times faster than a sailboat without the help of any sails. Once targeted, there is no possibility of escape. Either you will be captured or die! This sea
No matter how big you are, there will be no place for you to pursue me."
"The power of mortars is not weaker than that of heavy artillery, but it has a longer range and a faster rate of fire. It can also fire explosive bombs and incendiary bombs that fall into the ship from above the head. Even if it hits an incendiary bomb, if it is not dealt with in time,
, which resulted in the destruction of the ship and the death of people. It can be said to be a one-hit kill."
"Faced with such steam warships, we cannot match them in terms of maneuverability or firepower. If we want to defeat them, we can only close the distance, send more fire ships, and pay heavier losses before we can defeat them.
One ship."
Zheng Hongkui said with a frustrated look. To be honest, although the Dutch are a powerful opponent, the Zheng family still has a certain possibility of defeating them, but the Xujiazhuang fleet is a dragon crossing the river that suddenly appears. It is still more difficult for the Zheng family to accept the Xujiazhuang fleet.
appear, even if this is a temporary ally who just helped them.
"Fourth Young Master, you are wrong. With the Yaowu's defense, no matter how many fire ships are sent to attack, it will be useless. If you don't believe me, come here and touch the shell of the Yaowu."
Lin Jiaquan, who is responsible for explaining these senior officials of the Zheng family, wants to correct a misconception of Zheng Hongkui.
"Isn't it just a layer of wood painted with red paint? Could it be fireproof?"
Zheng Hongkui walked over, stretched out his hand and knocked on the surface of Yaowu's hull.
His expression suddenly solidified.
Unbelieving, I knocked again, and the clanging sound was very clear. It was clearly an iron plate painted with red paint!
"Iron armor, Xujiazhuang actually covered this ship with a layer of iron armor?" Zheng Hongkui asked in a trembling voice with his eyes wide open.
"Yes, this is an ironclad ship and a real military warship."
Lin Jiaquan raised his chin and said: "The Haiyun No. 7 and Haiyun No. 8 next to them are just steam cargo ships. Their defenses are relatively weak, but even if they are used as warships, they are almost invincible. And such steam cargo ships, Xujiazhuang
In the future, thousands of ironclad ships will be built specifically for military use, and at least a hundred will be built..."
"That's enough. Stop talking. Let me take a moment and take a breath!"
Zheng Hongkui interrupted him. At this moment, he just wanted to cover his ears or cover Lin Jiaquan's mouth. He simply couldn't accept the information that made him feel suffocated.
He was in a state of despair, with his head lowered as if his bones had been ripped away. He returned to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Zhibao and others, muttering like Xianglin's wife: "It's over, the Zheng family is over..."
"Fourth brother, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zheng Zhilong scolded him.
"Fourth brother, are you crazy about gains and losses?" Zheng Zhibao said.
Other senior officials of the Zheng family all accused Zheng Hongkui of not being able to speak. It was not easy to win a big victory today, but he said such unfavorable words.
"Just go and touch that ship and you will know. You will only be more miserable than me." Zheng Hongkui shook his head and said with a frustrated look.
"Is it possible that there is some secret to this hull?"
Zheng Zhilong walked over unbelievingly, stretched out his hand to knock and touch, and then felt dizzy and almost fell down.
Zheng Zhibao walked over and touched and touched his chest. His chest felt like he was hit by a heavy hammer, and he couldn't breathe smoothly. He also began to mutter: "Death, the Zheng family is dead!"
The performance of the other senior officials of the Zheng family was indeed even worse. Some laughed like crazy, some knelt down and surrendered on the spot, some vomited blood and looked desperate, and some even wanted to pull out their swords and commit suicide. They staged a ten-point performance.