The defense battle of Fenggui Weibao Village in Penghu has been going on for almost a month.
Zhao Xuanming was not worried at all. His troops could still find time every day to conduct routine drills in the open space in the fort. The fort was originally the warehouse of the merchant house. The grain that was to be sold to the mainland and the sweet potatoes hoarded by the garrison were Corn and other easily stored food are piled up in mountains. In addition to more than a dozen company clerks and clerks, more than 560 defenders can eat freely for three months; water. That's no problem. There are two mouths in the village The water in the well is indeed a little salty, but it's still drinkable.
The only thing he had to worry about was the consumption of gunpowder bullets and artillery shells. Zhao Xuanming had tried to save as much as possible. In addition to reducing the number of sneak attacks on officers and soldiers at night, he also stipulated that ammunition should be saved during combat; when the cannon fired canisters, he even used stones picked up outside the village. Instead of iron and iron sand, the effects of stones and iron are almost the same when they hit an unlucky guy on the head.
Luo Yiwen, the commander-in-chief of Tongshan Water Village, could not think of any other way to deal with this small fort. After the heavy casualties in the army assault, his soldiers no longer had the courage and interest to fight. Every day The Japanese basically did not work hard. The soldiers were driven to the front of the battle. Basically, they were lying on the ground collectively outside the musket range of the Chinese company garrison. No matter how the officers urged them, they could be whipped or promised a lot of money. Okay. The soldiers refused to stand up and refused to charge into the battle. In their opinion, there was no point in being massacred without the ability to fight back.
After the second batch of reinforcements arrived, Luo Yiwen organized another attack; this time he sent people to detour behind Fengguiwei and attack from the north and east. This time, Shen Yourong's men also participated in the battle. Luo Yiwen was scolded by Commander-in-Chief Zhu Wenda and had no choice but to lick his face and ask Shen Yourong for help. Fortunately, Shen Yourong didn't care about his previous attitude and led his men to follow his command.
But Luo Yiwen asked the officers and soldiers of Wuyu Water Village to take the lead. Shen Yourong had no choice but to take the lead and lead the charge.
In the first charge of Shen Yourong's troops, the officers and soldiers were able to charge all the way to the trench. Shen Yourong asked his soldiers not to rush forward in a group like before, but to disperse when they were one mile away from the fortress. There are ten people in a team. The distance between the soldiers is also as wide as possible to reduce the lethality of bullets, which greatly reduces the power of China Company's firearms.
Shen Yourong's troops encountered trouble in front of the trench. The trench was one person deep. After the officers and soldiers jumped into the trench, the wall of the stockade became as high as two people. The makeshift ladder just reached the top of the wall. While they were busy At the moment when they were setting up the ladder, a series of grenades thrown by the garrison in the fort blew them up and made them dizzy. At this moment, the watchtowers protruding outside the wall and the enemy's platform. The guns and artillery changed their directions. The gunshots and shells caused dust around the trench to fly. Shen Yourong's soldiers were hit by shrapnel in piles in the narrow space of the trench. Many people died in the trench. If Luo Yiwen could take advantage of the firepower on the wall to divert the direction and launch a general attack when the frontal firepower weakened, it might change the battlefield. However, Luo Yiwen sat back and watched as Shen Yourong's troops fell in large numbers on the front line. He did not let the follow-up troops rush forward. The opportunity that the officers and soldiers of Wuyu Water Village had bought with their lives was wasted.
Shen Yourong was stunned by a grenade. He was carried back by his loyal subordinates. The soldiers without command also retreated.
The other group of officers and soldiers went down the rugged mountain road to attack the fortress above. However, the Nanri Mountain sentry who led the army was unwilling to fight at all. He fired a burst of cannons into the sky, waved flags and shouted, then retreated. Zhao Xuanming was confused. .I thought it was a scam.
There was a lack of cooperation among the officers and soldiers in this battle. The officers and soldiers of Shen Yourong's navy lost more than 140 people and injured more than 200 in vain. The casualty rate of the Wuyu Water Village troops has reached 40%. Basically, they have lost their battle. Combat effectiveness. From then on, the offensive of the officers and soldiers was limited to the daily routine of firing cannons on the beach of Magong Port, waving flags and shouting, and resolutely no longer charging.
In fact, many naval officers and soldiers do not want to have trouble with the China Company. Some lower-level officers such as sentry officers, Baihu, Xiaoqi, etc. are still doing business with the China Company at the station. Therefore, the officers and soldiers from the coast have no desire to fight. And the inland guards Most of the soldiers had degenerated into peasants. They lacked tactical training and had poor equipment. Once fighting, they knew how to gather together and rush forward. When encountering setbacks, they collapsed. The Penghu war dragged on for a long time.
News of the Zhejiang soldiers gathering in Quanzhou reached Taiwan. Mai De and Lin Xiao ignored the requests of the anxious Han family, Lu Shitou, Huang Qian and other major shareholders. They insisted not to let the Flying Leopard, which had just returned to Taiwan, attack. Because the Flying Leopard The ship encountered a storm on its return journey. The foremast was broken and the hull was damaged. It could not go into battle until it was repaired. In order to support the defenders on Penghu Island, the Sea Spirit quasi-clipper was sent out with the reinforcements that were supposed to arrive. More than 100 Zhuangding reserve soldiers from Penghu crossed the strait secretly.
The Wuyu Shuizhai Navy, which was responsible for patrolling around the Penghu Islands, had just suffered heavy casualties in a land battle. Commander Shen Yourong was also injured. For a while, the entire unit's combat readiness was lax and morale was low. As a result, it was taken advantage of by the Sea Spirit on a rainy night. We approached the coast near Fenggui Cave. We secretly sent more than 100 reinforcements, some weapons and ammunition, and several special forces sharpshooters ashore. However, the terrain along the coast near Fenggui Cave was too rugged. There was no way to move two cannons ashore. The captain of the Sea Spirit had no choice but to turn around and return.
Two navy ships from Nanri Shanshui Village discovered the Sea Spirit in the morning. However, they could only see clearly its black attire. In an instant, they were abandoned by this strange ship. It was impossible to catch up with Nanri. The two sentry officers leading the Rishan Navy discussed it and felt that the ship was too weird. They had never seen such a ship on the waters of Fujian. They must report it to their superiors.
On this rainy night, Luo Yiwen was encouraged by Shen Yourong, who was injured but insisted not to return to the mainland, and carried out another night attack. The rain made the flintlock muskets, steel wheel ignition mines, etc. unable to exert their power. This night attack It is indeed a chance for officers and soldiers with backward firearms technology to succeed. However, I am afraid that the officers and soldiers who can fight in the night of heavy rain will have to rely on Wuyu Water Village to provide them. Luo Yiwen gritted his teeth and sent more than 100 of his personal guards. People were also sent out, including Shen Yourong's troops, some officers and soldiers from Fenghuomen, Nanri Mountain and other water villages. A total of more than 900 people participated in the night attack.
However, Zhao Xuanming, the garrison captain of Penghu Merchant Palace of the Chinese Company, was also prepared for the night attack. He ordered to use the wood and cloth in the warehouse to build a rain shelter for each fort, so that the cannons could still fire on rainy days; at the same time, on this day The soldiers on duty at night were all warship sailors armed with crossbows; a large number of straight rockets were also prepared on watchtowers, watchtowers, and enemy towers.
After the officers and soldiers' night attack approached the fort wall, they were discovered by the night watch sailors. It was too late to fire the cannon. After a shot of crossbow arrows, the two sides began a hand-to-hand combat on the fort wall; the rockets fired by the enemy tower from the fort's watchtower were more than 100 meters away from the fort. It exploded on the ground far away. Tung oil splashed out and burned uncontrollably. It even set several officers and soldiers on fire. Screams like ghosts and wolves howled in the night sky. The sailors and the soldiers and officers and soldiers of the garrison came later. The fiercest hand-to-hand fighting since the war began was held on the wall. The sounds of swords and guns, the dying screams of the soldiers were mixed with the sound of rain.
Watchtowers everywhere insisted on firing rockets non-stop. Finally, a wall of fire was formed outside the fort, cutting off the offensive route of the follow-up troops of the officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers on the forward line were unable to follow up. In the end, the troops of the Chinese Company were driven off the wall. There were casualties and casualties. heavy.
After a hard night's fighting, the heavy rain suddenly stopped. A string of black-smoking iron grenades were thrown from the Zhonghua Company's wall. After a series of explosions, the attack of the officers and soldiers was finally repelled. At this time, more than 100 reinforcements from Taiwan also arrived. They arrived at the fort and launched an attack on the retreating officers and soldiers. As a result, many officers and soldiers lost their footing while escaping and fell from the rugged mountain road onto the seaside rocks. They died for no reason.
"It must be Uncle Zhang. You guys arrived in time. It's really timely rain. There are just too few people. We suffered a lot of casualties last night." Zhao Xuanming said to the captain of the Zhuang Ding team who came for reinforcements.
Zhang Hai, the captain of the Zhuang Ding team, is Lu Shitou's old buddy. He is almost 40 years old, but he still has the old pirate style. When he came up, he punched Zhao Xuanming: "Good boy. I have been guarding the village for a month. Not even a hair has fallen off." Gen. You are lucky. Look, my brothers just helped you chase the officers and soldiers. Two of them were injured. How about it? How many more people do you have?"
Zhao Xuanming smiled bitterly and said: "Last night was the biggest casualty. More than 40 brothers died and more than 100 brothers were injured. Nearly half of the injured brothers were seriously injured. We can't help in a short time. In addition, we lost some time ago." Manpower. I still have more than 400 people here who can fight."
"The brothers I brought have all fought with the headhunting natives in the mountains. They fought hand to hand and shot twice. They also brought ammunition and food. Now they are all under your command. Commander Mai and Manager Lin have spoken. The captain is here Great victory in Luzon Island. Will return to Taiwan soon."
"Really. We won." Zhao Xuanming was overjoyed. He grabbed Zhang Hai and asked doubtfully: "Really. Did we also occupy the city of Manila?"
"Then there is still a lie. The captain personally took action. There is nothing unsolvable. I don't know the specific situation. Anyway, it is correct to win."
The whole fort erupted in cheers. Everyone was celebrating the victory. Not only for last night's victory, but also for Yin Feng's victory in Luzon Island.
Although it had been besieged for more than a month, the arrival of reinforcements and the victory on Luzon Island caused the morale in the fortress to rise invisibly. The next night, the newly arrived Zhuang Ding team attacked the officers and soldiers at that time. A night attack was launched on the camp in Lishatan. In one fell swoop, the temporary camp of the officers and soldiers was burned to rubble, and the officers and soldiers were driven away from the front line at the end of Fenggui.
Luo Yiwen completely lost his will to fight and hid in his camp waiting for the arrival of the third batch of officers and soldiers.
A few days later, the Sea Spirit docked at the southern beach of Fengkueiwei in the middle of the night. More than 100 elite infantrymen from the second regiment, the Medei "Gale Regiment", landed. They brought a large amount of gunpowder, bullets and food. They even brought a large amount of gunpowder, bullets and food. Carrying two three-pound bronze cannons, they entered the fort without encountering any obstruction.
Fujian General Zhu Wenda led 1,000 Fuzhou Zuowei Banner Army, 1,000 Fuzhou Zhongwei Banner Army, and 900 Funing Wei Banner Army. 60 naval vessels and 1,000 sailors from Xiaocheng Shuizhai set off from the Zhongzuo Station. Together
Also departing were reinforcements from Zhejiang, including more than 1,000 officers and soldiers from the Taijin Yan Shen General under the Zhejiang General Army. Among them, 800 gunmen from Yiwu. There were also more than 1,000 soldiers from the Zhenxiamen Shuizhai Navy in Pingyang, Zhejiang. In total,
There are nearly 7,000 troops.
One day later, a brigade of sailing ships appeared outside Penghu Bay. The team extended all the way to the basalt coast of Xiyu Island. Up to now, the Fujian government has increased its troops three times. A total of more than 13,000 troops have been sent to the small place of Penghu Islands.
The total number of soldiers stationed on the island has exceeded 11,000. The number of soldiers stationed on the island has exceeded 11,000. There are less than 700 defenders in the Zhonghua Commercial Building Fort in Fengguiwei. If it were not for the superior terrain conditions, it is really possible that the officers and soldiers would be killed.
The human sea tactic drowns.
Zhu Wenda personally went to the battlefield and unified the command of the naval forces, including the Wuyu, Nanri Mountain, Fenghuomen, Xiaocheng, Tongshan and other water divisions. The main force of the navy of Fujian officers and soldiers were all gathered in Penghu Bay. Intensive battles
A line of boat patrols was organized around the island. Chinese companies could no longer secretly transport troops and supplies to the island.
Fenggui Weibao Village is surrounded by dangers. The situation is precarious.
At this time, Yin Feng finally returned to Taiwan with his troops.
There was still a large crowd to welcome the victorious return. Yin Feng and his men got off the boat with high morale. People on the pier talked one after another: "It would be great if the owner of the boat comes back. The war on Penghu Island will soon be decided."
"Why didn't the captain bring back the other two giant ships? Can we just rely on those warships?"
"Why not? With the 50 cannons on the Flying Leopard, we can still drive all the officers and soldiers to the bottom of the sea."
Yin Feng himself was not so arrogant as to be able to fight against the entire Fujian Navy with just one battleship. The welcoming crowd at the pier and countless fellow villagers surrounded him to express their gratitude and respect. The company's top management congratulated him on the victory under the city of Manila.
None of this would make him feel any lighter now.
Zeng Jingshan, An Heping, Li Yue and others are still in Manila. Currently, those in charge of business and trade, factory production, agriculture, urban infrastructure and other matters of the company are Han Ping and his son, Lu Shitou and Luo Xuri, a wealthy businessman from Haicheng who was recently promoted to the board of directors.
Huang Chuan (Uncle Zheng Zhilong) and others. These people did not want to break up with the imperial court and fight. But they were also worried that the officers and soldiers would overthrow Taiwan and destroy the increasingly prosperous Chinese company base.
In the study room of Yin Feng's home, in the presence of senior members of the company's board of directors and officers above the commander-level of the escort team, Lin Xiao handed a letter to Yin Feng: "This is a secret message sent by fast horses from the garrison of Taipei's Jilonggang Fortress.
The letter said it was sent to them by ship from Zhejiang."
Lin Xiao's in charge of internal intelligence collection work is still very effective. The intelligence this time is Yin Feng's business partner when he smuggled silk from Jiangnan. The former Changguo Water Camp preparation Japanese commander Luo Qing is now under the jurisdiction of the Zhejiang General Military Officer
In the past few years, Luo Qinghe Zhonghua Company has done a prosperous business. Not only has he become rich, but he has also bribed his superiors with large sums of money to get into the position of General Wen. He is already considered a mid-level and senior military officer in the imperial court.
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This time the Fujian government was "encircling and suppressing pirates". Luo Qing was also ordered to send troops for reinforcements. By the way, he also sent the information about the troop dispatch to the branch of Huaxing Co., Ltd. in Wenzhou. After going through several hands, it finally came into the hands of Yin Feng.