The first team made a slight correction and rested, and began sailing along the southwest coast of Xiamen Island at 1 p.m., approaching Zhongzuosuo City.
Zhongzuo Suo City is located on the southwest coast of Xiamen Island, backed by Wulao Mountain and across the sea from Gulangyu Island. It is roughly where Xiamen University is now. To the east of the city is the famous Huli Mountain Fort - there are many places in this place
All the senators have visited it to pay homage: the 280mm Krupp cannon above is a "fetish" in the hearts of many military fans.
Because this place guards the key waterway between Gulangyu Island and Xiamen Island, it is known as the "Gateway to Fujian and the Key to Tiannan". The location is very important, so Zheng Zhilong also built a fort on Huli Mountain and erected several cannons purchased from the Portuguese.
The ship carries a 24-pounder cannon.
Judging from the level at that time, the fortification of this Hulishan fort was not crude. Although there were only three or four cannons and less than a hundred Taiwanese soldiers, the level of fortification of Humen Fortress at the same time was also very low. Compared with the bureaucrats in Guangdong, Zheng Zhilong
I am more experienced in coastal defense, so I spent some money on Xiamen Island.
Although its range is limited and it is difficult to threaten the ships of the First Expedition at sea, it is a trouble after all. In particular, the artillery on the Huli Mountain Fort can fall on the beach where the First Expedition is expected to land, so it is necessary to launch a landing battle.
This fort must be destroyed beforehand.
The first team sailed past Huaixin Rock, then marked the target and began shelling.
The specific coordinates of the Hulishan Fort have been calibrated and mapped by the special reconnaissance team, so the 130mm artillery hit the target after only a few test firings.
The 130mm cannon fired slowly and rhythmically to save shells - the supply ship accompanying the team had not arrived yet. The main gun shells on each ship only had one-third of the base number left. Fireworks and thick smoke enveloped Hu
In Satoyama, one could see through the telescope that the fort was gradually collapsing in the smoke and dust, with rubble and gravel flying everywhere. Every time a bomb hit, the observers of the special reconnaissance team would report the impact point via the radio, and Lichun would use semaphore and light signals to
Each ship reported that after several volleys of fire, the camp and fort lined with flags on Huli Mountain had been annihilated in the fireworks.
According to the report of the special reconnaissance team, in addition to the fort on Huli Mountain, there are many forts on the entire island of Xiamen, but they are of no significance to their actions. After destroying the Huli Mountain fort, the Zhongzuosuo City on the seaside has been destroyed.
There is no cover. You can act as you please.
The First Fleet sailed safely past the Huli Mountain Fort. Then each ship dropped anchor and Mingqiu gave the order: "Start landing."
The landing site was chosen on the beach in front of the Huli Mountain Fort, which is about two kilometers away from the city of Zhongzuo. This location was chosen to avoid entering the anchorage near Zhongzuo: there are many ships moored in the anchorage, and there are
Warehouses and warehouses have natural conditions for fire attack.
Once the Zheng family sets fire to the docks and anchorages, the entire Zhongzuo area will turn into a sea of flames, and the army and navy will have no choice but to flee for their lives.
The whistle on the deck sounded. The sailors opened the grille skylight on the deck. The shouts of the sailors were heard. The sailors who had been bored below the deck for a long time began to come down from the deck one after another and boarded in order.
deck.
They squeezed up the ladder one after another and got out of the hatch. They walked around chaotically outside the hatch for another minute before finishing their preparations and waiting for the order to board the boat. There were boats and supplies everywhere on the deck, and it was crowded.
They could only walk slowly along the deck.
Driven by the steam engine, the davit on which the boat was hoisted began to release the boat creakingly toward the sea, and upper and lower net ladders were hung on both sides of the ship's side.
The sound of whistles urged the sailors, and a voice kept shouting from the deck, "On board No. 15!", "On board No. 3!"...
Every time he shouted, a platoon of soldiers cautiously climbed over the bulwark and climbed down the ladders on both sides. Everyone was carrying heavy backpacks, steel helmets and new rifles. The assault engineers carried even more things.
, no one wants to take a boat with them, because they always carry explosive bags on their backs.
Li Huamei helped maintain order on the side of the ship. The sailors who passed by her always took a curious look at this rare female officer. Female soldiers were rare in the Fubo Army-the army and navy did not have their own health systems, so they recruited
Military hospitals with the largest number of female soldiers do not exist. As for the communications unit, another area where female soldiers are concentrated, Fubo Army's current communications are still based on human communications, and there is not much demand for female soldiers - only in the army and navy agencies.
There are more female soldiers.
It can be said that there are only one female officer like Li Huamei on board the ship. Fortunately, she has been driving a ship to sea since she was a girl. She is experienced in commanding a group of men. She is by no means a little girl who blushes when she meets the eyes of men. This
We have long been accustomed to this kind of scene, otherwise a thin-skinned woman might be tempted to jump into the sea.
She kept a straight face and shouted from time to time, asking them to "look at your feet!" and "pay attention to safety!". She never used excuses. There were so many landing craft on the ship, and the speed of boarding and releasing the boats varied. Some were already full.
The soldiers were gathered around, and they were circling around the big ship. The people in the boat were waving to the big ship. The light black hull of the boat and the blue water in the morning sky. Not far away, the Yangbo was also transferring, and there were others.
A landing boat was being launched, and the pulleys of the davit creaked from time to time. The sides of the ship were crawling like ants with soldiers who were transferring.
Li Huamei turned her eyes back and looked towards the north of Zhongzuo City. She felt a little disapproving in her heart - this place is very close to Zhongzuo City. Now all the ships have lowered their anchors and are busy transferring soldiers. There is a sea on the ship.
Busy. She raised her head and looked at the weather vane: the wind direction was still against the wind... If the Zheng family seizes this opportunity to launch a fire ship attack, we may be in for a tough battle...
She was suddenly shocked that she actually considered the thief Kun as her "own side"! This reminded her again: She was still an undercover agent now, and she couldn't help but feel worried.
At this time, Zheng Zhilong, who was observing on the tower of the city in the center left, put down his Dutch telescope. His eyebrows opened slightly, as if a national player had caught the opponent's fatal mistake: the bandit actually anchored and launched the boat in front of Huli Mountain -
It goes without saying that they just want to land. But this place is less than four miles away from the anchorage where he parked the fire ship. Dozens of fire attack ships still anchored in the anchorage took this opportunity to let go with the wind. I don't think they have the ability.
Pulling the anchor and escaping so quickly - even if it doesn't work, it can annihilate most of the small boats they put into the sea, severely damage the enemy's land division, and even if they can't defeat the bandits, they can at least delay the first half of a day.
Looking up at the big flag with the word Zheng on the tower, he asked in a deep voice: "What's the direction of the wind?"
At this time, the generals surrounding him all understood his intentions. However, after the tragic defeat of Zheng Lian just now, leading the fire attack ship to attack was already a very risky task. No matter whether it succeeded or failed, it would be disastrous.
few.
After a moment of silence, someone already stood up and bowed to ask for orders: "The wind is blowing in the right direction! The general is willing to lead a fleet of fire ships to annihilate the enemy!"
Everyone took a closer look and saw that the general who volunteered was Zheng Zhipeng, the younger brother of Zheng Zhilong. He was the sworn brother of the "Eighteen Zhi" and a direct descendant of Zheng Zhilong. In this critical time for the Zheng family, nothing could be done unless his own family members stood up.
Zheng Zhilong can't rest assured either.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you." Zheng Zhilong nodded, his eyes showing appreciation, "I will allocate all the fire ships to you, and send someone to lead the ship behind to meet you. Take care!"
"I am willing to go through fire and water for my eldest brother, even if I die." Zheng Zhipeng said in a high voice, took a few steps back, turned around and quickly walked downstairs.
"At the grain delivery platform, send 50,000 taels of silver to the dock quickly, and let General Peng reward the sailors on the fire attack ship." Zheng Zhilong ordered, "Each person will be rewarded with 20 taels first, and those who hit the enemy ship will be rewarded after they return."
Fifty taels!"
The generals were startled, and one person was rewarded with twenty taels! This is not a heavy reward, it is simply unbelievable. Under normal circumstances, you can only be rewarded with four or five taels for winning a battle. You must have military exploits or "bring flowers" to be rewarded with more than ten taels.
——This is already extremely generous among the various armed forces in the late Ming Dynasty, not to mention the officers and soldiers who are like beggars. Now these sailors of the fire attack ship are rewarded with twenty taels before they even go to sea. It is incredible.
"yes……"
"In addition, I will ask the grain platform to send 300,000 taels to the gate tower. I will give a big reward to the three armies! The officers and soldiers who go out to attack the city will each be rewarded with 10 taels, and each of the defenders will be rewarded with five taels! As long as the bandits are defeated,
Each person will be rewarded with another fifty taels! In addition to the pension, those who died in the battle will also be rewarded!"
There was another commotion among the generals.
Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother Zheng Zhibao couldn't help but stand up and admonish: "This, brother...isn't it too heavy... Once this is opened, if there is no such a big reward in the future, the sergeants will not be willing to fight..."
"Now is the time when everyone has to work hard. Is it worth buying a life for seventy taels of silver? I think it is worth it!" Zheng Zhilong said, "If we lose the battle and lose the Zhongzuo Station, the money in this city will not be worth it."
It’s just as cheap, Kunthief!”
Instead of being defeated like this and giving away all the treasures and goods in the city to the thieves for nothing, it is better to go out and win people's hearts and fight to the death, maybe there will be some chance.
"... As long as we brothers can stand firm on Xiamen Island, we can still turn over the green mountains without worrying about firewood, even if all the people and ships are used up, we can still turn it over!" Zheng Zhilong said loudly, "We will come back after a thousand pieces of gold have been dispersed.
Brothers are all doing great things, so you have to have some courage!"
Intrigued by his words, the generals' blood surged up. They felt that since the eldest brother regarded property as trivial, they did not need to worry about gains and losses. As long as they fought hard to fight off the thief, they would not have to worry about not having the opportunity to get everything back -
After all, they were once driven almost to a dead end by Li Kuiqi. Later, they came back again. The generals bowed together:
"May only the general have his head!" (To be continued...)
ps: No detailed location information was found in Zhongzuo Suocheng. It seems to be at the current location of Xiamen University in Siming District, Xiamen City.