The first team made a slight correction and rested, and began sailing along the southwest coast of Xiamen Island at one o'clock in the afternoon, approaching Zhongzuosuo City. [No pop-up novel website] Zhongzuosuo 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 - a place where many senators have visited to pay homage: the 28-inch 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 was very important, so Zheng Zhilong also built a fort on Huli Mountain and installed several ship-borne 24-pound cannons purchased from the Portuguese.
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 the 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 fleet sailing at sea, it is still a trouble. In particular, the artillery on the Huli Mountain fort can fall on the beach where the First Expeditionary Team is expected to land on 6, so this fort must be destroyed before the battle to land on 6.
The first team sailed past Huaixin Rock, then marked the target and began bombardment.
The specific coordinates of the Hulishan Fort have been calibrated and mapped by the special reconnaissance team. Therefore, the 13th artillery shot only a few times before it hit the target.
13 The cannon fired slowly and rhythmically to save shells - the supply ship accompanying the team had not yet arrived. The main gun shells on each ship only have one-third of the base number left. Fireworks and thick smoke enveloped Huli Mountain. From the telescope, you could see that the fort was gradually collapsing in the smoke and dust, and rubble and gravel were flying everywhere. Every time. The observers of the special reconnaissance team will report the bomb impact point through the radio, and the Lichun will use semaphore and light signals to report to each ship. Several rounds of volleys came down from Huli Mountain, and the camp forts lined with flags 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. No cover left. You can act at will.
The First Fleet sailed safely past the Huli Mountain Fort. Then each ship lowered its anchor, and Mingqiu ordered: "Start boarding 6."
The landing site was chosen on the beach in front of Huli Mountain Fort, which is about two kilometers away from Zhongzuosuo City. We chose this location to avoid entering the anchorage near the center left: there are now many ships moored in the anchorage, and there are warehouses and warehouses on the dock. It has natural conditions for fire attack.
Once the Zheng family sets fire to the docks and anchorages, the entire front of Zhongzuo will become a sea of fire, and all the 6 naval forces will have to flee for their lives.
A whistle sounded on the deck. The sailors opened the grated skylights on the deck. The shouts of the marine officers were heard. The sailors, who had been bored below the deck for most of the day, began to come down from the deck one after another and boarded the deck in an orderly manner.
They crowded up the ladder and out of the hatch. They milled about outside the hatch for another minute before finishing their preparations and waiting for the order to board the boat. The deck was crowded with boats and supplies everywhere. 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 on the deck kept shouting, "On board No. 15!", "On board No. 3!"...
Every time he shouted, a platoon of soldiers climbed over the bulwark cautiously 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 backpacks.
Li Huamei helped maintain order on the side of the ship. When sailors passed by her, they always took a curious look at this rare female officer. Female soldiers are rare in the Fubo Army - the six navies do not have their own health systems, so the military hospital that absorbs the most female soldiers does 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 the 6th Navy has more female soldiers.
It can be said that there are few female officers like Li Huamei who have boarded the ship. Fortunately, she has been sailing a boat out to sea since she was a girl, and has extensive experience in commanding a group of men. She is by no means a little girl who blushes when she sees a man's gaze. 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 to them from time to time to "look at your feet!" and "pay attention to safety!". Never make excuses. There are so many boarding boats on the ship, and the speed of boarding and releasing the boats varies. Some of them were already filled with soldiers and were circling around the big ship. The people in the boat were all 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 boats. Another boarding boat was being launched, and the pulleys of the davit creaked from time to time. The side of the ship was crawling like ants with soldiers who were transferring.
Li Huamei turned around and looked towards the north direction 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 sea. 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 regarded the Kun thief as her "own side"! This reminded her again: She was still an undercover agent, and she couldn't help but feel worried.
At this time, Zheng Zhilong, who was observing on the tower 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: Kun Thief actually anchored and launched the boat in front of Huli Mountain - it was obvious that he was just going to land. But this place is less than four miles away from the anchorage where he parked the fireship. The dozens of fireships still anchored in the anchorage took this opportunity to let go with the wind. I don't think they have the ability to pull anchor and escape so quickly - at the worst. , it can also annihilate most of the small boats they put into the sea, and severely damage the enemy's 6th division. Even if they cannot defeat the Kun thieves, they can at least delay the first half of a day.
Looking up at the Zheng-character banner 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 what he meant. However, after the disastrous defeat of Zheng Lian just now, leading the fire attack ship to attack is already a very risky task, and no matter whether it succeeds or fails, it will be disastrous.
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 was a direct descendant of Zheng Zhilong. In this critical moment for the Zheng family, nothing could be done unless his own family members stood up. Fu Zhong cannot reassure Zheng Zhilong.
"Okay, I'll leave it to you." Zheng Zhilong nodded, his eyes showing admiration, "I will allocate all the fire ships to you, and send someone else to lead the ship behind to pick you up. 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.
"On the grain delivery platform, send 50,000 taels of silver to the dock, and let General Peng reward the sailors on the fire attack ship." Zheng Zhilong ordered, "Each person will be rewarded with 20 taels of silver first, and those who hit the enemy ship will be rewarded with five taels when they return." Twelve!"
The generals were startled, and each of them was rewarded twenty taels! This is not a huge reward, it is simply unbelievable. Under normal circumstances, you can only get four or five taels for winning a battle. You have to have military exploits or "bring flowers" to get more than 10 taels - this is already extremely generous among the various armed forces in the late Ming Dynasty, let alone The officers and soldiers are like beggars. Now these sailors of the fire attack ship are being rewarded twenty taels before they even go to sea. It's 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 die in 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: "Big brother... is 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 for everyone 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 enough." 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 spread 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 will not have to worry about having no firewood to burn the green hills. Even if all the people and ships are exhausted, we can still turn it over!" Zheng Zhilong said loudly, "We will come back after a thousand pieces of gold have been dispersed. We Brothers are all doing great things, so you have to have some courage!"
Intrigued by his words, all the generals became excited. 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 it turned back again. All the generals bowed together:
"May only the generals and horses!" 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.
