Zheng Jiangong's name is really contradictory, because he always returns "without success", so it is more appropriate to call him Zheng Wugong.
This time he led the Ming Dynasty Expeditionary Fleet and excitedly went to Manila Bay to raid the home base of the Spanish Eastern Armada. However, he missed it with the most graceful gesture, but it was still in vain.
Speaking of which, the way his fleet attacked Manila Bay was almost exactly the same as the way Garcia's fleet attacked the Dinghai anchorage! They all use the cover of night to pass through key waterways, and then go straight to the anchorage where the enemy fleet is anchored. The difference is that Garcia formed a large column of 29 warships, while Zheng Jiangong divided the 33 warships into three formations, each of which consisted of one "Flying" class plus ten Big Birds. Boat.
The Flying Class took the lead, and the big bird ships formed a column behind the Flying Class. The three formations took advantage of the darkness to break into Manila Bay, and then rushed straight to the Cavite anchorage. Unfortunately, they missed the battle in Cavite!
The Cavite anchorage in Noda is completely empty!
But Zheng Jiangong refused to give up and led his fleet around the Cavite anchorage until the early morning of the sixth day of August (his fleet broke into Manila Bay on the night of the fifth day of August). Not only did he not find the Spanish warships, he was also captured The Spanish fort at Cavite was discovered.
As a result, the Spanish fort opened fire and bombarded it, and Zheng Jiangong discovered that the opponent's firepower was weak (the Cavite fort was built decades ago, and the artillery equipped was relatively old, and there were no explosive shells). After that, he simply sent 30 large guns under his command to The bird ships formed a horizontal formation and bombarded the Cavite fort with a total of 60 24-pound cannons placed on the bow of the ship. They fired more than 600 explosive shells before and after, so that the Spanish artillery on the Cavite fort did not dare to fight back. give up.
But having come all the way, it was really frustrating to go back without catching a single hair, so Zheng Jiangong did not go far after exiting Manila Bay, and found a bay that looked very nice on the edge of Manila Bay. Got in.
After arranging for two big bird ships to "stand guard" at the entrance of the bay, Zheng Jiangong summoned the remaining ship commanders to the flagship Flying for a meeting.
"Teacher, we only have 1,000 fusiliers on hand, so it's impossible to attack Fort Santiago! Attacking the Cavite Fortress is not enough, right? Now the Spanish fleet is not here... We can't wait. , and we have to escort the expeditionary force to Siam!"
The captain of the Jiangnan who spoke, Hao Feng, was the former first mate of the Flying Ship. He was promoted to the first captain of the Jiangnan after the Jiangnan was delivered ahead of schedule. He graduated from the Naval Academy and was a student of Zheng Jiangong, so he now calls Zheng Jiangong "teacher".
"Yes, teacher, we can't wait at the gate of Manila Bay forever...Who knows where the Spanish Eastern Fleet will go?"
Nie Hanzhu, the captain of the Fujian, also supported Hao Feng's opinion, but he was not willing to return empty-handed.
After finally coming here, you can’t go back empty-handed, right?
He and Hao Feng were classmates at the Naval Academy, and of course they were also students of Zheng Jiangong.
He is a native of Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. He was a member of the Chongzhen Emperor's 15th year and participated in the 18th year of Enke. However, because he did not support the imperial court's violent conquests and handed in a blank test, he missed the opportunity to become a Jinshi. After he returned home, he was scolded by his scholar father, who also ordered him to go to the ancestral hall to plead guilty to his ancestors, and he was not given food for three days - finally he came across a good opportunity to get a Jinshi for free, that is, his ancestors Bless you!
You don't pick it up even if there are Jinshi people... How can you be worthy of the ancestors of the Nie family in Huzhou? This is extremely unfilial! He is a traitor! Such a big bastard still wants to eat? Be hungry!
After three days of starvation, Nie Hanzhu finally repented—if he didn’t repent, he would really starve to death!
But after repenting, the Jinshi in Chongzhen's eighteenth year could not come back, and there were no make-up examinations for the imperial examination!
In desperation, he had no choice but to join the army and was admitted to the Shanghai Naval Academy... He was a top student and a good candidate. He was young and agile, so he was always among the best in the Naval Academy and even stayed at the school to teach. , and now he has become the captain of a battleship, and his future is bright!
However, although his official future is bright, his credit book is empty... In this way, he will not be able to get a title, and it will be difficult to go further.
"Teacher, the students think this bay we are in is very good," Nie Hanzhu said. "The bay is neither big nor small. It has a good sheltered anchorage, and there is a gatekeeper island at the entrance of the bay. The entrance of the bay here is not big. It is wide and is now divided into two east-west waterways by this small island. The east channel is only three miles wide, and the west channel is about five miles wide. As long as we set up watchtowers and forts on the island to guard the east-west waterways, we can keep the Spaniards at bay. Outside!
The students suggested that we keep all the 1,000 fusiliers here, leave two big bird ships and an 800-ton battleship, and unload a dozen artillery pieces from the three ships Feixiang, Jiangnan, and Fujian. , all placed on the gated island. "
The harbor chosen by Nie Hanzhu is Subic Bay!
Although this harbor is not as large as Manila Bay, it is very easy to defend and is an ideal fleet anchorage.
"This is a good idea!" Hao Feng also agreed with Nie Hanzhu's suggestion, "Teacher, why don't we just leave some troops to guard here, watch the gate of Manila Bay, and wait for the Spanish to come back... It's not in vain. Come for a visit!”
Zheng Jiangong thought the sum total was good, and glanced at Hao Feng and Nie Hanzhu, "Which one of you will stay?"
There are now four 800-ton ships in the Dongyang Fleet, among which the Flying is the flagship and the captain is the Dutchman David Jones. Of course, they cannot stay in "Subic Bay". Chen Shangchuan of the Henan is still in North America. Therefore, the only one who can retain the Subic Bay command unit is to choose one from Hao Feng or Nie Hanzhu!
"Students, please stay!" Nie Hanzhu volunteered, and Hao Feng did not compete with him. After all, he was the first to propose the idea of garrisoning troops at the gate of Manila Bay.
"Okay!" Zheng Jiangong nodded lightly, "Then the governor will ask you to lead five warships, the Fujian, Lianjiang, Luoyuan, Changle, and Fuqing, plus two marine battalions, to stay in the bay here. .....Does this bay have a name?”
There must be a name, but neither Nie Hanzhu nor Hao Feng knew it, so they asked Zheng Jiangong to name him.
"Let's call it Chenggong Bay!" Zheng Jiangong said, "I wish my naval ship success in this name!"
...
When Zheng Jiangong divided his troops to stay in Chenggong Bay, the Spanish Eastern Armada "succeeded" again. This time the Armada succeeded in the Ryukyu Kingdom.
The Ryukyu Kingdom is not an important stronghold on the first island chain now, but is just a small window for tomorrow's trade. Because the Ming Dynasty had already been founded, and Japan's seclusion policy had been greatly loosened, the Ryukyu Kingdom was inevitably in decline. For the Satsuma Domain of Japan, which occupies half of Ryukyu, their power in Ryukyu is not so much a benefit as a burden that cannot be shaken off!
At least in the opinion of Ni Nekiyo, the Shimadzu family's Ryukyu leader, the Shimadzu family also suffered a loss in colonizing the Ryukyu Kingdom... Not only did they not make any money, but they were also exploited by rich people who appeared out of nowhere. Chen Yichuan was implicated and became a thorn in the side of the Tokugawa shogunate!
As a result, the domain lord Mitsuhisa and Setsutsugi lived in seclusion together, and Mitsuhisa's direct grandson Tsunaki became the domain lord. Although the power in the domain was still in the hands of Mitsuhisa and Tsunahisa, the domain lord and Setsugi lived in seclusion at the same time, which still pushed the Shimazu family to the throne. On the cusp of the storm.
Now all the rogues and powerful feudal lords with ulterior motives in Japan are looking at Satsuma Shimazu, waiting for the Shimazu family to step forward and destroy the king!
Within the Satsuma Domain, there were also many bitter feudal lords and rogues who were looking forward to a fight between the Shimazu family and the shogunate...
The upper echelons of the Satsuma Domain, including Kiyoo Kiyo, who has a salary of 5,000 koku (he is the grandson of Iehisa, a member of the Shimazu clan), are all at a loss...
When he was worrying in the Satsuma Jinya under Shuri Castle, he suddenly heard the sound of thunder in his ears. When he looked up and looked outside, it was clearly a sunny day!
When he was wondering, one of his samurai, named Dongxiang intern feudal lord, crawled in. When he saw Ni Kiyoo, he shouted: "My dear, it's not good, the Spanish fleet is coming." !”
