"Dang-dang-dang."
Almost at the same moment, a piercing alarm bell sounded on the battleship Liaodong.
Vice Admiral Cotentin, who had just finished inspecting the deck, quickly walked onto the rear deck of the first-class battleship. The captain of the Liaodong, Yu Qilin, was already standing there, looking at the sea to the south with a monocular telescope.
"Colonel, how is the situation?" Lieutenant General Cotentin asked.
"Still caught up. It seems impossible to run back to Guangzhou unharmed!" Yu Qilin frowned and said, "Our only first-class ship and most of the fourth-class ships have been damaged, and there are The masts and sails of a considerable number of warships are damaged, and their speed is inevitably damaged! And they still have many undamaged warships, which can be gathered together to form a fast formation to pursue!"
I have to say that with the help of the Dutch and English, the Spanish Armada is indeed much stronger! At least they can rely on their numerical advantage to pursue the Ming Navy's ocean-going fleet and fight hard. Although his losses were not small, many battleships were also damaged and their speed also dropped. However, the Spanish Armada already has a numerical advantage, so it can still gather more than 20 battleships of the fourth level and above to form a fast formation to pursue.
Before the British joined, there were one first-class ship, two second-class ships, five third-class ships and twenty-one fourth-class ships. Later, William III successfully entered England and became the King of England. He used his authority to send a British third-class battleship and twelve fourth-class battleships to the Spanish Armada. In this way, the Spanish Armada has a total of forty-two battleships of level four and above! Twenty-six of them also came from the Netherlands and England, the two top maritime powers in the world in the 17th century.
Faced with such a powerful enemy, it is completely normal for the Ming Navy's ocean-going fleet, which only has one first-class ship and thirty fourth-class ships, to be chased and beaten. It has been able to persist until now and has not suffered a devastating blow. In fact, it has already It's a huge achievement.
But it seems impossible to get rid of the Spanish Armada jointly organized by Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain and run back to Guangzhou Port!
But I can’t seem to win if I try to fight!
"We can't run away, and we can't fight." Cotentin said thoughtfully, "Can we only disband the formation?"
After disbanding the formation, you can run as many as you can!
Yu Qilin shook his head: "We can disband the formation and run away separately, and they can also disband the formation and pursue separately! It's still about 2,000 miles away from Guangzhou. Many ships will be overtaken, and maybe we will lose 20 warships! There are thousands of experienced sailors on these 20 warships!"
The Ming Dynasty now has no shortage of warships, 40 dry docks and hundreds of slipways, and they are working overtime to build them! And after several years of hard work, the four major shipyards have now mastered the production of fourth-level ships, the third-level ships, and even the most difficult first-level battleships have been trial-produced.
Therefore, the Ming Navy definitely has no shortage of battleships!
But these days, it takes longer to train an excellent sailor than it does to build a first-class battleship. The French only spent 12 months building the Royal Sun, which cannot be trained in any case. of an excellent sailor.
The Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet now has more than 50 warships, armed Galen ships, and nearly 15,000 sailors, including more than 14,000 Han sailors!
Whether they are officers, soldiers, or craftsmen, these sailors have experienced nearly 20 months of high-intensity combat missions - 20 months of drifting in the Pacific, including several months of hide-and-seek and fighting with the Spanish Armada. Chase.
Moreover, during these 20 months, the soldiers among this group of sailors also took turns to serve as three "occupations": sailors, deck sailors and gunners. The officers even mastered "ship handling", "gunnery" and "gunnery". Navigation" and many other skills that naval officers must master, even the craftsmen on the ship have become proficient.
If these people can be assigned to 200 or 300 warships and let them serve as the backbone, the Ming Navy will be frightened. It may not be able to compare with the three first-class naval powers of the Netherlands, Britain, and France, but in the Pacific It must be an invincible existence.
Cotentin frowned: "Colonel, I understand that you are reluctant to lose thousands of outstanding sailors. But you have to understand that this is a war, a war at sea! As long as it is a war, there will be sacrifices! In fact, our The fleet only lost less than 1,500 people during this 20-month operation and voyage mission, which is already a miracle! If 10,000 people can return to Guangzhou in the end, it will undoubtedly be a huge success!"
When he spoke of "miracles" and "tremendous success," an expression of excitement appeared on his face.
Because the Ming Dynasty Ocean Fleet has experienced several "ultra-long-term sea voyages" during this long-term mission, it has already exceeded the "scurvy limit"!
Although the Director-General of the Navy of the Ming Dynasty General's Office promoted that "lemon tea" can prevent scurvy, Cotentin didn't believe it. Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet conducted a long-term sea voyage among the Southeast Asian islands in order to avoid the pursuit of the Spanish Armada, Cotentin was very worried about the outbreak of scurvy in the fleet.
But until now, there has not been a single case of scurvy in the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet. Not a single case!
So Cotentin now has to believe that "lemon tea" can prevent scurvy. And the value of this discovery to the Ming Dynasty and the French Navy cannot be overstated!
Because for sailors from all over the world in this era, naval battles and shipwrecks are not the most dangerous, but scurvy is the most dangerous enemy for sailors! If the navies of the Ming Dynasty and France can defeat this enemy, but the sailors of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Spain cannot defeat this enemy, then does it need to be asked whose side will win the battle for maritime hegemony?
As for the loss of one-third of the sailors in a 20-month voyage with few calls to shore for rest, it is not an outrageous figure when the threat of scurvy cannot be overcome.
"Soldiers," Yu Qilin said, "but what if we can save these thousands of people?"
"Protect?" Cotentin glanced at Yu Qilin, "How to protect?"
"We are only more than 600 miles away from Da Nang in Guangnan. Now that the wind is favorable, we can get there in one and a half to two days." Yu Qilin said, "Da Nang was built as a naval port. We only need to move the fleet in. You can keep it!”
"Da Nang." Cotentin knew about this port, but didn't know much about its terrain. "What's its terrain like? Can it save our fleet?"
"It's difficult to save the ship!" Yu Qilin said, "The entrance to Da Nang is very wide, almost 15 miles. Although water camps have been built in relatively narrow areas inside Da Nang, there are no powerful forts to protect the water camps. So it is very difficult It is difficult to withstand the attack of the Spanish combined fleet!"
"You mean to abandon the ship and save the sailors?" Cotentin frowned: Isn't the Ming Dynasty too rich? Do you want to give up more than 50 warships and armed galenic ships just because you don’t want them?
"No," Yu Qilin shook his head, "I mean to protect the ship and lure the enemy, and change the ship to defeat the enemy!"
"Protect the ship to lure the enemy? Change the ship to defeat the enemy?" Cotentin muttered, "How to change? How to destroy?"
"We can do this. First, our fleet will sail into Da Nang and borrow some troops from the Huining Commander-in-Chief to prepare for a maritime 'positional war' in Da Nang," Yu Qilin said, "At the same time, We will send a team to Guangzhou to inform the Nanyang Fleet and ask them to go south to Thanh Hoa Port. Then we will transfer a group of key personnel from the Ocean Fleet to Thanh Hoa Port to join the Nanyang Fleet."
"Admiral, the Ming fleet has turned northwest. They seem to want to take shelter on the coast of Guangnan."
On the "Santa Maria Concepcion", the flagship of the Spanish Armada, Admiral Zabala heard the staff's report and immediately walked to the chart table. His staff immediately took a candlestick and lit it for him. Liang'er.
Admiral Sabala stretched out two fingers and drew lightly on the chart table, and he reached the coastal area of "General Nguyen's Quang Nam State". Then he saw the Da Nang Peace Conference marked on the map. Ning two important ports.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the countertop and said thoughtfully: "Do they want to shrink into Da Nang and Hoi Ninh? What is the situation in those two ports?"
The person who answered was a staff officer sent by the Dutch East India Company, who knew the situation in Danang and Huining very well.
He said: "Hui Ning is a commercial port and fortress that the Ming Dynasty has operated for many years. The Ming Dynasty set up a general military headquarters in Hui Ning. However, Hoi An is a river port with a small port and shallow water. It cannot accommodate the entire Ming Dynasty ocean fleet, so they Most likely I will go to Da Nang.
Da Nang is a military port under construction and is also under the jurisdiction of the Huining General Military Mansion of the Ming Dynasty. The entrance to the harbor there is wide, and the coastal defense batteries cannot cover the waterway at all! And according to intelligence, the fort in Da Nang was not completed. "
"The shore batteries cannot cover the channel, and the forts are not completed yet? Is the news reliable?" Admiral Zabala asked.
"Very reliable!" said the Dutch staff officer, "We have spies in Guangnan Middle School all the time."
"Then what other ways do they have to defend the port?"
"They chose a small bay with a shallow entrance and a relatively narrow entrance inside the bay, and used iron chains to connect some wooden boats in series to form a fortification similar to a water fortress."
"Haha!" Admiral Zabala laughed, "I seem to be thinking of the Battle of Tangsi... Back then in Tangsi, our Spanish Armada was anchored in a similar mooring that lacked the protection of forts, and was defeated by the Netherlands again. But this time Okay, the advantage is mine!"
"Admiral, you are so wise!" the Dutch staff immediately complimented.
Hearing what the Dutch staff officer said, Admiral Sabala also felt that he was quite wise.
"Pass my orders!" the admiral began to issue combat orders, "the first detachment advanced at full speed and followed the enemy fleet closely.
Send another fast boat to notify the second detachment and order them to collect some fresh food and fresh water from the Cham coast. At the same time, we will look for some small ships suitable as fire ships and bring them to Da Nang to meet up with the first detachment. "
"Yes, sir!"
Huining Zongbing Town, located on the edge of the jurisdiction of Guangnan General Mansion (also known as Guangnan Kingdom), was an enclave of the Ming Dynasty. The territory is not large, it is a narrow strip of coastal land starting from Hui Ninh in the north and ending in Da Nang in the south.
The person who served as the commander-in-chief of Huining was Qiu Hui from the Zheng Jing system. He was originally the leader of the anti-Qing rebels in Dahao, Chaozhou. He was once the last hero on the entire continent to hold high the banner of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Jing also made him a Chaozhou general. Prefect.
After Li Fuchen and Li Zhongshan unified Guangdong, Qiu Hui ostensibly submitted himself to the Li family, but in fact he was still a member of Zheng Jing.
Later, Li Fuchen sent troops to Guangnan, occupied Huining, the commercial port of the Ruan family in Guangnan, established Huining town, and arranged for Qiu Hui to become the local emperor in Huining! And this arrangement is also very beneficial to Zheng Jing, who is based on maritime trade.
So Qiu Hui, under Zheng Jing's instructions, led his Dahao rebels to move to Huining and began to operate Huining, the first commercial port in Annan and Guangnan. Later, he took advantage of the Guangnan General Mansion to send troops to annex the city. Opportunity extended its influence to Da Nang.
Although the territory from Hui Ninh to Da Nang is not large, it occupies an important sea trade node, and because Qiu Hui is named Zongbing, he is actually a prince.
He has great autonomy in Huining Zongbing Town, so the Qiu family has really made a lot of money over the years!
In the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has torn apart from maritime powers such as the Netherlands, Spain, England, and Portugal. The routes to and from Southeast Asia have been greatly affected, and Huining Town has also changed from a trading transit point to a major coastal defense frontier town in the Ming Dynasty.
As the lord of Huining, Qiu Hui also had to vigorously organize coastal defense, build cities and forts, and expand the army. Although the General's Office sent some money, Huining Town was "responsible for its own profits and losses" after all. The business taxes they received were all handled by the old Qiu family, and there was no need to go to the Household Suppression Department. So the General's Mansion wouldn't give him much money this time, but Lao Qiu gave him a lot.
At the same time, Huining Town's income has dropped by 70% to 80%, simply because it cannot make ends meet, and it has been sticking to its laurels.
On this day, when he was picking up the abacus beads in his mansion in Hui Ning City, he suddenly heard the loud voice of his son-in-law, Zhu Qipao, the garrison of Da Nang: "Main Town, good news from the main town, big business is coming!"
"Big deal?" Qiu Hui looked up hurriedly and saw Zhu Qipao, who looked like a fierce man who "conquers people with virtue", leading a wealthy-looking foreign devil and a small man. The Chinese man, who looked like he was congratulating himself on getting rich, walked in quickly.
The one with the appearance of "conquering people with virtue" is Zhu Qipao, the foreign devil is of course Lieutenant General Cotentin, and the little man is Yu Qilin. The three of them all arrived in Hoi Ninh on fast horses from Da Nang.
"Is this a Dutchman? Or an Englishman? What do you want to buy? Is there anything I can buy?"
Qiu Hui thought Cotentin was a smuggler from the Netherlands and England! These days, Dutch and English merchants cannot openly come to Huining to do business, but business still needs to be done, so they can only smuggle.
"No, no, no, I'm French!" Cotentin could actually understand Qiu Hui's Teochew Mandarin and answered in fluent Chinese.
"French people? French people are so good!" Qiu Hui said with a smile, "Welcome, welcome to Qiu Hui, the commander-in-chief of Huining Town, Army Lieutenant General, Zhongyongbo, I wonder what I call this French boss?"
Yu Qilin smiled and said: "Uncle Zhongyong, this is the Admiral of the Ming Dynasty's Ocean Fleet, Kotang Tanko Military Gate! I am the captain of the Liaodong Ship, Chief of Staff of the Ocean Fleet, and Navy Captain Yu Qilin."
Zhu Qipao had already approached his father-in-law at this time and whispered: "This colonel is the eldest son of Duke An Guo!"
An Guogong is the title of Yu Deshui!
Master Yu Deshui is an incredible person! He is the number one confidant of the Li family and his son, and is now the governor of Shandong. He is the head of the feudal territory!
"Ouch," Qiu Hui quickly clasped his fists and saluted, "It turns out it's Ke Junmen and the Young Master. I wonder what gust of wind blew them to Huining?"
"Old Taishan. There's going to be a war!" Zhu Qipao replied for Cotanttan and Yu Qilin, "More than 50 warships from the Ocean Fleet have entered Da Nang and the Spanish Armada is almost here! Now we will make a contribution in Huining Town. The opportunity has come!"
"Making meritorious service?" Qiu Hui was stunned, "How do you do this?"
Yu Qilin said: "Mr. Qiu, how many war horses and walking horses do you have? We need to send some sailors to Qinghua Port. In addition, we also need thousands of strong men who can board the ship. If you can do this for us, Mr. Qiu, we will wait for the war." Winning the Invincible Fleet is indispensable to you!"
Qiu Hui patted his chest: "What's the point? Qiu Rong, the dog, is also a naval officer, and he is currently serving in the Nanyang Fleet! I have decided to help you with this. Paozi, ask your father to lend all the horses and mules to Xiao Mr. Gong, please gather some more pickers and prepare enough food for 3,000 people for 10 days.
In addition, you go to Huining Commercial City to recruit people in person. There are many unemployed sailors there. Recruit 5,000 people first, all of whom are young, strong and have been on ships! "
(End of chapter)
