According to the chart given to him by the Crown Prince, the direct distance from Da Yuan to Batavia in the South Sea is nearly 7,000 miles. If he sailed against the monsoon wind by sea, he would probably have to travel 8,000 miles to reach it. .
It would take at least two or three months to wander at sea, let alone move troops and sail from Batavia to the big officials. The time spent on the road is unimaginable.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong almost laughed out loud when he heard that Bolger actually asked Sillessen in front of him to convey his threat. The strength of the Dutch East India Company was indeed extraordinary, and everyone in the Zheng Group was wary of it.
But most of the company's troops were far away in the southernmost tip of Nanyang. Even if they learned that most of the defenders were surrounded and wanted to cross the ocean, that would be a matter of later, and it would be far from solving Bolger's urgent need.
But Bolger used the East India Company as an example. Instead of showing any fear, he openly shouted at himself, which was tantamount to ignoring the existence of the Zheng family in the eastern waters. He was really impatient.
You must know that the fleet of the Zheng Group reaches thousands of ships. It stretches across the waters from Kuwu in the north to Champa in the south. It is the maritime hegemon of the entire Eastern world.
Even if the Dutch Red Barbarians have the advantage of strong ships and artillery, they cannot take advantage of the three major factors that determine the outcome of a war: time, location, and people.
Especially when fighting at home, the Zheng family does not need to mobilize. As long as they have the full support of the court and the crown prince, they can unite as one, share the same hatred of the enemy, and work together to achieve a victory that is several times more glorious than the naval battle of Liaoluo Bay.
Originally, Zheng Zhilong still wanted to let Bolger go because the cooperation between the two parties was reasonable in the past. As long as the other party agreed to withdraw troops from the Dayuan area, he could take away all the items that could be taken away, including money, weapons, food, etc. .
However, Bolger was not as aware of current affairs as Zhen Haibo imagined. Judging from the intelligence currently available, he planned to refuse to surrender and fight to the end, so don't blame him for being rude.
The East India Company was indeed his backer, but this backer was seven thousand miles away, and it was impossible for him to fly over immediately like a god to help him fight.
Regardless of whether the reinforcements will arrive in the Taiyuan Sea area at any time, I will attack you first and lead the army to besiege Taiyuan Island, trying to capture it before the Hongyi reinforcements arrive.
In view of the fact that Zheng Zhilong had previously reached an agreement with Natz, the governor of Hongyi, but his successor Kuhn categorically vetoed this, Putmans who came later had no lower limit and directly colluded with the pirate Liu Xiang to attack the Zheng fleet .
If the insiders had not received accurate information in advance and prepared themselves, the main fleet anchored in the Kinmen waters would have been severely damaged by the enemy.
Now Zhen Haibo feels more and more that the prince is right. Holland Hongyi has never regarded him as a human being. He is just playing tricks on him like a monkey!
The prince said that Hongyi was born to worship the strong. If you don’t hurt him, he won’t call you daddy!
Only by winning on the battlefield can you get what you want at the negotiation table.
What cannot be obtained on the battlefield is even less obtainable at the negotiation table.
In this battle, Zheng Zhilong will give the East India Company a decisive blow!
In order to avenge the surprise attack on Luowan back then, the old and new accounts must be settled together.
The old account was of course Liaoluowan, and the new account was Yimin who had spent his own money to cross the sea from his hometown of Fujian to Dongfan, but he was taxed by Hongyi.
If the newly arrived Yimin refuses to pay taxes to Hongyi, he will be executed on the spot, and Hongyi will send troops to collect taxes every month.
At first, it was with good intentions, so that the fellow villagers could live a better life and avoid starving in the barren land of their hometown. But unexpectedly, when they arrived in Dongfan, the situation was completely different.
This is tantamount to a slap in the face of Zheng Zhilong. Hongyi can collect taxes from anyone, but not his fellow villagers. Otherwise, if the news spreads, where will Zhen Haibo's face be put?
The actual situation has been spread, and everyone said that Yimin in Dongfan did not receive the protection that the Zheng family should have. When he got there, he had to pay rent to Hongyi, which was no better than in his hometown...
Zheng Zhilong and a group of senior generals might be able to turn a deaf ear. After all, their family has a big business and their residences are all in their hometown. They have no such concerns and are not afraid of being taxed by the red barbarians on the island.
But the more than 100,000 ordinary soldiers under his command more or less had relatives farming in Dongfan. When they learned about this, they had mixed feelings in their hearts, what should they do?
Before sunset on June 15, the Zheng family's main fleet took the second oath on the sea west of Luermen. The generals headed by Zhenhaibo Zheng Zhilong paid homage to Mazu on the flagship, offered incense and prayed for blessings.
Zheng Zhilong stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the officers and soldiers on dozens of warships around him, and said loudly: "I, Zheng Zhilong, was a pirate in the past, and now I have repented. Thanks to His Highness, the Crown Prince, for not giving up, I was given the position of Zhenhaibo. However, this uncle So far, they have not made any achievements, and I really feel ashamed of the great trust placed in your Highness. The Red Barbarians crossed the ocean and attacked our coast of the Ming Dynasty first. They burned, killed and looted, committing all kinds of evil. After being repulsed by Wang Shi, they occupied Penghu and are now entrenched in the high officials. They still have no change of heart. You deceive me into having no one in the Ming Dynasty, levy excessive taxes, torture the people, and try to occupy Dongfan and steal our home forever! Jumin in Dongfan is my fellow countryman and a relative of all the soldiers. If the red barbarians kill the people of Min here, they will cut off my limbs and cut off everyone. Family affection! Now I am raising my troops to launch a crusade. One is the prince, the other is the court, the third is the generals, and the fourth is the common people. I do not seek fame or wealth, but only seek repayment of blood debts!"
"Blood debts must be repaid with blood!"
"Blood debts must be repaid with blood!"
"Blood debts must be repaid with blood!"
Zheng Zhi'ao didn't know anything else, and he had an innate ability to shout slogans. Being encouraged by him, and hearing Zhen Haibo's heartfelt words, the soldiers on the flagship felt the same and were extremely resentful of Hong Yi's actions. Then the shouting started.
Soon it infected the officers and men on all the surrounding warships. They were filled with righteous indignation, raised their swords and guns high, and let out a deafening roar. The sound was like bursts of thunder, resounding through the vast sea, echoing repeatedly between the sea and the sky, and it was difficult to disappear for a long time, so that the fish in the sea The child was so shocked that he jumped out of the water.
Seeing that everyone in the Dutch mission was frightened, fearing that the other party would kill him to sacrifice the flag, David Cillessen realized that the defenders on Taiyuan Island were in danger this time. One hundred thousand Zheng troops Once provoked, the consequences would be extremely terrible, far beyond what a thousand Dutch soldiers could bear.
What if the Castle of Geranzias serves as a refuge?
Don't forget that Zheng Yiguan has up to a thousand battleships!
At this time, even Cilesen didn't know how long the defenders could resist under the violent bombardment.
The most embarrassing thing for the mission was that they knew that the defenders were about to encounter a disaster, but they couldn't tell them.
Zheng Yiguan has detained the armed merchant ships in Keku. All the sails on the main and auxiliary masts must be lowered. Once raised, it will be regarded as a hostile act and will be sunk by a salvo of nearby warships. At that time, everyone will be sent to the bottom of the sea. Feed the fish.
For Zhen Haibo, he was determined not to tell the soldiers that the reason for sending troops to attack Hongyi in the Dayuan area was to obtain the gold mines on Qiongzhou Island.
In public situations, especially when mobilizing before war, only by showing great righteousness can win over people's hearts, and only by offering generous rewards can we encourage brave men. This is the essence of united troops in battles in all dynasties.
The illiterate sailors who couldn't read a single word did not understand the contradictory rhetoric in Zhen Haibo's words. They would only instinctively remember the last sentence, which was "blood debts must be repaid with blood."
This sentence is easy to understand, catchy, easy to listen to and easy to remember. It is extremely conducive to widespread publicity, and can quickly boost morale and inspire the fighting spirit of the entire army.
No matter what kind of conflict the two sides had before, whether it was national hatred or family hatred, wanting revenge or wanting to make money, just follow Uncle Zhenhai to settle the score with Hongyi...
After struggling for a while, it finally calmed down. Next, it depends on whether Mazu can protect the new Zhenhaibo.
If the tide does not come within three days, the morale of the troops will inevitably become slack and their morale will decline.
On the contrary, all the officers and soldiers in the army will be inspired by it, and they will never give up even if they are no longer high-ranking officers!
Zheng Zhilong ordered the main fleet to raise sail and set sail for the Luermen estuary to join the forward fleet led by Zheng Zhifeng.
Success or failure lies in this one move, which can also prove whether the secret given by the prince can be fulfilled on time.
"Brother, the waterway is so wide that we can't use the big ship during the day. We can only wait for the tide to rise before trying it again!"
When Zheng Zhifeng boarded his brother's flagship, he pointed at the two rows of bamboo poles stuck in the water in the distance and reluctantly told the truth.
The current Luermen waterway is only ten feet wide. This is secondly. The most important thing is that it is less than one foot deep. This will not allow our own large warships with a deeper draft to pass smoothly.
"...Well! The whole army is on standby, waiting for the tide to come at night!"
Zheng Zhilong believed that what the prince said was true and would not use such a poor excuse to deceive him. Anyway, the astronomical tide will happen tonight and tomorrow, and the final result will come to light soon, and we can worry about it later.
"yes, Sir!"
Zheng Zhifeng saw that his brother was convinced of this, so he didn't say much. After all, he didn't dare to be sure that the so-called "astronomical tide" would not come. If it did come on time, then his prophecy would have come true. Will be regarded as arrogant.
"Our fleet entered Taiyuan Bay after high tide and arrived directly in front of the Castle of Jelanje. The big ships bombarded the castle with heavy artillery, and the small ships bombarded the town with light cannons. The big ships left Taiyuan Bay before the tide receded. When did the small ships leave? It depends on the situation.”
This time, Zheng Zhilong did not bring 20,000 land troops, but left them in Penghu to wait for orders. This time, he did not intend to directly attack the Relanjia Castle from land, but just wanted to give Bolger a head start.
The fundamental reason is to avoid the typhoon that will come in a few days. You must not let your army division officers and soldiers be seriously damaged by the typhoon. After the typhoon passes, you can then mobilize a large number of troops to surround the Relanja Castle.
Zheng Zhilong planned to mobilize a hundred large ships, and each ship would use six heavy cannons on the sides to bombard the Castle of Geranze. In this way, if one round of bombs was fired every quarter of an hour, and if it stayed in the bay for two hours, a total of 4,800 bombs could be fired. Bullets.
Even if only half of the number could hit the Castle of Geranze, Bolger would be scared out of his wits, but Zheng Zhilong was still very optimistic about this.
After all, the target of the artillery bombardment is extremely obvious, fixed, and extremely large in scale. Most of our artillerymen are experienced and not new recruits, so the accuracy of the artillery bombardment is still very good.
The rest of the small boats can just vent their anger on the town. If Bolger sends troops to defend it again, there is no way they can escape back to the castle alive. The defense of Damuan Town is much lower than that of Geranzi Castle. From the map, it seems that even There are no city walls.
With the military map given by the Crown Prince, Zheng Zhilong was very confident about attacking Da Yuan Island. Since he had an absolute military advantage, except for the typhoon, nothing could stop him from regaining Da Yuan Island and becoming a general famous in history.
For fear of missing the high tide, the entire fleet waited in front of the Luermen Channel in the evening. They waited all night and during the next day, but the water level did not rise at all.
In order to identify the water level, each ship was marked with white paint on bamboo poles nearby. It could be clearly seen at night by following the torches, but the whole army was waiting with wide eyes.
Many people's patience had been worn away, and they could only whisper, beginning to doubt whether Mazu could protect the entire army from passing through this shallow and narrow waterway safely.
If not, even if they break through, it will be extremely difficult to fight without Mazu's protection in the future. As time goes by, the morale of the army begins to waver, which makes the Zheng generals a little embarrassed.
"Up!"
"Up!"
"Bang~!"
“Bang~!
“Bang~!
The soldier responsible for monitoring the water level suddenly stretched his neck and shouted, and loud gongs sounded one after another. The sailors who were dozing off were frightened and stunned. It took them a long time to understand what was happening.
Only then did everyone realize that the water level was rising rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The painted parts of the bamboo poles had long been submerged, and the water level continued to rise.
"Mazu protects us! God helps us!"
"Mazu protects us! God helps us!"
"Mazu protects us! God helps us!"
"quick!"
"No slacking off!"
"Everyone in your place!"
Facts speak louder than words. Now tens of thousands of Zheng Army officers and soldiers could no longer believe it. The originally narrow Luermen Waterway suddenly became extremely wide, and the chasm became a smooth road. Immediately, morale was greatly boosted, and the fleet slowly set sail, filing in from the waterway. Taiyuan Bay.
In order to avoid going too fast and overturning their own small ships, dozens of large ships rushed to the front, drawing a C-shape in the bay, and then headed towards the direction of the long-awaited Castle of Geranze.
"Make great achievements tonight!"
Seeing that the tide was really coming, Zheng Zhifeng, who had been skeptical at first, was overjoyed. Since he had divine help this time, he volunteered to lead the vanguard fleet to take the lead, striving to take advantage of the trend and achieve fruitful results.
Soon, the huge Zheng Jun fleet almost covered Damuan Bay, which is the inland sea of Taijiang River. All the sights were filled with warships of different sizes. It was the first time for the defenders on the opposite side to come to challenge like this openly. suffered.
The Dutch soldiers who were on guard at the Castle of Geranze were completely stunned. Any bright spot on the opposite sea meant a moving warship, but what they saw were as many light spots as stars, almost Dizzying.
This kind of shock is unimaginable and unparalleled. The strength of the enemy fleet is self-evident. Even the officers who seemed to be relatively calm felt their hearts go cold and their faces began to become stiff.
Many people in the garrison knew Zheng Yiguan's military strength, but tonight was the first time they saw the enemy fleet in full lineup. How spectacular and powerful it was. Under the cover of night, it looked like a group of hungry sea monsters. Devour them.
Fortunately, I saw it at night, but in the daytime, when I saw the forest of masts on the opposite side, I was afraid that I didn't even have much thought left to stick to it.
But such a wonderful and grand scenery did not last long, as Zheng Jun's large battleship began to turn its body horizontally.
this means……
