This time, Zheng Zhilong personally led the main fleet here not for a night tour. Simply showing off force would not have any effect on the Dutch Red Barbarians who were determined to resist.
The method of subduing the enemy without fighting will not work here for the time being. The enemy on Dayuan Island must be given a painful lesson that they will never forget, beating them until they feel pain, fear, and call them daddy.
Since we were protected by Mazu this time and were able to ride the wind and waves and use the tide to successfully enter Taiyuan Bay, we should not waste such a God-given opportunity. The next time we encounter an astronomical tide will be half a month later.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong ordered his younger brother Zheng Zhifeng to lead an offensive fleet composed of large and medium-sized warships to arrive within the range of his own guns, and specifically bombard the Red Yi's defense core, the Castle of Relanja.
Zheng Zhifeng has two Galen-type warships imitating Hongyi, one is the flagship and the other is the backup ship. In addition, the fleet also has eight sealing boats, eleven black-tailed boats, and twenty-seven The Big Bird Ship and eighty-six Guangzhou Ships totaled one hundred and thirty-four warships.
Each of these sides is equipped with at least two reddish barbarian cannons weighing more than 500 kilograms. When the entire fleet launches a broadside salvo, it can fire more than 300 bullets.
In addition, each ship is also equipped with a "fat gun". The name comes from the Portuguese falcao. This gun weighs between 300 and 500 kilograms. It is mostly made of copper and rarely made of iron. It is less powerful than the red cannon. The Yi cannon is stronger than the Folan machine, and is a very effective supplement to the battleship's firepower output.
Each Zheng Army warship has about twice as many guns as Hongyi cannons. If it is a double-deck warship, the lower deck will be Hongyi cannons and hairguns, and the upper deck will be Baizi guns and Folang machines.
Due to their short range, the ship-borne Baizi guns and Folang machines and other light guns will not be counted at all in the decisive battle. To bombard the very strong Relanja Castle, you must use Hongyi cannons or fire cannons.
Zhenhaibo Zheng Zhilong personally led two Galen ships, twenty Dafu ships, twenty-six Haicang ships, thirty-nine Cangshan ships, forty-one Dongzi ships, and one hundred and thirty-two small birds. Ships, including 260 large and small warships, besieged Dayuan Town.
Excluding the fleet heading north and guarding the fleet, as well as the ships staying in Penghu waiting to transport the army division, most of the main battleships of the Zheng Group have already appeared in Taiyuan Bay.
The fleet led by Zheng Zhifeng was only about half the size of his brother Zheng Zhilong, but the smallest warship in the fleet was also a medium-sized Guangzhou ship, and its firepower was far stronger than Zheng Zhilong's fleet.
His mission was to give Bolger, the senior officer in the Castle of Geranze, a show of strength. Zheng Zhilong believed that as long as Bolger was on the island, he would definitely hide in the castle, otherwise he would die under his own fire.
"Lower the sail!"
"Shake the oar!"
"Adjust position!"
"Load the gun!"
"Get ready to fire!"
Under Zheng Zhifeng's order, the forward fleet, which was gradually slowing down, changed its formation. In less than a cup of tea, it changed from a multi-channel column to a horizontal formation.
Even in the dark night, relying on the special skills accumulated over the years, Zheng Jun's sailors can use the passwords for catching thieves on each ship and the drums and horns from the flagship to declare the orders to be executed.
It is not easy for hundreds of warships to turn at the same time, which tests the overall arrangement and coordination ability of the entire fleet. However, for the Zheng Jun fleet, this is a very familiar thing, and it is common at sea, let alone at sea. In the small Taiyuan Bay.
As long as the water in this bay is deep enough to prevent large warships from being stranded, Zhenhaibo doesn't need to worry about the rest. If the pirates and sailors on each ship can't even do such the most basic errands, then they can directly Throw it into the sea to feed the fish.
Night battles, especially "sea-to-land" battles, also have a huge advantage for the attacking side, that is, the defending side on land cannot see clearly which ship is the enemy's flagship.
It really takes incredible luck to hit the flagship, and the largest warship in Zheng Zhifeng's fleet is a locally made super warship - Feng Zhou!
This giant warship, with a displacement of up to thousands of tons, is covered with iron armor, and contains more than 200 soldiers responsible for hand-to-hand combat. It is the pioneer of the entire fleet, and its strength on both offense and defense far exceeds that of other warships.
The Dafu ship, which was inferior in tonnage to Fengzhou, was only equipped with about half the soldiers. Moreover, Fengzhou was made of high-quality iron chestnut wood, which is difficult for insects to eat and damage, while the wood used by the Dafu ship was pine and fir. If the two ships collided, Dafu would be damaged. The ship will be destroyed.
Due to the high cost, Zheng Zhilong only owned twenty sealing boats. Bringing eight this time was the limit. The remaining twelve sealing boats have been allocated to be used as flagships by many brothers traveling north and south.
The reason why Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhifeng did not use Fengzhou as their flagship was that the ship's large tonnage made it difficult to turn, and was far less maneuverable than the Hongyi warship. Especially in headwind conditions, Fengzhou's speed was extremely slow.
However, this warship has absolutely no shortcomings when used to bombard targets on shore. Each Fengzhou has twenty-four gun positions, all equipped with powerful Hongyi cannons.
Although Zhenhai Bo was wealthy, he also clearly instructed his subordinates to disperse the valuable Hongyi cannons, with up to twelve guns per large ship, usually six to eight, to avoid sinking the warship and losing the Hongyi cannons.
Feng Zhou was the only exception. He was used by Zheng Zhilong as the number one core to sweep away the enemy. All the weapons and personnel assigned to Feng Zhou were of the best quality, making his combat power naturally the strongest.
With Zhenhaibo's special care, the eight Fengzhou ships were equipped with up to ninety-six Hongyi cannons on one side. Zheng Zhifeng ordered them to fire first, which was the first shot for the entire fleet.
Under the night, the Castle of Geranze is still on high alert. In order to observe the situation on the sea, the entire building is brightly lit. Under the dual illumination of firelight and moonlight, the huge outline is really obvious.
For Zheng Jun's gunners, this was an extremely easy target. Since the Castle of Relanja was impossible to move, it was simply the largest target they had ever hit.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
However, it was not the Zheng army fleet that launched the attack first, but the defenders in the castle. Under the order of Colonel Jansen, the two castles of Mitte and Felisingen and a castle were used to defend the inner city of Damian Bay. Half-Moon Fort, as well as the Hederland Bastion in the outer city, took the lead in launching artillery attacks on the Zheng Army warships on the sea.
A total of twelve heavy cannons opened fire one after another, and bursts of dazzling fire flashed frequently on the castle. At the same time, white eyes erupted from the muzzles. After completing the firing, the well-trained defenders immediately began to clean the barrels and wait for the barrels to cool down. , you can reload the danyao and start the second launch.
"Push the southward artillery pieces of the inner city and the outer city halfway over!"
Since the Zheng Army fleet really rushed into Damuan Bay from the Luermen Channel with the help of the tide, half of the firepower of the outer city used to defend the southward sea was blocked by the tall inner city and could not be used, so Colonel Jansen could only issue an order. The order to push the cart asked the soldiers to concentrate their artillery to the north to block the enemy fleet.
"……so much!"
Bolger, who was a little stunned by the "unique scenery" that appeared on the sea, was still mumbling to himself. He had never seen such a grand occasion. The military strength possessed by Zheng Yiguan was indeed very terrifying.
It's one thing to say it, but it's another thing to see it with your own eyes. Don't worry, it's a lie. The little bits of fire emanating from the battleships on the sea are as bright as the stars.
If it were not a war, it would indeed be a refreshing and beautiful picture, but no romantic person would want those little bits of fire to turn into cannonballs ejected from the muzzle...
The defenders were right to strike preemptively. Although the hit rate was only one-twelfth and most of the shells fell into the water, they still luckily hit a warship in the dark, killing and injuring many Zheng Zheng. The soldiers and sailors have achieved a good result.
But doing so obviously angered the fleets on the sea. The firepower of Zheng Zhifeng's fleet alone was more than ten times the total firepower of the defenders. This time the Zheng Group was deployed in full force, not to be beaten.
"Full salvo from the fleet! Crack open that damn Hongyi Castle opposite!"
Zheng Zhifeng found out that the Hongyi in the Relanzhe Castle actually dared to take the lead in firing, and actually hit one of their own warships. She was immediately furious. Since the other party was not afraid of death, then let them do it.
Although this battle will not capture the island immediately, it will not be passively beaten. Zheng Zhifeng wants the Hongyi defenders in the castle to understand that the Zheng family's strength is not just on paper, but also that they are determined to win the Dayuan area.
"put!"
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The Hongyi were all huddled on the island, not daring to fight at all. Since they were strong on the outside but hard on the inside, and just fired the artillery first and made a bluff, there was nothing to fear. It was the easiest thing to punish such a coward.
Less than half a minute after Zheng Zhifeng's fleet was attacked, he launched a stormy counterattack against the defenders in Relanja Castle. The sea near the north side of the castle was almost full of flashing light spots.
Needless to say, those are all artillery pieces that fire bullets. Although the range and power are not the same, there is only one target, and that is the Hongyi Castle that just took the initiative to provoke our own fleet.
The sea surface near the fleet led by Zheng Zhifeng was completely shrouded in gunpowder smoke. Since the eight sealing ships were in the most advanced position, even if they were fighting against the wind, the smoke would be blown away relatively quickly, allowing the officers and soldiers on the ship to quickly see to the bombardment effect.
"this……"
The Dutch soldiers on the top of the city only saw countless black spots in the air, all flying towards their location. Everyone opened their eyes and couldn't believe what they saw.
By the time they realized what they were doing, it was too late to hide. Facing the overwhelming firepower advantage possessed by the Zheng army, the defenders' strict discipline and high combat effectiveness could not be brought into play at all. They could only stay in the city. The miserable situation of being passively beaten.
There is no doubt that the flying shells are more terrifying than the hail falling from an altitude of 10,000 meters, especially the shells fired by the heavy artillery, which can even drill holes in the city walls, which are far beyond the flesh and blood of the Dutch soldiers.
At the Mitte Bastion, a well-placed artillery shell penetrated the wall and brought people along with it, directly destroying half of the gunners who were busy at a gun position. Fortunately, it did not hit the artillery. As long as the manpower was organized, this gun It can still fire normally.
Our own offensive was like a line, and the opponent's counterattack was like a net, covering almost half of the Relanja Castle. It was so fierce that it made the women and children taking refuge in the castle feel very nervous and scary. .
At the moment when they were hit by dozens of cannonballs, everyone in the Castle of Relanja felt as if the entire castle was being shaken uncontrollably, and even their own hearts were trembling.
The baby was so frightened that he cried uncontrollably, which made the mother holding him worried. No one knew the situation outside, but judging from the intensity of the shelling, the enemy was definitely coming with bad intentions.
The roof of a house at the top of the inner city was lifted off by a cannonball, and a small part of it was knocked into the air. Then it fell down, splashing everywhere, and the tiles also injured many defenders.
Bolger, the top officer in the Dayuan area, had already fled back to the inner city to take refuge. This situation was not something that a civilian official like him could handle. The task of repelling the enemy fleet had been fully entrusted to Colonel Jansen.
All he had to do was persist, persist, and persist until Colonel Jansen led the defenders to repel Zheng Yiguan's pirate fleet, and then hoped for reinforcements from Batavia, then his merits would be considered complete.
As for how to repel the enemy, Bolger couldn't think of any good way for the time being, but the Castle of Geranze was his biggest reliance. Bolger didn't believe that Zheng Yiguan would be strong enough to capture this indestructible fortress overnight.
"Quick! Count the casualties! Restore gun positions! Prepare to counterattack!"
Jansen was an officer who had experienced the European battlefield. He issued corresponding orders quickly after the bombardment. He could not continue to be beaten and could not fight back. Even sporadic counterattacks could boost the morale of the defenders.
Usually the cooling time of a heavy artillery is between ten minutes and fifteen minutes. If it is shorter than this time, the temperature of the barrel will be too high and it will be difficult to dissipate heat. Continuous firing may cause the barrel to explode at any time.
Therefore, Jansen believed that since the enemy was a seasoned pirate, he would follow this path and most likely would not make a desperate move and throw the spent heavy artillery into the sea after the bombardment.
The cost of a heavy artillery is very high in both the West and the East. No army in any country dares to use heavy artillery as a disposable consumable.
Based on this speculation, our side should have relatively ample preparation time. The initial firing time of both sides is almost the same. In other words, the enemy will not fire until our heavy artillery has cooled down.
Jansen also hopes that his heavy artillery can shorten the firing interval, but that means that the life of the artillery will be drastically shortened. This is absolutely undesirable behavior, and a long-term plan must be made.
It must be implemented in accordance with the pre-released combat regulations, which means that it can only fire once every fifteen minutes, unless some of the artillery used to defend the water on the south side is pushed over and replaced.
Jansen is considering doing this to maximize his own firepower. This way he still cannot compete with the enemy who has an absolute advantage, but at least it can cause more damage to the opponent.
All the heavy artillery deployed on the castle was helpless. There were too many Zheng Army warships on the opposite side and they could not be hit at all. Jansen could only order the gunners to aim at the warships that were easy to hit and fire as much as possible, sinking one after another. .
"Reporting to Mr. Colonel, the casualty count has been completed. Three of our troops were killed and ten others were injured. Fort Mitte was hit by two shells, and Fort Felisingenberg, Fort Hederland and Fort Half-Moon were each hit by one shell. pieces."
The casualties of the defenders were still within an acceptable range, but no one knew how long the enemy's shelling would last. This was the most anxious thing for everyone.
The Black Prince in the late Ming Dynasty
The Black Prince in the Late Ming Dynasty 9
