The three brothers Zheng Zhilong, Zhifeng, and Zhibao belong to the lineage of Zheng Rong, the fourth-fang "Yuye Gong" of the Zheng family, and the lineage of Zheng Zhi, the fifth-fang "Shenjiang Gong" who can keep pace with the prosperous fourth-fang.
He has four brothers, Zhipeng, Zhiwan, Mingying and Zhiyue. Among them, the first three are the sons of Zheng Yiping, the 10th "Zhenting Gong", and Zhiyue is the son of Zheng Yilu.
Zheng Zhipeng's name is Mingdu, the word is Du, and the name is Shunchen. "Zhipeng" is the official name used for reporting. He has five sons, the eldest son Zheng Guangying, the second son Zheng Zhouying, the third son Zheng Haiying, the fourth son Zheng Pingying, and the fifth son Zheng Shengying.
The eldest son and third son both followed his third uncle Zheng Mingying to land on the shore of Dongfan. Zheng Zhipeng took his second son Zheng Zhouying to Nanyang to purchase grain and rubber, while the younger fourth and fifth sons stayed at their hometown.
As long as the men of the Zheng family are not particularly weak and do not like to study, they will be trained to become generals. They can lead troops in battles when they are less than twenty years old. Since all the generals are their uncles, their nephews do not dare to disobey military orders without permission. .
Although he is the overlord of the sea and imposes strict taxes on passing merchant ships, the Zheng family takes great care of the poor people in Fujian and Quanzhou, and their military discipline is very good. Severe punishment.
Zheng Guangying and Zheng Haiying, who grew up in this environment, are naturally not playboys who only know how to eat, drink and have fun. They are not very young, but they have accumulated a lot of experience in navigation and military leadership. This is their first time participating in actual combat.
As their third uncle, Zheng Mingying also took good care of his two nephews. After landing, the two little guys only needed to be responsible for the safety of the two wings and stay vigilant. It was up to his troops to clean up the red barbarians on the shore.
Zheng Mingying didn't want his eldest brother Zheng Zhipeng to worry about the safety of his two sons. Fighting in Dongfan was dangerous, but everything had priorities. Even if he wanted to annihilate the enemy in person, he would not let his two nephews charge into the battle for him.
According to the information provided by Guo Huaiyi, there are at most 500 red barbarians on the shore, maybe even less than 400. If the 5,000 soldiers and horses of our own army cannot deal with only 400 to 500 red barbarians, wouldn't we have to Heading back home?
As a general who has gone through life and death with the Zheng brothers, Zheng Mingying trusts Guo Huaiyi as much as his brother Zheng Zhilong. Moreover, Guo Huaiyi is by his side this time, and he is still thinking about killing the enemy and making meritorious deeds. He plans to take the lead, so the information will naturally not be false.
"Huaiyi, go and help Guangying. I'm worried that Hongyi will flee inland after being attacked by our troops. It would be better if he runs to the shore!"
Zheng Mingying was a little worried about Zheng Guangying, who was responsible for the security of the left wing. This nephew was brave and had a thousand soldiers. He seemed to be safe, but in terms of actual combat experience, he was far from Hongyi's opponent.
"Please rest assured Ming Ying, I will naturally not let Hong Yi succeed!"
Guo Huai immediately took the order. Zheng Mingying's worries were not unreasonable. Now that his own fleet controlled Damuan Bay, Hongyi was determined not to run to the shore after being beaten. He would definitely find a way to escape into the mountains.
Zheng Mingying assigned Guo Huai 1,500 soldiers and ordered him to join forces with Zheng Guangying to block Hongyi's retreat after the war began, so that his troops could win and annihilate this enemy force.
Although we have a fleet to support us, we do not carry many war horses. There are only 200 horsemen among the 5,000 soldiers in the army. The rest are pack horses, and a lot of supplies need to be carried on people's shoulders.
Although the red barbarian troops on the shore are small, if they have enough war horses, they can find gaps in the battlefield and easily fight their way out before the three groups of people encircle them.
Less than two miles ashore, you can see acres of farmland. However, where there is no cultivation, even if there are no trees, there are endless weeds. They are all knee-high or even waist-high, which is not conducive to infantry pursuit of the enemy. , at most suitable for an ambush.
Zheng Mingying felt that his troops had many troops, but they were not large enough to encircle Hongyi from all sides. Moreover, after Hongyi found out that the Zheng Army's land divisions continued to move south, they would inevitably take certain countermeasures in order to encircle and annihilate the enemy. Not an easy task.
When the two sides were evenly matched, Hongyi might still have the courage to fight. In the current one-sided situation, they might choose to run away immediately, otherwise they would just sit back and wait for death.
Five thousand Zheng soldiers were divided into three groups. In order to facilitate mutual support, the two groups were separated by only one mile. They marched southward in a mighty manner. They did not intend to die down at all. Instead, they marched in formation with flags fluttering.
In addition to the generals on horseback and a small number of light cavalry cruising on both sides of the team, the captains and soldiers were all infantry, and they could only rely on their feet to advance against the red barbarians.
The fire support task was handled by the artillery company commander Zhou Quanquan under the command of General Hu Dawei. The unit was equipped with twenty-four mortars, half of which were spare cannons. If they were all used in a salvo, the enemy would be really hard to defend against.
Due to the inconvenience of sea transportation, Hu Dawei could only equip each squad of Zhouquan with one donkey. In addition to transporting livestock, his artillery company had thirty donkeys. Even so, the animal power was somewhat insufficient. As desired, it is better than nothing.
Most of the Zheng Army soldiers had never seen a mortar. Before the actual battle, they had some doubts that this iron bucket, which seemed to be used for bathing, could be used as a mortar. However, since there was an arrangement above, they could only wait and see what would happen. .
Zheng Mingying found it puzzling that his elder brother Zheng Zhilong had given him such inferior firearms. Instead of pinning his hopes on these emperor's personal soldiers from the capital, it would be better for his troops to bring more squatting tiger cannons and small folang machines. Be more secure.
Although these two firecrackers are heavy, they are not immovable for transportation. Even if there is a lack of horses, it is not a bad idea to use donkeys to drag them.
The iron barrels in front of us are not impressive in appearance, and it is unknown how powerful they are. It would be a big joke if they could not be fired or exploded on the battlefield.
"Brothers, Uncle Zhenhai has made a promise to kill a red barbarian and reward him with a hundred taels of silver. Give it to me!"
Zheng Juxiang, who was the same generation as Zheng Mingying, led more than a hundred horsemen as the vanguard and went south first to explore the way for the army. However, after running less than six or seven miles, he discovered a small group of red barbarian horsemen.
Zheng Juxiang saw that there were only a small number of these red barbarians, no more than twenty horses by visual inspection, and there was no trace of large groups of enemy troops coming to support nearby, so he planned to eat this piece of meat in one fell swoop and get a good start for the army.
The red barbarians all wore silver armor, covering everything from their elbows to their knees. They wore lobster tail or chicken head-style iron helmets with two bunches of beautiful feathers stuck on the back of their heads.
An orange ribbon is either tied around the waist or slung across the chest as an identification tool during melee. He is equipped with a Western-style iron sword on his side and a short blunderbuss on the other side for self-defense. Holding a blunderbuss, used to shoot targets.
Everyone was riding a tall horse, which looked majestic. Their mounts also made Zheng Juxiang envious. These horses were far better than his own mounts.
If he could get it, his brother Zheng Zhilong would be very happy. Seeing that the Hongyi cavalry were not equipped with spears and long-handled swords, Zheng Juxiang was generally relieved. As long as the opponent's muskets could not hit his own cavalry, he would just let his brothers chop them down.
"Kill Hongyi!"
"Come on!"
If we have at least four times the military advantage over Hongyi, there is nothing to fear. If we still don't take action, we will be worse than a woman. We should withdraw our troops and return to Kinmen as soon as possible.
In addition, Zheng Juxiang used Zhen Haibo's reward to motivate his subordinates before the battle, so that all the accompanying horsemen rushed to the front, whipped their horses and whips, and galloped towards the Hongyi opposite.
Although these Zheng Army cavalry were elite, all wearing armor, and it was difficult to kill their bones with cold weapons, their weapons were only equipped with spears, hard bows, and waist knives. They did not have sharp weapons like the three-eyed blunderbuss that the Ming Army cavalry outside the Pass had.
"Gentlemen, load up your dànyào and line up to meet the enemy!"
Lieutenant Lieutenant Reedmacher, the deputy company commander, sent out messengers to quickly report the situation here to the infantry battalion commander Major Simvet. At the same time, he led the twenty-five cavalry under his command to fight against the Zheng army's cavalry.
Dutch cavalry tactics are roughly the same as those of infantry, but depending on the specific situation, you can choose two formations: double row rotation shooting and single row shooting.
Lieutenant Maher saw through the monocular that the Zheng Army cavalry he encountered were not equipped with guns and had only bows and arrows as long-range weapons, and he was reassured.
As long as one's own cavalry fires at a suitable distance, it is enough to inflict considerable damage to the enemy. Moreover, because they are fully armored and the impact of European war horses is far greater than that of Eastern war horses, the Dutch cavalry is not afraid of close combat.
Our own troops are too small, and the double-row formation means that only a dozen people fire at a time. After the two rows use matchlocks, the enemy cavalry can quickly approach our team, which is not conducive to firing with wheel flintlocks and pistols. .
Therefore, one's own tactics should be to first use matchlocks and guns to suppress, then use wheel flint guns to strike, and finally draw swords to engage in close combat with the enemy.
Lieutenant Maher's men often deal with disobedient indigenous armed forces on the island, so they have rich combat experience and are quite experienced in fighting enemy cavalry and infantry.
If the opponent was only equipped with cold weapons, they would not have much psychological pressure at all. Even if hundreds of cavalry rushed over from the opposite side, everyone in the Dutch army was loading their matchlock guns in an orderly manner, and their hands did not shake with fear at all.
"preparation!"
"aim!"
"shooting!"
In addition to command, Lieutenant Maher also fired with ordinary soldiers, which could increase the firepower output by at least one-twenty-fifth. It would be even better if he could kill an enemy cavalry with his own hands.
"Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!"
Soon, a series of white smoke appeared in front of the Dutch cavalry line. The light matchlock guns used by the cavalry were not as powerful as the heavy matchlock guns used by the infantry, but they were easy to shoot on horseback and their accuracy was not bad.
Lieutenant Maher was very good at mental arithmetic, and the firing command he gave allowed the Dutch cavalry to fire very accurately, just enough to put the enemy at a distance of about 100 meters, so their cavalry's hit rate was still very good.
Moreover, after using the matchlock gun, when the enemy cavalry enters a distance of about fifty meters, the own cavalry can also use the wheel flintlock to fire a second time, then close the gun and draw the sword, and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
"ah……"
Zheng Jun's horsemen were about to open their bows and fire arrows when they entered forty steps. At this time, when they entered seventy steps, everyone took out the bows they carried. Unexpectedly, the other party suddenly opened fire. The shots were quite accurate, and they were suddenly attacked. The bullets knocked people off their feet.
Because they underestimated the enemy, the Zheng army's charging formation was too dense, which was very conducive for the Dutch army on the opposite side to use volley tactics to delay their rapid advance. At least six or seven people were shot and fell from their horses, and more than a dozen people were tripped up. .
There were no less than twenty casualties directly, which made Zheng Juxiang frightened, but he still turned around and continued to lead his army to attack, because as long as he could get close to Hongyi, he could kill them.
"Fire the arrow!"
Zheng Juxiang, who had lost many of his subordinates, was not willing to be beaten passively. As soon as he entered about sixty steps, he ordered everyone to shoot their bows and arrows. They could not just be beaten without fighting back, but they must at least give Hongyi a powerful counterattack.
These Zheng Army cavalry had excellent shooting skills. In addition to direct aim, their ability to shoot upwards was also extraordinary. A dense rain of arrows quickly fell on the heads of the Dutch cavalry.
"Damn flies!"
But it did not cause too many casualties to the Dutch cavalry. In addition to five soldiers who were hit by arrows in the legs, only a few horses were shot. The team was full of abuse and ridicule.
"Handshot!"
Lieutenant Maher, who was concentrating on observing the advancing distance of the enemy cavalry, ignored his men's actions. When he saw the target entering the shooting range, he immediately ordered his men to fire with wheel flintlocks.
"this……"
Zheng Juxiang originally thought that he would just have to survive Hong Yi's cannon fire and rush directly into the opponent's team. However, just after a while, wisps of white smoke came out of the opponent's team.
He instinctively screamed that something was wrong. The white smoke meant that Hongyi had started firing with muskets again. Zheng Juxiang didn't know much about this opponent. He didn't see the Hongyi soldiers reloading muskets. Instead, they put away their guns and changed their weapons. Still wondering.
In such a short period of time, the opponent conveniently carried out a second fire strike with a handgun, and since the distance to the target was very close this time, less than thirty meters, the hit rate was quite high.
The front row of Zheng Jun's horsemen were completely caught off guard. More than a dozen of them were knocked down in one fell swoop. Together with those who were tripped behind them, they lost more than forty riders almost in an instant.
Including the group injured by matchlocks before, the more than 100 cavalry led by Zheng Juxiang were almost 60% damaged before they could rush into the Hongyi team. The remaining troops who could continue to charge did not have much strength advantage. .
"Kill these pirates! Follow me!"
Although Lieutenant Maher and his men are not regular Dutch troops, they are veterans from the mainland. Many of them have experienced the European wars and are currently employed by the East India Company.
Neither officers nor soldiers were afraid of the pirate army led by Zheng Yiguan. In their eyes, their opponents were just a group of rabble who were good at bluffing.
Facing the well-trained and brave Dutch army, their combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning at all. If their own troops were not too small, they could even launch a powerful counterattack against these pirate cavalry.
The Dutch army had an advantage in both firearms and horses. The only shortcoming was that the swords in their hands were too short. They suffered too much when facing the Zheng army's spears and swords in hand-to-hand combat.
However, the previous fire attack clearly shocked the Zheng Army's cavalry. Many of them were unable to exert 100% of their combat effectiveness against the tall Dutch cavalry. Targets that could easily be hit in normal times were now missed because of panic.
"Withdraw~!"
The two sides charged alternately, and the Zheng army finally experienced the bravery of the Hongyi. Zheng Juxiang's troops, who had the numerical advantage, were killed by the Dutch cavalry. Nearly ten people were killed. Zheng Juxiang was so frightened that he had to order his troops to withdraw. The possibility of total annihilation.
The Black Prince in the Late Ming Dynasty 9
