A series of sea and land battles at the Pearl River Estuary were Zheng Zhilong's attempt to rely on sea power to prevent the Chu Empire from controlling the Pearl River estuary, and then blockad the Chu army's maritime power within the Pearl River to prevent the Chu Empire's navy from fighting out of the Pearl River and entering the South China Sea.
If possible, it would be best to bombard Guangzhou City and attack the foundation of the Chu Empire in the Pearl River Delta, so that the Chu Empire would be afraid and unable to continue to occupy other places in Guangzhou without restraint, or even besiege Guangxi to win for its ally Xiong Wencan. time.
Similarly, this series of battles is also Zheng Zhilong's last struggle.
He tried to go through a series of battles at the Pearl River Estuary, hoping to show his strength and value to the Chu Empire by blocking the Chu Empire's navy at the Pearl River Estuary and guarding strategic locations such as Humen, in exchange for a better favor. condition.
Yes!
Although Zheng Zhilong had just sent a relatively small fleet to attack Guangzhou City, he was still inclined to surrender in his heart.
This has nothing to do with interests, ambitions, etc. The main reason is that the traditional continental thinking deep in his heart has influenced him. He always believes that his roots are on land, not on the sea.
It was also because of this thought that he accepted the Ming court's recruitment before, and now he is negotiating with the Chu Empire for the same reason.
It was his captivity after surrendering to the Pass in the original time and space, and it was also based on this kind of thinking.
But even if he surrenders, Zheng Zhilong still wants to strive for better conditions, especially to continue to keep his fleet.
Just like when Ming Ting recruited him before, the official position Ming Ting gave him was just a trivial matter. The most important thing was that Ming Ting allowed him to continue to control his huge fleet without interfering.
Of course, at that time, the Ming court was unable to intervene because the main force of the navy in Fujian and Zhejiang was almost completely defeated by Zheng Zhilong.
But it is a pity that the Chu Empire firmly disagrees with this.
For the Chu Empire, the core purpose of recruiting Zheng Zhilong was to take over Zheng Zhilong's huge fleet.
Not only to control this fleet through Zheng Zhilong, but to completely merge this fleet into the Da Chu Empire Navy and become a part of the Da Chu Empire Navy.
Zheng Zhilong could occupy a high position and give a naval officer the rank of rear admiral or even vice-admiral. He could also give him the title of marquis, which was the highest level of the real hereditary title of baron after three generations of original nobles.
Zheng Zhilong was also allowed to retain his large-scale private assets, but large areas of land, especially the area controlled by Zheng Zhilong on the Dayuang Island, must be handed over to the official control of the Dachu Empire.
However, the Chu Empire did not allow Zheng Zhilong to continue to control his huge fleet.
To put it simply, the Chu Empire recruited Zheng Zhilong in exchange for its glory and wealth in exchange for the huge fleet under Zheng Zhilong's command.
On the one hand, Zheng Zhilong is not allowed to give up the fleet. On the other hand, he is also worried that once the fleet is completely handed over, he will become insignificant and can be abandoned at any time.
Zheng Zhilong is also a superior person. He also wants to continue to control power. At the same time, he is also ambitious. He thinks that even after joining the Dachu Empire Navy, he can become the most influential person in the Dachu Empire Navy.
Because the conditions were quite different, the two parties had never been able to reach an agreement. However, because one of them wanted to appease and the other wanted to be appeased, although the agreement could not be reached, the negotiations were still ongoing.
This also resulted in a rather special relationship between Zheng Zhilong's troops and the Dachu Empire, a situation of fighting and talking at the same time.
It's a bit similar to the idea of using a fight to make peace.
What's interesting is that although Zheng Zhilong's recruitment negotiations with the Dachu Empire were kept confidential to a certain extent, it was impossible to truly conceal such a major event.
Mingting had already heard the news more or less at the beginning of the year.
But this time, Chongzhen didn't get dizzy, and he didn't order Zheng Zhilong to be arrested and imprisoned just because he was wavering...
Well, actually he also arrested Zheng Zhilong...
Instead, Chongzhen increased Zheng Zhilong's treatment. In April, Chongzhen officially conferred the title of Nan'an Bo on Zheng Zhilong.
In early June, as the war in Guangdong took a turn for the worse, and the Chu army began to take full control of southern Zhejiang and entered Fujian, the Ming court gave Zheng Zhilong the title of Prince Shaobao, and also gave Zheng Zhilong a very formal title of general: Suppressor. Thief general.
It is worth mentioning that as the situation became worse and worse, the Ming court further increased its efforts to win over military generals. Not only Zheng Zhilong, Zuo Liangyu was also awarded the title of Ning Nanbo at the beginning of this year, worshiped as General Pingthief, and was granted the title of Prince Shaobao. title.
Of course, according to the official rules of the Ming court, even if Zheng Zhilong is granted the title of uncle, it is impossible to truly make Zheng Zhilong the person in charge of military affairs.
Therefore, it is impossible for the Ming court to give Zheng Zhilong the title of Governor of Fujian, let alone the title of Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. Apart from a bunch of titles, Zheng Zhilong's official title is actually the General Soldier of Fujian... There are no actual changes!
And above Zheng Zhilong, there is also a senior civil servant sitting in charge. He is Shen Youlong, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang and the governor of Fujian.
At the beginning of this year, with the destruction of Hangzhou and the news that the governor of Zhejiang died in battle, Chongzhen gave Shen Youlong the title of right minister of the Ministry of War, and the title of censor of the right capital, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang military affairs, and governor of Fujian.
It's just that Shen Youlong, who became the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, did not have many officers and soldiers except Zheng Zhilong's troops.
Originally there were many officers and soldiers in Zhejiang, but most of them were lost in a series of battles in northern Zhejiang, and in the subsequent battle of Ningbo, the last remaining officers and soldiers in southern Zhejiang were lost.
Therefore, after the Battle of Ningbo, there were not many officers and soldiers left in Zhejiang.
As for the Fujian side, there are actually not many officers and soldiers in the guard station. After all, this place is originally poor. In addition, there is Zheng Zhilong nearby, so the strength of the local guard station officers and soldiers is greatly suppressed, even if In the past six months, efforts have been made to expand the army and prepare for war, but now Shen Youlong is exhausted and can only gather tens of thousands of men.
Moreover, among these 10,000 people, there are less than 3,000 real soldiers, and the others are just make-up.
However, Zheng Zhilong has many people under his command.
Today, Zheng Zhilong has a large number of people on board. Just on the two islands that control the Chu Empire, Chongming Island and Zhoushan Islands, there are more than 6,000 and tens of thousands of troops stationed respectively. The two together are nearly More than 17,000 people.
In addition, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Fujian and other places.
This is talking about land combat forces, not including the sailors in the fleet.
Therefore, in the anti-thief war in the Fujian and Zhejiang areas, the Ming court relied heavily on Zheng Zhilong's troops.
In order to appease Zheng Zhilong, the Ming court even offered titles such as Nan'anbo and Prince Shaobao, but this operation of the Ming court was actually of little use.
At least Zheng Zhilong had long thought that Mingting was going to be doomed...
Without Jiangnan, without the Ming court in Huguang, Jiangxi and even large southern provinces, there are only a few provinces in the north that have been devastated by war and the Little Glacier climate. Even if the Chu army does not make the Northern Expedition, they themselves will not be able to survive for a few years...
Because in addition to the Chu Empire, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty also include various rebel armies in Shaanxi that have always been lingering.
Although Gao Yingxiang was caught and killed by officers and soldiers last year, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were still alive and well. They were still running through the mountains with a large number of bandits, and from time to time they would come out to attack a certain county and plunder.
In addition, there is a foreign enemy called Dongli in Liaodong, and this foreign enemy is also very deadly.
After losing the money and grain support from the southern provinces and the lifeline of water transportation, the Ming Dynasty had actually entered the stage of the Great Xia collapse. According to Zheng Zhilong, this time would definitely not be too long, as short as a year and a half. , if it doesn’t last more than three to five years, Mingting will definitely be doomed.
Even if they are not killed by foreign enemies, they can kill themselves.
Ming Ting's side is going to be doomed, but he, Zheng Zhilong, has to continue to hang out. He doesn't want to follow Ming Ting on a tour of the underworld.
He is not a general of the Ming Dynasty, and he has no loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. He accepted the Ming court's recruitment purely because he wanted to return to the land and take root, and did not want to continue to wander on the sea...
Now, he wants to switch to the Dachu Empire because of the same mentality.
It's just that those damn Chu thieves restricted the terms of the negotiation too hard, and his hometown of Fujian was still in his hands, so Zheng Zhilong couldn't make up his mind for a long time. He felt that he had the capital to get better. Conditions of recruitment.
The series of battles at the Pearl River Estuary were also an action by Zheng Zhilong to demonstrate his strength.
But the result of this operation made Zheng Zhilong very disappointed.
Hundreds of large ships went to attack Guangzhou City. Before even the shadow of Guangzhou City could be seen, they were repelled by the Chu army at the mouth of the Pearl River.
Not only was the fleet repelled, but even the fleet's anchorage at Humen and other places were taken away by the Chu army's dispatch of army troops. After the defeat, the fleet could only retreat to Hong Kong Island on the edge of the Lingding Ocean to anchor.
This strategy of controlling land by sea failed, and after losing Humen, it would be difficult to completely block the entrance of the Pearl River to the sea, completely blocking the maritime power of the Chu pirates in the Pearl River.
After all, the Pearl River estuary is still very wide. This sea area is the Lingding Ocean, which is dozens of kilometers wide. In terms of the patrol and blockade capabilities of the navy these days, it is actually very difficult to completely block such a large sea area.
Besides, fighting in the waters around Lingdingyang will be the home ground of the Da Chu Empire Navy in the future.
The Pearl River Fleet of the Dachu Empire Navy can obtain manpower and material supplies anytime and anywhere, and even ships can be continuously built to replenish it.
But as for Zheng Zhilong's fleet, they fought far away from their hometown in Fujian. The battle at the Pearl River Estuary was a long-distance battle. Moreover, with the coastal land under the control of the Chu army, it was difficult for them to continue to obtain large amounts of supplies from the land.
It doesn't matter if this time is short, but it will be very troublesome if we are stationed for a long time.
Just like the garrisons on Chongming Island and Zhoushan Islands, the ammunition and even food required by these more than 10,000 troops need to be transported thousands of miles by sea from Fujian and Dayuan Islands. In order to maintain these two islands, Zheng Zhilong's troops A large number of ships were used to meet the needs of the garrison, which was not only extremely expensive, but also very inconvenient. There was a risk of being cut off from the sea supply line at any time.
In the same way, long-term garrison troops at the Pearl River estuary also face difficulties in supplying and huge costs.
In this regard, Zheng Zhilong was also helpless. He could only do his best and obey fate. He could not just ignore everything and then directly transfer the fleet back and run away. In that case, Guangdong would be completely ruined.
Now leaving a fleet in the Lingdingyang area can at least contain some of the Chu army's forces and reduce the pressure on Xiong Wencan from other directions, especially from Guangxi.
If this really removes all the fleet, then all Chu troops in the Guangzhou area will move along the Xijiang River towards Guangxi...
In fact, Zheng Zhilong overestimated the deterrent power of his fleet. He thought that if his fleet was stationed in the Lingding Yang area for a long time, it would be able to contain at least 10,000 to 20,000 Chu bandit troops to garrison Humen, Guangzhou, Foshan and other places.
But in fact, although the Chu army that attacked Humen had tens of thousands of troops, its main force was only a reinforcement regiment, and the other was an infantry brigade of the garrison.
After the Battle of Humen, this reinforced regiment only left one battalion in Humen. The other two battalions each carried a garrison of 2,000 troops. They were divided into two groups and fought all the way to Boluo County and Guishan County in Huizhou Prefecture in the east. .
The other way is to continue south along the coastline. Their goal is Xin'an County under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture.
After capturing this small coastal county, the army did not stop. Instead, it continued all the way south, directly to the Kowloon Peninsula, and directly occupied the camp where the Ming Dynasty's local inspection department and salt field soldiers were stationed.
Subsequently, the Chu army built fortifications and more barracks in the original salt camp, and named the camp Kowloon City.
The Chu army named this camp a city, obviously preparing to garrison here for a long time.
This is because the small island across the bay from the Kowloon Peninsula is the temporary anchorage of Zheng Zhilong's fleet.
After the fleet under Zheng Zhilong lost its anchorage in Humen, it went south to a small broken island opposite the Kowloon Peninsula as a temporary camp. The main reason was that there was a calm bay between the island and the Kowloon Peninsula that was suitable as a anchorage.
This bay is the Victoria Bay in the original time and space, but it is definitely not called that name now. The British have no presence in the East Asian waters now, let alone occupy Hong Kong, so now this bay is just an unknown bay.
Just because Zheng Zhilong's fleet was temporarily stationed in this bay, the Chu army had to have a name when describing it in official documents, so they simply named it after the local area and named it Kowloon Bay. By the way, it was also named after the local people. The island opposite was named Xiangjiang Island after the local fishing village.
The remaining more than 100 ships of Zheng Zhilong's fleet are now anchored in Kowloon Bay, and have established a temporary camp on the barren island on the south coast of Kowloon Bay, namely Xiangjiang Island. A group of young pirates here were wiped out...
These days, there are more and more messy pirate gangs in the Pearl River Estuary area, and Xiangjiang Island is no exception. It is normal to kill a group of small pirates just for a temporary anchorage.
The temporary anchorage of Zheng Zhilong's fleet is here, which is why the Chu army's troops reached the Kowloon Peninsula in one go.
However, the army's actions were limited to this. No matter how powerful the Chu Empire's army was, it could not cross Kowloon Bay and run to the opposite Xiangjiang Island to destroy the temporary base of Zheng Zhilong's fleet, and even more damage to Zheng Zhilong's fleet. Nothing can be done.
The Chu army stationed in Kowloon City played more of a role in monitoring Zheng Zhilong's fleet on the opposite side and supporting naval operations when necessary.
Now, all I can do is stare at the Zheng Zhilong fleet in Kowloon Bay...
If you want to kill the fleet under Zheng Zhilong's command on the opposite side, you have to count on the Pearl River Fleet on the Navy's side.
It's just that the current commander of the Pearl River Fleet of the Navy, Rear Admiral Xia Qiuyang, is also frowning at his own fleet!
