In the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, the East India Companies of England, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Denmark saw their armed merchant ships taking advantage of their prey. They changed their flags and immediately turned into pirates...
Of course, trading companies in the Dachu Empire also did this kind of thing, and Nanyang Trading Company was the leader among them!
This situation itself is the norm in the Age of Discovery. When going to sea, people are either robbed or robbed...
This is also the reason why the Dachu Empire's navy vigorously attacked pirates in the Nanyang waters, dispatched naval warships for fixed cruises, and maintained the safety of fixed routes.
It is because if piracy activities are too rampant, it will lead to a reduction in the scale of overseas trade, which will further affect the scale of the overseas trade of the Dachu Empire.
What the Da Chu Empire wants is not the Li Lan on the route, nor does it care about the Li Lan who robbed a few merchant ships. What the Da Chu Empire wants is the market and raw materials.
Therefore, the Dachu Empire is different from other countries. The Dachu Empire always tries its best to maintain maritime security. For this reason, it does not hesitate to send a large number of warships to maintain maritime security in the Nanyang waters and combat pirates.
The large number of frigates are the key force used by the Da Chu Empire Navy to maintain maritime security.
Because the number is large enough, regular patrols can be carried out on multiple routes to deter pirates and potential pirates from putting their little thoughts away.
Because a cruiser leads a patrol fleet of two or three frigates, which is enough to put great pressure on any pirate ship or armed merchant ship, forcing them not to act rashly.
This is also the reason why the Dachu Empire built so many frigates that seemed to be of little use in fleet battles. They were mainly used to escort ships and maintain maritime security.
As for fighting the main fleet of the enemy navy... that is the task of the battleship, even the hi cruiser has to step aside!
If a frigate with a small body like a frigate rushes up and engages in bombardment with the enemy's battleship, it can sink it with one shot!
Based on these realities, it is also the reason why the Da Chu Empire Navy simply canceled the small number of 130 mm naval guns on the frigates... The early equipment of 130 mm naval guns was because it planned to use these frigates with the Zheng Zhilong fleet, the Dongli fleet and even the Netherlands. human fleets to fight.
When later battleships and a large number of cruisers enter service, frigates will no longer need to undertake the main combat mission, so these 130mm naval guns will simply be replaced by 115mm naval guns.
Anyway, to fight pirates, arm merchant ships and so on, the 115mm naval gun is sufficient.
The large number of capital ships in the first fleet can be regarded as concentrating most of the strength of the Great Chu Empire Navy. Even so, the Great Chu Empire Navy was not at ease, so a large number of armed merchant ships were recruited to serve as auxiliary forces.
These are all to cover the landing fleet operations, defeat the Kingdom of Johor in one fell swoop and then directly control the Malacca Strait. They are also to intercept possible subsequent Dutch counterattacks, completely block the Malacca Strait, and deter the indigenous maritime forces of other countries in the Southeast Asia.
Well, by the way, this operation is also used to conduct a large-scale live-fire training for ocean combat.
After all, it is very expensive to conduct such large-scale ocean-going training in normal times. Now that in the name of war, military expenditures are borne by the cabinet, the Navy naturally wants to take the opportunity to engage in some ocean-going training subjects that it usually does not give up.
…
Since the Da Chu Empire organized such a huge fleet operation, it was naturally impossible to hide the news!
After all, the Nanyang Sea is not the inland sea of the Chu Empire. There are also a large number of ships from various countries sailing. In particular, Guangzhou, as the main foreign trade port of the Chu Empire, has a large number of foreign ships entering and exiting.
Of course, the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company are indispensable among them!
They were also shocked when they discovered that the Chu Empire had gathered a large number of ships to sail southward. Unfortunately, there was no wireless telegraphy these days.
Even if these Dutch ships at sea discovered the changes in the Chu Empire Navy, they would not be able to report the news to Batavia in time.
By the time these Dutch ships returned to Batavia and reported the news to the colonial authorities of the Dutch East India Company, it was estimated that the landing fleet of the Dachu Empire Navy had already reached the Malay Peninsula and started landing.
The delay in message transmission has certainly brought a lot of trouble to the expedition fleet of the Dachu Empire, but it has also brought a lot of benefits. At least there is no need to worry about the enemy being prepared in advance...
In March of the 15th year of Chengshun, the main fleet of the First Fleet of the Dachu Empire arrived at the Cam Ranh Bay military base and rested and replenished it. It also joined the 3rd Marine Regiment of the Navy that had been well prepared at the Cam Ranh Bay base.
After the Third Marine Regiment joined the fleet, the First Fleet set sail from Cam Ranh Bay on March 18, the 15th year of Chengshun, and continued southward.
While the First Fleet was resting in Cam Ranh Bay, the Combined Transport Fleet, which was composed of armed merchant ships from various trading companies and some naval warship escort ships, directly crossed Cam Ranh Bay to the Beijia area, and Dock at Pak Nian Port.
More than 10,000 soldiers of the 14th Division, as well as a large amount of weapons and equipment, ammunition, food and other combat supplies began to be unloaded.
This time, the joint transport fleet not only brought the personnel, livestock, and weapons and equipment of the 14th Division, but also brought all kinds of materials necessary for 30 to 40 thousand people to sustain operations for more than half a year.
We brought everything from weapons and equipment, tents and clothing, medicines and even building materials.
The arrival of these supplies is enough to meet the needs of the Fifth Division and the Fourteenth Division for half a year!
The reason why I brought so many was because sea voyages were so slow these days. A round trip from Guangzhou to Nanyang would often take more than several months.
If this doesn't work, if there is a shortage of supplies on the front line and the corresponding supplies cannot be collected locally, the trouble will be big.
The distance and navigation difficulties all caused the Chu Empire to launch a large-scale sea crossing and landing operation, and could only transport all the troops and materials needed in the first few months in one go.
This is also the reason why the Chu Empire recruited armed merchant ships on a large scale.
Such a huge transportation volume simply cannot be achieved by relying solely on the navy's own warships and transport fleets.
The joint transport fleet arrived in Bei Nian... No, to be precise, it caused a shock in the South Seas as soon as it entered the Gulf of Siam!
This is a huge fleet of hundreds of ships, and they are all moving together...
This is definitely not a normal merchant fleet. Any fool will know that the Chu army is engaging in a large-scale military operation, just like the one that landed in the Kingdom of Siam a few years ago.
…
At that time, the Chu Empire also sent hundreds of ships over at once and directly robbed the capital of the Kingdom of Siam!
Now, what do these Chu people want to do?
All the Southeast Asian indigenous countries, as well as the Dutch and Portuguese, who learned the news, were extremely panicked.
And the next actions of the Da Chu Empire made these people even more worried!
After the joint transport fleet arrived in Beinian and unloaded personnel and supplies, it did not return directly, but went to several ports to evacuate overseas Chinese.
The scope of evacuation is huge!
Including the Kingdom of Johor, the Kingdom of Aceh, Malacca City, Dutch-controlled Batavia and other areas.
In fact, these evacuation of overseas Chinese were not officially led by the government, but were spontaneous actions by the trading companies and requested the navy's cooperation and permission.
Because of these trading companies, many port cities in the above-mentioned areas have set up various offices, commercial stations, etc., and dispatched personnel to station them all year round.
Now the Great Chu Empire is going to launch operations in the above-mentioned areas, and it is preparing for a big war. The battlefield may spread from the Malay Peninsula to a large number of Indonesian islands and even other areas.
These trading companies naturally want to bring their own families back from these places.
As for business, it's not too late to continue after the war is over. There is no need to stay where you are and take risks now... not to mention the small matter of people dying, but the large amount of money and goods stored locally cannot be lost.
If a fight breaks out and these indigenous or Dutch people get mad and directly confiscate assets on a large scale, won't they be crying blindly!
Therefore, they will take advantage of the military's official launch of military operations to withdraw their personnel and money from the war zone.
And such large-scale evacuation of overseas Chinese and investment has made countries even more panicked.
The Dutch sent envoys to Beinian Port on fast ships, trying to get detailed information from the Chu Empire's plenipotentiary in the Nanyang region, the governor of Nanyang, or simply saying that they wanted to ask the Chu Empire, what do you want? What are you doing, do you want to start a war?
It is a pity that the envoy of the Dutch East India Company did not even see the governor of Nanyang, but only an official under the Nanyang Patrol Yamen.
This Dachu Empire official told them, don't think too much, we have no intention of provoking a war. There may seem to be many recent actions, but that is just a large-scale exercise we are conducting.
Why should we evacuate overseas Chinese?
Because the drill content includes rescue and evacuation of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
Because our domestic scientists say that there are many earthquakes and tsunamis in the Nanyang region, which makes it more prone to various natural disasters. In order to prepare for these natural disasters and in line with the attitude of being responsible for the safety of the lives and assets of our expatriates, we held this event evacuation drills.
In short, it’s just serious nonsense!
As for the effect?
Of course no one believes it!
Everyone was not stupid. When they saw more than a hundred ships carrying more than 10,000 soldiers and countless supplies arriving at Beinian Port, they all knew that the Chu Empire was going to play a big game.
The only question now is, who does the Chu Empire want to kill?
…
On April 26, the fifteenth year of Chengshun, Batavia Port on Java Island under Indian control.
Several Dutch people looked at the merchant ships in the distant port preparing to leave a large number of Chu people, and their faces were all ugly.
One of the bearded ones asked: "Do you want us to stay here by force?"
"They are not just leaving, they are also bringing a large amount of money and goods with them. If we force them to stay, we can confiscate at least two million Chu Yuan!"
But another person said: "Don't be stupid. Forcing them to stay here is tantamount to directly declaring war on those Chu people!"
"And whether to declare war or not is not something you and I can decide. This needs to be decided by the company's senior management, or even the domestic senior management!"
"The people of Chu are not those uncivilized aborigines!"
"We must not easily start a war with them before we make the firmest determination!"
"Moreover, we judge that the target of these Chu people should not be our Batavia, but the Malay Peninsula!"
"I just don't know whether their target is the Kingdom of Aceh or the Kingdom of Siam."
"Both the Kingdom of Siam and the Kingdom of Aceh are not our territory. The Chu people's invasion of these places has no direct conflict of interest with us!"
"But even so, it's still very worrying. The ambitions of these Chu people are too great. They just conquered Beijia a few years ago, and not long after that, they actually want to eat more places, and they are not afraid of dying. !”
These Dutch people said worriedly.
On the other side, in the Kingdom of Johor, there are similar discussions, but these people in the Kingdom of Johor feel that the people from the Chu Empire want to attack the Kingdom of Aceh or even Malacca.
In this case, they felt that it was even possible to cooperate with the Chu Empire to capture the city of Malacca, and then divide the territories belonging to the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Aceh in the eastern part of the Malay Peninsula.
Since the Kingdom of Johor lost the city of Malacca, generations of people have dreamed of fighting back to Malacca and regaining their old capital. This is also the reason why they have had a close relationship with the Dutch in the past few years, and they want to use the power of the Dutch to regain Malacca. city.
It is a pity that when the Kingdom of Johor sent people to contact diplomats from the Chu Empire, they still received the same answers.
The empire is just conducting regular training, don’t think too much about it...
Such an answer also made the Kingdom of Johor worried.
Niang Xipi, you don’t agree to join forces with me, do you want to monopolize it?
As for the Kingdom of Aceh, it's even more tense... The place where the joint landing fleet landed is Beinian Port next to them.
The purpose of transporting so many troops and supplies was not to expel the indigenous people in the Beijia area. How could those indigenous people be so virtuous as to enable the Chu Empire to mobilize troops? The militiamen and armed patrols alone were enough.
Therefore, the Kingdom of Aceh quickly prepared for war.
No matter what the Chu Empire wants to do, it is always right to prepare in advance!
But the Aceh Kingdom’s preparations are still too late!
On May 13th of the 15th year of Chengshun, taking advantage of the improvement in local weather, the Fifth Division of the Chu Empire officially launched a full-scale attack on the Kingdom of Aceh's territories in the Malay Peninsula!
…
At this time, the Kingdom of Aceh had not even had time to send the first batch of reinforcements to the Malay Peninsula.
At the same time, a fleet sent by the Dachu Empire to the west coast of Bejia, that is, the Xiyin Port near the Indian Ocean, also entered the Strait of Malacca and began to blockade the western end of the Strait of Malacca in an attempt to block and intercept the ships sent by the Kingdom of Aceh to the Malays. Reinforcement ships for the peninsula.
This fleet is a subordinate fleet of the Indian Ocean Fleet. It is not strong. It only has two Xiangyang-class cruisers and six Daye-class frigates, plus four temporarily recruited armed merchant ships of the Nanyang Trading Company.
Although this kind of fleet is not very good in the navy of the Da Chu Empire, and it is quite difficult to encounter the fleet of European colonists, it is still relatively reliable against an indigenous kingdom with modern naval power like the Kingdom of Aceh.
After the Indian Ocean Fleet entered the Strait of Malacca, it took only a few days to sink six ships of the Kingdom of Aceh.
However, sometimes you really can’t tell when it comes to war.
There are still two reasons why the Kingdom of Aceh can survive for so many years under the watchful eyes of the Dutch and Portuguese.
On May 24, the 15th year of Chengshun, the frigate Ninghe in the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chu Army was performing a blockade mission. While pursuing a transport ship from the Kingdom of Aceh, it ventured close to the coastline of the Kingdom of Aceh and was not familiar with the hydrology. It ran aground and was immediately attacked by at least thirty galleys from the Kingdom of Aceh!
These galleys are the main maritime force of the navies of the indigenous countries in Southeast Asia. They are not good in the depths of the ocean, but they are still quite reliable in the straits and offshore waters.
They took advantage of the high maneuverability of the galleys and their sheer numbers to risk their lives to break through the fire interception of the Chu army's warships. Finally, they directly affixed themselves to the Chu army's Ninghe frigate, and boarded the ship to start a hand-to-hand fight.
More than a hundred crew members of the Ninghe, whether sailors or marines, fought hard, relying on excellent flintlocks and armor to resist.
The natives of the Kingdom of Aceh tried to board the ship again and again, but they were all defeated due to the gap in equipment and combat effectiveness!
However, the Ninghe was unable to evacuate the battlefield because it ran aground, and the natives were even more determined to capture the Ninghe to give the Chu Empire a good look, or to try to prove that they were not easy to bully!
Therefore, they failed again and again, but they also fought hard again and again!
This battle lasted for more than three hours, from morning to afternoon.
The soldiers of the Ninghe went from sticking to the deck to retreating to the cabin!
The natives of the Yaning Kingdom continued to attack. They wanted to completely capture this battleship, which they considered to be extremely huge!
The bodies of the indigenous soldiers of the Kingdom of Aceh who died and were injured in the attack stained the surrounding seawater red, and the deck was stained with countless blood!
But even though the surrounding sea water was dyed red, these indigenous people still did not give up!
Outnumbered, the crew of the Ninghe had no choice but to retreat to the cabin, and finally persisted until the arrival of the frigate Linguang!
With the arrival of the frigate Lin Guang, it used naval guns to destroy a large number of the galleys of the Kingdom of Aceh, which forced the Kingdom of Aceh to give up the siege of the frigate Ninghe. However, before retreating, they set fire to the frigate Ninghe. The River was eventually badly burned.
…
In this battle, more than half of the Ninghe crew were killed or injured, with fifty-seven people killed/seriously injured and twenty-seven lightly injured. The ship was severely burned, and the surviving officers and soldiers could only be transferred to the Linguang frigate.
As for the Kingdom of Aceh, which caused more than 80 casualties to the Chu Imperial Navy and lost one frigate.
They lost more than 1,500 men and more than 20 sailboats in this battle.
The reason why they suffered so many casualties was mainly because after they saw the Ninghe stranded, they tried to capture the frigate intact before the Chu army's Linguang frigate arrived.
That's how such a brutal hand-to-hand combat took place.
Otherwise, the Aceh Kingdom could have set fire to it early.
The top brass of the Aceh Kingdom also want to play a big game, trying to boost domestic morale and confidence by capturing the Ninghe intact and annihilating the crew of the Ninghe!
And demonstrated its own force to neighboring countries or forces, and even further demonstrated its strength and determination to the Chu Empire, forcing the Chu Empire to give up its plan to annex their territory.
How should I put it? Through this cruel battle, they tried to tell the invading Dachu Empire: Don't come and fight me, otherwise I will really risk my life with you. Even if I die, I won't make it easy for you!
Probably, that’s what it means!
And battles with political intentions are often very cruel!
In order to seize the Ninghe, the Kingdom of Aceh, which had poor equipment and poor combat effectiveness, sent batch after batch of soldiers to attack, and then batch after batch of soldiers died...
Well, for this typical war of attrition, the Kingdom of Aceh is not willing to fill it with only a few elites!
Setting up sailboats and other small boats to besiege the Ninghe. If we don't use fire attack... it is basically the same as besieging a fortress on land. There is basically no other way except to use our lives to fill it.
In order to replenish their troops, the natives of Aceh even used small boats to continuously transport waiting troops from the shore.
The seawater around the Ninhe River was dyed red, and floating corpses were densely packed... In order to gain fighting space, the Acehnese even had to interrupt the attack for a time, just to clean up the corpses of their own soldiers floating on the sea so that there would be space for the attack. space!
Under such a suicidal attack, many soldiers of the Aceh Kingdom went from excitement to fear, then to despair, and finally to numbness.
At the end of the fight, the soldiers responsible for the attack in the Kingdom of Aceh just mechanically and numbly went to die, just to consume a bullet from the Chu army sailors or the physical energy of wielding weapons!
In this battle, the Kingdom of Aceh suffered more than 1,500 casualties!
In the end, they failed to get what they wanted. They neither annihilated the crew of the Chu Army's Ninghe nor captured the frigate Ninghe. They failed to get the political bonus they wanted most.
Even if it caused more than 80 casualties to the Chu army, it was even the largest casualty in the Chu Imperial Navy's previous operations in the Nanyang region. It was useless!
They did not capture the Ninghe, nor did they manage to annihilate the crew of the Ninghe. Their failure to do this meant that they gained nothing from this battle.
Even in the end, in order to prevent the broken hull of the Ninghe frigate from being used by the enemy, the Chu army carried out a second arson attack to completely burn the Ninghe frigate after the personnel evacuated, leaving not even a single residue to the Aceh Kingdom. !
The Battle of Ninghe was a battle that was considered a failure for both sides. However, this failed battle also made the war between the Chu Empire and the Kingdom of Aceh become more complicated from the beginning. Bloody and cruel!
Not only did the navy become more bloody in subsequent battles, but the ground battles became even more bloody!
I just want to be the emperor
