At the mouth of the Yalu River, all that covered the sea were Ming warships. On the navy flagship, Zheng Zhilong was standing on the deck, watching most of the transport ships accompanying the army sail into the Yalu River to transport grain to Zhenjiang Fort.
At this time, although he had already made secret preparations, he had been preparing for the Ming-Japanese War. However, he actually still had a lot of hidden worries in his heart.
It's not that he is afraid of the powerful Japanese navy, but the Ming Dynasty navy has basically withdrawn from Lushun and Pidao. In this way, if the Denglai Navy led by him were to have a decisive battle with the Japanese Navy, I don't know where else, but there would definitely be a battle on the sea near Busan.
As a result, there is actually a very serious problem, that is, the Denglai Navy has to take a very long sea route and make a long-distance attack. Even if it can find islands to stop and rest along the way, this will not be enough for the Denglai Navy. Still disadvantageous.
If you follow his idea, it is best to take one step at a time and act steadily, which is the safest way. Not only can the diet ensure the physical fitness of the soldiers, but it can also ensure that the warship is in optimal condition.
However, Zheng Zhilong learned from Emperor Chongzhen that the emperor wanted to keep all the Japanese troops who invaded North Korea in North Korea to reduce the difficulty of conquering the Japanese country. In this way, if he plays steadily step by step, the Japanese side are not stupid. If the situation is not good, they will definitely slip away early.
Therefore, the emperor's strategic goal determined that Zheng Zhilong's navy must firmly control the Korean Strait before the war situation on land becomes clear.
Now, the emperor easily eliminated the Liaodong Jianlu and stationed troops at Zhenjiang Fort on the Yalu River. This put great pressure on Zheng Zhilong.
Watching the transport ship go away, Zheng Zhilong thought of another problem. Most of the food brought by his navy was sent to the emperor, so what should his navy do?
If the naval battle takes a long time to determine the winner, or if the emperor leads the land offensive smoothly, then he really has to go to the Korean Strait as soon as possible for a decisive battle. In this case, what will happen to the food?
"Oh, thanks to the fact that the emperor has already invested money, he has enough Hongyi cannons to equip the warships! With this alone, we can survive!" Zheng Zhilong thought, and comforted himself in his heart.
At this moment, he suddenly saw a speeding ship coming. From the flag, it looked like there was an angel. He also recognized this person as Chen Baoting, one of the emperor's personal chamberlains.
Immediately, Zheng Zhilong immediately retracted his divergent thoughts and quickly tidied up his appearance to prepare to welcome Chen Baoting. At the same time, he was also guessing in his mind that he might be urging himself to fight the Japanese navy.
Sure enough, Chen Baoting came to read out the general meaning of the imperial edict, which was that the Japanese army had arrived in Pyongyang. In order to prevent the Japanese army from escaping back to the Japanese country, and also to cut off the Japanese army's supplies to the Korean Japanese army, Zheng Zhilong was required to lead the Denglai Navy to occupy Geoje Island patrolled the Korean Strait and defeated any invading Japanese navy.
Upon hearing this decree, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart. It seemed that he had guessed correctly. The emperor was going to fight a tough battle on his own.
However, from the overall strategy, he could also understand that the emperor really needed to arrange it this way. It is completely conceivable that if the 100,000 Japanese troops in Korea knew that the Korean Strait was cut off by the Daming Navy, they would definitely panic. Once the initial supply of food and grass is exhausted, the larger the number of the army, the faster it will collapse. In this way, the land battle will become very easy.
It's just a pity that the emperor still doesn't know much about naval warfare. He thought that with big ships and powerful guns, he would be invincible!
Zheng Zhilong thought so, and Chen Baoting had already finished reading the imperial edict. He received the order to thank him, and then prepared to convene a military meeting to think about how to complete the task assigned by the emperor.
But who would have expected that after Chen Baoting announced the decree, he did not immediately reply with a reply. Instead, he took out something from his sleeve and said to Zheng Zhilong: "There is another secret decree here, which was signed by General Zheng himself."
When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little curious. He quickly took it respectfully and immediately opened it and started reading. Just looking at it, he immediately started to smile, and his happy expression could not be concealed even though he was relatively deep in the city. Of course, there is no need to cover up this matter.
In this secret decree, Emperor Chongzhen told him two things.
The first thing is that Emperor Chongzhen had already begun preparations when he absolutely wanted to use troops against the Japanese. After the fall of Korea, the Korean general Lin Qingye, who had been with the Dongjiang Army and cooperated with Lu Xiangsheng in the battle, followed Emperor Chongzhen's secret order and secretly went to Jeju Island to prepare for the war. Not only had a lot of food been prepared and stored on the island, but North Korea's original shipwrights and the like were also gathered on the island.
In Emperor Chongzhen's mind, when the Japanese sent troops to Korea, they would basically use Tsushima Island as a springboard, and it would be most convenient to land directly from Busan. As Jeju Island deviates from the Korean Strait, the Japanese navy may not necessarily inspect the island in the first place. After all, for the Japanese country, Korea has been destroyed. The Japanese country must want to eat this fat immediately. As for other islands and other corners, it will be too late to talk about it later when they have free time.
Of course, if Japan knew that the Ming Dynasty had been paying attention to it early in the morning and was wary of Japan's invasion of North Korea, it might have been more cautious and would have investigated Jeju Island earlier. But, did the Japanese Congress know what the Ming Emperor was thinking?
In addition, Jeju Island is the largest island in North Korea, covering an area of 1,845 square kilometers. North Korea has Jeju Island, which is divided into two counties: Daejong and Jeongui. Although Jianlu destroyed Korea, Jeju Island could not survive. Therefore, the administrative system of Koreans on the island still existed. If the Japanese wanted to capture Jeju Island, they would have to work hard. In this way, Japan would be stupid to attack Jeju Island as soon as possible, leaving the North Korean mainland at their mercy.
Therefore, after Emperor Chongzhen explained these situations, he told Zheng Zhilong to go to Jeju Island to join Lin Qingye, use Jeju Island as the base camp of Denglai Navy, and then occupy Geoje Island. In this way, as long as he can win the naval battle If we defeat the Japanese navy, we will be able to control the Korean Strait.
The second thing is that his comeback and battle with the Japanese navy will inevitably endanger Zheng Zhibao in Edo. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen specifically asked Zheng Zhilong to send a ship to Edo to pick up Zheng Zhibao before the war started.
For this matter, the best thing is of course that Zheng Zhibao continues to stay in Edo, so that any movement from the Tokugawa Shogunate can be transmitted back through Class A eavesdropping seeds. However, considering that human life is at stake and a man with golden fingers cannot be so cold-blooded, Emperor Chongzhen still made this reminder.
After reading this secret edict, Zheng Zhilong lamented that the emperor actually had no plans for naval battles, and he was very grateful to Emperor Chongzhen. I feel that the emperor is really good to his subordinates, and it is worth working for him!
"Haha, no wonder, I wonder why I haven't heard from him since then!" Zheng Zhilong said happily in his heart, and then immediately respectfully said to Chen Baoting: "Please reply to Your Majesty, Your Majesty will be planning the strategy." First of all, I will guarantee with my head that I will never disappoint His Majesty’s trust!”
At this time, he also had the same feeling as Lu Xiangsheng: Even under the emperor, whether doing things or leading troops in battles, he was very comfortable. Not only did he have no worries, but the emperor would continue to surprise him and make himself happy. Doing things often has the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort!
As for what he was thinking just now, such as "The Emperor still doesn't understand naval warfare," he had already forgotten it completely.
Chen Baoting had actually seen a lot about Zheng Zhilong's performance. He just smiled and nodded in agreement.
After so many years of experience with Emperor Chongzhen, the little kid back then has grown up and is now very disciplined in doing things. In front of Zheng Zhilong, there was absolutely no problem with those previous eunuchs. He was neither arrogant because of favors, nor did he try to please foreign officials, nor did he deliberately try to please because he was dealing with the emperor's confidants.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong felt a lot of emotion when he saw Chen Baoting disembarking from the flagship and returning to reply. He can guarantee that from now on, the Chief of Ceremonies of the Inner Court will be the ruler of the eight people around the Emperor.
As soon as Chen Baoting left, Zheng Zhilong immediately put aside these idle thoughts and began to think about the war in the Korean Strait.
Once things were done here, he immediately led the navy south, first to Phi Island to rest for a while, and then continued along the coastline, heading south in a mighty way, preparing to go to Jeju Island to meet Lin Qingye first, and then to the Korean Strait after resting .
As a result, the first naval battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese Kingdom suddenly broke out at a time and place that no one expected.
On this day, Zheng Zhilong led the navy across the Datong River and continued southward for another day. Suddenly, a flag was sent from the forward ship, saying that it seemed that there was a fleet coming north.
Generally speaking, when a fleet appears along the coast of North Korea at this time, it is either from the Ming Dynasty or from the Japanese state. It cannot be North Korea anyway. Therefore, the meaning of this news reaching the flagship is to alert that there may be an enemy.
Zheng Zhilong was surprised when he saw it, thinking that the Japanese navy had begun to attack the islands occupied by the Ming Dynasty from the sea. Therefore, he immediately ordered to prepare for the battle.
However, not long after, the forward ship suddenly sent a signal, saying that the Japanese ships seemed to be transport ships. This discovery made Zheng Zhilong feel even more relaxed.
At this time, his flagship had moved forward. Through the telescope, he found that the Japanese ships seemed to be in a bit of chaos and seemed to be trying to turn around and flee back.
"How can you escape with the fat in your mouth!" Zheng Zhilong was in a great mood. As he thought about it, he immediately issued a military order: chase and kill!
Miaoshuwu
