1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 616 Battle of Nanri Island ([-])
On the battlefield, as long as the thought of "running away" is born, the courage will disappear immediately, and this is the case with the Shibazhi fleet at this moment.After several of the ships started to turn around and make an escape gesture, the ships that originally wanted to continue fighting saw that the situation was not good, so naturally they would not stick their necks and continue desperately.However, this escape also depends on luck and skills, and it is not easy to escape from Hai Han's muzzle.

After testing the strength of the opponent through two rounds of shelling, Shi Diwen found that Haihan's advantages in ships and firepower were too great, so much that there was no need to use any complicated tactics in the pursuit.For this kind of opponent who rushes forward with a burst of blood and courage, and retreats faster after being hit, all you need to do is roll up your sleeves and get going.

Just like a pack of wolves chasing a flock of sheep, ferocious predators will not stop to eat immediately after killing a prey, but drop the dying prey and continue to hunt for the next target.The three Haihan warships also adopted this tactic. After approaching Shibazhi's ship, they just slammed at the waterline for a while, punched a row of holes in the hull, and then drove away.And even if the sailors on the pirate ship could try their best to block the hole after that, the ship was basically half-filled with sea water, and it would not be so easy to get out of the battlefield quickly.

At this time, the navy of the Ming army who was watching the battle outside played the role of cleaning the battlefield. It was difficult for them to catch up with the pirate ships that had already started to escape, but they had to besiege the pirate ships that were seriously damaged after being bombarded and even started to sink. , it can still be done easily.If there were still pirates who planned to resist stubbornly under such circumstances, then the navy of the Ming army would not hesitate to send a few more shells on board to these die-hard diehards.

Xu Xinsu watched the whole process of this one-sided killing on the deck of "Wei Signal". Only then did he really understand why Shi Diwen was so relaxed and confident when he proposed to attack Nanri Island.The strength gap between the two sides is at least several levels. The Haihan Navy only dispatched three warships, and they unstoppably crushed the dozens of ships that Shibazhi arranged on Nanri Island. Xu Xinsu couldn't help it. Feelings of jealousy and fear.

In terms of combat effectiveness, the current Daming Navy is actually not too bad, but the number of warships is a little less, and it seems powerless to protect Fujian's long coastline, so it can only abandon some places and focus on guarding a few major ports.If Shibazhi fights at sea with real swords and guns, Xu Xinsu still has the confidence to win with the same force.However, after seeing the combat methods of the Haihan Navy today, Xu Xinsu's confidence in his troops has also been worn down a lot-even if the Fujian Navy and Shibazhi are bundled together, it is estimated that they will not be able to do this. To the perverted Haihan Navy.

According to the naval establishment claimed by Shi Diwen, the combat ships of Haihan's fleet consist of a "majestic-class" flagship, three to four "exploration-class" warships and four to six "exploration-class" warships, about It is on the scale of eight to eleven warships.However, only three warships were dispatched, and the Shibazhi Fleet stationed on Nanri Island had already scrambled. If it was a full-fleet fleet, it would be hard for Xu Xinsu to imagine how many ships would be needed to stop them. evil star.

Although the fight went smoothly, Shi Diwen was not too fond of fighting. After copying the back of the Shibazhi fleet and injuring three or four sailing ships, he ordered to stop the operation of the steam power system—the mission fleet The amount of clean coal for boilers that they carry is limited, and it needs to be reserved for more necessary use. It is almost enough to show off force, and it is a bit of a waste of resources to continue to use it to kill these mobs.

Although the Haihan battleship has strong firepower and fast speed, it is still impossible to wipe out the opponent who is eight times as large as himself and flees in all directions with three ships.However, in this naval battle that lasted an hour and a half, Haihan's side still achieved an astonishing record—twelve to zero.

Nearly half of the 25 ships dispatched by Shibazhi were left behind, and seven of them were incapacitated due to severe damage to the hull. below the surface of the sea.The pirates who had nowhere to escape in the vast sea had no choice but to surrender.

The Ming army had already received Haihan's instruction before the start of the war, and would not massacre the captives who chose to surrender-the Haihan people had already stated their position, and all the prisoners captured alive would be transported away.

For Haihan, Shibazhi’s men are a rare opportunity to recruit a large number of sailors. As long as some of them are born with bad character and vicious gangsters, the rest will be sent overseas for labor reform for a period of time. Time, and then break it up and distribute it to various places, it should still be able to play some role.

The Fujian Ming army had no objection to this. Although these heads meant a lot of rewards and military merits, the people brought by Xu Xinsu were also very aware of Hai Han's weight.Moreover, Xu Xinsu also stated before departure that this battle would not be rewarded by the head. At that time, the officers did not understand this meaning. They did not wake up until the battle was over. This battle was the main force fought by the Haihan people. It's also hard to talk about yourself.As for stealing credit or something—who would dare to steal credit from these Haihan people?
Although the naval battle didn't last long, the work of cleaning up the battlefield continued until the sky darkened.This is mainly because the battlefield is too wide, and it is really time-consuming and labor-intensive to gather hundreds of captives from a dozen ships.Of course, being tired is also tiring for the Ming army. The Haihan Navy will not even take care of this kind of dirty work.

However, this kind of precaution does not seem to have much practical effect. The pirates stationed on Nanri Island have no signs of counterattack, but there are still a few light boats on the sea far away. Be wary of these uninvited guests attacking again.

Shi Diwen didn't intend to fight a night battle with Shibazhi. Even for the highly trained Haihan Navy, this task is extremely difficult. Since he can steadily take down the opponent, there is no need to rush Go in and catch this little time.In case something goes wrong, it is hard to tolerate some military merits, and if you are not careful, the merits will not be worth it.

After the three participating ships of our own side gathered, Shi Diwen began to count the record and battle damage of each ship.The one that hits the most targets is naturally the "Prestige Signal" with the largest number of artillery pieces. In the one and a half hours of battle, it hit more than 50 rounds of enemy ships. Although this number is a bit low for the total of more than 300 rounds, considering the This is a naval battle rather than a land battle, and it is the first actual battle of "Prestige Signal". It is already quite good to be able to achieve such a result.Including the records of the other two warships, the three ships hit the target with a total of nearly [-] rounds during this battle. This number is quite satisfactory, and it is not much different from the usual training level.

During the entire battle, only three sailors were injured, two of them were injured by arrows and gravel thrown by the enemy when they bombarded the enemy ship at close range, and the other was accidentally slipped from the gangway due to the rough sea. The injury from getting off the cabin was not directly related to this battle.The injuries of the three people were not serious. After checking in person, Morgan confirmed that they only needed to be bandaged with medicine, and they could recover after a few days of rest.Not to mention the warships, there were only a handful of stone arrows thrown onto the deck, such an attack could not cause any substantial damage to the Haihan warship.

Xu Xinsu has been observing the entire statistical process on the "Wei Signal". Regarding such a battle loss ratio, he seems to have nothing else to say except for the word "convincing".

The Fujian Ming army has been at war with Shibazhi for several years, and they have fought more than ten naval battles involving dozens of ships. No matter whether they win or lose, they have never been able to control their battle damage to such a low level, which is almost as low as No degree.Even if it can win, which time does it not cost a few ships and at least double-digit manpower?

From this, Xu Xinsu also realized more deeply that if the level of armed forces of the Daming Navy and Shibazhi were to compete with the fully loaded Haihan Navy, the chances of causing substantial damage to the opponent would be very small.It’s no wonder that after the Haihan mission arrived in Fujian this time, they boasted in various ways. Not only did they want to eradicate the chronic disease Shibazhi in Fujian, but they also claimed that they would also take down the red-haired people on Taiwan Island.If Xu Xinsu’s intuitive impression when he heard these words was that the other party was boasting about Haikou, then after witnessing this brief naval battle, Xu Xinsu has changed his original view—the Haihan people are not boasting about Haikou, but are serious about it. They are describing something they take for granted.

After hastily cleaning the battlefield, the Ming army did not try to tow away the pirate ships that were devastated by shells, and sailed to the coast of Fujian together with the Haihan warship.Today the fleet will not sail back to Quanzhou Port to dock, but will sail to Dongqiao Bay not far from here.The Haihan militia needs one night to prepare well, because tomorrow there will be a more difficult amphibious operation waiting for these soldiers.

But the navy of the Ming army is not so lucky. Even if this military exercise is to follow Haihan to fight soy sauce, it must be done seriously.The task they were assigned was to take turns guarding the entrance of the bay all night, in case Shibazhi launched a sneak attack at night.After unloading the captives on the shore, the navy's ships returned to the sea one after another to provide security services for the Haihan Navy, which was resting here.

Shi Diwen and Morgan were not idle either. They were going to review the operation to seize the island tomorrow to see if there were any omissions in the original plan.Although the result of victory is beyond doubt, they still hope to minimize the loss of battle and personnel loss as much as possible.

In the early morning of the third day of the joint military exercise, the reorganized fleet set off from Dongqiao Bay to Nanri Island, twenty nautical miles away.This is also the last link of the joint military exercise. After taking down Nanri Island, the military exercise will be considered to have come to an end.

Of course, by this time, no one will regard this sea trip as an ordinary exercise. Even the Ming army navy who did not fight on the front line understands that the Haihan people are fighting for real this time, not just them. Live-fire exercises as previously claimed.After watching yesterday's battle at close range, many soldiers of the Ming army felt very lucky. First, they were able to be in the same camp as Haihan, a powerful ally, so they didn't have to be enemies on the battlefield. Second, the Haihan people were willing to take the initiative. , Cleaning up the big trouble of Shibazhi for the Fujian Ming Army.If it was up to the Ming army to wipe out the pirates on Nanri Island, it would be difficult to know how much it would cost to succeed.

The only port on Nanri Island is located at the northwest end of the island. There is a natural bay with an area of ​​about one square kilometer. Four hundred ships can accommodate at least one or two hundred ships.However, when the Ming army evacuated here before, they destroyed most of the port facilities built to prevent them from being used by pirates.After Shibazhi occupied Nanri Island, it did not have enough engineering power to restore the island's port facilities to the level of the Ming army's garrison period. Therefore, according to the information provided by the Ming army, this small harbor can directly dock now. The number of seagoing ships is not large - at least [-]% of the local ships have been dispatched in yesterday's charge.

The camp on the island was about three miles away from the port, and it was built against a slope.This camp was built entirely of rocks. When the Ming army retreated, they thought it would take too much effort to destroy this place, but it turned out that Shibazhi and his group of pirates took it down and used it as a den of thieves.After Shibazhi took Nanri Island, in order to stick to this strategic location, they carried out a protracted reinforcement project for the camp. It is precisely because of this that the limited manpower on the island cannot carry out the port construction project at the same time, so This caused the embarrassment that there are thousands of ships in Shibazhikong, but only dozens of ships can be stationed on Nanri Island.

Of course, compared to the navy of the Fujian Ming army, the troops stationed on the island by Shibazhizhi are not weak. Therefore, even though they are on board, they are enough to defend against the attack of the Fujian navy. Retreat to the sea a little farther away, and when the navy lands to attack the camp on the island, they will launch a harassing battle from the sea.And this kind of combat method has worked many times in the past. The Fujian Navy almost always attacked Nanri Island halfway through, because it was difficult to balance offense and defense and could not continue, so they chose to retreat on their own.

However, Shibazhi probably never thought that one day he would encounter an opponent like the Shanghai Han Navy in the waters of Nanri Island. It was simply too strong. After a few rounds, the number of sailboats that could go to sea on Nanri Island was reduced by almost half.And the other half are also in an awkward situation, should they defend or flee?

(End of this chapter)