1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 707 The Battle of Penghu

He Bin and Guo Huaiyi planned for several months, connected with each other everywhere, took a lot of risks, and finally realized the escape with their troops.But they never imagined that less than half a day after their fleet arrived at Dayuan Port, it would be captured by the person they were trying to join.And the Dutch, who were once regarded as life-saving straws by them, offered them as sacrifices to Xu Xinsu without hesitation.Although I don't know what kind of agreement the Dutchman and Xu Xinsu have reached, the two pirate leaders understand that this step has been irreparable. For the Dutchman, their value is not that they can be thugs or servants, but It was regarded as a condition for the exchange of interests with the Fujian government.

It wasn't until the two were tied up and taken aside by Wuhuada that Xu Shan bowed deeply to Hans and said, "Lord Hans understands righteousness, and the common people admire him! But these pirates are very dangerous, and they need to be dealt with early. "

Hans responded, "Mr. Xu, do you have any suggestions?"

"Xiaomin is just a sea merchant, how dare he dictate the decision of the adults." Xu Shan bent down even lower.

Hans pondered for a moment before saying: "The crimes committed by these pirates were all within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so it is reasonable for them to be tried by the Ming Dynasty government. I think it is better to send them to Zhangzhou and hand them over to the authorities. "

"Your Excellency is wise." Xu Shan flattered him at the right time.

"However, many of these two men's subordinates are ordinary people who have been coerced into the gang. I think these people should be given a chance to start over." Hans added.

Hans' purpose is very clear. He knows that the Fujian government and the Haihan people will never let go of their attitude towards Shibazhi, but it is only aimed at the big boss of the gang.As for the minions below, the other party doesn't care so much about their survival.And the people brought by these two guys are excellent labor force for Dayuan Port. You must know that Hans has tried various methods in the past few years, and the number of immigrants that can be introduced from Daming every year is only a few thousand.

Of course Xu Shan could understand the implication of Hans' words, so he immediately responded: "As far as Xiaomin knows, the Fujian government's attitude towards Shibazhi is to only take the lead and ignore the threats. Lord Hans can handle it by himself." its entourage."

Since Hans cooperated so actively in this matter, Xu Shan certainly wouldn't pick faults on these details unwisely.Being able to capture He Bin and Guo Huaiyi back to Fujian is already a great achievement.As for whether the Fujian government's attitude towards the Dutch will be loosened because of this incident, that is beyond the scope of Xu Shan's interference. In the end, he is only a member of the Xu family, not at all. People in the officialdom have no say in this kind of matter.His significance in Dayuan Port is more to represent the interests of the Xu Xinsu Group, rather than the Fujian government.

Two days later, the news that He Bin and Guo Huaiyi were arrested by the Dutch in Dayuan Port almost simultaneously spread back to Fujian and Penghu, and the impact of this incident on the two parties was also completely different.Fujian is naturally cheering and cheering. Before the battle started, the opponent's camp has already begun to fall apart, which shows that there are great differences among Shibazhi's internal forces on the future direction of the situation, and their fighting will must be very strong. Worrying.

After Zheng Zhilong heard the news, he broke the inkstone again in the study—this was the second time in the past month that he had vented his anger by throwing something in front of his subordinates, which was an extremely rare situation in the past.

"Extremely stupid!" Zheng Zhilong can only use these words to evaluate He Bin and Guo Huaiyi's fate: "The red-haired man cut off ties with us and expelled our people from Dayuangang. It's lucky that the Dutch didn't join forces with Xu Xinsu to send troops, and these two idiots dare to send them to the door by themselves!"

"Brother, people on the island are panicking now. I think we should announce our departure and leave here immediately. If we drag on, I'm afraid the enemy on the other side of the sea will not give us time to escape." Zheng Zhibao suggested to him with a look of anxiety.

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said: "It's not too late. Since there is no room for turning around this matter, we should gather people and prepare to set off as soon as possible. You go and inform the camps. After two days, we will leave the camp and leave Penghu!"

At the same time, Kinmen Island is also discussing the latest changes in the situation.At present, the participating troops of the coalition forces have completed the assembly, and [-]% of the various materials and equipment needed are in place. The rest are basically the supplies needed by Haihan, and it will take some time for these things to be transported from Sanya. According to the current situation The situation can't wait.The current issue of the coalition forces has changed from how to fight this battle to when to start.

"Two days later, we will send troops!" Yan Chujie finally announced the result of the discussion firmly.

It can be said that the same time for the two sides to send troops is an unconscious coincidence, but it is actually an inevitable event created by the current situation.Shibazhi was busy evacuating Penghu before being attacked by the enemy, while the coalition forces were afraid that Shibazhi would slip away too quickly and let them retreat.

In the early morning of May 1632, 5, Jinmen Island, Fujian Province.

Although Haihan asked to keep a low profile as much as possible, Xu Xinsu decided to hold a brief expedition ceremony, killing pigs and sheep as sacrifices, and specially picked ten pirates from the Zhangzhou Prison who were supposed to be killed after autumn The prisoner was pulled to the pier and beheaded to sacrifice the flag.

After completing a series of bloody departure ceremonies, the Haihan militia troops began to board the ship and set off.The Ming army led by Xu Xinsu set off from the center left, and the speed of the ships was slower than that of Haihan's fleet, so they set off two hours earlier than Haihan's side, and arrived at the waters of Jinmen Island at this time.

The two fleets completed their rendezvous at sea near Kinmen Island, but due to the large number of ships, the formation took a little longer.It was not until [-] o'clock in the morning that the combined fleet completed the basic formation and began to sail towards the east.

At the same time, Magong Harbor in Penghu was in chaos.Although Shibazhi has a large number of sea-going ships, it is still difficult to transport tens of thousands of people at a time.The vanguard of more than 1000 pirates had already set off two days ago, and the main fleet that is leaving Penghu today includes more than 200 large and small ships that need to carry more than 2 people and the necessary supplies.

Although Shibazhi has been sorting out supplies and preparing for escape since last month, it is still impossible to complete such a large-scale operation in a short period of time with Shibazhi's organizational capabilities. Task.All kinds of materials are piled up in the port, and the flow of people and materials queuing up to board the ship are mixed together, and it is difficult for the personnel in charge of command and dispatch on the pier to coordinate, which has greatly affected the speed of boarding and loading goods. huddled together.

Seeing this anxiously, Zheng Zhilong called his cronies over: "Zhi Wan and Zhi Feng, each of you take a team of soldiers and horses to the pier to maintain order. Those hustling and unruly guys, drag them out and beat them directly." Kill it! Tell these idiots, if it takes another day or two, no one will be able to get out of Magong Harbor!"

After Zheng Zhiwan and Zheng Zhifeng led people to the pier to catch a few restless guys and deal with them publicly, the order really improved to a certain extent.However, due to the lack of overall planning and efficient dispatch and command, the speed of evacuation still fell short of Zheng Zhilong's expectations.

At noon, a piece of bad news came from the sea that made Zheng Zhilong's heart sink completely—the Ming army and Haihan people's fleet had set off from Zhangzhou, and the current course was heading for Penghu.Judging from its huge size, it is obviously not an ordinary fleet out for cruising.

Shibazhi's communication method is a relatively primitive firework communication method, so the content of the message that can be sent back in time is extremely limited, but the three consecutive warning messages sent back can already show how bad the current situation is.Calculated according to the time, the enemy's fleet will arrive at Penghu probably before nightfall. This is simply bad news for Shibazhi, who has not even completed half of the evacuation work.

"Let the sailboat loaded with people and goods set off immediately and stand by to the north of Baisha Island!" Zheng Zhilong made a decisive decision and immediately issued a new order.

Although the harbor of Magong Harbor is very large, Zheng Zhilong dared not take the risk of letting the ships stop here to form a fleet, otherwise, once the enemy attacked, the chaotic fleet would most likely block the access channel of the port, and it would be a big trouble at that time.And Baisha Island is north of the main island of Penghu, about six nautical miles away from Magong Port. Let the prepared ships go to the north of Baisha Island to wait for orders first, so as to avoid the situation of being hit by the enemy at the door.

Of course, just such a means is definitely not enough.Zheng Zhilong must try to slow down the speed of the opponent's attack and buy more time for his own evacuation.

"Let Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi each bring a hundred warships to stop the Ming navy!" Zheng Zhilong ordered.

However, the execution of the order this time was not smooth. Both Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi were not fuel-efficient lamps. Instead of leading their troops to go out immediately after receiving the order, they found Zheng Zhilong and asked him why he arranged for him to go out.

"Boss, you know the situation here, little brother. The brothers under him are not willing to fight the Haihan people at all. Now they are forced to go to the battlefield, and everyone is not happy!" Liu Xiang complained first.

"Master, if you want to do it, stay here and have fun with the Haihan people. You sent me and Liu Xiang as shields. What's the reason for that?" Li Kuiqi expressed his opinion more directly. , think Zheng Zhilong's arrangement is extremely unfair.

Zheng Zhilong said with a livid face: "Now the enemy's fleet is only two or three hundred miles away from Magong Port, and it will be killed in a short time. At that time, let alone you and me, everyone here will not be able to escape! You lead your troops to drag it In a few hours, there is a chance to evacuate thousands of people, what's wrong?"

Liu Xiang retorted: "My younger brother's subordinates were once defeated by Hai Han, so I don't have much confidence in fighting him, so I should send the elite of the master's subordinates to fight!"

Zheng Zhilong didn't argue with him from this point of view, but just stared at his face and said word by word: "If you obey the order, I will let you Liu family's children, old and weak women and children board the ship and leave the port first. There is still a seat for your Liu family in Bazhili!"

Liu Xiang's face turned blue after hearing this. Zheng Zhilong's words sounded like a promise to Liu Xiang, but upon careful consideration, they turned out to be a blatant threat.If Liu Xiang directly refuses Zheng Zhilong's command, then the consequence is likely that his Liu family members will not even be able to leave Magong Port.At present, all the boarders at the port are Zheng Zhilong's people. If he deliberately wants to wear small shoes for Liu Xiang's family members, then he may indeed be stuck here and unable to leave.

Of course, Liu Xiang could also revolt violently, but the result is very likely to be suppressed by other leaders of the Eighteen Zhi, because no one wants to be robbed of the opportunity to leave here by others in a way of disrupting order.If Liu Xiang chooses to resist, the consequences may be more serious than refusing Zheng Zhilong's order.

"Master, why are you forcing me like this!" Liu Xiang really gritted her teeth in hatred.Since the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary, he led his troops back to Fujian and never set foot in the Guangdong waters again. The reason was that he wanted to avoid the evil spirits of the Haihan people.But I didn't expect that after a few years, the Haihan people extended their hands to Fujian step by step, and planned to attack their hometown Penghu.For Liu Xiang, even though it was inevitable, he still hoped to evacuate farther overseas instead of risking his life and wealth to fight the Haihan people.

"The safety of tens of thousands of people on this island rests on me. It's not that I force you, it's that Shibazhi needs you to do this!" Zheng Zhilong said sternly.

Seeing Liu Xiang drooping his head and saying nothing, Zheng Zhilong asked again: "Master Li, what do you say?"

Li Kuiqi shook his head and said: "Master, you don't need to use these great principles to suppress me. Liu Xiang has scruples, but I don't. If you want me to work hard, it's okay to ask the right conditions first!"

"Whatever condition do you have, just say it!" Zheng Zhilong suppressed his anger, trying to keep himself as calm as possible.

Usually, the Eighteen Zhis are decided by him with one word, and these leaders rarely explicitly oppose him, but now that the situation is critical, one or two have begun to feel restless.If it wasn't for the fear of internal chaos that would give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to explode on the spot - at least grab something like an inkstone and throw it.

"Brother, I don't have any big demands. Since the head of the family is talking about this, the brother is ordered to fight. But after this battle, the position of the brother in this Shibazhi will be changed!" Li Kuiqi succinctly explained his terms of exchange.

Zheng Zhilong hesitated for a while, then nodded and replied: "Yes. After this battle, you and Brother Liu Xiang will sit in the second and third places in Shibazhi!"

(End of this chapter)