1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 908 Attack on Miyako Island

It was not the first time that Zheng Zhilong had confronted the Haihan people, so he was naturally very aware of the strength of the Haihan militia. In the past record of fighting, Shibazhi had almost never taken advantage of the slightest advantage, and was rubbed on the ground by the opponent every time.Zheng Zhilong wasn't even sure whether his troops had caused three digits of casualties to Hai Han after so many fights.Although it has been a year since the last confrontation between the two sides, Zheng Zhilong does not have much confidence in the fighting will of these people, because even he himself is often scared when he sees Haihan's two-color flag in his sleep Gotta wake up.

Zheng Zhilong has been battling in recent years, with victories and defeats. In fact, he is indifferent to life and death, but apart from his own safety, he is actually more worried about his family's retreat.The eldest son Zheng Fusong is currently living with him on Miyako Island, while in Hirado, Japan, his wife Tagawa Matsu and the youngest son Tagawa Qizaemon stayed there to live an anonymous life.Although Chen Yixin made many inquiries when he led the team to Hirado, but due to Matsuura's deliberate cover, he failed to find out the whereabouts of the mother and child.

Few people know the name Zheng Fusong, but if you talk about Zheng Chenggong, which he later changed to another name, it will be well known in later generations.Zheng Fusong was born in Hirado, Japan in August 1624, and lived in Japan with his mother Tagawa Matsu until the age of six.In the original history, Zheng Fusong moved from Japan to Quanzhou, Fujian after his father Zheng Zhilong received the Fujian government's recruitment. A thorn in his side, he wished to deal with it as soon as possible, so Zheng Fusong didn't go to the mainland at all after he came from Japan, he went directly to Penghu to settle down.

In the original history, after Zheng Fusong arrived in Fujian, he was admitted as a scholar at the age of 14. At the age of 17, he married the niece of Quanzhou Jinshi and Minister of Rites Dong Yangxian as his wife. At the age of 20, he was sent to Jinling to study again. Enter Nanjing Guozijian for further study.He worshiped under the famous Confucian school in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and was named "Sen", with the word "Damu", and his mentor was a famous teacher in history who was too cold to commit suicide and died for his country. He claimed that his scalp was itchy and his hair was shaved Qian Qianyi, an unscrupulous person with braids.

When Zheng Fusong was 21 years old, that is, in 1645, the brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui supported Tang Wang Zhu Yujian in Fuzhou and proclaimed him emperor, and changed his Yuan to Longwu.This unlucky emperor had only been in power for one year, but he made a move that had a huge impact on Zheng Fusong's life, that is, bestowing the surname and name of the country, making him the governor of the Imperial Forest Army and the captain of Yitong's son-in-law.If it wasn't that he didn't have a daughter, then he must have even given the marriage in one step. In short, in order to win over Zheng Zhilong, a minister who holds military power, Emperor Longwu tried every means.At this time, Zheng Fusong's name became Zhu Chenggong, and the common people honored him as Guo Xing Ye.

Of course, because Haihan's appearance in this time and space disrupted the original development track, Zheng Fusong has been farther and farther away from the life path of "Guo Xing Ye".Under the current situation, it is still unclear whether the Manchus outside the customs can go south, but in the southeast coastal areas, the responsibility of holding high the banner of anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty will probably no longer fall on his shoulders.The trajectory of his future life has undergone a fundamental change without his own awareness.

Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to send Zheng Fusong away at this time. After all, there are still family members in Japan, and the chances of Zheng Fusong surviving will be much higher than staying on Miyako Island.However, Zheng Fusong often shows up on the island on weekdays, and his subordinates and the people on the island also know that the two father and son live together.At this juncture, if people found out about sending Zheng Fusong away, the morale of the army on the island would immediately fall into a state of slump. For Zheng Zhilong, the risk was indeed a bit greater.

Just when Zheng Zhilong was in a dilemma, the team sent to the west to investigate the movement of Jilonggang in Taipei sent back the latest news.The Haihan people have already imposed a blockade on Jilong Port. All ships can only enter and cannot be detected, and there is no way to check what is going on in the port. However, judging from the number of armed ships patrolling the nearby sea, it is obviously much stronger than usual.

The hope that Zheng Zhilong had originally remained in his heart was shattered. Recalling that before the Haihan Fleet aggressively attacked Penghu last year, the harbors of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou were also blocked a few days in advance.This is almost a fixed routine before Haihan launched a large-scale offensive, and as the Haihan port closest to Miyako Island, the blockade of Jilong Port seems to indicate that Haihan is about to launch a new offensive from the local area.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong can also choose to continue to escape. The world is so big, there will always be a chance to survive if he escapes, the difference is nothing more than the length of survival.But Zheng Zhilong didn't want to continue fleeing any longer. He was once the overlord of a party armed with thousands of people, but now he was suppressed in a corner of the ocean as a local rich man.If he continued to run away, he might not even be able to become a local rich man, and he didn't want to bring disaster to his family living in Hirado.

Zheng Zhilong originally wanted his confidant to take his son Zheng Fusong to leave Miyako Island at night, but Zheng Fusong, who was less than ten years old, was unwilling to leave his father's side, although he didn't know why the Haihan people would chase and kill his father all the way He and his uncles and brothers, but he thought it would be an act of coward if he left Miyakojima at this time, which was unacceptable to him.This innate bravery is probably one of the reasons why he would grow into a national hero in his original historical trajectory.

Although Zheng Zhilong felt that something was wrong, he really didn't want to part with his son at the last moment.He knew that although the Haihan people were warlike, they did not kill the old, young, women and children indiscriminately. It was just that his son had a special status, so he might not end well if he was captured by the Haihan people.If the Haihan people's attack really couldn't be stopped this time, then it would be a tragic ending for the father and son to commit suicide together at the last moment.

On September [-]st, the Haihan Fleet set off from Jilong Port. The fleet had just sailed out of the harbor when the huge flagship was discovered by the Shibazhi scouting ship a few nautical miles away.Although the sailboats used by Shibazhi are much slower than the Haihan warships in terms of speed, the communication method they use is fireworks. A rocket can send a message for several miles at sea, and the speed must be much faster than the sailboat speed.

But once the fireworks flew over the sea, they naturally couldn't hide from the eyes of the Haihan battleship. Wang Tom just sneered after receiving the report, but he didn't feel nervous because of it.It is only [-] nautical miles from Jilong Port to Miyako Island. If the road goes smoothly, it will only take more than a day. Even if Shibazhi can spend an extra day preparing for the battle, it is absolutely impossible for the fleet he leads .

Of course, there is another possibility that Shibazhi immediately dispersed after getting the news and fled separately.In that case, it would be difficult for the Haihan Fleet to completely wipe out the remnants of the Eighteenth Zhi Party.But Wang Tom thinks this possibility is unlikely, because there is really no place for these desperate pirates to continue to escape.Either surrender to Haihan, or fight to the death with Haihan, these two possibilities are much greater than fleeing again.

In the evening of the same day, the fleet arrived at the waters of Iriomote Island and Ishigaki Island, which are about [-] to [-] nautical miles away from Miyako Island. If they sailed overnight, they would arrive at their destination in the early morning.Originally, Tom Wang planned to station near Ishigaki Island for one night before moving on, but since the operation had been exposed at the beginning stage, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, Tom Wang ordered to sail all night.It's just that the sailors have to change shifts to steer the ship, so the speed of the ship will naturally slow down a lot.

In the early morning of the next day, two islands, one south, one north, one large and one small, appeared on the sea in front of the fleet.According to the signs on the chart, the two islands are Dorama Island and Minna Island.The distance between the two islands is about eight kilometers, and the area of ​​the islands is nearly ten times different.There are a large number of coral reefs near the two islands, and the water depth near the shore is difficult to accommodate large ships. There are only a small number of fishermen stationed on the islands.

About 200 nautical miles to the east from these two islands is Miyako Island, the destination of the Haihan Fleet's trip.Miyakojima is not actually an island, but an archipelago consisting of five islands including Miyakojima and neighboring Irabujima, Shimojijima, Laijianjima, Chijianjima and Ogamijima.The total land area of ​​these islands exceeds [-] square kilometers, and the terrain is relatively flat, suitable for farming crops.

However, judging from the colonial area created by Shibazhi on the west coast of Taiwan Island, its agricultural development ability is worrying, that is, the level of planting rice and vegetables, and not many cash crops are planted. It must be after moving to Miyako Island. The situation is similar.And there are no natural resources on this island to develop. One can imagine the living conditions of an armed group like Shibazhi, which does not produce all year round, on the island. It is estimated that there is no other meat except seafood.

This time Shibazhi did not send out death squads to hinder the progress of the Haihan fleet like last year, but chose to hide on the island for defense.But in Wang Tom's view, this kind of countermeasure is actually no different from a tortoise retracting into its shell. It seems to protect the vitals of the whole body safely, but at the same time it completely handed itself over to the opponent's hands.For the next landing battle that the Haihan Fleet is planning to implement, there is plenty of room to choose a place from several alternative landing points.

There are also a large number of coral reefs in the seawater near the coast of Miyako Island, which makes this island not many coasts for large-tonnage ships to dock, and they are mainly concentrated on the northwest coast.Needless to say, Shibazhi must have deployed the strongest line of defense there.

The fleet flagship "Endeavour" took the lead, entered from the strait between Irabu Island and Miyako Island, and approached the coast of the scheduled landing site without encountering any resistance.

However, the Eighteen Zhi on the island obviously did not intend to turn a blind eye to the actions of the Haihan warship. Several artillery shells rang out one after another on the shore, and the shells roared towards the "Endeavour" and the other warships following behind.

"Fire back!" Wang Tom felt relieved when he saw the fire on the shore, and gave the combat order very calmly.What he was worried about was not that the Eighteenth Zhiyu Party would continue to resist stubbornly, but that they would all escape before the arrival of the Haihan fleet.But since there are still gunners on the shore who insist on fighting, it means that Shibazhi has not organized an escape, otherwise it is impossible to leave elite troops like gunners on the island and not take them away.

Although the naval guns on the "Endeavour" are all large-caliber and short-barreled, they do not suffer from range. The shells fired from the ship can also hit the gun positions deployed by Shibazhi on the shore.It's just because the sea is undulating and the hull is difficult to stabilize. This kind of shelling at a slightly longer distance can only aim in a general direction, estimate the launch angle, and then hit it by chance.

When the "Endeavour" fired to the seventh round, a shell finally hit the gun position on the shore, and lifted the artillery deployed on the gun position that lacked cover into the sky together with three gunners.During this period, at least three shells hit the "Endeavour", but because the distance was too far, the shells were basically exhausted when they flew here, and they were unable to cause substantial damage to the thick side of the "Endeavour". It only caused a short-term vibration of the hull.

During the battle of the flagship, the troop carriers on the outskirts also approached the coast, either directly washed up on the beach, or lowered their boats to allow army soldiers to land from places where the island's artillery could not reach.

Although the army troops participating in this operation were not as powerful as the special warfare battalion under Qian Tiandun's command, they had quite a lot of experience in carrying out this kind of amphibious landing operation to seize the island.In fact, in the sea-based Haihan militia, the army's amphibious warfare subject is one of the most basic training subjects. Every qualified army soldier must master basic landing combat skills, such as armed swimming, rowing, landing, etc. Masses, establishment of beachheads, counter-landing operations, and more.A lot of training has allowed the soldiers to achieve good results in actual combat with little need for special adaptive training and terrain reconnaissance after they come here.

Naturally, the Haihan people landed on the coast and could not hide from the eyes of the defenders on the island. However, since the artillery in Shibazhi's hands is very limited, there is no way to deploy more places. At present, they can only concentrate on following the "Endeavour" that is parked at sea. "Yes, but there is nothing we can do about the army that is landing in the distance.

Of course, the commander of Shibazhi would not just watch the Haihan army land ashore so easily, and then outflank its own artillery, and immediately dispatched a force to intercept Haihan's landing site.But compared to the Haihan soldiers who were armed to the teeth, the defenders who only had knives, guns and sticks as their main weapons were a bit miserable, and such weapons and equipment did not really help them much for the combat missions they had to perform.

(End of this chapter)