Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 862

The Ming Empire has launched an attack!
More than [-] ships lined up in a neat formation, bypassed Spain along the coastline, and sailed directly to the east coast of France.

The entire European continent suddenly galloped with horses and warships.

Soon, King Felipe IV of Spain and King Louis XIII of France received the news.

Felipe IV was so excited that he hurriedly urged all the armies to gather to the northern border as soon as possible.

Louis XIII didn't take it seriously, he was planning to surrender anyway, so what if there were more warships from the Ming Empire?
Well, he's as lazy as ever.

The Duke of Richelieu did not dare to be lazy. He quickly ordered Hendrick to lead the combined fleet against the Habsburg Alliance to withdraw quickly, whether it was withdrawing to the Netherlands, Sweden or even Denmark. In short, Try to save your strength, don't give it away for nothing!
Hendrick was also fooled by him.

Last time, this old fox ran over specially to teach the navies of various countries a lesson, saying that anyone who wants to preserve his strength will have to kill them.

Why did he try to preserve his strength again now?
Although he didn't understand why, he ran away with the combined fleet.

Just kidding, it took them a few months to make up more than a thousand warships.

At this time, we are going to fight with more than 2000 warships from the Ming Empire. Not only are the warships collected in the past few months gone, it is very likely that all the warships will be wiped out by the Ming Empire!

Taichang really didn't expect that the anti-Habsburg alliance would be so intimidating.

The reason why he brought a thousand armed merchant ships and a thousand spiked warships was to land on the beach, and another purpose was to scare people!

If a fight really starts, armed merchant ships and Spike warships will definitely not go up, just two dreadnoughts and a hundred Aegis ships will be enough.

He really didn't expect that the intimidation effect would be so good.

Taichang on the outskirts of Cherbourg turned his binoculars, scanning the empty port pier, and couldn't help crying and laughing.

There used to be more than [-] warships here, why did they all disappear?
Battleships can run, but forts and forts cannot.

At this moment, more forts were built on both sides of Cherbourg.

He roughly counted, and there were more than [-] cannons on the forts and forts!
Fortunately, among the more than 24 coastal defense guns, there are not many 32-pound guns and [-]-pound guns, and they are all concentrated in the middle fort.

This is easier to handle, first clear the forts on both sides of the fort, and then let the [-] soldiers of the Shenji Battalion land and besiege the fort.

Taichang just thought about it for a while, and then ordered decisively: "Order, order Zhang Yuanfang and Zheng Zhikui to lead fifty Aegis ships to avoid the artillery of the fortress, and first clean up the forts on both sides."

After waving the flag, the two dreadnoughts and one hundred Aegis ships immediately split into two.

They all bypassed the bombardment range of the front fortress, lined up directly on the left and right sides, and then blasted at the fort with the Thor II cannon on the bow.

The two dreadnoughts and one hundred Aegis ships have more than 600 Thor II cannons on the bow alone. Moreover, the Thor II cannon has a range of ten miles, and the twelve-pound gun on the fort has a range of only [-] miles. About five miles.

They bombarded them with broken stones, gunpowder barrels and shells flying, but they didn't even have the ability to fight back.

The French soldiers on the fort just abandoned the fort after being bombarded for two rounds, and rushed into the fort frantically.

Are these guys so afraid of death?

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help being dumbfounded.

However, he did not hesitate.

It's a good thing that people are so afraid of death!

He immediately issued an order: "Order, the armed merchant ships and the Spike warships carrying the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion landed from both sides."

Naturally, it is impossible for them to land from the front port pier, that is to eat shells.

There are places suitable for landing on both sides of Cherbourg, and it is more than ten miles away from Cherbourg, and the 24-pounder and 32-pounder guns in the fortress can't hit it yet.

After waving the flag, thousands of armed merchant ships and thousands of Spike warships also split into two, and sailed to the coastline more than ten miles away from Cherbourg.

Hundreds of armed merchant ships swarmed up, and hundreds of temporary docks were quickly built.

Immediately afterwards, nine hundred Spike warships swarmed up to the pier, and the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion rushed to the shore like a tide.

This time, the defenders in Cherbourg were frightened. They even gave up the huge fortress and ran away!

Seeing this, Taichang was directly confused.

Is France really so vulnerable?
This is really based on historical facts, because during World War II, France, known as the number one army power in Europe, surrendered after building the Maginot Line in advance for a total of forty days!
Judging from its performance in World War II, France is really vulnerable.

The escape speed of the French army is so fast, there are at least 3 or [-] people inside the huge fortress, and they ran away in less than a quarter of an hour!

Taichang stared at the frantically fleeing French army, stunned for a while, and then gave the order: "Order, order the Shenji Battalion to come back, order [-] Aegis ships to enter the port, and put down [-] Black Gods to guard the fort and the fort. .”

They all ran away, so there was no need for the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion to land and fight again.

The task of guarding the fortress can be left to the soldiers of the Black God Army.

After waving the flag, [-] Spike warships immediately turned back and picked up tens of thousands of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion, while [-] Aegis ships entered the port directly and released [-] soldiers from the Black God Army. .

Originally, Taichang thought that it would take at least half a day to capture the bridgehead in Normandy, so before noon, he led his fleet to rush over.

Unexpectedly, it took less than half an hour to win here, and it's not even noon yet.

He thought for a while, and then decisively ordered the fleet to move on to Kabao, which was more than two hundred miles away.

If the French were really so vulnerable, they would still be able to win today along with Cabourg.

In this way, Le Havre, which is less than a hundred miles away from Cabourg, is left on the coastline north of Normandy. It is very likely that they will be able to achieve the strategic goal of this trip in less than two days!
The situation in Cabourg is similar to that of Cherbourg. The warships at the port docks have all disappeared, but there are many more forts on both sides of the fort.

Taichang had the experience of Cherbourg, so it ordered Zhang Yuanfang and Zheng Zhikui to lead [-] Aegis ships to avoid the artillery of the fortress without hesitation, and to clean up the forts on both sides first.

The French army here is also like the defenders of Cherbourg. Zhang Yuanfang and Zheng Zhikui led fifty Aegis ships to bombard them for two rounds, and the French army on the fort rushed into the fort frantically.

Only then did he order the Spike to build hundreds of temporary docks, put down tens of thousands of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion, and the tens of thousands of French troops in the fortress fled without hesitation!
This battle was fought like a child's play, and he couldn't figure out what was going on with the French army.

Logically speaking, no matter how vulnerable France is, they still have to defend the fortress!

It's only three hundred miles away from Paris, and if they don't guard it, why don't they just flee back to guard Paris?
Obviously, this is not normal.

Taichang frowned and pondered for a while, then simply ordered [-] Aegis ships to enter the Cabourg Wharf, and put down [-] Black Gods to guard the forts and forts. Afterwards, he led the fleet to continue and head straight for Le Havre.

This Le Havre is the largest port in northern France, and the city next to the port is also quite large. There are tens of thousands of defenders in the city, and there are many forts near the city. The number of coastal defense guns is probably no less than a thousand.

Unexpectedly, the port pier here was also empty, and no warships were seen at all, not even merchant ships.

Seeing this, Taichang simply ignored it and ordered Zhang Yuanfang and Zheng Zhikui to lead fifty Aegis ships to avoid the artillery in the city and go directly to clear the nearby forts.

In fact, he also wanted to try to see if the French army here was also vulnerable.

Unexpectedly, the French army here is also like the defenders of Cherbourg and Cabourg. As long as they bombard them for two rounds, they will spread their feet and flee into the fortress!
Seeing this, Taichang directly gritted his teeth and ordered the Spike warship to build a temporary dock at a distance of more than ten miles on both sides of the city, and release tens of thousands of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion.

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for the defenders in the city to escape.

Because the defenders in the city are no less than one hundred thousand at this moment, and they still have a large number of coastal defense artillery, and the tens of thousands of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion landed, which is not enough to scare them away.

The problem is that the French army here is still like the defenders of Cherbourg and Cabourg. When they saw the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion landing, they immediately abandoned the huge city and ran away!

If the Duke of Richelieu saw this situation, he would probably spurt blood with anger.

He asked the leading generals of all walks of life to preserve their strength as much as possible. That's right, the problem is, that's not how to preserve their strength!

Le Havre is the largest port in northern France. The size of the city here can be ranked first in France. There are also a lot of artillery in the city. It stands to reason that 10 people guard it, even if it is 30 million troops. It may not be possible to take it down.

These guys are good. When they saw tens of thousands of Ming troops landing, they just ran away, leaving the huge city behind!
This is not preserving strength, this is simply not resisting at all!
Therefore, there was a reason why France was so vulnerable during World War II. The French couldn't relax, and when they relaxed, they collapsed, and they didn't even have a little thought of resistance.

To be honest, if they run like this, they are courting death!

If Taichang really wanted to deal with them, he would directly put down the soldiers and horses of the Shenwu Battalion, and catch them and chase them fiercely. I am afraid that none of these guys will be able to escape.

Fortunately, Taichang didn't really come to deal with these guys, he just wanted to frighten them.

This battle was really a bit inexplicable. He really didn't expect that he could occupy the entire coastline north of Normandy in less than a day.

He didn't know what kind of medicine the French sold in their gourds.

Anyway, the entire coastline north of Normandy has been taken, and his strategic goal of the first phase has been completed.

Next, whether to stay here to scare the French or continue to march east to scare the Dutch and the British depends on Spain's performance.

If Spain can successfully break through the defenses in southern France, he will continue to march east to frighten the Dutch and the British.

If Spain can't break through the defense line in southern France for a while, he will lead his army to stay here and continue to scare the French.

(End of this chapter)