1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 650
On December 1650, 7, Xinsheng Island (now Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam).

As more than [-] large ships sailed into the pier of Xinsheng Island, the peaceful and peaceful island suddenly became noisy. Countless military and civilian supplies were unloaded from the cabin one by one by the boom. Come, invite in small groups and go to the city.

Many businessmen from Cambodia, Annan, Siam, Malay and other places flocked to the wharf from the city, pulling the acquainted shopkeepers and buddies of the Hanzhou Trading Company, asking about the types and prices of the goods they received, and preparing to negotiate the corresponding purchase quantity. Estimate how many goods can be brought back to the country for sale.

When they saw a group of marine soldiers get off the ship, they lined up in a neat line, led by the officer, and marched towards the military camp in the city.No matter the local residents, or immigrants and merchants, seeing this situation, they all have a deep awe.

In recent years, Qi's army has been well-known. It first defeated the Annan Navy two years ago (1648), and then captured the capital of Annan - Shenglong City. The opening of the domestic market has immediately discredited the former overlord of Central and South China and the "Little China" in the South.

Then, last year, the Dutch East India Company took the lead in provoking war on the grounds that the Dutch East India Company bombarded its own merchant ships. In the two naval battles of Ambon and Kupang, more than [-] armed merchant ships of the Dutch were wiped out and captured, and the East India Company’s trading stations, There were more than ten strongholds, and then almost blocked the Strait of Malacca, forcing the Dutch to take the initiative to seek peace.

Now, the state of Qi has transferred so many soldiers from its own country, is it going to use force against any country?

"Half a month ago, news came from Daming that Jiannu sent a large army to raid Shandong and Denglai. The Yongchu court was caught off guard and sent people to fight all the way to Penglai, losing tens of thousands of soldiers." Bai Zhengqing, commander of the black guards stationed in Annan He reported the situation of Daming to Luo Rucheng, the deputy governor of the navy with a serious face, "However, Penglai is still insisting on resisting with its solid and tight defense. Changshan Island also sent township soldiers and self-rescue battalion soldiers into the city to help defend. The armed merchant ships of the squadron also approached the port of Penglai and bombarded the Qing army's camp to prevent the Qing army from attacking the city. Li Benshen, who was stationed in Yizhou and Juzhou, gathered some of the Ming army that had retreated from Qingzhou, and prepared to rush to help Penglai. But in the vicinity of Pingdu Prefecture, they were repelled by the Qing army and suffered a lot of losses, so they retreated all the way back to Gaomi."

"In addition, Emperor Yongchu issued an edict to Fujian Zheng Zhilong, ordering him to lead troops to ascend to King Laiqin. However, Zheng Zhilong did not respond, and still held his troops. He also searched Wenzhou, Taizhou and other places wantonly, and transported them back to Fuzhou and Quanzhou for hoarding. At the same time, They are also speeding up their immigration to Taiwan and Luzon, and they seem to be actively preparing for a retreat. Faced with this situation, Mr. Zhang, the Annan director, sent all the larger ships in the region to Changshan Island. In addition, he also sent to Champa Borrowed [-] musketeers, and went with the more than [-] armed local soldiers we recruited.”

"Damn it, this Jiannu sent a mission to our mainland of Hanzhou. It's just a feint, which paralyzes all of us' vigilance!" Luo Rucheng couldn't help but gasped after hearing Bai Zhengqing's introduction, "They The military action against Denglai is probably premeditated and planned for a long time. If Denglai is captured by Jiannu, we will lose one of the largest immigration windows in the future."

"What the governor said is very true." Bai Zhengqing said: "Moreover, Denglai's geographical location is critical, and it is the side of Beijing's handicap. If Jiannu pacifies Denglai and destroys the Yongchu court, then Jiannu should not have any worries in the whole north. We can do our best to encircle and suppress the Daxi Army and Dashun Army occupying Yun, Gui, Guangxi and other places. We can also attack Fujian from several directions with all our strength. At that time, the trend of establishing slaves to unify the world will be unstoppable."

"His grandma, we just fought a battle with the Dutch, which slightly weakened the armed forces stationed in Denglei. Unexpectedly, looking back, the whole Ming Dynasty has become so out of hand. God, what's wrong with you?" You really take care of Jiannu!" Luo Rucheng cursed a few words bitterly, "Come on, let's not delay here. Take a rest for two days and leave for Denglai immediately.... I hope the little emperor Yongchu can persist longer."
-
On July 7, off the coast of Penglai Port.

"Fire! Fire!...Boom these bastards to death!" Ren Youmin, commander of the Denglai Squadron of the Ryukyu Fleet of the Qi State Navy, roared loudly, "Send them all to the sea and feed them to the bastards!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..." Several armed merchant ships violently bombarded dozens of small boats on the opposite side, and on both sides of the ship, many sailors pointed muskets at the approaching Qing army water ghosts in the water.Broken ship boards and floating corpses are everywhere on the surface of the sea, rising and falling with the current.

At three o'clock in the morning last night, more than a hundred small boats from Tianjin quietly sneaked into the Penglai Wharf, and took advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack on more than [-] large and small warships moored in the port by the Qi Guo Navy.

It may be that it has not been attacked by a decent opponent on the coast of Daming for several years, and the Qi State Navy completely ignored the water power of the Qing army.After the sudden attack, it was impossible to organize an effective counterattack.In less than an hour, five armed merchant ships were seized by the Qing army or set ablaze by fire boats, falling into chaos and disorder for a while.

Facing the chaotic situation, Ren Youmin, the commander of the Denglai Squadron, did not dare to fight, and ordered the signalmen to send out fireworks signals, asking the ships to break through and sail into the open sea as soon as possible, so as to avoid the siege of many small ships of the Qing army.

At dawn, after carefully counting the losses, Ren Youmin complained secretly.The entire fleet lost a total of two large ships, three medium-sized galleys, and more than ten small boats, with more than [-] casualties and missing persons, which can be regarded as a heavy loss.

At ten o'clock in the morning, I heard the sound of rumbling guns coming from the direction of Penglai City. It was presumably that the Qing army navy launched an attack on Penglai City after expelling the ships of Qi State.

Ren Youmin gritted his teeth, and immediately gathered the remaining ships and headed towards Penglai Port.The fleet was attacked last night, and the loss was not small. Now that the sky is bright, it is natural to find a way to recover.In addition, the Qing army's siege, as the most important part of Penglai's peripheral defense, the naval fleet must continue to provide naval artillery support to prevent the Penglai defenders from being besieged from several sides and reduce their defensive pressure.

When the fleet sailed to Penglai Wharf, they found that many small boats of the Qing army did not escape. Instead, they approached the wharf with several captured Qi armed merchant ships, and bombarded the fort near the port with the artillery equipped on the ships.

Seeing this scene, the Denglai Squadron rushed over immediately, frantically biting the many prey in front.The fleet suffered a lot of losses last night, and the future of Commander Ren Youmin will be seriously affected, and he may be dismissed from his post and investigated by the gendarmerie.

Now, in order to make up for his mistakes, Ren Youmin must annihilate all these Qing navy ships here no matter what, and at the same time ensure the safety of Penglai Port.

It has to be said that although the navy of the Qing army was very amateurish in naval warfare and was massacred by the Denglai Squadron of Qi State, the officers and soldiers were extremely tenacious and even crazy.Many small boats braved the intensive artillery bombardment of the Denglai Squadron, and still rushed forward one after another.Try to get as close to the ships of Qi State as possible, and then rely on help to board the ships to engage in hand-to-hand combat with them.

From the very beginning, the battle was extremely fierce and bloody.The officers and soldiers on both sides seemed to be red-eyed, and they tried their best to kill each other.One side hopes to annihilate all the opponent's naval ships and save face for the damage suffered in the attack last night, while the other side has to fight desperately for a glimmer of hope of survival because the family and relatives are all taken hostage by the Qing army.

However, the strength gap between the two sides on the battlefield was huge. No matter in terms of the size and firepower of warships, or the level of maritime technology and tactics, the navy that the Qing army hastily put together seemed so weak and vulnerable.Numerous small boats were destroyed or sunk, and the intensive grape bullets battered each small boat, and the sailors of the Qing army were also killed and injured.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Qing army's navy finally collapsed, and dozens of small boats fled.How could the Denglai Squadron of the State of Qi be willing to let it go, and all the ships also dispersed, staring at a target and chasing after it.

Nikan, the coach of the Qing army on the shore, put down the binoculars in his hand, shook his head and smiled wryly.I originally thought that the sudden night attack last night by the navy troops gathered from various places in the Qing Dynasty could severely damage the fleet of the Naqi Fan here and relieve the threat of the Qing army's frontal attack on Penglai City.Unexpectedly, after dawn, they made a bend in the sea, killed them back, and wiped out most of their own navy ships.Seeing that the other party is so powerful and relentless, chasing and killing him all the way, he looks like he will wipe out Master Qingshui in one battle.

It seems that fighting at sea is still the weakest link of my Qing Dynasty, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to do anything for a long time in the future.That being the case, it would be better to wipe out all the resistance forces on the mainland earlier and unify the world. As for the matter at sea, it still needs a long-term plan.

"The order was sent to transfer the two Han armies of Tian Yongshou and Zhu Zimeng to attack the west city, transfer the two Han armies of Sun Yanping and Jiang Quanfu to launch an attack in the south city, transfer the Han army of Deng Yanping to attack the east city, and the Turai Du Artillery Battalion to bombard behind the formation. Wall!"

"Whoo!"
-
On July 7, South Changshan Island.

"The Qing army's attack on Denglai this time changed the previous combat mode. The early offensive was as fast as the wind, advancing to Penglai City at a very fast speed, cutting off the Yongchu imperial court soldiers and horses from Weixian County, and annihilating them in large numbers. It is estimated that, The Ming army lost about 3 to [-] people in more than two months. At present, there are only more than [-] soldiers and horses in the imperial battalion in Penglai City, and [-] Li Benshen troops stationed in Yizhou, Juzhou, and Rizhao. About a thousand soldiers."

"But in the later period, after the continuous attack on Penglai, the Qing army turned to fight steadily. They swept away the remnants of the Ming army in Laizhou, Changyi, Weixian, and Qingzhou, and established a solid supply center in Yexian, Changyi, and Qingzhou. , to ensure its logistical support. Three days ago, the Qing army even raided our Denglai Squadron with more than a hundred small boats. Fortunately, our navy officers and soldiers retreated to the open sea in time to avoid the adverse effects of night operations. And the next day, returned to Penglai Port defeated the Qing navy and ensured the maritime safety of Penglai Port.”

"To assist the Ming army in defending Penglai City, three squadrons of local soldiers, two battalion heads of the self-rescue battalion, and all artillery were stationed in Penglai City two months ago. Currently, there are only two companies of the Marine Corps on Changsheng Island. A squadron of local soldiers, and more than 800 wandering warriors recruited from Hanxing Island (today's Miyako Island), that is, our current mobile force is less than [-], and it may be difficult to launch an attack on the rear of the Qing army. Landing operations."

"In other words, we can only wait for reinforcements from the mainland?" Li Fade said, frowning.

"Not necessarily." He Yunfeng said: "Perhaps, Annan will send us some support. They should have plenty of manpower and weapons. Maybe they can arm more local soldiers."

"The musketeers of the Qing army and the shotgun soldiers of the Korean army numbered more than 4000, and they also had several 3-pounder and 4-pounder guns that were easy to move, plus their existing powerful cavalry. In this way, Even if we add the reinforcements from Annan's side, I'm afraid we won't have the advantage in terms of strength....Let's wait." Li Fade said: "With Penglai's solid city defense, we should be able to hold on for another month or two. .”

"I think it's better to find a way to persuade Emperor Yongchu to avoid Changshan Island temporarily. In case something happens to Penglai City, the Ming Dynasty will really collapse." He Yunfeng said.

"Emperor Yongchu is determined not to leave Penglai, and it is useless to persuade anyone." Li Fade shook his head and said, "Unless we tie him to the island... You say, if Denglai is finally captured by Jiannu, Emperor Yongchu Also... how should we act in the future?"

"If this kind of thing really happens, we can only protect Zheng Zhilong in Fujian and Li Yuanyin in Guangdong, or open a hole in Guangxi....Even if Jiannu unifies the world in the future, it will not be able to block the entire coastal area. We can always be at the seaside Breaking open an immigration window."

"I'm worried that if the slaves unite the mainland in the future, in order to deal with us, they might move all the residents within tens or even hundreds of miles of the coast to the inland, making it impossible for us to recruit immigrants."

"No way!" He Yunfeng's eyes widened, "Relocating residents within a hundred miles of the coast involves millions of people! Jiannu's actions are not afraid of causing anger and resentment?"

"Hmph, how many cities have been slaughtered and how many people have been slaughtered since Jiannu entered the customs? Have they ever worried about the wrath of heaven and people?" Li Fade snorted coldly, "With Jiannu's brutality, what can't be done? Move to the forbidden sea , in their eyes, it is just a trivial matter!"

"Even if Jiannu banned the sea and moved the border. But we can attack all the way to Wuchang along the Yangtze River estuary, and they can also move the population along the two sides of the river? If we are more courageous, we can even cut off their borders." Water transportation, cut off their north-south communication!"

"Hehe... If that's the case, in the eyes of Jiannu, we are their life and death enemies, and we will never stop dying. But with the size of our country Qi, it may be difficult to deal with it."

Li Fade was shocked by He Yunfeng's bold idea, but subconsciously, he didn't agree.If Jiannu unified the mainland of China, they would have huge manpower and material resources. A powerful and unified dynasty would not be something that the small state of Qi could provoke.

"Regimental Commander, our reinforcements are here!" The two were talking, when suddenly a staff officer excitedly entered the room and reported, "Reinforcements have been sent from the Annan Command District!"

(End of this chapter)