prosperous age

Luzon, the garrison of Turtle City.

The area is now occupied by officers from various battalions of the South China Sea Fleet led by Deng Zilong, who occupy most of the houses in the mansion.

In Turtleshell Harbor, the main warships of the South China Sea Fleet were gathered, and outside the harbor, squadrons of gunboats patrolled.

Because of the Luzon bombardment, Ming Dynasty merchants temporarily avoided this waterway and dared not easily come to trade, so there were far fewer merchant ships.

"My lord, there is trouble at Old Port. Our navy has an inescapable duty to help. Please send troops to support us."

At this moment, in the main hall of the garrison, a group of South China Sea naval officers gathered and bowed their heads in unison.

News from Old Port finally reached here.

This news was quite shocking. Although the naval officers had heard earlier that the Kingdom of Aceh seemed to have ulterior motives, no one had thought about it too deeply.

After all, Aceh's strength was undeniable, and what was the state of the Ming Dynasty like?

Who would have thought they would actually dare to provoke such a powerful force?

"The news from Zhejiang is that the imperial court has ordered the Western Navy to rush to the aid of the fallen kingdom of Aceh, but has not given any orders to our navy."

Deng Zilong frowned and said.

"My lord, that's because there were Spanish soldiers in my navy at the time, so the court didn't conscript my navy to go there."

Now that the Luzon conflict is over, or at least temporarily over, our South China Sea Fleet has the capacity to immediately proceed to Palembang to provide support.

At that moment, a general spoke up.

"What you said, I already know."

However, there was no imperial decree.

Deng Zilong did not continue speaking, but the implication was that mobilizing troops without a military order was a taboo subject for the imperial court.

The subtext of his words was clear to all the officers in the hall.

After all, military officers suffered quite a few beatings for this.

Civil officials often use this as an excuse to create trouble and punish military officers to establish their authority.

As a result, the officers of the garrison later became very skilled in their craft.

No matter how important the matter is within their jurisdiction, as long as there are no written documents, they will only guard their own little plot of land and completely ignore the situation outside.

Many of the civil unrest that occurred at the end of the Ming Dynasty escalated rapidly and became uncontrollable because government troops failed to suppress them in time. There were reasons for all of these.

At the beginning of the riot, the local government and soldiers did not show up.

However, after a brief silence in the hall, a deputy general stepped forward and said, "Sir, it is indeed not permissible to mobilize naval officers and soldiers without imperial decree."

However, it is the prerogative of the authorities to send out fleets to patrol the islands in the South China Sea.

I think it's possible to dispatch a portion of the fleet, under the guise of patrolling the South China Sea, to provide support to Palembang.

"Yes, we also have patrol duties regularly."

"Yes, yes, that's how it should be."

After the deputy general finished speaking, he immediately received support from his colleagues.

Upon hearing this, Deng Zilong, who had hesitated slightly just moments before, immediately thought of a solution, which seemed to be quite effective.

It's a pity that such patrol fleets are not very large; they are usually just one team, with about ten boats.

"Zhao Sheng, go down immediately and gather your men to the dock to prepare for boarding the ship."

Since Deng Zilong thought it was a good idea, he didn't hesitate and immediately gave the order to the commander of one of his marine battalions.

Then, his gaze fell on the other people.

In their eyes, most of these officers had bloodshot eyes and looked eager to try.

Who wouldn't want to participate in the Battle of Old Port and earn military merits for promotion?

They were attacking the small Kingdom of Aceh, whose military strength was utterly insignificant.

It's laughable that they're so ignorant of their own mortality, daring to covet the land of the Ming Dynasty.

"Wang Desheng, move your fleet to join Zhao Sheng's land forces. Go and prepare."

Finally, Deng Zilong decided on the fleet members.

Wang Desheng was one of the people he trusted, so naturally, he would entrust this kind of matter to someone close to him.

"Follow the order."

"This subordinate obeys the order."

The two officers who were called immediately stood up, clasped their hands in greeting, and then began to walk out.

Among the generals, a portly official was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Although Deng Zilong had already appointed generals and troops for the southward expedition, he clearly did not want to give up this opportunity.

There's no other way; his family is spending money to pull strings and try to get him promoted.

From guerrilla to deputy general, he can then take on missions independently.

The family's chamber of commerce needs an official like him who wields real power over the navy, so that he can provide assistance in the merchant ships' voyages.

"My lord, I am willing to lead my fleet to provide escort for General Wang's warships."

Finally, he loudly requested permission from Deng Zilong.

"Fu Zun, are you going to lead a fleet to escort them?"

Seeing his anxious appearance, Deng Zilong assumed that his family had a fleet of ships in Old Port and he was rushing over to check the situation, without giving it much thought.

"My lord, if the Yazi traitors dare to attack Old Port, they will surely attack the docks first, so that they can surround Old Port City from all sides."

Without gunboats and artillery to clear the way, General Zhao's land forces would likely have difficulty landing.

Fu Zun explained.

Although the officers in the hall dismissed these words with disdain, upon closer examination, if Zhao Sheng and his men arrived at Old Port and the situation there was unfavorable, such a scenario could indeed occur.

Moreover, under such circumstances, Zhao Sheng's two thousand men and Wang Desheng's small amount of firepower on the Fujian ship would really not be able to get ashore.

"The size difference is only ten more ships. They are just conducting normal sea patrols to prevent the court from being looked down upon by the Southeast Asian countries because of the Luzon and Palembang incidents."

In a short while, Deng Zilong had a plan in mind.

He immediately nodded and said, "Master Fu, since you volunteered, your reasons are enough to impress me."

Alright, then you will lead your troops to escort them.

Go down immediately and prepare; we must set sail later today.

The principle that speed is of the essence in warfare should be widely understood.

Having already decided to send troops to provide support, Deng Zilong would not hesitate to act decisively.

Moreover, if he hesitated even slightly at this moment, the outcome would be uncertain, but at the very least, he would be looked down upon by the naval officers.

Therefore, it would be better to act decisively and send troops to provide support on the same day we received the news.

Although the official title was to patrol the seas and intimidate the countries of Southeast Asia.

Having received military orders, the three naturally wouldn't stay here for long.

He bowed to his colleagues and friends, and then the three of them quickly left the hall together to make preparations.

Fu Zun wiped his sweat as he walked, feeling fortunate that he had finally managed to snag this job. He figured that by the time they arrived, the Kingdom of Aceh should have already been conquered by those Burmese thugs.

Even if I haven't achieved any great success, I've still put in a lot of hard work.

In this way, you will have two credits.

Although they're not huge, upgrading by one level and spending a little more money on tinkering should be enough.

Soon, squads of Ming soldiers appeared on the dock with their weapons.

The dock was already prepared long ago.

At the best berth, ten large Fujian-style ships were docked, their decks already erected. Zhao Sheng and Wang Desheng exchanged a few words on the dock, and with a wave of his hand, Zhao Sheng ordered his subordinates to lead their men onto the ships.

Then they looked toward the port, where ten double-decker gunboats were slowly sailing out of the port and into the sea.

"Besides being good at flattery, Fu Zun is also quite efficient in his actions."

Wang Desheng muttered something, and Zhao Sheng chuckled and said, "Don't let his size fool you, he's very agile and has amazing stamina. He can swim across Hangzhou Bay barehanded, all the way from the south to Jinshanwei."

The admiral took him in because he was a good swimmer, saying that if something happened at sea one day, there would be someone to swim back and report.

The admiral they were referring to was, of course, Yu Dayou.

Most of the officers in the South China Sea Fleet were personally selected and recruited by him. They all had commendable qualities; otherwise, they would never have been able to join the South China Sea Fleet.

"I didn't see that."

Wang Desheng chuckled twice and said something.

Soon, more than two thousand people boarded the ship. Wang Desheng and Zhao Sheng also boarded the ship immediately and ordered the pirates to set sail.

It's fair to say they didn't want to stay a moment longer.

The sooner we get to Old Port, the better our chances of gaining credit.

Fortunately, the ship was well-prepared for war and had already stocked up on supplies, so there was no need to load anything else onto the ship.

When Wang Desheng arrived, he only instructed people to replenish the ship with fresh water; all other supplies were readily available.

Fresh water is difficult to store and will spoil if left for too long, which is why it needs to be loaded before each voyage.

As for food, fresh vegetables and fruits were not plentiful and were not considered essential supplies.

Soon, the mooring lines of the ten large Fujian ships were untied by the Ming soldiers on the dock, and then the sails were raised, and they slowly headed out of the harbor.

More than half an hour later, the fleet left Turtle Bay.

At this moment, outside the port, Fu Zun's fleet had already formed a goose-shaped formation, protecting the front and both sides.

Wang Desheng immediately ordered the ten Fujian ships to sail directly into the rear of the goose-shaped formation, and the entire fleet adjusted its sails and began to accelerate towards the old port.

Originally, when the South China Sea Navy patrolled the seas, it would sail along the outer islands of the South China Sea and pass by the islands of the South China Sea.

However, this sea patrol was just a pretext; the real purpose was to rush to the aid of Old Port, so a straight-line voyage was chosen.

Just two days after setting sail, the fleet encountered its first mishap en route, meeting a Portuguese galley.

The two gunboats broke away from the convoy and approached the galley. After verifying their identities as merchant ships traveling from Temasek to Manila, they were immediately allowed to pass.

They then accelerated, caught up with the Ming fleet, and headed towards the old port.

However, the intercepted Portuguese merchant ship simply stopped there without raising its sails.

"Fati, didn't the French have already blockaded Manila? How did they know we were going there and not stop us?"

The first mate sidled up to the captain and whispered something.

“Sanchez, I cannot answer that question.”

Perhaps the Spanish have yielded to the Ming Dynasty, and their dispute has been resolved.

The captain frowned, watching the departing Ming Dynasty warships, and replied.

"So, should we turn back now, or go to Manila to check the situation?"

"The first mate asked."

"We definitely need to go to Manila to find out the situation first, otherwise we'll go back and not know anything, and we don't know how the commander will punish us."

If they withhold our salaries, we'll suffer a huge loss.

Captain Fati gritted his teeth and said something.

"Oh God, he can't be that evil, can he? He's going to deduct my salary again."

The first mate, looking miserable, immediately said, "Then we'd better hurry to Manila and find out what's going on there."

For sailors, wages are very important.

Without wages, they wouldn't even have money to go to the pub for a drink after they landed.

If you don't have money for alcohol, what's the point of living?

They were Portuguese reconnaissance ships that had set off from Malacca, but they encountered the Ming navy just as they approached Manila.

I thought I was going to run into trouble, but I didn't expect to be let off so easily.

Well, this is also because the Portuguese often used these centipede-like ships to buy spices in the islands of Southeast Asia, transport them back to Malacca, and then load them onto large sailing ships to trade back.

Although these centipede ships are weak in combat, they are fast and can move quickly whether there is wind or not. Even if they encounter pirates, it is generally difficult to intercept them.

Meanwhile, in the old port city, the Ming army and the Aceh army had already clashed.

On the second day of the negotiations, which was also the day after Li Chonggui led his troops out, the commander of the Aceh army received orders from Kutaraja.

Go to war.

So that very day, the Aceh army began to assemble, planning to launch a surprise attack on the Ming army's outposts outside the city that night, and then complete the siege of the old port city the next day and seize the port.

However, the Ming scouts discovered the emergency mobilization of the Aceh army. After reporting back, Commander Yu immediately ordered the outposts to withdraw back into the city.

In fact, the Ming army discovered that the Aceh army was planning to secretly cross the border and raid the old port town two days earlier.

However, those villages were now uninhabited, and the Aceh army found nothing.

Meanwhile, the main force of the Ming army at the outpost had already returned to the city, leaving insufficient troops at the outpost. Apart from being on high alert, the Ming army did not send out the outpost to encircle and annihilate the enemy.

In fact, the Aceh army had already made preparations in the woods several miles outside the outpost.

Once the Ming army went out, they would appear at the opportune moment to deter and confront them.

However, things took an unexpected turn.

The village was already empty, so the plan to massacre the village in revenge naturally failed.

They had no other recourse but to burn down the village in anger.

However, this also made them realize that the Ming army was already prepared for war, which explained why they had ambushed their troops.

Therefore, upon receiving the king's order, the Aceh army immediately launched an offensive against the Old Port, leaving no time to catch their breath.

Meanwhile, the once prosperous old port has become a living hell.

There was no natural defense here, so the Ming army naturally wouldn't engage in a deadly battle with the numerically superior Aceh army.

The dockside officers and soldiers retreated to the two side gun emplacements, forming a defensive triangle with the old port city to provide mutual cover.

However, the Aceh troops who rushed into the port encountered indiscriminate fire from the artillery batteries on both sides, and were on the verge of suffering heavy losses.

Only after they divided their forces and surrounded the fort did they truly witness the sharpness of the Ming army's firearms.

The cannons and breech-loading cannons fired in succession, inflicting heavy losses on the charging Aceh army.

They had to retreat two or three miles to avoid the bombardment of the general's cannon on the gun emplacement.

The area was covered by Ming army firearms, leaving countless corpses behind.

Whether they actually secured the port or not, they themselves couldn't say for sure.

Anyway, except that sending fewer soldiers there would avoid being bombarded by Ming artillery, sending a slightly larger army would result in artillery fire from both sides.

Meanwhile, the old port city, surrounded on three sides, was also filled with the booming sound of cannons from its walls.

The Ming army, positioned on higher ground, launched various firearms to defend against the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Acehnese army.

Inside the city, the Ming army also found a place to bury more than a hundred corpses at will.

These men were Aceh spies who attempted to storm the city gates on the night of the siege, but were killed by the Ming soldiers guarding the gates with tiger-squatting cannons and muskets.

Commander Yu had long been on guard against them, so he naturally strengthened the defense of the city gates and specially prepared a team of arquebusiers and gunners.

However, what they were most anxious about was not going to war with Aceh, but news from Li Chonggui's side.

Whether the Ming army can capture Kutaraja in one battle will be the key to determining the outcome of this war. (End of Chapter)