Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

At Longmen Port in Penghu, two of the three earthen walls hastily constructed by the guards have been breached. Wave after wave of Zheng's troops surged toward the last earthen wall, and the fishing rod flags on the wall were repeatedly shattered and replaced.

The enemy was clearly on the verge of collapse, yet there was no joy on the face of the Prince of Yanping. He had just received news that the Guangdong naval forces of the Imperial Guard had captured Huayu and Bazhaoyu, Wu Shu and Lin Wanhou had retreated to Ganjuyu, and Xie Xian, the Minister of Works, had been killed in action. Xie Xian was a long-serving minister who had served the Zheng family for two generations and had always supported him. His death was a great loss to him, but there was no time to grieve. Enemies had appeared simultaneously in northern and southern Penghu, and he had to deal with them immediately.

"Order Chen Yonghua to strengthen the defenses of Dongning, and Fang Qi's troops to reinforce Ganju Island. The rest of the armies will continue their fierce attack on Longmen Port. We must take Longmen Port within three days, no, within two days!" After much deliberation, Zheng Jing made the decision to continue the attack on Longmen Port. Most of Taiwan's elite troops had been taken out to fight, and the remaining Zhaoyi and Jianwei garrisons had to remain to defend Dongning City and could not be redeployed. He could only send the troops under Deputy General Fang Qi, who had escorted the people of Kinmen to Dongning for resettlement a few days earlier, to reinforce Ganju Island.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Boom~Boom~Boom~"

Zheng Jun bombarded the Wei army's earthen walls with cannons from land and sea, leaving the makeshift earthen walls riddled with holes.

"The little calf is practically rolling its eyes! Why hasn't that black bastard Mandulatu sent reinforcements yet?" Su He, First-Class Duke of Baili and Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian, angrily berated Mandulatu, First-Class Duke of Luntai and Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, for his skin color, completely disregarding the fact that he himself was also a dark-skinned man. As one of the earliest trusted ministers to follow the Great Khan Lianhua in his uprising, he and Mandulatu had originally enjoyed a very good relationship. However, in this critical moment, he could no longer care about such things and simply began to curse. After retreating to Longmen Port, he originally planned to withdraw to the sea if the situation became unfavorable. But suddenly, he received a messenger from Mandulatu saying that the Guangdong navy had arrived in Penghu and occupied Huayu Island. Encouraged by this news, he refused to retreat any further. However, his troops were dwindling with each battle, now numbering less than eight thousand. Even worse, the wear and tear from the sea voyage and combat had led to a shortage of supplies. If reinforcements did not arrive soon, the entire army would be in grave danger!

"Boom!" The earthen wall collapsed, revealing a large gap.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Zheng's army surged in through the breach.

"Damn it!" Suhe grabbed his great axe and led his three hundred personal guards on horseback to charge at the surging enemy. "Thud~ Thud~" Sharp Mongolian scimitars sliced ​​off heads like wheat. Although they had driven the enemy back, he knew in his heart that the warriors were exhausted and couldn't hold out much longer. Just as things were getting tense, his personal guards suddenly cheered, "General, reinforcements have arrived!"

One warship after another appeared on the sea. Wang Guodong, the general of Nanxiong, led a hundred ships and five thousand soldiers to reinforce the area on the orders of Mandulatu.

"That black bastard has finally arrived!" Su He breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly shouted, "Everyone, be on your guard! Don't let the Guangdong navy look down on us!"

The timely arrival of reinforcements thwarted Zheng Jing's plan to first annihilate the northern garrison of Penghu and then attack the southern garrison. As night deepened, burdened by worries, he could not sleep, lying in his tent lost in thought.

"My lord, the Earl of Wuping requests an audience," a guard reported.

"Oh, let him in," Zheng Jing said, forcing himself to stay alert, and called Liu Guoxuan inside.

“The Guangdong naval forces of the Imperial Guard only number 20,000. They have suffered considerable casualties in the campaigns, and some have been diverted to reinforce the Fujian naval forces. Now, the Imperial Guard forces south of Penghu are estimated to number only 10,000. I believe that Longmen Port, located between Penghu City and Dongning Island, is easily blockaded. We can surround it without attacking, cut off its supplies, and it will soon collapse without a fight. The most important thing now is to concentrate our forces to defeat the enemy in the south. Once we defeat the southern enemy, the Imperial Guard forces at Longmen Port will be ours,” Liu Guoxuan offered his strategy upon meeting. “Guangguan (Liu Guoxuan's courtesy name) is absolutely right. Tomorrow I will order He You and Gao Kui to lead troops to monitor Longmen Port, and lead the main force to defeat the southern Imperial Guard forces first,” Zheng Jing sighed with relief.
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Bazhao Island, also known as Wang'an Island, is the fourth largest island in Penghu. When Zheng Chenggong led his army through this area, he renamed it "Wang'an" because of the calm sea conditions. Unfortunately, it is no longer peaceful; the sounds of cannon fire can be heard everywhere. Under the personal command of Yanping Prince Zheng Jing, a full 30,000 Zheng troops attacked this small island from all directions. In just two days, nearby islands such as Jiangjun'ao Island, Dongyuping Island, Xiyuping Island, Dongji Island, and Xiji Island were successively occupied. Only Huayu Island in the northwest remained in the hands of the garrison.

"Pass down the order: the entire army retreats to Huayu," Mandulatu calmly commanded, gazing at Zheng's fleet in the distance. Since sending General Wang Guodong of Nanxiong to reinforce Longmen Port, he only had 10,000 troops left, but he wasn't worried at all. He had already sent fast ships to Fujian Governor Liu Maoxia and Fujian Admiral Li Yingming, requesting them to send troops across the sea to reinforce as soon as possible. Judging by the time, they should be arriving soon. Mandulatu was well aware that there were many unpredictable factors at sea; deviations and hurricanes could affect the arrival time of reinforcements. However, having survived countless battles, he had long since become indifferent to life and death. Whether he was lucky or unlucky, he would still be remembered in history—what was there to fear?

Unbeknownst to this valiant general, after Zheng Jun withdrew from Kinmen, Liu Maoxia and Li Yingming had already begun preparations for a sea crossing to reinforce him, gathering tens of thousands of troops in Kinmen. However, the main force of the Fujian navy had already been taken away by Su He, leaving mostly land forces in Kinmen. A sea expedition without sufficient escort ships would be extremely dangerous. After receiving Mandulatu's plea for help, the two decided to take a gamble. Besides accumulating more merit for themselves in the Battle of Taiping, everyone in the court knew that Su He and Mandulatu were childhood friends of the Great Khan. If they were to stand by and watch them perish in Penghu, they might offend the Emperor! After careful discussion, they decided to send the entire remaining navy to escort them. The word "entirely" sounds impressive, but in reality, it only consisted of General Zhou Biao's and Deputy General Xu Shangchao's 4,000 troops, and the surrendered general Su Kan's 2,000 troops, totaling 6,000 men and 110 warships. However, the number of land forces was quite large. They collected more than 500 civilian ships of various types and transported 20,000 troops under the command of Generals Han Tianfu, Li Yubin, Song Guofu, Li Famei, Sun Kaizong, and Chen Chongliu. Under the personal command of Fujian Admiral Li Yingming, they marched in a grand procession to Penghu.

"The Ming Dynasty is mighty! The Ming Dynasty is mighty! The Ming Dynasty is mighty!" After successfully capturing Bazhaoyu Island, the Zheng army cheered wildly.

"Our army's morale is high, and we should take advantage of the victory to capture Huayu," Liu Guoxuan suggested again.

Zheng Jing nodded. "It's getting late today. We'll set off for Huayu early tomorrow morning!"

However, fate played a cruel joke on this Prince of Yanping. At dawn the following day, Li Yingming, the Fujian Admiral, led 6,000 naval troops and 20,000 land troops to Huayu Island, the westernmost point of the Penghu Islands. This smooth arrival was due to an internal traitor. Su Kan, the deputy general previously sent by Zheng Jing to defend Zhangpu, seeing the strength of the Wei army, surrendered with his troops. Su Kan was extremely familiar with the waterways of Taiwan and Penghu, and knew the Zheng army's defenses perfectly. With Su Kan as his guide, and given that the Zheng army was engaged in fierce battles on both the south and north sides of Penghu and unable to deploy enough scout ships, Li Yingming's army arrived safely. With this fresh force, although the Wei army still had fewer warships than the Zheng army, its land forces were now comparable in number.

"Haorui~ Haorui~ Haorui~" Cheers erupted on Flower Island. Zheng Jing, his face ashen, asked his generals for advice: "We were about to achieve our goal, but unexpectedly the enemy sent reinforcements. What should we do now?"

“My lord, do not worry. Our navy still has the advantage. We only need to find an opportunity to defeat the enemy’s navy and then we can trap their cavalry and infantry on the island,” said Wu Shu, the Earl of Dingxi, who came from Ganju Island.

Zheng Jing understood that Wu Shu's idea, though seemingly slow, was the most effective method. The enemy was on a long sea expedition, relying entirely on sea transport for supplies and weapons. Penghu was close to Taiwan but far from Fujian, and Zheng Jing had the advantage of a navy. If they could defeat the enemy's navy, their land forces would be unable to receive supplies and would inevitably collapse without a fight.

"Issue the order of the isolated army: all units shall take turns patrolling, focusing on attacking the garrison's transport ships. If the garrison's navy is discovered, be sure to keep a close watch, send a message in time, and seize the opportunity to annihilate them!" King Yanping slowly issued the order.

No sooner had Zheng Jing finished issuing the military order than another urgent report came from Dongning, dealing him another heavy blow: "Dongning Commander-in-Chief Chen Yonghua reports urgently: The fake Qin King led his guards to land at Keelung on April 16th, with a force of about 70,000 to 80,000 men. They have successively captured Keelung, Danshui, Nanqianshe, and Hazainanshe, and are now advancing towards Dongning by land and water!"

He was furious. "The Wei army landed on April 16th. Why is it taking so long to report this?"

The envoy replied with a bitter face, "Your Highness, the false Qin King is extremely cunning. Before landing, he sent his navy to fly our Dongning flag and blockade the northern waters of Taiwan. The garrisons of Keelung and Tamsui were all annihilated, and all fishing boats encountered along the way were detained. Only two days ago did some indigenous people from the Hazai Nanshe community escape into Dongning. Upon hearing the report, Governor-General Chen immediately ordered me to inform Your Highness by fast boat." (End of Chapter)