Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1299 Great Victory
Zheng Hongkui commanded the warships to keep firing into the harbor. Sulumayi was now a sea of ​​fire. The fire attack was extremely effective. Under the light of the flames, one could clearly see the Dutch warships burning fiercely, as well as the scene of countless Dutch soldiers and Mataram people running and shouting.

At this point, the destruction of the Dutch main fleet was only a matter of time, and the Sulumay side had also begun to launch an attack. Judging from the distant firelight and faint shouts, the attack had been going very smoothly so far, and everything was progressing even beyond expectations.

Even so, Zheng Hongkui did not dare to be careless. He commanded his fleet to keep firing, not only to intercept enemy ships that attempted to escape from the port, but also to further weaken the enemy's resistance.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of current artillery technology, even though the Ming warships were equipped with the latest and longest-range cannons, their power and accuracy were still unsatisfactory.

In current naval warfare, the longest-range artillery pieces can only fire within three nautical miles (approximately ten miles). Moreover, these are muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons, which are slow to load and have poor accuracy. The probability of a hit is extremely low. Therefore, in actual naval battles, it is rare to fire from a range of more than three nautical miles, as such tactics are not only ineffective but also miss crucial opportunities.

Generally, in naval battles, both sides usually close to a nautical mile before firing, which greatly improves accuracy. In fact, for even more precise and powerful strikes, some warships will close to half a nautical mile before engaging in close combat. In such cases, the exchange of fire between the two sides' cannons is almost no different from hand-to-hand combat with bayonets.

Aside from the range and accuracy of the cannons, there's the power of the cannons themselves. Although the impact force of cast iron cannons isn't bad, once they hit, they leave a hole, and even the strongest warship decks cannot withstand the damage from direct artillery fire.

Even so, inflicting a devastating blow on a warship was not easy. High-penetration cannonballs could only create a hole, not deliver a fatal blow. Unless one was extremely lucky and hit the enemy warship's powder chamber, igniting the gunpowder and causing a secondary explosion, it was common for naval battles to rage on for a long time, with both sides' warships battered and bruised but never sinking.

In addition, there is the firepower coverage of current warships. In order to compensate for the insufficient range and accuracy of warship guns, current warships have multiple gun barrels on both sides of the hull for side firing. During firing, various factors such as heading, wind direction and recoil of the guns must be taken into account. Warships need to constantly adjust their attitude to ensure accuracy. Therefore, although the way naval warfare is changed from the initial boarding and hand-to-hand combat to artillery bombardment, it is actually far from reaching the powerful force of future warships.

This is why Zheng Hongkui seized the time, using the most intense artillery fire and small-scale coverage to try and destroy the enemy warships one by one. The longer the battle dragged on, the less effective it would be, a fact that Zheng Hongkui, an expert in naval warfare, understood all too well.

Just as the Ming warships were concentrating their firepower and bombarding the Dutch warships, and two Dutch warships were about to sink to the bottom of the sea, Zheng Hongkui's pupils suddenly contracted. His eyes were fixed on a Dutch warship that had been set ablaze in front of him. To everyone's surprise, the burning warship slowly moved and rushed towards the Ming warships.

"Good heavens!" Zheng Hongkui exclaimed in surprise. By the light of the fire on the ship, he could clearly see that the warship's center and stern sails were fully raised. Ignoring the fire on the bow, the ship gradually accelerated towards him, like a ghost ship rushing out of the flames of hell.

Behind this warship, several Dutch warships rushed out from the inner circle of the harbor. One of the following ships was also on fire, but because it was the first warship, the fire was not large and the flames were not fierce. It was probably due to the burning oil floating on the sea surface. Moreover, these warships also raised their sails and followed the lead warship, which was already half-burned, as they rushed outwards, firing at the Ming fleet as they went.

Seeing this, Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but admire the Dutch commander's decisiveness. To break through in such a short time using such a method was no ordinary feat. Moreover, the officers and soldiers on the first warship were practically prepared to die, knowing that the ship could be engulfed in flames at any moment. Once that happened, escape would be nearly impossible. Even if they jumped overboard, in the pitch-black night and amidst such chaos, their chances of survival were virtually nonexistent.

Even so, the Dutch fought desperately, sacrificing their lives to open an escape route for their warships.

Although he admired the enemy, Zheng Hongkui was not swayed by sentimentality. He immediately ordered a concentrated barrage of fire on the lead warship, determined not to allow it to lead the rest of the fleet to break through the encirclement. If the inner ships escaped, the encirclement, created by the fire attack, would be breached. In an instant, the Ming warships unleashed a volley of cannon fire, countless shells raining down on the enemy. However, due to the limited range, the nighttime conditions, and various factors such as wind direction, ocean currents, and others, most of the shells landed around the warships, creating numerous water columns, with only a small number actually hitting the ships.

Moreover, this warship is the mainstay of the Dutch fleet, and its size and sturdiness are far superior to ordinary warships. In addition, the Dutch officers and soldiers who operate this warship understand their mission even better. If they cannot act as the spearhead to cut a bloody path, then the entire Dutch fleet will perish here today.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes... In just a few minutes, the warship was hit by dozens of shells. One shell even hit the ship's mast directly, causing the tall mast to sway and break. The fallen sails were then ignited by the flames already burning on the ship, and the entire warship was engulfed in flames.

Even so, the warship continued to sail relentlessly in its original direction due to inertia. After a while, the warship finally gave out and slowly came to a stop on the sea surface. Amidst the towering flames, the warship crackled and popped everywhere. Then, a huge explosion rang out, probably because the warship's gunpowder was engulfed by the fire. The warship suddenly exploded violently in all directions, with countless fragments scattering like flowers from the sky. The remaining hull began to sink rapidly.

Having finally destroyed the warship, Zheng Hongkui hadn't even had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief when several more warships surged out from behind. Seeing this, Zheng Hongkui was helpless. Although he had tried his best to stop them, he ultimately failed. The sacrifice of the first warship had still opened a gap for the enemy, and even though the gap wasn't large, some enemy ships still managed to escape from their predicament.

Since there was no other way, Zheng Hongkui could only command the fleet to send out a portion of its forces to engage the fleeing enemy warships, while the other warships continued to carry out the plan to blockade the port and completely annihilate the enemy forces.

However, these escaped enemy ships were all quite large, clearly the main warships of the Dutch. Moreover, when the first warship suffered a devastating blow, the enemy had already opened fire in return. When they broke through the encirclement and reached the outer perimeter of the port, facing Ming warships that outnumbered them several times over, these warships quickly formed a battle formation, coordinated with each other to fire continuously, and fled north while fighting.

The Netherlands truly lives up to its reputation as the "carriers of the sea." Even the regular military forces of the East India Company are formidable. Despite being in a passive position, the Dutch still demonstrated extremely high military skills and combat awareness. Although their strength was far inferior to that of the Ming fleet, they still fought with great flair and even caused considerable trouble for the Ming warships that were at the forefront.

As these warships broke through the encirclement, other warships in the port seemed to see a chance to escape as well. Many warships began to try to break out with the warships that had escaped earlier. At this point, Zheng Hongkui could no longer concentrate more of his forces on the warships that had already escaped. He had to block the gap to prevent more Dutch warships from escaping. As for the warships that had already broken through, Zheng Hongkui sent ten warships to pursue them, while the rest of his main force continued to bombard the port and kept approaching the newly opened gap, trying to completely block the enemy's escape route.

The battle raged from midnight until dawn the next day. As the sun rose, the Ming fleet completely blockaded the port, leaving the Dutch fleet with no chance of escape. With each warship forced to take the hits, the Dutch could no longer withstand the outcome and had no choice but to raise a white flag to surrender.

After confirming the Dutch surrender at the port, the Ming fleet gradually ceased its offensive and sent envoys to make contact. Surrendering when outmatched is perfectly normal for Europeans, and it doesn't diminish their honor or reputation. As for the Macedonians, they were already terrified during this battle. Now that their Dutch "father" had surrendered, what courage did the Macedonians have left to resist?
By noon, the two sides had agreed on the terms, and the Dutch surrendered to the Ming army. After taking necessary precautions, the Ming warships towed away the several burning ships that were blocking the port, and then sent people to formally accept the surrender.

By evening, Zheng Hongkui and his men had landed at the Sulumay dock. By then, not only had the enemy fleet in the port surrendered, but the entire Sulumay had fallen into the hands of the Ming army. The Madaram officials who had been in Sulumay, seeing the situation was dire, had fled in disarray before they could all surrender. The Ming army took over Sulumay smoothly, and the battle ended in a complete victory for the Ming army, with the Dutch fleet almost entirely annihilated.

(End of this chapter)