Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 806
In Fujian in July, the sky is always covered by thick dark clouds, and the air is humid and fierce. It seems that you can save a handful of water with a handful of air. Only on the eve of the typhoon will there be a few days of clear weather. .It is said that in Guizhou, "the sky is not sunny for three days, and the land is not flat for three miles." In fact, Fujian is similar.

The weather was surprisingly clear on this day, which is not a good omen. It means that there is a ferocious typhoon brewing on the sea surface, ready to land at any time, uproot trees and destroy houses, bring downpours of rain, and turn tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land into a flood country.The sunny weather before the typhoon is pleasant, but the moment the typhoon comes is extremely terrifying.

Zheng Sen looked at the sea, his thick eyebrows were tightly frowned.

It's been eight days, what happened to father?Why is there still no news at all?

In the past few days, the contact between him and Zheng Zhilong has been completely severed, and he knows nothing about the outcome of the Pingtan naval battle. He can only speculate from the movements of the Heluo new army.The results of the speculation show... the fleet led by my father probably lost the sea battle!Because the new army of Heluo is heading south at a high speed, it has taken Putian in just a few days. According to the latest military information he received, Xue Siming's army is now approaching Quanzhou!This made him gasp, and while he was horrified by the lightning speed of the Heluo new army, he was also worried about what happened to his father.Judging from the actions of the Heluo New Army completely ignoring the threat from the sea and making a sudden assault, I am afraid that Zheng Zhilong has lost the ability to threaten their rear from the sea, otherwise the Heluo New Army would never have the courage to ignore such a powerful fleet Desperate to go south!And from the beginning to the end, they have not encountered threats from the sea, not at all!

Unless he was severely defeated, how could Zheng Zhilong with his character tolerate the Heluo New Army rampaging through his own territory and attacking cities and plundering territory?

What worries him even more is the public opinion.According to the information he collected, the Heluo New Army seemed to be warmly welcomed by the common people when they went south. Wherever they went, countless common people offered to provide them with rice, vegetables, meat, and even vacated houses for them to live in. , and the Heluo New Army has never had a scandal of bullying the people... Those who win the hearts of the people win the world. Now that the people's hearts have completely fallen to the Heluo New Army, how can this battle be fought?
He keeps all these bad premonitions in his heart, and bears all the worries and anxieties by himself. In front of his subordinates, at a young age, he is always calm, calm, full of energy, full of fighting spirit, and inspires everyone.Because of his presence, the Zheng Group, which had already felt the suffocation before the storm, was not in chaos. Ammunition, soldiers, and supplies were continuously transferred from Xiamen to the front line. Tens of thousands of troops worked hard day and night to repair the earth and consolidate the defense line.Everyone said that this kid was good, he had the air of a general at a young age, and his future was boundless, but he didn't even notice that his heart was beating drums, and he was about to fail.

To be a general, you must have nerves thicker than steel bars. Even if you are seriously injured, even if you are worried, even if your troops are in a desperate situation, you must grit your teeth and never collapse.The general is the reliance of the soldiers. If he collapses, all the soldiers will collapse, and the army will be completely finished.Zheng Sen had never led troops in battle before, but he knew this very well, so he gritted his teeth no matter how hard it was, and never showed any timidity in front of his subordinates.He firmly believed that his father, the great king of the sea, would be able to return safely, no one could defeat Zheng Shi at sea!

However, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very cruel.

On the eighth day of the Pingtan naval battle, the thunder finally fell.

First of all, the bad news came from Taiwan that the Xiyi riots attacked the settlements of the Han people and killed them.According to reports from people who escaped from Taiwan, Xiyi was relatively safe with them, but for some unknown reason, a large number of infantry and artillery were suddenly dispatched two days ago to storm the immigration stronghold established by the Zheng family on Taiwan Island!Although the immigrants in the stronghold also put up a tenacious resistance, the equipment and combat effectiveness of the two sides were far apart. The trees they built with great difficulty were ruthlessly moved down, and their property was plundered.Those Western barbarians were extremely bloodthirsty. Every time they captured a village, they slaughtered the old and the weak, and turned the young into slaves. The whole of Taiwan has become a hell on earth!

Zheng Sen's first reaction when he received the news was that Xiyi might have known that Zheng Zhilong had been defeated in Pingtan, and thought that the time had come, and began to wantonly invade the entire Taiwan!He was furious: "These lowly barbarians want to set fire to our backyard, right? I can't spare them!"

I was getting angry, and someone came to report: The Dutch Governor Kui Yi's envoy in Taiwan has arrived!
Shi Lang said angrily: "My lord, don't talk nonsense with these lowly barbarians, let me kill him, and then give me a hundred warships, I will go to Taiwan and kill them all! How dare you think about Taiwan, I think they are impatient to live!"

Zheng Sen forced himself to calm down.The situation is extremely critical now, there is no news from the main fleet, and Han Peng's army is straddling him like a mountain, separated from Xiamen, the headquarters of the Zheng family, by a narrow and shallow strait. In just a few days, the Zheng Group fell into a precarious and precarious situation, and if it was a little careless, it would be beyond redemption!He must deal with it calmly, otherwise the foundation created by Zheng Zhilong's painstaking efforts will be in danger of collapse!He suppressed his anger and said, "Please come here!"

Not long after, the Dutch envoy walked into the Chinese military tent with his head held high, not even polite, and looked down at Zheng Sen.There is no way, these Xiyi are all tall and big, and their physique is much taller than that of Orientals. Even adults are generally half a head or even a head shorter than them. Zheng Sen is not yet an adult, and the gap is even bigger. , no wonder the other party is so contemptuous.

Zheng Sen remained calm, but Shi Lang was not polite, he pulled out his long sword with a choke, and shouted sharply: "Bold Xiyi, you are still not polite when you see my son!?"

The envoy reluctantly bowed to Zheng Sen, and said with a half-smile: "Young Master Zheng, the large army from the north has come to Xiamen these days, has it caused you a lot of pressure?"

Zheng Sen asked in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want to say?"

The messenger said, "We sympathize with your plight..."

Shi Lang disdained: "Weasel pays New Year greetings to chicken!"

The envoy said seriously: "No, no, no, I am telling the truth. You know, we Dutch have always been good friends with your admiral, and we have a deep friendship. In the words of you Chinese, this It is called sharing blessings and sharing hardships! Now the army from the north is aggressive and trying to destroy the foundation of our friends. How can we Dutch agree? As long as the young master is in need, we can send troops at any time to help the young master repel that barbaric army. Northern Army!"

Zheng Sen asked: "How many soldiers can you send? As far as I know, you don't seem to have many soldiers?"

The emissary said proudly: "Of course our family can't produce too many troops, but now that we have formed an alliance with Spain, it is still very easy for the two to unite and dispatch [-] warships and tens of thousands of infantry!"

The expressions of the generals of the Zheng family present changed, and some even showed joy.They have often competed with Xiyi, and they know that these Xiyi are powerful. The speed of Xiyi's warships is extremely fast, and the naval guns equipped can fire fast and far. entangled opponent.They have never experienced the infantry of Xiyi, but judging from their excellent firearms and strong physique, their combat effectiveness is definitely not bad.With the support of such a powerful army, do they still need to be afraid of Heluo's new army?But Zheng Sen's face was as deep as water, his eyes were bright, he stared at the envoy, and said: "We have an old saying in Ming Dynasty, 'you don't get up early if you don't benefit', you volunteered to send troops to help the war, I'm afraid it's not just out of righteous indignation? What do you want from us?"

The messenger licked his lips, showed a greedy look, and said: "Young Master is indeed a quick talker... We don't want much, as long as your family gives us Formosa, and the whole territory of Formosa becomes a colony of the Netherlands and Spain. , promise not to send troops and immigrants to Formosa, and pay us five thousand pounds of gold as military expenses in one lump sum, that's enough."

The faces of all the generals at the scene suddenly became long. Zheng Sen's eyes were like ice skates, and he asked word by word: "Do you want us to give you Taiwan?"

The Dutch envoy said: "This is only good for you, not bad."

Zheng Sen asked: "What if we don't agree?"

The Dutch envoy said: "That is too unfortunate. This will cause you to face a double loss of territory and combat power - you will not only lose the entire Formosa, but you will not be able to get any assistance from us because of this. This is absolutely Not what smart people do.”

Zheng Sen sneered: "In other words, whether we agree or not, you are going to occupy Taiwan, right? I'm very curious, where do you have such courage!?"

The Dutch envoy sneered: "Because everyone on the earth knows that your father was defeated in Fuzhou! You lost nearly [-] warships and nearly [-] sailors there! Mr. Zheng, do you think you are still qualified to follow?" Shall we bargain? As you said, Formosa will become our territory whether you agree or not!"

As soon as he said this, Zheng Sen's thin body trembled violently and shook uncontrollably.All the generals in the Chinese army's tent were shocked and dumbfounded. Shi Lang's expression changed continuously and he shouted: "That's nonsense! Come on, take down this Xiyi who is spreading rumors to destabilize the morale of our army, push him out and chop him down!"

Several soldiers rushed forward, twisting the arms of the Dutch envoy to push him out, Zheng Sen raised his hand with difficulty and waved them back.He supported the table with his hands, stood up with some difficulty, walked up to the Dutch envoy who was more than 50 centimeters taller than him, raised his head, gritted his teeth and said, "For what you said just now, I cut off your head. No injustice! However, if the two armies are at war, if you don’t kill them, I will let you go and leave your dog life to bring a few words to Kuiyi for me... You tell him that our Zheng family can be a sea merchant, You can be a pirate, or you can obey the orders of the court, but you will never be a traitor! He wants Taiwan, so he can trade it with his life! I know exactly what good things he did on Taiwan Island. You go back and let him wash his neck clean Wait, when the battle here is over, I will send my troops across the sea and take his head! Get lost!"

The wolf-like eyes of this little guy made the Dutch envoy feel cold all over. He was clearly taller than him, and he still couldn't help but feel a wave of fear standing in front of him. He knew that this little guy was serious, as long as He Luo didn't After the new army is wiped out, he will send his troops across the sea to avenge the people of Ming Dynasty who were slaughtered by them!Looking at the generals of the Zheng family around him, he was also staring at him viciously. He was shocked and dared not stay any longer. He said "I hope you don't regret it", put on his top hat and hurried out of the tent of the Chinese army, and went back to Taiwan.

After driving away the Dutch envoys, Zheng Sen regained his composure, and said to all the generals: "The Xiyi are deceitful, you don't have to take their rumors seriously, just do what you have to do."

All the generals breathed a sigh of relief, saluted one after another, walked out, and went about their business.

Zheng Sen said to Shi Lang again: "Shi Lang, I'm not feeling very well, you can supervise it for me, and let them strengthen the fortification a little bit more!"

Shi Lang looked worriedly at this man who was both his boss and his good friend since he was a child. He hesitated to speak, but he didn't say anything. He also walked out and went to the front to supervise the reinforcement of civilians on his behalf.

After everyone had left, Zheng Sen seemed to have been drained of all his strength. His legs went limp, and he sat down on the ground weakly. The foundation established by the killing is over..." Mumbling to himself, his body trembled involuntarily.

(End of this chapter)