Daming: Stealing Chen Yuanyuan at the beginning

Chapter 222 The First Battle of the Navy
When Zheng Zhibao saw two huge warships suddenly sailing out of the naval formation of the Ming army, he couldn't help being dumbfounded and extremely astonished.

One of the warships is clearly the Dafu Ship, which has been lost for nearly two hundred years. The Zheng family makes a living in the pirate business, and has studied various ship types in ancient and modern China and foreign countries. build.

It's a pity that Zheng He's research and development materials for the Great Fortune Ship belonged to the Ming court's secrets, and because most of the materials were either dusty or lost, the Zheng family had no way of obtaining complete first-hand information. The memory passed down from generation to generation was explored, so it has not been able to be developed.

Seeing the famous warship more than 200 years ago, Zheng Zhibao was a little dazed and dazed.

But if you think about it carefully, since the Ming Dynasty was determined to establish a navy, Emperor Chongzhen had an innate advantage, and it was not difficult to obtain the materials for making the Dafu Ship.

"After all, the Dafuchuan is a warship more than 200 years ago. The shipbuilding technology is changing with each passing day. The Dafuchuan is nothing to be afraid of!" Zheng Zhibao comforted himself.

But there was another strange warship that he had never seen before, his heart sank involuntarily, and a lingering shadow was cast over his heart.

I saw that the battleship was much smaller than the Dafu Ship in terms of size, but it seemed to be stronger than it.There was a big banner floating on the boat, with the words "Chongzhen" written on it.

What surprised Zheng Zhibao the most was that the battleship Chongzhen used a 4-masted structure, with so many sails billowing, majestic and majestic.And you can also see that the hull is U-shaped, and the U-shaped mouth shrinks inward, and the copper-clad technology is adopted on the hull, which is a unique craft that has never been seen or heard before!

"Chongzhen, is it a warship newly developed by the Ming Dynasty? Oh, I didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty would have such shipbuilding technology. It's really unexpected!" Zheng Zhibao secretly thought.

Looking back at the Dutch warship that I am proud of, it suddenly looks shabby and thin against the backdrop of the Dafu Ship and the Chongzhen Ship.

Zheng Zhibao knows the advantages and disadvantages of the Dutch warships better than anyone else. The Dutch three-masted warships are large flat-bottomed ships. This kind of ship is cheap to build, but has a huge volume. Its biggest use is actually to transport goods.

Previously, typical merchant ships in the West had always been built with heavy wood, and there was a gun mount platform at the stern that could mount artillery, which could be used as a warship when necessary.In order to improve the carrying capacity of merchant ships, the Dutch obtained the largest warehouse space and saved ship building materials by reducing the firepower of merchant ships.

This means that the Dutch three-masted warship has insufficient firepower, and its speed is relatively slow and relatively fragile.

Just when Zheng Zhibao was so shocked and had different thoughts, Huang Degong was also very excited, thinking to himself: "This is the first time that the navy I formed after moving south participated in an actual battle. This battle can only be won but not lost, otherwise I will be old." How can Huang live up to His Majesty's ardent expectations?"

The two have their own thoughts. They may not know that they are standing at a historical juncture at this time. It will take many years to see this clearly, but they both understand that no one can afford to lose this battle!

The battle had already begun, and Zheng Zhibao's five Dutch three-masted warships rushed into the Ming army's formation. At first, they were unstoppable, and the small ordinary warships of the Ming army evaded in embarrassment, and the formation was slightly disordered.

But after the appearance of the Dafu Ship and the Chongzhen Ship, the situation of the battle was immediately reversed.These two gigantic battleships were unambiguous at all. When they reached a suitable distance, the hulls of the ships turned sideways, facing the enemy three-masted warship with one side, and opened fire violently.

This is the line of battle tactic, but because the navy of the Ming army only had two large warships, it cannot fully reflect the superiority of the line of battle tactic.But in any case, the firepower of the Dafu Ship and the Chongzhen Ship was far stronger than that of the Dutch three-masted warship, and they had the upper hand by playing two against five for a while.

Cannonballs whizzed out one by one, rumbling over the sound of the sea breeze.People only saw water columns continuously rising from the sea, and broken wooden planks kept falling into the sea. A three-masted warship was emitting thick black smoke, one was crumbling, and the other three hurriedly turned around and fled.

Seeing this situation, Huang Degong's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and shouted: "Don't let them run away, destroy the five largest enemy warships, and the rocket soldiers shoot!"

Many small warships of the Ming army surrounded them, blocking the retreat of the enemy Dutch three-masted warships.The rocket soldiers stood on the deck and started shooting fire weapons such as rockets, divine fire crows, and fire dragons.

The Ming army's rockets and Shenhuo flying crows had played a huge role in Li Cunming's flattening of Jiangbei and West Expeditions before, so there is no need to repeat their power.

The so-called Huolong Chushui is a rocket used by the Ming army for amphibious use. It is a kind of rocket like the flying sand cylinder, and it is also the ancestor of the second-level rocket.

"Wu Bei Zhi" contains an article to the effect that: Use five feet of Mao bamboo, remove the knots, and scrape thin with an iron knife.Install a wooden faucet and dragon tail on the front and back.The mouth of the dragon head is upward, and there are several magical rockets in the belly of the dragon, which connect the medicine lines of the rockets together and lead out from a hole at the lower part of the dragon head.

Specifically, under the dragon's head and on both sides of the dragon's tail, a gunpowder barrel weighing half a catty is installed on each side, and the four rocket fuzes are put together and connected to the rocket fuze in the belly of the fire dragon. Three or four feet away from the water surface, ignite the four gunpowder cartridges installed on the dragon. This is the first-stage rocket, which can propel the fire dragon to fly two or three miles away. The rocket inside is the second-stage rocket. At this time, several rockets are fired from the dragon's mouth and reach the target directly, causing the enemy ship to burn down.

All of a sudden, all kinds of firearms were flying in the air, and the flames were shining like fireworks blooming, dazzling people.

Then a warship caught fire, the flames soared into the sky, thick smoke evaporated, and the icy sea water merged with the scorching flames, which was both spectacular and cruel.

Seeing that the five Dutch three-masted warships were in danger of being wiped out, Zheng Zhibao became anxious and shouted: "The whole army will attack and take the board battle!"

The so-called boarding battle is when the ships of both sides are close to each other but cannot collide with each other, or one side takes action to avoid being hit at the last moment, or the other side is not damaged although the collision is caused, due to the close distance between the two sides , The winner must be determined by fighting with gangs.Ancient naval battles usually started with ramming battles and ended with boarding battles.

In the Battle of Mira in 260 BC, the ancient Roman fleet used the gangway to ride on the side of the enemy ship, and the soldiers rushed to the enemy ship through the gangway to fight. In the 14th century, although ships were equipped with artillery, due to the short range and low power, after the ships of both sides approached, they still decided the outcome of the battle through side-to-side battles. In 1661, China's Zheng Chenggong led ships in the naval battle to recover Taiwan. They first bombarded with artillery and then defeated Dutch ships with boarding battles. After the 17th century, with the increase in the power of naval guns and the improvement of the maneuverability of ships, boarding warfare tactics were gradually replaced by battle line tactics.

Zheng Zhibao's remaining warships were dispatched together to form a counter-siege, hoping to break through from the outside to reduce the pressure on the three-masted warships and open a way for them to escape.

The small warships of the two sides fought in a melee, completely out of order.The Ming army's small warships could not compare with Zheng Zhibao's, and they suffered quickly. Five or six ships were sunk, and several others were knocked to the side.

During the Spring and Autumn Period of China, Gongshuban created the "Hook and Rejection", which can "reject the enemy's warship if it enters" and "hook it if it retreats". This is probably the earliest recorded weapon for boarding.

The Ming army was not equipped with the "hook and refusal" of the Gongshu class at this time, but don't forget, they still have white guns.The white gun has a hook on it, which is suitable for boarding battles. When Li Cunming inspected the navy in Jiujiang, he ordered each warship to be equipped with hundreds of white guns.

The two sides either stood on the boat and attacked each other with long weapons, or jumped onto the opponent's boat to engage in hand-to-hand combat.Corpses fell into the sea one after another, and screams rose into the sky.

Huang Degong gritted his teeth and said: "Brothers, hold on! The outer warships are supported by me. When I eat these five three-masted warships, we will win the game!"

Huang Degong participated in a naval battle for the first time, and his tactical experience was not as sophisticated as that of Zheng Zhibao.But marching and fighting also pay attention to talent. Huang Degong is a general with talent. In the chaotic and tragic battle situation, he has very clear thinking and strong will.

He has only one goal at this time, to annihilate the enemy's five three-masted warships!
As long as this goal is achieved, Zheng Zhibao's fleet will become a toothless tiger, a shark with a broken fin, unable to jump up and down.Therefore, he decided to sacrifice the small warship in exchange for the final victory.

The navy soldiers of the Ming Army have undergone arduous training, and their discipline and execution ability are first-class.They comprehended the strategic intention of the commander, and the small warships on the periphery followed suit like moths to the flame, completely blocking the enemy ships in a desperate attitude.

The ships that besieged the three-masted warship, led by the Dafu Ship and the Chongzhen, were even more brave.

The seabirds in the sky were scared away by the fierce artillery fire, and some seabirds fell into the sea under the influence of thick smoke and firearms.On the surface of the sea, as the warship sank, huge whirlpools appeared one after another. Fish jumped out of the water and fled in panic.

About half an hour later, the last three-masted warship of the enemy army broke from the middle, one end sank deeply into the sea, the other end tilted up, and sank with a loud creaking sound.

Huang Degong knew that the victory was decided, his one-eyed light was shining, he looked at Zheng Zhibao's boat, tried his best to stabilize his emotions and said: "Wipe out all the enemy troops, leave no one behind, kill!"

The soldiers of the Ming army were in high spirits and fighting spirit, and started the final counterattack.

Especially since the outer warships had been suppressed for a long time, they could finally feel proud at this moment, and turned from defense to offense without hesitation.

The sun rose to high in the sky, and it was already noon.

The waves shone in all directions, and the vast ocean shone with white light, like a barren desert.

There are only a dozen warships left in Zheng Zhibao's fleet, surrounded by ships of the Ming army, there is nowhere to escape, and it is difficult to fly!

"I, Zheng Zhibao, have been at sea for many years, and I am finally going to die in the bottom of the sea!" Zheng Zhibao looked back to the south, and a shell whizzed past him.

At this moment, he thought of the days and nights when he followed his elder brother in the huge waves, and thought of the huge family business that the Zheng family had worked hard for. Suddenly, he felt sad and thought to himself: "Chongzhen has a powerful navy." , the good days of the Zheng family are over..."

The gunshot rang out, and a lead bullet was embedded between Zheng Zhibao's eyebrows. When he fell suddenly, he glanced at the majestic Huang Degong jumping onto his boat.

Huang Degong stood in front of Zheng Zhibao, who was about to lose consciousness, and said condescendingly: "Never doubt my ability, Old Huang, never look down on the one-eyed dragon, and never look down on me, the Ming Dynasty!"

"Zheng Zhibao, His Majesty the Emperor asked me to tell you a word. Wherever the sun and moon shine, no matter land or sea, are the battlefields where our troops of the Ming Dynasty gallop!"

In this battle, the navy of the Ming army wiped out Zheng Zhibao's fleet and lost more than 20 warships.

But in this battle, the momentum of the Ming army's navy was played out, and our army's prestige was displayed!
The navy of the Ming Dynasty began to make its own voice on the ocean!
(End of this chapter)