Quanzhou Bay was the largest port in Fujian at that time, and it was also the place where the Fujian naval division of the Qing army was stationed.

In the Battle of Xiamen Sea two years ago, the Qing army's Fujian naval division suffered heavy losses. But later, under Shi Lang's "efforts", the Fujian sailors regained a certain vitality.

After Zheng Chenggong sent troops to the Northern Expedition, the Nanyang Navy aimed its attack at the Qing Army's Fujian Naval Division anchored in Quanzhou Bay.

The Nanyang Navy that participated in the Northern Expedition only had a group of small ships, and the fifth-class ships were all considered to be giant ships, and the real large warships were all concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, led by Albert, looking for an opportunity to attack Quanzhou Bay, and annihilating all the Qing naval divisions moored in the harbor in one fell swoop, so that Shi Lang forever cut off the idea of developing naval divisions.

Solving the Fujian Navy Division of the Qing Army, on the one hand, is to ensure that Zheng Chenggong can rest assured of the Northern Expedition and have no worries, and on the other hand, it is also to consider whether Zheng Chenggong, who is weakening day by day, can survive. If Zheng Chenggong has any three strengths and two weaknesses, perhaps within the Zheng family's army, there is a high probability of internal strife between the Qiongzhou army and the Zheng family's army, and only by annihilating all the naval divisions of the Fujian Qing army can we avoid Wang Xinyu confronting Zheng Jing head-on, and the Qing army will not take advantage of the weakness to enter and seize Xiamen and Kinmen.

There are two forts outside Quanzhou Bay, namely the Jiangjun Mountain Fort in the north and the Yandun Mountain Fort in the south, and the mouth of Quanzhou Bay is less than six miles, not only the waterway is within the fire coverage of these two forts, but also there are countless underwater hidden piles, barrages and other obstacles at the entrance of the bay.

"It's not easy for us to enter Quanzhou Bay and shell the Tartar fleet! But as soon as we entered, the Tartar fleet was not at all our opponent. Wu Haodong pointed to the chart and said to Albert.

Albert nodded: "Where do barbarians like the Tatars know what naval warfare is?" Their fleet is a fleet hiding in a bathtub! ”

However, it is not easy for the fleet to enter the bay, which is different from the waters of the Pearl River estuary and the water towns south of the Yangtze River. Whether it is the mouth of the Pearl River or the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, the estuaries of the rivers are intricate, and the Qing army cannot block all the estuaries, so those Tiandihui agents who are fishermen have a chance to take advantage of it. They can explore the waterway, find the underwater piles, and act as a guide for the Ming army when the Ming fleet arrives.

However, Quanzhou Bay is completely different, there is only one entrance to the sea, and Shi Lang and Huang Wu's green battalion ships are cruising nearby, strictly enforcing the ban on the sea, and once anyone is found close to the sea, they will be killed.

The Qing court in Fujian also enforced a very strict ban on the sea, and all fishing vessels were allowed to sail on inland rivers to fish. No sea. There is a ban on the sea there, and the fishing boats of the Tiandihui cannot get close to the mouth of Quanzhou Bay at all.

The heaven and earth of Quanzhou will not be able to help, then everything can only rely on the Nanyang Navy's own naval special forces.

It is precisely because the work of finding out the underwater situation is extremely difficult that the Nanyang Navy's attack on the Fujian Navy has not been launched until now, and it has been delayed since Zheng Chenggong began the Northern Expedition.

The task of finding out the underwater situation is done by the special forces of the Nanyang Navy, and every day when night falls, several large ships of the Nanyang Navy will come to the outside of Quanzhou Bay and release small boats. Taking advantage of the cover of night, he quietly rowed to Quanzhou Bay. When they arrived at the mouth of the bay, the naval special forces on the boat jumped into the water with a reed rod in their mouths, dived to the bottom of the water, and found out the underwater situation little by little. Find the location of the underwater pile.

After more than 10 days of exploration and exploration, the location of the underwater hidden piles at the mouth of Quanzhou Bay was basically found out and marked on the Quanzhou Bay chart of the Nanyang Fleet.

In order to destroy the dense underwater piles in Quanzhou Bay, the gun factory that has been relocated to Dongfan Island has rushed to produce a large number of mines. It is specially used to carry out blasting operations on these underwater piles. Although these mines are all mines filled with black fire, it is not a problem at all to blow the underwater stakes into pieces.

As for the Qing army forts at the mouth of Quanzhou Bay, Albert didn't pay attention to those forts at all. Although the artillery equipped on the Qing army's batteries were all red-coat cannons with long range and great power. However, these cannons do not have a high accuracy when firing at active targets on the sea surface at long distances. As long as the Ming army blew up the underwater piles and barrages, and the fleet rushed into the harbor at night while the tide was in place, it would be difficult for the Qing batteries to hit the fast-moving Ming warships.

According to the battle plan of the Ming army, the time of the attack was set for the 15th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar. The astronomical tide time in the waters around Quanzhou is around 0:00 a.m., when the water level is the highest, and the battleships can enter the harbor regardless of the existence of underwater piles.

After the fleet rushed into the harbor, it dropped mines and blew up the underwater piles, so as to prevent the tide from falling and the ships entering the harbor from hitting the underwater piles when the Qing fleet retreated after annihilating it.

The Ming fleet that rushed into the port of Quanzhou would use the powerful firepower of Western-style soft-sail giants to destroy the gate of the water village and the batteries on the edge of the water wall, and then send the fire attack ships in to ignite and burn the ships of the Qing army's naval division. Immediately after the success, the fleet retreated. Because by the time of entry, the mines had already blown up the underwater piles and barrages, and the fleet could quickly rush out of Quanzhou Bay, so that the Qing army batteries on both sides of the strait would have no effect, and the shells fired would become salutes to see off the Ming army.

On the night of the 14th day of the sixth lunar month, the Nanyang Navy fleet, which had been cruising in the waters near Kinmen and Quanzhou, quietly sailed to Quanzhou Bay under the cover of night.

It was a fleet of four fourth-class cruisers, six fifth-class cruisers, four armed Galen ships, two East India ships, six Haicang ships, eight Cangshan ships, thirty-six sub-mother fire attack ships, and a fleet of more than a hundred small boats.

The Nanyang Navy fleet reached the sea eight nautical miles from Quanzhou Bay, and the fleet dropped its anchor chain and anchored at sea. All the officers and men on board were patiently waiting, waiting for the moment of sortie to come.

"It's time to eat!" On the warships, the shouts of the leaders of the gang were heard.

In the dining room on the gun deck, barrels of rice, braised pork in large iron basins, dishes in pots and basins, and hot soup in large iron buckets were brought in. Prepare for a night battle, all the officers and men of the navy must be fed and ready to fight late at night.

It was late at night, and the moon hung high in the sky.

Albert pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time, the hands pointing to ten o'clock.

"Ready to go! At this time, the anchor was pulled, and when the tide rose to the highest, we had arrived in Quanzhou Port! Albert gave orders to his soldiers.

Huge Chinese and Western-style warships folded their anchor chains and hoisted their sails.

At about 0:20 a.m., the fleet, bathed in the silver moonlight, took advantage of the astronomical tide. Rushed into Quanzhou Bay. At this time, most of the Qing troops on the fort and in the naval division camp slept soundly, and the few Qing soldiers who stayed behind to guard did not notice the invasion of the fleet on the sea.

The tide had reached its highest point, and the hidden piles set up underwater could not stop the large warships from attacking.

After the fleet rushed into Quanzhou Bay, the Ming soldiers and soldiers lit the mine fuse of the pottery shell on several Cangshan boats behind the fleet, and then sealed the opening on the mine, and then threw the mine into the water.

This kind of ceramic mine uses a slow-burning fire rope as a timing fuse, and this fire rope has an accelerant inside. It burns on its own without oxygen. After the opening is sealed with cowhide, it can prevent water leakage. Mines have a heavier gravity than seawater, and when they are dropped from a ship, they sink to the bottom of the sea and sink around underwater piles.

The Cangshan ship, which had dropped mines, followed the fleet and also entered the harbor.

A few minutes later, the fuse was ignited by the slow-burning fire rope inside the mine, followed by an explosion of mines that had sunk to the bottom.

"Boom, boom, boom" a column of water rose on the surface of the sea. Huge waves rushed into the air, and mines exploded violently underwater. Unleashes a powerful shockwave. Because of the oppressive action of the seawater, a huge pressure was formed, and the wooden stakes buried in the water were blown to pieces, turning them into sections of wood. Float from underwater.

The sound of the explosion alarmed the sleeping Qing soldiers, many of whom didn't even have time to put on their clothes, so they got up from their beds, and some of them exclaimed: "Haikou! The pirates are coming! ”

In the camp of the Qing Army's naval division. Some of the awakened Qing soldiers rushed out of the barracks on the shore one after another, rushed to the dock as fast as they could, and boarded the boats that were neatly parked on the shore. But the Qing soldiers were in a hurry. Everyone's movements were different, and the Qing soldiers who boarded the ship didn't even have time to untie the cable, when they saw a big ship coming outside the sailor camp.

"Fire!" Wu Haodong gave an order.

The Drake took the lead, the first to strike, the cannon on the side of the ship spat out balls of fire, and rows of cannonballs smashed into the wooden gate of the Qing army's naval division. I only heard a series of sound of wood breaking, and the wooden gate burst into a pile of broken wood, which fell on the surface of the sea.

Fourth-class cruisers, fifth-class cruisers, East India ships, and armed Galen ships all crossed the hull and fired fireballs at the towers, barracks, generals, and small batteries on the shore.

The sound of artillery on the sea was loud, and the smoke of gunpowder was filled. With each round of shells flying out of the muzzles, the battleship was shrouded in smoke.

"Fireboat, rush in!" Wu Haodong asked his soldiers to pass the order.

Sixteen Western-style soft-sail giants were lined up and blocked at the entrance of the Qing army's water village to prevent small boats from escaping. At the same time, the Ming soldiers rowed the mother boat and rushed in from the blasted open gate.

The water village of the Fujian Navy Division of the Qing Army was already in chaos, and the Qing soldiers who were in a hurry didn't even have time to untie the cable. With the help of the moonlight in the sky, the Qing soldiers could see the sub-mother ships rushing towards them on the sea.

"The Koukou Fire Attack Ship is coming!" Someone screamed.

"Run!" All the Qing soldiers had only one thought left in their minds at this time.

Some turned around, abandoned their ships, and fled to shore; Some people were squeezed into the water in a panic, and some people jumped into the water in a panic, and none of the Qing soldiers thought of launching rockets to intercept the approaching fireboat.

"Ignition!" One of the Ming army officers in charge of the fireboat shouted.

The Ming soldiers on the mother ship lit the firewood and straw piled up on the ship, and these firewood were poured with fire oil, and when the torch was touched, the flames rushed into the sky, reflecting the entire sea surface as if it were day. Dozens of flaming fireboats rushed into the Sailor Village, spraying flames, and slammed into the Qing ships.

Just before the mother ship was about to hit the Qing warship, the Ming soldiers who were in charge of controlling the fire ship untied the cable of the mother ship, jumped on the boat, separated from the mother ship, rowed the boat, and quickly evacuated the Qing army's naval division Dazhai.

The boat left the Sailor Dazhai, and the flaming mother ship crashed into the Qing ships. After a while, the mother ship collided with the warship of the Qing army's naval division, and the iron nail on the bow of the ship pierced into the Qing army's big ship, connecting the fire ship with the Qing army's ship tightly. At that time, the southeast wind was in full swing, and the fire took advantage of the wind, burning more and more, and soon ignited the Qing ships.

The fire was raging, and the Qing warships that had not had time to untie the cables were set on fire one by one.

Standing on the deck of the Drake, looking at the flaming Qing Army Naval Division, Wu Haodong showed a smile on his face: "Now the Tartar Fujian Naval Division is all finished!" Not a single ship can run away! ”

In the following time, the fleet dispersed and acted freely, attacking some small water villages of the Qing army scattered in Quanzhou Bay.

The Haicang and Cangshan ships, which were responsible for dropping mines to carry out the blasting mission, had blown up all the underwater piles and barrages in Quanzhou Bay. At this time, these ships took on the task of recovering the fire attack soldiers. The Haicang boat and the Cangshan boat cruised outside the blazing Qing army sailor Dazhai, constantly retracting the Ming army boats that retreated from inside.

The Drake, with one of its own sister ships, cleaned up the Inner Harbor.

Two huge ships, one after the other, sailed past some individual Qing naval docks, and rows of cannonballs smashed through, often a row of cannonballs, sending a Qing ship to the bottom of the sea. And when they encountered some relatively small fish that slipped through the net, the giant ship of the Ming army directly collided with it, smashing the small boat of the Qing army to pieces.

After several rounds of cleaning, there are hardly a few fish left in Quanzhou Bay. Although there are still a number of ships of the Qing army and sailors hidden in the Jinjiang River, the rest are some small inland river boats, and their combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning at all, and Wu Haodong does not bother to enter the river to clean up those small boats.

"It's starting to recede, we need to retreat!" Drake reminded.

"The Tartar sailors are almost gone, and there are not many boats left, let's withdraw!" Wu Haodong nodded.

The Haicang boat and the Cangshan boat that the Ming army had recovered from the small boat had already retreated one step ahead and were heading towards the periphery of the bay.

The Jiangjunshan Fort and the Yandunshan Fort on both sides opened fire, and the Qing soldiers on the fort desperately poured cannonballs on the sea, trying to sink a few Ming warships and give a bad breath to the destroyed Fujian sailors. However, the Ming warships took advantage of the low tide to leave, and the speed of the ships was very fast, and none of the Cangshan ships and Haicang ships in the retreat were shot. However, a small sampan was accidentally hit and sank to the bottom of the sea on the spot, losing more than a dozen soldiers.

The Drake retreated with a group of Western-style soft-sail warships, and the Qing batteries on both sides opened heavy fire and bombarded them, and the Drake and other battleships retreated while counterattacking with naval guns.

The two sides engaged in fierce fire, and under the fire of the naval guns, the Qing troops on the batteries suffered heavy losses.

However, the Drake did not fall in love, but withdrew from Quanzhou Bay as quickly as possible. (To be continued.) )