The Battle of 649 begins, the 'Sea Pioneer'

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As Yu Zong successfully conquered the castle of the red-haired ghost, Lu Yuan ordered the fleet warships to sail into the port with peace of mind, and then took Lu Hai, Hong Zhen and other generals to St. Domingo's Castle.

"Subordinate Yu Zong, see the general!"

After Yu Zong learned that Lu Yuan was coming, he immediately took several generals from the Marine Battalion to greet him at the gate of the castle.

"Haha, get up, everybody get up."

Lu Yuan personally helped Zong up, laughed and patted him on the shoulder, with a satisfied look in his eyes, and said, "General Yu Ying, you fought a good battle.

I have made a good start for your Marine Battalion, and also for our Navy Fleet, and when I go back, I will report to the Lord truthfully and ask for credit for your Marine Battalion. ”

"Thank you, General, this is also relying on the assistance of the fleet, but with our marine battalion, we can't defeat this fort of the red-haired ghost."

Yu Zong said modestly.

"Okay, let's stop talking at the door, let's go, go into the castle, and let us see this turtle shell cultivated by the red-haired ghost."

Immediately, Lu Yuan and other White Dragon Army naval generals entered the castle.

In this battle, the Marine Battalion of the White Dragon Army paid the price of more than 220 people killed and more than 130 wounded, annihilated more than 520 red-haired ghosts, and the rest were captured.

At this point, the castle of San Domingo, the red-haired ghost fort at the mouth of the Tamsui River, successfully changed hands and fell into the hands of the White Dragon Army, allowing the White Dragon Army Navy to successfully obtain an excellent foothold on the north bank of the Ryukyus.

"This castle has been so badly destroyed by our artillery fire?"

When Lu Yuan led people into the castle, he found that most of the buildings in the castle of San Domingo had been destroyed by artillery fire at this time.

The castle of San Domingo, which is not very large, is full of ruins and rubble, and the western wall of the castle has been blasted through two large gaps.

Even the walls that still stand are mostly dented and cracked, and this wall is considered to be in ruins, and it must be repaired again.

Secondly, the southern city wall has also suffered a lot of damage, except for the east and north walls, which are intact.

"After today, this castle will be renamed Tamsui Castle, and it will be the first garrison of our navy on the north coast of the Ryukyus.

I will leave a thousand men to garrison here, and I will be responsible for the repair of the castle, and the recruitment of laborers with food and silver.

And the captured red-haired ghosts, don't let them be idle, all of them will be used as coolies to repair the castle for us. Lu Yuan gave instructions.

"Yu Zong, Tamsui City will be handed over to you, how about it?" Lu Yuan finally decided to stay with Zong to guard Tamsui City.

"Yes, his subordinates will definitely live up to the general's expectations and guard Tamsui City."

"Well, Lu Hai, Hong Zhen, let the fleet officers and soldiers land and rest for two days, they have been floating on the sea during this time, and they are probably very tired.

Then, send three fast bird boats and let them go south along the Ryukyu Strait, to the area of the Penghu Islands, to explore the movements of the Zheng family fleet and the red-haired ghost fleet in the south.

I don't know, at this time, the Zheng family fleet and the red-haired ghost's fleet have fought, our fleet is not easy to come out and lie down, but we can't miss the show. ”

"Yes! The subordinates will go down and make arrangements. ”

Immediately, Lu Yuan let the fleet rest in Tamsui Port for two days, during which the three fast bird boats he sent also went south to the waters around Penghu overnight.

The so-called fast bird boat is actually a new type of bird boat that has been improved by the boatwrights of Qingjiang Shipyard.

It's just that the hull of this kind of fast bird ship is narrower, the bow is sharper, the hull is narrower, it belongs to the sailboat, the tonnage is not large, and it does not carry artillery, which makes them extremely fast.

This kind of fast bird ship is also the fastest ship in the White Dragon Navy fleet at this time.

Of course, such fast bird ships, while gaining terrible speed, do so at the expense of attack and defense, and they are basically not capable of attacking at sea.

Li Zixiao asked the senior shipwrights of Qingjiang Shipyard to position them very clearly when improving this kind of fast bird boat.

These Clipper ships are not expected to participate in the battle, they will be used as 'sentinels on the sea', and will be responsible for exploring the surrounding waters for the fleet, finding the location of the enemy fleet, etc.

………………………………

On the other side, on April 11, that is, when Lu Yuan led the naval fleet of the White Dragon Army to capture the castle of San Domingo in Tamsui with red hair.

In the south, Zheng Zhilong has also personally arrived in the Penghu Islands.

At this time, the Zheng family's largest port on the Penghu Islands was Magong Port on Penghu Island, the largest main island, and it was also the main place where their huge fleet was stationed at this time.

After Zheng Zhilong personally went to the Penghu Islands to command the war, he immediately ordered to send warships to quickly trace the red-haired ghost fleet.

In just two days, Zheng Zhilong replenished all the money, food, materials, and artillery shells that the Zheng family's fleet lacked, and the main force of their Zheng fleet could attack at any time.

"Third brother, how are the soldiers preparing?"

"The fleet is ready, the morale of the men is high, and they are ready to fight. The trouble is, until now, we haven't found any more fleets of red-haired ghosts. ”

Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhilong, standing in Magong Port on Penghu Island at this time, were talking.

"When was the last time you spotted the Red-Haired Devil's fleet?"

"Four days ago, a detachment of our fleet of twelve, on a routine patrol south, met five warships of red-haired ghosts in the waters west of Qimei Island.

We engaged in an hour-long exchange of fire, and in the end we were sunk and wounded two, and one of the ships was heavily damaged, and the enemy was the first to withdraw from the battlefield.

Since that day, the several detachments of the fleet we sent out have not found any trace of the red-haired ghost fleet, and I wonder if they have returned, and they are in the port of the Ryukyu Daikin. ”

"In the vast sea, it is too difficult for us to find such a fleet of red-haired ghosts.

In this case, we will simply attack the Yellow Dragon and attack the port of the red-haired ghost in the Ryukyu Lords and their Geranza Castle again.

When the time comes, I don't believe that their fleet will not come back, and then force their fleet to fight us in a decisive battle. ”

Zheng Zhilong's eyes were deep and he said.

After hearing this, Zheng Hongkui next to him nodded slightly: "Well, this is a good way, maybe the fleet of red-haired ghosts has indeed returned to Hong Kong at this time." ”

"Let the third child lead a few more sub-fleets, and explore the several waterways around us again, don't let any red-haired devil's fleet take advantage of the loophole.

Three days later, the main fleet left the port and headed east to the south along the Penghu waterway. ”

In the end, Zheng Zhilong made such a decision.

"Yes, I'll do it."

…………………………………………

And at this time, in the sea area south of Wang'an Island in the south of Penghu Island, in a hidden bay, seven red-haired ghost ships were quietly moored here.

This place is too hidden and difficult to be discovered, these seven red-haired ghost warships have been hiding here for two days, and they have still not been discovered by the Zheng family's fleet.

"Colonel, why are we leaving here, we have been here for two days, if we continue to stay, we will be discovered by the Zheng family fleet."

On one of the largest red-haired ghost battleships, the first mate of the warship asked Bard, the captain of the captain of the seven-haired ghost warship fleet.

"Bob, you are too anxious, be patient, the Zheng family fleet wants to discover us, how can it be so easy!

Even if it is discovered, we can find out in advance before their fleet arrives, and I have arranged manpower on the northern island, and once we find traces of the Zheng family's fleet, we will be ready to retreat at any time.

This time, since we have found the port of the Zheng family's fleet on this archipelago, if we don't take the opportunity to mess with him, it is not my Bard style.

Anyway, there is still more than half a month before Major General Bruce gives us the latest time to return home, so don't worry, wait a few more days to see. ”

Bud, who was sitting next to him, was obviously more patient, and at this time he didn't look nervous, and said very leisurely.

"Hey, I'm also worried, we're hiding under the enemy's nose now, in case we are discovered, if we can't evacuate in time, we'll be finished."

First mate Bob sighed and said.

I also have to say that this small fleet of red-haired ghosts is indeed lucky enough, and two days have passed, and there are still no Zheng family ships to search here, so it is even more impossible to find them.

It's really too close to Penghu Island, and the Zheng family didn't expect that there would be such a bold red-haired ghost fleet that would dare to hide under their noses.

This may be the so-called 'black under the light', and among the red-haired ghost generals, there are also people with high skills and courage.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, on April 14, Zheng Zhilong personally led a huge fleet of 260 warships of all kinds, and finally set out from Magong Port on Penghu Island to conquer the city port of the red-haired ghost in Ryukyu for the second time.

At the same time, Zheng Zhilong left his third brother Zheng Hongkui, who would lead the second fleet to leave Hong Kong three days later and follow them on the expedition.

The second batch of fleets led by Zheng Hongkui also had more than 60 ships, but most of them were for supplying sea ships to supply Zheng Zhilong's main fleet.

At this time, you can see how terrifying the true strength of the Zheng family's fleet is at this time, Zheng Zhilong actually mobilized more than 320 warships to participate in this battle.

At present, in the entire Ming Dynasty, but in terms of the number of warships, there is really no one who can surpass the Zheng family, and Li Zixiao is far from enough at this time.

Last year, when Zheng Zhilong first conquered the red-haired ghosts, he only brought about 250 warships with him, and he annihilated the red-haired ghosts' fleet in one fell swoop.

It's a pity that when they landed and attacked the two fortified forts on the shore of the red-haired ghosts, they suffered a defeat, so that the battle could not be completely won.

And this time, even if the red-haired ghost came to a reinforcement fleet of nearly forty warships, and even in the tonnage of a small number of warships, this time the red-haired ghost fleet came to aid, far exceeding the original fleet that the red-haired ghost was annihilated before.

Although the red-haired ghost fleet that came to the aid this time was more than one-third less than the original fleet of the red-haired ghost in terms of quantity, it really can't be said that their combat power was weaker than the previous fleet.

The strength of a fleet is only one of the small factors, and the rest is also crucial in terms of the size of the warships, the power of the guns, the proficiency of the sailors, and so on.

At this time, the Zheng family was facing pressure from Li Zixiao from the north, so this time Zheng Zhilong was ready to finish his work in one battle and completely wipe out all the red-haired ghosts in the Dayuan area of Ryukyu Island.

In fact, it stands to reason that compared to the red-haired ghosts in the Ryukyus, the Zheng family is more equivalent to a local battle this time, and the time has dragged on for a long time.

Although the economic losses to them are somewhat large, in terms of military affairs, they will have an advantage over the red-haired ghosts.

After all, the red-haired ghosts on Ryukyu Island can only get support from the west or the nearest Batavia, which is too far away from the Zheng family in the Quanzhou area.

Don't look at the red-haired ghost now that there is another fleet that is not weak, but as long as Zheng Zhilong is well prepared, he is basically invincible.

Time drags on for half a year, and their Zheng family will win this battle, and when the time comes, just by dragging it out, they can drag the red-haired ghost to death.

Of course, if this kind of delaying and attrition is really used, the losses caused to the Zheng family will far exceed those of the red-haired ghosts.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong is more willing to use the stronger strength in his hands at this time to quickly solve this battle in one battle.

And Li Zixiao suddenly sent a fleet south in an attempt to get involved in this battle, which directly urged Zheng Zhilong to speed up the implementation of his idea of a quick battle.

On April 15, the huge fleet led by Zheng Zhilong appeared in the waters east of Ryukyu Island and was discovered by the red-haired ghost reinforcement fleet in advance.

Bruce, the commander of the red-haired ghost reinforcement fleet, could only order the whole fleet to leave the port at this time to meet the Zheng family's fleet.

In the face of the strong Zheng family fleet, Bruce, the commander of the red-haired ghost fleet, ordered the whole fleet to retreat south, and it seemed that he did not want to fight a decisive battle with the Zheng family fleet.

How could Zheng Zhilong easily let go of the other party and split a fleet to intercept the red-haired ghost fleet, and the two sides played a chase drama at sea.

Thundered!

More than a dozen nautical miles southeast of Ryukyu Island, the dense Zheng family fleet was pursuing the fleet of the red-haired ghosts, and the two fleets were far away from each other in the chase, bombarding each other with artillery.

More of the shells fell into the sea, stirring up a large number of waves, and there were not many warships that were really hit, and there were more on the Zheng family's side.

Because the ships on the Zheng family's side are more dense, even the Zheng family's fleet can't catch up with the red-haired ghost's fleet, and the other party's sailboats are faster and more flexible.

The red-haired ghosts have a smaller fleet, only more than thirty ships, which is more suitable for this kind of sea chase battle, although they have fewer ships, their firepower is not weak at all.

Because each of their warships carried a large number of guns, the largest of which was the 'Sea Pioneer', had a tonnage of 1,600 tons.

Even the tonnage of the new-style three-masted gunboat of Lu Yuan, the largest in the White Dragon Army fleet at this time, was more than a hundred tons, far exceeding the three-masted gunboat of the Zheng family.

The 'Sea Blazer' is also the flagship of Commander Bruce of the Red-Haired Devil Fleet, and has five layers of artillery.

The cabin has two floors, one deck, and two floors of the ship, and a full forty-eight guns, which also exceeds the new three-masted gunboat under Li Zixiao.

The largest of these guns was about the same caliber as the sixty-four-pounder guns of the White Dragon Army, but they had four guns on one ship.

It is this large battleship that has always made Zheng Hongkui more fearful.

(End of chapter)