Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 387

Verhofen was really in a panic right now.

It never occurred to him that the navy of the Ming Empire would hide in Penghu Bay to molest them.

He didn't even expect that the Ming Empire actually built a bastion in Penghu Bay.

Of course, these are not the most terrible.

The most terrifying thing is the range and rate of fire of the artillery of the Ming Empire.

The range of the Ming Empire's artillery is probably not twice that of their artillery.

The rate of fire of Ming Empire artillery is more than ten times faster than theirs!

He really couldn't figure out what was going on.

Could it be that all the warships of the Ming Empire were equipped with artillery weighing more than twelve pounds?
This is impossible!
You know, the gunboats on their buildings are equipped with six-pound cannons.

Originally, he thought that their Dutch cannon-casting technology was as invincible as shipbuilding technology.

Who would have thought that the Ming Empire's cannon-casting technology was even better than theirs!
At this moment, he was even a little afraid that the naval fleet of the Ming Empire would catch up.

Because the artillery of the Ming Empire is really terrible, even if they can defeat the navy fleet of the Ming Empire, they will suffer heavy casualties!
This is someone else's territory. If he suffered heavy casualties after the first battle, how could he gain a firm foothold here in the future?
Fortunately, people did not catch up.

It is the southwest monsoon at the moment, the south wind is stronger and the west wind is weaker.

In other words, they are still relatively fast coming from the south, but it is much slower to drive west.

How long does it take to drive a short distance on this map?
To be honest, Verhofen didn't know either, because he had never led a fleet to Penghu, let alone Formosa.

In this way, he led the fleet to sail westward until night fell and the shadow of the coastline was not seen yet.

He didn't dare to sail at night in this place, because he had never been to this sea area, and, moreover, the huge Formosa Island was probably not far to the west.

If they ignored it and ordered the fleet to set sail for the night, nine out of ten they would bump into the huge Formosa Island head-on.

At that time, the battleship will be considered lucky if it runs aground, and it is possible to crash directly into the cliff by the sea and smash it to pieces!
In this case, he naturally didn't dare to mess around.

He could only order all the warships to lower their sails and anchor, and stay on the sea for one night.

At this time, Zheng Zhihu, who was in charge of guarding the Dongfan Zhongwei sea area, was a little hopeless.

He had received a summons from Penghu a long time ago. The Dutch fleet had arrived, and he was beaten up in Penghu, and he was sent up to find a beating.

It is said that one of the Dutch gunboats was sunk!
The wheeled clippers he sent also spotted the Dutch fleet, and they drove straight towards Dongfan Zhongwei.

He also wanted the Dutchman to hurry up and come to Dongpan Zhongwei for a beating!
However, the speed of the Dutch fleet is really too slow, and the distance of about a hundred miles has not been reached for most of the day.

He had no choice but to continue to wait.

The next day, at dawn, Verhofen ordered the fleet to set sail.

It's not that he's in a hurry to find a beating, it's because he's not at ease.

The artillery of the Ming Empire really frightened him. He really wanted to find a harbor in Dongfan as soon as possible, and then quickly build a bastion fort or something so that the fleet could rely on it.

The feeling of floating in the sea really made him a little flustered.

Fortunately, they were not very far from Dongfan. The fleet had only set sail for less than an hour, and a black line appeared in front of them that could not be seen at a glance.

Obviously, Formosa is ahead.

Verhofen couldn't help raising his binoculars excitedly to scan.

He wanted to find a harbor near the opposite coastline, but in the end, the situation on the opposite side made him dumbfounded.

What did he see?
He vaguely saw that the coastline on the opposite side was indeed recessed a little, like a harbor, and there seemed to be a raised bastion in the harbor!
impossible?

What if the Ming Empire really built a bastion in Formosa?
At this time, he didn't know what to do!

If the opposite is really a bastion, how can he land?

Is it going around the coastline to find a place to stop?
I'm afraid it won't work anymore.

If the opposite is really a bastion, it proves that the Ming army has already fortified in Formosa. If people can build one bastion, can't they build more bastions?
If all the harbors that can be docked have bastions built by the Ming army, how can he dock and land?

He wished the towering bulge opposite him wasn't a bastion.

Unfortunately, things backfired. As the fleet approached, he finally saw clearly.

The towering protrusion on the opposite side is really a bastion.

What's even more frightening is that there are densely packed ships in the harbor below the bastion!
Is this the Ming Empire Navy fleet that came from Penghu at night or is it another Ming Empire Navy fleet?

Verhofen was dumbfounded on the spot.

It would have been fine if the Ming Empire navy fleet had come from Penghu in the night.

If it was another Ming Empire navy fleet, it would be over.

Combining two such fleets, his fleet probably won't be able to do it!

At this time, he was really in a dilemma, in a dilemma.

How to do it?

Is this the way back?
Can not be done!
He led the main force of the Far East Navy to arrive here after more than a month of hard work by sea.

In the end, without doing anything, someone bombarded and sank a large ship and gunboat for no reason, and then went back?
If he really went back like this, he, the admiral, would probably be done.

The question is, what if you don't go back?

Is it true that they ran all the way north along the southwest monsoon to support Dongpu?
Just kidding!
They don't think so.

It's none of their business that the Ming Empire invaded Japan, they just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

If you can take the opportunity to defeat the Navy of the Ming Empire, it would be best to take a stronghold in Formosa.

If not, they wouldn't really go to Japan to help them fight!
They are not hard-core allies, they are just using each other.

It is impossible for them to do such a desperate thing.

Therefore, it is impossible to run all the way north to support Japan.

The problem is that the bastion of the Ming army is on the opposite side, and there is also a fleet of the navy of the Ming Empire waiting for them under the bastion.

There must be no way to stop at this place!
It seems that he can only look south to see if there is a harbor where he can dock.

If not, it seems that he can only lead the fleet back to Batavia in a desperate manner.

He stood there thinking for a while, and finally gave the order: "Order, all warships turn around and sail south along the coastline."

It is said that the Dutchman's spinnaker can sail against the wind.

In other words, as long as there is wind on the sea, their sailboat can move, no matter which direction it goes.

Of course, if you go against the wind, the speed must be extremely slow.

Zheng Zhihu was dumbfounded when he saw that they were not close to the port at all.

How to do?
This cooked duck is going to fly!

To chase or not?

He hesitated again and again and decided to send the clippers to ask Yu Zigao for instructions.

When Yu Zigao received the news, he naturally ordered not to chase him.

Because the fleet led by Zheng Zhihu will definitely not be able to catch up with others.

It's a southwesterly wind at the moment, people's sailboats can sail south, but theirs can't.

That is to say, Zheng Zhihu led the fleet to chase, but he could only bring seven dragon teeth warships and more than two hundred small boats to chase, and the other galleons had no way to catch up.

In this case, if you catch up, nine out of ten will be turned around by the Dutch fleet and bite you back!

It is very likely that this is the Dutch trick to lure the enemy.

You can't do this trick.

Anyway, the speed of the Dutch sailing against the wind was extremely slow, and they didn't need to worry at all. It wouldn't take much time to catch up after he and Zheng Zhihu's fleet joined up.

Indeed, he arrived at Dongfan Zhongwei very quickly with just the Longya battleship and more than two hundred paddling boats.

About an hour later, he led the fleet to Dongfan Zhongwei and joined Zheng Zhihu.

At this time, the Dutch fleet had only sailed less than thirty miles.

In this case, you can follow.

Because he didn't chase others, he might just run away!

Soon, Yu Zigao chased after him with 400 buildings, gunboats and more than [-] small warships.

However, he did not lead the fleet to rush up to fight with the Dutch fleet. He just ordered the gunboats to keep a distance of about five miles, chasing and shooting at their buttocks, and beating them!
Verhofen is so angry!
If he turns around and goes back to fight with others desperately, he is going to get into other people's boats!
Hundreds of arson boats kept setting fire around them, they couldn't bear it at all!
In other words, if he dared to turn around, he would most likely be wiped out like Gao Wenlu!

The problem is, if he doesn't turn around and fight them desperately, they will use their range advantage to hang them to fight!

How to do it?

(End of this chapter)