I, Zhu Youjian: the first prodigal son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 62 Yang Maozi... stunned!
The first steamship in the Ming Dynasty entered the water. From the Longjiang shipyard in Jinling to the mouth of Songjiang Prefecture, it took less than eight hours for the waterway of six or seven hundred miles!
Although it was said to be going downstream, this speed still shocked Zheng Zhilong.

"King Zhenhai, please give your order on how to sail next." The corners of Xu Guangqi's eyes were also moist.

Standing at the bow of the ship, looking far into the distance, he said in a harsh voice, "This is our Daming's first steam turbine, please ask your lord to try it out."

While talking, the old man quietly wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, and muttered, 'The wind at sea is so strong'...

"Master Xu, how many miles does this steam turbine last?" Zheng Zhilong spread out a nautical chart, measured and deduced it with a special ruler, and asked casually.

"Because it is a trial voyage, there is no other cargo on board, it is all coal, so, as long as the steam turbine does not fail, it should be able to sail for a year or two..."

Zheng Zhilong was surprised again.

Sailing non-stop for a year or two is simply an artifact of navigation. Even the "Fairy Flying Boat" in myths and legends is probably nothing more than that?

"Then let's go to Taiwan and Pengbao Island," Zheng Zhilong said with confidence, and began to direct in person.

Dozens of students from the Daming Academy behind them consciously took out pens and paper and began to study on the spot, recording all the data of the ship's voyage in detail.

For questions that he doesn't understand, he will openly ask questions, and he doesn't regard the King of Zhenhai in front of him as a leader at all...

Zheng Zhilong nodded slightly, and admired Xu Guangqi and Song Yingxing even more.

This is what Daming Academy should look like.

Correspondingly, I admire Zhu Youjian, the idiot emperor who is far away in the capital.

"Really, it's not human..."

……

After one day and one night, the ship arrived at a sea area in the northern part of Taiwan Pengbao Island along the Zhoushan and Taizhou routes.

Zheng Zhilong, Xu Guangqi, Song Yingxing and others walked out of the cabin one after another, came to the bow, and looked at the distant Taiwan Pengbao Island. Everyone was very excited.

"Look, everyone, that's Taiwan Pengbao Island," Zheng Zhilong pointed to a large piece of land looming in the distance, and said with a smile: "This island was originally my Ming territory, but it has been occupied by foreign Maozi in recent years. Mining and pioneering on the island , to enslave the inhabitants of the island for its production;

A few days ago, my fleet fought a battle with foreign men and drove them away..."

"Alert! Alert!"

"There is a fleet to the southwest, and there is a fleet to the southwest!"

Suddenly, a sharp siren sounded from the ship's high tower, and an urgent message came from a special tin receiver at the bow.

Zheng Zhilong's face changed slightly, and he immediately picked up a special 'iron horn', which was a reverse sound transmission device invented by Song Yingxing, which could transmit the sound accurately and clearly to the high tower.

"Please inform me in detail of the fleet's logo, flag, exact position, speed, scale, and artillery configuration." Zheng Zhilong said in a deep voice.

"The opposing fleet is flying a five-color flag. According to its characteristics, it should be the Dutch dog fleet!"

"The opponent's fleet is nearly 32 ships, with a direction of [-] degrees south-southwest, a speed of about [-] knots, and a distance of about [-] miles from our side!"

"Among them, there are 22 warships, and the others are merchant ships!"

Tower observer reports.

The observers of the tower have undergone special training and are very familiar with various data. Using the "observation instrument" on the ship, they will quickly report a series of accurate figures.

Zheng Zhilong looked up at a wind-measuring flag on the mast, nodded slightly, spread out a nautical chart, and leaned over to stare.

He frowned slightly, and gave out one order after another casually: "Go to the northwest at an angle of 21 degrees, and move forward at full speed!"

"Starboard gun, load ammunition, elevation angle 42 degrees, ready to fire!"

"The tower observation continues, report the situation anytime, anywhere!"

……

Order after order was passed down, and the giant ship of Ming Dynasty turned its direction, like a huge monster, emitting thick black smoke, spewing out clouds of white steam, and headed towards the opposing fleet.

When Xu Guangqi, Song Yingxing and others saw a naval battle for the first time, everyone was extremely nervous, their faces turned slightly pale, and they clenched their palms tightly, making everyone sweat.

But no matter whether it was the teachers or students of Daming Academy, as well as the newly recruited soldiers and sailors, no one retreated.

Even those students took out pens and paper one after another and began to record various data.

A naval battle turned into an on-site teaching, which made Zhenhai King Zheng Zhilong feel a burst of emotion...

Soon, the Dutch fleet was in sight.

Apparently, the other party had also discovered the 'Daming Steam Turbine' a long time ago, quickly adjusted its direction and speed, and divided its troops into two groups to outflank this 'big monster' that had no sails and was emitting black smoke.

On a Dutch foreign-haired warship, a commander with a red beard and blue eyes looked confused and muttered to himself: "What the hell are the Easterners doing? There is no sail on such a large ship... "

On the ship, a large flag was hung brightly, with two five-clawed golden dragons embroidered on it, and a huge "Ming" character in the middle, which made the Dutch foreigners puzzled.

"A ship from the Eastern Great Ming Empire? This is impossible!"

"Didn't the Ming Empire implement a sea ban policy? How could their warships appear on the sea?"

"It should be Zheng Yiguan's new-style warship. Gentlemen, please be careful!"

"Don't be nervous, Zheng Yiguan is only a ship, can he still compete with our large fleet? Unless those Easterners are crazy..."

……

The Dutch foreign men talked a lot, commanded the fleet, and rushed forward eagerly.

On the other hand, the Daming steamer was very calm.

Zheng Zhilong is proficient in naval warfare. Under his command, the Daming ship took the upper hand, drew a perfect curve on the sea surface, avoided the front of the opposing fleet, and appeared in the best attacking position just right.

This operation opened Xu Guangqi and Song Yingxing's horizons, and they thought to themselves, they will send another group of students to follow Zheng Zhilong to study and observe the methods of naval warfare, and strive to train a large number of senior naval warfare talents as quickly as possible!

"The first layer of Group A artillery, prepare to—"

"fire!"

Boom boom boom!
As the ship trembled slightly, eighteen new-style cannons fired at the same time, spewing out eighteen tongues of flame and eighteen bluish-white smoke rings.

On the sea, a hurricane broke out.

In the blink of an eye, a Dutch warship rushing to the front was shot, followed by a series of dense and consistent loud noises, the flames were dazzling, and thick smoke billowed.

The opponent's warship was directly blasted into two pieces. Right under everyone's noses, it slowly tilted and smashed up astonishing waves as high as seventeen or eighty feet high.

"A layer of group A is loaded with ammunition, and a layer of group B prepares—"

"fire!"

Another round of artillery salvo fired, and the second Dutch warship was bombarded, and the flames shot up into the sky. The sailors on the ship cried for their fathers and mothers, and fell into the vast sea with the collapse of the ship, and were swallowed by huge waves in a blink of an eye. ...

The commander, captain, and sailors of the Dutch fleet were stunned.

This strange ship without sails is really too cruel.

Just one face-to-face, less than twenty breaths, destroying two big Dutch warships known as the number one in the world?
"Fire and fire! Bomb those Orientals to death!"

The commander of the Dutch fleet jumped into a rage and directly ordered a dozen warships approaching the 'Da Ming Steamship' to fire.

Reluctantly, Zheng Zhilong had calculated the wind direction, wind speed, and the speed of the two fleets in advance. Although the artillery of the opposing fleet fired, they only blasted huge water columns a dozen feet away from the starboard side of the ship.

Not a single drop of seawater splashed on the ship!

"Second-floor Group A artillery, get ready—fire!"

"Group B artillery on the second floor, get ready—fire!"

Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
Immediately afterwards, with two salvos of artillery, two more Dutch warships were destroyed.

Although it was not directly blasted, only a mere wooden warship of more than [-] meters was shot at a vital part by the salvo of eighteen new artillery pieces. How could there be any rescue?

The flames soared into the sky, and ghosts cried and wolves howled.

The Dutch foreign men who were showing off their might and aggressiveness just now fell into the water one after another, still roaring and cursing in their mouths.

"Damn oriental dogs, you wait to meet the wrath of my Dahe Fleet!"

"Zheng Yiguan, you devil!"

……

Standing on the high bow of the ship, Zheng Zhilong looked down at the Dutch warships, and issued an order with a deadpan expression: "Turn left seventeen degrees and move forward at full speed!"

"Port gun reloads, keep fighting!"

(End of this chapter)