The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 785 Combat
The newly appointed captain of the "Liaoyang", Zheng Zhihu, jumped the hardest, declaring that he must catch a few Englishmen and cut them off...

Huang Yong decided to fight the lion against the rabbit. He and his old partner, Lieutenant Yang Dacheng led nine battleships, Huang Chunsheng and Huang Yi led nine ships, Shen Xianyi and Shi Daxuan led nine ships, and besieged the English fleet whose position had been determined from three directions.

Zheng Zhilong led more than a dozen generals to serve as staff on Huang Yong's flagship "Hanjiang", and his fifty warships were handed over to his younger brother Zheng Zhibao to command.

Zheng Zhilong's order to Zheng Zhibao was to keep up with the Longwu navy fleet as much as possible, and strive to catch up and kill an English warship, so that the Longwu navy could see that the Zheng family's fleet was not in vain.

During this period of time, Wedell was proud, because he discovered that the English warships might be invincible in the far east, and the junk ships were too weak, and a round of salvos could often seal the victory.

The Portuguese were arrogant and respectful, and now they offered to assist them in purchasing goods, and they did not charge handling fees, and served King Charles I for free.

This is more or less the same, Knock Mountain Zhenhu is not only playing well, but even the Portuguese are well-behaved.

Weddell was even more arrogant, that's why he condoned the British army's robbery ashore in order to improve food.

Three hundred strong men who hadn't seen a woman for several months didn't care about military discipline when they went ashore. The crimes they committed were so numerous that they could be crucified.

If you don't die, you won't die. They slaughtered Ming civilians and abused women. If the Longwu Navy let these robbers, executioners, and criminals leave safely, wouldn't it be a waste of reputation?

Wedel was eating the fat chicken he had snatched from the flagship, applauding repeatedly, but it was a pity that it was too little to eat for a few days. He had ordered Wilson to lead his men to find another place to go ashore to continue the robbery in a few days, and asked him to change a group of people to go ashore Relax, relax.

The three hundred bastards who participated in robbery, murder, and rape didn't know that they would be punished immediately. They returned to the battleship and boasted about how Oriental women are like, which led to more British troops clamoring to go ashore for robbery.

Therefore, Wedel considered giving everyone their turn once. It would only be fair if he did so. He even planned to take a trip by himself. According to Wilson, oriental women don’t have that stink...

Suddenly the star officer rushed in to report, he found that the fleet flying the dragon flag was outflanking the sea from three directions, among which several huge warships are currently not in the British Isles.

How is this possible? Wedell didn't believe it at all, and immediately went to the bow of the ship to look into the distance with a telescope.

In the clear sky, dozens of warships came with the wind and waves, which made the colonists feel trembling in fear, and many big question marks appeared in their hearts.

It is obvious that the Western countries do not have such a flag. Could it be that it is the navy of Emperor Ming?
At this time, there was a panic on the six English warships. The sailors, sailors, missionaries, carpenters, painters, etc. who traveled thousands of sea miles to the east were very familiar with the warships. I understood that I was being targeted by a terrifyingly powerful enemy.

The warships on which the English sailed was a small society with everyone, and their technical strength was enough to repair the battered warships like new. They even brought carpenters, blacksmiths and painters with them.

But don't underestimate these craftsmen, they can all play with matchlocks, and they are more ruthless than the regular army when they go ashore to rob.

Seeing the strong and huge ships of the hostile fleet, Weddell dared not be arrogant anymore, and hurriedly murmured orders, asking the flag bearers to play flags and ask for negotiations.

I don't know if the opponent turned a blind eye or didn't understand the English semaphore, the outflanking warships still came at full speed with full sails, and when they approached three nautical miles, they formed a line of battle as if they were connected end to end, and went straight into the English fleet.

Wedell's hope of negotiating was shattered, and it was obvious that he couldn't escape if he wanted to escape. The enemy had formed a siege from three directions.

He hastened to issue a battle order. The English soldiers on the voyage were all experienced veterans, well-trained, and everyone had more than ten naval battle experiences.

The officers of the English fleet were not only Captain Weddell, but also Captain Wilson and four lieutenants.

They are the captains of five warships, and they are all officers with rich experience in naval warfare. They have all fought against the Spanish Armada and the Dutch Combined Fleet.

In this era, once there is basically no skill in fighting at sea, it is more powerful and persistent than fire, the big overwhelms the small, and there will naturally be quality when there is quantity.

Huang Yong, Yang Dacheng, Shen Xianyi, and other navy generals chased merchant ships, warships, and pirate ships on the sea for the first time. After that, it became the norm. They experienced more than ten naval battles, large and small, every year. Hundred battles.

The formation of battle lines interspersed makes the fire of the Longwu Navy exert its greatest power. Originally, the number of fire on our warships was no less than that of the English warships.

Due to the joint attack of the array, three or five Longwu navy warships bombarded an English warship, which made the local advantage overwhelming.

The number of firearms of the Longwu Navy is seven or eight times that of the English, and there are many Francophones that do not need to be pulled back to reload, and they can empty [-] guns one after another.

The enthusiastic young players completely ignored the counterattack of the enemy's ship fire, loaded and fired at the fastest speed, and the intensive bullets hit the English with heavy losses.

The "Liaoyang" under Zheng Zhihu's management is in the battle sequence between Huang Chunsheng and Huang Yi. He is still in the learning and adaptation period when he first arrives. Huang Xinquan, a part-time chief mate in his early twenties, is the actual commander.

"Liaoyang" is facing the enemy on the port side. There are a total of 36 guns that can shoot at the enemy ship Charlie. The largest caliber is three 32-pound long-barreled cannons, and 24 guns are large Franglers. Five guns.

Zheng Zhihu watched his warships keep on fire, and saw the English counterattacks gradually thinning out. Knowing that the victory was sealed, he carried Minie, who had been practicing for more than a month and equipped with a bayonet, to participate in the jumping ship.

The governor of the town, Huang Xinquan, stopped Zheng Zhihu in time, and said: "Guandai Zheng, your duty and mine are to jointly manage the 'Liaoyang' well. If there is no downsizing to the point where officers have to fill the vacant positions, any senior officer can act as a Ordinary soldiers are violating military orders."

After getting along for more than a month, Zheng Zhihu admired this first mate who was five years younger than him, and learned a lot of new knowledge. Seeing that he was willing to take risks and participated in the seizure of the ship and was stopped, Zheng Zhihu actually felt warm in his heart.

Obviously, the "banner army" did not regard him as an outsider, and he was not allowed to be a vanguard and put himself in a dangerous situation.

(End of this chapter)