Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 213 The Battle of Nagasaki
After Zheng Zhilong listened, he vaguely felt that there was something wrong with Li Banghua's combat arrangement, but he couldn't think of anything wrong for a while. He just asked: "If we want to go around to the east side of Jeju Island to intercept the traitor Mao Wenlong's escape eastward, As an escape route, Xiaguan can also send a fleet to go around the north side of Jeju Island. The south side of Jeju Island is the sea area of ​​​​Japan, so it is not very safe, right?"

Li Banghua looked at Zheng Zhilong and asked with a smile: "Does General Zheng think that those small countries dare to attack our Ming fleet?"

Zheng Zhilong quickly clasped his fists and saluted: "I don't dare, I will never have such intention!"

It is no secret that Zheng Zhilong has close ties with the Japanese state, so the more this happens, the more he should disassociate himself from the Japanese state in official matters.

Now that the arrangements were in place, the Ming fleet naturally pulled anchor and set sail immediately, with thousands of warships sailing towards Jeju Island.

However, Zheng Zhilong, who was the vanguard, found that not even one of Mao Wenlong's warships could be seen along the way, and he couldn't help but mutter in his heart, "Since Mao Wenlong has fired at us, he naturally knows that the imperial court wants us to go." To suppress him, why did his fleet disappear after firing cannons?"

But doubts are doubts. Now he is carrying military orders. He is not in charge. When one person has the final say, the court's errands cannot be delayed at all. If you miss the military plane, you will be punished.

While Zheng Zhilong urged his men to speed up the boat, he looked ahead with a telescope until he could see Jeju Island. He did not see half of the boat in this area of ​​the sea.

Zheng Zhilong still felt that "everything is unpredictable, there must be monsters", and worried that Mao Wenlong had set a trap and ambush, so he quickly sent out several small speedboats to the nearby sea to conduct reconnaissance and warning. Once an enemy ship appeared in the nearby sea, he would rush to the fleet. warning.

Then Zheng Zhilong ordered the entire army to prepare for war. The fleet was getting closer and closer to Jeju Island. If Mao Wenlong's fleet did not appear again, Zheng Zhilong's troops would land and fight.

As for Li Banghua, at this time, the leading fleet responsible for detouring around the southern waters of Jeju Island to the east side of Jeju Island to cut off Mao Wenlong's east escape route had also arrived in the southern waters of Jeju Island. It may be to prevent Mao Wenlong from discovering his whereabouts, so the fleet deliberately It is very far away from Jeju Island, more than a hundred miles away. It can be said that it has gone around in a big circle.

But in this way, when the fleet moves eastward for a certain distance, if it wants to keep more than a hundred miles away from Jeju Island, it will be very close to the Goto Islands of Japan, and the Goto Islands are affiliated to Nagasaki can be said to be a barrier of Nagasaki on the sea.

At this time, Nagasaki was no longer an open and lively port city, but an atmosphere of intense tension. Since Mao Wenlong's last revengeful robbery of Nagasaki, the Japanese shogunate had not yet made up its mind. A large army must be assembled to attack Mao Wenlong and avenge him, but warships and troops have also been summoned to protect Nagasaki.

Now the Japanese once again saw a fleet of hundreds of Ming-style warships sailing toward them with great momentum. The warships immediately gathered in the waters around the Five Islands Islands, preparing to fight against the enemy.

Because the warships under Mao Wenlong were no different from the warships of the Ming army at that time, and even though Mao Wenlong had openly rebelled against the Ming Dynasty, the clothes and armor of his men had not changed. They were still the same old ones, but the clothes and armor of the soldiers were worn out. The armor of North Korean soldiers was haphazardly patched up, which just looked nondescript.

But how could the Japanese people see this subtle difference? They saw that the fleet they were dealing with was heading towards the Goto Islands and Nagasaki. The people on the ship were all tense and aggressive. It seemed at first glance that they were coming with bad intentions. How can the Japanese people control so much?

Since ancient times, when encountering each other on a narrow road, the brave one wins, and the one who strikes first is the stronger one. The Japanese people couldn't help but fired directly at the Ming army's fleet.

However, the Japanese cannons were not very good. Although they also bought some red cannons from the Franji and Helan people, the number was not large. There was basically no equipment on the warships, and they were all in the hands of the main force of the shogunate. As a result, all the Japanese cannonballs fell on the sea in front of the Ming fleet.

Naturally, the Ming army had already discovered the Japanese fleet ahead, but they neither signaled to them nor turned, and just headed straight towards the Japanese fleet.

When the Japanese opened fire on the Ming army's fleet, the Ming army's fleet immediately launched a counterattack. The small warships in the front gave way to both sides, and the large fortune ships in the rear turned and aimed their broadsides at the Japanese fleet, and then There was a crackling shelling.

These warships are now equipped with the earliest batch of Hongyi cannons that were retired from Liaodong. Although the range and power are not as good as the new steel-cast improved versions, they are more than enough to deal with the Japanese warships.

After this wave of shelling by the Ming army, a dozen boats in the front row of the Japanese were seriously injured, six of which were beyond the possibility of saving. The soldiers and sailors on the boats jumped into the water and swam to other boats and the shore.

As soon as the Ming army opened fire, the Japanese became even more certain that the incoming force was Mao Wenlong's fleet. The entire army immediately attacked, and thousands of large and small warships sailed towards the Ming army's fleet.

The vanguard force of the Ming Army is mainly composed of old-fashioned warships from before the Ming Army, with limited combat effectiveness and a small number. Even if it is equipped with some old-fashioned Hongyi cannons, due to the long firing interval and limited power, it is difficult to target the entire fleet. Forming a fire cover, there is no obvious advantage at all compared to the Japanese fleet.

Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the Ming army generals had already sent clippers to report the news to the main forces in the rear.

Li Banghua led the main fleet of the Ming army, which was already following closely behind. The eight warships sailed slowly on the sails. Because the power of the steam paddle wheel was limited, the sailing speed was not much faster than the power of the sails, so the eight warships did not The sail is removed entirely and instead a combination of both powers is used.

After receiving the news that the Ming army ahead was at war with the Japanese, Li Banghua immediately ordered the soldiers to turn on the steam engine, start the steam paddle wheel to accelerate, and advance at full speed to support the front line.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong's fleet had already docked on the north coast of Jeju Island. Not to mention being blocked by Mao Wenlong's fleet along the way, there was not even a single defender on the sentry tower on the coast.

Zheng Zhilong felt even more strange now. He didn't know what kind of "empty city strategy" Mao Wenlong was singing about.

Zheng Zhilong did not dare to take risks, so he first sent 1000 people to land on the island to investigate the situation. While he was sitting on his handsome boat, he closed his eyes and thought about it. From the morning when Li Banghua arranged the battle plan, Zheng Zhilong felt that something was wrong. The situation along the way was really strange, and he had to take a closer look to see where the problem lay.

After a while, Zheng Zhilong suddenly opened his eyes and shouted: "Not good!"

The subordinates heard the sound and hurried forward to ask: "General?!"

Zheng Zhilong looked panicked and didn't bother to explain. He grabbed his men's wrists tightly and said, "Quickly send someone to sail south in a fast boat to inform the generals of our vanguard fleet not to start a war with the Japanese!"

The subordinates were also frightened by Zheng Zhilong's state. Although they could not figure out what was going on, they hurriedly nodded in agreement: "I obey, I will do it now!" As soon as the subordinates ran out, Zheng Zhilong slapped him again. Thigh felt that the arrangement just now was really inappropriate, so he summoned another subordinate, took a token from his waist and handed it to him, and told him: "Take this token and go to Nagasaki quickly. Tell the Japanese people not to attack rashly if they encounter the Ming fleet, they are sent by the Ming court to suppress bandits, not Mao Wenlong's people!"

After everyone left, Zheng Zhilong sat back on the chair with a cold sweat on his face. He felt that it might be too late at this time. If he was unlucky, the two sides might have already started fighting. Zheng Zhilong had to start thinking about the worst-case scenario. What should he do after the situation happens?

Naturally, there was no suspense in the naval battle around Nagasaki. When the Japanese warships first rushed up, the two sides were evenly matched, each suffering casualties. However, as the Ming army's main fleet arrived, the Ming army's leading fleet He immediately left the warship and began to turn around and run back.

Before the Japanese could react and go to pursue them, they saw eight war ships approaching. They were all large Galen ships and Karak sailing ships of the Taixi people. However, a closer look revealed that they were not the same. These eight ships were all different. There is also a "big water wheel" installed on each side of the warship, and a large chimney stands above the deck, emitting billowing black smoke.

Some people wonder, isn't the steam white? Why does the steam ship emit black smoke? Because the steam is used to power the ship, and very little is emitted. The chimney is mainly filled with dirty exhaust gas caused by burning coal.

The Japanese were dumbfounded and frightened. They knew how powerful the Taixi warships were. Now that eight ships came at once, they suddenly lost all fighting spirit.

As soon as the warship came within shooting range, Li Banghua ordered to fire at the Japanese warship.

First, the steel cannon on the front deck with the longest range fired shells. Because the distance was too far to ensure accuracy, it fired explosive shells.

Eight cannonballs exploded over the Japanese warships, exploding hundreds of small bombs. Some landed on the Japanese warships and exploded, instantly igniting fire. Some fell into the sea. If they had just landed on the sea If it explodes, it will inevitably blow a big hole out of any warship that is unlucky enough to be right next to it.

The Japanese people suddenly burst into tears and screamed. They no longer cared about chasing the Ming army fleet and ordered them to turn around and run back. Those warships that had been blown up jumped into the sea and swam back desperately.

Li Banghua did not continue the pursuit, but sent people to count the losses of the Ming army. His face was livid, because such a big noise was made, and Mao Wenlong might have been alerted, and Mao Wenlong had already been prepared.

At this moment, the men sent by Zheng Zhilong to deliver the message arrived. He originally came to deliver the message to the generals of the Ming army's vanguard, but now that the coach Li Banghua was here, he had no choice but to get on the ship and report the news to Li Banghua.

When Li Banghua heard that it was Zheng Zhilong's men who came to deliver the letter, he thought there was something wrong with Zheng Zhilong, so he hurriedly summoned him in. However, when he heard the news that Zheng Zhilong asked this person to bring, Li Banghua was furious: "You said Zheng Zhilong asked me to The Ming army should not attack the Japanese. Now it is clear that the Japanese came to provoke our Ming army first. Is Zheng Zhilong a Ming or a Japanese?"

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong's subordinates were shocked immediately, and hurriedly said: "Calm down the anger of the army. General Zheng has his heart for the imperial court and is devoted to the Ming Dynasty. He is just worried that our fleet will start a war with the Japanese people, which will only cause damage." …”

Li Banghua waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't explain for him. Let me ask you, where is Zheng Zhilong now?"

Zheng Zhilong's men had no choice but to reply: "At this time, General Zheng should have landed on Jeju Island."

Li Banghua was slightly stunned and asked: "What about Mao Wenlong? Has Zheng Zhilong defeated him?"

Zheng Zhilong's men shook their heads: "No, we have not encountered Mao Wenlong's fleet along the way. Even Jeju Island is undefended."

Li Banghua was stunned for a moment. He really felt that things were too strange: "Is this true?!"

Zheng Zhilong's men hurriedly saluted and said: "Everything my subordinates said is true, I don't dare to deceive the army at all!"

Li Banghua did not dare to hesitate any longer, and immediately ordered to go north to Jeju Island and land on the south coast of Jeju Island.

An hour later, Li Banghua's fleet arrived at the south coast of Jeju Island. Sure enough, not a single defender could be seen along the coast. Li Banghua immediately sent the Ming army to land and explore. After confirming that there was no enemy ambush, the entire army docked and landed. Jeju Island.

Li Banghua took out the prepared map of Jeju Island and directed the Ming army to march all the way to the plains in the northwest. This is the horse farm, and maybe they can capture a batch of war horses here.

Even though the Ming army marched lightly and simply, the road was rugged and the marching speed was difficult to speed up. It was not until the afternoon that they finally arrived at the horse farm area. No one was guarding the area. Only some Korean horse farmers were still working. When they saw the Ming army After that, they were all so scared that they huddled on the ground.

Li Banghua's soldiers had strict military discipline and did not kill indiscriminately.

Li Banghua ordered people to appease these North Korean horse farmers and left 500 people to garrison the horse ranch. Then he selected hundreds of horses and rode towards Jeju City. At the same time, he also sent people to Jeju City to investigate the situation. .

The soldiers sent to Jeju City first came back soon and reported to Li Banghua: "Inform the military gate that General Zheng has occupied Jeju City and is now waiting outside the city."

After hearing this, Li Banghua narrowed his eyes slightly, but his face remained unmoved. He calmly ordered the soldiers behind him: "Be vigilant and beware of enemy ambush!"

The men immediately held their hands on the handles of the guns and knives. At this time, not only Li Banghua, but also Li Banghua's men began to suspect Zheng Zhilong.

Li Banghua soon arrived in front of Jeju City. After the reconstruction by Mao Wenlong, the gates and walls of Jeju City were as tall and strong as the cities in the Ming Dynasty. They were no longer low walls and slopes that could be easily broken through.

From a distance, he could see Zheng Zhilong waiting one mile in front of the city gate, with only a dozen followers beside him. Li Banghua relaxed a little, knocked his stirrup, and quickened his pace to catch up.

(End of this chapter)