Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 229 Interception
In the six months since Zheng Zhilong left, Liu Xianglao, a large merchant who was active in the southern waters of the Guangdong Chief Envoy, began to frequently expand his power eastward. In other words, the Zheng family's sphere of influence began to be eroded by Liu Xianglao.

Liu Xianglao and Zheng Zhilong were originally brothers who were worshippers. They were one of the "Eighteen Zhi" armed maritime merchant group formed by Zheng Zhilong. Later, the two had a dispute over whether to submit to the imperial court, and it was difficult to unify their opinions. In the end, Liu Xiang Lao refused to accept the imperial court's offer and turned against Zheng Zhilong.

Subsequently, the two sides began to fight for control of the South China Sea, and each could be regarded as his own master. After Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the imperial court, he naturally wanted to subdue the pirate Liu Xianglao for the imperial court, and Liu Xianglao began to cooperate with the Franji people. Naturally, To fight against the Daming Navy at sea, the combination of personal and public hatred, the two sides are naturally incompatible.

But after all, after Zheng Zhilong became an official, he had the support of the imperial court. Naturally, his troops had more money and food. Even though Liu Xianglao could get some artillery support from the Franji people, he could not compete with Zheng Zhilong, so he has always been in a dilemma. Downwind, the South China Sea gradually showed signs that Zheng Zhilong's family was dominant.

However, Zheng Zhilong took away the main warships and troops of the Zheng Group by sending troops to attack the Japanese this time, which can be regarded as giving Liu Xiang an opportunity. Naturally, Liu Xiang will not miss this opportunity to counterattack and immediately lead the The tribesmen began to invade eastward.

Zheng Zhilong's younger brothers Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Zhiyuan and Zheng Zhifeng led their troops to resist and counterattack. However, after all, they had lost their main warships and troops, and they were still unable to compete with Liu Xianglao. The two sides fought several battles. In ten games, the Zheng Group lost more than they won.

Liu Xianglao has gained a lot in the past six months, his strength has greatly increased, and his people have gradually expanded.

When the news of Zheng Zhilong's victorious return came back, several leaders of the Zheng Group breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, they also looked forward to avenging their eldest brother and avenging their previous shame when he came back.

After Liu Xianglao heard the news of Zheng Zhilong's return, he did not show the slightest fear or nervousness. Instead, he showed disdain and said disdainfully: "Zheng Yiguan still has the nerve to say that he returned victorious. I think He obviously returned home in a disastrous defeat!

He wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife, and relied on the court's navy to get rid of Mao Wenlong and avenge himself. However, he did not expect to steal the chicken but lose the rice. Mao Wenlong failed to get rid of him. Instead, he had to serve as a spearman for the court and took his own life. The territory of Japan has been taken away!
I wanted to get some credit for helping the imperial court fight against the Japanese, but in the end, I let a young general take the first credit. It was really like trying to fetch water from a bamboo basket but in vain. I worked hard for more than half a year, but in the end Mao didn't get anything! "

In Liu Xianglao's view, his strength has improved a lot in the past six months, and he is now different from what he used to be. He has the strength to fight Zheng Zhilong!

As for Zheng Zhilong, his expedition to Japan in the past six months must have resulted in the loss of troops and generals. He also lost a lot of troops and horses. Moreover, he had to travel long distances. He was a exhausted army, and his strength was definitely not as good as before.

Therefore, if the two sides start a war now, their chances of winning will be greater.

Therefore, Liu Xianglao began to prepare for war, preparing to intercept Zheng Zhilong and annihilate Zheng Zhilong and his main force of the Zheng family in one fell swoop. If he won this battle, then the South China Sea would be his world. !
Liu Xianglao led all his warships and troops all the way east, detoured from the south of Dongfan Island, and temporarily stationed in the chicken coop in the north of Dongfan Island.

At this time, the northern part of Dongfan Island was occupied by the Franji people. The Franji people built a city of San Salvador in Chicken Coop, which was a square strong city with bastions on the four corners. Later, they built a city of Santo Salvador in Huwei. Mingo City.

The Franji people naturally support their collaborator Liu Xianglao, so this time Liu Xianglao wants to intercept and kill Zheng Zhilong, the Franji people naturally also fully support them. Not only did they give Liu Xianglao many new Thai and Western artillery, The only Galen warship was also sent as reinforcements, and all the ships were full of battle-hardened Fran robot expeditionary forces.

This made Liu Xianglao feel that he was determined to win this battle, so after the supply of Dongfan Island was completed, he led his troops and went north together with the Galen warship of the Franji people to intercept and kill Zheng Zhilong.

Although Zheng Zhilong obtained eight steam paddle-wheel warships in one go, the other warships under his command were still sail-powered after all, so Zheng Zhilong did not use paddle-wheel power to move forward at full speed, but still used sails as power and slowly headed south.

Although the eight steam paddle-wheel warships were a new thing to Zheng Zhilong before, in the past six months, he has been the vanguard general in the expedition against the Japanese country. These eight steam paddle-wheel warships have been commanded by him, so He has been able to command the eight steam paddle steamers with ease.

Seeing that we have passed the coastal waters of Zhejiang Chief Envoy and entered the coastal waters of Fujian Chief Envoy. Going further is the territory of the Zheng Group. However, one of his subordinates came to report that a weapon was found in the southern sea. The large fleet seems to have come with bad intentions.

Zheng Zhilong took out his telescope and looked towards the south. Sure enough, he found nearly a thousand large and small warships sailing towards this direction in a menacing manner, and there was also a Galenic warship from the West among them. When Zheng Zhilong saw all the warships on board, After planting Liu Xianglao's flag, he understood everything instantly.

In the past six months, Zheng Zhihu and the others have written to him many times, informing him about Liu Xianglao's frequent expansion eastward and war with the Zheng Group. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong is also well aware of Liu Xianglao's movements. I had been holding my breath for a long time, planning to settle accounts with Mr. Liu Xiang when I came back. Unexpectedly, Mr. Liu Xiang actually came to my door.

If it were before, he only brought the main force of the Zheng Group. Although these subordinates and warships were elites of the Zheng Group, after all, they were at a disadvantage in terms of ships and numbers, and were intercepted and killed by Liu Xianglao. It's more ominous than good, not to mention that Liu Xiang's fleet also has the Galen warship supported by the Fran robot.

But the difference now is that he owns eight steam paddle-wheel warships, each of which is more powerful than the Galen warships of the Franji people. Therefore, he is not afraid of Liu Xianglao, and even secretly said It's a good idea for Liu Xianglao to come and save you the trouble of finding him yourself.

Liu Xianglao naturally saw the situation on Zheng Zhilong's side and was full of curiosity about the eight behemoths in Zheng Zhilong's fleet. Although these ships looked very similar to the Galen warships and Karak warships of the Westerners, they were There is a big difference. Not only does the boat have a large column (chimney) erected, but there are also two large waterwheel-like wheels on both sides, which is really weird.Although he had an absolute advantage in the number of warships, these eight strange warships still made Liu Xianglao feel unsure. He did not dare to attack rashly, so he had to ask the Franconian officers on the Galen warship.

Officer Fran's robot looked at the eight warships in Zheng Zhilong's fleet with a telescope. He felt quite strange and felt very unsure. But on the surface, he said with disdain: "Don't worry, these are just Ming people." The level of shipbuilding technology for the imitated Chinese warships is too low, and they can only add some strange parts to ensure the performance of the warships. This is the first time I have seen adding wheels to the ship, it is really ridiculous!"

When Liu Xianglao saw that the Franji people had said this, he naturally no longer worried, and he no longer had so many worries in his heart. He immediately ordered to advance at full speed and attack Zheng Zhilong.

When Zheng Zhilong saw Liu Xianglao approaching him quickly, he immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for battle. After all, Zheng Zhilong's troops were trained by the regular army and acted in an orderly and orderly manner. In addition to the eight main battleships, All the ships came sideways and aimed their broadside guns at Liu Xianglao coming from the south.

Subsequently, Zheng Zhilong ordered the front deck cannons of the eight main warships to aim at the Galen warship in Liu Xianglao's fleet, and started shooting with solid lead bullets.

Liu Xianglao's fleet had just rushed to the area ten miles ahead of Zheng Zhilong's fleet. The distance between the two sides was still far away, far from the distance where they could engage in firefights. Even the Thai-Chinese artillery equipped by the Galen warships of the Franji people, None of them reached the effective range, and Zheng Zhilong fired at such a distance. Isn't this a waste of shells?
Seeing white smoke rising from the front decks of the eight warships in Zheng Zhilong's fleet, followed by deafening cannons, Liu Xianglao and Officer Fran were stunned. They wanted to laugh at Zheng Zhilong. It was a foolish move to waste cannonballs, but he couldn't laugh. Instead, he was shrouded in an ominous premonition for no reason.

Because Zheng Zhilong was not a novice in naval battles, he would not commit such a meaningless and stupid act. Moreover, Zheng Zhilong's fleet moved in an orderly manner, and the eight battleships also fired in unison. It was obviously a carefully considered action.

But it didn't matter what Liu Xianglao and Franji thought, because they then watched eight black cannonballs fly in front of their eyes, three of which hit the Galen war ship they were on. On the bow and front deck of the ship, three shocking holes appeared in the hull instantly.

After the first round of shooting, on Zheng Zhilong's side, the gunners on the eight warships calibrated the shooting angle again, and then fired again. Officers Liu Xianglao and Fran had not yet recovered from the shock of the warship's cannon. Then they saw white smoke rising from the eight warships on Zheng Zhilong's side again.

The deafening sound of artillery finally woke them up from their sluggish state. Officer Fran shouted, "Repair the ship quickly and fill the breach! Quickly!"

Liu Xianglao turned around and ran away, intending to leave the Galen warship of the Franji people and return to his handsome ship.

Liu Xianglao's fleet was advancing towards Zheng Zhilong's fleet at full speed. When they were hit, they were still seven or eight miles away. They were on the edge of the range of the steel cannons on Zheng Zhilong's eight battleships, so regardless of accuracy and power, All are restricted.

But now the distance between the two sides is less than five miles, and the gunners on Zheng Zhilong's eight battleships have also calibrated the shooting angle based on the first shot, so this time seven of the eight shells hit the Franji's Galen battleship. Another one flew past the hull of the ship and overturned a small warship behind it.

Two rounds of shelling hit Franji's Galenic warship with ten shots. The mast was broken and the hull was damaged. Seawater began to pour into the hull desperately. This huge Galenic warship was lost in an instant. The value of rescue began to slowly sink below the surface of the sea.

Officer Fran was still shouting hoarsely, but his soldiers no longer obeyed his orders and were all running away in a hurry. Some put down the escape boats and disembarked to escape, while others had no choice but to jump into the sea without grabbing the escape boats. Swim towards Liu Xianglao's ship.

Zheng Zhilong saw through the telescope that Liu Xianglao's most threatening French warship had been sunk by him. He couldn't help laughing loudly, and then he could slowly eliminate Liu Xianglao's other ships.

The distance between the two sides is already very close. The southwest wind that originally made Liu Xianglao shout "God help me" has now become Zheng Zhilong's assistant. Liu Xianglao's ships are speeding towards Zheng Zhilong's fleet, trying to stop it. None of them could do it. As for Zheng Zhilong, he had already made preparations for battle. He only waited for Liu Xianglao's ship to come within range and started shooting.

Liu Xianglao began to yell at his men to quickly turn the rudder and adjust the sails. If the hard sails could not be turned, they should quickly retract the sails to slow down and stop the ship. Zheng Zhilong's eight warships were so powerful that even the Flang Machine Even the human Galen warships could not withstand two rounds of shelling, and these ships under his command were given for nothing, and rushing up now is tantamount to death.

However, Liu Xianglao's men are all pirates after all, not regular troops. Can a group of ragtag men still be expected to remain calm and calm in the face of danger?Obviously it's impossible. Now anyone who is not short-sighted knows that this battle is bound to be lost. So who is willing to rush forward and die?
So in an instant, everyone began to flee for their lives. The ships with better performance began to turn the rudder, adjust the sails and turn to escape to the east. Those ships that were smaller and unable to stop simply abandoned the ship and jumped into the sea, heading towards He swam away with the ships that could escape. Before the two sides officially started fighting, Liu Xianglao had no soldiers left to fight.

Only then did Liu Xianglao realize that the equipment and combat effectiveness of the two sides were no longer at the same level. Zheng Zhilong, with his current advanced warships and artillery equipment, no longer needed to engage in melee at sea like before, jumping on board to fight with swords and guns, and It was time to line up the warships and blast them with artillery.

But Liu Xianglao didn't have that many artillery, and most of his artillery were small and inferior artillery. There were too few warships that could evenly match Zheng Zhilong.

With the wave of Zheng Zhilong's command flag, the warships under Zheng Zhilong began to fire in unison. The sound of the artillery came one after another. In addition to the solid lead bullets, there were also many explosive bombs with gunpowder inside. Liu Xianglao's warship was blown up in an instant. Destroyed and ignited, the flames shot into the sky and turned into a sea of ​​​​fire.

(End of this chapter)