Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 230 Liu Xiang’s destruction
Liu Xianglao could see that this battle was hopeless, but he would never be willing to lose. He invested all his ships and men in this battle. Even if he could escape alive, it would be of no avail. Zheng Zhilong was He would not let him go. The defeated soldiers in his own hands alone were unable to resist Zheng Zhilong's revenge.

At that time, even the Fronbots will probably not help him anymore, because he has gone bankrupt and has no use value for the Fronbots, and the Fronbots will definitely abandon him.

Thinking of this, Liu Xianglao's face became more determined. He decided to stay and fight Zheng Zhilong. Even if he was going to die here, he would drag Zheng Zhilong down.

Brother Liu Xiang immediately gathered the remnants, selected a group of death squads, and planned to let them drive the fireboat into Zheng Zhilong's fleet, and fight Zheng Zhilong to the death.

The so-called fire ship is a small sailboat or sampan loaded with sulfur, tung oil or gunpowder. On the bow is a row of long iron nails with barbs. The great thing about this fire ship is that once the ignited fire ship is hit, After boarding the enemy ship, the iron nails on the bow of the ship were pierced into the hull of the enemy ship, and they were tightly connected to the enemy ship. It was difficult to separate for a while, and the enemy ship was inevitably ignited by the fire ship.

The ships at this time were all wooden structures and were most afraid of fire. Once a fire broke out, it was difficult to extinguish. Therefore, the fire ship was very lethal in naval battles.

But the disadvantage is that the fire ship needs to be used with the wind to be effective, and the headwind will bite back on itself, and it is difficult for the person driving the ship to escape unscathed, so it is not a move that is often used unless it is absolutely necessary.

At this point, Liu Xianglao has reached the point of last resort, and now that he has stopped cherishing money, he immediately offers a price: "Whoever is willing to drive a fire ship into the enemy fleet will be rewarded with 50 taels of silver!"

As the saying goes, "There must be brave men under heavy rewards." Even if hundreds of people came forward and expressed their willingness to sacrifice their lives, Liu Xianglao did not give them a bad check, and immediately ordered people to take out real money and silver from the cabin to cash it. These people After getting the silver, they also boarded the fire ship, hung up the sails, and rushed towards Zheng Zhilong's fleet with the wind.

Liu Xianglao then summoned his cronies, who all had their swords and guns ready, and were ready to rush forward and catch Zheng Zhilong by surprise when his fleet was burned by fire ships.

But how could Zheng Zhilong let Liu Xianglao succeed?As soon as Zheng Zhilong saw hundreds of small sailboats and sampans sailing out of Liu Xianglao's fleet, he knew what these small boats were for. After all, Zheng Zhilong was also a man who had experienced hundreds of battles. These tricks in naval battles He knew it all too well.

Zheng Zhilong immediately ordered that all the artillery be aimed at these small sailboats and small sampans, and shoot with all their strength, not to let a fireboat approach.

But having said that, the distance between the two sides is only two or three miles, and the wind is favorable on Liu Xianglao's side. These small boats with sails are about to rush forward, but it will only take a while. Although Zheng Zhilong has many cannons, the gunners' shooting skills are also very good High, but it is not that easy to sink all Liu Xianglao's hundreds of fireships without landing.

The sound of cannons from Zheng Zhilong's side was heard one after another, and the fireboats launched by Liu Xianglao were blown to pieces one after another, especially those carrying gunpowder. After being hit by Zheng Zhilong's artillery, they exploded like a dynamite barrel. , blowing up all the surrounding ships.

However, there were still many fish that slipped through the net. With the help of the wind, they crashed into Zheng Zhilong's fleet. The warships in the front row were instantly ignited. The soldiers on the warships began to splash water to save them, but they were already ignited by the fireships. Think about it again. Putting out the fire was of no avail, so Zheng Zhilong ordered a distance between the ship and the ignited ship to prevent the fire from spreading.

Liu Xianglao had already planned to rush forward to fight Zheng Zhilong desperately, but he didn't expect that a few of the hundreds of fire boats collided with Zheng Zhilong's warships. Although several warships were also ignited, the surrounding All the ships moved aside, and the fire was quickly brought under control. Hundreds of troops were lost and five to six thousand taels of silver were spent, but the damage caused was very limited in the end.

Liu Xianglao suddenly became more awake and knew that even if he rushed forward, he might not be able to take advantage. So when he had the intention to retreat, he immediately ordered his men to turn around the ship and escape towards Dongfan Island.

Zheng Zhilong had been staring at Liu Xianglao's handsome ship for a long time. When he saw Liu Xianglao turning around and running away, he immediately ordered to start the steam paddle wheel and start filling the coal to burn the boiler.

Liu Xianglao kept watching Zheng Zhilong's movements with a telescope, fearing that Zheng Zhilong would catch up. Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong was against the wind. Without the sail, he had to rely on manpower. Zheng Zhilong's boat was larger than his own, but he suffered a loss in speed.

But the strange thing is that after Zheng Zhilong's eight war ships put away their sails, black smoke suddenly appeared on the big cylinder on the ship, and the smoke became more and more thick.

Immediately afterwards, the large waterwheel-like wheels on both sides of the ship began to rotate, paddling the sea water and beginning to push the war ship forward.

Although Liu Xianglao saw this kind of "monster" for the first time and couldn't figure out the reason behind it, as a big pirate who had been at sea all his life, he could still understand one thing, that is, Zheng Zhilong's ship had already headed towards He rushed over, and relying on those two huge wheels, the ship must be traveling much faster than himself.

Liu Xianglao could no longer think too much and began to desperately urge his men to row. His men were not blind, so they naturally knew that they had to row hard. But no matter how hard they tried, how could manpower match the machine? ?
The steam engines of the eight warships began to operate at full speed, and the speed of the ships was getting faster and faster. It was almost the same as the speed of the full sail state. This made Liu Xianglao and his men suddenly widen their eyes. , this matter has completely exceeded their knowledge. It is really difficult to understand why Zheng Zhilong's ship can travel against the wind and travel so fast. This is completely beyond their comprehension.

Liu Xianglao and his men have been at sea all their lives. It can be said that they have seen all kinds of ships. Although the Taixi people's ships are advanced, they are still within the scope of their knowledge. They know that the Taixi people The advantages of a boat lie in its hull structure and sail design, but what about Zheng Zhilong’s boat in front of you?

Just by emitting black smoke, those two big wheels can push the big ship across the sea?You say there is no power of ghosts and gods here, but they don’t believe it!
As a result, Liu Xianglao and his men were even more frightened. Seeing Zheng Zhilong's ships chasing after them, they did not dare to fire back and allowed Zheng Zhilong's eight war ships to bombard them. Random bombings, a wave of artillery fire, Liu Xianglao's handsome ship was blown into pieces.

Zheng Zhilong kept a close eye on Liu Xianglao. When he saw him putting down his sampan and trying to escape, he immediately sent people to arrest him and specifically asked his men to capture him alive.

When Liu Xianglao's men saw someone coming to chase them, they came to stop them, but Zheng Zhilong's men were armed with muskets. They fired in a row and were all knocked down.

Liu Xianglao was shocked when he heard the sound of firecrackers behind him. Generally, in naval battles, although firecrackers are also equipped, most of them are fired at each other on the ship. When they disembark and fight for their lives on the sea, no one is armed with firecrackers. Guns, because fire guns are very inconvenient to use and they are afraid of water, so there is no way to use them at sea.But the Ming army now uses flintlock guns, which are packed with gunpowder and bullets, packaged in waterproof oil paper and carried around the waist. Therefore, they can be used when fighting for their lives on the sea, but they will not work once they fall into the water.

Liu Xianglao didn't dare to stay on the sampan anymore, so he plunged directly into the water. His water quality was still very good, and he swam quite far under the water. However, as soon as he emerged, he saw a large fishing net falling from the sky. , accompanied by a exclamation, before he could react, he was pulled onto the boat by the tightened fishing net.

Liu Xianglao was wrapped in a fishing net and thrown on the deck. Zheng Zhilong stepped forward and sneered: "Liu Xianglao, you didn't expect that thousands of warships like yours can't compete with eight warships like mine." Even the galenic warship of the Flangji people is vulnerable to the steam paddle-wheel warship of the Ming Navy!"

However, Liu Xianglao spat and said: "Zheng Yiguan, you are so proud. You just relied on these strange skills to win by chance. If you had done it with real swords and guns, I would have thrown you away." Went to the sea to feed the fish!”

Zheng Zhilong was not annoyed after hearing this. Instead, he snorted coldly and said: "Liu Xiang, when you are about to die, you should stop using your words. You took advantage of me to conquer Japan and frequently attacked me, Zheng Zhilong." In the sea area of ​​​​the clan, you killed my tribe. Now you are even more audacious and dare to ambush me. Logically speaking, I should get rid of you and then quickly to set a warning for others.

But after all, you and I were brothers who kowtowed too much. Thinking of our old friendship, I can let you go and give you a way out. As long as you are willing to surrender to the Ming court, I can help you plead with Xiong Futai to spare your life. If the court is merciful, they might even reward you with an official position! "

"Bah -" Liu Xianglao cursed loudly, "Zheng Yiguan, stop pretending to be compassionate here. After all, don't you just want to use me to give you credit? You want me to There is no way to surrender to the imperial court! If you want to take credit from me, you can just use my head in exchange!"

Zheng Zhilong's face suddenly darkened, "You Liu Xiang guy, you are so ignorant of good and evil!"

After saying this, Zheng Zhilong waved his hand and said: "Come here, throw him into the sea to feed the fish!"

When Liu Xianglao heard this, he was shocked. He struggled in the fishing net and cursed: "Zheng Yiguan, don't you want to take credit from me? If you have the guts, you can kill me!"

Zheng Zhilong, however, didn't even look back. He walked towards the cabin with his back on his back and said in a cold voice: "My future is paved with military exploits. There is no need to use a small fish like you as a stepping stone!"

Later, Liu Xianglao was thrown off the deck by Zheng Zhilong's men. As a wave of waves stirred up, the hero fell. Nanyang and the East were all in the hands of the Zheng family, and the Zheng family became the real maritime overlord.

Zheng Zhilong then returned to his hometown in Jinjiang, Quanzhou Prefecture, and at the same time brought back the news that Mr. Liu Xiang had been wiped out. The members of Zheng's group immediately clapped their crowns to celebrate and held a big banquet for several days.

Zheng Zhilong then announced his intention to march south, expel the Taixi people, and regain Dongfan Island. However, not all of his brothers supported this. Zheng Zhihu even expressed opposition, believing that there was no need to fight with the Taixi people for the sake of the imperial court. Turn against each other and become enemies.

Although Zheng Zhilong accepted the imperial court's favor and became an official of the imperial court, at the same time he was also the largest maritime merchant in the East and Southeast Asia, and he also had a lot of business with the Thai and Western people, especially the cooperation and exchanges with the Helan people. More, even with Franji people, even though the two sides are obviously opposed to each other because of Liu Xianglao, in fact, they still have business dealings with each other.

But if the imperial court wants to regain Dongfan Island and starts a war with the Helan and Franji people, once the two sides start fighting, the Zheng Group's business will also be greatly affected.

However, Zheng Zhilong had already made up his mind, so not only did he not listen to Zheng Zhihu's obstruction, but he also reprimanded him in public.

If it were before, perhaps Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhihu would have very similar ideas, but now he has completely changed his attitude towards the imperial court. The battle against Japan allowed him to re-understand the strength of the imperial court and the current emperor, then It is serious and decisive, killing decisively.

Zheng Zhilong also has a lot of business in the Japanese country. Logically speaking, he should not turn against the Japanese people. Once he turns against the Japanese people, he will no longer be able to stay in the Japanese country. Naturally, his business and industry in the Japanese country will not be guaranteed. However, if the Japanese country is to be destroyed, Complete conquest and occupation is another matter.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong was not afraid that the imperial court would destroy the Japanese state. He was worried that the imperial court and the Japanese state would be in a stalemate, and he would feel uncomfortable being caught in the middle. Fortunately, the current emperor was a decisive and decisive master, and he conquered the Japanese state in just half a year.

Now that the emperor is going to attack the Taixi people, Zheng Zhilong believes that the results of the Taixi people may not be any better than those of the Japanese. It is estimated that the emperor will not give up until he defeats them.

It is precisely because of this that Zheng Zhilong is not afraid of offending these Thais and Westerners. Maybe after the war between the two sides, the direct business relationship between the two sides will be cut off, but after they are conquered, they will kneel down and beg themselves to reward them with food!

Furthermore, now that the emperor values ​​himself so much, he has specifically entrusted himself with the important task of recovering Dongfan Island. If he doesn't seize the opportunity, wouldn't he be a fool?Business has to be done, money has to be earned, but nothing can compare to being reused by the emperor and the court. This is the big event that really makes the Zheng family prosper!

With Zheng Zhilong's firm belief, all members of the Zheng Group began to devote themselves to the preparations for the recovery of Dongfan Island. Some of the brothers were responsible for repairing ships, some were purchasing armaments, some were raising money and food, and some were Gathering troops and horses, we were very busy.

The 12th year of Tianqi has gradually entered the end of the year, and the new year is approaching.

(End of this chapter)