Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 246 First Battle
Zhu Tianqi had no choice but to close the Krypton Life Store and gave Li Banghua an order to prepare all the Ming Dynasty Navy for war. All warships sailed to the South China Sea to prepare for war with the Thai-Western Fleet.

Now the two newly built warships have officially entered service. Together with the Galen warship captured by the Helan people in the battle to regain Dongfan Island, the Ming Dynasty has a total of eleven steam paddle-wheel warships. .

The Galen warship that captured the Helan people was obviously larger than the previous eight steam paddle-wheel warships of the Ming Dynasty Navy, and it was equipped with twice the number of artillery. Therefore, the Ming Navy's attack on The previous eight steam paddle steamers were also modified and strengthened to some extent.

Although there are paddle wheels on both sides, it cannot be equipped with dozens or even hundreds of artillery like the Western warships, but it has more than doubled the number of artillery, which can also be used to a certain extent. to narrow the firepower gap with the Taixi warships.

However, from Zheng Zhibao’s experience in the naval battle with the Helan people in the waters of Dongfan Island, it can be seen that compared with the Taixi navy, the combat level and overall quality of the Daming Navy are indeed lacking. The Taixi people are already very skilled. The ground relies on the artillery of battleships to conduct flexible operations at sea, but the Ming Dynasty Navy is still better at the more primitive maritime melee and close-range gang fighting.

With the current number of warships and combat capabilities of the Ming Navy, if they were to confront the Taixi fleet head-on at sea, they would definitely be at a great disadvantage and may not be able to withstand the powerful firepower of the Taixi fleet.

Therefore, if the Ming Navy wants to defeat the Taixi fleet, it must rely on the advantages of its own warships, that is, the flexibility of the steam paddle wheel and the extraordinary range of the steel cannon. Just like Zheng Zhibao's previous victory over the Helan warship, he used steam Use paddle wheel power to keep a sufficient distance from the Helan people's warships so that the Helan people cannot hit themselves, and then use giant steel cannons to attack the Helan people.

Using such tactics and tactics will naturally put the Ming Navy in an invincible position, but the disadvantage is that such tactics and tactics can only rely on a giant steel cannon on the front deck, and all the artillery equipped on the side will be lost. Even though the giant steel cannon is very powerful, the firepower of just one cannon is too limited, which will greatly extend the combat time.

You know, at that time, Zheng Zhibao used eight steam paddle-wheel warships to besiege two Helan warships. It took some twists and turns and time to defeat the Helan warships, but now he has to use eleven steam paddle-wheel warships to defeat the Helan warships. When the ships came to fight against thirty larger European and Western warships, the Ming Navy really had no advantage at all.

Therefore, Zhu Tianqi also made plans to fight against the Taixi people and sent all the large and small warships of the Ming Navy. Although these warships may be cannon fodder for the Taixi warships, But it is enough to form a certain containment effect on the Taixi fleet. In this way, they have no time to flexibly control the warships to avoid the bombardment of the steam paddle wheel warships, which can be regarded as indirectly improving the hit rate of the steam paddle wheel warships. Rate.

In addition, Zhu Tianqi also felt that the Ming Navy should also undergo a complete overhaul. The Ming Navy had never experienced a decent sea battle. This time it fought against the Taixi people. Although the casualties were bound to be heavy, it was also It is indeed a good opportunity to accumulate combat experience.

Those old warships are also expendable. It would not be a pity if they were destroyed. They will just build new warships in the future to make up for it. In the future, the Ming Navy will no longer be able to win by numbers as it is now. As the saying goes, " "Soldiers are not many, but elites." The same goes for ships. In the future, the number of warships in the Ming Navy may decrease sharply, but each one must be an elite warship.

Although the Ming Dynasty now has thousands of large and small warships, more than [-]% of them are old ships. They can still be used to fight against nearby pirates. But if they really want to fight against the Taixi fleet, they are all old ships. They are no longer cannon fodder, but the court still has to spend a lot of money to support and maintain these old antiques every year. This money is really spent too much.

Therefore, the current naval battle with the Taixi people is indeed a good opportunity to train troops and exchange blood.

Li Banghua soon led the Ming Navy southward. When they arrived at Dongfan Island, Zheng Zhilong naturally received him warmly. The two had been partners when they fought in the Japanese country, and now that they were together again, they naturally lost a lot of politeness. , the two of them are already very familiar with each other.

It's just that Zheng Zhilong's identity is different now. He is no longer an ordinary coastal defense commander, but the chief envoy of the Dongfan Chief Envoy Department, and concurrently serves as the commander of the Dongfan Capital Chief Envoy Department. The emperor's title of Dongfanbo seemed to have surpassed Li Banghua, the governor of coastal defense.

However, in terms of positions, Li Banghua, the Governor of Coastal Defense, is the top leader in charge of the Ming Dynasty Navy and the entire coastal defense system of the Ming Dynasty. In other words, Li Banghua is the highest officer in all matters related to maritime operations. Therefore, this battle with Taixi, Naturally, Li Banghua is still the coach, and Zheng Zhilong still has to cooperate as his subordinate.

Fortunately, the two of them got along very well before and cooperated very well. They didn't care about fighting over who was the coach. Zheng Zhilong also gave Li Banghua face and praised Li Banghua as the coach of this battle, and was willing to Act under its account.

Li Banghua was also respectful to Zheng Zhilong. He took the initiative to consult Zheng Zhilong on everything and discussed and negotiated with him. He was very kind.

After some discussion, the two decided to let Zheng Zhibao serve as the vanguard general to lead eleven steam paddle-wheel warships to fight against the Taixi fleet. The remaining ships were commanded by Zheng Zhilong, who was responsible for coordinating the attack of the eleven steam paddle-wheel warships. The retreat route of the Taixi fleet has been blocked.

At the same time, the Taixi fleet has also arrived in Manila. Their first target is Dongfan Island, because the Ming army on Dongfan Island has fewer troops. If they attack Dongfan Island from the east, there is no need to Entering the waters of the Ming Dynasty, the chance of being besieged by the Ming army is also lower.

As long as Dongfan Island is occupied, Dongfan Island can be used as a base to launch further attacks on the mainland of Ming Dynasty and gradually attack the inland of Ming Dynasty.

This is much more reliable than their previous plan to directly attack Haojing'ao and attack the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the South China Sea was basically controlled by the Ming Dynasty at this time. If they marched from the South China Sea and launched an attack on the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, Then it is very likely that they will be surrounded by the Ming army. Even though they are not afraid of the Ming Navy's siege with their strong ships and cannons, they also feel that casualties are inevitable.

The Taixi people are not as vast as the Ming Dynasty, and have a large population. For them, soldiers are very scarce, and the loss of any one is enough to make them feel distressed.

Zheng Zhilong could naturally imagine that the Taixi people would probably make Dongfan Island their first target of attack, so during this period he had stepped up his efforts to send ships to conduct detection and warning in the nearby waters.Finally, ten days after the Taisi fleet arrived in Manila, Zheng Zhilong received news from his subordinates that he discovered the Taisi fleet two hundred miles southeast of Dongfan Island. Dozens of ships occupied the area heading east. Fandao is coming.

After Zheng Zhilong heard the news, he immediately informed Li Banghua of the situation. Li Banghua naturally did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly mobilized all the troops and warships of the Ming Navy to the waters near Dongfan Island, and then headed south in the direction of the Taixi fleet. Meet the enemy.

The people of Taixi were not surprised at all when they saw the Ming Navy suddenly appearing in front of them. After all, they were not here to attack in the first place. Now that the Ming Navy appeared, they did not have to worry about being ambushed by the Ming Navy. As for fighting with They are not worried at all about the Ming Dynasty Navy's combat problems. After all, in their view, the Ming Dynasty Navy's warships are lagging behind and there is nothing to worry about.

When he was still twenty or thirty miles away from the Taixi fleet, Zheng Zhilong ordered all warships to stop advancing, and then asked Zheng Zhibao to lead eleven steam paddle-wheel warships to take the lead in meeting the enemy.

The Taixi people did not expect that this time the Ming army would no longer use their numerical advantage to stalk them in the previous naval battles. Instead, they would send their only eleven imitation Galenic warships to challenge them, let alone Eleven warships have no advantage or chance of winning against thirty warships, not to mention that these warships are still imitations. How can they be the opponents of serious Galen warships?

However, the strength of the Ming army's warships greatly exceeded the expectations of the Taixi people. As soon as the distance between the two sides entered within ten miles, the Ming army's warships fired in unison. However, the Taixi people, who underestimated the enemy, did not expect that the artillery of the Ming army's warships could After hitting so far, they didn't even move away to avoid it. As a result, even though three warships were hit by the cannon, although they were not hit in vital parts, they still caused some damage.

Now the Taixi people did not dare to underestimate the enemy. They quickly dispersed, turned the rudders one after another, adjusted the sails to turn the warship, and aimed the side of the warship at the eleven steam paddle-wheel warships of the Ming army, waiting for the Ming Dynasty When the Ming army's warships entered their firing range, they fired together and blew the Ming army's warships into pieces.

However, the Ming army's warship once again exceeded their expectations. A huge cylinder on the hull of the Ming army's warship began to billow black smoke. Only then did the Taixi people realize that the Ming army's warship The warships did not unfurl their sails from beginning to end. At this time, the Ming army's warships not only did not continue to move forward, but instead slowly retreated, as if they were deliberately keeping a distance from the Taixi fleet.

When the Ming army was doing this series of actions, the artillery on the bow never stopped firing. Although the Taixi warship was consciously avoiding it, after the ship turned sideways, the target became even bigger. , and with thirty warships gathered together, it was impossible not to be hit by the Ming army's cannons.

Now the Taixi people were anxious. They knew that this would not work. If the Ming army did not enter their own range, no matter how many artillery they had, it would be in vain. They could not hit the Ming army's warships at all, but the Ming army's artillery The range is longer, but it can hit itself. In a situation like this where it can only be passively beaten, the result will definitely end in the disastrous defeat of one's own fleet.

When they didn't know what to do, the Taixi people could only keep distance from the Ming army's warships. But when they came, it was a tailwind, and now they want to retreat, but it is a headwind. Fortunately, the Taixi people's warships were all Being a well-trained navy, they began to move in a zigzag pattern, slowly retreating, keeping a distance from the Ming warships, in an attempt to get out of the Ming warships' artillery range.

However, it backfired. It would take a lot of effort for them to retreat against the wind, but the Ming army's warships were not affected by the wind direction and ocean currents at all. When the Taixi warships took a step back, they stepped forward and took a step forward. In short, it was just right. Maintaining a distance of eight or nine miles from the Taixi people, he could just reach the Taixi warships, but the artillery on the Taixi warships could not reach him.

After some unsuccessful attempts, the Taixi people simply made up their minds and decided to fight. After all, the Ming army only had eleven warships. Although their artillery could hit far, it was obvious that the Ming army's warships only had artillery of this level. It can only be equipped with one cannon. Even if eleven artillery can hit the Taixi warship, they may not be able to sink the Taixi warship.

However, the Taixi warships are each equipped with dozens of artillery pieces. The total number of artillery pieces on the thirty warships is more than 2000. In other words, with just one salvo, they can defeat the enemy. All the warships of the Ming army were smashed to pieces.

All the Taixi people simply stopped retreating. Instead, they started desperately approaching the Ming army's warships, trying to close the distance between the two sides and deal a devastating blow to the Ming army's warships.

When Zheng Zhilong saw that the Taixi people no longer retreated but were chasing them head-on, he immediately ordered the other warships to divide into east and west routes to outflank the Taixi fleet from both sides and cut off their retreat.

The Taixi warships did not have steel cannons installed on the bow or stern of the ship, and now they aimed their sides at the eleven steam paddle-wheel warships of the Ming army, so they were unable to attack the Ming army ships on both sides.

However, the Taixi people did not take these dilapidated ships seriously. In their view, as long as they defeated the eleven large warships of the Ming Army, the remaining ships were just cannon fodder and they could just fire a few cannons. Can these cannon fodder be cleared away.

Soon, the Taixi people paid the price for their impulsive decisions, because even if they moved forward with the wind and full sail, because the hull was sideways and the ocean current resistance was greater, they simply could not catch up with the Ming army. Warships, and Ming army warships, even without sails, can travel much faster than warships with full sails.

The Taixi people thought that they could get some benefits by rushing forward to face the shelling of the Ming army's warships, but they did not expect that they were still unable to approach the Ming army's warships, and the damage they suffered from the shelling of the Ming army's warships became more and more serious. It's getting bigger.

When the Taixi people realized that they had made a mistake in their decision-making and came to their senses, they discovered that the Ming army had surrounded them, and the eleven main warships of the Ming army were still hiding outside the range of their warships. Shoot at them.

In a blink of an eye, the bow of a battleship was hit by a cannon and a large hole was punched through by the shell. Seawater began to pour into the cabin, and it was about to sink.

(End of this chapter)