Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 187 Landing Operation Plan

After ordering people to take Zhang Daniu down, Zheng Zhilong was still a little upset. Lin Hai's strong strength in naval battles made him a little panicked, and he didn't know how to go about the future.

At this time, a confidant suddenly came in and said that Liu Xiang was outside the door asking for an audience. Zheng Zhilong quickly asked his subordinates to invite him in.

"Liu has met the boss!" Liu Xiang saluted Zheng Zhilong with fists in his hands after entering the door, still wearing women's clothes. When he heard that Zhong Bin died in the battle, he immediately came to see Zheng Zhilong without even having time to change into men's clothes.

"Sit down!" Zheng Zhilong saw Liu Xiang's outfit and was a little funny at once, "Why is Mr. Xiang wearing women's clothes?"

Your boy used to dress like this in the old captain's bed... Liu Xiang secretly cursed in his heart, but did not dare to say it out loud.

"Liu had just fought a bitter battle with the enemy, and finally swam back to the island naked. He had no choice but to grab a woman's clothes. This is better than some eggless bastards who dare not fight in Dongshan Bay." Liu Xiang didn't dare to expose Zheng Zhilong's background to his face, but he still dared to scold Zheng Zhiwan and implicitly scold the pretty boy.

Zheng Zhilong didn't feel dissatisfied. He had been receiving battle reports from the front line, so he was very clear about Liu Xiang's performance in this battle. After hearing this, he just replied lightly: "If Boss Xiang survives, there will be a successor." Fu. But in this battle, you and Leader Zhong did beat Meng Lang a little bit."

"Which officer and soldier are these, and why do they have so many heavy artillery?" Liu Xiang asked after hearing this. He determined that Zheng Zhilong must know the enemy's intelligence, otherwise it would be impossible to order the warships to shrink into Ximen Macao in advance, and Zheng Zhiwan The headquarters did not pursue them out of Dongshan Bay.

"I heard that it was a Qianhu family named Lin in Zhejiang. How did Zheng know why he, a mere Qianhu family, had so many heavy artillery?" Zheng Zhilong continued, "Xiang Lao just fought against the enemy. I feel that this Lin Qianhu How is the combat strength of the unit?"

"It's not that bad. If it weren't for that guy's luck, his biggest plywood boat would have been burned down by me." Liu Xiang never gave in. He went on to say, "If the big boss starts from Just use the entire army to fight him, and maybe Leader Zhong will not die in the battle."

Zheng Zhilong knew that he must be trying to take advantage of Zhong Bin's remaining troops, so he immediately asked: "In that case, I wonder if Mr. Xiang can kill the general and seize the ship?"

Liu Xiang was speechless for a while after hearing this, and only heard Zheng Zhilong say: "On the contrary, Zhiwan captured five ships and captured more than 300 people. If it weren't for these prisoners, we still don't know who our opponent is."

He directly dismissed the matter of not sharing information with Liu Xiang and others, as if he only now knew the details of his opponent. Liu Xiang's face turned red with anger when he heard this, but it was difficult to get angry. After all, his current strength was far less than before.

Zheng Zhilong could make up 10,000 reasons to explain why he ordered all the warships to return to Ximen Macau, such as the wind and waves were too big or something. What's more, he didn't order Zhong Bin and Liu Xiang to pursue them. No one could openly say that there was anything wrong with him as the boss.

"Master, now that Leader Zhong is dead in the battle, who will take charge of his men and ships? Please give me a confirmation from the master." Liu Xiang was too lazy to talk to him at this time and directly asked about business.

"The bell leader died in a hurry. I haven't thought about it properly." Zheng Zhilong kicked the ball back to Liu Xiangdao, "Mr. Xiang, what do you think?"

"Leader Zhong was the best friend with Leader Li when he was alive. I would like Leader Li to lead his old army from now on. I wonder what the boss wants?" Liu Xiang knew that with his current strength, it would definitely not work to directly ask Zheng Zhilong for someone. , it’s better to fight the fire first and see if you can get an advantage in the end.

At the same time, his words also reminded Zheng Zhilong that Zhong Bin had always followed Li Kuiqi's lead, but he, Liu Xiang, was not inferior to anyone.

Zheng Zhilong pondered for a long time after hearing this. He originally wanted to break up Zhong Bin's old troops and integrate them into his direct troops, but this would definitely arouse Li Kuiqi's dissatisfaction.

That would be fine in normal times, but now that the enemy is facing us, it would be better not to make Li Kuiqi angry. He originally wanted to put off discussing this issue for a while, but now that Liu Xiang has raised it, he can only decide as soon as possible.

"There is some truth in what Mr. Xiang said..." Zheng Zhilong said slowly, "But I have other concerns. This warrior fought very bravely, and there were many casualties among his subordinates. I don't want you to take charge. I wonder if Mr. Xiang is willing to join Zhong Tou Ling’s old department?”

"Since the boss has the order, Liu will do his part." Liu Xiang was overjoyed when he heard this. He originally thought that this matter would take a lot of trouble, but he didn't expect it to be so easy.

"Well done, I will send the order to the brothers immediately." Zheng Zhilong did not discuss this matter with Li Kuiqi. He had already tied Liu Xiang to his chariot. Li Kuiqi could not complain at all. .

When Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang were talking, the naval battle outside Dongshan Bay was almost over. With the return of reinforcements from the Dingyuan and the two old lock ships that had previously pursued Liu Xiang, the battlefield on the east side of the Gulei Peninsula became even more one-sided.

The fleet of Huiyou Company kept bombarding enemy ships with solid shells until an enemy ship was half disabled, then used grapeshot and grapeshot to wash the deck, and finally joined the friendly forces to join forces to finish off.

This naval battle lasted for almost two hours, from noon to dusk, until all the surviving pirates on the enemy ship were captured.

That night, Huiyou Company left more than ten speedboats to patrol the waters from Zhao'an Bay to Futou Bay, and all the other large ships returned to Houjiang Port on the west side of Liu'ao Peninsula.

Compared with the anchorage on the east side of Gulei Peninsula before the fleet went to war, the shelter effect of Houjiang Port is much better. Long before setting off from Xiamen, Lin Hai had chosen this place as the home port for the company's fleet. The army would also take the overland route to meet here, and the barracks at Liu'ao were ready-made campsites.

The walking distance from Zhongzuo Station to Liu'ao Station is two hundred miles. According to the normal marching speed of the Army Department, it takes seven days to walk, so the Army set out early and is expected to arrive tomorrow.

After returning to Liu'ao Station, Lin Hai ordered the Navy Department to count the results and damage, and then listened to Shi Bi's report in the captain's room of the Dingyuan.

"A total of sixty-one ships were chased by the enemy, fifteen ships escaped, and a total of twelve ships were sunk, caught fire, or hit the rocks and sank. The rest were occupied by our army."

"Since the enemy ships were severely damaged before they were captured, we did not bring these ships back. We only captured the remaining personnel on board and valuable materials that were easy to transport. A total of 524 enemy soldiers were captured in this battle. , the trophies such as gold, silver, jewelry, and jewelry are being counted..."

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. This battle was brutal for the enemy. A total of thirty-four enemy ships were captured, accounting for more than half of the enemy ships that were chased out of Dongshan Bay. Among them were five 800-ton Dafus. One ship ran back, which was quite an outrageous loss in a naval battle without encountering a storm. In the later battle line era, this battle loss ratio was almost unimaginable. Compared to a melee, battle lines between the two sides are always serious and boring, and it is basically difficult to achieve a decisive result in a naval battle.

To a certain extent, it can even be said that battle line tactics are inherently defensive in nature. While concentrating broadside firepower, they can better protect the vulnerable bow and stern of the ship, while not allowing them to leave the formation to pursue escaping enemy ships.

Therefore, in Western Europe in the battle line era of later generations, there were attempts from time to time to restore the melee mode in naval battles. Horatio Nelson, the number one general in the history of human naval warfare, was one of the representative figures.

Although the navy of Huiyou Company captured so many enemy ships, there were only more than 520 prisoners in the end. Even including those who jumped into the sea and swam back, the average number of survivors on a ship was only about 20. .

This number has become another footnote of this tragic naval battle. The main reason is that Huiyou Company used various types of artillery to wash away the enemy ships several times before joining the gang, and the last ones boarded were almost corpse ships.

"What about our losses?" Lin Hai then asked.

"Five boats were lost in Dongshan Bay, two from the company, and three boats from Xu Letian and the Yang brothers. The loss was nearly five hundred people, and the company lost one hundred and ninety people." Shi Bi continued, "The boats outside Dongshan Bay were lost. On the main battlefield, only nine of our ships were hit by cannonballs, which did not affect their continued navigation. Fifty-four people died, and more than a hundred others were injured and are receiving medical treatment."

"The corpse of the deceased will be buried underground, and those with family members will be compensated according to the pension regulations." Lin Hai continued, "The more than 500 captives will be handed over to Xu Letian and the Yang brothers. There should be no need for them to take action in the future. I don’t expect that guy Zheng Zhilong to leave Dongshan Bay again.”

"Okay." Shi Bi nodded in agreement, and then asked, "Should we send someone to contact the man named Zheng to see if he is willing to exchange prisoners?"

"Let's wait until the army lands on Dongshan Island. It should be there tomorrow." Lin Hai replied after hearing this.

Early the next morning, the Army Ministry sent someone to Liuao Station to report that everything went well on the way and they would arrive this afternoon. Lin Hai immediately sent some warships to the bays outside Dongshan Island to detect the terrain in order to determine the landing site.

That night, as the Navy's warship responsible for reconnaissance returned, Lin Hai convened a meeting with senior officials from the Navy and Army Departments to study and decide on a landing operation plan. This required the cooperation of the two arms.

At this time, a total of more than 1,700 people, including four war bureaus, an artillery bureau and auxiliary troops of the Ministry of War, were resting in the barracks. They came here according to the standard marching speed of thirty miles a day, so there was no need to go too far. After resting, you can go into the battlefield.

In order to keep confidentiality, the meeting was still held in the captain's room of the Dingyuan. Xu Letian and the Yang brothers were not called in this meeting, so the only participants were Lin Hai, Shi Bi, Miguel, and Wu Guoyi.

Just like last time, the huge map of Dongshan Island was still placed on the conference table in the captain's room.

As can be seen from the map, there are more than ten stretches of bays on the side of Dongshan Island close to the sea. The northernmost one is called Nanmen Bay, and the southernmost one is called Gongqian Bay.

"We discussed last time in Zhongzuo that the Army's landing site can only choose the bay facing the outer sea on Dongshan Island. Now that the Navy has completely gained control of the outer sea, Commander Shi from the Navy Ministry will talk about these bays. Just survey the situation."

Lin Hai nodded to Shibi, who cleared his throat and said: "There are more than a dozen bays off Dongshan Island. Except for Nanmen Bay and Gongqian Bay, the coastlines of other bays are dominated by tidal flats and wetlands. , if you want to land, you can only use flat-bottomed sea boats to beach..."

"How deep is the water outside the beach? Can the navy provide artillery cover for the landing troops?" Lin Hai interrupted Shibi and asked. Although he didn't know whether Zheng Zhilong had any anti-landing operations deployment, the general needed to be lenient with the enemy and plan the operation. This cannot be ignored.

"If we want to ensure that we don't run aground, there are not many ships in the Navy that can enter the effective range, probably the Princess Jieyou and Madam Feng." Shibi continued, "But these two ships should be used for beaching, unless The War Department intends to land in small boats.”

"Then let's exclude the bays in the middle first and focus on Nanmen Bay and Gongqian Bay."

"Yes, Chief. Let me talk about Nanmen Bay first. This bay is relatively small. It was originally a fishing port on Dongshan Island. The water depth is enough for all warships of the Navy to enter, but the channel is relatively narrow. What's more terrible is that this bay Not far from Tongshan City, the enemy may fire artillery from the top of the city, and may send out large forces to intercept the landing force at any time, so the Navy does not recommend landing from here.”

Lin Hai nodded when he heard this. The hydrological conditions of Nanmen Bay were acceptable, but it was too close to Tongshan City and was definitely not suitable as a landing site. He then asked: "How about Gongqian Bay?"

"Gongqian Bay is the best seaport off Dongshan Island. Not only is the harbor deep and the waterway wide, so the navy recommends landing here." Shibi replied after hearing the words. The port conditions in Gongqian Bay are indeed good. Later Shi Lang was Use this place as your home port to attack Ming and Zheng.

He continued: "Moreover, Gongqian Bay is sixty miles away from Tongshan City. Even if Zheng thief sets up sentries here, it will take half a day to go back to report the news. By the time he sends troops here, our army has already completed the landing. .”

"It's possible, but we have to be prepared for Zheng's troops to be stationed near Gongqian Bay." Lin Hai took over and said, "Now let's ask the Ministry of War to tell us what kind of landing point is best."

"It is best if the ground is hard, so that the infantry can easily maintain their formation, and it is also conducive to erecting and transporting artillery." Wu Guoyi nodded after hearing this: "At the same time, we must ensure a wide field of vision. There should be no hillsides, boulders, or woods near the landing site. .”

"Is there a landing site in Gongqian Bay that meets these two points?" Lin Hai turned to ask Shibi.

"No." Shibi shook his head after hearing this, "Near the coastline of Gongqian Bay, the water depth is sufficient at both the east and west ends, but the east side is full of cliffs, making it impossible to land at all. The terrain in the west is relatively flat, but not far away is A large mountain forest.”

　Thanks to the flying little pig for the reward of 500 taels!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)