Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 205: Inspiring the Enemy
Lin Hai felt that his eardrums were about to be shattered. In front of the infantry formation, a line of orange-red tongues of flames appeared one after another, white smoke rose in groups, and the continuous roar of artillery played a chasing song. A soul-killing concerto.

Accompanied by this deafening and sad music, ten Weiyuan cannons loaded with Gongsun bullets and twenty Folang machines loaded with shotgun shells roared and sprayed out tens of thousands of lead.

A dense rain of bullets roared towards Li Kuiqi's headquarters. The pirates who charged desperately seemed to have hit an invisible wall. Countless people fell to the ground in an instant. The first few rows were almost swept away. And empty.

The corpse that was shot into a hornet's nest sputtered out bits of blood before falling to the ground, blooming like gorgeous flowers of death in the dazzling sunlight.

The pungent smell of blood filled the battlefield, and heart-rending screams could be heard from afar. Looking around, one could see mourning people everywhere, and countless figures running toward Tongshan City.

"The opportunity to fire is too early. Chief, it's time to order the chase." Wu Guoyi's voice came from his ears. The man who climbed out of the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood still spoke indifferently, without a trace of emotion.

"Why are you chasing him?" Lin Hai recovered from the sudden shock, "Let Li Kuiqi go back and continue to cause trouble for the man named Zheng, if he is not dead yet."

Li Kuiqi is indeed not dead yet, but he has been frightened out of his wits. He has never seen such fierce firepower. Before, he was red-eyed and wanted to defeat Lin Hai with a hand-to-hand charge. At the moment when the artillery fired, he lost all thoughts. He just turned around and ran for his life.

The boss is like this, and the other juniors are naturally not much better. No one cares about the military order that those who retreat will die, and no one cares about the high head reward.

Damn it, save your life first! The rushing flow of people changed direction in an instant. First they came like a tide, and now they receded like a tide.

After Li Kuiqi's troops entered the city one after another, the officers and soldiers of the Army Department also withdrew to the camp. The Artillery Bureau used mules to carry the forty artillery pieces back. Ten of them were not used at all.

"Leader Li, Zheng has repeatedly stated that the best policy is to hold on and not go out. But you insist on going out to fight. How about now?" Zheng Zhilong decided to kill Li Kuiqi's arrogance.

"The order is given!" Viper bowed and accepted the order.

Some of those who were beheaded were corpses and some were wounded. Zheng Zhilong and Li Kuiqi also pretended not to see it and just ordered: "Open the door and let Chief Li's men in."

After visiting the wounded soldiers, Lin Hai told Viper when he walked back to the Chinese military tent: "Go to Commander Shi and ask him to send some food to the Army Department."

The fourth round has also finished cleaning the battlefield. The severed heads and seized weapons are piled up like mountains. Wu Guoyi is taking Mo Yu and other Chinese soldiers to take charge of counting.

Of course, if you are too close, the dispersion will be too small, and it would be a waste to hit a large number of dispersants on the same person, but this situation is still rare after all, and no one will wait for the enemy to be in front of them before firing.

Li Kuiqi was silent after hearing this. He was no longer as ambitious as before. He only heard Zheng Zhilong continue to say: "It's not that Zheng refused to open the door for Leader Li. He was just worried that the bandit army would follow the defeated troops into the city and do bad things." Understand the strategy that I, Yingcheng, will stick to..."

"Only more than 500 people were killed and seriously injured on the other side?" Lin Hai was a little surprised after hearing this. He thought that the last round of shelling alone killed 600 to 700 people, plus the blunderbuss and rockets in front of them. There are seven or eight hundred of them.

"The fourth round will clean up the battlefield, and the remaining rounds will return to camp." Lin Hai saw that Li Kuiqi's troops had completely retreated, and then he ordered the withdrawal of troops.

After nearly four miles, it took less than a cup of tea for this group of pirates to escape to the foot of Tongshan City, leaving behind dead bodies all over the ground and the seriously injured who could not run away, without taking a breath in the process.

Lin Hai then added another order. He raised his telescope and took a look at Tongshan City, only to see that the city gate had not been opened for a long time.

"Master, why don't you open the door for Li?" The frightened Li Kuiqi shouted loudly from the city, with a hint of pleading in his tone.

Shortly after Viper left, Lin Hai listened to Wu Guoyi's report in the Chinese military tent. In this battle, a total of 549 people were beheaded, and a total of more than 4,000 pieces of weapons such as blunderbuss and waist knives were seized, in addition to a small amount of scattered pieces. Gold, silver, valuable jewelry, etc. were all carried by pirates.

At this time, Liu Xiang arrived at the top of the city at some point and said from the side: "Master, the Lin bandits have withdrawn their troops and returned to the camp."

The weight of these projectiles is only about one cent, and their ability to store velocity is very poor. The range is not very far, and long-range shooting will also cause a lot of waste of loose particles.

"Yes, Chief, the time to fire is still a little early. The shot should be fired within fifty steps for the best effect, and it is better to hit it within twenty or thirty steps." Wu Guoyi replied before the commander's case.

At this time, Wu Guoyi reminded from the side: "Chief, please send out the ambush troops first."

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong raised his telescope and took a look. Sure enough, Lin Hai's men were already lining up back to camp, and another group of troops came out to the battlefield, picking up weapons and beheading their heads.

Lin Hai nodded when he heard the words. When the powder came out of the chamber, some of it flew in all directions. The distance was too far and many of them hit the ground directly. Some of the powder flew high and fell without enough kinetic energy.

But he saw Lin Hai walking up to him and whispering in his ear: "There is one more thing you should tell Commander Shi alone. You must not let a third person know..."

All in all, the method of shooting shotguns with light artillery is not that easy. It is really impossible to play without high-quality artillery.

Especially when facing cavalry, who has the determination to put the enemy within fifty steps and open fire? However, the Artillery Bureau is newly established after all, and there is still a long way to go in the future.

"General, my subordinates believe that there is no need for the artillery bureau to exist. We can just delegate the artillery to each war bureau. Rather than letting the president of the artillery bureau take command, it is better for each bureau to take command separately." Wu Guoyi continued.

"I will consider this matter..." After all, this was Lin Hai's first time using artillery in a land battle. In the past, he still did not have a deep understanding of how to shoot shotguns with light artillery.

However, he also knew that soon, Western European countries would start to move light artillery down to the regiment level. The Ming Army has always done this, and even some light artillery has been transferred to the team level.

The reason why he wanted to establish the Artillery Bureau was mainly to lay a foundation of officers for the Marine Heavy Artillery Force, but now it seems that this idea is a bit naive. The usage patterns of the two are very different, and they are completely different at the command level alone.

The generals of the Ming army were not fools, and neither were the military strategists of Western Europe. It would be a bit naive for the time travelers to think that they could easily defeat these people who crawled out of the dead.

"Guoyi, I think not only the artillery bureau, but also the use of rockets and cannons has shortcomings. In short, there is room for improvement in the organization and tactics of the Army Department."

Lin Hai thought for a while and then said: "After returning to Dongfan, please think about this matter comprehensively. Give me a detailed statement, including a budget for how much money it will cost to improve. Then I will ask the Finance Department to send a detailed report. People assist you.”

"Yes, Chief!" Wu Guoyi nodded in agreement, and suddenly asked, "Chief, does the organizational improvement you mentioned include closing down the troops at night?"

"Well... you can also write this in the form." Lin Hai replied ambiguously.

As for not closing the army at night, he has considered everything in the past few days, including personnel, equipment, tactics and future development routes. He did not intend to place this army under the framework of the War Department, at least for the time being.

However, Lin Hai also wanted to see what Wu Guoyi's thinking was, and maybe it could give him some reference. After all, Wu Guoyi can be said to have a cavalry background, and he has actually participated in the highest-level wars in East Asia.

In Tongshan City, Li Kuiqi had also counted the casualties of his men. It turned out that the casualties in this battle were far less than he imagined. In terms of human losses alone, Li Kuiqi did not have any injuries.

However, Li Kuiqi's personal prestige has plummeted since then. This defeat has confirmed Zheng Zhilong's foresight. It will be extremely difficult to overwhelm him.

Li Kuiqi regretted very much that he should not have been so embarrassed in the subsequent defeat. On the contrary, although Liu Xiang also lost the battle, he once again proved his bravery.

Just as Li Kuiqi was shutting himself up in his room and sulking, his confidant suddenly came to report: "Brother, Leader Liu is here."

"What is he here for? Do you want to see my joke, Mr. Li?" Li Kuiqi felt even more unhappy, but thinking about the fact that Zheng Zhilong's family was the only one now, he really wanted to have a good relationship with Liu Xiang, so he collected himself and went out.

"Brother Li, Liu came here today to apologize to you." Liu Xiang's first words surprised Li Kuiqi.

"Where did Mr. Xiang start talking about this?" Li Kuiqi didn't know what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd.

"Regarding the matter of Brother Zhong Liu's old team, Liu knows that Brother Li is angry. The brothers did get some advantages in this matter, but there is nothing we can do about it. Most of Liu's men were killed in the naval battle. I hope Brother Li understands." Liu Xiang still spoke politely. "It turns out that Xiang Lao is worried about this matter. I have never blamed you for this matter." Li Kuiqi immediately realized that Liu Xiang wanted to go with him, and only the two of them agree on the current situation. Only by advancing and retreating can we maintain a relatively independent position as in the past.

He simply made his words clear, and then said: "But Mr. Xiang said that brother is angry, which is true, but this anger is not directed at you, Mr. Xiang."

Li Kuiqi and Zhong Bin defected to Li Dan at the same time. The two people were originally at sea together. Zhong Bin's subordinates can also be regarded as half of Li Kuiqi's subordinates, so it was indeed Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xiang who teamed up to trick him into this matter.

"Since Brother Li said that, I can rest assured." Liu Xiang replied after hearing this. The two of them were not the same person, and there were many differences in the past. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say.

After an awkward silence for a while, Li Kuiqi said: "Xiang Lao, you said we are now trapped in this city by that man named Lin. When did we stop?"

Liu Xiang said: "What the hell, anyway, Dongshan Bay is in our hands, and that guy surnamed Lin can't trap us to death, so let's just waste it with him!"

In Jinluan Bay, Viper has arrived in the captain's cabin of the Dingyuan and is whispering to Shibi.

After listening to Viper's words, Shi Bi was quite surprised: "Why did you do this, sir?"

Viper shook his head and said, "I didn't say anything. He told you not to ask him, just do it."

Shi Bi hesitated for a long time, and finally agreed: "Sure, you go and report to the chief. I will handle this matter. Whether it succeeds or not depends on the man named Zheng."

After Viper reported back to Lin Hai, a few days later, on a dark and windy morning, a raging fire suddenly broke out in Tongshan City.

"General, there was a sudden fire in Tongshan City. There was no military information from the ambushing troops. I'm afraid they broke out from the sea." Wu Guoyi quickly walked into the Chinese military tent and said to Lin Haida, who was having breakfast and reading the military manual. .

"Got it." Lin Hai closed the military book in his hand upon hearing this, "Send someone to Tongshan City to take a look. The navy will handle matters at sea, so Guoyi doesn't need to worry about it."

At this time, Zheng Zhilong had already led his men to leave Dongshan Bay and was riding the cross wind across the strait.

A few hours ago, he suddenly woke up Li Kuiqi and Liu Xiang, saying that he had reached a private agreement with Lin Hai's uncle Shi Bi. As long as the prisoners were returned and 30,000 taels of silver were given to buy the way, he would let them break out of the encirclement.

Li Kuiqi and Liu Xiang were dubious and said, "Brother, please go ahead." Zheng Zhilong also agreed.

The pirates quietly opened the north city gate and boarded the ship. Zheng Zhilong's men were leading the way. As expected, there was no movement from the mouth of Dongshan Bay. On such nights when the moon is dark and the wind is high, it will be difficult for the enemy to pursue the ships if they sail into the open sea.

After about half of the ships escaped, Zheng Zhilong's men returned the prisoners to the admiralty sentry ship. The legendary navy general was indeed trustworthy and did not send any more signals. Li Kuiqi and Liu Xiang's men who were behind were also safe. Leave.

"Damn it, I thought Lin was so strict in running the army. It turned out that he had the same moral character as other military generals in the imperial court. His uncle-in-law secretly indulged the enemy for thirty thousand taels of silver." Liu Xiang stood alone. On the bow of the boat, I looked at the dark sea and thought to myself.

At this time, Huang San suddenly came over: "Brother, there is something that suddenly occurred to me..."

After listening to Huang San's words, Liu Xiang asked in surprise: "Are you saying that Lin Hai's uncle named Shi is Liu's former brother?"

"Yes, the name is Shibi." Huang San continued, "What? Does it mean that the eldest brother doesn't have such a brother?"

Liu Xiangdao: "Yes, there is, but I didn't expect it to be him. I thought he had the same name."

Huang San was overjoyed when he heard this, and then asked tentatively: "What do you think, brother? Do you want to vote for Lin Qianhu?"

"What the hell, I'm used to being free at sea, and I'm impatient to sacrifice my life for the emperor." Liu Xiang added, "Besides, that stone wall is so wanton and reckless, I don't expect someone named Lin to be able to tolerate him."

~~~
"Commander Shi, what crime do you deserve if you indulge the enemy without permission?" In the Chinese military tent, Lin Hai stood up, patting the commander's case, and became angry at Shi Bi, who came to plead guilty.

"My subordinates let the commander-in-chief do whatever he wants without complaining." Shibi knelt in front of the commander's case and continued, "I negotiated a peace with that thief Zheng privately, all in order to get back my captured brother. What's more, the one named Zheng also wanted to make peace with me." I paid thirty thousand taels of silver to buy passage money."

"Thirty thousand taels of silver? Do you know how much silver those Zheng thief's ships in Dongshan Bay are worth?" Lin Hai said and added, "Besides, is this a matter of silver? Zheng thief is the enemy of our army, and now he has finally conquered it." He is surrounded by death, once you let him go, when will you be able to destroy this thief?"

"Brother Lin, calm down, calm down..." At this time, Xu Letian on the side spoke to smooth things over. He was invited by Shi Bi afterwards to help put in a good word. After all, there were also people from him and the Yang brothers among the prisoners.

In fact, the double act of Lin Hai and Shi Bi was played for the soldiers of the Army Department on the one hand, and also for the Li and Xu families on the other. After all, Zheng Zhilong was their great enemy.

Shi Bi invited Xu Letian to put in a good word, which made it even more obvious that this was indeed done by him in private and not by Lin Hai's instruction.

"Lin is here today only because of the support of his sworn brother and Third Uncle Xu. Thief Zheng killed the old captain. He and I have a sworn hatred!" Lin Hai became more and more excited as he spoke and almost shed tears in his eyes. "Now I can only watch with helpless eyes. Now that the thief has escaped, how do you tell me to calm down?"

"Brother Lin, actually it was not easy to kill the thief Zheng this time..." Xu Letian said the truth from the side.

"If we invite the officers and soldiers under Marshal Yu, there is no chance." After Lin Hai heard this, his tone finally softened a little.

"Okay, Brother Lin, Commander Shi is indeed at fault in this matter, but there are extenuating circumstances. Just give me a favor and stop worrying about it." Xu Letian continued to persuade.

"No, although the matter is extenuating, it is still a violation of military law." Lin Hai said and added, "Shibi, are you convinced that you will be relieved of the post of commander of the Navy and demoted to captain of the Dingyuan?"

"I...are convinced." Shi Bi was a little surprised when he heard this. This was not discussed in advance. He did not expect such a severe punishment.

That night, Lin Hai found Shibi in private and said to him with a smile: "Brother, you have been wronged this time."

Shi Bi said gloomily: "Why do you want to remove me from my position?"

"What does this have to do with it? You are still a member of the company's board of directors." Lin Hai added, "Besides, I think you should be familiar with Western warships, otherwise your commander will be in name only. This time is just right for you. It's an opportunity. Otherwise, given your status in the company, it would be difficult to find a reason to send you to the ship for training."

"Then when will my position as Navy Commander be restored?" Shi Bi was still a little unhappy.

"Wait until you can command the Western fleet in a decisive battle at sea like Miguel." Lin Hai said and added, "The master craftsmen from the Cavite Shipyard are coming soon. After they arrive, the company will Large-scale shipbuilding began, and only Western-style ships were built.”

"Oh? Do you want to build a big ship like the Dingyuan?" Shibi was a little excited when he heard this. After all, the navy is his base in the company.

"No, no, it's too early, and the wood hasn't had enough time to dry. Let's start with small boats. This is also to make up for the shortcomings of the Admiralty, lest Zheng Zhilong hides in the bay like this time. , there is nothing we can do against him."

Lin Hai said and added: "Of course, the Dingyuan will also need to be greatly modified. I will be personally responsible for this. After the modification is completed, the ship will be much more flexible than it is now. I hope you will be the first to be able to command this kind of ship skillfully." Captain of a new type of warship."

"Is my sister-in-law joking? Do you still have time to build a ship yourself?" Shi Bi was a little surprised when he heard this.

"There will be...you will understand after a while." Lin Hai said this thoughtfully. Shibi needed to settle down and do something specific, and Lin Hai was not the same.

The difference is that Shi Bi needs these things to improve himself, but Lin Hai can't do those things without him.

After all, no one on earth in the early 17th century knew more about sailing battleships than Lin Hai.

(End of this chapter)