Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 309: Bombardment of Fanguitang

After the main fleet joined the battlefield, a one-sided massacre occurred in the blink of an eye. Li Kuiqi's troops soon suffered a major rout, and warships of all sizes fled in all directions.

Most of the sampans and galleys chose to sail northward against the wind, a direction that the sailing warships could not pursue. Moreover, as long as they rowed hard for half an hour, they would be able to enter the shallow water area. The further north you go in the Pearl River Estuary, the shallower the average water depth.

Of course, there were also some people who were confused and chose other directions. Many of them ran back to their old nest, Fanguitang. They might still have illusions about the upcoming battle, or they might want to take advantage of the chaos to go back and steal some property.

The main fleet focused on attacking ocean-going ships powered by pure sails, and few of them were still able to move freely. In addition to a Fuchuan ship that rushed to the Great Hao Channel, the other ships were fleeing to the west.

From here, you can go west and enter the Atlantic Passage, and then escape to the open sea smoothly. There are not many escape routes for ocean-going ships to choose from.

Lin Hai didn't expect that he, the fleet commander, would have to go back to work so soon. After looking around the battlefield situation, he quickly issued a series of orders:

"The Chen Tang and Yang Pu are going to chase that Fu ship in the Dahao Channel and destroy it..."

"After destroying the Fu ship, the Yangpu returned to its home port to report to Marshal He. He said that our army had won a great victory in the first battle and was about to attack Li Kuiqi's lair. He was asked to lead the Guangdong Navy to take charge of the situation..."

"The Chen Tang will go to Jishuimen to reinforce. Report the battle here to Commander Zheng and order him to seal Jishuimen..."

"The four frigates will immediately head to Fanguitang, but they are not allowed to enter the harbor without permission. They only need to lock up the remaining enemy ships in Li Kuiqi's lair..."

"Wei Xiaodong is responsible for regrouping all the reporting ships except the Yang Pu. After the regrouping is completed, they will immediately block the northern channel of Lantau Island and block the retreat of the Kap Shui Mun pirates..."

"The Dingyuan and the Australian fleet will clean up the battlefield here. Let Gongsha's Shebek ship approach the Dingyuan to facilitate the transmission of orders!"

Four long boats were quickly lowered from the Dingyuan, delivering the orders from the fleet commander Lin Hai.

Shibi asked from the side: "Boss, are we not going to chase the west and north?"

Lin Hai asked back: "How can we chase them? We only have so few boats, and the foreigners are not familiar with the hydrology. If we chase them to the north, we will suffer a great loss. The battle here is not over yet, we have to keep some boats to clean up the mess."

"The remaining ships of the enemy are just living coffins that can't move. I think it's enough to let the ghosts clean up here..."

Shi Bi pointed at the enemy ships fleeing westward, among which was a large Fukushima ship weighing nearly a thousand tons. He continued to say to Lin Hai, "General Manager, why don't you stay here to command the overall situation while I take the Dingyuan to chase those ships. I think Li Kuiqi is very likely on that large Fukushima ship."

"Forget it, there's no need to take the risk. With the Dingyuan here, it will be much faster to clean up the battlefield." Lin Hai continued, "We'll use grapeshot later. You can take charge of the details."

Grapeshot is a cluster bomb that is larger than shotgun. It is usually placed in a metal cylinder and is named after its grape-like shape. If you want to save trouble, you can also put it in a bag and tie it with hemp rope, just like a tortoise shell tie...

The Dingyuan then used grapeshot to wash the decks of the enemy ships. After washing each ship several times, it allowed the Portuguese to board them and bring back the pirate heads one by one.

This was not the first time that the Portuguese in Macau had done this. They had cut off a lot of heads when they fought Xie Tianyou a few years ago. They were well aware of the importance the Ming army attached to heads and dared not neglect this work at all.

There were many paralyzed enemy ships, and the cleaning work lasted for an hour until He Rubin led his troops to the battlefield. The Guangdong navy was more skilled at this, and they were very excited...

Time gradually came to the end of the afternoon and the beginning of the evening, and the work of cleaning up the battlefield was still going on. A ray of setting sun spread across the water, and half of the sea surface was dark red. I didn't know whether it was the flowing blood or the afterglow of the setting sun that dyed it red.

The smoke had long since dispersed, and wooden boards, bamboo tubes, dead bodies, and other debris were floating everywhere on the sea. A Guang ship was burning, and a seriously injured pirate leader was setting himself on fire. Lin Hai felt that the Dingyuan would not be needed next, so he said to He Rubin: "General, shall we go to Fanguitang, Li Kuiqi's old nest?"

He Rubin nodded and said, "I think it's okay. I hope that guy hasn't had time to escape yet."

Fanguitang is located in Tai O on the west side of Lantau Island. It is also a harbor with its mouth facing west. It is located to the north-east of the Dingyuan, and the current wind direction makes it impossible to sail directly.

The Dingyuan first set sail to the northwest, and after gaining enough wind angle, it turned east. When it arrived outside Tai O, dusk enveloped the entire sky and the ship's mast lights had already been lit.

A crescent moon rose from the eastern sky, illuminating the Fanguitang Water Fort deep in the harbor. There were still hundreds of ships in the fort, most of which were small and medium-sized ships, some of which had returned from the battlefield.

All the enemy ships were dark and it was unknown whether there were people on board. There were a few lights in the houses on the shore, but they were also very quiet.

Tai O is actually very small, and it is called this because there is a smaller Er O not far away. He Rubin said to Lin Hai: "Look at the situation, the thieves have all run away. Should we send a boat in to take a look?"

"Li Kuiqi is always cunning, maybe there is a trap." Lin Hai shook his head and continued, "No matter if he has people or not, let's talk with cannons first."

Dingyuan then turned its hull sideways and lined up at the mouth of the bay with four frigates, firing broadsides at Fanguitang from a distance.

The roar of artillery continued to sound. After two rounds of salvos, the enemy ships in the bay were smashed to pieces. Many small boats were overturned, and many of them fell apart. Another round of salvos, and all the wooden houses on the shore collapsed. Now there were no people left.

He Rubin on the Dingyuan gasped in shock, the salvo of red cannons was so terrifying!

No wonder the red-haired devils turned the coastal areas of Fujian upside down a few years ago. With such strong ships and powerful guns, even if Yu Long and Qi Hu were resurrected, they would probably only be able to sigh in despair.

"My dear nephew, you said last time that Huiyou Company will build dozens of ships like Dingyuan in the future?"

"Of course, this is necessary to control the East and West Oceans. Otherwise, what can we use to compete with the Red Hairs?"

"How much money will this cost?"

"It will cost about two million taels to build the ship and its guns. This is the one-time construction cost, and the annual maintenance cost is not low. In addition, there are expenses for naval officers and soldiers. A cruiser like the Dingyuan will probably need more than three hundred crew members..."

He Rubin was speechless for a long time after hearing this, and then he heard Lin Hai continue: "Of course, the members of the association will definitely not do business at a loss. I have roughly estimated that as long as we can dominate the East and West Oceans, we can make a net profit of 10 million taels every year through maritime business."

The Eastern and Western Oceans that Lin Hai mentioned actually refer to the waters east of the Strait of Malacca. His words were a bit exaggerated. A net profit of 10 million taels per year is almost impossible, but it should not be a problem for the turnover to reach this level.

However, in addition to maritime trade, Lin Hai has some other plans, and a net profit of 10 million taels per year is indeed his goal.

This is almost equal to one-third of the Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue. Lin Hai feels that future military spending needs to reach this scale.

He Rubin was silent for a while, and finally said meaningfully: "If you can earn 10 million taels every year, what can't you do in the world?"

(End of this chapter)