Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1249
The Huogong Fleet's collapse without a fight slowed down the tempo of the First Squadron. Ming Qiu ordered to reduce the speed to 3 knots and sail westward to avoid the gunpowder smoke on the battlefield.At the same time, he had to let the ships rest for a while.Especially the turbine department: the frequent acceleration from the morning has overwhelmed the boiler, many pipelines and valves have leaked, a large amount of coal slag has not been cleaned up in time, and frequent failures have occurred.

The artillery also needed to be cleaned after a morning of fighting. Ming Qiu sent out a signal for the captains of the ships to meet on the Lichun.Check the ammunition reserves, and decide to redistribute the shells of each ship according to the situation, so as to ensure sufficient firepower when attacking Xiamen in the next step.

At 10:30, Ming Qiu ordered the ships to eat lunch in advance, and 15 minutes later, the first battle team approached Xiamen Island.

Xiamen Island was already in chaos, and the battle in Xiamen Bay could be barely seen from the heights of Xiamen Island, but the thick smoke quickly covered the battlefield, and it was too far away to see clearly.It was not until a fire attack ship that escaped from the sea arrived at Xiamen Island that it caused panic throughout the island.

On board the fire attack boat was Zheng Lian, who dived in time to escape. Not only was he drenched, but the back of his clothes was also scorched by the flames, making him very embarrassed.

Zheng Lian didn't care about his embarrassment, so he got a fast horse when he came ashore, turned on the horse and whipped it, and went straight to Zhongzuo City
The people on the shore saw the fire attacking boats returning from the sea in twos and threes, and they were devastated. Some even fled to the mainland without relying on Xiamen Island.In the midst of panic, a hole was blown in the hull of a ship, a mast fell down, and most of the sails were burnt. The blessing boat staggered up to the dock. As if he had come to his senses, he immediately dispersed.Run clean.Even the soldiers on duty at the pier escaped.

Xiamen Island is the main foreign trade port of the Zheng family. At the beginning, Zheng Zhilong attacked Yuegang many times, burned the streets, and took away the ships. The purpose was to force the sea merchants to transfer their trade to Xiamen.Although this island is not very big, thanks to the prosperity of foreign trade and business, the economy is quite prosperous.A large commercial area was formed outside Zhongzuosuo City.

The docks and warehouses of the Zheng family are lined up along the docks, and the goods are piled up like mountains.At this time, there are still many trading merchant ships moored on the pier, some under the Zheng family's command, and some are just merchants who come here to trade.Hearing that the army of "kun thieves" came, everyone from merchants to sailors was devastated. Some people saw that their cargo was in danger, they couldn't help beating their chests and crying loudly, and the crying on the pier was loud.

At this time, the city of Zhongzuo was already in chaos, and the terrifying atmosphere brought about by Zheng Lian riding a fast horse into the city also infected the whole city.In the middle left house, the wealthy families are supporting the old and the young, leaving the city with big bags and small bags, preparing to hide in the mountains, while the poor people outside the city are flocking to the city, hoping to escape the "Kun" under the protection of the city wall. thief".

All of a sudden, the gates of Suocheng were crowded into a ball. Those who went out of the city and those who entered the city pushed each other with all their strength. The old and weak, women and children were pushed down, injured, and even trampled to death.The sergeants of the Zheng family guarding the city gate were at a loss and could only keep shouting loudly, but it was of no avail.

The lobby of the former Qianhusuo government office in the center of the city is now Zheng Zhilong's meeting hall.Although Zheng Zhilong is already the general of the Five Tigers Travels, and he puts on official orders everywhere, he still does not break away from the habits of the sea master.The rules are not too particular. In the courtyard below the steps of the lobby, the main generals of the Zheng family gathered in groups of three and four, and the backbone of the Zheng family—the majority of the so-called "Eighteen Zhi" are in the meeting hall , They all showed an expression of imminent disaster on their faces.

The atmosphere in the hall was dull and depressing. Even after Li Kuiqi took away most of Zheng Zhilong's subordinates, and Zheng Zhilong once fell into the predicament of only "Three Hundred Soldiers", the members of "Eighteen Zhi" still believed that their eldest brother could turn the tide and regroup .

But now they have lost that confidence.The news brought by the panting Zheng Lian made everyone realize how terrifying their opponent was.

Zheng Lian is not a young boy who is on the battlefield for the first time, but an old brother who participated in the Eighteen Zhizhi's sworn brothers. He is definitely not a coward who will brag about how powerful the enemy is if he loses a battle-he said that the gangster is "unstoppable", so it must be unstoppable .

"Everyone, don't act like a dead old woman," Zheng Zhilong broke the silence in the meeting hall, "The gangster is just outside on the sea, just a gust of wind away from Xiamen, please tell me what to do!"

"Xiamen is the key to Quanzhou. If you abandon it, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou will be in danger. You will not be able to explain it in front of the governor." Zheng Zhifeng saw that many people in the room had the intention of abandoning it, so he coughed and said.

"Now Jinmen has sent news that the entire army has been wiped out, and the whereabouts of the second master Mang is unknown. Brother Lian suffered another defeat and lost his boat. How can we fight against the Kun bandits again?" Someone raised an objection, "In my opinion, it is better The Cheng Kun bandits have not landed yet, so they quickly sent people to negotiate and persuade them to retreat—we are also members of the imperial court, and the elder brothers are all officials, so forgive them and dare not make mistakes."

"Retreat?" Zheng Zhibao sneered, "The gangsters put up such a big battle, could they be scared back by a few words from you? If the gangsters were afraid of officials, they could have fought as far as Guangzhou?"

"Xu Zhiyi..."

Zheng Zhifeng shook his head: "You have the idea of ​​cede land and pay compensation, it's a trivial matter to spend a few dollars--the robbers are not looking at our money, but this Xiamen Island! Even if we want to cede the land, there is no place to do so. Ah!" He stood up, looked at everyone and said, "Our brothers have been sworn brothers since Tianqi five years ago, and we have followed our eldest brother to conquer this country. Now we are all rich and powerful. But except for these few small islands, we How can we have a foothold on the mainland? The thieves are now trying to dig our roots. This Xiamen Island is the root of everyone! If the roots are gone, we brothers will have no foothold in the future, so what are we talking about? once a Thief?"

Zheng Zhilong nodded secretly, Zheng Zhifeng's words were reasonable, this Xiamen Island was the foundation of his fortune, how much energy and effort he spent to take this island as his own, how could he easily give it up to the thieves?
At this time, some people supported Zheng Zhifeng: "We can't run away. The money, food and goods on this island will not be transported away in a while. Could it be that they are all thrown here to make it cheaper for the thief? If that is the case, our brothers will not even have the bottom line." Pants are gone!"

A group of people suddenly burst into wild laughter, and the dignified atmosphere relaxed a bit.

Zheng Zhilong also showed a smile at the corner of his mouth: "Zhifeng is right, this is our brother's lair, it is more important than Anping, how can we throw it to the thieves? No matter how powerful the thieves' boats are, they will always Can't make it to shore."

"Exactly, big brother!" Zheng Zhifeng became more energetic when he heard that he supported her. He was at odds with the gangsters—he was the mastermind behind several actions against the gangsters—"Golden Gate is lost, and Xiamen is no longer there. Shou, we will have no place to stand! On Xiamen Island, we still have 1 horses and more than a dozen red barbarian cannons. As long as we are willing to give a big reward, the brothers will definitely fight to the death. The thieves came from a long distance. How many troops should we bring? As long as he lands, ten of us will fight him one by one, and we will consume them all if we change our lives!"

The so-called 1 people on the island is an imaginary number. In fact, apart from the troops guarding the villages, there are only 4000 Lu Yongs available on the island. Especially the black guards and Japanese guards recruited by Zheng Zhilong himself-including some Portuguese officers.They were all professional soldiers, well-equipped and well-trained, and they were all elite by the standards of the time.

In addition to Lu Yong, the sailors of the Zheng family's fleet on the shore can also fill in the number, and there are thousands of people in total.However, this group of people has not received land warfare training, and they don't know how to fight in the army. They can only fight with the wind. Zheng Zhifeng is purely exaggerating and inspiring.

However, the Kun Bandit Lu division transported by five boats could number at most 1000 people.It is not a problem to beat one bragging with ten, and it is not a problem to beat one with four or five.

Everyone has heard that the Australian navy is powerful--and now I have witnessed it with my own eyes, but I don't have much perceptual understanding of how strong the Australian army is.He Rubin's defeat on Hainan Island has always been only vague rumors, not exact.According to their habitual thinking, the members of Shibazhi think that they are just an army stronger than the officers and soldiers-it is not uncommon to be able to defeat the officers and soldiers these days-the Zheng family has defeated the officers and soldiers many times, and the officers and soldiers on land Sometimes the Zheng family had to ask the Zheng family to send troops to assist the division when they went up to suppress.

Xiamen Island is also their home field. Apart from Zhongzuo City, the Zheng Group has built several camps here, hoarding a large amount of gunpowder and food, and the food and salary are enough to last for more than ten years.Even if the land battle is defeated, as long as one's own side retreats to the walled city, the Australians will not dare to stay here for a long time. As long as they hold on to the walled city, they will have to retreat within ten and a half months

Now he decided to stick to Xiamen and spread out pond horses to various coasts—there were many camps and beacon towers built along the coast of Xiamen Island, but Zheng Zhilong was not at ease, and sent out pond horses to patrol along the coastline in case the bandits sent surprise troops to land. Assault, followed by concentrating the main force on the center left. In addition to Lu Yong, there are Ding soldiers from various families and his personal guards, totaling 4000 people.Once you find that the Kun bandits have landed, you will face them outside the city of Zhongzuo.

Everyone knew that the Kun bandit ships had powerful guns, so Zheng Zhilong decided not to meet the enemy on the coast—to avoid being injured by enemy artillery fire—but to fight in a relatively deep area.Since the thieves landed on Xiamen Island, they must regard the Central Left Institute as their primary target.My family is fighting under the city, waiting for work with leisure.

(End of this chapter)