Dragon Sea Empire

Although the weather in April on the southeast coast is already very warm, most of the time the northerly or northeasterly wind blows on the sea. The northeast monsoon prevails in winter in Taiwan, and the southwest monsoon prevails in summer. The northeast monsoon, southwest monsoon, and southeast monsoon switch During this period, the continental air mass and the ocean air flow ebbed and flowed, and the cyclone was active. The wind brought to the Taiwan area was later called "transitional cyclone". Team travel is very disadvantageous.

Therefore, Yin Feng's fleet and infantry could only wait in Chicken Coop and Danshui in the Taipei area, waiting for the wind direction to change and the weather to improve.

On the night of the sneak attack, Taiwan’s Hong Kong City suffered heavy losses. More than 3000 Chinese and foreign people were killed or injured, including the families of many guard soldiers. Among them, almost 400 guard soldiers were killed and more than 800 were injured. In the battle that lasted for many days to sweep up the Japanese pirates and the rebellious indigenous tribes, Mai De's second regiment spread his grievances on those Pingpu rebels and started killing them. Mai De wanted to limit the extent of the killing, but the grassroots guards Military officers and non-commissioned officers lost many brothers and family members in this incident, so it is difficult to limit their retaliation.

The soldiers who hoped to go north to fight against the Japanese pirates and avenge the sneak attack on Taiwan and Hong Kong were also anxiously waiting for the wind to change. There was even a small commotion in the army because of this, people kept coming to Yin Feng's ship to petition, and Yin Feng had no choice but to agree. We will select experts from the whole army, and let these people go north in the first batch when the Sea Soul secretly reinforces Naha Port next time.

The majority of the first infantry regiment and a small number of soldiers from the second infantry regiment gathered in the Taipei area. The Li Xing troops of the third regiment are now all transferred to the surrounding areas of Taiwan Hong Kong, stationed in the urban area, port docks, and Anping Port on the south bank. Therefore, now There are more than 5000 infantry guards assembled and ready to go, including foreign mercenaries, Yan Siqi’s student army, and indigenous auxiliary soldiers; the navy includes three large warships, the Flying Tiger, the Flying Leopard, and the Flying Wolf. The eagle ship has returned to Taiwan Port to take on the mission of prohibition, just in case.

The remaining warships serving as escorts and transporting goods were also sent back to the south to serve as defense missions for Taiwan Harbor. There were also 20 large three-masted Fuchuan as troop carriers, and 50 two-masted Fuchuan also served as escorts. He transported troops, plus 100 small sailing boats and fishing boats as logistics ships-the navy, including the Sailors and Musketeers, has a total of nearly 5000 people, and has been staying in Jilong Danshui and other places for almost half a month.

Now, everything has to wait for the weather to improve as soon as possible and the wind direction to change as soon as possible.

……

On the second day of the blood and fire in Naha Port, the dock area was completely burned down.

This was not done by the Shimadzu Army, but by the straight-rod rockets launched by the Chinese Commercial Center. In the morning, more than a dozen Anzhai ships of the Shimadzu Army came to the dock area along the Michong City that surrendered in the evening, attempting to land and enter the city. The Zhonghua Company Shop is about 800 meters away from the dock area, nearly a mile and a half, which happens to be within the range of the new straight rockets.

This is also the first actual combat of the newly invented new rocket after the Weapons Research Department referred to the use of rockets in the Battle of Fengguiwei in Penghu. Yin Feng called this rocket the "Thunderbolt" rocket, which actually referred to the early Kang Invented by Reeve Rocket.

China has been able to manufacture rockets propelled by gunpowder in the Song Dynasty. This rocket was introduced to India in the Yuan Dynasty or Ming Dynasty, and was quickly imitated and improved by the Indians. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the development of Chinese rockets in the Ming and Qing Dynasties Entering a wrong path, there are many kinds of fancy styles but not practical. It was not improved until Zhao Shizhen built the Chinese straight-rod rocket, but it was not adopted by the court. At the same time, India's rocket technology had a great development. The power and range of rockets have been greatly increased. The gunpowder cartridges of some rockets have been replaced by iron (Ming dynasty rockets only have paper tubes), and various models have appeared. The length of large rockets can reach 61 cm, the inner diameter is 7.62 cm, and the 6.1 The meter-long bamboo balance guide rod has a range of more than 2.4 kilometers. In the 17th century, Britain, France and other countries invaded India. The Indians played a great role in the battle against Western powers. The Sultan of Mysore Dibo Sabu (also known as Tipu Sultan) fired a large number of rockets with a special rocket unit in the battle against the British army in 1792 and 1799, causing heavy casualties to the British army.

After the British army conquered Mysore, they brought the captured rockets back to the country. At that time, during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon tried to land on the British mainland. Due to the lack of British Army troops and the need to destroy the enemy at sea, there was an urgent need to effectively attack French landing ships. The Indian rocket aroused the great interest of Colonel William Congreve of the Artillery working in the Royal Laboratory of the Woolwich Arsenal. He believed that the rocket was the best weapon against Napoleon, so he immediately set out to attack It was transformed, and Congreve used a new type of gunpowder to manufacture a practical rocket in 1805, weighing 14.5 kilograms, with an arrow length of 1.06 meters and a diameter of 0.1 meters, and a 4.6-meter-long balance rod was installed. The early model The range of the rocket can reach 1800 meters. At the beginning, this kind of rocket mainly used the tail flame to burn and kill the enemy, and later it was equipped with a blasting warhead.

At that time, the technical content of rockets was not high. As long as the shape complied with the basic aerodynamic principles, they could fly. The rocket developed by Li advocated abandoned the fancy shape of the rocket in the Ming Dynasty at that time (what kind of fire dragon comes out of the water, it is good to be able to fly, if you hit the target, you have to beg God), and adopted the reasonable part of the Chinese rocket stage boost, copycat The epoch-making "Thunderbolt" rocket came out.

"Thunderbolt" uses solid wood as a balance pole, with a length of [-] feet, or about Zhang. The arrowhead barrel is [-] feet long and [-] inches in diameter. It is made of thin copper or tinplate. The rod is fastened with iron wire and passes through the cartridge, and the barrel is pierced with a sharp wooden ruler. The wood powder is made of iron like a gun barrel. The lower two thirds of the rocket launcher are filled with explosives, and the upper third is filled with explosives. , The tube exploded, and the fire scattered, or wounded people with fragments, or spread and burned tents and houses.

There is also a thunderbolt rocket used for sea combat, which is equipped with explosives and oil in the warhead, and has the courage to burn the ship.

Chen Zhongji issued an order from the gate tower of the east gate, and fired more than a dozen Thunderbolt rockets at a time, hitting the dock area a mile and a half away. As a result, not only burned the entire dock, but also spread the fire to the sea, burning three Shimadzu army ships. Sailboats, the remaining Shimadzu Army sailboats retreated.

Shimadzu Army Deputy General Hirata Masamune was in a good mood in Mie Castle. Yesterday he robbed half of Naha City, and he has gained a lot. He is planning to pass through Naha Port Area to attack Yaraza Mori Castle in the south, and then Then he can control the entire Naha port area, and he intends to extract more windfall in this prosperous port city.

General of the Shimadzu Army Navy, Kono Odori, the shipping officer, rushed over and poured cold water on Hirata Masamune's good mood: "Mr. Hirata, three of our ships were burned in the direction of the dock, and the dock area was also burned. All The boat couldn't dock, so we had to come back,"

"What did you say, who did it, Xie Mingqing Fang Lishan's soldier,"

"No, yes, a rocket flew from somewhere, exploded and burned down the pier, trestle and warehouse, and also our ship," said Kono Otsutsu, the director of shipping, angrily, "In my opinion, it should be the Chinese company. Flying from the direction of the shop,"

"Is it the Chinese company business hall? This is really troublesome," Vice General Hirata said distressedly, covering his face, "You know, the shogunate and the lord both sent orders the day before yesterday asking us to treat Ming businessmen well. This is really troublesome." Ah, Lai Tian, ​​have you found out what happened to the Zhonghua Commercial Center yesterday?"

A slender samurai bowed and said: "Your Excellency, the makeup and entry personnel we sent and the troops behind Zaemon are all gone,"

"What?" Hirata Zengzong was troubled for a while, and suddenly asked: "Mr. Laitian, these Chinese people have never been out of the gate, right?"

"I have sent people to monitor, and so far, no other Ming people have been found in other areas of Naha Port,"

Hirata nodded: "Okay, as long as these people don't come out to cause trouble, we will ignore them for the time being, Kono Makoto, dispatch 100 of your sailors to help block and monitor the Chinese business hall, and wait for us to lay down Yaliangza Sencheng , and deal with them again,"

Compared with the economic goals of the Satsuma Shimazu family for the Ryukyu Zhongshan country, the Tokugawa Ieyasu shogunate focused more on the political aspect of Ryukyu. He also wanted to seek the recognition of the Ming Dynasty, which is a big country in East Asia, so he didn't want to get too stiff with the Ming Dynasty. In order to achieve this goal, Ieyasu tried every possible method. Pay attention, regard it as a life-saving straw, pin all hopes of normal relations in the future on Ryukyu, and continue to send envoys to entrust Ryukyu King Zhongshan to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty to show the emperor that he wants to resume trade with the Ming Dynasty of China. In the battle of the ball, the shogunate only pushed the Shimadzu family to work, and sending troops to Taiwan was only an action instigated by the Shimadzu family at the instigation of Das Marinas, and the shogunate only sent Naotomo Yamaguchi, a shogunate, to supervise. Nominally belonging to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the Japanese knew that the Ming court did not have the ability to actually control Taiwan, so they dared to attack Taiwan.

Whether for economic or political purposes, the Shimadzu family and the shogunate were unwilling to kill the chicken and take the eggs, so they lenient the merchant ships and merchants. The chaos in Taiwan Harbor was actually caused by the lack of organization and discipline of those ronin.

After Chen Zhongji beat off the Shimadzu family's ship, he sent someone to send a letter to Zheng Jiong in Yaliangza Mori Castle, informing him of the Shimadzu army's movements and that the Zheng family's family had gone to Taiwan. At this time, the southern area of ​​Naha Port There was no sign of the Japanese pirates yet, so the messenger who sent the letter came back safely soon, and brought Xie Yuanshui, the captain of the guard named Qing Fang Zheng Jiong.

Xie Yuanshui saluted Chen Zhongji, his attitude was much more respectful than when they first met: "My lord, I would like to thank Shopkeeper Chen. Within the scope of my authority, my lord specially confers on you the post of manager of the shipyard and general manager..."

The person in charge of the boat house is equivalent to the captain of the Royal Fleet, and the post of Hedu Tongshi is generally exclusive to the Ryukyu Chinese. Chen Zhongji smiled bitterly in his heart: I didn't come here to become an official in the Ryukyu Kingdom.

At that moment, he had no choice but to cup his fists and thank him: "Thank you, Mr. Zheng. I don't know if Mr. Zheng sent you here specially. Is there anything else? The Japanese pirates may attack Yaliangzao Forest City immediately, and I am willing to help defend against the enemy."

Xie Yuanshui nodded: "My lord is about to send troops to rescue Shuri Wangcheng, I hope you can send someone to help guard Yaliangzuo Sencheng,"