The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 719 Landing at Heliao Port

After another half a day, a Chinese fast boat of Helan finally spotted the traces of the Ming fleet, and then quickly returned to send a message.

In the narrow sea area between Tainan and Penghu, it is absolutely extremely difficult to completely hide the traces of a fleet of forty or fifty warships.

Bess took out the chart and only glanced at it. Immediately, his heart jumped, and he shouted: "Raise the flag! All warships maintain a guard formation, move north to west, and move with full sail. Quick, the enemy is going around to our upwind! "

Although he was startled by the suddenly approaching Daming navy, he was "relieved" when his opponent finally appeared, and the rest was to talk with cannons.

The response of the Daming Navy was also very fast. After the sudden attack was noticed, they also immediately adjusted their direction, keeping a distance of seven or eight nautical miles from the Helan Fleet and heading northwest. At this time, the northeast wind was blowing in the Taiwan Strait. Pressing on the opponent's east side makes it easier to gain the upper hand.

However, the Helan people needed to make a ninety-degree turn from the north side in order to block the upper wind of the Ming army.

However, as a veteran of the Helan Navy, Bess has also experienced battles for a long time, and he is extremely patient at this time.Although the position of the Ming fleet is slightly better, as long as I continue to drive north, the opponent will not be able to form a battle line to attack me.

As a result, the fleets of both sides sailed side by side in the direction of north by west like two parallel lines.

This is the case in naval battles in the era of sailing warships. If the commanders of both sides are very experienced, they will try their best to adjust their positions so that the wind direction is more favorable to them.Sometimes I can circle the sea for more than half a month, but I don't want to enter a state of engagement.

Usually, an unexpected sudden change in wind direction is the decisive opportunity they are waiting for.

But only half a day later, a smile appeared on Beth's face.Although it wasn't obvious, he could still tell from his rich experience that his sailors were slightly more proficient in manipulating warships than the enemy.

This led to every slight change in the wind direction, and the large fleet could gain a little advantage.If this advantage accumulates, within three or four days at most, he will be able to reverse the opponent's positional advantage, and even seize the upper hand.

It's no wonder that the Helan people are known as sea coachmen, and they have traveled across the world's oceans for nearly a hundred years, and they have always used Galenic warships.The Daming Navy has only been established for less than a year. Even though the Naval Academy has a systematic training system, the sailors' ability to sail and control the rudder is still inferior to the old maritime powers.

At night, both sides slowed down, implemented blackout, and sent small boats to monitor each other, quietly waiting until dawn.

Just when Bess was about to continue playing the game of "ship control" with the Ming fleet, he saw a small boat approaching at high speed.The people on the ship climbed aboard the Dodrecht and warned him with heavy breaths, "General, the administrator of Owat told you to return immediately to the rescue!"

Bei Si frowned and said, "The main force of the Ming fleet is just a few nautical miles away. What danger can there be?"

After a day of probing, he has determined that the fleet not far away has 9 medium and large Galen ships, 20 small Galen ships, and more than a dozen Junk ships, which are definitely the main force of the Ming Dynasty.

The person who came to report anxiously said: "Yesterday morning, more than a dozen small boats passed through Luermen, transporting six or seven hundred Ming soldiers to Heliao Port. Now the road leading to the north of Chihan City has been completely blocked. die!"

Bei Si was surprised: "The Northern Passage has not been used for many years, how could the Ming Dynasty transport troops from there?"

Zeelandia City and Chikan City, one on the left and the other on the right, guard Zeelandia Bay with each other's horns.If you want to land on Taiwan Island through Zeelandia Bay, there are two channels to go.

The South Channel, also known as Dayuan Port, has deep water and a wide channel, and the Helan people sent heavy troops to guard it, and built a large number of forts on both sides of the channel.

There is also a Luermen Channel, also known as the North Channel, at the northern end of Weidao, the northern line on the north side of Zeelanza.However, this place is extremely narrow and full of sand and rocks, making it impossible for large ships to pass through, so the Helan people are extremely lax about the defense here.

In history, Zheng Chenggong quietly landed from Luermen, cut off the connection between Chixian City and the north of Taiwan in one fell swoop, and established the initial victory.

Zhu Linmi was very clear about this matter, so naturally she followed suit.

However, he did not have the luck of Zheng Chenggong in the past - when the tide was high, he could transport thousands of troops to land.So he only sent more than ten small boats to transport [-] soldiers to Heliao Port.

The person who sent the letter just said nonuo: "Probably they sneaked in at night, and they had already landed at dawn."

Bess said angrily: "Even if they land, there are only 700 people, just send the soldiers in Chixian City to deal with it, and then send my fleet back?"

"Here, Captain Aldorp took 90 soldiers to meet them, and more than 300 people died. At noon, Zeelandia sent another [-] reinforcements, but they were still repelled. The consul had no choice but to send me here." Call for help."

Bess was taken aback. He had seen the fighting power of the Easterners many times. Generally speaking, three hundred Helan soldiers were enough to defeat the six or seven hundred enemies.But this time Aldorp had more than 700 people in his hands, and he was still defeated!

And judging from Owat's haste to call the fleet back for reinforcements, the casualties may be serious.

In fact, all he had seen before was the old Ming army, but this time it was 300 sailors from the Daming Navy who landed, bringing with them more than [-] military students from the Naval Academy.The weapons they used were the latest rifled muskets, and they also brought several No. [-] Fran cannons and a large number of thunderbolts, and their combat command ability was even better than that of the Helan people.

So they repelled Aldorp without bloodshed, and then began to march towards Chixian City.Although they have nothing to do with the bastion of Chixian City, the Chixian towns around the bastion are left to them.

The Helan people wanted to fight street battles with them, but they were accurately sniped and killed many with rifled guns, so they had to retreat into the bastion in embarrassment.

Owat was worried that the Ming army would continue to land in the future, so he sent people to recall the main fleet overnight to cut off the Ming army's sea transportation line.

The person who was waiting to deliver the letter disembarked, and Beth's adjutant, Bram, said anxiously: "General, we can't just return like this, it will..."

"I will hand over the upper wind to the Ming fleet, I know." Bess closed his eyes and let out a breath, appearing quite calm, "Send the order, quickly approach the enemy ship, and seek a decisive battle."

He watched Brahm turn around and leave the captain's room, but his heart was full of ups and downs. After just a few days of fighting, why did he feel that he was always being led by the nose by these Easterners... I don't know how the fleet was at a disadvantage when the wind direction was at a disadvantage. How big the loss will be.

It is still Zhu Linmi's old formula to fight for aid, but it is still very effective.

Soon, the Dodrechet raised the command flag, and the entire Helan fleet immediately raised its sails, connected end to end skillfully, formed a standard battle line, and quickly turned due east.

Their goal is very clear. The head of the fleet is pointing east by south, and the tail is pointing west by north. They use the side of the ship to eat the wind and press against the northeast side of the Ming fleet.

(End of this chapter)