August of the first year of Chenghua.

Feng Xiang, who had been stationed in Nanjing Quarry Rock for a period of time, suddenly received an urgent report: the Dutch fleet had once again poured out of the nest and appeared off the coast of Shandong, and there were signs of continuing to go north!

This news shocked Feng Xiang, and hurriedly discussed with Zhang Chaozhong, the commander of the Nanjing Navy Division, and the two always believed that the Dutch were most likely to be killed in the area of Tianjin, and these Dutch were simply Hu people on the sea, and with the wanton conflict of warships, they could attack any place along the coast of the Ming Dynasty at will!

"Hou Ye is right!"

Feng Xiang said angrily: "I, the Great Ming Sailor, will take control of the sea, so that these Xiyi have nowhere to live!" ”

"Control of the sea?!"

Zhang Chaozhong repeated silently, and his face was also full of admiration, which was to the point.

"We're going to strike as soon as possible!"

Zhang Chaozhong said, his face was also anxious, although he only supported the Dongping Island Navy, but as the admiral of the Nanjing Navy, there has been no war for many years, and he is also utilitarian, and he wants to make war exploits and exchange the heads of those Dutch for his own glory and wealth.

Feng Xiang also nodded in agreement, after all, Tianjin cannot afford to lose, it is the sea gateway of the Beijing Division, and the Dutch must not be harassed, so he said: "Since this is the case, then let's prepare immediately, and the two fleets will set off at the same time early tomorrow morning and go north to the East China Sea!" ”

Zhang Chaozhong looked at the information in his hand and said, "The Dutch appeared in the sea south of Shandong two days ago, I hope we can catch up." ”

"It should be possible, if the Dutch really go north, they will definitely pay attention to avoid the inspection of the national navy division, and it is impossible to move forward at full speed."

"I hope so!"

The next day, the Dongping Island Navy and the Nanjing Navy set sail at the same time, entered the Yangtze River from Quarry Rock, and sailed directly eastward into the vast sea.

Feng Xiang stood on the Daqin, the flagship of the Dongping Island Navy, looking at the vast blue waves, and his heart was excited.

Just around the Daqin, the battleships of all levels of the Dongping Island Navy were lined up one after another, led by the two second-class battleships of the Daqin and the Dahan, forming two huge battle lines, which were like two dragons breaking the waves on the sea, which was magnificent.

On the east side of the Dongping Island Naval Fleet, the Nanjing Navy Division also sailed in formation, and Zhang Chaozhong, the commander of the Nanjing Navy Division, stood on the giant treasure ship of more than 5,000 materials, surrounded by more than 130 warships of various types, and protected this flagship very closely.

Moreover, during the period when he was stationed in Nanjing, Feng Xiang also obtained more than 500 artillery pieces from the Yushan Military Bureau and other military bureaus in Shandong with the full support of Hu Dexing, the governor of Shandong, and all of them were mobilized into the Nanjing Naval Division, which made Zhang Chaozhong almost go crazy with joy.

Only a small part of these artillery pieces have been recently produced by the Yushan Military War Bureau and other places, and most of them are artillery from all over Shandong, which is not the latest, but for the Nanjing Navy Division, which has not updated its artillery and added firepower for several years, this is already a big pie falling from the sky, which makes the officers and men of the entire fleet all excited.

At the same time, Zhang Chaozhong used all his connections to recruit hundreds of shipyard craftsmen, and under the guidance of Feng Xiang's craftsmen, he transformed all the battleships of the Nanjing Navy Division, so that the artillery equipped with all the battleships of the Nanjing Navy Division increased a lot, and the firepower of the entire fleet at least tripled!

Today, the Nanjing Navy Division is not what it used to be, its power has increased several times, and the morale of the whole army has been greatly boosted, and Zhang Chaozhong, the commander of the Nanjing Navy Division, is also full of confidence, looking at the mighty Dongping Island Navy in the west, and secretly said in his heart: "This battle will definitely be a piece of me Zhang Chaozhong's meritorious achievements, and this battle will be won!" ”

Four days later, Feng Xiang and Zhang Chaozhong led a combined fleet to the East China Sea and prepared for battle.

According to the battle plan agreed upon by the two, the Dongping Island Navy was responsible for meeting the battle head-on, and after finding the Dutch fleet, it took the initiative to meet it and start a fierce battle.

When the Dongping Island Navy fought fiercely with the Dutch, the Nanjing Navy Division had to wait for the opportunity to press the Dutch fleet with the whole army.

"This battle is not only to achieve victory, but also to annihilate the Dutch fleet in one fell swoop, and control this vast ocean under my Ming fleet!"

Immediately, the Dongping Island Navy and the Nanjing Navy Division separated, each went to the predetermined sea area to assemble and ambush, and at the same time sent clippers to search for the traces of the Dutch fleet.

Soon, only two days later, the Ming fleet discovered the traces of the Dutch fleet, which was cruising the waters off Dengzhou in Shandong Province under the leadership of Fan Zerui, the colonial commander of the Dutch Far East Company.

At this time, Fan Zerui didn't think about his next step, he just wanted to attack and harass the coastal area of Shandong, so that the Ming navy could not go south to Batavia with all his strength, and drag down the Ming navy with raiding and harassment!

However, when Fan Zerui led the naval fleet to arrive at Dongping Island and Andongwei waters, he was extremely disappointed to find that the Ming troops stationed in these two places had been in full battle, not only increasing the number of artillery along the coast, but also adding several batteries.

Then, Fan Zerui led the fleet from the waters around Dongping Island to the north, along the sea off Shandong all the way to the north, and found that almost the entire coastal area of Shandong was heavily garrisoned and forts, and the fleet led by himself could not find a breakthrough, and had a sense of confusion where to start!

Seeing this, Fan Zerui continued to lead the fleet north, rushing in the direction of Tianjin, wanting to try his luck and at least find a place to land to replenish the fleet's supplies.

At this moment, the sentinel ship discovered that the Dongping Island Navy was killing!

Fan Zerui was taken aback when he heard the news, he didn't originally plan to start a decisive battle with the Ming Navy, after all, the fleet under his command was too far away from the mainland, and it would take a long time for the local fleet to come to reinforce it, and although Batavia also had a shipyard, it was too small to repair warships and build small ships, and it could not be used as an existence to restore the strength of the fleet!

And the Ming Kingdom is different, Fan Zerui understands that the Ming Kingdom's fleet can continue to be defeated, as long as his fleet continues to be damaged, he can finally control this vast sea area, after all, there are countless shipyards in the Ming Kingdom, and as long as he wants, he can build inexhaustible warships!

Van Zerey firmly believed from the beginning that if the Dutch wanted to win, they had to rely on raids, not naval battles.

However, now that the Dongping Island Navy has been killed, Fan Zerui can only face the battle head-on, and once he retreats, he will be chased by the Dongping Island Navy, which will not only cause huge losses, but also a huge blow to morale!

"Full sails! To the east, the battle line is facing each other! Fan Zerui gave the order to meet the battle, and this battle must be severely damaged, or even completely annihilated, this hateful Ming fleet, otherwise the situation will continue to deteriorate, or even get out of control.

Soon, Fan Zerui saw the Dongping Island Navy, which had also been lined up in battle, and the entire fleet was like a dragon riding the wind and waves, rushing straight towards the Dutch fleet!

Feng Xiang stood on the command deck of the flagship Daqin, and roared loudly: "Full speed forward, lean to the left!" ”

"The right side of the gun door is all open, ready to fire a salvo!"

"Brothers! Fight to the death! ”

One order after another was issued, and the forty-nine warships of the Dongping Island Navy, led by the Daqin and the Dahan, accelerated at the same time and moved towards the Dutch fleet.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

When the two fleets were sailing almost in parallel, Feng Xiang and Fan Zerui gave the order to open fire almost at the same time, and nearly 100 warships of the two fleets opened fire almost at the same time.

In this round of fire, the Dutch fleet relied on its deep accumulation and the full fire of two first-class battleships, which caused huge losses to the Dongping Island Navy, three fourth-class battleships were engulfed in flames, and one third-class battleship was directly sunk.

Feng Xiang was furious when he saw this, and kept roaring loudly, and the ships of the Dongping Island Navy also fought back with all their might, making the Dutch also miserable.

The Dutch suffered the greatest losses from armed merchant ships, and by the time the two fleets staggered, eight armed merchant ships had sunk or caught fire, and two fourth-class battleships had sunk.

On the whole, the losses of the Dongping Island Navy were greater, and many warships were on fire, and their hulls were damaged to varying degrees.

"Turn! Veer! ”

At this time, Feng Xiang was already red-eyed, roared loudly, and commanded the Dongping Island Navy to turn back and start a confrontation with the Dutch fleet again.

Fan Zerui looked at the loss of the fleet under his command, and he was also angry, but he didn't expect that although the navigation technology of the Ming Navy was far inferior to his own, the power of the artillery was still considerable, even stronger than his own side, and it was precisely because of this that his fleet suffered huge losses.

"Catch up!"

Soon, the two battle lines were parallel again, and the deafening sound of artillery fire rang out again.

This time, the advantage of the Dutch in firepower was even more pronounced.

Although the warships of the Dongping Island Navy are all new designs, and the number of guns that the battleships can carry is far more than that of the Daming Naval Division, the number of guns is still relatively small compared to the Dutch warships.

After the loss of one third-class battleship and three fourth-class battleships, the firepower of the Dongping Island Navy dropped sharply, and it was already at a disadvantage in the second round of bombardment.

"Haha!"

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Fan Zerui had begun to be in a situation of passive attack on the Ming Navy in front of him, and his heart was full of joy, and he kept issuing various orders, preparing to annihilate this hateful Ming fleet right here!

Feng Xiang gritted his teeth and said secretly in his heart: "The foundation of the Dongping Island Navy is still too shallow!" ”