Volume VIII Chapter 21 Continuous Combat
Zheng Zhihu did not stop after defeating the Dutch fleet led by the pirates Liu Xiangbu and Putmans in succession, but directly led forty super battleships to the north shore of Jilong Island, preparing to immediately attack the Spanish city of San Salvador.
Why is he in such a hurry, is it because he is in a hurry to achieve quick results? Of course not, Tu Cheng is not in a hurry to be in this consciousness, mainly because he really can't afford to delay.
Speaking of which, it is still Zhu Cijiong's fault, like that place in Liaodong, even if you can't beat it, you can run, and there is basically no danger. It's not the same on the sea, if the Dutch Eastern Second Fleet directly abandons Manila and rushes from the south when they attack the city of Geranza, then there is really nowhere to run, and if you run around at sea, it will not run away, but commit suicide by throwing yourself into the water!
Although the Beiyang Naval Division may not be able to defeat the Dutch's Second Fleet in the East, the shells do not have long eyes when they fight, and if they accidentally fly a shell towards the emperor, the consequences are unimaginable. Besides, the fleet directly under the Dutch East India Company doesn't know if it will come, and if the two fleets of the Dutch come together, the Beiyang Naval Division will definitely not be able to defeat it. Therefore, just in case, Zheng Zhihu had to settle the matter in the north of Dongfan as soon as possible, and then run to the south of the city of Geranza to help the emperor guard to prevent the Dutch fleet from approaching the royal car.
The reason why Zheng Zhihu is so anxious is actually a more important reason, that is, the emperor brought Zheng Chenggong with him this time, that is the crown prince of his Zheng family, if he accidentally rubs off a little oily skin, it is estimated that his eldest brother Zheng Zhilong will cut off a piece of his real skin!
Anyway, whether it was for the emperor or for Zheng Chenggong, he had to fight quickly, so he didn't dare to stop for a moment, and immediately after fighting the pirates, he would fight the Dutch, and immediately after beating the Dutch, he began to prepare to fight the Spaniards. Fortunately, Putmans had already thought of a good way for him to break through the city of San Salvador, and when he saw through his telescope the northern walls of San Salvador being bombed like a dog, and then looked at the still smoking fort, and then contacted the Dutch hurrying to load artillery to the battleship, he immediately understood.
At this time, the Spaniards had already sent a team of 100 people to the 'original site' of the fort, the Dutch were really ruthless, before leaving, not only knocked over the four walls of the fort, but also lifted the remaining 10 or so guns of the Spaniards to the foot of the mountain, the Spaniards were very helpless, the fixed artillery in this castle was not as light as the ship, it was easy to lift it down, and if they wanted to carry it up again, they were afraid that the 100 people were not enough!
Just when the Spaniards looked at the bare cannon base and wanted to cry without tears, more than 1,000 small warships of the Nanyang Naval Division were busy around the battleships and Daifuku ships, and the elite of the Second Regiment of the Praetorian Guard began to board the ships with field howitzers, but a small boat could only carry more than ten people, and if it was squeezed in, it would be at most a dozen or so people, if it was to transport field artillery, then no one could squeeze out, and the first round was mainly to transport artillery, Therefore, the first batch of elite Janissaries sent to the north shore of Jilong Island in small boats were only five or six thousand people, plus four hundred field howitzers.
This number alone had frightened the Spaniards on the side of the retreat fort, and when the first batch of Ming troops disembarked and landed, the hundred Spanish soldiers were already ready to run away, but fortunately, the five or six thousand Ming troops were only assembled on the beach, guarding the artillery, and did not immediately attack in the direction of the retreat fort, so they dared to stand there and watch the excitement. When the second group of more than 10,000 people landed on the north bank, the Spaniards who were retreating to the fort couldn't bear it anymore, and just ran away, what kind of jokes, this is almost 20,000 people, look at the people behind their posture, what are they guarding, people go directly to the foot of the mountain and throw a stone to bury them alive!
The remaining 48,000 people of the Second Legion of the Praetorian Guard did not all land on the north shore of Jilong Island, because the city of Santo Domingo on the other side of Tamsui did not know what the situation was, Zheng Zhihu and Shi Kefa discussed, and simply asked the deputy general Zheng Ming to bring ten battleships and one hundred lucky ships to send 8,000 elite Janissaries to land near Santo Domingo City, and then help them capture Santo Domingo City in one fell swoop.
40,000 people landing on a small island is indeed terrifying enough, it feels like an unstoppable torrent, overwhelming the whole world with people! Having said that it is so terrifying, why didn't the Spaniards surrender yet?
In fact, Romero, the Spanish chicken coop chief, had long wanted to surrender, but whether in terms of military law or face, he could not surrender immediately, and Westerners could surrender in military law, but this surrender was conditional.
Romero can only wait now, wait for the Dutch, wait for the Ming army, anyway, as long as the northern wall collapses, he can surrender, this is force majeure, he will be removed from his post at most if he goes back; However, if the enemy surrenders without firing a single shot, it is estimated that you will be pulled out and shot.
Shi Kefa didn't know that there was still a saying that he could surrender, and the Ming Dynasty did not have this provision, so he arranged it very seriously, with 10,000 musketeers on the left and 10,000 musketeers on the right, ready to attack, as long as the city wall was broken, he would immediately rush in, and the other more than 10,000 musketeers hid behind the hill to prevent the enemy from sneaking up.
Four hundred artillery pieces are more than three times stronger than the more than one hundred and twenty guns of the Dutch, after bombing for more than an hour, the originally crumbling north wall of San Salvador City was finally blasted out of a few holes, Shi Kefa for the sake of insurance, let all the artillery be loaded with scattered shells to test the range and range, the castle is so big, the test results are very good, scattered bullets can basically cover the entire city of San Salvador.
He was about to give the order for all the artillery barrage to cover, and then 20,000 musketeers charged, when a white flag suddenly rose over the main fort of San Salvador!
Shi Kefa was simply dumbfounded, he originally thought that this was a hard battle, after all, the city of San Salvador was full of forts, and there were two fortresses that could not be bombed at all, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to take it without losing a thousand men. He was ready to lose thousands of people, but he never thought that the battle would be over with just a few shots!
When more than 500 Spanish soldiers lined up in a neat line to go out of the city to surrender, he still felt so unreal, isn't it said that the armies of the great powers are very good, how can he feel like a flock of lambs!
If Romero knew his thoughts, he would probably be angry and bloody, Nima, the cow also depends on the object, if you face 40,000 natives with wooden sticks and spears on their backs, you see whether he surrenders or not, the problem is that the muskets and artillery of the Ming Dynasty are more advanced than theirs, why not surrender? Look for death!
In any case, the city of San Salvador has been taken, and now the city of Santo Domingo, which the Dutch just occupied, is left, so what about the situation over there?
In fact, the current Santo Domingo City is easier to break than the Spaniards' defense, Putmans only left a hundred musketeers to guard the city of Santo Domingo in order to concentrate his forces to attack the city of San Salvador, as for the pirates, he only left a hundred, the pirates are many, but Putmans is not at ease with Liu Xiang, if he leaves a few thousand pirates, when Liu Xiang turns his face, this Santo Domingo City will not be given to him for nothing!
These two hundred people who were suspicious of each other not only had to defend the city of Santo Domingo but also guarded more than 400 Spanish prisoners, this defensive power can be imagined, so when Zheng Ming saw the situation in the city of Santo Domingo, he didn't even bother to call the elite of the Praetorian Guard to build a ladder, and directly collected a thousand hooks and locks for them, and then put them on the beach five or six miles away from the city, and then began to attack.
Ten super battleships and a hundred transformed Daifuku ships firepower is called a fierce, the scattered bullets are like rain, there is no break at all, the Dutch and pirates on the city wall are pressed and their heads can't be raised, the elite of the Praetorian Guard is also equipped with revolver rifles, the firepower is also fierce, 5,000 people stand in five rows directly from the city wall 200 steps away, the bullets are also like rain on the city wall, and the other 3,000 people quickly climbed the city wall with hook locks.
The Dutch and pirates in Santo Domingo basically hid behind the female wall, holding their heads and waiting for the Ming army to attack, they didn't even have the courage to stand up and put up a white flag to surrender, in such a dense rain of bullets, I am afraid that as soon as they stand up, they will be beaten into a sieve with a white flag!
In fact, the great powers have always been able to bully and bully countries with weapons that are more backward than them, once other people's weapons are similar to theirs, their shortcomings in insufficient personnel will be immediately exposed, like Portugal in the early days and now the Netherlands, their country's total population is only more than one million, even if all men of the right age are soldiers, how many troops can be raised, so Portugal soon declined, and the Netherlands did not jump for long before the British overturned. No one, no matter how much territory you occupy, you can't hold it in the end, just like a person with big eyes and a small belly, regardless of the amount of belly, desperately eating, desperately eating, and in the end it is not all squirting.
One hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand, in the face of such a child's play, Zheng Zhihu, Shi Kefa, and Zheng Ming all felt a little crying and laughing, they had an army of 150,000, and the enemy, in addition to 30,000 or 40,000 garbage pirates, in fact, there were only more than 2,000 people in total who really had combat effectiveness!
In the evening, Zheng Zhihu and Shi Kefa discussed it, and finally decided to leave the second corps of the Praetorian Guard in Tamsui and Jicoop, while the Nanyang Naval Division all rushed to the south of Dongfan.
Because there is basically a naval battle in the back, there is only one city left, which is also 50,000 against 500, and it makes no difference whether the Second Legion of the Praetorian Guard goes or not, but there are nearly a thousand Spanish prisoners and more than 30,000 pirate prisoners on the side of Tamsui and Chicken Coop, although most of the pirates are injured, but the number is too much, if you don't send enough people to guard, I'm really afraid that they will make some trouble.
Early the next morning, Zheng Zhihu gathered all the ships of the Nanyang Naval Division and embarked on a journey, and then there will be a sea battle that will go down in history.