The Qing government set up a number of institutions in Penghu, including the Penghu Hall for civil affairs and the Naval Division Association for military and political affairs.

It was mainly a military area, and the taxes were the lowest in the entire Manchu Qing Dynasty, and even the government called it Qi Poor, because the soil of the island was really poor, and it depended on the sky for food, and the main livelihood still depended on fishing.

The population is not large, according to the statistics of the 32nd year of Qianlong, there are 2,802 households, and a total of 25,843 men and women. Among them, there are 470 strange households in Dongxiao and Magong City, and 4,600 strange men and women; Xiyu and Lintou followed; And Jibei has only sixty-four households.

The government levies taxes "six hundred and nine hundred and nine hundred and fifty cents of silver, and the expenditure is "to set up officials and camps in the land, and the compensation is 30,000 or 40,000 yuan per year." ”

If it weren't for the important strategic location of such a place, the Qing government would not have bothered to ask for it.

The literati of the Qing Dynasty commented, "Whenever there is something going on in Taiwan and the mainland is going eastward, they all rely on Penghu as a place to advance and retreat, and they are very concerned about the overall situation along the coast." ”

This is also the reason why Chen Zhouquan asked Zhu Lian to attack Penghu, and it is also the reason why Zhou Lang agreed to help.

Penghu is the throat of Taiwan, since ancient times, as long as Penghu is not taken, Taiwan can not be defeated, Shi Lang was also the first to lay Penghu, and then dared to fight Taiwan, before the Manchu Eight Banners officers directly attacked Taiwan, the result was a fiasco, and the entire naval division was annihilated.

Therefore, as long as Zhu Lian occupies Penghu, then the Qing army will attack Taiwan, and Penghu will be attacked by sea, and Chen Zhouquan will be attacked by land.

This is the main reason why Zhou Lang agreed to help, as for the alliance and asking for wood, it is just an addition.

After the two negotiated, Zhou Lang immediately ordered preparations for the expedition.

Qiu Tong, Lin Fazhi, and Zhang Biao, the three pirate leaders, finally had something to do, they trained hard in the barracks, and they didn't want to be human anymore.

Pirates are used to being lazy, but they have to be trained rigorously by the Yiren officers sent by Fischer, so it's no wonder that they can get used to it. Only by touching the silver dollar in their pocket can they balance their mood a little.

They were different from infantry training, they were not required to contact muskets, but they were just vigorously linked to pace and military posture, that is, to sharpen their temperament and cultivate their discipline, and they were trained for two months in the blink of an eye.

But they can't fight independently, their ship Zhou Lang can't look down on it, the newly built ship has not yet been built, they go to the battlefield to observe, let them learn how the foreigners conduct naval battles, after the observation, they have to train when they come back.

Zhou Lang's six armed merchant ships, Zhou Lang sent them all, because Zhu Lian could not fight Penghu, the main reason was that the firepower could not suppress the Penghu Qing army battery, Zhou Lang of course had to concentrate firepower, every ship was valuable firepower.

Zhu Li's preliminary work was good, he contacted several local fishing boats in Penghu before attacking Penghu, otherwise he would not dare to rashly attack Penghu, which has intricate waterways.

Penghu is an island group, there are more than 60 islands, the Qing Dynasty people commented that Penghu Island (Magong Island) is located in the center, the surrounding islands are dotted, far and near are staggered, forming a circular harbor road, the reef is hidden in the water, and those who are not familiar with the danger dare not enter lightly. Magong Port is controlled in the center, and the waves in the port are as flat as a mirror, which can accommodate thousands of ships. Those who arch from the west, take Xiyu as the outer defense and Jin ** as the right arm; By the southeast sanitators, with the tail of the wind cabinet (also known as the head of the snake) as the left guard, the big and small case mountain as the lower arm, lock the port gate, there are four corners of the small island, for the port of the door Luo Xing, plugging the water mouth; Its west is slightly north of Xiyu for the roaring door, the waves are turbulent on both sides, and its large column, small column and two islands, sandwiched left and right. In the past, Liu Guoxuan was defeated by Shi Hou and escaped by boat. The roaring water is shallow, and the cover is three feet above the clouds. He is like a T-shaped gate in the northwest of Xiyu, hanging alone in the open sea, controlling the ocean; There are rocks lurking under the water near Shigong Reef, and the boat does not dare to commit it.

The navigation mode of Chinese is different from that of Westerners, who develop more systematically, relying on charts and instruments for navigation, and most of the Chinese at this time still have to rely on experience. Without anyone to lead the boat, it is impossible for Zhu Li to capture Penghu. Not to mention that it has been captured, it is not good to say whether it can enter the Penghu waterway, and even if it is in, it is not good to say whether it can come out.

In addition, it is the fort of Penghu, which is regarded as the key to the Taiwan Strait, the gateway to the Fujian Sea, and coastal defense is still quite important, so there are many cannons. At least Zhu Lian believed that as long as he could suppress the fort, he would be able to capture Penghu himself.

In fact, Zhu Lian still thinks too highly of himself, Zhu Li's subordinates, there are indeed two brushes in naval warfare, but that is compared with the Qing army's naval divisions, and land warfare is completely a layman.

Under the leadership of the local fishermen, Zhou Lang's fleet was in danger, and after six armed merchant ships entered Magong Port, they connected to 50 Fu Jianting ships under Zhu Li's command, and in the harbor pool of Magong Port, which is claimed to be able to berth thousands of ships, more than 100 naval guns fired salvos at the same time to bombard the artillery of the battery.

At this time, Zhou Lang's fleet cannons were all famous, and he thought that he would have an artillery battle with the Qing army, but after fighting for a long time, he didn't see the other side firing artillery, and finally waited for the other party to fire, but it only hit the water surface, stirring up the water column.

The artillery battle lasted for half an hour, Zhou Lang saw that the Qing army's artillery batteries were returning fire less and less, and slower and slower, knowing that the time was ripe, so he suggested that Zhu Lian send troops to land.

The Qing soldiers went directly out of the city to fight, and a few hundred people defeated Zhu Li's thousands.

Only then did Zhou Lang understand that the failure of Zhu Li's attack on Penghu last time was probably not just on the artillery. Zhou Lang had already discovered that the number of artillery in the Qing army was not as many as Zhu Lian said, and the firing range was short. In fact, we know that during the Guangxu period, the Qing government built a large number of forts in Penghu, and there were only forts near the Magong flood camp before.

In terms of importance, Penghu as the gateway to the Fujian Sea, not necessarily as important as Humen as the gateway to Guangzhou, the foreigners' evaluation of the Humen Fort at this time is, "The entrance of the fort is often opened next to it, and the entrance on the front is not completely undefended, but only one or two cannons are controlled, there is no trench, no drawbridge, no sluice or other defenses...... We were sure that a single surprise attack would have captured any of these batteries in ten minutes. ”

Facts have proved that the evaluation of Westerners is very pertinent, needless to say Humen, Zhou Lang went last time and was easily captured by Magalny. The same is true of the Penghu Fort, Harald chose the right position, so that most of the Qing artillery could not exert its power, and then used the advantages of number, range and power to suppress the Qing army fort all the time, creating an opportunity for Zhu Li to land.

Zhu Li's men landed, but it was not successful, and they were directly dispersed by the infantry of the Penghu Water Division. Penghu sailor Zhou Lang had met in Donggang before, these people dared to fight at critical moments, of course, their courage was limited, but at least they dared to fight, as soon as they fought, the pirates under Zhu Lian were scattered.

Zhu Li's face was not good-looking, Zhou Lang sighed secretly, he suddenly understood a truth.

The reason for the sudden rise of the Tay Son pirates is probably not only because the Vietnamese Tay Son rebels provided them with bases and channels to sell stolen goods, but also brought them formal knowledge of military management. This kind of knowledge is not imaginary out of thin air, the Tay Son Army has fought a civil war in Vietnam for more than 20 years, and their organization and discipline may be stronger than that of the Qing army at this time.

Zhu Lian's subordinates are a sea gang that has taken refuge in the sea, there is no strict military discipline and discipline inside, and it is estimated that there will be no training in peacetime, and they are fighting completely by relying on a blood and brave spirit, and after encountering the Qing army that dares to fight and can fight, they are vulnerable.

In the battle at sea, this defect can not be seen, because at most it is concentrated in the gang warfare on one ship, more often the battle can be solved by the advantage of firepower alone, so this defect has been hidden, this time as soon as it landed, it was exposed, the front has been ashore, but the back was blocked on the ship, and after being attacked by the Qing army, it was extremely chaotic.

"Zhu Da might as well send a small force to land first and open up a landing ground when he goes to sea!"

Zhou Lang suggested.

Zhu Dian accepted.

Three flat-bottomed boats were sent to land with a hundred soldiers, but they were still robbed and killed by the Qing army, and the Qing infantry advanced, shooting with bows and arrows at a distance of forty or fifty paces, and then clash with shields, and the hundred soldiers could not stand at all. Zhu Li sent another 300 men to support, but he was still unable to capture a solid landing point.

"Ma Dalei, I order you to lead the troops to seize the beach."

Zhou Lang couldn't wait, the Qing army had already driven out of the city, ready for the enemy to land at any time, and the surprise had been lost.

"Harald, cover with cannons!"

Zhou Lang was on Harald's ship, which was the flagship of the fleet.

The artillery bombarded the Qing troops on the shore and scattered the opponent, and Ma Dalei led people to land on the landing craft, and after going ashore, without waiting for the enemy to attack, he quickly lined up and pushed forward to clear an open field for the rear.

The Qing army sent more than 300 people to fight, but they were repelled by Ma Dalei's gun, and then came and retreated, in fact, there was not much skill, and the most important thing was to keep the formation stable.

Seeing that the Qing army could not be attacked, they stopped attacking and allowed the enemy troops in the rear to land.

The follow-up troops soon set foot on the beach, and the artillery was pulled up to the beach, but unfortunately the wheels were deep in the sand, and this was the beach, the further inland it was, the higher it was, and it would take a lot of time to pull the artillery up and cover the infantry siege.

However, this step is omitted.

Because the Qing army sent people to negotiate.

Half of this Qing army was returned from Donggang, they had fought with Zhou Lang, and knew that Zhou Lang would not be wiped out, leaving a line in everything, they were put back by Zhou Lang last time, so they immediately persuaded their commander to give up resistance.

At this time, the deputy general of Penghu was Wei Chengming, replacing Li Nanxin, who committed suicide in Donggang, as the deputy general, he followed the advice of his subordinates, after all, he did not want to commit suicide like Li Nanxin, as for the imperial court to ask for guilt, there is a way to get rid of the crime, as long as you keep a useful body, make some silver, it is still possible to buy a guilty meritorious service, and now Taiwan is in chaos, it is the time to employ people, I believe that the above will not do things absolutely. Wei Chengming decided to send someone to talk, as long as he could let them go, he would give them Penghu.