Fujian, Zheng Zhilong at this moment is not as calm as before.

Since the First Fleet went south to occupy Taiwan in March, Zheng Zhilong's mood has become more and more irritable, and he has long since lost his original calmness.

Because Wen Bangliang began to take the First Fleet and began to play the banner of 'Daming City Bosi' on the southeast coast, checking merchant ships everywhere on the sea.

In just two months, hundreds of merchant ships were inspected.

In previous years, this time was the busiest time for Haideng Moon Harbor, and in the summer, it was a 'Thousand Sails Race', but this year's merchant ships are less than half.

One is because of the loss of the market, resulting in the loss of one profit point for the maritime merchants, and the other is because of the inventory, every time they are checked, they are directly fined half of the goods.

This can punish the Southeast Sea merchants to the bitter endeavors.

However, after many people were fined at sea, they went directly to Shandong by boat, and the southeast couldn't be mixed, so they went to Shandong to register first.

There are many advantages to going to Shandong, not only is there protection for traveling at sea, but also the market can be involved, and the way of paying taxes is different from that set by Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong is to stipulate how much money to charge per ship, which leads to some goods that are not so profitable, but are very easy to buy, cannot be operated.

Every time you go to sea, you must look for high-profit goods, and high-profit goods cannot go to sea until they reach a certain amount, which causes a lot of inconvenience to those maritime merchants.

Qingdao Customs collects taxes according to the type of goods, so the business mode can be more flexible.

Without these restrictions, the number of people engaged in maritime trade would have increased several times as much as the shipbuilding base in the southeast.

Combining all kinds of advantages and disadvantages, most of the maritime merchants chose to go to Shandong to make a living, and at the same time sent people home to pick up the old and young, now Zhao Yan's power is like Zhongtian, and the power on the sea is also increasing day by day, so that many maritime merchants feel that going to Shandong is more promising than in Fujian.

What made Zheng Zhilong even more angry was that the First Fleet encountered his merchant ship and directly confiscated it.

Whether it is to check the fine in the southeast, or to confiscate his merchant ships, it is to cut off his financial resources nakedly, since the loss of the market, Zheng Zhilong's income has decreased a lot, last year was only more than 40 million taels of silver, if Zhao Yan is so tossed this year, it will be good to be able to get 20 million taels.

Zheng Zhilong summoned his subordinates to discuss it, and felt that the situation could not continue to spread, and some action must be made to protect the southeast merchant ships from being investigated.

…… In late May, Zheng Zhilong ordered Zheng Cai and Gan Hui to lead more than 300 warships to Taiwan. ”

Wen Bangliang immediately gathered warships and frigates, and brought 50,000 rockets that had just been transported from Qingdao to meet the battle.

The Zheng Group's fleet is moving very slowly because there are many small boats.

This gave Wen Bangliang time to concentrate his forces, and by the time the two sides encountered eighty miles east of Penghu, Wen Bangliang had already concentrated eight frigates.

As soon as the two sides encountered, Wen Bangliang gave the order to open fire.

Without any hesitation!

The general asked them to check on the southeast coast, which will inevitably cause a fire fight with the Zheng group, and at this moment, the Zheng group will be dispatched on a large scale to make trouble.

The rumbling sound of artillery was still clearly audible in Penghu, 80 miles away, and Wen Bangliang met more than 300 warships led by Zheng Cai and Gan Hui with 20 warships and 8 frigates that rushed to converge.

Of the more than 300 warships led by Gan Hui, 50 were extraordinarily large warships, and because the Zheng group was stimulated by Zhao Yan, the sea power increased greatly.

If Wen Bangliang's command is determined, the officers and men of the First Fleet are also not afraid at all, and the strength of the First Fleet at this time is unprecedentedly strong, which is the source of confidence. After encountering the huge fleet of the Zheng group east of Penghu, they immediately launched an artillery bombardment on the Zheng group's fleet three thousand meters away.

More than 300 warships sailed mightily, but it also became a huge target.

Twenty warships and eight frigates of the First Fleet lined up, and as the flag waved, the warships and frigates opened fire.

On average, each warship has 52 heavy guns, while the frigate has 23 guns, and the broadside guns reach 588.

The cannonballs fell from the sky and fell directly into the huge fleet of the Zheng group, and the rumbling explosion soon sounded again, and many water columns rose on the sea, but thirty percent of the shells hit the enemy ships, and some small boats were directly hit by the cannonballs, and they were blown in two on the spot.

And those big ships, when they are blown up to the deck by cannonballs, will be directly smashed out of a hole by heavyweight shells, and then explode directly.

Some exploded above deck, others in the cabin, and each hit was bound to cause huge casualties or hull damage.

Zheng Zhilong's warships are mostly small ships and medium-sized ships, and their long-range combat capability is basically equal to zero, and at the same time, those small and medium-sized ships cannot withstand the power of heavy artillery at all, and those small ships, such as the sub-mother ships that burn enemy ships, are basically one cannon at a time, and once hit, they will be torn apart, or overturned by the water column set off by the cannonballs hitting the side. The medium-sized ships were better, but as long as they were hit squarely, they were seriously injured.

Only the fifty super-large warships are likely to have a displacement of 1,500 tons, and they are manufactured with strict control and super resistance to attack.

The shells hit the decks of these super-large warships, although they also caused large casualties and normal hull damage, but this damage can take a lot of damage for such a tonnage, as if it rubbed against a layer of skin.

However, the first round of shelling was like a slap in the face, which made Zheng Cai and Gan Hui dizzy, but the blow of the more violent storm was still to come.

Only half a minute later, the huge flotilla that rushed towards the First Fleet was hit again, and huge shells rained down like fire, and in the rumbling explosion, the originally dense formation was thrown into chaos.

The ferocious firepower of the First Fleet was far more unexpected than that of the Dutch.

The Dutch navy liked close combat, and the shells generally did not go far, but they were faster than them, so both sides were half-hearted.

The Zheng group, which had a numerical advantage, was often able to win naval battles with the Dutch, but every time at sea, the Dutch were able to escape for the most part.

However, the Shandong Navy is different, they are good at artillery warfare.

The naval artillery is the best in the whole army, and they have never skimped on artillery shells in training, and they use live ammunition for training.

The huge fleet of the Zheng Group was shelled by two rounds, Zheng Cai and Gan Hui couldn't help but panic, and the entire fleet stopped there for a while.

Immediately, Zheng Cai and Gan Hui ordered their subordinates to disperse and continue to advance, intending to encircle the First Fleet.

The First Fleet stood still, and after five rounds of shelling, the warships of the Zheng Group were already a thousand meters apart, and they were fanning around.

On the way to the First Fleet, the Zheng group made a heavy comeback and was sunk by the First Fleet more than 50 small and medium-sized warships.

Seeing that it was about to be surrounded, Wen Bangliang ordered all ships to move freely and wait for an opportunity to burn the enemy ships.

Soon, twenty warships and eight frigates turned back, and as soon as they retreated, they jumped out of the encirclement not long after, and then began to circle around the warships of the Zheng group thousands of kilometers away, seizing the opportunity to shoot a bunch of shells.

I saw a frigate seize the opportunity, go around to the wind position of the Zheng Group's warship, and aim at the group of dozens of battleships gathered together and launch rockets.

The whistling rockets continued to shoot into the dense warship, and the hit rate was almost more than eighty percent, and the frigate fired more than two thousand rockets in one go.

With the explosion of the rocket, dozens of warships burst into flames in an instant, and the fire spread rapidly, and immediately lost control, and the sailors on board jumped into the sea one by one in terror in the fire.

The frigate that succeeded in setting fire quickly withdrew to the upwind position, where the disadvantage was that the sails were extremely vulnerable to enemy artillery.

The choice of the upside is located at the downwind level depends on the situation.

If you have the strength to overwhelm the surname, you will directly sink the enemy in the upwind position, and you are not afraid of the sail being destroyed, even if you lose the ability to maneuver, the enemy will not be able to surround you.

At this time, although the First Fleet has the advantage of absolute surname, but it does not have the strength of absolute surname, and their advantage lies in speed and artillery range, so it is necessary to ensure the integrity of the sails, and the advantage lies in the downwind position.

If it is in a downwind position, the cannonball hits the hull, and the Hongyi cannon thousands of miles away does not have any real lethality to the hull at all, but when it hits the sail, the sail will be punched, which will affect the driving speed. Although a few don't have much effect, if there are too many shells, it can't stand it.

Every warship and frigate was looking for an opportunity to burn the enemy ships, and they roamed around the perimeter, shelling the ships of the Zheng group.

When he found an opportunity, he rushed into the right position and launched the rocket from the deck.

The warships of the Zheng group often huddled together, and they surrounded the First Fleet in a dispersed and concentrated way, and if they were dispersed, the meaning of the encirclement would be lost, because in that case, the First Fleet would easily break out of a gap.

Under the arson of rockets, the warship of the Zheng group was tragic.

With the launch of the rocket, groups of warships were ignited and then dispersed.

And as soon as they dispersed, they basically lost the threat they could to the First Fleet, which began to weave in and out of scattered warships.

They rushed into the boat, and the guns on both sides kept firing, sinking small and medium-sized warships at close range. And against those super-large warships, the First Fleet first set sails and paralyzed them in place.

The First Fleet, which was roaming around, was constantly gnawing at the warships of the Zheng Group, and Zheng Cai and Gan Hui were full of powerlessness in their hearts.

They simply had no room for resistance in the face of the First Fleet.

Half an hour later, the two, knowing that victory was hopeless, each ordered his men to retreat.

As soon as the Zheng Group's fleet of warships retreated, the First Fleet bit it. At this time, it was a southeast wind, and Gan Hui and Zheng Cai ran towards Kinmen with the boat again.

As a result, when the First Fleet was advancing in a downwind position, the broadside guns were aimed squarely at the enemy ships.

Eight frigates rolled up their sails and rushed to the front, aiming at a super-large warship, and a round of shells hit it, and in the dense shells, the super-large warship was directly paralyzed there.

The frigate continued to pursue the other ships, and the crippled ship was soon surrounded by the warships that caught up, and was captured by the First Fleet in a short time.

The eight frigates in front of them are the largest of the Zheng Group's warships, because this is the most valuable, once this kind of three-story attic super-large warship similar to the Fu ship is paralyzed, they can only give up, if they don't give up, the First Fleet can continue to fight around them.

The two sides chased one after the other and fled, all the way to the sea outside Kinmen.

Of the 50 super-large warships of the Zheng group, 23 were captured.

Only to the sea off Kinmen, Zheng Zhibao came to support Zheng Cai and Gan Hui with more than 200 warships, and Wen Bangliang ordered to retreat. It's almost to Kinmen, and there's nothing left to fight.

The retreating First Fleet can be described as earned.

Although the speed of the 23 super-large warships captured this time is a little slower, it is good to transform them into gunboats after being transformed, if this kind of gunboat is put into naval battles, it is definitely the main force of firepower output, but the speed is too slow is the biggest constraint, at most two or three will be transformed, and the rest is estimated to be transformed into passenger ships or cargo ships.

Three floors of pavilions, plus two bilges, and such a large tonnage, coupled with the design of the Fu ship, almost not afraid of storms at sea, and very stable, very suitable for passenger transport.

If it is converted into a cargo ship, it is suitable for transporting some fragile items, such as porcelain and glass products, and this kind of fortune ship is not too bumpy.

Zheng Zhibao arrived with reinforcements, but what he saw was a miserable scene, there were more than 300 warships when he set off, and less than 200 were left when he returned.

Those small boats didn't matter, the problem was that 23 of the big warships that had just been built were damaged, and the officers and men of the Fujian Navy Division who fled back were all disappointed.

Defeated!

And it was a fiasco.

Zheng Zhibao asked about the naval battle, but he didn't dare to chase it.

When the news reached Ishii, Zheng Zhilong was obviously incredulous, thinking that he had misheard. Even if it is defeated, it is impossible to lose so badly!

Regarding the strength of the Fujian sailors, Zheng Zhilong still knows in his heart.

And Shandong has only been involved in the sea for a few years, and they are all pirates, how can people who have been on the sea for decades be killed? Didn't you send out the freshly built warship?

However, the truth is unforgiving.

When Zheng Zhilong learned that this was true, he leaned back in his chair and didn't say a word.

"Big brother, if we don't come up with powerful means, I'm afraid our merchant ships in Fujian will run out~!" Zheng Zhibao said on the side.

"The rapid development of the Shandong Navy is indeed unexpected." Zheng Zhilong sighed, "At this moment, we can only have the strength to compete with the United Saints. ”

"The ...... of the Sea"

"Give me patience until the big Western ships and new guns are built." Zheng Zhilong said, "As long as we endure until a certain time, there will always be a chance for us to turn the tables." ”

"But as soon as our merchant ships went out to sea, they stopped them, and if this continues, we will have no financial resources." Zheng Cai said.

"Now, the only way to do this is for the emperor to come forward." Zheng Zhilong said calmly.

After the Battle of Penghu, the First Fleet searched and rescued more than 3,000 people in the naval battle area for two days, and then Wen Bangliang dragged the captured warship back to Tainan.

…… In Nanyang, after Su Buheng arrived in Palembang, he consolidated his forces and began to attack eleven Dutch strongholds in Asia in early May.

Su Buheng's first attack was Batavia, which was Jakarta in later generations.

The Dutch set up many turrets in Batavia, and the frontal attack was obviously too much of a loss, and Su Buheng followed the previous strategy of attacking Taiwan, blocking the fleet outside, and then the marines landed to attack.

Those batteries were useful for ships on the sea, but they were not very defensive against the enemy on land, and against the enemy with more intense artillery fire.

Landing in Batavia was much simpler than landing in Tainan, Su Buheng led the fleet to capture a small fishing port on the edge of Batavia, and the Nanyang Marine Corps landed directly ashore.

After Han Sheng landed with the marines, he advanced all the way with superior artillery, and the Dutch Batavia Company, which had only more than 3,000 soldiers, could not resist the offensive of the Nanyang Infantry Brigade at all, and soon advanced all the way to the outside of Batavia.

The shelling of Batavia began!

The bombardment was unprecedented, and the heavy artillery regiment continued to bombard Batavia one after another, and after a day of bombardment, Batavia's city wall collapsed directly, and the city of Batavia was also blown up by shells.

The governor of Batavia, Jenks, was hiding in the governor's office and was directly killed by howitzers falling from the sky, and the whole person was scorched black.

The next day, Han Sheng launched an attack on Batavia.

The artillery fired in unison, covering the infantry in front.

In the gap blown up, the Nanyang Infantry Brigade rushed directly into the city, and after the heavy artillery in the back turned off, the light artillery became the main force of cover.

The Dutch in the city quickly surrendered after the Nanyang Infantry Brigade rushed in. Batavia is a large city with tens of thousands of Dutch people living here.

Soldiers, businessmen, officials, and their families.

Many of these people were killed by shells, and when the prisoners were counted, there were only more than 8,000 people, nearly 2,000 dead, 120,000 taels of gold and 6,000,000 taels of silver were found in Batavia, and there was also a Batavian shipyard, which was the place where the Dutch repaired and equipped their ships and warships, and the scale was not too large.

After taking control of Batavia, the Nanyang Infantry Brigade began to cooperate with the Navy in clearing the port.

More than fifty merchant ships were moored in the harbor, along with five warships.

These five warships were transferred from the Indian Ocean, and they thought that the Batavia Company was far away from Daming and did not need so many warships to protect them, but they were knocked at the door.

Outside the port, the First Fleet was blocked there, and these five warships and more than a hundred merchant ships could not get out at all.

By the time Batavia fell, the Nanyang Infantry Brigade began to appear in the port of Batavia, and the Dutch in the port of Batavia did not last long and surrendered.

After Su Buheng entered the port with the fleet and went ashore, he took the seal of the governor of Batavia to the education committee of the First Fleet, "Go find someone who can write Dutch and write ten letters ordering surrender." ”

"But it's easy to see that it's fake."

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not, the important thing is that they have a decent reason to surrender." Su Buheng said.

(To be continued)