The Fubo is like a dragon on the sea, galloping in the strait.

Liu Jun stood on the deck, and the more he looked at this ship, the more he liked it, and it was worthy of being a battleship in the arms race of various Western maritime powers. According to the sailors on board, this ship has only been launched for a year, and it is the newest Spanish warship. According to the division of warships of Western Britain and the Netherlands, the Fubo can be called a battleship.

The Fubo was nearly 70 meters long, and had a double-deck full gun, with 15 18-pounder guns on each side of the upper gun deck, each weighing more than 5,000 catties, and the barrel was more than 3 meters long.

The lower gun deck also has fifteen guns on each side, but the lower guns are larger, equipped with 32-pounder guns, more than three meters long and weighing more than 6,000 catties.

In addition to the sixty guns on the two gun decks, five sixty-pounder guns were mounted on each side of the uppermost deck near the bow.

This kind of cannon has a short barrel, a large caliber, and large shells, but it has a shorter range than a long cannon, and is generally used in close combat, especially when preparing to fire shotguns to suppress the soldiers on the opposite ship. This cannon was originally the mainstream, but now it is basically eliminated, and ten of them are retained on the Fubo for melee combat.

Five nine-pounder guns were installed on each side of the stern, and four tail guns, also nine-pounder guns.

On board the entire Fubo, there were a total of eighty-four cannons, which can be said to be more than many castles. In particular, those cannons are basically long cannons, which are far stronger than the sharpest Hongyi cannons in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the cannon casting technology used by the Ming army learned from the Portuguese, these cannons on the Fubo are undoubtedly more advanced and larger, and the lowest nine-pounder cannon has reached more than 3,000 catties, especially the barrel is more than a zhang long. The barrel of this long cannon is lighter than that of traditional heavy guns, and the barrel is long. The shells were also light, but had a longer range.

In particular, the design of its double-gun deck, if you add the guns on the top deck, it is equivalent to having three layers of guns, which is completely armed to the teeth.

Liu Jun's previous Zhenhai is simply incomparable compared to one of them. The Zhenhai is the standard configuration of Zheng Zhilong's three-masted gunboat. Forty-eight cannons were mounted, but only eight of them were barely long cannons, and they were nowhere near the nine pounder of the smallest cannon, and at most six pounder guns.

As for the other forty jack franc machines, their power cannot be compared with long guns, which are naval guns that have long been obsolete. That kind of cannon is still a product of the era of naval warfare based on traditional broadside warfare, with a long range and light shells, and this kind of cannon is for a warship in the era of giant ships. Basically, it's not lethal.

And in terms of displacement, the battleship Fubo Galen was also three times that of the three-masted gunboat Zhenyuan.

Liu Jun is like a treasure, and the cannon casting technology that the imperial court has obtained from the Portuguese over the years has long been outdated. The hostile relationship with the Dutch and Spain also prevented the imperial court from obtaining these latest cannons from them. Now, Liu Jun copied Spain in Taiwan, and the biggest harvest was not those castles and commercial goods, but these warships and cannons, as well as those sailors and craftsmen.

"How did the Zheng family defeat the Netherlands back then?" A group of officers of the Hydra set off on board the Fubo. No one took the three-masted gunboat in their eyes anymore.

Fu Shan has done some research on this and told everyone. "In the Battle of Liuluo Bay, the Dutch used eleven deck warships, dozens of Liu Xiang pirate ships, and Zheng used more than 150 ships. The Dutch's giant ship cannons far surpass the Zheng clan's strength. However, Zheng's victory was not based on the cannons of the strong ships. Instead, he relied on the technique of fire attack, and he dispatched a hundred fireships against the Dutch at one time, and the Dutch had never seen so many fireship tactics, and the result was a big loss, and the battleship was burned five and one was captured. ”

"It turned out to be a fire attack. I thought the three-masted gunboat would be able to take out the Galen giant. ”

"The three-masted gunboat is actually a new type of warship that Zheng learned to rebuild after capturing the deck ship of the Dutch, and before that, Zheng's capital ship has always been Daqingtou, that is, bird ship. In the past, there were only two cannons on the bird boat, one in front and one in the back. Fu Shan said.

"It's impossible, the Zheng family's fleet is so shabby, so how did they dominate the sea in the past?"

Many of the officers didn't believe it, and they hadn't seen the big green head, which was smaller than the three-masted gunboat.

"Pirate raids rely on speed and agility, and they don't need to be bigger than warships, nor do they need to be bigger than merchant ships. Zheng also became a general of the imperial court, and only began to build three-masted gunboats, and improved and enlarged bird boats and increased artillery. ”

Pirates rely on speed and rob at sea. And the cannons of the giant ships of those Western maritime powers were designed to be able to fight against port fortresses.

Everyone sighed in unison, and then it was all clear. It turns out that although the Zheng clan dominates the sea, there is still a big gap compared to the warships of the Hongyi, but fortunately, the Zheng clan is the head snake, and those dragons crossing the river are not so good and arrogant along the coast of China.

"Master Hou, is this Dutchman stronger than the Spaniards?"

Liu Jun popularized knowledge to his subordinates, "More than 100 years ago, the sea was the strongest of Portugal and Spain, these two combined territories were originally not as big as Taiwan, European countries, the first to develop maritime trade and colonization, they once signed an agreement under the auspices of the Pope of Rome, carved up the whole world. ”

But then the king of Spain became king of Portugal, so the two countries became one, with Spain stronger and Portugal weaker. Decades ago, there was a rebellion in the Spanish-controlled region of Nikanlan, which was the richest and most income-rich place, just like the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of the Ming Dynasty. ”

In short, the seven provinces of Nikanlan became independent, and they also drew the surrounding countries such as Britain and France to form an alliance against Spain. Eventually, they stopped fighting, and the seven provinces formed the Dutch Republic. The Seven Provinces were originally the wealthiest places, but after they established their countries, their commerce developed more rapidly, and they quickly became one of the maritime powers. ”

"It turns out that these Hongyi still have such grievances. Portugal is actually a part of Spain, and the Netherlands is also a part of Spain, it seems that Spain is really not good, how strong is the Netherlands? ”

"To the south of the South China Sea, there are countries such as Luzon, Java, Johor, etc., and now most of these South Sea countries are occupied by Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, and Portugal is the earliest. Occupying the Strait of Malacca, the Spanish came a little later and seized the Luzon islands, and the Dutch, the latest to arrive, occupied Java. ”

"The Dutch are so strong, have we beaten them this time?" Many generals were worried.

Liu Jun said to them with a relaxed face, "Although the Netherlands is strong. The power is spread all over the world, but it is also scattered. Although they have a lot of warships in Java, in Taiwan, they only have two or three thousand soldiers. Moreover, Taiwan is thousands of miles away from Java, do you say that we are still afraid of thousands of lone soldiers? ”

"Of course not!"

"I'm afraid of a bird!"

"Then Spain was once extremely powerful, but now it is not surrendering to us without a fight."

Everyone shouted one after another, and their morale was like a macro.

Liu Jun did not lead the fleet directly to Dayuan, but first arrived at Penghu, which was not far away from Dayuan and across the sea.

When the Fubo appeared, it also caused panic on Penghu Island. Looking at the iconic Hongyi deck ship, they thought that Hongyi had called.

Although Penghu is closer to the island of Taiwan, it has actually belonged directly to Fujian since the Yuan Dynasty. Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, troops have been stationed here, and the Ming Dynasty has also set up a patrol inspection department here.

After years of development, there are also some people from Fujian who have settled here, some people have established ship repair workshops here, and some fishermen have established a harbor here to rest and shelter from the wind.

At one time, the three major islands of Penghu had thousands of people.

At the time of the unrest of the war. There were also frequent pirates stationed here, and later the Hongyi came to the East. At one point, they wanted to occupy this place as their trading station. For this reason, the Ming army also fought several battles with Hongyi here.

The most powerful battle was the battle with the Dutch in Penghu, the Dutch could not get a stronghold on the coast, so they led the fleet to occupy Penghu and build a city fortress in Penghu. Later, the Ming Dynasty sent nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses to come, fought for more than half a year, and finally the Dutch surrendered. Led the fleet away. It was at that time that they discovered Taiwan and began to run a business.

The new governor of Taiwan, He Tengjiao, brought a group of subordinate officials by land, and arrived here more than ten days earlier than Liu Jun. When he found that the deck ship was flying the Sun and Moon Flag and the Nine-headed Bird, He Tengjiao breathed a sigh of relief.

He Tengjiao brought a group of subordinate officials and merchants on the island to the port to greet him.

"The separation was short-lived. Hou Ye actually has a deck boat, and it must be quite smooth to come to the chicken coop. ”

Liu Jun laughed, "As soon as the imperial army arrived, the Spaniards in the chicken coop immediately looked at the wind and surrendered, this big ship is the trophy of Benhou. ”

Hearing that Liu Jun had taken the Chicken Coop Harbor and the Spaniards had surrendered, He Tengjiao was overjoyed.

Just two days after Liu Jun's fleet arrived in Penghu, Zheng Zhilong's fleet stationed in Fujian came to converge, so that the number of ships in Penghu reached more than 500, but the ships that came this time mainly transported a large number of food and materials to prepare for the attack.

When Liu Jun and Zheng Zhilong were discussing how to attack the Dacheng, they suddenly got a report, and the Dutch led the fleet to Penghu on their own initiative.

The fleet was not small, and there were also British warships in it. It is impossible for them to surrender, so there is only one possibility, these Hongyi are taking the initiative to fight.

Hearing the news, Liu Jun smiled.

"Hongyi is killing himself, we haven't gone to them yet, but they took the initiative to send them to the door. Tell the order to go down and prepare for battle. On the one hand, Liu Jun sent speedboats to inquire about the news, and on the other hand, he organized a fleet of ships in the harbor, and at the same time asked soldiers to build batteries and set up artillery in the harbor and on the hills on the island.

Soon, more detailed information came back.

The Dutch who came to attack had one hundred and one ships, of which eleven were the Galen warships, the largest of which was a giant battleship with a three-gun deck with one hundred and four cannons, and the other ten were also double-deck Galen warships with seventy-four guns.

There were also ten armed merchant ships known as Frut's Flute, armed with fifty medium guns, which were large in their capacity, capable of long-term voyages, and not weak in firepower, and were the most commonly used merchant ships by the Dutch.

In addition, the Dutch fleet had thirty two-masted clippers, which were extremely maneuverable, lightweight, commercial and military, with medium cargo holds, and twenty long guns.

There were fifty sloops, each with ten six-pounder guns.

One hundred and one ships, with more than 2,400 guns of all kinds.

This scale made Liu Jun frown when he heard it. The strength of the Dutch was far beyond his imagination, and it was at least ten times stronger than the Taiwanese Spaniards who had surrendered to them earlier. In particular, it has more than 2,000 ship-borne guns, which has exceeded the number of ship-borne guns of more than 500 Ming ships assembled in Penghu.

No wonder the Dutch dared to take the initiative to attack so arrogantly.

But where did the Dutch get so many warships? (To be continued......)