In order to win the first battle with the Westerners, Zhang Ke put a lot of effort into it, not only investing heavily in building a fleet and training sailors, but also preparing some special means.

For example, the fast warships that are currently attacking, these ships are not large, but they are fast, maneuverable, and easy to operate, and each ship has sixty rockets prepared, twenty as a wave, capable of three salvos. In addition, there was only one small cannon on board, which served as the only defensive weapon.

Zhang Ke gave this kind of ship a code name, called: "wolf", the meaning could not be clearer, this is the wolf pack on the sea, with a small and big weapon.

There are also more extreme gadgets, such as the fleet also has a group of special attack ships loaded with a large amount of gunpowder, these ships are smaller, only five people to operate, loaded with 300 pounds of explosives in the bow, and there are sharp iron nails at the front of the ships.

Once the enemy ship is stabbed, it will be firmly grasped, and once the gunpowder is detonated, most of the ship's side will be blown open, and three or five ships can kill a large warship.

For the Dutch, this kind of weapon of life was too wasteful for attack, and they needed dual-use merchant ships capable of transporting goods, as well as a small number of large warships to maintain colonial order.

Faced with an all-encompassing opponent, the Dutch were in trouble right away.

The rockets fell from the sky, and the Dutch couldn't dodge at all, and the flagship Hector was instantly concentrated by two rockets, and two fireballs rose from the deck.

Rockets do not have the penetrating power of solid shells, and they cannot even penetrate two-inch thick decks. But this does not mean that the lethality of the rocket can be ignored.

On the contrary, rockets are the nightmare of the Dutch.

With the explosion, flames flew everywhere. The soldiers in the vicinity were all wounded and killed, and some fell into the sea, struggling desperately, but no one had the heart to save them, because the ship was on fire.

The wooden sailboat was littered with combustibles, and a rocket landed right next to the mast, sending flames into the air. That's a big deal. The flames lit the sails, and it was lively. If the sails are damaged, they lose valuable power. Ships have become targets at sea, and they are not meat on the chopping block, and they can be at the mercy of whatever they want.

The captain of the fleet, Tolbeck, was in an unprecedented crisis.

As an old colonist, Tolbeck looked down on the navy of the East. Even the powerful Li Dan and Yan Siqi and other sea giants. In their eyes, they are just snakes. If it weren't for the sheer number of people, there would be no way to compete with the Netherlands.

But the navy in front of him made him scared from the bottom of his heart, and it wasn't just the huge number of the other side!

Judging from the situation of the two sides, even if the opponent's artillery is slightly weaker, the two sides are basically on the same level!

What does this mean?

The entire population of the Netherlands is almost the same as that of Suzhou. A behemoth is facing the enemy at the doorstep of his home, but a little guy has to cross the ocean and come thousands of miles to fight. You can imagine the result even with your toes.

"Stupid. This is the stupidest war Lao Tzu has ever fought! Tolbeck gritted his teeth and scolded: "Fool, don't look at me, go put out the fire, put out the fire!" ”

The Dutch sailors hurried to the mast, and the fire grew so fierce that they could only quickly tear down the sails and extinguish the fire so as not to spread to the other sails. After all, the remaining three sails are still guaranteed to sail.

The Dutch were busy with smoke and fire, and the artillery below was still fighting against the Ming army.

From time to time, cannonballs hit the ships, causing hideous wounds, solid shells blow up wooden blocks, sharp sawdust piercing the soldiers' bodies, as long as they do not stab the fatal position, they will not die immediately, but the heart-rending screams make people's scalps tingle.

Some soldiers even prayed silently, asking God to bless them and let them defeat the yellow-skinned monkeys on the other side.

Suddenly, a group of small boats, a dozen or so of them, appeared on the surface of the sea, and they were so fast that they seemed to be arrows from a string, and they were shooting at the Dutch.

"Look, what's that?"

Someone noticed it suddenly, and hurriedly pointed at it, and Tolbeck noticed it, and he instinctively felt that something was wrong.

"Quick, shoot, sink them!"

It was easier said than done, the artillery could not hit at all, and there were no small ships around the battleship to cover it, so the sailors could only hold up their firearms.

Shoot fiercely at the Ming army, bang!

A soldier was hit, a cloud of blood splattered from his chest, his body shook twice, and he fell into the sea, bang, bang, gunshots rang out one after another, and the boats lost control and drifted with the tide at sea, losing their target.

When the Dutchman wanted to catch his breath, he suddenly felt the ship move, and it turned out that a small boat had hit the ship's position, and the long spikes were firmly nailed to the position.

"What's that?"

Someone looked dumbfounded, I don't know why, the big ship wanted to turn around and get rid of this hateful fellow, but it was too late, and almost a minute later, an earth-shattering explosion sounded.

An unparalleled force pierced the planks of the ship's position, and a hole of more than two meters quickly appeared, and the sea water kept pouring into it. A gut-chilling sound came from inside the ship.

The planks were destroyed by the massive water pressure, and the constant influx of water caused the tail of the massive ship to sink rapidly.

The Dutch sailors were completely dumbfounded by the sudden scene, they did not know how to deal with it at all, even the gunners forgot to shoot, they only felt that the ship was tilting rapidly, the keel was constantly making an overwhelming sound, and the ship lost its flexibility.

Boom, boom, boom!

It is the consistent style of the Yizhou soldiers to beat the water dogs, and when you are sick and kill you, the cannonballs fall on the Dutch ships from time to time, and they are so stunned that they become a hornet's nest.

The rockets rained down, and it wasn't long before the upper deck was covered in flames, and the Dutchmen on board were treated to the heat and ice.

Click!

The keel of the ship finally broke, the sea water rushed in, and the ship sank at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, the Hector sank into the water, the largest of the warships was killed, and the rest of the Dutch ships were all gone.

The other battleship, the Sgraflan, hurriedly changed direction and tried to escape, but it collided with a Ming warship, and a hole appeared in the bow.

The Ming ships on all sides surrounded him, and the cannon roared, and the battle lasted for about half an hour, and the Sgraflan was wounded, and he made a partner with the Hector.

The two largest warships were sunk, and the largest remaining warship was the three-masted Batavia, which was lucky not to be targeted by the Ming army because it was on the periphery of the war group.

The Batavia led several merchant ships converted into ships to escape quickly, and the Ming army had the intention to chase after them, but the sky had already darkened, and Ming Ruxin had to give up the pursuit, and ordered the fleet to be retracted, rescue the soldiers who fell into the water, count the results, and prepare for tomorrow's battle.

Sinking two main warships and arming thirteen merchant ships, a total of more than 1,200 naval forces were wiped out, and more than 300 people were captured. Similarly, the losses of the Ming army were not small, two third-class battleships were sunk, one first-class battleship was damaged, and more than 800 sailors were lost.

Occupying a threefold advantage in troops, and still fighting like this, it is not very beautiful. However, this battle also made Ming Ruxin see the gap.

With the same tonnage of warships, the Dutch's ships were stronger than those of the Ming army and had to resist beatings.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand the truth, although the Ming army built a huge warship, but it has no experience in fighting at sea, nor has it experienced the test of war, and the survivability of the ship is very flawed.

Moreover, the low hit rate of the artillery of the Ming army is terrifying, if it were not for the surprise, relying on the bombardment alone, maybe it would not be able to take the Dutch.

With the review, there is the impetus to move forward, and the next step can the Ming army's fleet really catch up with the world's first-rate level.

Of course, these have to wait for the future to improve, and the current Ming army should enjoy the excitement of victory. The sea power of the Netherlands was taken out, and the two remaining castles were not worth mentioning. The Yizhou soldiers are not strong, and they have not been afraid of anyone in the battle.

In the Red Embedded City, the Dutch defenders waited anxiously, not waiting for their reinforcements, but waiting for Mao Chenglu's brigade to come.

Frankly speaking, in history, Zheng Chenggong's operation to recover Taiwan was not pretty. Tens of thousands of people on land and sea, facing two small castles guarded by only more than 1,000 soldiers, had no way to take them quickly, so they could only build high earthen walls outside the city and besiege them, fighting for eight months, but they only let the Dutch surrender, and they did not have the ability to completely annihilate the other side, and the eastern army began to lag behind, which can be seen.

Unlike Zheng Chenggong, the Yizhou soldiers were sharp and fierce, Mao Chenglu concentrated forty artillery pieces at the first time, and bombarded the city with a fierce fire, and the shells were like hailstones, and they attacked madly.

The Dutch were not vegetarians, they concentrated their artillery to return fire, the two sides fought for more than an hour, and gradually the Dutch fell behind, after all, their artillery was too little, the gap between shots was too long, the Ming army seized the opportunity, a few bombardments, and the Dutch artillery was beaten to pieces.

The artillery was suppressed, and then the killer weapon was used, hundreds of carts were pushed to the front of the Red Embedded City, and with a whooshing sound, countless rockets flew into the city, and it didn't take long for the Red Embedded City to fall into flames.

Mao Chenglu decisively gave the order to attack the city, and the Yizhou soldiers lined up in a skirmish line and rushed towards the city, and the soldiers advanced alternately, constantly covering.

From time to time, bullets hit the Dutch on the top of the city, and they fell from the city and turned into a pile of meatloaf.

Just when the Dutch were beaten to the ground, several loud noises came, and the demolition soldiers blew a big hole in the city wall.

Gunfire rumbled, and the fleeing Dutchmen were shot through the body and fell into the street one by one. When they died, their eyes widened and they looked like they were dead.

Mao Chenglu rushed in with the main force and gave the most important order.

"Order, show the heads of all the red-haired owls to the public, and hang their heads on the flagpole!" (To be continued......)