On March 18, 1629, February 24 of the second year of Chongzhen of the Ming Empire.

Kinmen is located in the southeast of Fujian Province in Quanzhou Weitou Bay and Xiamen Bay, only more than 2,000 meters away from the mainland. In ancient times, it was called "Huzhou", and the Jin Dynasty began to gradually develop and was famous for its salt industry for a long time. The Ming Dynasty was subordinate to Quanzhou Prefecture in Fujian, and due to the needs of coastal defense in Fujian, the Golden Gate was formally established to guard the Thousand Households, which was called "Golden Gate" with the meaning of "solid as gold, Xiongzhen Haimen".

As early as the Wanli year, the Golden Gate Guarding Thousand Households existed in name only, and the military households on the island fled greatly, and the ordinary people were also separated. Except for a very small number of salt farms where the officers of the local guard post continued to drink the blood of military households, most of the local salt industry was also abandoned, and the actual military defense along the coast was also in the hands of the Xiamen Beishui Battalion under the jurisdiction of the Quanzhou South Road Counselor.

After Zheng Zhilong's rise to prominence and the successful suppression of the Yan family last year, under the vigorous recommendation of Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan, the Fujian coastal defense of Kinmen and Penghu began to merge into one, and Zheng Zhilong became the general of Jin Penghai's coastal defense, officially having the official influence to control both the inland coastal areas of Fujian and the Taiwan Strait.

In the new Jin Peng Coastal Defense General's Mansion, Zheng Zhilong was walking around the main hall with a calm face, and the civil and military staff on both sides were silent, cautiously looking at the boss who had been a little strange in the past few days.

In fact, over the past few years, both cronies and defectors have been impressed by Zheng Zhilong's work style that is as quiet as water and as fast as the wind. defeated Li Guozhu, squeezed out Liu Xiang, monopolized the Ryukyu and Japanese routes, and forced Yan Siqi to be at ease in the Ming court. But now it seems that this young general is being made a little suspicious by one "rumor" after another.

After learning the news of Liu Xiang's "annihilation" three months ago, Zheng Zhilong quickly took countermeasures, not only fished out some of the warships of the Xiamen Beishui Battalion from Xiong Wencan, but also ventilated some of the peripheral pirate forces operating in Dongshan Bay and Futou Bay, and formed a horn trend with the main force of Penghu's descendants, and even sent a large number of secret agents to Liangguang and Nanyang to collect information.

Soon, though. The new situation made Zheng Zhilong secretly surprised. asked a number of old subordinates of Liu Xiang again and again, and the replies they got were all "Huamei Fanyi exterminated Liu Xiang's subordinates, and those who descended killed more". But the news from Guangdong is another tone, Liu Xiang did not disappear, not only lived a very nourishing life, and even recruited troops and horses in the Liangguang area, and many small pirates of the Ming Dynasty in the Nanyang area also had many attachments, but they were much more low-key than before, and often escorted the Ming maritime merchants to and from Nanyang.

And the strange thing is that even though there have been countless rumors that the warships of the Huamei people have been stationed in the South Seas. There have been conflicts with Dutch Fanyi, and even Huamei people have entered the house with the Luzon Franc Man, and they have dealings with their old rival Li Guozhu, but there is no sign of going north.

Could it be that I guessed wrong, these gorgeous warships are not here for the Yan family? Just to compete with the Dutch and the Francois for the Nanyang Trade Road, and then Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu followed behind to drink soup?

Huamei seafood used to be so scarce, if it was really Huamei Fanyi didn't have the courage to offend the Ming court, but kicked away the Yan family and re-found the Dutch, Liu Xiang and Li Guozhu to ship in Nanyang. Even a large number of Chinese military weapons have flowed into Liu Xiang and Li Guo's assistants since then, so isn't he busy in vain?

"Is Zheng Cai back?" Zheng Zhilong walked in a muffled voice for almost half an hour, and finally raised his face and asked Zheng Zhihu beside him.

Zheng Zhihu looked left and right. Bow your head and clench your fists: "I took someone to inquire about the news before, but I haven't returned to Kinmen yet, and I guess I'm still on the way...... Big brother, or ...... Why don't you take a fleet to the South Seas? If Liu Xiang doesn't know what to do. I will slay them! ”

Zheng Zhilong didn't know, and Zheng Zhihu himself didn't know, if the butterfly wings weren't so pretentious. If history doesn't change, Zheng Zhihu should be caught and sunk in the sea by the uneyed Liu Xiang a few years later.

"Hmph, Liu Xiang is cunning and vicious, and the official himself may not be able to win completely. What's more, Huamei Fanyi has moved the people to entrench in the South Seas this time, and the intention is unknown, so you can't act rashly! Zheng Zhilong snorted coldly in his nose, and sighed secretly to this reckless younger brother, "Wait, the Penghu army will be strict in the near future, and it should not be taken lightly!" ”

The eldest brother is so cautious, which makes Zheng Zhihu, who has been used to smooth sailing over the years, a little unhappy: "Our army has hundreds of ships, more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and excellent armaments. How was the Yan family back then, didn't they also be trapped and waiting to be killed? Liu Xiang, Li Guozhu and others were strong for a while, didn't they avoid fleeing Nanyang? Big brother is still afraid of the thousands of gorgeous soldiers and a few lonely ships rumored by those maritime merchants? ”

"Have you ever wondered where you come from with the best ordnance you have? If you also have a heavy cannon that can reach nine miles, a hundred-eyed gun, and a sailless ship that travels eight hundred miles a day, you can fight! ”

Zheng Zhilong took out a document from his arms, slapped it heavily on the table, and walked out of the hall with a cold face, all the civil, military and bureaucrats in the hall looked at each other, especially Zheng Zhihu's face was flushed.

After taking the paperwork on the table, opening it and reading a few lines, Zheng Zhihu gasped. The letter was secretly sent by the Dutch a few days ago, and Zheng Zhilong, who is proficient in Dutch, directly annotated and translated the letter.

A few months ago, the Chinese-American expeditionary fleet went to the Dutch's hometown in Nanyang to fight back and forth, and made the Dutch bow their heads and beg for mercy without a single soldier. The arms trade between the Dutch and the Zheng family was suspended by the Huamei, and even the Francos of the South Seas joined forces with the Huamei to block the route of Dutch merchant ships to Daming.

How the Dutch were arrogant in the South Seas, and how sophisticated the Dutch's Taixi warships were, they were the most feared opponents of the coastal forces of the Ming Dynasty all these years. At the beginning, Penghu fell into the hands of hundreds of Dutch soldiers, and the Yan family concentrated all their efforts to take it, but this time it was directly pressed to his hometown by Huamei Fanyi, what kind of combat power is this? Are all the rumors only a small part of them?

"Damn, it's nine miles back, and the sailless war ship travels eight hundred miles a day, it's just an exaggeration......" Zheng Zhihu threw away the paperwork, his face full of disbelief.

……

A few days later, Zheng Cai, who had been sitting in Chaozhou, hurriedly returned to Kinmen, carrying the information collected by his subordinates from all over the South Seas, among which the news collected by several henchmen on Pearl Island was the most precious.

Hearing that Zheng Cai brought the news, Zheng Zhilong withdrew directly from a naval exercise, and then hurriedly returned to the general's mansion with Zheng Zhihu and a group of henchmen.

"General, the U.S. soldiers of Nahua have indeed occupied Wuxia Island, and the people of the island have all been captured by it." Zheng Cai unfolded a secret letter on the desk and pointed. I saw that there was still a sketch on it, "There are about 2,000 soldiers in the Huamei Navy and Army, and the soldiers are all wearing fire guns and dark gray clothing; There are more than 10 black and white ships in the sailors, all of whom are dressed in white, and the boats either hang sails or go back with smoke, and the boats are very fast. The ships had a number of cannons, covered with cloth, because they were not to be seen closely. Therefore, the truth is unknowable. ”

As the rumors say, although Liu Xiang was defeated and captured, he has been released by Huamei Fanguo, and now has a relationship with Nanyang maritime merchants to transport grain and grass for Wuxiyu Island. It is reported that a month ago, there was a vicious epidemic fever rampant on Wuxia Island, and many Chinese soldiers and people on the island died, and they were unable to go to sea! ”

Hearing this, a room full of Zheng family henchmen showed gloating smiles, as if they liked to hear this kind of news. Even Zheng Zhilong's brows relaxed slightly.

"Do you have any other news about the United States?" Zheng Zhilong walked to the table and stroked the information that his subordinates had worked so hard to get, and seemed to be a little dissatisfied.

"The secret agent reported again that Huamei Fanguo went west for tens of thousands of miles. According to the fertile soil on the other side of the West Sea, the people are rich and rich, the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, and the countries of Taixi are also afraid of it. It is indeed almost the same as that described by the Nanyang Dutch and the Franciscan. Because the Dutch seized the country's seafood, injured its merchants, and the Dutch old enemy Frangi instigated it. Therefore, the army came from the east. ”

Looking at Zheng Cai's smug expression, Zheng Zhilong just smiled slightly. Gently put down the teacup and walked among the crowd: "Order, Jin Penghai waterproof division and all the armies, from now on, regardless of sea or land, carefully investigate and strictly guard." ”

"General, General!"

Just as he was giving an order, he suddenly saw a staff member walk in outside the gate, holding a letter in his hand.

"We're in the middle of a military discussion, but you can break in! Tired of living? Zheng Zhihu next to him saw that a second cargo dared to break in at this time, and pulled out his saber on the spot.

"The general forgives the sins, forgives the sins! There is a message from the governor of Fujian, Lord Xiong! The staff was startled, took a few steps back, held the letter in both hands, and was so frightened that he almost knelt down.

As soon as he pulled the letter, opened it and read it, Zheng Zhilong slapped it on the table, his face was terrifying.

"Big brother...... But Lord Xiong is urging us to wait for the army to enter again? Zheng Zhihu rarely saw his eldest brother with such a scary expression, and hurriedly walked in front of the other party.

"A group of maritime merchants from Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang jointly wrote to the Governor of Liangguang, the Governor of Fujian and the Imperial History of the Superintendent, forcing us to relax the maritime ban, and now Macao has lifted the ban......" Zheng Zhilong exhaled a deep breath and crumpled the letter directly, "I don't know who it is, the secret letter to the Governor of the Mainland, saying that my Zheng family is smuggling with the Dutch Fanyi and selling good people, the evidence is conclusive, and the Governor has written to inquire about this matter...... If it weren't for Xiong Wencan's concerns, I'm afraid it wouldn't be a letter to verify, but Fubiao Camp would have come to get people! ”

"Those guys who don't open their eyes, when they meet a family at sea in the future, they will kill a family!" Zheng Zhihu was stunned for a moment, and roared on the spot.

As the saying goes, a private letter from Xiong Wencan seems to have just proved the bad luck of the Dutch before, like a scoop of water poured into the oil pot, and people immediately exploded.

A room full of henchmen was like a frightened bird, knowing that they shouldn't be bored at this time, they retreated one after another, leaving only Zheng Zhilong, who was silent, and Zheng Zhihu, who roared again and again......

……

On March 26, 1629, the second day of the third month of the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Empire.

At dusk, the sea was covered with dark clouds, heavy rain was pouring, the wind was high and the waves were fierce, and on the sea a few nautical miles southwest of the island of Taiwan, a light cruiser with black and white camouflage sails undulating on the crest of the waves. The battleship with its sails retreating spitted black smoke and headed for the port of Zuoying in the northeast at a speed of more than 8 knots.

"Sir, it's about 5 nautical miles from the coast, the weather is too bad, the water conditions are unknown, and I can't get any closer." On the semi-enclosed bridge observation platform, the European first mate wiped the rain from his face and whispered to the captain next to him, who was also wearing a rubber raincoat.

Captain Li Fan, the captain of the Bloodstone light cruiser, took his eyes off the binoculars and nodded slightly: "Slow down, get closer, and prepare to put down the special combat boat." ”

After speaking, Li Fan handed over the navigation command to the European Dada, left the bridge observation platform by himself, returned to the inside of the bridge, and then went down to a certain cabin in the ship along the hatch passage.

Inside the cabin were several heavily armed army special combat soldiers, and the European man at the head had big shoulders and round waists, and his whole body exuded an eerie bloody aura.

"Sergeant Major Hoffman, I can only send you here, now that the wind and rain are heavy, you must be careful when landing." Li Fan glanced around at the army special combat team members present, and then fell on the face of the middle-aged man who was also wearing the camouflage military uniform of the army special combat team in the corner of the crowd, "Mr. Luo, Sergeant Major Hoffman will escort you ashore later, and then I need your cooperation." ”

"Thank you! Luo is one step ahead! Luo Da, who had recovered from a malaria disease, flashed with excitement on his emaciated face at this time, "Please give a message to General Zhang and Uncle Lao, Luo will definitely wipe out the Zheng family spies lurking in Anping Fort this time, and wait for the gorgeous army of water and land!" ”

Li Fan smiled, noncommittal, just took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, stuffed it into the sergeant major of the special operations team beside him, and turned around and walked out of the cabin.

"One last inventory of equipment! And the radio in the box, check the waterproofing again! ”

As soon as the European sergeant major and the other naval captains walked out, they buckled up their steel helmets and yelled at their subordinates in the cabin. And not far from Luo Da, Huang Hu'er, dressed as an ordinary fisherman, had a pale face, and was sandwiched between two army special combat members, his body trembling slightly. (To be continued......)