c_t; He Bin and Guo Huaiyi planned for several months, connected everywhere, took a lot of risks, and finally led their troops to escape. But they never imagined that their fleet would be taken by the object they were trying to take refuge in less than half a day after arriving at Dayuan Harbor. And the Dutch, who were once regarded as life-saving straws by them, did not hesitate to sacrifice them to Xu Xinsu. Although it is not known what kind of agreement was reached between the Dutch and Xu Xinsu, the two pirate leaders understood that they had made an irreparable mistake, and that for the Dutch, their value was not to be thugs or servants, but to be used as a condition for exchanging benefits with the Fujian government.

It wasn't until the two of them were tied up and put aside that Xu Shan gave Hans a deep swipe and said, "Lord Hans understands the righteousness and the people admire it!" ”

Hans replied, "What does Mr. Xu have to offer?"

"Xiaomin is just a maritime merchant, how dare he point fingers at the decisions of adults. Xu Shan's body fell lower.

Hans pondered for a moment before saying, "The crimes committed by these pirates are all within the territory of the Ming Kingdom, so it is reasonable that they should be tried by the Ming State Government. I think it's better to send them to Zhangzhou and hand them over to the authorities for handling. ”

"Your Excellency is wise. Xu Shan patted his ass at the right time.

"But many of these two men's men are ordinary people who have been coerced into the gang, and I think these people should be given a chance to start over. Hans added.

Hans's purpose was very clear, he knew that the attitude of the Fujian government and the Haihan people towards Eighteen Zhi would not let go, but it was only against the big leaders of the gang. As for the minions below, the other party doesn't care so much about their survival. And the people brought by these two guys are excellent labor force for Dayuangang, you must know that Hans has tried all kinds of ways in recent years, and the immigrants who can be imported from Daming every year are only a few thousand.

Of course, Xu Shan also understood Hans's words, and immediately responded: "As far as Xiaomin knows, the attitude of the Fujian government towards Eighteen Zhi is to only take the first evil and coerce it, and Lord Hans can deal with his entourage as much as he can. ”

Since Hans cooperated so actively in this matter, Xu Shan certainly would not find fault with these details without interest. Being able to capture He Bin and Guo Huai back to Fujian is already a great achievement. As for whether the Fujian government's attitude towards the Dutch will be loosened because of this incident, it is not within the scope of Xu Shan's interference, in the final analysis, he is only a member of the Xu family, he is not a member of the officialdom at all, and he has no say in this kind of matter. His significance in Dayuangang is more to represent the interests of the Xu Xinsu group than the Fujian government. []

Two days later, the news that He Bin and Guo Huaiyi had been arrested by the Dutch in Dayuangang was transmitted back to Fujian and Penghu almost simultaneously, and the impact of this incident on the two sides was completely different. The Fujian side is naturally cheering and cheering, and before the war has started, the opponent's camp has begun to fall apart, indicating that there are great differences within the Eighteen Zhi about the future direction of the situation, and its will to fight must be very worrying.

After Zheng Zhilong heard the news, he smashed the inkstone in the study again - this was the second time in the past month that he had thrown something in front of his subordinates to vent his anger, which was an extremely rare situation in the past.

"Extremely stupid!" Zheng Zhilong could only use such words to evaluate the fate of He Bin and Guo Huaiyi: "The red-haired people cut off contact with us, and expelled our people from Dayuangang, making it clear that they want to have a relationship with the Fujian government, and the Dutch are already lucky that they didn't join forces with Xu Xinsu to send troops, and these two fools actually dare to send them to the door by themselves!"

"Big brother, now that the people on the island are panicking, the younger brother thinks that we should immediately announce that we should leave here, and if we drag it out, I am afraid that the enemy on the other side of the sea will not give us time to get out. Zheng Zhibao said to him with an uneasy expression.

Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "Without further ado, since there is no room for reversal in this matter, then do your best to gather people and horses to prepare for departure." You go and inform the camps, and in two days, we will leave Penghu!"

At the same time, the latest changes to the shape are also being discussed on Kinmen Island. At present, the participating troops of the coalition army have completed the assembly, and seventy percent of the materials and equipment required are in place, and the rest are basically the supplies needed by Haihan, and it will take some time for these things to be transported from Sanya, and they can't wait according to the current shape. The issue between the two coalition forces has now changed from how to fight this battle to when to start moving.

"Two days later, we will send troops!" Yan Chujie finally announced the results of the discussion.

The same time for the two sides to send troops can be said to be an unconscious coincidence, but in fact, it can be regarded as an inevitable event created by the current situation. Eighteen Zhi was busy trying to evacuate Penghu before being hit by the enemy, and the coalition forces were afraid that Eighteen Zhi would slip away too quickly and let them retreat.

In the early morning of May 1, 1632, Kinmen Island, Fujian.

Although the Haihan side asked to be as low-key as possible, Xu Xinsu still ordered a brief departure ceremony, not to mention the slaughter of pigs and sheep and sacrifices, and specially brought ten pirate prisoners from the Zhangzhou prison who were supposed to be beheaded after the autumn, pulled them to the dock and cut off their heads to sacrifice the flag.

After completing a series of bloody departure ceremonies, the Haihan militia troops began to board the ship and set off. And because the Ming army led by Xu Xinsu set off from the center and left, and the speed of the ships was slower than that of the Haihan fleet, it was two hours earlier than the Haihan side, and it happened to arrive in the waters of Kinmen Island at this time.

The two fleets completed the rendezvous at sea near Kinmen Island, although the formation took a little longer due to the large number of ships. It was not until about eight o'clock in the morning that the combined fleet completed its basic formation and began to sail eastward.

At the same time, there is chaos in Penghu Magong Port. Although Eighteen Zhi owned a large number of sea vessels, it was still difficult to transport tens of thousands of people at a time. More than 1,000 pirates had already set off two days earlier, and today they were leaving Penghu with the main fleet, which consisted of more than 1,200 ships of all sizes and needed to carry more than 20,000 men and supplies.

Although Eighteen Zhi had been preparing for the escape since last month, such a large-scale operation should be completed in a short period of time, and it was still an impossible task in terms of Eighteen Zhi's organizational ability. All kinds of materials are piled up in the port, and the flow of people and materials queuing up to board the ship is mixed together, and it is difficult for the personnel in charge of command and dispatch on the wharf to cooperate, and the speed of the personnel boarding and loading the goods on the ship is greatly affected, and the chaos is crowded into a mess.

Zheng Zhilong was anxious, and called his cronies over: "Zhiguan, Zhifeng, you each bring a team of soldiers and horses, go to the dock to maintain order, that chaotic crowding, unruly guy, drag it out and kill it directly! Sue these fools, if it drags on for another day or two, everyone will not be able to get out of this Magong Port!"

After Zheng Zhiguan and Zheng Zhifeng took people to the dock and arrested a few restless guys and came out to deal with them publicly, the order really improved to a certain extent. However, due to the lack of overall planning and efficient dispatching and command, the speed of evacuation still did not meet Zheng Zhilong's expectations.

At noon, a bad news came from the sea that made Zheng Zhilong's heart sink completely-the fleet of the Ming army and the Haihan people had set off from Zhangzhou, and the current course was towards Penghu. And judging by its sheer size, it is clearly not an ordinary fleet that comes out to cruise.

Eighteen Zhi's communication method is relatively primitive pyrotechnic communication, so the content of the messages that can be sent back in time is extremely limited, but the three consecutive police messages can already show how bad the current shape is. According to the calculation of time, the enemy's fleet will probably be able to reach Penghu before nightfall, which is simply bad news for Eighteen Zhi, who has not even completed half of the evacuation work at present.

"Let the sailboat that has been loaded with people and goods set off immediately and go to the north of Baisha Island to standby!" Zheng Zhilong immediately made a decision and immediately issued a new order.

Although the harbor of Magong Port is very large, Zheng Zhilong does not dare to risk letting the ships stay here to form a team, otherwise once the enemy kills him, most of the chaotic fleets will block the passage in and out of the port, and then it will be a big trouble. Baisha Island is north of the main island of Penghu, about six nautical miles away from Magong Port, so let the prepared ships go to the north of Baisha Island to wait for orders, so as to avoid being hit by the enemy at the door and appearing in a pot.

Of course, such means alone are certainly not enough. Zheng Zhilong must find a way to slow down the opponent's killing and buy more time for his own evacuation.

"Pass Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi, and let them each bring a hundred warships to intercept the Ming army's sailors!" Zheng Zhilong ordered.

However, the execution of the order this time did not go smoothly, Liu Xiang and Li Kuiqi were not fuel-efficient lamps, and after receiving the order, instead of immediately leading their troops to the battle, they found Zheng Zhilong here and asked him why he had to arrange for himself to fight.

"Big boss, you also know the situation on the younger brother's side, the brothers under his command are not willing to fight with the Haihan people at all, and now they want to force the brothers to go to the battlefield, everyone is not happy!" Liu Xiang first complained bitterly.

"Big boss, if you want to do it, stay together and have a good time with the Haihan people, you sent me and Liu Xiang to be a shield, what is the reason?" Li Kuiqi expressed his opinion more directly, thinking that Zheng Zhilong's arrangement was extremely unfair.

Zheng Zhilong said with a blushing face: "Now that the enemy's fleet is only two or three hundred miles away from Magong Port, it will be killed in a moment, and when the time comes, don't say that you and I can't escape, and all the people here can't escape!

Liu Xiang retorted: "The younger brother's subordinates were once defeated by Haihan, and they have little confidence in fighting against him, so it is right to send the elite of the big boss to the horse!"

Zheng Zhilong didn't debate with him from this angle, just stared at his face and said word by word: "If you obey the order, I will let the children of the Liu family, the old and weak women and children board the ship and leave the port first, and when you arrive at the new territory in the future, there will still be a seat for your Liu family in the Eighteen Zhili!"

Liu Xiang's face turned a little blue after hearing this, Zheng Zhilong's words sounded like a promise to Liu Xiang, but after thinking about it carefully, it was a naked threat. If Liu Xiang directly refuses Zheng Zhilong's command, then the consequence is likely that his Liu family's people will not even be able to leave Magong Port. Now the people who are arranging to board the ship in the port are Zheng Zhilong's people, if he deliberately wants to put small shoes on Liu Xiang's family members, then it is indeed possible that he will be stuck here and unable to walk.

Of course, Liu Xiang can also rebel, but the consequence is very likely to be suppressed by the other leaders of the Eighteen Zhi, because no one wants to be robbed of the opportunity to leave here by others in a way that disrupts the order. If Liu Xiang chooses to resist, then the consequences may be even more severe than refusing Zheng Zhilong's order.

"Big boss, why are you forcing me so hard!" Liu Xiang gritted his teeth with hatred. Since the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary, he led his troops back to Fujian and never set foot in the waters of Guangdong again, because he wanted to avoid the Haihan people. But I didn't expect that after a few years, the Haihan people actually stretched out their hands to Fujian step by step, and they also planned to attack their hometown Penghu. For Liu Xiang, even if he has reached a state of inevitability, he still hopes to be able to retreat further overseas, instead of risking his life and fighting with the Haihan people.

"The safety of tens of thousands of people on this island is on me, it's not me who forced you, it's Eighteen Zhi who needs you to do this!" Zheng Zhilong said solemnly.

Seeing that Liu Xiang hung his head and was silent, Zheng Zhilong asked again: "Li Dangjia, what do you say?"

Li Kuiqi shook his head and said: "Big boss, you don't need to use these big truths to pressure me, Liu Xiang has scruples, but Lao Tzu doesn't, if you want me to work hard, let's open the right conditions first!"

"What conditions do you have, just say it!" Zheng Zhilong suppressed his anger and tried his best to keep himself calm.

Usually, the eighteen zhi are decided by him, and these leaders rarely have a clear opposition to him, but now that the situation is critical, one or two are beginning to become restless. If it weren't for the fear of internal chaos and giving the enemy a chance to take advantage of it, Zheng Zhilong really wanted to attack on the spot - at least grab an inkstone or something like that.

"Brother, I don't have any big requirements, since the big bosses have said this, then the brother is ordered to fight. But after this battle, the position of the brothers in this eighteen zhi is about to move!" Li Kuiqi succinctly explained his quid pro quo.

Zheng Zhilong hesitated for a moment, then nodded and responded, "Yes." After this battle, you and Brother Liu Xiang will sit in the second and third positions of Eighteen Zhi!"