Zhu Shuren is not good at direct battlefield command, and his military talent is more reflected in the level of grand strategy.

He is also very self-aware, so he never tries to manipulate the front-line generals, he only instructs his subordinates on the overall situation.

Of course, Zhu Shuren was the same for the upcoming battle for the recovery of the Dayuan, and it only took a few days to point out how Zheng Chenggong dealt with the geographical and climatic unfavorable factors of the Dayuan, and the matters that need to be paid attention to when dealing with the Hongyi people, and the rest did not say much.

When Zheng Chenggong left, he only took away a large number of newly trial-produced and hoarded anti-tropical disease drugs and external ointments from the Jiangning Academy of Sciences, and also asked the military doctors to learn the usage and diagnosis methods from the professionals of the research institute and museum here.

The time soon came to October, and with the onset of winter, Zheng Chenggong, who had been fighting for a long time, finally took the fully equipped Zheng family sailors and a "marine" led by Zhang Mingzhen to launch a reconquest war against the big soldiers.

The Zheng family's troops were originally stationed in Fujian all the year round, so there was no need to assemble and dispatch before sending troops, and the Heishuigou sea area was the general existence of the Zheng family's sewers, coming and going freely, and they could cross at any time.

(Note: In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Wanwan Strait was called the Black Water Trench, but it was not limited to the Strait, but also extended to the deep-water channel area between the mainland and the Ryukyus, which was the result of the combined action of the warm current and the deep water area of the Okinawa Trough, resulting in a very dark sea water in that area, all of which were called the Black Water Trench)

Zhang Mingzhen's troops, however, assembled in Fujian several months in advance before the campaign was launched to better adapt to the local climate, and numbered only a few thousand.

The main force of this battle is still the Fujian soldiers under the command of the Zheng family, Zhang Mingzhen is just an auxiliary, and equipped with the latest artillery and other technical troops, responsible for technical fortification, by the way to control the situation, to show that this is the military operation of the imperial court, not the Zheng family, the face is better.

The sailors from the north were not used to the sea conditions in the south and were not used to driving lucky boats, so all the actions on the sea were handled by the Zheng family, and only after landing did Zhang Mingzhen have room to play.

In history, Zheng Chenggong used a total of 25,000 combat troops in the battle to recover Dayuan, and this time there were 5,000 more people, almost Zhang Mingzhen's people.

At a meeting last year, Zhu Shuren also said that it is necessary to control expenditures, and the total number of troops used each year should not exceed 50,000, including logistics auxiliaries.

This year, Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang on the Yungui side will still occupy the counterinsurgency quota and funds of thousands of soldiers, and Zheng Chenggong's side can indeed only use more than 30,000 people at most.

In terms of military spending, in fact, the Zheng family also subsidized a part, because Zhu Shuren may have promised the Zheng family that after recovering the Dayuan, the Zheng family can be allowed to enjoy more economic benefits in the Dayuan for a long time.

Customs will be set up at the discretion of the Customs, which will formally allow the expansion of foreign trade and the laundering of more maritime trade in the future, but will require the formal payment of customs duties.

With such good conditions, it is appropriate for the Zheng family to pay more money to share the worries of the country.

……

The combat power of the Ming army has increased somewhat compared with the same period in history, and the weapons and equipment have also been upgraded by an additional era, which is said to be a huge benefit.

The Dutch defenders on the opposite side were weaker in comparison - not that the Dutch had fewer troops, but mainly because the fortifications were much worse than in the historical battles of Dagong.

In terms of the number of soldiers, the Dutch army had only 1,500 regular soldiers of their own nationality in the two main fortresses in the north and south of the island, and the rest were only second-rate armed forces with local indigenous traitors, as well as Dutch merchants and sailors who were all soldiers.

In addition, in the battle of the Great Commander in history, the Dutch later found that the war situation was tight, and sent more than 1,000 Dutch East India Company reinforcements from Batavia in the rear, which is so much in total.

After all, the Dutch were laborers who sailed across half the world to fight at the door of the Ming Dynasty, and the difficulty of supply was of course very terrifying, and it was very good to maintain two or three thousand people.

In this life, the Dutch were more numerous, thanks to the timing—the Dutch had just taken the city of Chichicheng and the stronghold of the water in the north of the island from the Spaniards two years earlier, and they wanted to destroy the Spanish fortress, of course, amassing heavy troops to attack the city.

After the capture, these troops did not withdraw immediately, after all, after the defeat of the Spaniards, there were still a small number of people who broke through and fled, and the Dutch still had to maintain law and order on the island and conquer some indigenous tribes that had originally cooperated with the Spaniards. For the time being, a standing army of two or three thousand men was still maintained on the island.

Once Zheng Chenggong starts fighting, maybe the East India Company in Batavia will be able to organize another 2,000 men, so that the total number of enemy regular troops on the whole island may reach as many as 5,000!

Of course, it takes a long time to get from Batavia to Dayuan, and it is not surprising that it takes several months to make a round trip from Batavia to waiting for the monsoon, and it may take more than half a year to miss the monsoon if the wind is not good.

Historically, Zheng Chenggong sent troops at the end of the second lunar month and started fighting in April, and the Dutch did miss the monsoon when they asked for help, and finally it took a full eight months for reinforcements to come.

But now the Ming army has changed to start fighting in October, with a difference of half a year, and if the Dutch need to ask for help, they don't have to wait too long for the monsoon, which is also a disadvantageous factor, and the Ming army needs to overcome it quickly.

In general, the Dutch had stronger troops than in the same period in history, but the fortifications, forts, forts, and other facilities were weaker than in the same period in history.

And whether it is from the perspective of stopping the enemy's reinforcements and breaking through the time difference, or from the perspective of the financial burden of the Ming court, or from the perspective of "using troops in winter to avoid tropical diseases", the Ming army must fight quickly.

It is still very difficult to shorten the battle that originally lasted nearly a year to four months to solve it.

……

Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen set sail from Xiamen on 12 October, and after a four-day voyage, they crossed the strait, rested briefly in Penghu, and then pulled anchor again, and after two days came to the main stronghold of the Dutch in the south of the island, the sea off Chichicheng.

In this era, the Ming Dynasty launched military operations on Dayuan Island, starting from the south of the island first, and only after the successful landing would it spread to the north of the island.

Mainly because Penghu was under the control of the Ming army at that time, to be precise, under the control of the Zheng family,

As early as 1622, that is, before the second year of the Apocalypse, Penghu was also occupied by the Dutch army at that time, but the Ming army launched a counteroffensive in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, fought for several months, and took Penghu back, and the Dutch have not been able to occupy Penghu again.

Therefore, the route from Xiamen to Penghu can now evade the detection of the Dutch and take it by surprise. Penghu is close to the south of Dayuan Island, and from Penghu it sets sail to the east again, but it is only more than 90 miles by sea to reach the sea outside the Red Embedded City, and the landing battle will naturally first hit the periphery of the Red Embedded City and establish a solid landing field.

On October 20, when Zheng Chenggong and Zhang Mingzhen arrived in the open sea, the Dutch had already discovered them and made hasty preparations.

Zheng Chenggong took the telescope and carefully observed the enemy's situation and figured out how to carry out the landing battle.

In this era, there were no landing craft, and there was no way for large-scale troops to grab the beach directly, and at most they could only row to the shore with a small life-saving sampan, and if they could not fit a few people, they would definitely be wiped out or pushed into the sea before they could gain a firm foothold.

Therefore, in order to allow a large army to land, it is necessary to find a river deep inland, find a suitable port, a deep-water anchorage, so that the army can quickly unload and go ashore, and the most important thing is to be able to transport the artillery ashore.

Zheng Chenggong did a good job of intelligence investigation in advance, and at this moment, he made a final confirmation on the spot before discussing with Zhang Mingzhen:

"If you want to find a deep-water anchorage to land directly, you must sail into the Taijiang River, and the estuary has a line tail, separating the estuary from the north and south waterways.

The south channel is deep and easy to navigate, reaching Dayuan Port, but on the top of the tail mountain of the central line of the river, and the anchorage breakwater of a Kunyu island on the south bank, there are Hongyi forts, and the river is fired, and the ships passing by will be shelled.

The northern channel is between Luermen and Line Weiyu in Jiangbei, Luermen is mostly gentle river beach, it is said that the land is loose and muddy, and it is impossible to build a city, only relying on the top of the mountain at the end of the Jiangxin line, and part of the north-facing artillery position bombardment blockade. However, the shallow water needs to wait for the high tide to pass through the big boat, what does General Zhang think should be chosen? ”

Zhang Mingzhen followed Zheng Chenggong's explanation, and also thought for a long time, and didn't dare to make up his mind for a while.

The situation they encountered today was really more difficult than that of Zheng Chenggong, who came here in another time and space, sixteen years later-

Because historically, the simple wooden fort camp on the "Xianwei Mountain" on Jiangxin Island at the mouth of the Taijiang River was destroyed after a fierce typhoon in 1656, and then it was abandoned by the Dutch to concentrate on the port fortifications on the south bank, which gave Zheng Chenggong the opportunity to smuggle the north channel of the Taijiang Estuary when he came in 1662 and took advantage of the high tide to smuggle into the north channel of the Taijiang Estuary.

But now it's only 1646! Not 1662, but a full decade before the typhoon of 1656 destroyed the fort! Now the Dutch fort on Jiangxin Island is still alive and well!

If it weren't for the fact that the strength of the Ming army had also increased, and the weapons had been upgraded by at least one generation compared to the same period in history, I am afraid that this battle would have been really difficult to fight.

Zhang Mingzhen pondered again and again, and said in a consultative tone: "It seems that we can only storm the fort on Jiangkou Island first?" Although the fort was high, the fortifications were not strong, but they were built of civil engineering, not a fort made of stones.

There are not many defenders on the island for the time being, and if they land on the island by surprise to besiege it, the enemy will not dare to counterattack the beachhead with the defenders of the fort. It's just that if the defenders of Gelansha City and Chiji City on the south and north banks of the Jiangkou want to reinforce the Jiangxin Island Fort, they need Zheng Langzhong's navy to intercept it, and they can't let them cross the Taijiang River to the island for reinforcements. ”

After Zheng Chenggong heard this, his eyes also lit up: "This theory is also reasonable, since ancient times, the most feared landing is to be attacked by the half-crossing, and the defenders will be counterattacked before the foothold is stable."

If we go ashore directly on the south or north shore, the enemy's strength will be at least 1,000 or more, and it is really possible that our troops will be washed into the sea. However, the defenders of the Jiangxin Fort are only a few hundred at most, and even if our army is the first to land and only rely on sampans to transport troops, they may not dare to rush out and annihilate us on the beachhead. If you really rush out, you might be able to fight back.

However, Jiangxin Island is surrounded by shallows, large ships cannot get close, and the range of naval guns is not as good as that of fortress guns, and it cannot support the shore. After General Zhang landed in the first batch, he could only rely on muskets to form a formation, flexibly change formations, and support the first wave of possible enemy counterattacks. ”

Zhang Mingzhen thought for a while: "Take a few of the lightest cavalry guns and land with the sampan beach-grabbing team, so you can have some heavy firepower for self-defense." ”

As he spoke, Zhang Mingzhen asked people to prepare four cavalry guns that were about three or four pounds in weight, and their own weight was within three or five hundred catties, which was about the same weight as the Franc machine, and could be loaded with a small sampan.

It's just that when the soldiers land, they need to jump off the sampan in advance and wade through the waist-deep shallows to land. The cannon could not fall into the water, so it could only sacrifice a few sampans, directly rush to the beach and run aground, and even did not hesitate to damage the bottom of the ship, so that the position where the cannon could go ashore was as shallow as possible.

Zhang Mingzhen also specially arranged some melee soldiers with great strength, specially equipped with sharp and heavy high-quality forged steel battle axes, in case of special circumstances, they could chop the sampan side after the crash, and push the cannon directly down the side -

In this era, there is no such thing as a "tank landing craft" with a sampan design that can automatically open the bow and let the cannon go down, and the heavy cannon can't be carried over the side of the ship, so it can only chop the side of the ship and cut a hole to push the cannon down!

And in the West, there was no concept of cavalry artillery in this era, and it was not until the Seven Years' War in Europe a hundred years later that Frederick the Great invented it.

Of course, the Dutch would not be wary of the Ming army's concept of "forward-deployed light artillery advancing with the landing infantry", which would naturally catch the Dutch by surprise.

The total of the two sides has been decided, Zhang Mingzhen said to do it, let Zheng Chenggong's fleet put down hundreds of small sampans, each ship or transport a dozen fully armed elite soldiers, or only seven or eight soldiers, and save the rest of the weight to pull a cavalry cannon.

This kind of snack water sampan basically transports a dozen people at most, otherwise even if it is not sunk, the draft will be too deep, resulting in the inability to rush to the shallow water as far as possible when rushing to the beach.

Therefore, Zhang Mingzhen added up, and the first batch was about 800 infantry warriors, plus four cavalry guns.

Although the Dutch had already discovered them, they did not come forward to intercept them, because the Dutch did not expect that the Ming army would directly seize the beach at the shoal, and they were also wary that the Ming army would sneak across the main channel and find an anchorage to land.

……

"Major, the Ming people sent a large number of sampans to try to land directly on the sandbar on the west side! Captain Janssen of the North Battery asked for reinforcements to help urgently adjust the orientation of the gun position! Our original gun emplacements were all facing the main channel on the north side!

Captain Janssen also asked for instructions on whether to send someone to resist the enemy on the beachhead! He was afraid that he would not have time to fire artillery bombardment to stop the landing just by urgently adjusting the direction of the gun position! ”

As soon as Zhang Mingzhen made a move, Major Endrick, the commander of the Dutch army at the Xianweishan Battery, received an urgent report from his subordinates and had to make a decision quickly.

This Major Endrick, who knows by his name, is not of Dutch descent, he actually has quite Portuguese ancestry,

It's just that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese's trade control in the Far East became more and more weak, and the territory was gradually lost, except for the last Macao, which was still there, and the rest was occupied by the Dutch.

Major Endrick's father was originally a Portuguese officer, and he was surrounded by Dutch troops in the Battle of Macau twenty years ago, and then led people to surrender, after all, the Europeans who were all eating together in the Far East, Portugal was not as fanatical as Spain to adhere to the old Catholic faith, and it was nothing to surrender to the Dutch who believed in Protestantism to save their lives.

Endrick was still a young non-commissioned officer at the time, and after joining his father, he had worked well for the Dutch for twenty years, and now he had also risen to the rank of middle and senior officer.

In the face of the sudden attack of the Ming army, he couldn't care about anything else, so he could only block the first soldiers, withstand this wave, give the Ming army color, and then talk about the rest.

In these years, the Dutch East India Company was also accustomed to this kind of routine of "fighting first if there is a conflict, and then considering negotiation and negotiation", if it can be resolved directly by force, there is nothing to talk about, even if the other party sneaks up on it, they will not think about condemning it first.

"The people of the Ming Kingdom actually dare to land directly with a sampan in a place where there is no anchorage? This is not to take my big Dutch elite in my eyes. Quick, let Yang Sen stop thinking about adjusting the artillery position, first take a full company to the beachhead, and rush down the Ming people who were just about to go ashore! ”

After a brief confirmation in the telescope, the Major immediately gave what he thought was the most correct instruction.

Captain Yang Sen of the North Battery didn't say much when he heard this, and immediately led the team to attack. At that time, the Dutch military system was similar to that of the Spanish phalanx, with 240 people as a full company.

The Dutch army at the end of the line should have two companies, organized into a battalion, and one company in the north and south batteries, with a total of 480 people, and in fact there will be a slight reduction in personnel.

Sending a full phalanx to counter-land at one time is also the greatest sincerity that Major Endrick can show, and if there are more, the two batteries themselves will lack defensive forces.

……

On the side of the Ming army on the other side, Zhang Mingzhen is also a high-ranking general, and of course it is impossible to personally participate in the first wave of beach-grabbing landings.

Therefore, these 800 people were led by Zhang Guozhu and Ruan Jin, the generals under Zhang Mingzhen.

Zhang Guozhu is the general who was previously picked up by Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong from Wu Sangui, he was born in the Liaodong Army, and he also knew a little about navigation and sea warfare, and was responsible for the defense of Juehua Island and other places under Wu Sangui.

Ruan Jin is a native of Fujian, a sailor and a pirate, and was later absorbed by Zhang Mingzhen Zhao'an, and has followed Zhang Mingzhen for many years, and he is not a leading figure.

But in any case, these 800 Ming troops were equipped with new "Wuchang-made" rifles, and they were equipped with a variety of ammunition, including single-headed bullets against steel cuirass enemies, as well as traditional shotguns against lightly armored enemy troops, which can be described as proficient in combat power.

The Dutch had not fought against the Ming army for at least a decade, so they did not know much about the Ming army's combat effectiveness and firearms upgrades - the Dutch's last large-scale decisive battle with the Ming army was the Battle of Liaoluo Bay with Zheng Zhilong in 1633, and the small-scale harassment and friction only lasted until 1638, that is, eight years ago.

Eight years ago, the Zhu Shu people had not crossed over, of course, the Ming army at that time was not strong, and the coastal areas of Fujian were all supported by the Zheng pirates.

Captain Yang Sen rushed to the sandbank beachhead with 240 men, and when he was three or five hundred paces away from the Ming army, he had the time to temporarily stop and reorganize his troops to ensure that they were in a uniform position before finally receiving the enemy's charge, and then officially began to charge.

He arrived fairly quickly, and when Major Endrick had discovered the Ming army's tendency to land, the frontmost Ming sampan was still at least a few miles from the shore. Therefore, when Captain Janssen arrived, the 800 Ming Army did not all land, and it can even be said that only two or three percent of them landed, which was less than the number of the attacking Dutch army.

There were five or six hundred people in the back, either still on the boat, or just getting off the boat and wading in the water.

"Have you put the team together! Hurry up! Dragged back and pumped twenty whips! Okay, let me crush those Ming people! Follow a line of forty people, six rows in front and back, fire when you enter the firing range, and then alternate in the rear row! Reload in the front row and keep up! ”

The Dutch also used a similar approach to stacking when they were fighting in charge, especially when they were dealing with an enemy who had a weapon gap with them. If it was a civil war against other European powers, it would not be so big.

The Dutch quickly followed the order, and the soldiers became obscene: according to Captain Janssen, as long as a dozen of these barbarians were shot at a distance, the formation would soon collapse, what kind of military discipline and will these barbarians have!

However, they soon discover that the situation has evolved beyond their expectations.

The Dutch had only advanced to a distance of about one hundred and fifty paces to two hundred paces from the enemy, and the first row of musketeers had not yet fired, and the Ming soldiers on the opposite side actually lined up and opened fire first!

The Ming army used double-shot front-and-rear single-headed bullets, because shotguns could not be lethal at such a long distance.

Of course, the Dutch didn't know this, and they had to wait until the projectile hit them to find out what it was.

"Bang bang bang-" With a burst of sound and thick white smoke, the 40 Dutch soldiers in the first row fell five or six first, blood gushing and splattering, and the comrades next to them were all in the face.

"When did the muskets of those Ming barbarians have such a long range?! Charge! I got close to the shooting! Captain Yang Sen was caught off guard and was shocked, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

The great Dutch province could be outnumbered by the barbarians in the range and accuracy of firearms? What kind of world is this!

Fortunately, the rate of fire of the Ming army was not too fast, and the interval between two rounds of fire still gave the infantry time to rush forward for twenty or thirty more steps.

Therefore, the time for the Dutch to be unilaterally slaughtered did not last long, only after the second team of the Ming army opened fire, the Dutch rushed to a distance of about one hundred and twenty or thirty paces, and then also hurriedly opened fire.

Because the vanguard of the Ming army wanted to land on the beach, they could not carry too heavy equipment, but they did not wear a forged steel cuirass, but only wore leather armor, but even if they wore a forged steel cuirass, there was not much difference, and in the face of large-caliber single-headed bullets, the enemy may not just aim at the chest.

On the East Asian continent of this era, for the first time, there was a case of a queue shooting and bombing similar to the Thirty Years' War in the West, which has to be said to be very time-traveling.