I want to be emperor

Chapter 398
The series of land and sea battles at the Pearl River Estuary was Zheng Zhilong's attempt to control the Great Chu Empire's control of the Pearl River estuary by relying on sea power, and then block the Chu army's sea power in the Pearl River, preventing the Great Chu Empire's navy from breaking out of the Pearl River and entering the South China Sea.

If possible, it is best to bombard the city of Guangzhou and attack the foundation of the Great Chu Empire in the Pearl River Delta, so that the Great Chu Empire will be afraid and cannot continue to capture other parts of Guangzhou and even besiege Guangxi to fight for its ally Xiong Wencan. time.

Similarly, this series of battles was also Zheng Zhilong's last struggle.

He tried to show his strength and value to the Great Chu Empire by blocking the Great Chu Empire's navy at the Pearl River Estuary and defending strategic locations such as Humen through a series of battles at the Pearl River Estuary, in exchange for a better appeasement. condition.

Yes!

Although Zheng Zhilong had just sent a not-so-small fleet to attack Guangzhou City, he was still inclined to surrender in his heart.

This has nothing to do with interests, ambitions, etc. It is mainly because of the traditional continental thinking deep in his heart that has influenced him. He always believes that his roots are on land, not on the sea.

It was also out of this kind of thought that he accepted the Ming court's appeasement before, and now he is negotiating with the Great Chu Empire to appease him out of this kind of thought.

It was the exile in the original time and space after he surrendered to the customs, and it was also based on this kind of thinking.

But even if he surrendered, Zheng Zhilong still wanted to fight for a better condition, especially to continue to keep his own fleet.

Just like when the Ming court appeased him before, the official position that the Ming court gave him was just a trivial matter. The most important thing was that the Ming court allowed him to continue to control his huge fleet without interfering.

Of course, at that time, the Ming court was unable to intervene because the main force of the navy in Fujian and Zhejiang was almost completely defeated by Zheng Zhilong.

But it is a pity that the Great Chu Empire firmly disagrees with this.

For the Great Chu Empire, the core purpose of recruiting Zheng Zhilong is to take over the huge fleet under Zheng Zhilong.

Not only to control this fleet through Zheng Zhilong, but to completely merge this fleet into the Great Chu Empire Navy and become a part of the Great Chu Empire Navy.

Zheng Zhilong can occupy a high position, give a rear admiral or even the rank of vice admiral, and he can also be given the title of marquis, and it is the highest standard of the original title inherited after three generations, and the real hereditary title is reduced to the hereditary baronet.

Zheng Zhilong is also allowed to retain his large-scale private assets, except for large tracts of land, especially the area controlled by Zheng Zhilong on Dayuan Island, which must be handed over to the official control of the Great Chu Empire.

However, the Great Chu Empire did not allow Zheng Zhilong to continue to control the huge fleet under his command.

To put it simply, the Great Chu Empire recruited Zheng Zhilong in exchange for glory and wealth in exchange for the huge fleet under Zheng Zhilong's command.

On the one hand, Zheng Zhilong is not allowed to give up the fleet, on the other hand, he is also worried that once the fleet is completely handed over, he will become an insignificant person who can be abandoned at any time.

Zheng Zhilong is also a high-ranking person. He also wants to continue to control power. At the same time, he also has ambitions. He thinks that even after joining the Great Chu Empire Navy, he can become the undisputed leader in the Great Chu Empire Navy.

Because of the large gap in terms of conditions, the two parties have not been able to reach an agreement, but because one of the two parties wanted to be recruited and the other wanted to be recruited, although the negotiation failed, the negotiation has not been interrupted.

This has also led to a special way of getting along between Zheng Zhilong's troops and the Great Chu Empire, which is a situation of talking while fighting.

It's a bit like trying to make peace in it.

What's interesting is that although Zheng Zhilong and the Great Chu Empire were negotiating for appeasement, although there was a certain degree of secrecy, it was impossible to truly conceal such a major event.

At the beginning of the year, the Ming court had already more or less heard the wind.

But this time Chongzhen didn't get dizzy anyway, and didn't order Zheng Zhilong to be arrested and imprisoned because of Zheng Zhilong's indecision...

Well, actually he also arrested Zheng Zhilong...

On the contrary, Chongzhen increased Zheng Zhilong's treatment. In April, Chongzhen officially canonized Zheng Zhilong as Nan'an Bo.

At the beginning of June, as the battle in Guangdong took a turn for the worse, and at the same time the Chu army began to take full control of southern Zhejiang and entered Fujian, the Ming court gave Zheng Zhilong the title of Prince Shaobao, and also specially gave Zheng Zhilong a very formal title of general: Suppress General thief.

It is worth mentioning that as the situation got worse and worse, the Ming court further increased its wooing of military generals, not only Zheng Zhilong, but also Zuo Liangyu was awarded the title of Ning Nanbo at the beginning of this year, worshiped the general of the thief, and added the crown prince Shaobao title.

Of course, according to the official rules of the Ming court, even if Zheng Zhilong was granted the uncle title, it is impossible for Zheng Zhilong to become the person in charge of military affairs in one place.

Therefore, it is impossible for the Ming court to give Zheng Zhilong the title of governor of Fujian, let alone the title of governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. In addition to a bunch of titles, Zheng Zhilong's official is actually the general soldier of Fujian... nothing has actually changed!
And above Zheng Zhilong, there is another civil servant sitting in charge, he is Shen Youlong, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang and governor of Fujian.

At the beginning of this year, as the city of Hangzhou was broken and the news of the death of the governor of Zhejiang spread to Youzhou City, Chongzhen gave Shen Youlong the right servant of the Ministry of War and the title of censor of the capital of Youqian, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang military affairs, and the governor of Fujian.

It's just that under Shen Youlong, who became the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, there are not many officers and soldiers except Zheng Zhilong's subordinates.

Originally there were many officers and soldiers in Zhejiang, but most of them were lost in a series of battles in northern Zhejiang, and in the subsequent battle of Ningbo, the last bit of officers and soldiers in southern Zhejiang was lost.

Therefore, after the Ningbo Battle, there were not many officers and soldiers in the Zhejiang area.

As for Fujian, there are actually not many officers and soldiers in the guard station. After all, this place is already poor, and there is Zheng Zhilong on the side, so the strength of the officers and soldiers in the local guard station has been greatly suppressed. In the past six months, he has stepped up efforts to expand the army and prepare for war, but now that Shen Youlong is dead, he can only gather [-] people.

Moreover, among these ten thousand people, there are less than three thousand real soldiers, and the rest are just for making up numbers.

On the contrary, Zheng Zhilong has many people under his command.

Today's Zheng Zhilong has a lot of people on board, and there are more than 6000 and tens of thousands of troops stationed on Chongming Island and Zhoushan Islands, the two islands that controlled the Great Chu Empire, respectively. More than [-] people.

In addition, in Fujian and other places, there are still [-] to [-] troops.

This is talking about land forces, not including sailors in the fleet.

Therefore, in the anti-thief operations in the Fujian and Zhejiang regions, the Ming court relied heavily on Zheng Zhilong's troops.

In order to appease Zheng Zhilong, Ming Ting took out the titles of Nan'an Bo and Prince Shaobao, but Ming Ting's operation was not very useful.

At least Zheng Zhilong had long believed in his heart that Ming Ting was going to die...

Without Jiangnan, without Huguang, Jiangxi, and even the Ming court in the large southern provinces, there are only a few provinces in the north that have been devastated by war and the climate of the small ice river. Even if the Chu army does not make a northern expedition, they will not be able to survive for a few years...

Because the enemies of the Ming court, besides the Great Chu Empire, are also the rebels from all walks of life in Shaanxi who have always been haunted.

Although Gao Yingxiang was caught and killed by officers and soldiers last year, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are still alive and well, and they are still running around in the mountains with a large number of thieves.

In addition, in Liaodong, there is the foreign enemy Dongyao, and this foreign enemy is also very deadly.

After losing the support of money and food from the southern provinces and the lifeline of water transport, the Ming court has actually entered the stage of the Great Xia. In Zheng Zhilong's view, this time will definitely not be too long, as short as a year or a half , it will only last for three to five years, and the Ming court will definitely be finished.

Even if they are not killed by foreign enemies, they can torture themselves to death.

Ming Ting's side is going to be finished, but Zheng Zhilong must continue to mess around, he doesn't want to go to the underworld with Ming Ting.

He is not a general of the Ming Dynasty, and he has no loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. He accepts the Ming court's consolation purely because he wants to return to the land and take root, and he does not want to continue wandering on the sea...

Now, he wants to switch to the Great Chu Empire because of the same mentality.

It's just that those damned Chu thieves restricted the negotiation conditions too much, and his hometown Fujian was still in his hands, which made Zheng Zhilong unable to make up his mind for a long time. He felt that he had the capital to get better conditions of solicitation.

The series of battles at the Pearl River Estuary was also an action by Zheng Zhilong to show his strength.

But the result of this action made Zheng Zhilong very disappointed.

Hundreds of large ships went to attack Guangzhou City, and they were repelled by the Chu army at the mouth of the Pearl River without even seeing the shadow of Guangzhou City.

Not only the fleet was repulsed, but even the fleet's berth in Humen and other places were taken away by the Chu army dispatched army forces. After the defeat, the fleet could only retreat to Hong Kong Island on the edge of Lingdingyang.

This strategy of using the sea to control the land failed, and after losing Humen, it would be difficult to completely block the mouth of the Pearl River, completely blocking the Chu thief's sea power in the Pearl River.

After all, the estuary of the Pearl River is still very wide, and this piece of sea is Lingdingyang, which is tens of kilometers wide. In terms of the patrol and blockade capabilities of the navy these days, it is actually very difficult to completely block such a large piece of sea area.

Besides, fighting in the waters around Lingdingyang will be the home ground of the Great Chu Empire Navy in the future.

The Pearl River Fleet of the Great Chu Empire Navy can obtain manpower and material supplies anytime and anywhere, and even ships are continuously built to supplement them.

But as for Zheng Zhilong's fleet, they were fighting far away from their hometown in Fujian, and fighting at the Pearl River Estuary was a long-distance operation, and as the coastal land was controlled by the Chu army, it was difficult for them to continue to obtain a large amount of supplies from the land.

It doesn't matter if the time is short, but if it is stationed for a long time, it will be very troublesome.

Just like the garrisons on Chongming Island and the Zhoushan Islands, the ammunition and even food needed for the 1-odd troops had to be transported thousands of miles from Fujian and Dayuan Islands by sea. In order to maintain these two islands, Zheng Zhilong’s For the garrison on the sea, a large number of ships were used, not to mention the great cost, and it was also very inconvenient, and there was a risk of being cut off from the sea supply line at any time.

By the same token, when the long-term garrison troops go to the mouth of the Pearl River, there are also problems of supply difficulties and huge costs.

In this regard, Zheng Zhilong is also very helpless, he can only do his best to obey the destiny, he can't just ignore everything, and then directly transfer the fleet back to run away, that way Guangdong is really completely finished.

At present, leaving a fleet in the area of ​​Lingdingyang can at least contain part of the Chu army's strength and reduce the pressure on Xiong Wencan in other directions, especially in Guangxi.

This really withdraws all the fleet, and then all the troops of the Chu army in Guangzhou will go to Guangxi along the Xijiang River...

In fact, Zheng Zhilong still overestimated the deterrent power of his fleet. He thought that if his fleet was stationed in the Lingdingyang area for a long time, it would be able to contain at least [-] to [-] Chu rebels and use them to garrison Humen, Guangzhou, Foshan and other places.

But in fact, although the strength of the Chu army attacking Humen was tens of thousands, the main force was only a reinforced regiment, and the other was an infantry brigade of the garrison.

After the Battle of Humen, this reinforced regiment left only one battalion in Humen, and the other two battalions each brought about [-] garrison troops. .

On the other way, they continued to go south along the coastline, and their goal was Xin'an County under the administration of Guangzhou Prefecture.

After capturing this small coastal county, the army did not stop. Instead, it continued to march southward, directly reaching the Kowloon Peninsula, and directly occupying the Ming court's camps where the local inspection department and saltworks soldiers were stationed.

Later, the Chu army built fortifications and more barracks in the original camp of Yanding people, and named this camp Kowloon City.

The Chu army named this camp a city, obviously preparing for a long-term garrison here.

This is because the temporary berth of Zheng Zhilong's fleet is on a small island across a bay from the Kowloon Peninsula.

After losing the berth in Humen, the fleet under Zheng Zhilong went south to a small broken island opposite the Kowloon Peninsula as a temporary camp. The main reason is that there is a calm bay between this island and the Kowloon Peninsula that is suitable for berthing.

This bay is also the Victoria Bay in the original time and space, but it is definitely not called this name now. The British are now in the East Asian waters, but they have no sense of presence, let alone occupy Hong Kong, so now this bay is just an unnamed bay.

It’s just because Zheng Zhilong’s fleet was temporarily stationed in this bay. When the Chu army described it in official documents, they had to have a name, so they simply named it Jiulong Bay after the local area, and by the way, according to the local people’s To call it, the opposite island is named after the local small fishing village, and it is called Xiangjiang Island.

The remaining 100 ships of Zheng Zhilong's fleet are now moored in Kowloon Bay, and they have established a temporary camp on Xiangjiang Island, a barren island on the south coast of Kowloon Bay. A group of little pirates here have been wiped out...

In the area around the Pearl River Estuary these days, there are many pirate gangs of various kinds, and Xiangjiang Island is no exception. It is normal operation to kill a wave of small pirates casually for a temporary anchorage.

And the temporary berth of Zheng Zhilong's fleet is here, which is why the Chu army's troops rushed to the Kowloon Peninsula in one go.

But the army's actions are limited to this. No matter how powerful the Great Chu Empire's army is, it can't get through Jiulong Bay and run to the opposite Xiangjiang Island to destroy the temporary base of Zheng Zhilong's fleet, let alone Zheng Zhilong's fleet powerless.

The Chu army stationed in Kowloon City is more of a role in monitoring Zheng Zhilong's fleet on the opposite side and supporting naval operations when necessary.

Now, I can only stare at Zheng Zhilong's fleet in Kowloon Bay...

If you want to kill Zheng Zhilong's fleet on the opposite side, you have to count on the Pearl River Fleet on the navy's side.

It's just that Rear Admiral Xia Qiuyang, the commander of the Pearl River Fleet of the Navy, is also frowning at his own fleet!

(End of this chapter)