I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 242 Protesting Seriously to Daming
Chapter 241

The sound of artillery in the Subic Strait rumbled, and the smoke filled the air, obstructing the line of sight.

The current naval battle makes the Dutch sailors feel extremely depressed and aggrieved.

Although they are well-trained, they are not invincible even in the face of the Spanish Armada. However, the problem is that the naval guns of the Ning Navy have a longer range than their naval guns. They can only shoot within 300 meters. With a high hit rate, however, Ning Haijun's naval guns can be more than 800 meters away.

Although the hit rate of the Ning Navy is poor, the problem is that the naval guns of the Ning Navy are too powerful. Once they hit, their warships will either die or be disabled.

The Tulip suffered only two shots, and the cabin was turned into a sea of ​​flames. The Dutch sailors who were trapped by the fire on the deck were scorched on the outside and tender on the inside, and their screams were earth-shattering.The gunpowder barrels were burned one after another, causing violent explosions, and the entire hull deformed, cracked, and tilted amidst the deafening explosion noise...

"It's over, it's over... I'm going bankrupt!"

Putmans's face was full of despair, like a mourning concubine.

"Fort, fort, counterattack... the brain is flooded!"

"Reporting to Colonel, the fort at the port was demolished by Zheng Zhilong's men!"

"Demolished?"

Alfonso didn't come back to his senses for a long time: "Why do you want to dismantle the fort?"

"Who knows what they think!"

When attacking Subic Port, the loss of Zheng's fleet was actually not small. In addition to the more than 200 warships sunk by the Ning Navy, their artillery suffered a serious shortage.The current strength of the British East India Company is not strong, and the artillery that can be sold to Zheng Zhilong can only be transported from the mainland.

In desperation, Zheng Zhilong dismantled the forts in Subic Port and installed them on the warships. Of course, these artillery pieces were originally the naval guns of the Spanish warships, so the problem is not big.

But the problem is that without the fire support of the fort, relying on the naval guns on the battleship alone, the Dutch East India Company has numerous disadvantages in terms of quantity and quality.

Li Zhixiang said: "The first, second, third, and fourth squadrons withdraw from the battle, and the fifth and sixth squadrons join the attack!"

"Yes!"

Ning Haijun saw that the guns of the Dutch East India Combined Fleet were too old and had a short range, which could hardly pose a threat to the warships of the Ning Navy. Under such circumstances, Li Zhixiang had the idea of ​​​​training troops.

Compared with the first, second, third, and fourth strike squadrons, the fifth and sixth squadrons lack actual combat experience. Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, let the fifth and sixth squadrons practice their hands.

Fortunately, the Fifth Squadron and the Sixth Squadron participated in the attack on the Dutch Combined Fleet, otherwise the Dutch Combined Fleet would be completely wiped out within half a day at most.

Although the Fifth Squadron and the Sixth Squadron were mostly recruits and lacked actual combat experience, the Fifth Squadron and the Sixth Squadron fought very lively with full firepower. That power is distasteful.

However, firing at this distance, coupled with the fact that they are all new recruits, the hit rate is really not very good. Most of the shells hit the sea, in vain stirring up clusters of tall and large water columns, and the sea surface seemed to be boiling. Bubbles rolled, thunder and lightning flashed.

After the initial chaos, the Dutch United Fleet has gradually adapted to the bombardment of the Ning Navy. What if they don't adapt?Anyway, if you can't, just do it.

Alfonso said: "The range of our naval guns is far inferior to that of the Ming army's navy. Only by approaching within 300 meters as soon as possible can we use the broadside firepower to destroy the opponent, otherwise this battle cannot be fought."

"dash forward!"

As the combined Dutch fleet launched an attack on the Fifth and Sixth Squadrons of the Ning Navy, the distance between the two sides quickly narrowed. Due to the close distance, the hit rate naturally increased, and four warships were hit by high-explosive guns in a blink of an eye. , The deck, sails, and masts were all on fire, and the sound of explosions was endless.

The combined Dutch fleet lost eight warships in half a day. If Zheng Zhilong lost eight main battleships, he would definitely not blink his eyes.But the problem is that the Dutch East India Company has only 150 warships of more than [-] tons, and their number and manpower are their flaws.

Just after losing eight warships, including five armed merchant ships, Alfonso couldn't hold on anymore: "Hans, you must let Zheng Zhilong send troops, otherwise we will have to surrender. The difference in strength between us and the enemy is too great, even if you invite God to come over!" , can’t win this battle!”

The current battle loss ratio is eight to zero. Six of the main warships of the Ning Navy Navy were hit successively, and nearly seventy sailors were lost, but the battleship losses were not large.

Putmans also knew that what Colonel Alfonso said was true. The loss of eight battleships had caused heavy casualties. If there were not a large number of colonial native sailors on the battleships and armed merchant ships, they might have died thousands of people.

In the port city of Subic, in the castle originally built by the Spanish, Putmans met Zheng Zhilong for the first time.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong was very leisurely, as if this war had nothing to do with him.

"Your Excellency Nicholas!"

"Hans, you came at a good time. I just got West Lake Longjing tea. This is a new tea before the rain. It can only produce less than two catties a year. Come and taste it!"

Putmans was getting angry now, he hurriedly said: "You can drink tea at any time, but the problem is that the time is too late, the battle in Subic Bay is not going well, we hope for your help, my friend !"

"I also want to help you, my friend, but you also know that we fought a battle with the Ning Navy a while ago, and our Zheng's fleet suffered heavy losses!"

"The situation is very serious now. In your Ming's words, it's called dead lips and teeth cold..."

"My friend, even if you say this, even if it is hired, there must be a price, right?"

Zheng Zhilong was born in trade, and he is not a novice in negotiation. He has rich experience. It is absolutely impossible for the Dutch to use him for nothing!

"what do you want?"

"Cannon and battleships!"

"This also requires a price!"

"My friend, have you thought about bringing the entire Formosa (big officers) under your rule, letting the glory of European civilization spread over every corner of this treasure island, and letting all the Formosa people return to the Lord?" hug?"

Zheng Zhilong had already received the news that Ning Haijun began to quickly encroach on Zheng Zhilong's territory after he landed as a senior official. Because Zheng Zhilong usually extorts money from those immigrants, Zheng Zhilong is actually not very popular among the senior officials.Almost ninety percent of these immigrants defected to Ning Haijun.

For Zheng Zhilong, the current senior staff is a tasteless one.

If you want to defend, but you don't have enough strength, if you want to defend the big officers, you must increase the number of troops, but the problem is that Ning Haijun has never encountered an opponent in land warfare. They Zheng said they have more than 10 troops, But the problem is that there are a large number of pirate families here, and less than [-] people can really go into battle.

But 10 people still have to guard the old territory in Fujian and fight land battles with the Ning Navy. Zheng Zhilong has no courage, so he took the opportunity to sell the big staff, which can be regarded as clearing non-performing assets.

Putmans rolled his eyes and said: "Of course! Which country would think that its territory is too small? The problem is that it can't be done!"

Dayuan is a treasure land with fertile land and abundant resources. They planted sugar cane, mined mineral deposits, and developed shipping in the south. They made a lot of money. Now there is an opportunity to get the whole Dayuan in their hands. How can they let it go?
As the governor of a senior official, Putmans is very aware of the value of a senior official.

"Now is the chance!"

Zheng Zhilong said with a smile: "I am willing to resell the site of Formosa (big officer) to you, how much are you willing to pay?"

"Ten thousand guilders!"

In all fairness, Putmans's bid was actually quite sincere. One Dutch guilder can be exchanged for twenty pounds. With the cost of the Britannia Sea Monarch at [-] pounds, at least two ships can be built, including the above [-]. artillery.

Ten thousand Dutch guilders is equivalent to 20 pounds, which is enough to take refuge in four super battleships with a displacement of more than [-] tons like the Sovereign of the Seas.

If Zheng Zhilong has four super battleships of the Sovereign of the Sea class, he will not suffer a disadvantage when facing the main battleship of the Ning Navy Navy, because this super battleship has served in the Royal Navy for more than 60 years.

"My friends, you'd better have some sincerity, time, the most important thing is time!"

"Fifteen thousand guilders!"

"Ten guilders!"

"Impossible, up to [-]!"

"We each take a step back, ninety thousand Dutch guilders!"

"fifty thousand!"

"[-], or else, we'll have an interview!"

Zheng Zhilong laughed and said, "I don't want money from your Dutch East India Company. I need warships and naval guns. With your Dutch shipbuilding capabilities, I will use the [-] Dutch guilders to order a third-class Dutch warship from you!"

The Dutch do not have super warships. Their main battleships are the third-class warships, also known as the seven provinces. This warship has a displacement of more than 72 tons and has 36 artillery pieces, including three 22-pound guns and 24 guns. 31-pounders, sixteen eighteen-pounders, thirty-one twelve-pounders.

The firepower of this kind of warship is quite powerful, which laid the foundation for the rise of the Dutch navy. Even an 24-pound gun is enough to cause fatal damage to a warship below [-] tons. Even the main battleship of the Ning Navy, [-] Pound guns also have a greater killing effect.

If it is hit directly by a 36-pound gun, especially if it is hit at the waterline, it may be shot into the soul.

In fact, Putmans did not have the right to sell the Dutch third-tier battleships. In fact, there were not many such third-tier battleships in the entire Dutch Mediterranean Fleet, only less than a hundred.

Even in the naval battle between the Netherlands and Spain in Downs in 1639, the nascent Dutch navy won a complete victory and wiped out the huge fleet formed by the Spaniards. Only 150 Dutch navy plus armed merchant ships participated in the battle.

Putmans was forced to sign an alliance with Zheng Zhilong, agreeing to buy the Dayuan Taichung area at a price of [-] Dutch guilders, and at the same time hire Zheng Zhilong to fight at a price of [-] Dutch guilders.

The Subic naval battle lasted until [-] o'clock in the afternoon that day. Just when the Dutch United Fleet thought they were going to be wiped out by the Ning Navy Regiment, the Ning Navy naval warships that were besieging the Dutch United Fleet in Subic Port were actually retreating.

Li Fang roared with some dissatisfaction: "Now the Dutchman has been beaten to death by us, why should he retreat..."

Before Li Fang finished speaking, Li Zhixiang said: "Execute the order!"

In fact, Li Zhixiang does not and does not want to retreat, but Zheng's fleet is now dispatched, and at this time almost all the main warships of the Ning Navy are in the Subic Strait. You must know that the Subic Strait is not the Manila Strait. The strait is only [-] to [-] nautical miles wide. Once it is blocked by Zheng Zhilong's fleet, the Ning Navy will lose the advantage of warship speed.

Located on the surface of the South China Sea to the southwest of Subic Bay, Zheng's fleet is rushing towards the Subic Strait. At this time, Zheng's fleet, like the original Ning Navy fleet, occupies an absolute downwind position.

Zheng's huge fleet is mighty and boundless. Zheng Zhilong has learned the lesson from last time. This time he came up as a fire boat, and gathered more than [-] mother and daughter ships of the entire fleet.

Such a huge fleet could not be concealed from others, and Li Zhixiang soon received the news that Zheng Zhilong had sent troops.

Li Fang felt a little uneasy when he heard that Zheng Zhilong dispatched more than 600 fireboats.

You must know that this is only Zheng Zhilong's forward force.

"This battle is not easy to fight!"

Shen Shikui sighed and said: "The wind direction is very unfavorable to us, Zheng Zhilong came up this time with a fire attack, it's too arrogant!"

"If it's not easy to fight, we still have to fight. The commander-in-chief is watching us in Luzon City!"

To Zheng Zhilong's surprise, Ning Haijun rushed towards them instead of accepting the deal.

"Fire the water mines, in the way of others, and return them to the other body!"

Sea mines are actually not high-tech products. As early as 30 years ago in the Luliang naval battle, the Daming Navy used a large number of sea mines, blowing up the fleet of the Xiaori Army. The psychological threat to the enemy is even greater than that of a hundred giant ships.

In the last Subic naval battle, Zheng Zhilong suffered from the mines of the Ning Navy. This time he also carried tens of thousands of mines. Of course, these mines are far inferior to the mines of the Ning Navy.

Tens of thousands of mines were produced by Zheng's craftsmen themselves. Each mine was filled with ten catties of granulated black powder.

When Zheng's fleet was laying mines, the Ning Navy fleet roared like steel: "Death battle! Death battle! Death battle!"

That terrifying roar was even more frightening than a thousand thunderstorms exploding at the same time, and it made people's hearts tremble.While the bloody banner was fluttering, the main battleship of the Ning Navy Navy, the six squadrons were divided into six formations, heading straight for the main force of Zheng's fleet!

"Boom boom boom..."

At a distance of three to 4000 meters, Ning Haijun launched an artillery attack. Of course, this time Ning Haijun did not perform lucky artillery skills. In the first round of shooting, all the shells fell through.

As the sun hit the sea level, Li Zhixiang smiled and said: "The whole ship retreats, there is a kind of chasing after it!"

In fact, Li Zhixiang also wanted to use mines to deal with Zheng's fleet. As a result, the two sides deployed thousands of mines. As for whether the mines would sink the merchant ship, this was a question that neither of them cared about.

Batavia of the Eastern Headquarters of the Dutch East India Company, as General De Bauer, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch East India Company fleet, said arrogantly: "You mean, those Ming people fired at our Dutch East India Company?"

"Yes, they claim that this is a response to our massacre of Chinese in Batavia, and it is also punishment!"

"Hmph, the tone is not small!"

De Bourg's fair face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot: "No one has ever dared to despise the Kingdom of the Netherlands like this, never!"

Now the Netherlands is enjoying the dividends of the age of great voyages, its national strength is booming, and its strength is so strong that only Spain and France can wrestle with them, and they don't pay attention to other countries!Cheng Shijie, the governor of Liaodong, not only does not accept the Kingdom of the Netherlands to unite and deal with Zheng Zhilong, but also refuses the Kingdom of the Netherlands to mediate their disputes with Spain. Now he dares to open fire on the Dutch warships, completely ignoring the Dutch Empire. How can he Don't be angry!
You must know that the Spanish Empire has conquered the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa with invincible opponents, and most of the land in South America is owned by them. What amazing strength is this?Although the Armada was defeated by the British Navy once, it did not shake Spain's dominance. In Europe, they are still the well-deserved boss!

However, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands forced the Spanish Empire to sign a peace treaty. If it weren't for the Spanish Empire's inability to fight against the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, how could the Spanish Empire lower their noble heads?

Even the cowardly Ming Ming dared to provoke the Netherlands, and now the Dutch East India Company was very angry.

Although De Bauer was very angry, he did not order the general fleet of the Dutch East India Company to be assembled to fight to the death with the Ning Navy. For the Dutch East India Company, profit is the most eternal, and war is only the last resort.

Of course, the prerequisite is that the opponent must be able to beat the Dutch East India Company.Now Ning Haijun punched Spain, stepped on Zheng Zhilong, and now kicked the Dutchman's ass, which made the Dutch East India Company feel very angry.

If it is a small country, even a fart will become their reason for war, but the problem is that the Dutch East India Company is not willing to go to war with the Ning Navy before it is absolutely sure to defeat the Ning Navy. Indian companies are not guaranteed to win.

In fact, the Europa people are very realistic and have double standards.

Simply put, military strength determines everything.

The strength of the Ning Navy has made the Dutch pay attention to it, and must be polite.

"News from the senior staff!"

"Let's talk about it, if it's the losses caused by the attacks of those big members of the natives, then it goes without saying!"

"It's more serious than this!"

"How serious is it?"

"Your Excellency, our senior officer is gone!"

"How could the boss be gone?"

"Twenty days ago, Ning's navy and army launched a full-scale counterattack against the Dutch army stationed in Dayuan. Now on Dayuan Island, we Dutch are either killed or captured!"

"how can that be?"

"But it's true!"

Baodel was full of indignation: "We have to lodge a serious protest with Daming."

(End of this chapter)