The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 388 Daming Marine Corps

"Admiral, at least I will say that this battle is not difficult to fight." Liu Guoxuan was the first to express his opinion.

At first, he was not happy with His Royal Highness the Coordinating King for transferring him from the Dragon Guards to the Navy, but when he saw the more than 20 cannons on the [-]-ton Fuzhou, he was instantly fascinated. People said, "His Royal Highness the Assistant Government treats me well."

And now the Shaowu he was on board made him even more confident, and continued to say loudly: "There is no need to inquire about the location of the Jiannu Navy, we will go straight to Hangzhou.

"The captives are worried that the food and grass transported to Xiaoshan will be robbed by us, so they will definitely come to fight me. At that time, we will wait for work and have such a powerful warship," he said, patting the bulkhead of the Shaowu, " We will be able to defeat the enemy in one battle!"

"General Liu is right. Go straight to Hangzhou, maybe tomorrow we will be able to clean up the thief ship." Zhang Guoxuan nodded first, and then said, "It's just that the captives have been entrenched in Qiantang for a long time, and yesterday some sailors saw the thief's sentry ship Haunting nearby. I am afraid that the enemy army has taken precautions."

"It is not suitable to go to Hangzhou." Zheng Chenggong also shook his head and said, "Our sails are big and fast, but it is difficult to turn the sails, and the draft of the hull is deep, so it is extremely disadvantageous in the narrow place near the shore.

"Before we set off, His Royal Highness the Counselor King repeatedly told us not to fight the enemy in shallow and narrow waters unless it is absolutely necessary."

The sea breeze near the land is relatively small, and the direction of the wind varies with the terrain.This is of great benefit to the Eastern style of hard sails that can be turned at will, while the Galen ships that need more wind will become sluggish.

However, Hangzhou and Xiaoshan are far away from the sea, and the width of the river is only seven or eight miles, which is relatively narrow.

Zhang Guoxuan said with a sad face when he heard the words: "If the bandit army has been shrinking near Hangzhou, our ship will be at a disadvantage, but we have to go forward and fight hard."

"That's not necessary." Zheng Chenggong and Shi Lang said almost in unison.

The former immediately smiled and said, "Oh? What's your plan?"

"Don't dare, it's just a trick." Shi Lang said, "We can first moor in the lower reaches of the Qiantang, and when the westerly wind blows, the whole army enters the Qiantang against the wind. When we engage the enemy, we immediately pretend to be defeated and enter with the wind and the current. In the bay on the east side, and then return to the decisive battle."

Liu Guoxuan said: "What if Jiannu doesn't catch up?"

Shi Lang confidently pointed to the southwest direction, "Recently the rebel army is attacking Xiaoshan, and there must be a large group of boats transporting luggage at the wharf nearby. We can divide our troops to attack it, burn it or loot it, and the rebels will be furious. Let's go to the vicinity of Hangzhou again. If you start a war, if you don't capture the thief, you won't come."

Zheng Chenggong nodded, "Your Majesty, this method is feasible. In fact, His Royal Highness, when he deployed the navy's combat strategy in Yongbeili, also mentioned that the enemy might not be able to retreat. His Highness has already made a plan for this, and ordered us to go to Qiantang. In the vicinity of Haining in the north of the downstream, boats and ships were moored on the shore, and the navy infantry landed and attacked Haining, Gaoxi, Haiyan and other places.

"Jianlu holds a strong navy and has little defense on the north bank. Therefore, even if our navy infantry has only 900 people, it can still make them fly. At that time, the navy will have to come to Haining for a battle."

Liu Guoxuan, Shi Lang and others couldn't stop nodding when they heard this, calling it a "good strategy".

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was no special "Marine Corps" as an arm, but Zhu Linmi knew the power of amphibious warfare.So from the beginning of the establishment of the navy, he added the infantry to the establishment and conducted special drills.The [-] flintlocks shipped to the navy were allocated to them.

Of course, the infantry of the navy also needs to be able to do some simple work of sailors. During the voyage of the sailing age, there is no room for idlers, and they also have to act as sailors under the command of the captain.

When land combat was required, these men were assembled ashore, led by infantry officers.

In addition, in the naval battles of this era, there is still a large market for gang-hopping tactics.However, most of today's gang-jumping battles are swarming up and fighting with swords and spears, defeating the opponent with a single force, and then waiting for an opportunity to seize the ship.

But this kind of disorganized tactics will inevitably suffer a big loss when it encounters an established naval infantry.The infantry soldiers will practice according to the usual practice, some will use the ship building as a fortification to block, and the other will climb up the mast to fix themselves, and then shoot down.

Even when conditions permit, they will form an infantry line formation on the deck and shoot salvos at the enemy.It is conceivable that a group of captive soldiers wielding machetes rushed across the gangway between the two ships in disorder, but what awaited them was a salvo of flintlock guns.

After determining the main combat ideas, several major generals of the navy carefully arranged the sea chart.

Different from the previous navies, their nautical charts are extremely exquisite, with standardized proportions and clear markings. It is Zhu Linmi who improved them by combining the current Portuguese nautical charts.However, most of his geography knowledge has been returned to the teacher, so most of the charts will be refined by the navy himself in the future.

Zheng Chenggong held compasses, rulers, and bamboo pens in his hands, and carefully measured and marked on the chart.Soon, the navy's sailing route for the next half day, including the combat plan, was clearly listed, and then sent to each captain.

Thanks to the guidance of the "Navy Drill and Combat Manual" compiled by Zhu Linmei, in this era when naval communication and command basically rely on roaring and flag-waving, their series of practices have increased the efficiency of the fleet by at least [-]%.

……

"General, as Master Wu said, the captive ship has stopped near Xiaoyan Village in the southwest of Xiapan Mountain."

Xiapan Mountain is a large island in the central and western part of Hangzhou Bay. It has several excellent natural shelters, and many people live here, which can help the berthed ships to replenish and repair.

"Okay!" Ruan Jin was overjoyed when he heard the words, and looked up at the sky again. The clouds were overcast, and there was no starlight at all. It was a good time to sneak attack and set fire.

His lieutenant at the side also nodded in praise and said, "Lord Wu has really made a great contribution this time. He said that the sky is gloomy and it is impossible to capture a ship at night, so he really stopped at Xiapan Mountain."

In the seventeenth century, night navigation relied entirely on the stars to identify directions.Therefore, once it is cloudy, you can only stop where you are, otherwise you will just walk around and don't know where you are the next day.

Of course, Wu Yuanzhou's calculations were not that accurate, he just estimated that at the speed of these boats under Gaha's command, they could walk to the vicinity of Xiapan Mountain when it was dark.

So he deliberately challenged and delayed according to the speed of the fleet on the way, just to "control" the fleet to the vicinity of Xiapan Mountain.Then he spoke to Gaha again, saying that Xiapan Mountain is a good place for night stay.

Su Li was very familiar with Xiapan Mountain, so he didn't feel any difference, so he ordered all the warships to stop here for the night.

(End of this chapter)