Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 170
Tang Ning's troops fought for nearly two days through strategizing. Along the way, the Zheng army hardly formed an effective defensive line, and there was no way to delay the new army. Therefore, it was impossible for Zheng Hongkui to catch up quickly.

After Zheng Hongkui's main force left Zhangpu to pursue Tang Ning, the intelligence department notified Wu Liuqi of the news as quickly as possible.

Wu Liuqi, who got the news, immediately turned around, turned south and pointed directly at Zhangpu, and the speed of marching was also accelerated a lot.

It seems that it is only an illusion that his soldiers are pointing at Nanjing.

At this time, Zheng Jun didn't know that Wu Liuqi had changed his target.

After hearing the latest news from the Tang Ning Department and the New Army Navy, Zheng Zhilong personally led the Zheng Army Navy in Kinmen to go south through Luowan, preparing to intercept the main force of the New Army's Nan'ao Navy.

He executed Shi Fu in Fucheng, and when he knew that the New Army Navy had passed Dongshan Island, he immediately rushed to Kinmen, preparing to personally lead the Zheng Army Navy to a decisive battle with the New Army Navy.

Because he knew that this battle was too important to Zheng Jun.

Kinmen Island is the southeast throat of Zhangzhou Prefecture, the southern throat of Quanzhou Prefecture, the mouth of Yuegang, and the advance base of oceans. Its strategic location is extremely important.

Zheng Zhilong couldn't afford to lose this battle, so he had to go all out.

Because of this, if Zheng Zhilong wants to keep Fujian's economic lifeline, he must keep Yuegang and Kinmen Island.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong gathered almost the main force of the entire Zheng Jun navy in order to destroy the main force of the new army's Nan'ao navy before the main force of the new army gathered.

The Nan'ao Navy is the earliest navy formed by the new army, and it is also the most powerful navy. The overall strength accounts for more than half of the new army's navy.

If the Nan'ao Navy of the New Army can be severely damaged or even eliminated, then the Zheng Army Navy will undoubtedly continue to maintain its dominance in the southeast border, and it will also cut off the conspiracy of the New Army Navy to block the Fujian port.

More than ten years ago, Zheng Zhilong led Zheng Jun's navy to defeat the Dutch in Liuluowan, Kinmen.

Now, he is going to once again personally lead Zheng Jun's navy to fight against the stronger new army's navy in this area of ​​waters.

The opponent is stronger, but the Zheng Jun Navy is not the original Zheng Jun Navy, and its strength has been greatly developed.

Today, the main force of Zheng Jun's navy has more than [-] large and small ships, of which more than half are large ships of more than [-] materials.

Because Zheng Zhilong knew that a small boat without adequate equipment and training was far from the small boats of the new army, let alone a big boat.

Therefore, a large number of small boats under Zheng Zhilong's command were not dispatched this time, and all supplies were gathered on ships with combat effectiveness.

Even so, in terms of quantity alone, Zheng Jun's fleet is more than six times that of the Nan'ao Navy fleet led by Ye Dacheng.

However, if it comes to the combat power of a single ship, then Zheng Jun's navy is probably far behind.

The warships of Zheng Jun's naval fleet are mainly Fuchuan, black-tailed boats and bird boats. Among them, Zheng Zhilong's flagship is a large bird boat with more than [-] materials, and the displacement is only more than [-] tons. The flagship is much smaller.

In the fleet led by Ye Dacheng, there are as many as twelve warships with a displacement of more than [-] tons, and Ye Dacheng's flagship has a displacement of [-] tons, which is nearly four times that of Zheng Zhilong's flagship.

There are currently a total of twelve warships in the entire new army with a displacement of more than [-] tons.

This time Ye Dacheng led five ships, and the remaining seven ships went to the East Ocean and Nanyang Ocean for escort.

These ships, which are considered super-large in Asia, were jointly developed by Ming craftsmen led by Song Yingxing and Portuguese technicians. This is the cooperation condition negotiated by the two parties last year.

This kind of ship is different from the ships of Ming Dynasty, Portugal, and the Netherlands, because it combines the advantages of the ships of the three countries. Tang Ning also provided a lot of constructive suggestions, trying to make the ship more stable and faster.

It can be said that, looking at the whole world, this kind of ship, which Tang Ning called a treasure ship, should have top-notch overall performance, so even the Portuguese in Haojing were planning to build this kind of warship.

Of course, this kind of treasure ship is not the same product as the treasure ship when Zheng He sailed to the West, and the craftsmanship of the treasure ship when Zheng He sailed to the West has been lost.

Even if it is restored, the advanced treasure ships may not be suitable for today's era.

So Tangning didn't spend much energy pursuing the original treasure ship. The other treasure ship produced now can be regarded as a kind of commemoration and sublimation of the original treasure ship.

The larger the warship, the more natural artillery is equipped. The new army navy ships with a displacement of 26 tons are required to install [-] artillery pieces.

For those with a displacement of 32 tons to 44 tons, the number of installed artillery pieces is stipulated to be [-]-[-].

Those with a displacement of more than [-] tons use a two-layer plywood structure and are equipped with more than [-] cannons.

Taking Ye Dacheng's flagship as an example, it has a displacement of 64 materials, about [-] tons, and is equipped with [-] artillery pieces as standard.

Unfortunately, due to various factors such as time, energy, financial resources, and personnel, the ships of the New Army Navy with a displacement of more than [-] tons are not fully equipped with artillery, and more than half of the artillery is missing.

Therefore, many gun positions on these warships are empty.

But no matter what, now that these artillery positions have been opened, Tangning will find a way to fill these empty artillery positions so that each warship can exert its maximum combat power.

However, even if these ships with insufficient artillery numbers are taken out at random, the firepower is stronger than most of the ships of the Zheng Jun Navy.

Because even Zheng Zhilong's flagship has only 24 guns in total.

However, Tang Ning stipulated that all naval forces of the new army with a displacement of less than [-] tons should be equipped with red cannons.

For those with a displacement of more than [-] tons, [-]% of the artillery is German-style artillery. For example, Ye Dacheng's flagship has six German-style artillery.

The power and effectiveness of one German cannon might not be comparable to that of ten or twenty red cannons.

Therefore, those captains who lacked cannons in red didn't care at all, as long as the advanced artillery on their ships was in place, they would be satisfied, even if there were only two or three.

Because of this, Zheng Zhilong had known some information about the new army's navy, so he was so cautious, and he did not hesitate to gather the main force of the Zheng army's navy, and went all out, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

The navies of both sides have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Zheng Jun's navy has a larger number, and it seems that they have more experience in naval warfare and a better understanding of the waters in this area.

The Nan'ao Navy of the new army has larger warships, more advanced artillery equipment, more advanced tactical guidance, and stronger combat beliefs.

The commanders of both sides, whether it is Zheng Zhilong or Ye Dacheng, are well-deserved naval commanders of both sides, and both of them have defeated the Dutchman, so it can be said that they are equal to each other.

As the navies of both sides approached, the cloud of the war quickly shrouded the waters of Jinmen. The reconnaissance ships of both sides shuttled back and forth in this sea area, and other ships such as fishing boats and merchant ships all retreated.

After the merchant ships departing from Yuegang came out of the Jiulong River, they diverted to the waterways on both sides of Zhongzuo (now Xiamen), deliberately avoiding the sea area of ​​​​Liaoluo Bay.

In order to avoid greater losses to Yuegang, Zheng Zhilong deliberately let the merchant ships leave as soon as possible, and gathered as many limited troops as possible in Dawushan, Haishan, etc., in order to delay the actions of Tangning's troops.

Because his current energy was absorbed by the navy of the new army, he couldn't spare any troops to stop Tangning's troops.

"The navy of the new army appeared about fifteen miles southwest of our side..." The scout ship returned to report the situation to Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong's expression froze, and he said in a deep voice, "Go at full speed."

"Full speed ahead……"

The order was conveyed quickly, and the target was directed at the navy of the new army. It can be seen that Zheng Zhilong hoped for a quick victory.

(End of this chapter)