Chongzhen Chat Group

In the chat group, news of the easy capture of Batavia has also been reported. The people in the group saw that the Ming army captured Batavia, which was defended by 3,000 people, without any death. To them, this was like a miracle, and they couldn't help but marvel.

When the news reached the cabinet, the cabinet ministers were amazed. Sun Chengzong, the second assistant who knew the military, felt even more old. When did my Ming soldiers become so good at fighting?

Only Emperor Chongzhen had no accidents, so he was a sensible person. This Marine Corps is the elite selected from the Southern All-Water Division. They have been practicing for a long time in preparation for last night's battle. In addition, the Dutch in Batavia did not expect that the Marine Corps would suddenly land in Batavia. With the accurate information provided by Su Minggang, and the sudden incident, this unprecedented special operation would not be a great success!

When this special force has more raids like this, it won't be so easy in the future. After the enemy hears this, they will increase their vigilance to prepare for possible surprise attacks.

But no matter what, the Marine Corps, which was founded with the goal of rescuing Batavia Min, did not live up to its expectations, and Emperor Chongzhen was also very happy. This is the application of later generations' concepts, which shows that it is very successful!

The Marine Corps in Batavia did not stop there. After resting for a day, Zheng Zhihu left 500 people in Batavia, took the others and became a whole group of pirates, driving three of his own warships and five captured Dutch warships, leaving only two The ship was in Batavia, heading for a raid on Temasek. Because according to the information provided by Liang Xiaozhen, the place is very empty now.

While they were making trouble in the rear, Governor Kun of Batavia and Admiral Anthony had no idea that they were heading towards Luzon with the largest fleet in the history of Southeast Asia.

In addition to the 75 Dutch warships or armed merchant ships, their fleet also included 150 various warships from the Liu Xiang pirate group, and 400 various ships from indigenous leaders from various places. There are so many ships moving forward together on the ocean, which is really overwhelming.

Everyone, looking at the size of this huge allied force, felt that victory was in sight. In fact, they did not think that the Ming Dynasty Navy could resist with the few ships in Nanyang.

After the oath of alliance ended, the Dutch governor forcibly "invited" the indigenous leaders to his flagship and did not let them leave. At this time, he was high-spirited and said to the indigenous leaders who were following him: "Don't worry, don't talk about the size of the fleet now. Our Dutch fleet alone is actually enough to defeat the Ming Navy. It will be here soon. Luzon, we will capture Manila first, and then your people can divide the Ming Dynasty’s wealth in the entire Luzon, and we in the Netherlands can only take two percent!”

"The success of the oath this time was all due to my great efforts." Liu Xiang stood behind him and said loudly, "But I only need to achieve it once, and the rest is yours to share."

Faced with their strength, the indigenous leaders looked at each other. They all had bitter faces. They were helpless. Who made them weak? But when I think about it, there seems to be a huge advantage in being able to steal it from the wealthy Akito. Thinking about it this way, these indigenous leaders felt relieved again.

Those indigenous ships are basically just for transporting troops, and of course, they are also transporting indigenous soldiers. Their plan was for the Dutch fleet and the Liu Xiang pirate group to defeat the Ming navy. As for the indigenous ships, their combat effectiveness was really not good enough, so they could only transport troops to land for combat.

These indigenous leaders were forced as hostages and had no power to resist the oppression of the Dutch and Liu Xiang. However, they were in good mood. Looking at such a huge fleet, they were at least absolutely sure that they could defeat the Ming army and eliminate the Ming forces in Nanyang, so that they could keep the power in their hands. Besides, the Dutch fleet is so powerful, who dares to disapprove?

While they were talking, suddenly a flag came from the ship in front, saying that they had discovered Ming Navy warships, five of them in total.

When Antony, the Dutch admiral saw it, and saw the look the governor gave him, he knew he wanted to establish his power, so he loudly announced: "Pursue and sink these five Ming navy warships!"

"Mr. Governor, since the imperial navy has been discovered here, I will go back and command my men!" Liu Xiang heard this and said quickly. His opponent was Zheng Yiguan, who was much more famous than him. To be honest, he was still a little worried.

Kun is quite satisfied with Liu Xiang's dog. But at this time, he shook his head and said: "Don't worry, let alone five Ming warships, even fifty warships, our Dutch fleet can easily defeat them."

When he said this, he actually had no other meaning. But when Liu Xiang saw the fate of these indigenous leaders, he was immediately frightened. Could it be that the Dutch also wanted to use him as a hostage?

Thinking like this, he became even more careful and wanted to please the Dutch: "That's right, with the command of an admiral, Zheng Yiguan is nothing!"

After hearing this, Anthony turned to look at him, with a proud look in his eyes, as if to say, just know it!

He does have this confidence. The Dutch have assembled seventy-five warships. Such a force is not only in the East, but also in Europe. It is also a very powerful maritime force.

Soon, another flag came from the front, saying that the five Ming warships had no intention of fighting at all, and ran away as soon as they discovered the fleet here.

This was also expected. Anthony immediately asked Kun for instructions: "Your Majesty the Governor, those Ming warships must have reported it to their fleet in Manila when they escaped. I thought we should catch up with them as soon as possible and not give them any warning." Too much prep time.”

If you are well prepared, the port will be difficult to capture. After all, the port has shore defenses to help protect the Ming Navy warships hiding in the port, so it will be difficult to eliminate them.

However, they did not know that Liang Xiaozhen had reported their location at every moment through the chat group. In other words, Zheng Zhilong already knew their whereabouts well.

"You are the admiral, and you will command this war." Kun smiled and nodded, "With this contribution, when I retire, you can take over as the governor of Nanyang!"

When Anthony heard this, he did not expect that the Governor appreciated him so much. He immediately patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, Governor, if we can't defeat the Ming Navy with such a superior force, I will commit suicide to apologize!"

After saying that, the two of them looked at each other and smiled. It’s just a joke, how could you not win? Even Liu Xiang stood by and said with a smile: "No matter how powerful Zheng Yiguan is, he will fall into the hands of the admiral this time!"

Anthony was happy to hear him speak, and immediately said to him: "Among so many forces, your fleet is the only one that can make do. Go ahead and cooperate with our Dutch fleet to drive the Ming fleet to the Manila port, and then annihilate them in one fell swoop! "

After all, the ocean is vast. If the Ming Dynasty's naval forces fled in all directions, it would be too troublesome to sink them one by one.

Liu Xiang was overjoyed when he heard this, and quickly agreed, patting his chest and promising: "Don't worry, Admiral, I know all about Zheng Yiguan's methods, and I will definitely cooperate with your battleship to kill Zheng Yiguan! "

After a while, part of the huge fleet began to separate. About seventy Dutch fleets, flanked by more than a hundred Liu Xiang pirate group's warships, took the lead in chasing the escaped Ming Navy warships and headed for the port of Manila.

Kun was in a good mood, and immediately called to the indigenous leaders: "Don't worry, everyone, by the time we arrive, the Ming Dynasty's navy warships should have sunk into the sea to feed the fish. Come on, let's serve wine and food to celebrate first." one time."

After hearing this, the indigenous leaders nodded and bowed one by one. At this time, Kun was their supreme emperor. Who dared to offend him!

Ahead, Anthony was on the flagship, chasing the Ming warships in the distance. Suddenly, they discovered several more Ming warships. But before they could divide their forces to pursue them, the Ming warships immediately turned around and ran away.

Anthony saw it and sneered: "Haha, the sea is the territory of us Dutch. Just you Eastern monkeys, let you taste the power of the sea coachman! Chase!"

Manila Bay is located in the southwest of Luzon Island and is an important natural harbor on the east coast of the South China Sea. It covers an area of ​​194 square kilometers. It is fifty-eight kilometers long from northwest to southeast. It is surrounded by two peninsulas from east to west, and the bay goes deep into the hinterland. The water depth in the main area of ​​the harbor is about ten to forty meters, and the tidal range changes little. It can be said that this is a very good harbor. The Manila Port is on the easternmost side of this harbor.

Generally speaking, the best way to capture Manila is for the fleet to first enter Manila Bay, clear out the warships here, and then land and capture Manila.

Manila Bay is a bit like a huge circle with a hole missing. The narrow channel here is about five kilometers wide. But in the southwest, there are some islands that divide this seaway into two waterways, the north and the south. The North Branch is about 3.2 kilometers wide and the water depth is suitable for navigation. It is the only channel for entering and exiting Manila Bay.

Anthony commanded the fleet to pursue them all the way. Seeing the Ming warships sailing into this waterway and escaping to Manila Bay, he couldn't help but hesitate a little.

Because among the islands that divide this seaway, there is a relatively large island, about five square kilometers, which was named Corregidor Island in later generations. If there were Ming army coastal defenses on this island, it would be like a thorn in the throat and would pose a great threat to the fleet entering and exiting Manila Bay.

Anthony was a little worried and looked carefully with a monocular, but found no sign of shore defenses. This island looks like a desert island no matter how you look at it.

He turned around and looked at the Ming warships that were escaping, and knew that the fighter plane was fleeting. If we go in late and prepare the Ming Navy, the price will definitely be high.

Thinking like this, he saw the warships beside him from the corner of his eye, and suddenly his heart moved. So, Anthony immediately issued an order, asking Liu Xiang to lead his fleet to pursue them first.

Liu Xiang was also a famous thief who had been at sea all year round. After receiving this order and looking at the terrain, he understood Anthony's worries. He couldn't help but sneer and said to his men: "Who is stupid enough to deploy troops on this island? Don’t you want supplies? You’re usually so arrogant, but when something happens, you’re also a coward. Don’t worry, we’ll chase you!”

In fact, this was not Liu Xiang's stupidity and boldness. Apart from the reason he said himself, the detectives he sent before found no trace of Ming army activities on this deserted island.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The island did not begin to have troops deployed until the 18th century. Before this, at best, only lighthouses were built.

The reason for this is that in the past, the effective range of artillery was short, and deploying coastal defenses here was a thankless task. Fighting life and death here, with the previous communication conditions, the Manila side would not know that there was a war happening here, and it would be difficult to provide timely support.

Of course, the most important thing is that Spain dominates Manila and no one will attack Manila. Historically, there was only one naval battle in Manila Bay in the 18th century.

Just like that, Liu Xiang led his fleet in a swaggering pursuit. Just as he thought, his fleet spread out and a hive entered the waterway without any trouble.

Anthony, who was behind, kept observing with a monocular, looking at Liu Xiang's fleet and the situation on the desert island. Everything was normal.

So, he felt relieved and ordered his fleet to also enter the waterway and sail into Manila Bay.

The Dutch fleet had only entered halfway when Liu Xiang in front called a flag and reported that more than a hundred military and naval warships were parked in Manila Bay.

Upon hearing this, Anthony couldn't help but be overjoyed, and quickly ordered to send the flag to the rear, and his fleet would implement the tactic of catching a turtle in an urn. The fleet transporting infantry in the rear can keep up. Then, he immediately ordered the entire fleet to follow up, preparing for a good battle with the Ming Navy. Thinking about how powerful Zheng Yiguan was, he couldn't help but spit out: "Bah, it's just an Oriental monkey. I'm going to capture you alive and hang you on the pole of the boat to dry yourself!"

After entering Manila Bay, with the help of telescopes, I saw that the warships of the Ming Dynasty Navy were inside, including a small number of sailboats, all of which were panicked and deployed to deal with the surprise attack.

Anthony was completely relieved and immediately ordered to prepare to teach the Eastern Monkey a lesson.

But he didn't know that Zheng Zhilong on the flagship of the Ming Navy was not panicked at all. He was listening to Liu Jinsheng's report. After learning that the indigenous fleet was also rushing towards Manila Bay, he smiled and ordered Liu Jinsheng: "Contact the people outside. The two fleets can start driving the sheep into the fold."

Liu Jinsheng stared at him and murmured in his heart: This guy has easily made a great contribution again, and so has his adoptive father. In exchange for Nanyang, it would be great to have His Majesty's chat group and Jin Yiwei's internal support. This credit is really for nothing!

Although he was a little reluctant to think so, he still conveyed the order truthfully.

The operation of driving sheep into the pen begins!

Thank you for the 500 starting coin reward from the dedicated little daughter-in-law. Thank you for the uneven road. Thank you for your sorry and please forgive me for the reward!