Lord of Ming Dynasty

The battle line can only be maintained here, and there are more than 20 gathered Japanese remnants and defeated soldiers on the opposite side. The two battles caused them to lose a total of 80 troops on Shikoku Island, 20 troops here, and 30 troops. Tens of thousands of Japanese people, this is quite a blow to them.

All the heavy artillery was seized by the enemy. The largest artillery here was the remaining nine-pound Francois machine gun of the Portuguese. Although the rate of fire was relatively high, the range was not as good as the heavy artillery of the Qing Dynasty.

All the food in the country was used on the front lines, and the people in the rear could only eat one rice ball a day. Even the guard soldiers of the famous generals could only add a piece of chaff.

Years of wars have reduced their population and lost most of their land, making it impossible for them to obtain high-quality land for cultivation, and their food production has become less and less. Although the Qing Dynasty transported a lot of rice from Goguryeo through Goguryeo, it can still only satisfy the upper-class warriors. And the consumption of high-ranking officials cannot supply the daily needs of tens of millions of people and soldiers.

The various daimyo domains have existed in name only, and even the fourth-generation general of Tokugawa, who has real power, felt exhausted and unable to continue to maintain his rule. At this time, although Japan is still moving forward, it is still open, accepting advanced technology from the outside world and fighting against the teachings of Jesus. However, the constant arrival of the Taixi people and the continuous attack of the Huaxia Kingdom made them at a loss. The fourth-generation general was passed on to the adopted Tokugawa Tsunayoshi as the fifth-generation general, and then retired to the field, leaving a huge Japan to a Young people in their twenties.

The era of Tokugawa Iezuna has come.

But what's the use of coming? Although they are determined to reform, they can't change the reality of the Chinese army's victory.

Although the troops of the third prince annoyed the Qing Dynasty by occupying Jeju Island as a springboard, and were kicked by the Qing Dynasty, but after the Kong Youxing troops received support, nearly [-] cannon fodder still stepped on the drums and rushed towards the enemy rushed to the position.

Chapter 783 Encounter at Sea

On the new-style warship that set off to return to Jinling Mansion, Zhang Qiang listened to the report of the person stationed in the attendant room of the Ministry of Military Intelligence.

"At present, we have occupied China Island, but we have divided China Island with the troops of the third prince. Kong Youxing's troops, except Kitakyushu's land in Kitakyushu County on China Island, the county above and the land near the sea have been occupied by the three. The prince's people occupy, and the third prince's people occupy all the counties and sites close to the sea from Tone to Tottori near the west coastline. We occupy from Kitakyushu to Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, Okayama, Okayama County is close to Shikoku Island All the front lines of the bay.

The Japanese began to shrink their line of defense, and they gave up all the areas from Hiroshima to Kyoto Prefecture to the prefectural city of Kyoto Prefecture. They withdrew 100 million people and 22 remaining soldiers and horses there, and all retreated to the south of the capital of Kyoto Prefecture. In the area of ​​Tottori, Okayama County, the [-]-kilometer area between the Okayama Wharf line and Kyoto Prefecture is almost devoid of human habitation. The other party used the Mongolian cavalry scouts of the Qing Dynasty to deal with us, and we used our own cavalry scouts and dragoon scouts to deal with them. The third prince's troops only stuck to the area around Tottori County, and did not send troops or provoke the Japanese. "

Zhang Qiang tapped the nailed table on the floor in the captain's cabin, and the ambition of the third prince has been initially revealed. This person will be the next Japan. It depends on the situation. If the third prince wants to take back Jeju Island, or let the war on Jeju Island If things went smoothly, then he only needed to transfer some more of these troops from Matsue Prefecture to solve the problem, but he didn't. He neither attacked nor passively defended against the Japanese, but only defended the two counties he occupied. His meaning was very ambiguous.

"How about the battle on Jeju Island?" Zhang Qiang asked.

The attendant of the Ministry of Military Intelligence said: "Currently, Jeju Island is learning from Xinlu Prefecture to build coastal defenses, and at the same time, it is attacking the Qing army troops who landed on the island. The Qing army has taken advantage of the surprise attack in the early stage. It mainly happened at sea. The suppression of the Qing army's fleet by the fleet of the third prince can be said to be crushing. The Qing army lost more than 300 ships that set fire to the two thousand-ton warships of the third prince, and an eight-year-old warship. Hundred-ton warships, their warships lost 180 ships before they sank eleven [-]-ton traffic ships belonging to the third prince, two [-]-ton patrol ships, and damaged a [-]-ton warship. But this is a drop in the bucket for the third prince's navy."

Zhang Qiang wiped his face, it must be a drop in the bucket, the only thing that tempted the third prince was the three warships of more than [-] tons and one warship of [-] tons, a total of four ships were lost. For sailors of [-] tons and above, it has not yet reached the time of injury.

"What about the Qing army?" Zhang Qiang asked the attendants of the Military Intelligence Department.

The attendant replied: "The Qing army has lost a total of 2000 ships since the beginning of the battle, three 36-ton Fuchuan and troop carriers, and 280 troops, 600 [-]-ton Guangzhou ships, and [-] navy soldiers. , There were [-] soldiers in the army, and then they sent nearly [-] people to the island. These [-] people captured less than half of the surrounding area of ​​the county within a week and established a line of defense.

After breaking through numerous obstacles, the second wave sent 30 Mongolian cavalry ashore, along with [-] dans of grain, [-] civilian men, and nearly [-] [-]-jin cannons.

Using these cannons, they defeated the defenders left by the eight thousand three princes, captured Jeju County, seized nearly 2 tons of grain, nearly 100 Jinkai 180 matchlock guns, and more than [-] twelve-pound artillery pieces. At the same time, [-] civilians were captured, including [-] Han people, and [-] Goguryeo soldiers and [-] Jeju Island people were rescued. At the same time, fifteen [-]-ton transportation ships and five [-]-ton ships were captured. There is a patrol ship of [-] tons, a warship of [-] tons, and nearly [-] princes' sailors.

With these people and ships, they gained the initiative of some sea battles. In addition, they changed the starting point of landing, starting from the port of Hainan County in Goguryeo, which is only 35 nautical miles away from Jeju County, Jeju Island, more than 70 kilometers away. The troops were quickly transported to Jeju County. In less than half a month, they had already transported [-] troops. Where did the [-] Goguryeo civilian husbands go? "

Why did Zhang Qiang feel that the Qing Dynasty might win the battle of Jeju Island?

Just when Zhang Qiang suspected that the Qing Dynasty was about to win the battle of Jeju Island, the third prince was actually uneasy because the battle situation was too unfavorable for them.

After so many years of war between Daqing and Dajin, Daqing has already figured out all of Dajin's combat methods, and Duolong, who hid in the back and supported Oboi, knew every detail.

He knew the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, so he adopted the method of sneak attack. Shi Lang is a veteran of the navy who has been operating at sea for many years. From warships of the aunt and fat lady class to brigantines, Portuguese armed merchant ships, and later Dutch three-masted armed merchant ships, they have all experienced battles, and have fought against the three-masted warships of the Chinese Navy. , He also knows how to fight after suffering a lot.

At the beginning, fishing boats and some large lucky boats were used to attract the attention of the Jeju Island navy, and then thousands of warships were used to attack, and the big lucky boats and Guangzhou boats were used to block the Ryukyu Kingdom navy who came to help. After they were sent ashore, the two water battles that followed caused them a lot of losses, but the Jeju Island Navy did not take much advantage.

The lost Jeju Island Navy added ten thousand-ton warships, two eight-hundred-ton warships, five six-hundred-ton warships, twelve three-hundred-ton warships, and 45 180-ton patrol ships.

Covering the entire surface of the Yellow Sea, the Huaxia Army sailors retreated a hundred nautical miles strangely, leaving the battlefield to the third prince and the Qing army. This made the Qing army see that the Huaxia Army and the Qing army were not so integrated. But they didn't know that the First Fleet of the Huaxia Navy had sold many warships. The strength of the warships in this generation is not as good as before. The strength is only in the early five hundred warships, and the warships are less than a hundred. So, retreating to the sea for a hundred miles along the coast, only dispatching warships and warship detachments when there is a need to escort merchant ships and important supplies and people, and stay in Xinlu Mansion, Shikoku Mansion, Ryukyu Kingdom garrison and sea twenty at other times. Nautical mile patrol.

Many areas, such as the East China Sea, have been taken over by the undamaged Second Fleet. It’s not that Zhang Qiang doesn’t want to be strong and doesn’t want those sea areas, but that he is selling more than 900 ships to Zheng Chenggong and the third prince’s 200 ships. It also sold more than 100 warships to the State of Lu, and sold some old fishing boats to domestic fishermen. After some large-tonnage transportation ships were sold to the Coastal Guard, the entire navy has actually moved towards streamlining its troops. Development, now wait for the navy's new warships to be replaced after the trials are finalized.

Under such circumstances, Shi Lang began to display his combat skills and began to attack the Jeju Island navy fiercely.

On this day, he brought thirty armed warships refitted from the Dafu Ship, thirty warships refitted from the Guangzhou Ship, and five 280-ton armed merchant ships sold to them by the Portuguese before, and three 180-ton armed merchant ships sold to them by the Dutch. tons of Galen armed merchant ships, as well as one hundred two-masted armed merchant ships, and ten captured [-]-ton Huaxia Army Navy patrol ships escorted the fourth batch of Qing and Goguryeo musketeers to Jeju Island to support the battle there, a total of two hundred A troop carrier converted from various blessing boats and fishing boats sailed at sea.

Just as Shi Lang was resting with his eyes closed on the largest Dutch Galen armed merchant ship, the watchman on the mast shouted loudly: "There are a large number of ships ahead, suspected local warships."

Shi Lang got up quickly, and in the telescope, the closer and closer fleet told him that he encountered the patrol fleet of the Jeju Island Navy, two thousand-ton warships, three eight-hundred-ton warships, five six-hundred-ton warships, and the twelve 180-ton warships surrounding them.

The entire fleet began to change formation. Thirty refitted armed Cantonese began to escort thirty Daifuku ships and two hundred troop carriers to leave. The other warships deployed in accordance with the formation agreed by the Daqingshui Division to meet the enemy's warships. .

"Attack the enemy's 180-ton warship first, and order five Portuguese armed merchant ships and ten 180-ton Chinese army warships to intercept the enemy's twelve 180-ton warships. We cannot let them take advantage of their speed to attack ours. Troop fleet." Shi Lang gave the order.

So the ships he named rushed towards the enemy under the guidance of the flag, and he took three [-]-ton Dutch galleons and a hundred two-masted armed merchant ships towards the main force of the enemy fleet, entangled the enemy.

Due to the heavy fog on the sea, when the sun rose in the morning, the fog gradually cleared, and the two sides discovered each other. Therefore, the fleets of the two sides met only about ten nautical miles away. The travel time for other ships is only two hours, so Shi Lang must at least buy two hours for his troop transport fleet.

In half an hour, the 180-ton ships of the two sides gathered for three nautical miles, and in another 15 minutes, the 180-ton warships of the two sides began to exchange fire. Fierce artillery fire rang out on the sea. It took the fleet 15 minutes and 15 minutes to escape, but at this moment they had traveled only three nautical miles.

And Shi Lang's fleet took an hour to reach the opponent's front warship. He was on a warship and could get up quickly, but those lucky boats were so good that they couldn't get up fast. He had to use the fleet to stop him. Knowing that it is impossible to resist, he has to delay the time as much as possible, so his fleet just changed from the last to the front, waiting for the 180-ton warships of the two sides to exchange fire, and waiting for the enemy to come up.

Chapter 783 Desperate Cover

In one hour, the troop carrier traveled ten nautical miles, which was the maximum speed. Normally, it could only travel three nautical miles. Nowadays, the speed of the troop carrier will be desperately increased when it is most urgent.

The Fuchuan and Guangzhou Ships sailed twelve nautical miles, but in order to take care of the poor speed of the troop carrier, they had to follow the troop carrier and could not let go of their speed. Although they let go, the speed was only four nautical miles. At most five nautical miles, the Fuchuan and Guangzhou Ships produced by the Qing Dynasty were not as powerful as these ships produced by the southerners.

At this time, the previous Portuguese armed merchant ships and other armed merchant ships had joined the battle, but the opponent's [-]-ton warship also joined the battle. Although there were not many, the artillery fire was fierce.

There are 48 cannons on the front, back, left, and right sides, and one can be worth three 180-ton warships, so the battle here has no chance of winning. Their navy has no sailors from the Ryukyu Kingdom trained by the Huaxia Army Skilled and powerful.

The two sides fought for an hour and a half. The other party's twelve warships sank a 280-ton Portuguese armed merchant ship and a captured 180-ton warship, and injured two ships. Three ships were injured, and one was withdrawn from the battle.

The 180 armed merchant ships that caught up behind went into battle and sank three of the opponent's 280-ton warships and damaged two of them. Five two-masted armed merchant ships lost another [-]-ton Portuguese armed merchant ship.

It was only after that that the three [-]-ton Dutch galleons led by Shi Lang, relying on the high speed of six knots, gave a heavy blow to the local [-]-ton warships and injured one of them.

After that, two 180-ton warships came up from the other side, which sank more than a dozen armed merchant ships at once, a Dutch [-]-ton merchant ship was damaged, and a [-]-ton ship sank.

At this time, the troop carrier and Guangzhou Ship had only traveled twelve nautical miles, and the enemy sent two [-]-ton warships and two thousand-ton warships to pursue them.

Even after a long time, the old thousand-ton battleship can still run at a speed of five knots, and it only takes two and a half hours to catch up. However, the two-masted armed merchant ships that were separated to pursue them did not dare to approach them. The firepower on the side is too fierce, a volley is more than 30 artillery pieces, and there are 600-pound artillery pieces at the rear of the battleship that can hit [-] meters. The constant pursuit can only slow them down a little, but not stop them. Although the two-masted armed merchant ship is fast, it can beat the speed of six knots, or even exceed the speed of seven knots, but it is useless if it can't get close.

Seeing the enemy chasing for half an hour, the troop carrier only traveled [-] nautical miles. On such a sunny day, the visibility at sea was too high, and the pursuing fleet of both sides could be seen with the naked eye.

In the end, Shi Lang became cruel and ordered the armed two-masted merchant ships to attack the enemy regardless. In the end, they damaged an [-]-ton warship and dragged down the enemy warships in the rear, but they still couldn't catch up with the four enemy chasing warships.

The battle continued, although the warships of the Ryukyu Kingdom suffered heavy losses in the face of the same high-speed enemy ships, but the enemy suffered even more losses. Thirty two-masted armed merchant ships, two 180-ton Dutch armed merchant ships, and three Portuguese armed merchant ships were sunk. In the end, there was only one [-]-ton warship left behind, and two [-]-ton warships broke away from the battle to cover the four warships. The ships sank one by one, and one was injured. They broke away from the battle and began to return to the station from another direction.

Seeing the situation, Shi Lang couldn't stop the enemy's pursuit. He left the armed merchant ship and the captured enemy's 180-ton warship to drag three [-]-ton warships and one [-]-ton warship, and he brought a [-]-ton armed merchant ship. Turned to pursue the troopship convoy.

Three hours later, when he was still ten nautical miles away from Jeju Island, he caught up with the troop carrier, but the troop carrier was slaughtered by two thousand-ton warships, along with sixty escort Fuchuan Haoguang ships.

In the dense fleet, two or three ships were hit by salvo fire at a time, and the ship was destroyed immediately. Many soldiers fell into the water like dumplings, struggling desperately, but these landlubbers in the north could not swim for twenty years no matter what. Lidi ran to the shore.

Although the Fuchuan is also powerful, its firepower is not equipped enough. Although the Guangzhou Ship has speed, it is only on par with the speed of the enemy's warship. More than 30 armed merchant ships have lost more than 20 ships, and only more than [-] ships are wandering around, but they cannot cause damage to the enemy.

"Assault, assault, set fire to them all, and burn them to death." Shi Lang was very angry, and ordered the two-masted armed merchant ship to rush desperately, hitting the thousand-ton warship.

At this time, an [-]-ton battleship tremblingly caught up and joined the battle. He destroyed five Guangzhou ships, sank six troop carriers, and sank a Dafu ship.

But was eventually hit by a 180-ton captured warship, set ablaze by a brigantine armed merchant ship, and sank.