Chapter 652 Offensive and defensive transition
The purpose of choosing to start the war in the early morning when most people are most relaxed is to catch them off guard and gain the initiative on the battlefield. However, for the Ming Navy, their task was relatively difficult, because it required them to first enter the battlefield and act as bait to lure the Dutch ships away from the Nanri Island as much as possible, and then the Haihan Fleet would choose an opportunity to insert the Dutch from the flank. Nanri Island, cutting off their connection with the pirates on the island.
Most of the ships of the Ming Navy are still in stock. These warships can still compete with the pirate ships of Shibazhi, but they are slightly at a disadvantage when facing the Dutch armed sailing ships equipped with multiple cannons. They can only rely on the number of ships. to make up for it.
Xie Li had no intention of forcing the Ming navy to serve as cannon fodder. He had already made it clear to Xu Yuzhuo in the prior communication that the Ming army could "preserve its effective forces as much as possible on the basis of achieving its tactical objectives, without having to fight with them" The Dutch fight to the death." The real technical work still needs to be completed after the warships of the Haihan Navy enter the predetermined position.
Naturally, Xu Yuzhuo would not refuse the kindness of the Haihan people. After witnessing how the Haihan warships defeated the many with less and caused Shibazhi's pirate ship to capsize, he had completely become a leader of the Haihan navy. A loyal fan, he agreed to all the tactical arrangements proposed by Xie Li.
At this time, the pirates on Nanri Island were in an embarrassing dilemma. The Dutch refused Zheng Zhihu's request to land on the island to help in the battle. Shibazhi's own combat effectiveness was not enough to shake the defense of Nanri Village on the frontal battlefield. If Forcibly driving the infantry to charge Nanri Village, the result is likely to be devastating. The Haihan people's musket formation is no joke - the last time the Haihan people attacked Nanri Village, Zheng Zhihu sent them out to carry out the harassment More than two hundred people in the tactics lost their lives in vain because of this.
But if we don't take the initiative to attack Nanri Village, the purpose of this trip will be difficult to achieve. Compared with the defenders in Nanri Village, the biggest disadvantage of Shibazhi is the difficulty in supply. Once supplies are in short supply, they can only choose to retreat even if Nanri Village is not captured, and the time left for them to act is currently only There are only a few days, whether to fight or withdraw, a decision must be made as soon as possible.
Although Zheng Zhihu had always been decisive in killing, this was the first time he encountered such a dilemma, so he quickly summoned his subordinates to discuss countermeasures. But he soon discovered that this kind of discussion was in vain. Almost everyone under his command was like him, trapped in the conflict between war and retreat and unable to make a decision. The group of people got into a heated quarrel, and eventually the quarrel became so intense that they almost started fighting. If Zheng Zhihu hadn't stopped it in time, a few more names might have been added to Shiba Zhi's battle damage list.
"They are all a bunch of useless trash!" Zheng Zhihu was still furious when he returned to his camp. This group of people would only be useful when they were robbing at sea. Let them go ashore to fight, and their level would only be that of ordinary mountain people. Thief level. How many years and months will it take to realize the ambition of the Eighteen Zhizhi to unify the southeastern coast with such a group of people?
After two battles with Haihan, Zheng Zhihu is now aware of the huge gap in combat effectiveness between the two sides. Although he does not yet understand how the Haihan people have trained such an army, he has a general understanding of why Xu Xinsu is the leader. The Fujian military would choose to cling to Haihan's thigh and not let go - if Zheng Zhihu had made contact with the Haihan people first, he would probably have made the same choice.
But now the positions of the two sides are completely opposite. Zheng Zhihu also understands that Shibazhi has lost such an opportunity. Even if he surrenders to the Haihan people, the Fujian government may not be willing to let their leaders go. Even if you feel unwilling to do so, you can only choose one path until the end.
But in any case, today's start was not good, and morale has dropped to a very low level. If we continue to force our men to fight, it may not have good results. Therefore, Zheng Zhihu simply ordered his troops to withdraw and wait until tomorrow to invite battle again. But he may not have thought that after this night, the situation would change dramatically.
In order to prevent another night attack from his opponent, Zheng Zhihu ordered no more people to ambush in the wilderness outside the camp that night - this decision made Yi Laoer, who was responsible for intelligence collection, breathe a sigh of relief. There are not many people left under him, and after what happened yesterday, no one is willing to risk their lives to go out on guard duty at night. Even if the reward is doubled or tripled, no one will be tempted. After all, although money is good, you still have to have the life to spend it.
But it is also dangerous to be completely undefended. At this time, Yi Laoer came up with an effective method, which was to tie the various chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep and other livestock brought to the island as supplies with ropes and let them go. Some went to the camp area to serve as warning signs. These animals are relatively small targets. When disturbed, they bark, and the defenders in the camp can take precautions in time.
However, Nanri Village did not arrange another attack that night. The people of the special battle company spent almost the whole night on the island. Qian Tiandun hoped that they could get sufficient rest time, because the offensive and defensive positions of both sides would be different in the future. Changes are likely to happen. Qian Tiandun needs his infantry to maintain a better combat condition to face subsequent battles.
The Dutch were undoubtedly the most relaxed camp during this period. The results of Shiba Zhi's battle on the island did not have a direct impact on them. They only needed to defend the outer sea and prevent their opponents from outflanking Shiba Zhi from the sea. Just go back. When Shibazhi's artillery position was overwhelmed by Haihan artillery fire, Van der Wegen even leisurely organized a fishing competition on the ship. In the end, the first mate Wilson of the flagship "Flying" ended up with a four The foot-long fish was rewarded with ten silver coins.
But this kind of relaxation only lasted until the early morning of the next day. At nearly five o'clock in the morning, the lookout on the mast discovered a large fleet appearing on the northern sea. The number of ships was at least five times that of the Dutch fleet. After van der Wegen was awakened by the news in his sleep, he didn't even have time to put on his uniform before he came to the deck to confirm the terrible discovery.
Half an hour later, the fleet's sails were clearly visible on the sea level. Although it was not bright yet and the flag of the fleet could not be seen clearly, Van der Wegen could judge based on his own experience that this fleet should It is a unit directly under the Ming Dynasty Navy - that is, Xu Xinsu.
"Ring the bell and prepare for war!" Van der Wegen did not panic. After confirming the situation, he immediately began to issue orders in an orderly manner: "All the gunners entered the gun positions and raised the gun windows! Chief mate, have someone go to my cabin to pick me up. Get your uniform!”
Although the original intention of the Dutch was not to fight with the Ming Dynasty, this kind of avoidance was not a fear of war. If the Ming Dynasty navy bumped into them so ignorantly, Van der Wegen would not mind giving them a small lesson as a warning.
The opposing fleet was heading south at full speed, and the sun was about to rise above the sea level. From this distance, Van der Wegen could already confirm the flags on the opponent's mast through the telescope - yes, this fleet was exactly what Xu said. The Fujian Navy of the Ming Dynasty was led by his family.
"Well, since they have chosen war, let us help them!" Van der Wegen ordered: "Hang the flag, change the formation of the fleet, seize the upper hand, and prepare to fire!" Dutch armed sailing ships in naval warfare Most of them had some experience. After the flagship's flag was raised, the other sailboats quickly adjusted their direction of travel, followed the flagship in a queue, and pointed their broadside muzzles in the direction of the opponent.
But the Ming Army obviously had no intention of winning over the Dutch so easily. After discovering the Dutch's plan, the Ming Navy's fleet quickly divided into two groups, moving to the left and right. It seemed that they were planning to use similar tactics. Use the broadside to seize the head and tail position of the Dutch fleet.
"Want to play tactics with us?" Van der Wegen sneered at the Ming Navy's contingency measures. When it comes to naval battles, the Dutch have very strong strength in this era. Even the Spaniards, who have a unique fleet of galleons, dare not say that they can definitely defeat the Dutch in naval battles. This formation change of the Ming army seemed to Van der Wegen to have too obvious intentions, and it would be difficult to pose a substantial threat to his own fleet.
"Turn and move westward. We have to get ahead of them." Van der Wegen decisively gave the next order.
The advantage of Dutch sailing ships in speed was also unreservedly reflected at this time. The Dutch fleet changed its course and made an arc, just enough to intercept the part of the naval warships that turned to the southwest.
Just when Van der Wegen was still considering whether to use a few rounds to warn his opponent to retreat, he suddenly discovered that his opponent actually opened fire first.
Several types of firearms made of bamboo and wood rose up from the deck of the opponent's warship, trailing fire tails, and drew arcs in the air towards the direction of the Dutch fleet. The purpose of these firearms is to ignite the opponent's sails and hull, thereby paralyzing the opponent's ship's mobility. Their range is about twenty or thirty feet, which is definitely a very sharp weapon in the Far East of this era. However, the results achieved in actual combat cannot fully realize its design intent.
First of all, these primitive rocket-propelled weapons have no accuracy at all. When launching, the operator can only estimate a rough orientation and distance. After ignition, it is completely a matter of luck. And this kind of accuracy The disadvantage can only be compensated by the number of shots fired, just as the musket formation uses a formation of queuing to shoot to improve the hit rate. However, if the wind at sea is slightly stronger, even if ten ships launch a salvo, they will be blown off course by the wind, making it difficult to achieve results.
Secondly, the range of most of these firearms is not as good as that of artillery, and their lethality is also even lower. Even if the enemy ship is hit by ten or eight bullets, as long as it is dealt with in time, there will be no trouble. It is not even as big a problem as the naval gun opening a hole in the opponent's hull and causing water to enter.
As expected, these fireworks-like firearms of the Ming army had no effect. Most of them fell into the water several feet away from the Dutch sailing ship. Occasionally, one or two rockets hit the ship, but they were quickly extinguished by the sailors in charge of damage control on the ship using earth bags and wet cloths.
"These Orientals are so arrogant! For the sake of the company's glory, I have to show them some respect!" Although he was not hurt by this wave of offensive, the Daming Navy's "unwise provocation" still angered them. Van der Wegen. The boss said that he should try not to start a war with the Ming Dynasty, but he did not say that he had to endure the active attack of the Ming Dynasty warships. Just being beaten without fighting back was definitely not the East India Company's style of doing things.
"Open fire! Give them a good beating!" Van der Wegen's blood boiled over and he gave the order to open fire and attack.
The eight naval guns on the side of the "Flying" fired first, and the shells roared towards the Ming army's fleet. One of them directly hit the bow of a Ming army warship, sending debris flying across the ship's planks. A sailor could be seen on the deck who collapsed immediately.
However, the Ming army's fleet did not stop there, but continued to charge forward. Van der Wegen knew that this was one of the tactics commonly used by the Ming army. After approaching the enemy, he once again carried out arson operations with various close-range firearms. Compared with long-range firearms that have little lethality, the Ming army has more means to achieve this combat goal within twenty feet, including throwing or spraying various flammable and difficult-to-extinguish combustible materials onto enemy ships. And these offensive methods are much more terrifying than those long-range rockets. Even a large ship like the "Flying" would be difficult to effectively resist the flammable objects flying from all directions if it was surrounded by a bunch of Ming warships. If the distance is further shortened, these Ming warships will use various tools to immobilize the two ships, and then join forces to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
"Adjust the course, keep the distance, and don't give them a chance to get closer!" Van der Wegen clearly understands that his own disadvantage lies in the small number of ships and personnel. It is extremely unwise to engage in a short-distance fight with the opponent. With the advantage of ship performance, as long as you keep a distance and slowly use artillery to deal with the opponent, it is the safest strategy.
The sound of the artillery battle at sea naturally reached the shore of Nanri Island. The pirates in the Shibazhi camp woke up from their sleep and came out to watch the sea battle. Although the fighting waters are still several nautical miles away from the port of Nanri Island, the constant shelling of Dutch sailing ships still gave the pirates a shot in the arm. Fortunately, they invited red-haired men to cover the safety of their retreat, otherwise they might have lost their lives. In the middle of the night, the navy of the Ming Dynasty came quietly and had her anus exploded.
"After taking so much money from our family, it's time to let these red-haired ghosts use some strength!" Watching the Dutch sailboats fighting on the sea, Zheng Zhihu's mentality became a little more balanced, and he agreed that the two families would coordinate the attack. Nanri Island, it is outrageous that the Dutchman has been idle all this time.
(End of chapter)