Chapter 1077 Zhifu Bay
After rounding Chengshanjiao, the fleet turned around and sailed westward along the coast. A hundred miles away from Chengshanjiao is an important place on the northern coastline of the Jiaodong Peninsula, Weihaiwei, known as the maritime gateway to Beijing and Tianjin. In the 31st year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, in order to resist the invasion of Japanese pirates, the Ministry of War established Weihaiwei here, which had jurisdiction over thousands of households behind Baichi Cliff.
"Chief, the lookout post discovered a small warship flying the flag of the Ming Army on the southwest sea, about five nautical miles away."
When the fleet passed through the waters near Liugong Island, its whereabouts were inevitably exposed. However, they were discovered by the Ming army only when they got here, and the other side had no time to take any further measures.
Wang Tom said: "Continue to monitor. If there are changes in the other party's movements, report it immediately!"
Under today's fine weather conditions, at a distance of five nautical miles, as long as the opponent is not blind, he will definitely have discovered the existence of the northward fleet. And a fleet of this size has not appeared in the offshore waters of the Jiaodong Peninsula in the past two or three years. . The last time a large-scale fleet went to sea at the mouth of the Bohai Sea may be traced back to when Kong Youde's rebels coerced the naval fleet stationed in Dengzhou and fled to the Liaodong Peninsula. Wang Tom could fully imagine how shocked the Ming army on that ship would be when they saw this huge fleet composed of hundreds of sailing ships.
However, the appearance of a Ming warship will not affect the progress of the fleet. The current position is only about fifty nautical miles away from the destination, and there is no force that can stop the fleet. No matter what mood the Ming army on the warship was monitoring the sea, the fleet still sailed past Weihaiwei two hours later and headed west straight to Zhifu Island.
Zhifu Bay is only more than a hundred miles away from Dengzhou City. It is the jurisdiction of Dengzhou Wei Qishan Qianhu Office. It was inevitably affected by the Denglai Rebellion in the past two years. Qishan Qianhu Office Most of the multi-person establishment was killed during the counterattack on Dengzhou City, which was occupied by the rebels. Currently, only one-third of the normal establishment strength is maintained. After Kong Youde's rebels defected to Liaodong more than a year ago, Dengzhou has basically been at peace. The local government is busy getting young people to resume production, and there is no rush to recruit troops to replenish the establishment.
There is a hill protruding into the sea on the southern coast of Zhifu Bay. The highest point is only more than 40 meters above sea level, but it can overlook the entire Zhifu Bay. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading, a monitoring and early warning warning tower was built here. When the enemy was discovered, smoke was raised during the day and fire was lit at night as a means of warning and communication. This hillock was named Yantai Mountain for this reason. Later, Yantai City also got its name from this place.
The barracks and stables built by the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang are still preserved on Yantai Mountain. However, because the entire Qishan Institute is severely under-manned, the number of troops stationed here has to be reduced from the general banner to the small banner. Only ten of them are retained. Establishment of multiple people. The leader of the soldiers here is an old man in his forties and almost fifty. His colleagues in the army call him Zheng Laoqi, but no one knows how he got this nickname, because the soldiers who are now on duty here, They were all transferred from other guards after the Denglai Rebellion to fill the vacancies in the establishment.
Zheng Laoqi's two sons were also soldiers in the Dengzhou Guard, but they died in battle during the Denglai Rebellion, so now he is the only man left in the family. Zheng Laoqi was originally a veteran in the army, but now that he has lost his career, he has been causing a lot of trouble in the army in his free time. The superiors felt that he was a pitiful person and it was difficult to punish him, so they simply sent him to guard Yantai Mountain, out of sight and out of mind.
This place is less than ten miles away from Qishansuo City in the south. There is not much problem in terms of living security, and the work is extremely leisurely. I just stare at the empty Zhifu Bay every day. There is no need to patrol or monitor the bay around the clock, because there are no permanent residents in this place at all, and all the people who originally lived here have fled during the war. As for the Japanese pirates, there are not even ghosts in this place. How can there be stupid Japanese pirates crossing the sea to come here to rob?
Zheng Laoqi was rarely in a good mood that day because he had received military pay. He usually drinks 20 ounces of wine, but he drank half a jin at noon, so he couldn't sleep soundly in the camp in the afternoon. While he was still gnashing his teeth in his dream and fighting with Kong Youde's rebels, he was suddenly woken up by someone pushing him: "Zheng Tou, a fleet has come from the sea and has entered Zhifu Bay!"
Zheng Laoqi responded in a daze: "What fleet? Japanese pirates?"
"It's not like Japanese pirates. Japanese pirates don't have such big boats." The soldier opened his hands and gestured: "There are two boats that are bigger than the previous Dengzhou Navy Dafu boats!"
"Are your eyesight clear? Will such a big ship come to Zhifu Bay?" Zheng Laoqi sat up from the bed with doubts. Although he didn't quite believe what his subordinates said, out of duty, he still put on his clothes and walked out of the barracks to see what he said was a strange fleet of ships.
When Zheng Laoqi saw a row of sailboats sailing into Zhifu Bay from east to west, he was half drunk. These ships are obviously not the lucky ships often seen along the northern coast, nor are they the eye-catching hachiman ships of the Japanese pirates. The hulls are all long and pointed, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. They are more like the Guangzhou ship style that is only built in the south. And the two largest ships among them are indeed one size larger than the previous lucky ships in Dengzhou Shuicheng. However, the sails of these ships were not hard sails, and the style was something Zheng Laoqi had never seen before. They were still quite different from the Guangzhou ships he knew.
There are red and blue flags hanging on the masts of these ships, obviously belonging to the same fleet, but Zheng Laoqi has been at the seaside for decades and has never seen flags of this shape, let alone From this we can infer the identity of this fleet.
At this time, a soldier came over and asked for instructions: "Zheng Tou, do you want to raise smoke as a warning?"
"The identity of the other party has not been confirmed yet, what a shame!" Zheng Laoqi scolded with a stern face: "If this is a merchant ship passing by here, and smoke is raised to warn that the army will be mobilized, what will happen then?"
Yantai Mountain is said to be a beacon tower, but in the past year or two, no beacon warning has actually been issued, and Zheng Laoqi is not willing to make the matter a big deal when the situation is unclear. If it is confirmed later, It was a false alarm, and he, the leader of the troops, must bear the responsibility. The direction in which these ships are heading is not towards Yantai Mountain, so for the time being, you can rest assured and observe for a while to see the other party's movements.
Several smaller boats arrived at the coast first and slowly stopped about ten feet away from the beach. Zheng Laoqi estimated that the people on the boat wanted to measure the water depth first to prevent the larger ship behind from running aground when it docked. However, he is more familiar with the sea conditions of Zhifu Bay than these uninvited guests. He can know the approximate water depth by looking at the position. Not to mention the few boats in front of him, even larger boats with deeper drafts can berth on the shore without any pressure. . Sure enough, not long after, the ships slowly sailed forward for a while, stopped very close to the coast, and then began to build a springboard.
"Looks like we have to go!" Zheng Laoqi raised his voice and shouted: "Gather the whole team!"
The straight-line distance between the place where this fleet docked and Yantai Mountain is only two or three miles, but to go around on land, it would take at least four or five miles to go. But the duty of the Ming army guarding the pier was to find out the identity of the fleet. Zheng Laoqi left five people on the pier to continue to observe the situation. Before leaving, he warned them with his many thoughts: "If we don't see you for two hours and wait for you to turn around, no matter what the situation is, send out a smoke warning and ask for reinforcements!" Zheng Laoqi said Unknown to him, while he was observing the opponent's movements, someone on the deck of that fleet was also observing the pier of Yantai Mountain with a telescope.
"There is no smoke! These Ming troops are really brave!" Takahashi Minami saw that after the fleet docked one after another, there was no warning smoke rising in the direction of Yantai Mountain. Although he was reassured, he was also a little disappointed. However, the performance of the Ming army is a good thing for the main fleet that is about to arrive at Zhifu Bay. Takahashi Nan estimates that if he moves faster, he should be able to lead people in front to touch the piers on Yantai Mountain.
This vanguard fleet carried troops from two companies of the special operations battalion. After disembarking, they quickly formed a formation according to the pre-arranged arrangements and moved out in two directions: north and south. Those heading north are heading towards Zhifu Island along Zhifu Bay, while those heading south are heading directly towards Yantai Mountain.
Zheng Laoqi didn't know that he had become the target of the other party's calculations. He had been standing outside for a while and had a severe headache when the sea breeze blew. He would never touch this kind of bad wine that would have sequelae after drinking it, but now the whole of Dengzhou is in dire straits and there is no grain wine available on the market. It is his responsibility to drink this wine today. , the inventory was just obtained from Qishansuo City. But I didn't expect this wine to have such a strong stamina. If I had known better, I wouldn't have drank so much at noon.
Not far away from Yantai Mountain, Zheng Laoqi felt that his head was hurting and he was dizzy, and he even started to stagger. Upon seeing this, several soldiers nearby reached out their hands to support him, otherwise the fall would probably have caused something wrong.
Zheng Laoqi also felt that it was difficult to persist, so he ordered to stop and rest for a while before continuing. But when he felt that he had recovered a little and could continue to move forward, he discovered that a group of expressionless men in gray clothes holding long-barreled firecrackers appeared from all directions.
Zheng Laoqi suddenly jumped up from the tree stump he was sitting on, and quickly pulled out his waist knife. He seemed to have completely lost the sequelae of drunkenness. The few soldiers he led were half a beat slower than him in reaction, and then they also drew their weapons and formed a circle outside.
"Put down your weapons and nothing will happen to you."
As the voices rang out, Zheng Laoqi saw a stocky man coming out. This man was also wearing a gray shorts and trousers, but he had a long Japanese sword slung around his waist. Judging from his words and actions, he should be the leader of this group of people.
"You guys...are Japanese pirates!" Zheng Laoqi saw the weapon on this man's waist and already made a guess about the identity of this group of people.
"We are not Japanese pirates. I say it again, put down your weapons!" Takahashi Nan raised his voice. All the men in gray surrounding the Ming army took two steps forward, and the raised muzzles of their guns were a few feet closer to the Ming army.
Zheng Laoqi saw that the caliber of the fire cannons in these people's hands was actually as thick as a finger. As a veteran of nearly thirty years in the army, he knew what would happen if he was hit by fire cannons at such a distance. He was holding the handle of the knife. His hands could not help but tremble slightly. The group of gray-clothed men surrounding him all had a very strong murderous aura, and they were obviously not good-natured ones. Zheng Laoqi did not intend to take the risk to find out whether the strange-looking firecrackers in their hands were real weapons. Still the same thing. Zheng Laoqi made a decision without thinking for too long.
"Put the knife away first." Zheng Laoqi gave the order to his subordinates and took the lead in sheathing the knife.
"This officer is Zheng Qi, the small bannerman of Qianhu Station in Weiqishan, Dengzhou. Where are you from, and why did you land with weapons? Why don't you tell me quickly!" Although Zheng Laoqi put away his weapons, he said But he didn't give in.
"How dare Xiaoqi call himself an official?" Gao Qiaonan sneered: "The guardsmen in Shandong Province are quite official!"
Gao Qiaonan did not mean to humiliate the other party. When he was garrisoned in Fujian and Zhoushan, the people he dealt with were at least senior officers at the level of Qianhu, commanding officers, and state garrison commanders. He and Xiaoqi This low-level military attache with almost zero presence has no chance of contact at all.
Gao Qiaonan put his hand into his arms, and when he took it out, there was already a white sign in his hand: "I am Liao Xun, a hundred households in Fusi, Jinyiweibei Town. I am specially sent to Shandong to inspect the coastal defense. Mr. Zheng, do you recognize this sign?"
Although Zheng Laoqi was a low-level officer, he had been in the army long enough and had seen enough things. He looked carefully at the ivory waistband handed over by the other party and found that it was indeed the standard of Jin Yiwei. However, the other party is a member of the Imperial Guard, who is at least the sixth rank, and has great real power. Compared with Xiao Qi, who is affiliated with the Guard Army, he is really not from the same world.
"The villain Zheng Qi has met Master Liao!" An old man like Zheng Laoqi naturally won't dwell on his worthless face. Since the other party revealed his identity as a senior military attache on a mission, he would admit his mistake immediately. It didn't matter if he was next to a low stake, he knelt down on one leg and saluted Takahashi Nan without hesitation. When several of his subordinates saw this posture, they all followed him hesitantly and knelt on the ground.
"This thing is really easy to use!" Gao Qiaonan couldn't help but feel a little happy as he took the Jinyiwei badge from Zheng Laoqi with both hands above his head. When they escorted Liao Xun, the real Jin Yiwei Baihu, back to Zhoushan from Hangzhou, they naturally did not let go of this status and waist card.
Before setting off from Zhoushan, Gong Shiqi handed this thing to him and asked him to use it as appropriate after arriving at Zhifu Island. Unexpectedly, it came in handy as soon as it landed. Although my group was not wearing Feiyu suits, the aura they displayed and the weapons and equipment they carried should have fully intimidated the other party.
(End of chapter)