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Text Chapter 57 Night Fight (Part 2)

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    After the meeting, Deng Ming, escorted by some officers, stood on the flagship and looked at the fleet of the expeditionary force.  The Ming fleet anchored in the north of the Babuyan Strait waited quietly. Hundreds of sailboats lowered their sails, forming a forest of masts above the berth.

    "When Lao Wang was here, what he wanted to do was to land on the other side, and then go straight to the city of Macheng by waterway." The person who spoke was Feng Xifan, the envoy sent by the King of Yanping County.  In the third year of Kangxi's reign, the Qing court tried to negotiate peace with Zheng Jing on the terms of not shaving his head, not attending court, and not paying tribute, and hinted that he could stand by Zheng Jing in the internal strife within the Zheng family, but was sternly rejected by Zheng Jing.  The second generation of Yanping County Prince, who was in his early twenties, had a very bad relationship with Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan at that time. Due to trade with Japan and Zhang Huangyan's accommodation of Zheng Xi and Zheng Zanxu, it was close to war. However, Zheng Jing still said that he  He would never consider surrendering to the Qing court - Zheng Chenggong chose to fight to the end for the nation. This was also Zheng Jing's pride. He even made it clear to the Qing court that even if Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan chose to negotiate peace with the Qing court, he would not agree.

    It's just that although Zheng Jing was ambitious, he was still stubborn when dealing with his allies. Starting from the third year of Kangxi and the nineteenth year of Yongli, with the support of Liu Guoxuan, the main war faction, he repeatedly negotiated with Zheng Chenggong's old troops in Zhoushan and Zhejiang.  There was friction between the Eastern Army.  However, Deng Ming showed tolerance to Zheng Jing and compensated Taiwan as much as possible within the scope of not angering the Western Sichuan Academy.  It is now the tenth year of Kangxi and the twenty-sixth year of Yongli. Zheng Jing is nearly thirty years old. His fiery temper seems to have restrained, and the long-standing attitude of tolerance in Western Sichuan has also been understood by some people in the Yanping County Prince's Palace, such as this  This time, Feng Xifan, who was appointed by Zheng Jing to accompany Deng Ming on his expedition, was a peace advocate against the Ming army in western Sichuan.

    According to Deng Ming¡¯s knowledge, Chen Yonghua, who handles government affairs in Taiwan, is also an ally of Feng Xifan.  Western Sichuan has been sharing profits with Taiwan in maritime trade, which has greatly helped the Yanping County Prince's internal affairs. Therefore, Chen Yonghua has been trying to ease the relationship between Dongning and Chengdu to avoid a conflict between the two parties, causing Taiwan to suddenly lose its main financial pillar.  Feng Xifan also agreed to maintain a good relationship with Chengdu, and the main reason was because he was a firearms sect.  In Deng Ming's previous life, Feng Xifan advocated the imitation of Western warships, and even suggested that Zheng Jing hire British instructors to train the Taiwanese army and completely replace their firearms; Liu Guoxuan, on the other hand, was much more conservative and was obsessed with lucky ships and traditional tactics of dismantling and arson.  He repeatedly refuted Feng Xifan's suggestions and said that Feng Xifan did not understand war at all.

    Liu Guoxuan's opinion is not only the mainstream opinion of the Taiwan military, but also the common view of Zheng Jun in eastern Zhejiang.  Zheng Chenggong used this tactic to repeatedly defeat powerful enemies, so everyone believed that Zheng's army did not need major reforms.  Feng Xifan's reform opinions were not approved by Zheng Jing. When he saw that Deng Ming was refitting Western merchant ships without anyone's advice and vigorously developing firearms troops, Feng Xifan became the Sichuan faction in Taiwan.  Called Sichuan West, it was used to make up for his shortcomings of never leading troops in combat.

    "Is Prince Yanping's plan to cooperate with the water route and fight all the way?" Deng Ming knew that Zheng Chenggong had a plan to incorporate the Philippines into the Ming Dynasty's territory, but he was not clear about the specific plan.  Hearing Feng Xifan talk about Lao Wang, he asked curiously: "Although the navy can be much safer with the cooperation of the army, and with the navy, the army's march will not be too hard, but it is still too far from here to Macheng, right?  "

    Deng Ming¡¯s main question is, what if he is constantly harassed by the Spanish navy?  The Spanish fleet could even use hit-and-run tactics to maintain pressure on the Ming army, which could lead to disaster as long as the Ming army accidentally exposed a flaw.

    "If Lao Wang leads the army, he will definitely make the Xiyi never come back." Feng Xifan showed a hint of pride on his face.  Zheng Chenggong has experienced hundreds of battles, both on land and at sea. Even if the enemy has an advantage in ships or firearms, Zheng Chenggong will always try to lure him to the battlefield where he can use his strengths to defeat him.  After Zheng Chenggong's death, Feng Xifan simply disagreed with continuing to covet the Philippines and objected to the continued blockade of the Strait; in Deng Ming's previous life, on the eve of the end of the Ming Dynasty, Feng Xifan also opposed going to the Philippines for a desperate adventure because he believed that without a commander like Zheng Chenggong,  , the Ming and Zheng groups were unable to defeat the Western ocean-going battleships and musketeers by relying on fuchuan and heavy infantry.

    After that fleeting moment of pride, Feng Xifan showed an expression of regret again: "That's why I always suggested to the king that he should build Western warships and train musketeers like the prime minister. At the beginning, he used Lao Wang's divine martial arts to deal with  Although Taixi is not a big problem, Lao Wang's opponent is not a famous general in Taixi. In other words, due to the difference in equipment, a peerless hero like Lao Wang has to spend effort to deal with several unknown people. That is enough to explain the Western warships.  It¡¯s so powerful with muskets, so we have to change it.¡±

    Because the rifle has shown great power, the Taiwan military now also recognizes that firearms are the future development direction, and is slowly starting to reform; but Zheng Jun's obsession with Fuchuan is still there, because the Qing army has no navy worth mentioning at all.  , so it is difficult to prove that these Western war weapons purchased by Deng Ming?¡¯s value, and in Zheng Chenggong¡¯s era, these Western warships were no match for Zheng Chenggong.

    Deng Ming couldn't help but glance sideways at Feng Xifan. He knew that many people who opposed military reform were not only limited by their inherent experience, but also had simple national sentiments mixed in with them.  For example, the promotion of rifles among the Sichuan Army is smoother than that of Burmese fireguns. As long as the price is right, there is no problem, because in the Sichuan Army's view, rifles are the invention of the Han people themselves, at least they are improved firearms, while Burmese fireguns are barbarian creations.  If we say that firecrackers can replace all traditional weapons, wouldn't it be exalting barbarians and belittling their ancestors?  The reason why the navy is easy to handle is also because the Sichuan army lacks a naval tradition, and Deng Ming has authority and can make decisions easily.  But Zheng's army in eastern Zhejiang is still thinking hard about how to improve the traditional Fu Chuan to make it faster and bigger, or they discuss all day long how to carry forward Zheng Chenggong's tactics so as to defeat the Western Ocean with small tonnage Fu Chuan.  The purpose of the giant ship.

    "I didn't expect Feng Xifan to be a reformist." Deng Ming thought to himself.  Unlike people like him who are familiar with alien technology, Feng Xifan has a good sense of reform, especially since he can sum up completely different experiences from Zheng Chenggong's victory.  Generally speaking, victory will only make people complacent and conservative, rather than realizing the need for reform and learning.

    The upcoming naval battle actually made Feng Xifan extremely nervous, and he was also eagerly looking forward to a glorious victory.  In Deng Ming's previous life, after the San Francisco Rebellion, Feng Xifan began to gain a certain say in the army. However, military reform was too late for Ming and Zheng.  In this world, Feng Xifan is also Zheng Jing's most trusted guard officer, and he can use Deng Ming as an example to persuade the master to agree with his military views. After learning that Deng Ming decided to go to war with Spain and the Netherlands, Feng Xifan  He volunteered to serve as Zheng Jing's special envoy and led a group of Taiwanese troops to participate in the war.  These accompanying officers are all young officers carefully selected by Feng Xifan, and they all share his ideas of military reform. If Deng Ming's navy can defeat the Spanish fleet in an upright naval battle, Feng Xifan believes that he can give his master  Bring enough shock.

    "Even if others say that Lao Wang can defeat Hongmao's warships, the king may say so verbally, but the king also understands how powerful Western warships are." When Deng Ming quietly looked at Feng Xifan, the latter secretly thought  He clenched his fists and said to himself in his heart: "The king sent me to Luzon, which actually means that the king is also moved. Let me see with my own eyes the combat power of the firearms army - I heard that even the Tatars have begun to form firearms troops."  The army; Your Majesty asked this group of people to come with me, also to let everyone see is believing, to see whether Duke Baoguo's new fleet can fight, so that those who oppose it in the future will have nothing to say."

    Everyone knows that Zheng Chenggong¡¯s plan cannot be imitated by Deng Ming, and a decisive battle with the Spanish main fleet is inevitable.  From the beginning, Feng Xifan and other Taiwanese troops' suggestion was to try to lure the Spanish fleet into the harbor to rest, and then concentrate all Ming army warships to besiege the port.  Remove all the cannons to increase the ship's speed, and convert every battleship that can go into battle into an arson ship - in short, use the tactic of using arson ships on a large scale to try to annihilate the Spanish fleet in the harbor.

    But this means huge sacrifices. The Ming army soldiers need to use the greatest courage to brave the Spanish artillery fire and charge at full speed, and they need to retain reserves in all directions to prevent the Spaniards from concentrating on breaking out in one direction - if the enemy is released  If they run out to sea, then the Ming army's arson ship charge will turn into a reckless and reckless death-so it is necessary to maintain the thickness of the formation; and the collective charge of the arson ship also needs to keep the battle line as close as possible. If you simply focus on the thickness of the lineup and  If it is not close enough, it may cause the Spaniards to scatter and rush out of the sea from the gaps in the Ming army's ship array.

    There is no need to expect Deng Ming to be able to do complex on-the-spot command. Not to mention that Deng Ming can't do it. After Zheng Chenggong died and Zheng Tai was killed, no one in the Fujian army dared to say that he could do it.  Therefore, in order to increase the success rate, Feng Xifan and others even suggested that Deng Ming use iron chains to connect some of the assault ships - this would of course cause the charging Ming army to travel slower and move more slowly, resulting in greater casualties. However, if the Spanish could not be stopped,  People, then all the Ming army would have died in vain.

    After seeing Deng Ming's new artillery shells, although the Fujian army revised its proposal, it still felt that arson boats were indispensable: after the arson boats in the front row of the Ming army rushed forward with fearless spirit, they were followed by an equally brave attack.  Gunboat - If the fire on the enemy ship can be extinguished in time, the warship may be repaired. If not, at least the Ming army's sea control in the Philippine Sea will be guaranteed.

    "I plan to fight at night." When he was in Sichuan, Deng Ming did some simple deductions with his subordinates, believing that even if such a charge were successful, the Ming army would pay a heavy price; while in Chongming, Zheng Jun in eastern Zhejiang also  He recommended the arson ship tactic to Deng Ming. At that time, Zheng Jun suggested that the Spanish fleet must be lured closer to the coast, and the Ming army's arson fleet should be located in the open sea and between the Spanish fleet.??, Zheng Jun estimated that he had to pay the price of thousands of Ming army casualties.

    After joining forces with Feng Xifan, Feng Weishi believed that this figure was still too optimistic. Although Zheng Chenggong easily defeated the Dutch with this tactic at the cost of only a few ships and dozens of men, probably no one could do it like Zheng Chenggong.  On the enemy's territory, the Dutch navy was lured into the river mouth, and both the concealment and the timing of the attack were perfect.  Feng Xifan believed that with Deng Ming's command level, if he used an old-fashioned Fu boat, his chances of success would be only half at most. Nowadays, the faster sailboats have greatly increased Deng Ming's chance of success, but he estimated that the casualties would probably exceed 2,000.  People, I am afraid that more than a hundred ships were lost.

    Of course, this loss was something Deng Ming was not willing to bear, so the Sichuan army decided to wait for the Spaniards to anchor and sleep before launching an upright challenge.  But in the eyes of Feng Xifan and other combatants from the Taiwan Army and the Eastern Zhejiang Army, this was obviously a landlubber who completely lacked understanding of naval warfare.

    "The prime minister has a clear warning." Like those generals of the Eastern Zhejiang Army who heard this plan for the first time, Feng Xifan and several Taiwanese generals immediately expressed their opposition: "The night can indeed make the Spaniards (after Deng Ming's continuous influence, now they  (The name Folangji is no longer used) cannot detect us for the time being, but we can¡¯t clearly see the lineup of the enemy fleet.¡±

    Since the parking situation of the enemy's ships cannot be seen clearly, the Ming army's attack was highly accidental - this is not an inland river. Even with the width of the Yangtze River, the parking places for ships are still quite limited, but in the sea,  It's hard to say where the ships are parked - the Spanish fleet is in a state of preparation for war and will not gather together to set fire to the Ming army.

    The arson ship is an obvious target in the dark. When the time comes, the Spanish will be in the dark and the Chinese will be in the open. A blind attack will definitely lead to staggering losses. The harm caused by the night is enough to offset the Ming army's ability to sneak in.  Advantages of proximity.

    Feng Xifan thought that Deng Ming might be superstitious about his new artillery shells.  That kind of cannonball is indeed very powerful, but it can only be effective if it can hit the enemy.  When shooting randomly in the dark, the Ming army's hit rate will be greatly reduced.  The greatest possibility is that both sides suffered no losses after a night of melee. The Spanish fleet moved to the open sea intact. After dawn, the Spanish fleet, which had not suffered any losses at all, would deal a devastating blow to the Ming Navy.
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