Chapter 72 The Persistence of the Penghu Navy

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"Penghu is the gateway to Zhangzhou and Quan, and Beigang (Taiwan Island) is the lip and teeth of Penghu. If Beigang is lost, the lip will die and the teeth will be cold. Not only Penghu can be worried, but Zhang and Quan can also be worried."

As a transit base connecting the two places, Penghu’s location is crucial.

When Qin Hao took a boat to go north along the coast, he happened to encounter this place on the way and wanted to land on the island to have a look.

But as soon as the ship was only four or five miles away from the main island of Penghu, it was bombarded by the Penghu Navy. More than a dozen shore defense artillery fired at the same time, and suddenly bursts of white smoke were set off on the sea surface, and rumbles of thunder were heard.

The solid cannonballs flew a thousand meters like seagulls and landed in front of the fleet.

The meaning of the Penghu Navy was already clear: the Dutch are not welcome here.

Only then did Qin Hao remember the Dutch navy flag that he had flown to avoid encountering the Dutch when he set out, and the contradiction between the two.

He patted his forehead, feeling a burst of regret, and thought to himself: The order to divert was given too hastily, and I forgot to change the flag.

"Forget it, we can't go up now even if we change the flag. Let's go north instead." Qin Hao was disappointed for a while, but he didn't expect that a small mistake would cause the plan to land on the island to be unexpectedly aborted.

"The Dutch are gone"

The officers and soldiers on the island looked at the fleet and cheered. Their faces stained with black ash after the bombardment were filled with joy of surviving the disaster.

As a barrier on the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, the glory of the Fujian Navy was no longer there, and it had to treat Qin Hao's three or four ships seriously.

The thrilling water battle four years ago is still vivid in our minds and deeply rooted in the hearts of Navy officers and soldiers.

In the second year of the Apocalypse, the commander of the Dutch East India Company's fleet, Rayerson, led a well-prepared Dutch fleet to march towards the Ming Dynasty.

This fleet consists of 15 large and small warships and more than 1,000 elite soldiers.

In fact, strictly speaking, it should be considered a combined fleet, because this fleet also included two British warships that had just emerged at that time and were bent on pleasing the Netherlands.

Such a large formation is still rare in the history of European colonization.

Because whether it is in Java or Malacca, as soon as such a large fleet arrives, the locals will surrender obediently, so how can there be any resistance?

Their estimate was quite right. As soon as the war started, they really defeated the Ming army who came after hearing the news.

At the same time, the Netherlands sent a fleet to the sea of ​​Zhangzhou to block the gateway to Zhangzhou, in an attempt to use force to threaten the Ming Dynasty's trade with the Netherlands.

The situation at that time was described in "The Voyage to the East India" written by the Dutch captain Wey Bonteku:

On October 18, our troops "burned as many as sixty or seventy Chinese junks" in Zhangzhou, and landed and looted them;

On February 10th, we "set fire to two villages";

On May 1st, a Ming Dynasty merchant ship was intercepted, "with as many as 250 people on board."

As for the captives of the Ming Dynasty, the Dutch first gathered them on Penghu Island and forced them to build a city. According to records, there were more than 1,150 captives in total, 571 of whom died in prison, and the remaining 579 were sent to Batavia and then sold. To other areas as slaves...

After gaining a foothold here, and having enough confidence to speak, when Fujian Navy Commander Chen Shiying came to negotiate, the Dutch side made three demands:

First, the Dutch were allowed to trade with each other along the coast of the Ming Dynasty;

Second, cede Penghu to the Dutch;

Third, the Ming Dynasty was prohibited from trading with Portugal and Spain.

After putting forward the above three conditions, he threatened with force: "If the market (referring to trade) is not allowed, war will begin."

The meaning is obvious. The Dutch want to dominate the entire Ming Dynasty market and do not want any more business contacts between the Ming Dynasty and the Spanish.

The emperor and ministers of the Ming Dynasty were dumbfounded when they received the news that business could still be done like this.

After several days of discussion, the emperor and his ministers unexpectedly came to an agreement, and then an imperial edict was passed to the Fujian Navy: The southern barbarians are so rampant that they are so rampant that not killing them is not enough to rely on the people's anger.

Facing the whole work of the Dutch, one will be killed and one will be buried.

In the first month of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Nan Juyi, the governor of Fujian, personally sailed to Kinmen and ordered the Ming army fleet to cross the sea to recapture Penghu by force. This expedition consisted of 200 warships and more than 1,000 men.

Fujian General Yu Zigao and garrison Wang Mengxiong led the warships to Penghu and landed on Baisha Island. They first engaged the Dutch army. However, the Dutch army relied on strong fortifications and fought against the warships, and Penghu could not be captured for a long time.

The situation in the naval battle was even worse. Although the Ming Dynasty navy mobilized all its assets this time, they were all pitiful small and medium-sized warships. Compared with the huge Dutch warships, they were simply insignificant.

The governor was supervising the battle from behind, but the front line did not dare to relax. If it could not be defeated at once, it would be better to take it slowly, so attacks were launched almost every day.

Later, they changed their tactics. Since the bunker was so strong, they would not attack by force. Under the Dutch artillery fire, the Ming army used ingenuity to resist the Dutch artillery fire with chariots piled with sand and rocks, and gradually completed the encirclement of the Dutch.

While completing the encirclement on land, they also blocked the sea route and cut off the Dutch's foreign aid.

When the war lasted until July, Nan Juyi attacked while trying to persuade him to surrender. However, the Dutch did not appreciate this and killed the envoy who persuaded them to surrender.

When two countries are at war, they should not kill each other. This has been the truth for thousands of years!

Nan Juyi was completely angered by this arrogant behavior of the Dutch, and issued a death order to the frontline generals: If you can't conquer Penghu again, come and see us!

On the third day of July, the Ming army attacked in three directions. On the eleventh day of July, the Dutch surrendered.

After seven months of fierce fighting between the two sides and spending more than 300,000 taels of military funds, the Ming army captured the Dutch garrison commander Kobenloet and twelve others alive. The remaining Dutch remnants fled to the southern part of Taiwan in a panic, licking their wounds and not daring to advance.

At this point, the Ming army finally fulfilled its mission and won the Battle of Penghu. Then the Fujian Governor Nan Juyi presented the captives to Beijing. The Emperor Tianqi ordered them all to be beheaded and sent to the nine borders as a warning!

This battle defended the majesty of the Ming Dynasty and shocked a group of southern barbarians.

"Shameful and hateful!"

Chen Shiying punched the stone bricks of the fort with a heavy fist, gritting his teeth, and even the blood on his hands could not eliminate the anger in his heart.

The grand scene of capturing the Western captives is still vivid, but now it has only been three or four years, and the Fujian Navy has fallen to this point.

Chen Shiying has watched the Dutch fleet crisscross the sea and become more and more powerful in recent years, while they can only hide in the harbor and seek shelter with the forts, which makes him feel heartbroken.

"Sir, there is another mutiny in the barracks, and it is almost unstoppable." A soldier hurried to report.

This is the third time this month. At this moment, Chen Shiying wanted to die. He sighed heavily and rushed back to the barracks with his men.

It's all about silver!

When the governor Nan Juyi was in office, they could still get 5 taels of silver a month. Although it was half less than the military salary, it was good enough to support their families and not let the whole family starve. If they died in battle, they would also receive 50 taels of pension.

But the new governor Xiong Wencan set fire as soon as he took office, and the first one he burned was the Penghu Navy, saying that the court wanted to recruit the pirate Zheng Zhilong, but there was no silver, so they could only withhold the military pay of the Penghu Navy first.

Zheng Zhilong's fleet was paid and given pensions, but many of his pirates were killed by the Penghu Navy.

As soon as the news of the amnesty was released, Chen Shiying, a thousand-man commander of the Penghu Navy, led the mutiny and demanded that the governor take back his order.

But it didn't work. Soon the silver of the Penghu Navy was withheld. This was really unbearable. Chen Shiying had to go to Xiong Wencan to beg for mercy and to give him some silver. But he couldn't even get in the door and was coaxed out by the doorman.

This is the so-called high-ranking official who can crush people to death, let alone the governor, a high-ranking official of a province, who is more than three or four levels higher. Chen Shiying, a thousand-man commander, didn't take it seriously at all.

Without silver, the officers and soldiers under his command had no income and could not support their families, so they all wanted to go back to their hometowns.

Secondly, the navy fleet had to be repaired every month, which was another sum of money, and the boat was more valuable than the people. It hadn't been repaired for half a year, and the bottom of the boat was entangled with seaweed and clams, and the wood was rotten and unrecognizable. It was left in the port and couldn't go out.

"Sir, forget it. We can't beat Xiong Wencan." On the way back, a brave officer under Chen Shiying advised.

Chen Shiying turned his head and looked at him. If he hadn't rushed to the front every time he fought and was fearless, he would have killed him with a knife. He angrily said: "What kind of person is Zheng Zhilong? He is a pirate. Why recruit him? The governor doesn't know what's going on. I won't accept it if he wants to recruit him. Look at the good things he has done in these years."

At this time, Zheng Zhilong followed many people along the coast of Daming, including Li Dan, Portugal, and the Dutch. He followed whoever was stronger. He was a speculator and often led people to rob sea merchants and burn and kill villages and towns. His reputation was very bad.

Only when he supported Emperor Yongli to fight against the Qing Dynasty, he was truly cleansed. However, he became confused again afterwards and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. He was beheaded, which was closely related to his early experience of maritime speculation.

"Even if I starve to death, I won't surrender to him." Chen Shiying said with hatred. He had fought with him many times during his years as a captain. He knew him inside and out and knew that he was profitable, so he chose to recruit him.

He must not be allowed to succeed, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

But Chen Shiying knew that the officers and soldiers would not last long without money. Many soldiers had secretly gone to Fujian and surrendered to the new Fujian Navy that Zheng Zhilong had just established. If he hadn't been in charge, the Fujian Navy would really have belonged to Zheng Zhilong alone.

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