Chongzhen Ming Dynasty: Starting from Meishan Main Text Volume Chapter 770 Nanyang Fan Compared with the East India Company's new Batavia Governor Matt Kosol, Commander-in-Chief Tropp of the Netherlands Expeditionary Fleet is much more cautious.
Huizheng discussed the prospects of this battle with his fierce general Leut.
"Here." Tropp handed Luyter a glass of white wine and said with some worry, "For this expedition, our Republic of the Netherlands paid a heavy price, not only recognizing the "Navigation Regulations" issued by the Kingdom of England.
", and also transferred a large number of trade benefits to the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Spain."
"If the final result is not satisfactory, there is really no way to explain it to the parliament."
After a pause, he added: "It won't be a question of whether to step down or not. Maybe the two of us will be hanged on the gallows by the angry shareholders of the East India Company."
"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, please trust my judgment." Luyter said solemnly, "I have been following my father to sea as a trainee crew member since I was 11 years old, and I have been a captain since I was 28 years old. I am even more familiar with the sea than the land. I believe
I, a big ship that can sail quickly without sails, will have prospects beyond people's imagination."
"Once all our merchant ships in the Netherlands are transformed into such ships, the trade between the oceans will no longer be affected by the climate, and the efficiency will be greatly improved. And the fleet of our Republic of the Netherlands will also be
It will constitute a crushing advantage over the navies of neighboring countries."
Tropp said: "Is this why you insist on gathering such a huge fleet?"
"Yes." Luyter said solemnly, "This big black ship of the Ming Dynasty is not only covered with thick iron armor on the surface of the hull, but also does not use sails to drive it. This has already affected all European countries including our Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The navy of the Ming Dynasty poses a fatal threat. If the Ming Dynasty's navy cannot be strangled in the cradle before it grows up, the consequences will be unimaginable. By then, the European countries will lose not only the interests of the Eastern Route, but also the interests of South Asia and Black Africa.
All will be lost, which is simply a disaster for the Netherlands, which relies heavily on trade."
"Leut, I have always believed in your judgment." Tropp patted Leut on the shoulder and continued, "Because I believed in you, I tried my best to convince the majority of the members of Parliament and the East India Company.
The majority shareholder, Luyter, go ahead and do it, I believe you can take the Netherlands Navy to a new level."
Leut said solemnly: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, we can now discuss the tactical issues."
"Okay." Tropp handed the wine glass to the attendant and spread the chart on the long conference table. "Leut, what do you think of this battle with the Ming Dynasty?"
I saw that the nautical chart spread out on the table was a little rough, but it was roughly correct.
In particular, the coastline of the Ming Dynasty has very small errors, which shows that a lot of thought was spent on drawing this navigation chart.
Luyter patted the navigation chart and said solemnly: "Based on the information provided by the missionaries, it is basically certain that the shipyard where the big black ship was built is here, Nanjing City."
"So my opinion is to concentrate all the main forces, go up the river, and capture the city of Nanjing directly."
"The Ming Dynasty is too big. It is unimaginable to destroy the Ming Dynasty in one battle. However, it is not difficult to capture Nanjing and force the Ming Dynasty to negotiate peace with us. Moreover, after capturing Nanjing, we can naturally obtain the construction technology of the big black ship and use it to build the Ming Dynasty."
These technologies were brought back to the shipyards in Amsterdam."
"So, what are the chances of winning this battle?" Tropp said with some worry, "As you know, these big black ships of the Ming Dynasty not only do not need sails to drive, but also have larger tonnage than our battleships.
What's even more troublesome is that the surface of these big black ships is also covered with thick iron armor, and our naval guns may not be able to penetrate the iron armor of the black ships."
[Note: The name battleship comes from the fact that battleships need to be lined up in a row during combat, and has nothing to do with tonnage. At this time, most of the main sailing battleships in Europe were one thousand tons, and there were very few two-thousand-ton battleships. Only Spain's
The Galen class has 3,000-ton battleships]
The tonnage, protection and naval gun performance were not as good as those of the Ming Dynasty's navy, and Tropp lacked confidence.
Leut advised: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, in addition to the tonnage, speed and artillery performance of the battleship, the decisive factor that determines the victory of a naval battle is the quality of the crew, and the most important thing is the correct tactics, not to mention our Ned
In addition to 50 battleships, Lan's expedition fleet also had more than 200 merchant ships. The huge advantage in numbers was enough to make up for the disadvantages in tonnage, protection and gun firepower. Coupled with excellent crews and correct tactics, victory was not difficult.
"
"The right tactic?" Tropp asked. "So what tactic are you going to use?"
"Keep the Ming Navy in the port and destroy it!" Leut said. "I have carefully studied the climate and hydrology of the Far East. From May and June every year, hurricanes often rage. At this time, not only the fishermen of the Ming Dynasty will
Hide back to the coastal port, and their warships will also return to the port. We will take advantage of this moment to quietly send troops."
As he spoke, he pointed to the Yangtze River and said: "Advance along the Yangtze River all the way to Nanjing City."
"By the time the Ming army discovered our fleet, we had already reached the outside of Nanjing."
"At that time, we only need to deploy the main force of the expedition fleet in a fan shape outside the Ming Dynasty shipyard, and we can form a concentrated fire advantage over the Ming Dynasty warships anchored in the port. However, the Ming Dynasty's big black ships are crowded together and difficult to deploy, so they can only
Ship after ship was sunk by our expedition fleet."
After a pause, Luyter said with a smile: "Unless the Ming Dynasty people have a way to drive their big black ship to land, it will only be sunk by us."
Hearing this, Tropp was completely relieved.
"Leut, I still said what I just said."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Let go and do it boldly."
"You will become the greatest naval commander-in-chief in the history of our Netherlands."
"Thank you for your trust, Commander-in-Chief." Leut said solemnly, "I will not let you down, nor will I let down the members of the Netherlands Parliament and the shareholders of the East India Company."
…
I have to say that Luyter's idea is very good.
Unfortunately, Ming Dynasty did not give him a chance.
While the Dutch expedition fleet was still waiting for the opportunity in Batavia, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fleets of the Ming Navy had already completed all preparations for the expedition.
All officers and non-commissioned officers who were on leave returned to the army.
All supplies, including fresh water and canned fruits and vegetables, were delivered to the ship.
All ammunition for 4-inch naval guns and 6-inch naval guns were also distributed to every war shed.
Chongzhen also equipped each cruiser with two additional Type 25 multi-barrel heavy machine guns.
Everything was ready, but just when Zheng Zhilong was gearing up to do something big, an accident happened.
That night, Zheng Zhilong was so happy that he drank a few more drinks with Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Zhipeng, Zheng Cai, Zheng Sen, Zheng Du, Zheng En and other brothers and nephews. As a result, his right ankle swelled into a big radish that night.
After Chongzhen heard the news, he hurried to Zheng's mansion to visit. Seeing Zheng Zhilong's ankles swollen like carrots, Chongzhen looked worried on the surface, but he was very happy in his heart.
It’s not in vain that he has rewarded me with seafood and beer over the years.
After years and months, Zheng Zhilong's gout finally broke out.
Gout is not a life-threatening thing, but the pain is really painful, and the pain will be even worse if you move the key.
Zheng Zhilong was worried about losing this opportunity and struggled to get off the ground. As a result, as soon as his right foot touched the ground, it hurt so much that big beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. In this case, it was just wishful thinking to go on an expedition.
"How could this happen?" Chongzhen said with regret, "What should we do?"
Zheng Zhilong sighed and said lonelyly: "Your Majesty, my leg is dead and I can't move it anymore."
Chongzhen also sighed and said helplessly: "In this case, let's cancel this expedition. Without you, Zheng Qing, to take charge, I really lack the confidence in my heart. I'd better wait until later."
"This is absolutely impossible." Zheng Zhilong hurriedly advised, "How can military and national affairs be trivial?"
Next to him, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Zhibao, Shi Tianfu and others also advised Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, there is no turning back when you open your bow. Since the will to go out has been issued, troops must be sent out, otherwise it will easily dampen morale."
Hearing this, Chongzhen said with some embarrassment: "But this leg of the Duke of Fujian..."
Zheng Zhilong said sadly: "Your Majesty, my fourth brother Hongkui, my fifth brother Zhibao and my younger brother Zhipeng are already familiar with naval warfare. Shi Tianfu and Shi Lang's uncle and nephew are even more brave and brave. It doesn't matter even if I am not in the army."
"That's alright." Chongzhen said with some reluctance, clapped his legs, "Then let Zheng Sen lead the air force in the expedition."
It was also part of Chongzhen's plan to let Zheng Sen lead the air force on an expedition, because this expedition was not only a naval battle, but also needed to wipe out all the strongholds of European countries in Southeast Asia. This task could not be completed by the navy alone, and the air force and army were also required.
, and with the help of air combat, it will be much easier.
Because most of the strongholds and cities built by European countries in Southeast Asia were bastions.
It is difficult for the army's artillery alone to destroy the bastions of these large and small strongholds in a short period of time.
But with the help of the Air Force, the situation is completely different, because the Air Force's "flying cars" have been greatly improved. They are equipped with small turbines, fly faster, have a longer range, and are more resistant to interference. The biggest improvement
As a result, the amount of ammunition carried has increased significantly, from the previous 200 kilograms to the current full 500 kilograms.
If the range is not considered, it can even carry one thousand kilograms of bombs when performing short-distance bombing.
With an ammunition carrying capacity of one thousand kilograms, it can already carry ten heavy bombs of one hundred kilograms.
Moreover, the Firearms Department has successfully developed a new type of incendiary bomb, which is made by cracking crude oil to obtain gasoline and diesel and then mixing it with grease to make a bomb similar to napalm. It is very cruel.