In the two Anglo-Dutch naval battles that have occurred, the scale of the fleets mobilized by both sides was extremely astonishing.
A fleet of this size can be easily assembled by either the Netherlands or the United Kingdom.
But, that was in mainland Europe!
Currently, in this three-thirds of an acre of East Asia, this Ming fleet is absolutely invincible.
Whether it is the Qing court, North Korea, Japan, or those countries on the Indochina Peninsula.
Even if their naval strength is combined, they are no match for the Ming fleet in front of them!
This is what makes Vanderlaan and Brown despair.
Facing the Ming Dynasty's fleet, they were really powerless to resist!
Shi Lang gritted his teeth and said.
"Send the order and have the fire attack ships prepare to attack the Ming fleet!"
Shi Lang had already made plans on how to face the Ming navy.
Fire attack was the method he came up with!
Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong, the father and son, were able to rely on fire attack tactics to win many battles against the Dutch, and the weak defeated the strong.
Now, he, Shi Lang, might be able to replicate the miracle created by the Zheng family and his sons!
The Ming army's fleet lined up and pressed towards Zhoushan port.
The navy of the Qing army began to hoist the sails, pull out the anchor, and sail out of the port.
One after another, Qing army speedboats were loaded with sails and headed towards the Ming army fleet.
Zheng Chenggong put down his telescope and reported to Zhu Hongyu who was standing aside.
"Your Highness, Qinglu may have the idea of attacking with fire!"
Seeing what the Qing army was thinking, Zheng Chenggong didn't panic at all.
Speaking of fire attack, he is the ancestor!
When the enemy has the advantage in firepower, fire attack means, to put it bluntly, human lives are exchanged for victory.
You must know that when the Zheng family used fire attacks to deal with the Dutch sailing battleships, the Zheng family had an absolute advantage in military strength.
Dozens or hundreds of ships, large and small, besieged a Dutch sailing battleship!
Combined fire attack, artillery attack, and jumping gang!
It’s impossible for the Dutch not to rush into the street!
However, the current battle situation is that the Ming army has an absolute advantage in strength, an absolute advantage in warship tonnage, and an absolute advantage in artillery power.
Then they blocked the Qing army in the port.
Judging from the current situation, Shi Lang's fire attack has no chance of success!
As the Qing army's fire attack ships gradually approached the Ming army's fleet, while the Ming army's artillery opened fire, small boats were also released to intercept the Qing army's fire attack ships.
A simple rocket launcher is set up on the small boat!
Prepare to wait until the distance between the two sides closes, and then use a salvo of rockets to deal with the Qing army's fire attack ship.
Boom! Boom!
The sound of shelling echoed throughout the sea.
The Ming army's naval guns began to pour out firepower, and shells fell towards the Qing army's fire attack ships as if they were free of charge.
The red-hot bomb hit the Qing army's fire attack ship. In just an instant, the fire attack ship filled with fuel, hay and other ignition materials burst into flames.
Fire shot into the sky and black smoke billowed!
In the blink of an eye, the fire attack ship, which was hit by a cannonball, was engulfed in fire.
The wreckage sank to the bottom of the sea!
Solid bombs were fired at the Qing ships overwhelmingly.
Click! Click! Click!
The solid cannonballs flew, splinters of wood flew everywhere on the ships hit by the cannonballs, and large holes were ripped out of the sides.
Sea water poured into the hull, and the hull gradually sank!
After rifling the artillery and installing a flintlock engine, the range and accuracy of the Ming army's artillery were greatly improved.
The two sides were two to three hundred meters apart, but the Ming army's naval guns still caused a lot of casualties to the Qing army.
The fire attack fleet, which Shi Lang regarded as his trump card, suffered heavy losses in the blink of an eye!
Then, blocked by the Ming army's speedboat, the Qing army's fire attack speedboat was completely blocked.
Phew! Phew!
A harsh sound broke through the air, and rockets fell towards the Qing army's fire attack fleet.
Cannonballs hit the Qing army's fire attack ships one after another. Amidst the rumbling explosions, the Qing army ships were engulfed in flames.
Shi Lang looked at the scene in front of him in horror, his whole body trembling slightly.
Looking at the Ming fleet that was gradually pressing over, he seemed to see a scene in which the Qing navy was severely damaged and even completely annihilated.
"Breakout!"
"Spread out and break out with all your strength!"
In order to avoid such a thing from happening, Shi Lang made a quick decision and shouted loudly.
The flag of the Qing fleet changed, and one by one the Qing warships gave up their plans to fight in formation and compete with the Ming army.
Start using ships as the basic unit and prepare to break out in all directions!
If the Qing navy was really stubborn, it would have to fight the Ming navy and compete.
Then, the fate awaiting them would be to be severely damaged or even completely annihilated.
However, if the Qing navy chooses to retreat first and then disperse to break out.
Although the Ming army's fleet blocked the port, it was not that easy to completely annihilate the Qing army.
In the end, many Qing warships will definitely take advantage of the chaos and escape!
Duolong grabbed Shi Lang and asked in a very solemn tone.
"Admiral Shi, if the navy withdraws like this, what will happen to the troops and horses on Zhoushan Island?!"
The Qing Navy has pulled anchor, but the Qing Army is still repairing in the Qing camp on Zhoushan Island.
If the navy pulls anchor at this time, the land forces deployed by the Qing court in Zhoushan may be surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army on Zhoushan Island!
The Ming army did not even need to attack, they only needed to use naval forces to cut off the internal and external traffic on Zhoushan Island.
The Qing army on Zhoushan Island is about to be defeated!
Doron gritted his teeth and said.
"Admiral Shi!"
"You have to know that on Zhoushan Island, there are almost all elite soldiers from the Green Camp in the south and north of the Yangtze River!"
"There are still more than a thousand Eight Banners stationed in Jiangning!"
"If we abandon them, we will never be able to explain to the court!"
If the elite Green Camp in Jiangnan and more than a thousand Jiangning Eight Banners were really wiped out by the Ming Dynasty.
Not to mention their official hats, it is still unknown whether Shi Lang and Duolong can save their heads.
Shi Lang shook off Duolong's hand and spoke with a very firm tone that left no room for doubt.
"It's too late to organize the troops on the island to board the ship and evacuate!"
"If our navy breaks through now, there may be some warships and sailors who can break through the encirclement of the Ming thieves."
"But if our army continues to delay in the port, I am afraid that the Ming thieves will completely block the port, and even the Navy will not be able to break out!"
"Which is the lesser of two powers that harm each other, we must make a decision!"
Facing Shi Lang's straight eyes, Duolong's expression kept changing, but he still spoke.
"At the very least! At the very least, we must bring the more than a thousand Jiangning Eight Banners on the island with us!"
To the Qing court, it didn't matter how many Green Camps died. As long as the Eight Banners were not damaged, it wasn't a big problem.
The Qing court would not care about the lives of a group of Han untouchables!
Shi Lang shook his head and said.
"That's too late!"
"The Ming thief's navy has almost completely blocked the port."
While Shi Lang and Doron were arguing, the sail battleships led by Vanderlaan and Brown unloaded their anchors and set sail, heading out of the port.
When a disaster is imminent, as foreigners, it is natural for them to flee for their own lives.
I won’t continue to quarrel with the Qing army in the port!