410 [Victory in the First Battle and the Battle of Japanese Copper]
"Captain, break out quickly!" the adjutant shouted.
Simon said depressedly: "We can't run away. Even if we succeed in breaking through, we will be overtaken by Chinese warships."
The Portuguese fleet was returning home. Whether it was a warship or an armed merchant ship, they were all loaded with cargo. They were very greedy. Even Simon's captain's cabin contained several bundles of silk fabrics, which were Simon's personal goods.
Even if they were more skilled in sailing and more experienced in naval warfare, the flexibility and speed of the Portuguese fleet, which could be fully loaded with cargo, would be greatly reduced.
Fireman Yasan suddenly ran out and muttered: "Sir, surrender."
"Snapped!"
Simon slapped him in the face, sending Fireman Yasan spinning in circles. He said angrily: "The great Portuguese fleet will not surrender to the enemy! Unless..." Simon looked at the huge treasure ship and said
He said dryly, "Unless there is really no chance of winning."
Ya San, the Fire Man, was lying on the deck, his face was burning, and his eyes were extremely sinister.
Deputy Qianhu Dai Zhiquan had also begun to join the ship at this time. The navy officers and soldiers who took the lead in jumping to the gang were greeted by a row of enemy muskets. More than ten people were killed or injured on the spot, but more than thirty people successfully jumped to the gang.
Dai Zhiquan wielded a one-handed sword. Although he was not as powerful as Ning Botao, he still risked his own life and led the charge.
Why did Man Zheng, Dai Zhiquan, Ning Botao and others suddenly become brave?
Because this battle was personally ordered by the emperor, if you lose, you will definitely get nothing good, but if you win, you will gain the emperor's favor!
"My dear sons, it is now time to seal your wives and wives!"
From the slogans shouted by Dai Zhiquan, we know the source of his motivation, which is to earn a future even if he sacrifices his life.
Man Zheng didn't have to bother so much. He took command of the treasure ship and ordered the artillery fire. He only relied on the power of the artillery to bombard him indiscriminately. The treasure ship's infirmary was hit by several cannons and was collapsed, and a big hole was blown out of the hull. However, the treasure ship still survived.
Very strong.
"boom!"
Another 500-pound cannon hit, and the Portuguese auxiliary ship, which had already had its mainmast broken, finally sank at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Simon had made his last effort, but the Chinese treasure ship could not be sunk. He did not dare to go to the side to pick up the ship. Looking at the size of the opponent, he knew that there were many troops on the ship, and the pick-up battle was purely to deliver food to the enemy. He was even more speechless.
Yes, the five-hour storm had already disrupted the Portuguese formation. Now it was almost in chaos, and the number of Ming warships was even greater!
Simon is so disgusted. If he had known earlier, he would have packed less cargo and returned home. Otherwise, he would not have been able to escape for three days without success.
"Raise the white flag!" Simon closed his eyes.
"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" records that when Cao Cao attacked Ye City, Li Fu suggested that he release the young and old in the city and let them surrender with white flags. However, Li Fu blended in with the surrendering crowd and escaped quietly.
The white flag represents surrender, and Man Zheng obviously understands it. The guy smiled to the left and right: "A few days ago, Simon was drinking with me and said that he didn't have a white flag on the ship because the Portuguese fleet never surrendered. You are all bragging, and you are flying a white flag.
Fight more swiftly than anyone else!"
The Portuguese fleet closed their gun windows, dropped their weapons, and gradually moved closer to the treasure ship.
Manzheng immediately ordered the warships to sail out, take over the Portuguese ships, and tie up all the enemy soldiers and take them into custody.
In this battle, Portugal had a total of sixteen ships, two were sunk, two were captured, and the remaining twelve were all seriously damaged. On the way back to Hangzhou, another enemy ship surrendered and sank with its cargo full of cargo.
Entering the sea, the Chinese fleet cannot save it even if it wants to.
As for the Qiantang Navy, more than 80 people died and more than 300 were injured. At least half of the casualties were due to the storm, and there were many unlucky people killed and injured. Two other warships were out of action.
They could be towed back to Hangzhou by friendly ships, but none of them sank. The watertight cabin technology is still very effective.
"It's you!"
Simon was escorted to the treasure ship, and when he saw Man Zheng at first sight, he was immediately furious. The Chinese navy commander in front of him had been drinking with him a few days ago, and he never revealed his identity. He only said that he was a Chinese army general.
Manzheng summoned the fireman Ya San: "You come to translate and tell him what the surprise is."
Fireman Yasan translated: "Sir, the Chinese commander said that he has prepared a surprise for you."
Simon is still arrogant: "You have many ships and they are big, so they cannot be sunk. My fleet is full of cargo, and the draft is too deep to run fast. Otherwise, there are countless tactics to defeat you!"
Fireman Yasan translated it faithfully.
Manzheng burst out laughing: "If you lose, you lose. What excuse can you give yourself?"
A naval officer suddenly reminded: "Commander, we must be careful in the future. When warships go to sea for business, it is best not to bring too much cargo, otherwise it will be difficult to exert their due combat power when encountering real opponents."
"Well," Manzheng nodded and said, "Man will die for wealth, and birds will die for food. You really need to be vigilant."
When the Qiantang Navy, escorting the Portuguese fleet and soldiers, returned to Hangzhou Bay, the entire city of Hangzhou was in a sensation, and the gentry, officials and citizens came to watch the excitement.
Zhu Houzhao personally welcomed the triumphant officers and soldiers, and Man Zheng, Dai Zhiquan and Ning Botao were trembling with excitement.
"Erlang, how about escorting these red-haired ghosts to Beijing and offering them as prisoners to the Imperial Ancestral Temple?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked with a smile.
Wang Yuan replied: "There is no need to mobilize troops for several foreign barbarians. Twenty percent of the captured ships and cargo will be given to the Third Division of Zhejiang Province, and the rest will belong to the Qiantang Navy. As for the officers, soldiers and sailors of the Franco Army,
They are very experienced in naval battles and can be interrogated separately. Non-Portuguese people can be retained and recruited into the Ming Dynasty navy. If they are Portuguese, let the Portuguese governor spend money to redeem them. The price is clearly marked, how much is the captain and how much is the command?
, how much does a sailor cost?”
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zhu Houzhao laughed wildly: "Aren't we, the monarchs and ministers, just kidnappers?"
Wang Yuan argued: "This is Portugal, which took the lead in attacking the fleets of Ming vassals in the Ming Dynasty waters. We have enough legitimate reasons to send troops to intervene. How can we use kidnapping as an analogy?"
"That's OK, just follow what Erlang said." Zhu Houzhao was in a very happy mood.
Wang Yuan also said: "Officials should be sent to Manchuria for negotiation and negotiation by ship. The Folangji fleet is ordered not to use force in the waters of the Ming Dynasty in the future, nor to attack the tributary countries of the Ming Dynasty at will."
"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded and said.
The Japanese and Ryukyu maritime merchants who had narrowly escaped death also came over to congratulate and thank the Ming Dynasty when they heard that the Ming Navy had wiped out the Folangji fleet. They presented "exquisite" goods, knelt outside the Jianghuai Guild Hall, and kowtowed crazily to thank the Ming Dynasty.
The emperor's kindness - in fact, I wanted to see the emperor, and maybe I could get some benefits.
On behalf of the emperor, Wang Yuan learned from them. After some comfort, he directly said to the maritime merchants of the two countries: "Within ten years, merchant ships from all countries will sell copper to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will be exempt from tariffs."
Maritime merchants from both countries were overjoyed because there were also copper mines in the Ryukyu Islands.
As for the Shimadzu clan, they also have copper mines on their territory. Even if their own copper production is not enough, they can purchase copper materials from other Japanese feudal states through the Seto Inland Sea.
The Shimadzu clan is located in the southwest of Kyushu, and the entire Kyushu is covered with copper mines. Because of Wang Yuan's words, the Shimadzu clan quickly started a war, and the war was directed against their neighbor Ganfu clan.
We had no choice but to attack the Sagara clan in the north, but the Sagara clan was in its prime and the Shimazu clan couldn't attack them at all. The only option was to attack the Kanfu clan.
More than ten years ago, the Shimazu family and the Ganfu family were partners, and they went to attack Shibushi Castle together. They fought for three years, but failed to defeat it. The head of the Shimazu family was defeated and committed suicide. Inexplicably, the hatred was attributed to Kanfu.
The conflict between the two families was getting deeper and deeper, and a war could break out at any time. Now that the Ming Dynasty was exempted from the copper tax, interests and hatred were superimposed, and the Shimazu family launched an attack like crazy.
Not only that, the Ouchi clan also gave up on advancing eastward and chose to go south to attack the Shaoer clan and Otomo clan, hoping to occupy several copper mines in Kitakyushu.
A war broke out between the north and south of Kyushu at the same time, known in history as the "Kyushu Island Copper War", and the culprit was Wang Erlang.
Wang Yuan said that he was very innocent. I just wanted to get some copper materials to make money. Who knows that Japanese famous names would just start fighting with each other.