My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 373 The Ming Dynasty is coming!

In order to capture the Ming army fleet in one fell swoop, Chen Zuyi sent out a total of forty ships, all of which were fast ships. It was a huge loss, but this was the result he got.

Chen Zuyi couldn't believe it. He had always been successful in Malacca, but he didn't expect to suffer a big loss this time.

Even his capable general, Lu Mingda, was buried at the bottom of the sea. This time he suffered a huge loss!

The Ming fleet only had six ships. No matter how powerful the Ming ships were, it was impossible for them to defeat his men without any chance of fighting back!
The myth of Chen Zuyi's invincibility has been broken. How will his subordinates view him? Will this make other forces that were already dissatisfied with him start to stir again?
Damn, how did those Ming troops do it?

Chen Zuyi had the temperament of a hero to become the pirate king of Malacca. He forced himself to calm down and ordered his servants to call all the survivors to his house. He wanted to get to the bottom of it!

Soon, the defeated pirates were brought to the palace. After some interrogation, Chen Zuyi finally figured out how his fleet was defeated by the Ming army.

Giant cannons with a range of more than twenty miles, steel battleships, when these words entered his mind, he still couldn't imagine it. How could there be such an incredible thing in the world that a ship made of steel would not sink to the bottom of the sea and could sail quickly on the sea?

But the pirates who escaped back spoke with confidence about the horror of the Ming army's ships, as if they were not ships but invincible steel monsters.

He couldn't imagine it without having seen it with his own eyes. He even suspected that these pirates had colluded with each other to make up such a ridiculous story in order to cover up their own incompetence!

But no matter what the truth is, it cannot change one fact, that is, the Ming army defeated the main force he sent out!

damn it!
Chen Zuyi could not accept this result in any way. He was calculating in his mind how many troops he had left and how many pirate forces he could mobilize to work for him.

He must get this place back, otherwise he, Chen Zuyi, will have no place to stand in Malacca, Srivijaya in the future. Those pirate gangs who surrendered on the surface but harbored ulterior motives in secret must have been eager to show their bloodthirsty fangs.

The reason why Chen Zuyi was able to become the King of Malacca was not only because he had the military wisdom inherited from Chinese civilization, but also because he was good at summarizing his own failures.

After some analysis, he concluded that they should not clash with the Ming fleet in the open sea. The Ming fleet was huge, but the open sea could not restrict the Ming army's actions. So, they should ambush the Ming army again in the Strait of Malacca, just like they forced the Ming fleet to return in the Strait of Malacca last time!
The narrow Strait of Malacca is not conducive to the maneuvering of large ships, making it perfect for ambushes at sea.

This time, we must defeat them completely and win beautifully!

Of course, the premise of all this is that the Ming Dynasty fleet was sailing towards the Strait of Malacca.

In Chen Zuyi's opinion, since the Ming fleet had sailed to Wanli Shitang, it must be heading to the Strait of Malacca. Where else would it go? Would it be Srivijaya?
What a joke! Why did the Ming fleet come to Srivijaya? Are they seeking their own death?
The next day, when Chen Zuyi was contacting various forces and preparing to join forces to create a big surprise for the Ming fleet in Malacca, he received unbelievable news.

The Ming Dynasty’s fleet is really heading towards Srivijaya!

Damn, what are they doing in Srivijaya? Do they know that they are in Srivijaya?
Chen Zuyi didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty would actually dare to send a fleet to his own nest!
Are they going to come ashore to attack us? Crazy, these guys are really crazy, with only six ships and a few thousand people, they dare to come to Srivijaya? Even if the Ming ironclad ships are invincible, you have the guts to come to the land!

In that case, just come here and don’t go back!
As for the Ming ironclad ships that the pirates praised so highly, you can just accept them with ease.

Chen Zuyi had full confidence. Srivijaya was his territory. He was familiar with every inch of the land here. He had the advantage of time, place and people. What could the Ming army use to fight?
He stopped dispatching troops outside, but instead mobilized all the forces distributed outside back to Palembang. For a while, all the docks in Palembang were surrounded by water, and a large number of ships and personnel entered every day.

Moreover, those who came here were outlaws, pirates. They might be a little more disciplined in their own territory, but when they came to the glamorous world of Palembang, their wild hearts were completely let loose.

All of a sudden, the incidence of zero-dollar shopping incidents in Palembang increased rapidly, fights, molestation of women became commonplace, and hacking people to death in the street was not uncommon. This made Palembang, which had been relatively orderly, now a place of chaos.

The sea merchants who came to trade were miserable, and the local people were so angry that they dared not speak out.

However, Chen Zuyi couldn't care less about so many things. The lives of the people of Palembang didn't matter now. The most important thing at the moment was to fight against the impending Ming army.

He stationed heavy troops at all the docks of Palembang, and even set up cannons that he had smuggled from Annan at a high price on the shore. He turned the entire Palembang into a heavily guarded fortress, and received a steady stream of pirate support.

The number of pirates gathered in Palembang has exceeded 30,000, and the number of ships is as high as hundreds. This makes Palembang, which was originally a large seaport on the island of Sumatra, seem a bit crowded at this time.

Just as the pirates were howling about killing the Light Dogs, the Ming fleet, as they wished, appeared at the end of the horizon.

Now the pirates became even crazier. They held swords, guns, muskets and other weapons and shouted wildly on the defense line set up on the shore, waiting for the Ming army to come and kill them.

However, what they did not expect was that just as the Ming fleet was getting closer and closer to Palembang, it suddenly stopped and no longer moved forward.

The pirates saw this scene, and they became even more crazy and proud. They shouted one after another that the Ming dogs were scared and dared not to move forward, and what a shitty Celestial Empire, if you don't want to die, just go back quickly and so on.

Chen Zuyi frowned. What was the Ming Dynasty fleet doing? They came all the way to Srivijaya just to see the scenery?
At this time on the Dingyuan battleship, the gunners at the main gun position had already made preparations. Inside the bridge, Xu Da and Li Wenzhong were observing the terrain of the Palembang Wharf with telescopes, while Tang He was looking at the map, trying to find a suitable place for landing.

"Tsk tsk, the shore is full of people. What kind of defense formation is this? Has Chen Zuyi ever read the Art of War?"

Xu Da was looking through the telescope while muttering, "Everyone is piled together. There is no defense in depth. They don't even know how many lines of defense they have set up. Do you really think fighting is just about piling people together? How is that different from a street fight?"

Li Wenzhong smiled and said, "Maybe they are good at naval warfare but not at land warfare. Besides, our mode of warfare is unique in the world. No one can keep up with our war rhythm!"

(End of this chapter)