Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

A few hundred steps away, the first to emerge from the fog was a white-bottomed sailboat about four meters high.

The boat has a pointed bottom, a raised bow and a raised stern, two masts, and three levels of cabins.

Dozens of warships of various types appeared on both sides of the big ship. When they reached the shooting distance, the flag bearer on the top of the big ship waved the flag, and the entire fleet immediately changed its posture.

As it was just daybreak, there were no soldiers on the ships docked at the pier. Most of them were craftsmen responsible for repairing and modifying the ships, as well as a few soldier supervisors.

Following Xu Dacheng's shrill shout, the dock suddenly became chaotic.

Boom-boom-boom

Without any extra words, this mysterious fleet immediately began firing at the harbor filled with ships.

Especially the bow gun of that big ship, the sound was like thunder, and just one shot blew a temporary artillery position on the dock into pieces.

"Gao Sheng, you good-for-nothing, didn't the governor tell you to deploy more sentry boats outside the river?" Xu Dacheng shouted angrily at the chief supervisor Gao Sheng.

After nearly a month of clearing out, he had already requisitioned or destroyed most of the usable ships long before Zhang Shikang's army arrived in Yingtian Prefecture.

Logically speaking, it would be impossible for that bastard Zhang Shikang to recruit a navy strong enough to compete with him in such a short period of time.

But where did this fleet come from?

"Reply... reply to your question, I did deploy a patrol boat, but it's foggy today..."

"Big your mother's head!

Quick, call those bastards in the barracks out to fight the enemy!" Xu Dacheng anxiously shouted to Gao Sheng while dodging the artillery fire.

Now is not the time to pursue responsibility. Those dozens of warships were obviously experienced in battles. After firing the bow guns, they began to turn their rudders collectively on the river.

The deputy was just a servant in his family before and had never seen such a scene. He was so frightened that he couldn't even speak clearly and stumbled towards the military camp.

But it was too late. The commander of the invading enemy had a very clear target, which was the temporary artillery position built on the Dantu Wharf.

Dozens of enemy ships fired a salvo from their bow guns, and almost half of the guns on the dock were destroyed by shells.

A few breaths later, dozens of warships completed their collective turning, and only then did Gao Sheng arrive late with several teams of ragged naval soldiers.

When the local fleet's side guns were pushed out of the cabin, Xu Dacheng was heartbroken.

He knew where the fleet came from.

The leading flagship was a huge Fu ship, and it was the largest Fu ship No. 1 among all the Fu ships.

On both sides of the flagship, there were twenty or thirty Ganzeng ships serving as the main warships, which were also a type of large Fujian ships.

However, whether it is the silk-carrying ship or the enemy's flagship, they are not comparable to the canal transport ships in the dock. The cost of building just one ship is as high as hundreds of thousands of taels, not including the configuration of firearms such as cannons.

Apart from the imperial court, who else in the entire Ming Dynasty could be so generous?

The Zheng family! It must be the Zheng family, then Zheng Zhilong!

Apart from the Zheng family, Xu Dacheng couldn't think of anyone else.

But what's the use of figuring it out? Not to mention that the ships at the dock are currently docked for reorganization. Even if the troops are fully equipped, the more than 300 modified canal boats at the dock are no match for this fleet.

A cannon boat is a cannon boat. Even if it is equipped with twelve cannons, it is still a cannon boat.

There were sixteen cannons on one side of the silk-carrying ship, and the huge Fujian ship was even more terrifying.

It's over! It's over! Everything is over!

This was what Xu Dacheng was thinking at the moment.

As if confirming his guess, a moment later, the side guns of dozens of warships made deafening noises one after another.

Boom boom boom — boom boom —

This time, the enemy ships were still targeting the artillery on the dock. Hundreds of shells poured down on the dock, which was not very large to begin with, and the navy soldiers who had just arrived were all sent to meet their death.

After the artillery fire on one side, the attack did not stop. From the attack windows on the ship, large and small muskets, squirt guns, crossbows, and gunpowder guns were extended, shooting indiscriminately at the soldiers still alive on the dock...

In just half a quarter of an hour, Dantu Wharf lost its ability to attack.

Once the port lost the support of the artillery, the hundreds of grain ships in the dock became lambs to be slaughtered.

The deafening sound of muskets continued to ring in the air. Xu Dacheng watched as the dock artillery and the artillerymen were defeated. He fainted on the ground in fear, and several of his subordinates hurriedly carried him away.

On the flagship, Zheng Zhibiao held a telescope in his hand and looked calmly at the noisy and chaotic Dantu Port, giving various orders to the second mate beside him from time to time.

"Biaozi, since they have lost their ability to defend themselves, it would be a shame to destroy these canal boats at the dock. Can you think of a way to take them away?"

Zhang Shikang was playing with the monocular telescope given to him by Zheng Zhibiao, and asked Zheng Zhibiao in a very familiar manner.

If the more than 300 grain ships could be packed up and taken away, they would be a great help whether for transporting food or troops. Zhang Shikang's eyes lit up as he looked at the grain ships filling the dock.

This is the second time the two have met.

As early as a few days ago, when Zheng Zhibiao led a grain transport ship to Yangzhou, Zhang Shikang had already set his sights on attacking Zheng's navy.

Because apart from seeking external aid, Zhang Shikang really had no way to cross the river in a short period of time.

After all, the Zheng family is a big merchant family. As the saying goes, business is business. Zhang Shikang originally thought that persuading the Zheng family to send the navy to join this war would take some effort and would probably cost some price.

But unexpectedly, it went surprisingly smoothly. Zheng Zhibiao agreed to help without even asking his brother Zheng Zhilong for permission.

There was no mention even of money.

This attack also greatly broadened Zhang Shikang's horizons.

Before this, Zhang Shikang had never even been on a ship. It was only after boarding this Fujian ship that he realized that a fleet could be so complex.

The flagship of this fleet is a Fu ship No. 1, and the main warship is a Gan Zeng ship which is two circles smaller than the Fu ship No. 1. There are thirty-six Gan Zeng ships.

But there are more than sixty auxiliary ships assisting these more than thirty main warships.

This includes light ships such as eagle ships, bird ships, and net shuttle ships used for reconnaissance and quick action, as well as Cangshan ships and Haicang ships used to resist enemies that come too close...

The most important thing is that this fleet not only has solid hardware, but its naval soldiers are also very courageous and they are obviously elite at first glance.

In fact, this fleet had been waiting in the sea outside Yangzhou four days ago. The reason they chose to attack today was because the first mate on the ship calculated that there would be fog today.

Zhang Shikang was greatly shocked at the time. To him, who in later generations would only look at the weather forecast before deciding whether to bring an umbrella when going out, those who could predict the weather based on their knowledge and eyes were all talented people.

Setting out from the estuary of Yangzhou, they relied on the cover of fog and, after discovering the enemy's sentry boats, they swarmed over with eagle boats and bird boats, leaving the enemy no chance to escape.

So much so that the enemy was unaware that the fleet had sailed to Dantu Port.

There is no doubt that Zhang Shikang has a very strong interest in this fleet.

Alas, how great it would be if he and Brother Chongzhen had such a fleet!

Zheng Zhibiao put down the telescope in his hand and said with a hint of dissatisfaction:

"Marshal, my name is Zheng Zhibiao, you can call me by my name."

After that, Zheng Zhibiao added:

"General, if I send my men to fetch the boats, I will have to bear the casualties. If the enemy's musket team arrives, the risk will be even greater.

These are just some old canal boats that are of no use. It's not worth it."

……