Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 714: Just Sweat in My Eyes
As the saying goes, you are like your employees, and you are like your boss. To be honest, Zhu Youdong suffers from the stubborn disease of insufficient firepower fear much more seriously than Sun Yuanhua and others.
After the breakthrough in electrification research, Zhu Youdong proposed to build a high-speed torpedo destroyer first, as the construction period of a 10,000-ton battleship was very long. When Zhu Youxiao and a group of designers came up with the first draft, the emperor cut off the No. 2 turret and the tail gun at the bow of this type of destroyer, leaving only a 75mm bow gun.
In Zhu Youdong's words: The only mission of this type of warship is to attack with torpedoes. Why keep so many naval guns? Cannon battles? Can a small ship of 2,000 tons participate in a fleet decisive battle? As for intimidating unarmed ships, even without torpedoes, a 75mm gun is enough.
After such a fierce attack, all the tonnage saved was used for torpedoes.
However, it was only 2,000 tons, and the steam engine was too big. In order to increase the self-sustaining capacity, more space had to be left for coal, bottled water, various canned meats, fruits and vegetables, etc. Moreover, the torpedoes at this time were purely propelled by air, and the volume was also very large... Therefore, the 2,000-ton torpedo ship of the Ming Dynasty was fully loaded with only 16 torpedoes.
Ten torpedo boats, 160 torpedoes. Even in this battlefield with favorable weather and terrain, facing a bunch of merchant ships that have no ability to fight back, it is impossible to guarantee a hit rate of more than 50%: the speed of this old man's torpedo is several knots per hour, which is slower than some merchant ships.
However, from the beginning of this battle, Zhou Yuji never thought of simply using torpedoes to resolve the battle: torpedoes are used to drive these poor "lambs" running around. It's best to hit them, but it doesn't matter if they miss: as long as the orderly enemy transport fleet can be panicked and forced to turn and evade in the narrow safe waterway, that's enough.
At 10:40 p.m., Zhou Yuji's fleet, which had fired four rounds of torpedoes totaling 160 torpedoes at four different locations in the enemy's fleet that stretched for more than 20 kilometers, retreated unscathed, leaving only Major General Garcia, who had already sailed out of the minefield, and Lieutenant General Alfonso, who had not yet entered the minefield, in a mess in the hot and windless air.
At six o'clock on the 26th, as the morning light gradually brightened, the Spanish Navy, with better visibility, finally calculated the loss data of last night.
"Your Excellency, last night, we, wuwu..."
"Stand up straight, Lopez." Completely different from what the people below imagined, Count Alfonso at this moment did not have any negative emotions such as decadence, anger, or even madness. On the contrary, he supported the young staff officer very calmly and said, "Go on, I'm listening."
"Woo, woo, yes, sir. Last night, only about 40 of our transport ships were sunk by Chinese torpedoes. But because of the chaos in the fleet, many ships entered the minefield from the safe waterway... After statistics, there are only 71 transport ships left out of the 200. The total tonnage lost, woo, woo, is 680,000 tons."
"Okay, I understand." Alfonso turned around and picked up a wax-sealed letter from his desk with a calm expression. "Lopez, please pass it to Major General Garcia. Tell him that I am not feeling well and that I am handing over the command to him now."
“…Yes, sir.”
"It seems that you have understood something. Hey, good boy, you must live well. The future of the Spanish Navy is in your hands."
After saying this, Alfonso waved his hand and asked the young staff officer to leave the commander's private cabin, then locked the cabin door from the inside.
"This time... I really underestimated the enemy. As expected, fighting the Chinese is like dancing on the edge of a cliff. If you are not careful, you will fall into the abyss."
After whispering these words to himself, he stood up, took out an exquisitely decorated pistol from the drawer of his desk, and slowly began to add bullets to the magazine of the pistol.
He had no choice but to take this path: for this expedition, Spain, in addition to the navy's own fifty transport ships, also requisitioned more than five hundred merchant ships. Among them, in order to ensure the supply of the army, all the new merchant ships on the route from India to Southeast Asia were steam-powered and steel-shelled, which had been launched in the past twenty years. In this Bangkok retreat, in addition to leaving more than sixty transport ships and merchant ships for Turenne, the two hundred transport ships brought by Alfonso's fleet had a total tonnage of nearly one million tons - this tonnage was one-fifth of the total tonnage of all merchant ships in the European Union!
However, due to his own command errors, nearly 700,000 tons were thrown away in one night!
No fleet commander would have the nerve to live on when faced with such a result.
Not to mention, after losing such a large amount of transport, how many times would the remaining ships have to turn back to the west of the Malay Peninsula and how much time would it take to transport Gustav's main corps back to India - and the extension of the retreat time often means increased danger. After all, judging from the course of this war, except for the first two years in India, the Chinese performed a little worse. At other times, whether it is courage, wisdom, equipment or even officer strategy, the Chinese are no worse than the European Union Army! Faced with an army that has lost its fortifications and is forced to crowd into the oppressive Malay Peninsula and cannot retreat for a long time, the Chinese will never be soft!
If the army also suffered heavy losses after losing a large number of merchant ships due to the navy's weakness, there is no doubt that the EU's dignitaries, wealthy businessmen, and army would want to cut him into eight pieces - even the navy itself would wish that he could commit suicide!
So, there is only one way out, suicide. Damn the rule that Christians cannot commit suicide. I just hope that His Majesty Philip will consider my knowledge and sensibility and not embarrass my family.
A group of Spanish naval officers in white uniforms gathered quietly at the door of the commander's cabin. As everyone held their breath, a dull snap came from the cabin - on September 26, 1641, Lieutenant General Alfonso, the Count, who had fought against the Ming Navy many times on the sea, committed suicide.
When someone commits suicide, someone else is happy. At this time, the atmosphere in Singapore Port is naturally different.
"Eh? Zhijun? You are almost fifty years old, why are you still crying? Hahaha, everyone come and see, Zhijun is actually crying."
"How dare you slander me like this. Wow, this, wow, is this tears? It's just sweat from my eyes!"
As the Governor-General of Central and South China, Peng Ziqin's mood at this moment is something that ordinary soldiers who are simply happy cannot understand.
The rank of the Governor-General of Central and Southern China in the court was the second rank, an absolutely high-ranking official. It was precisely because of his high rank that although Singapore had not yet been connected to the mainland by wired telegraph, communication ships would regularly send him the court's major policies for his reading.
It was precisely because he had so much information that Peng Ziqin realized how difficult it was for the Ming Dynasty to achieve this great victory.
After the defeat in the Battle of Malacca two years ago, the Ming Dynasty lost control of the sea and the overall situation in the war had fallen into a passive position. The four kings of Chu, Shu, Zhou and Tang were forced to abandon their countries and flee. Rebellion broke out in Annan, and some Burmese and Siamese began to follow the Europeans... The vassal system of the Ming Dynasty had already shown signs of collapse.
The Nanyang maritime trade was cut off, and the economy of the Ming Dynasty and even the vassal states was severely damaged. As a student from Fangshan, how could Peng Ziqin not know that the economy was the foundation of the superstructure? If the economy was really in chaos, how could the emperor's rule be stable?
In order to reverse this situation, the Ming Dynasty planned a counterattack. But without sea power, how could such a counterattack be easy?
The Ming Dynasty began to formulate the Bai Qi Plan, hoping to lure the enemy into the plains and replicate the Battle of Changping. Unfortunately, the idea was good, but it was seen through by the enemy.
Later, the Jia Xu Plan was formulated, which was intended to make a feint to the east and attack in the west. As a result, the enemy's army landed on the Malay Peninsula. The plan to destroy the enemy's navy and army at the same time on the sea failed.
The minefield set up out of desperation would actually be useless as long as the enemy was a little more patient and cautious - who knows, Zhou Yuji would lead ten torpedo ships in desperation to launch a suicide charge!
The enemy is stronger and more cunning than ever before! Time and again, our strategies are either completely discovered by the enemy or have little effect!
God have mercy on us, after trying so many tricks, one of them finally worked: in one night, hundreds of enemy transport ships were destroyed!
Although the enemy's warships were unscathed, Peng Ziqin, who came out of Fangshan, knew that from then on, sea power, at least the sea power in Southeast Asia, began to tilt towards the Ming Dynasty again.
Because sea power does not belong exclusively to the side that wins the fleet battle. How to quickly deploy your own forces through the sea to obtain resources and benefits. And prevent the enemy from deploying forces to obtain and benefits - this is the most important aspect of sea power! Now that the transport capacity of the pirates has been cut by more than half, how can they still have sea power?
If the Ming Dynasty eventually regains the maritime power in Southeast Asia, then will victory be far away?
"General, I am very lucky to have fulfilled my mission."
"General Zhou's battle can be regarded as a national achievement! Alas, it is only because Singapore is not communicating with the mainland at this time. Otherwise, if the emperor knew this news, he would be very pleased! But General Zhou, please rest assured. I have already sent six communication ships to Phnom Penh overnight. The heroic deeds of General Zhou and 1,300 naval officers and soldiers will surely be widely sung in our Ming Dynasty!"
