Chapter 910 The end of Shibazhi

For the Eighteen Zhiyu Party members on the island, death is not actually the most terrifying thing. They have been wandering around the world for so many years and have seen many life and death incidents. But when the moment of destruction really comes, among them,

Most people still inevitably think about their own aftermath. After dying on this island, will their bones be collected? Will there be a chance to send the bones back to their hometown for burial? Will their family members be able to live with them for the rest of their lives?

Being reduced to slavery or hard labor, even if these people are all outlaws, they will still be troubled by what happened after their death. And the decision made by Zheng Zhilong, as the leader, will undoubtedly have a great impact on their final fate.

Zheng Zhilong didn't know the seriousness of the current situation. Haihan came to Miyako Island this time with the obvious purpose of chasing his group to death. He won and lost, and he didn't complain too much about this.

After all, if he stood in the position of winner, he probably would not let go of his opponent Xu Xinsu. Presumably among the people who invaded the island with the Haihan Army this time, there must be people sent by Xu Xinsu. If he were

Xu Xinsu probably wouldn't be able to rest assured if he didn't die. It's just that he also had the same concerns as his subordinates. Death is not difficult, but what's difficult is not letting go of what happens after death.

Zheng Zhilong is not actually a man of integrity. He has taken refuge with countless masters in his life. If he sees whoever is powerful, he will choose to join his camp. This is the main reason why Haihan never thought of surrendering to him.

One, because this guy is so unreliable. But he has never chosen to surrender during the years of dealing with Haihan. This is because Haihan has never given him a chance to communicate. On the other hand, he has not given him a chance to communicate.

He was really a little unconvinced. Why would he lose again and again every time he encountered Haihan, and he had no victory in the past few years? How could he use this kind of performance to negotiate terms with the Haihan people? Even if they were reduced, they would only lose.

Being treated as an incompetent loser with no chance of being reused by the Haihan people was not the result Zheng Zhilong wanted.

However, under the current situation, what needs to be considered is no longer what kind of treatment you can get after surrendering, but whether it is really necessary to resist to the end, otherwise the result will be that all the fish are dead and the net cannot be broken. Neither is willing to accept it.

Surrendering to his opponent, but not wanting to die in Miyako Island without any explanation, Zheng Zhilong felt that he had never been so torn before in his life.

Zheng Zhilong hopes that his men can come up with a feasible plan so that he can make up his mind to continue fighting the Haihan people to the end. However, his capable generals have suffered a lot in previous battles with the Haihan people. The so-called Shibazhi

Now there are less than half left, and the rest are either brave and foolhardy, or they are only good at business, and there is no one who can come up with ideas and solutions. Whether it is war or surrender, the fate of thousands of subordinates on the island depends on it.

In the moment of his thoughts.

Zheng Zhilong thought about it for a long time, and finally announced an ambiguous decision: "Tomorrow, brothers, please give it a try, no matter whether you win or lose, but I hope you can achieve the momentum of Shiba Zhi, and don't let the Haihan people regard us as weak and can be bullied!

The more we hold on for one more day, the more likely we will be able to turn things around, so everyone must do your best!"

When everyone at the meeting heard that there was still a possibility of a turning point, they all asked questions, but Zheng Zhilong kept silent. In fact, of course there was no turning point, but until the last moment, he still had a bit of luck, hoping that he could be in the palace.

On the ancient island, he repelled the Haihan Army who was fighting away from home. Even if he couldn't defeat the opponent, he had to at least show that he was not an easy target. Even if he still had to surrender to the Haihan Army, he might be able to win a little more because of his resistance in the final stage.

A little bit of negotiation capital.

Of course, the consequences of doing this may cause his subordinates to pay heavy casualties in tomorrow's battle, but Zheng Zhilong will not worry about this kind of thing, because even if he saves the lives of these people, he will probably be able to do so in the future.

He will no longer have the opportunity to lead and command them. Whether he stays or not will not help his future destiny. It is better to fully play their role here.

After the meeting was held and the group of subordinates were dismissed, the personal guard came over and reported that his son Zheng Fusong wanted to see him. Zheng Zhilong closed his eyes and meditated for a while, shook his head and said: "You bring a message to him for me. My father is commanding the battle today, and my body is

The fatigue has subsided. If you have anything to do, we will talk about it another day."

Zheng Zhilong didn't see his son because he knew that Zheng Fusong was probably worried about his safety and wanted to persuade him to give up resistance. Although his son was not old, his ideological maturity was far beyond his age. Other children in this

He may still be enjoying the blessings of being a young master, but his son has already begun to read history books and military books, and study horseback riding and fighting. However, Zheng Zhilong has been going downhill since he brought him back from Japan, and he was unable to provide him with a more stable life.

and study conditions, Zheng Zhilong still feels a little regretful about this aspect.

Zheng Zhilong didn't want to see him at this time, and he was also afraid that his temporary weakness would affect the decision he had made. If defeat cannot be avoided tomorrow, the two father and son may have to meet in the underworld. But Zheng Zhilong, as a generational hero,

When he should be ruthless, he is also very decisive and will not waver in the decision he just made just because of the relationship between father and son.

On September 3, 1633, the first day of August in the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. On an isolated island in the sea thousands of miles away from the coastline of the Ming Dynasty, the Haihan Militia and the Shibazhi, which was once the most powerful civilian armed force in the Far East of this era, started a war.

The final battle.

The Haihan Militia broke out of camp at dawn and marched inland. Due to the need to transport heavy artillery and various combat supplies and baggage with the army, and at the same time taking into account the safety during the march, the main force moved at an extremely slow speed. Considering

Almost all the ships that arrived at Hachishiba either fell into the control of Kaihan or fled into the open sea after the battle the day before. There were not many left around Miyako Island. The navy also sent some sailors ashore to coordinate with the army.

Combat.

If we only measure this battle by the amount of troops invested, the level of Haihan's military operation is not particularly outstanding. It is not as good as last year's attack on Penghu and this year's northward expedition to Zhejiang. The opponents are just a bunch of desperate pirates.

From a military point of view, it is not very challenging, but the significance of this battle is no less than any major military operation in Haihan in the past few years.

Before Haihan crossed over, he had already regarded the Shiba Zhi, the strongest armed organization that controlled the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty in this era, as a competitor and a major problem. In order to curb the development of Shiba Zhi, he did not hesitate to spend all kinds of resources after traveling to support it. Thousands of miles away, Xu Xinsu fought against the Eighteen Zhizhi in Fujian. This kind of military assistance has lasted for five years, and its results have been very significant. Not only did the Eighteenth Zhi fail to clean up and come ashore as it had in history, it became On the contrary, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty declined all the way, and were finally expelled from their home base of Penghu in 1632. This unfortunate state even affected Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, which had supported the Eighteen Zhizhi, forcing these Western colonial countries to deal with Haihan made some compromises.

Although he achieved a staged victory in expelling the Shibazhi from Penghu and the Fujian Strait, Haihan did not mean to end it. The existence of the Shibazhi was always a hidden danger that needed to be completely eliminated for Haihan, but the previous one After a year of being busy settling down in Taiwan, I couldn't spare any time to kill the Eighteen Zhi Yu Party members. Now that things have basically settled in Zhoushan and Taiwan, and the Fujian government has been urging Haihan to send troops to suppress the bandits for a whole year, even if In order to make Xu Xinsu feel at ease, it was time to settle this matter.

The first to engage in firefights with Shibazhi was the reconnaissance platoon affiliated with the 1st Battalion of the Haihan Army. After marching about eight or nine miles from the landing camp on the northwest coast to the southeast inland, they encountered a small fortress built by Shibazhi here. .

It is said to be a fortress, but it is actually a converted brick-and-stone residential courtyard. There are crenels built with bricks on the wall for archers and musketeers to hide behind and attack. A large number of stones have been piled up at the gate. Blocked the front entrance.

Due to the flat terrain of the island, it is difficult for the reconnaissance platoon to detect the personnel deployment in the compound from the outside, and there are no heavy weapons such as artillery. It will be difficult to capture the fortress. The reconnaissance platoon can only be on the periphery. Deploy a skirmish line to temporarily surround it from a distance, leaving it to the following infantry units to take over.

For this kind of fortresses and strongholds scattered on the island, the Haihan military has its own set of mature operating procedures. In principle, the reconnaissance troops will not undertake critical tasks, but are only responsible for collecting target information, and then handing them over to the units equipped with heavy weapons. When the large troops with artillery arrived, it was only a matter of time before the defense line of this small fortress was breached.

About an hour later, the artillery platoon carrying four six-pounders and two three-pounders, escorted by an infantry company, arrived here, and based on the information reported by the reconnaissance force, quickly set up a position about 300 meters directly in front of the fort. Set up positions everywhere.

The officer in charge of commanding this unit did not try to persuade the people in the fortress to surrender in any form. On the one hand, the military order above clearly required a quick victory, and on the other hand, there was a little bit of selfishness. If the people in the fortress really If you are directly persuaded to surrender, then your military exploits will be greatly reduced. No matter what, if you set up the guns and fire first, even if the people inside can't stand the fight and choose to surrender, it is still a real military exploit.

Sure enough, just when the pirates in the fortress were still wondering, the cannons outside had already fired, and the cannonballs roared towards the door, causing the bricks and stones piled inside and outside the door to fly everywhere. Several cannons fired at the same time, and only two of them fired.

Three rounds of shooting destroyed the fortress' gate and the door beams above it, revealing a gap about two feet wide in the front.

However, the bombardment did not stop there, and the sound of artillery continued. This time Haihan went to Miyakojima, and the ammunition was very sufficient, so there was no need to deliberately save it. The top brass of the Military Commission intended to treat this sure-shot operation as a real-life operation.

Tactical drills, especially advanced tactics such as infantry and artillery coordination, combined field attacks, etc., are the items that the military has always focused on. Under such a premise, the military has been very relaxed in providing ammunition for this operation.

Tactically, it also gives grassroots officers greater command authority, allowing them to use fire suppression methods to attack the enemy when encountering resistance.

It wasn't until nearly two-thirds of the wall in front of the fortress collapsed that the officer ordered the bombardment to stop and let the infantry cover it. At this time, the fortress had been completely destroyed by the shelling, and it was impossible to organize a decent resistance. Occasionally, the fortress was in a mess.

A few people tried to pick up weapons and struggle, but they were quickly met with a volley of gunfire.

After demolishing the front wall, the invading infantry only took about ten minutes to resolve the battle. A dozen corpses were cleared from the rubble, and more than 30 people were captured alive. These people

Although the weapons used are still mainly cold weapons, seven or eight matchlock guns were also found, including two models that Haihan exported in the early years. However, this kind of sporadic musket equipment is difficult to follow the establishment.

The professional army confronts them head-on. At best, it is just a facade for these pirates, and its effectiveness in actual combat is very limited.

But as the Haihan militia army went deep into the interior, they discovered that there were actually a lot of small fortresses like this. Almost all the residential courtyards they encountered had been transformed into similar fortress structures. It seemed that Shibazhi was hiding on Miyako Island.

It is not that nothing has been done in the past year, at least the defensive measures on the shore have been strengthened a lot.

It has to be said that Shibazhi's response strategy is still very targeted, because in last year's battle, they were already sure that they were definitely no match for the Haihan fleet at sea, and they had to send warships to fight with their opponents.

Fighting head-on at sea is actually no different from charging bare-chested. So Shibazhi learned from the previous lessons and invested its main resources in the construction of coastal defense facilities. Almost all of the relatively sturdy houses among the original residential buildings on the island were

It was transformed into large and small armed strongholds, distributed layer by layer from north to south, with a total of at least fifty or sixty.

Shibazhi did not expect to be able to defeat the opponent with this kind of fortress formation. He just hoped to use this to slow down the opponent's advancement on the island. It would take a few more days. When the opponent's ammunition and supplies were exhausted,

Then look for an opportunity to launch a counterattack. After all, Miyako Island is isolated in the sea. No matter which direction the opponent comes from, supply will become a huge problem, and the way to win Shiba Shiba only exists in this theoretical possibility.

.

"Lock these people up and hand them over to the troops behind." The officer who had just finished attacking the fortress did not order the troops to stop and rest. Instead, he urged the soldiers to quickly gather the prisoners together and lock them with chains, and hurry up as soon as possible.

Go to the next target.
Chapter completed!