Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 233 Battle of Liaoluo Bay (3)

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It was nearly noon when a favorable wind finally picked up on the sea. Although there were no weather forecasts in those days, it was not unusual for experienced sailors who had been at sea for many years to be able to predict the wind direction and trend for the next few days based on the weather, humidity, and even smells of the previous few days.

Zheng Zhilong had been a seasoned seafarer for many years, and naturally, he had no shortage of talented men under his command. The most crucial element of naval warfare was utilizing the wind. His decision to choose today as the decisive battle after finding the red-haired rebels was based on his prediction that the favorable sea breeze would aid him in launching his fire ships. And just as he was about to launch the attack, the opportunity finally arrived—it was truly a stroke of luck for the Zheng family!

Zheng Zhilong excitedly stood at the bow of the ship, his bright red Shu brocade battle robe billowing in the sea breeze like a crimson battle flag. He immediately ordered the sailors on the flagship to sound the attack horn, while simultaneously drawing his sword and shouting a single word at the opposing red-haired fleet: "Kill!"

Zheng Zhihu, who had long been impatient, laughed heartily, snatched two drumsticks, and personally pounded the drum to boost morale.

Upon receiving the order, the fire ships at the forefront simultaneously ignited the dry firewood on board, which had been soaked in vegetable oil. In an instant, flames soared into the sky, and a hundred fire ships, trailing flames and thick smoke, charged menacingly towards the red-haired fleet like a fiery dragon.

On the "Middleburg," Putmans saw the densely packed fire ships and his heart tightened. He ordered, "Pass down the order: keep the ships spaced apart to avoid being concentrated in one fire ship. Use cannons to fire and reduce the number of fire ships as much as possible." Although he didn't understand Chinese culture and didn't know that in the famous Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao's warships were chained together end to end and were completely burned by Zhou Yu's fire attack, his military career had given him enough battlefield wisdom to know that to weaken the effect of a fire attack, the first thing to do was to disperse the fleet's formation, rather than concentrate it in one place.

The Dutch fleet raised its sails, increased the distance between themselves, opened the side gun ports, and began a sustained bombardment.

"Boom boom boom," the cannons roared, and 18-pound shells rained down on the fire ships. Although a distance of more than a mile was not the optimal range for the naval guns, and the undulating waves and rocking of the ships made it impossible to guarantee the accuracy of the shots, fire ships were still hit by the shells one after another, their hulls either breaking in two or capsizing, becoming floating bonfires on the sea.

More arson ships charged forward relentlessly despite the whistling cannonballs overhead. Spurred by the high bounty, the red-haired cannonballs seemed less terrifying. After losing more than twenty ships, arson ships finally began to break into the enemy fleet's formation. After hooking the deckboats with iron hooks, the Zheng family sailors jumped into the water.

Once hooked by the iron hooks, no matter how the Dutch warships maneuvered, they couldn't shake off these leech-like incendiary ships. With the help of the sea breeze and vegetable oil, the huge hulls began to burn, and the fire spread quickly. The thick smoke even obscured the view of the ship's guns, making it impossible to fire normally.

Although the Dutch were in a panic, they acted quickly. They maneuvered their ships to avoid the burning ships that continued to rush in from behind, and the sailors carried wooden buckets to try to extinguish the flames that had spread to the sides of the ships with seawater.