The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 182: Capturing Prisoners is a Waste of Time
On the morning of February 27, the 42nd year of Xianning, in the Bohai Strait off the coast of Dengzhou, inside the main fleet of the Qing domestic navy.

The fleet commander Fu Kang'an, in accordance with the traditional plan to deal with the Southern Ming's Northern Expedition, required the large fleet to maintain a defensive response posture and wait for the Southern Ming navy fleet to approach.

The Qing naval generals led by Fu Kang'an were confident about the task of defending the Bohai Strait.

In this era of naval battles using wooden warships, smoothbore guns, and solid bullets, there were rarely any one-sided total defeats, and the enemies usually fled because they could not bear the cost.

As long as you are willing to hold on unwaveringly and as long as you are willing to pay a sufficient price, you can persist for a long time even if you are at a disadvantage in the battle.

More than two hours later, the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition Fleet appeared in the sight of the Qing Army's Inland Sea Fleet.

The Qing Dynasty's main domestic fleet had more than sixty battleships, more than one hundred frigates, and a total of nearly two hundred warships of various types.

The Ming Wu Kingdom's Northern Expedition Fleet was much smaller, with a total of only thirty-eight specialized warships, and the rest were armed merchant ships with only a small amount of weapons.

When discovering the enemy's main fleet, the armed merchant ships will actively slow down and will not enter the area of ​​direct combat.

So when the two fleets came into direct contact, Fu Kang'an discovered that his fleet was several times larger than that of the Southern Ming.

Fu Kang'an listened to the report sent by the lookout and subconsciously felt that this must be the vanguard fleet of the Southern Ming Dynasty, or even just a decoy fleet.

Therefore, when the two sides came within visual distance of each other, Fukangan was extremely vigilant and requested that enough reconnaissance fleets be sent out to investigate the situation in the surrounding waters.

However, no matter how vigilant he was, Fukang'an could not hide, otherwise Shuntian Prefecture would be in danger. He could only join the battle with vigilance.

When the two fleets were only a few kilometers apart, the reconnaissance fleet never issued any warnings, which meant that there was indeed only this Ming fleet around.

"Is this the only fleet? Are the Ming people here to die?"

When Fu Kang'an was puzzled, the distance between the two fleets shortened to less than two kilometers, and the Ming Wu Kingdom's Northern Expedition Fleet opened fire directly.

Huge fireballs immediately appeared one after another in the Qing fleet.

The Qing naval generals led by Fu Kang'an finally witnessed the true power of the Ming Wu naval warships and finally realized how wrong they were.

What those defeated soldiers said were all objective descriptions, with almost no exaggeration.

The number of warships in the Qing Dynasty's main fleet was more than four times that of the Ming Dynasty's Northern Expedition Fleet, but the Qing Dynasty's warships shattered at the slightest touch.

It's like an egg hitting a stone. No matter how many eggs there are, it's useless.

Fukang'an listened to the explosions one after another and saw that the entire fleet was about to be destroyed. He was extremely shocked, frightened and angry.

Fu Kangan suddenly grabbed a defeated general who had returned from Korea:

"Why don't you tell us the truth! Why don't you explain clearly that Ming Dynasty warships have such power!"

These generals were desperate at this time. The situation they had experienced once in Korea happened again:

"We told the truth at that time. We talked about the power of the Nanming warships and artillery. We cursed and swore that we were telling the truth!"

Fukangan was still extremely angry, or rather, furious:

"Combat report, you just need to prove that what you said is true! You should let the commander know what happened on the battlefield--"

Several defeated generals who returned from Korea were puzzled.

How else can we do this other than simply explaining the situation?
If we give you a direct order to flee quickly, and you, a popular figure in the court, don't listen to me, you might even kill me directly.

It's not like we didn't explain the situation on the battlefield. We told it all honestly at the time.

But you just don't take it to heart at all, and you still make your own self-righteous judgments.

What Fu Kang'an really meant was that these defeated generals should find a way to make him understand and accept the situation on the Korean battlefield.

Rather than simply presenting the facts.

To describe it from another angle: If I didn’t understand what you introduced, it’s not my problem, but your problem. It’s your inability and incompetence that failed to make me understand the situation.

Obviously, Fu Kang'an's request was impossible to achieve.

Not to mention that ordinary generals in Korea did not have this ability, even if they were able to describe it clearly, Fu Kang'an would not accept it.

I will still interpret it in my own self-righteous way.

Purpu came to Fukangan and suggested:

"Sir, we can't fight this kind of battle. If the fleet stays here, it will be annihilated. We must disperse and retreat!
"Although the artillery of the Southern Ming Fleet is powerful, the number of warships is small after all, and it is impossible to chase all the warships."

Fu Kang'an asked back with his eyes blazing with anger:

"The Ming Dynasty's warships are all steam-powered sailing ships. A dispersed retreat is equivalent to asking the people below to surrender in a dispersed manner!"

Purpu immediately continued to persuade:
“With so many of our ships, it would take several days even if we asked the Southern Ming to capture prisoners.

"Only with their surrender as cover can we have the opportunity to rush back to the capital and let His Majesty know what happened here.

"Then make final preparations for how to deal with the continued attack from the Southern Ming..."

Pulpu didn't finish his words, but Fukangan understood them immediately.

The new warships of the Southern Ming are so terrifying that the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea will soon be completely controlled by the Southern Ming, and the surrounding coastal areas will obviously be quickly occupied by the Southern Ming.

If Tianjin cannot be defended, the capital will naturally not be defended either, so we should consider whether to withdraw from the area outside the Great Wall.

Fu Kang'an himself did not want to die, so he could only let an ordinary warship be captured by the Ming fleet as a prisoner so that he would have a chance to leave the battlefield.

So Fu Kang'an thought about it for a few seconds, and then issued an order to disperse and retreat:
"Yes, leave here immediately. I have to go back and report to His Majesty. This naval battle cannot be fought anymore. We must evacuate immediately!"

As Fu Kang'an said, a dispersed retreat is a dispersed surrender.

After Fu Kang'an's order was passed down through flag signals, the surviving warships of each squadron immediately dispersed and fled.

Those who are brave enough will run for a distance and then raise the white flag, while those who are not brave enough will just raise the white flag first and then run away.

However, subsequent developments were very different from what Fukangan and Pulp had predicted.

The Ming fleet did not stop to capture prisoners, but attacked from all sides.

Zhu Jianxuan certainly wanted to completely wipe out the remaining Qing army fleet in one go, but he had a very clear understanding of his primary goal.

After the Qing fleet was defeated, someone would definitely flee back to Shuntian Prefecture and remind Qianlong to flee quickly. "The current task is not to capture prisoners, but to control the ruling center of the Qing Dynasty."

So after Zhu Jianxuan discovered that the Qing fleet had collapsed, he immediately ordered the Northern Expedition Fleet to act separately according to the plan.

The Fourth Fleet, consisting of eight Beihe-modified 1,500-ton steel warships, led the Wu State's armed merchant ships to blockade the Bohai Strait.

The Third Fleet, eight modified Beihe warships, headed north, leading a vassal division to capture Port Arthur and occupy surrounding towns and islands.

The Second Fleet, eight modified Beihe warships, sailed southward, leading the Wu's main Sixth Division to capture Dengzhou and occupy the surrounding towns and islands in the strait.

After the Second and Third Fleets cooperated with the landing forces to occupy Dengzhou and Lushunkou, they used the two ports as a base to attack and annihilate the remaining Qing army forces.

Zhu Jianxuan personally led the First Fleet, which consisted of four Australian-modified 6,000-ton ironclad ships and eight Beihe-modified 1,500-ton steel battleships.

Escort a transport fleet carrying five main divisions and four auxiliary divisions directly to Tianjin Port.

Several major Qing army generals, including Fu Kang'an and Pulpu, were completely despaired after discovering the movements of the Ming fleet.

The First Fleet of the Northern Expedition chased the Qing fleet fleeing westwards. After defeating it again, it still did not stay to capture prisoners, but sailed directly westward at full speed.

Just like the German offensive troops against France in World War II, they not only did not stop to capture French prisoners, but instead thought that the surrendered soldiers were a hindrance.

Therefore, Zhu Jianxuan's First Fleet arrived in Tianjin earlier than Fu Kang'an and all other ships.

Then on March 1, the 42nd year of Xianning, the landing battle was officially launched.

At the same time, in Shuntian City, more than 150 kilometers away, there was still not much tension in the market.

The Ming Dynasty King Wu's manifesto to punish the Qing invaders reached Shuntian Prefecture in mid-February. The city was certainly a little tense, but there was no feeling that war was about to come.

The teahouses, pubs and shops on the market are no different from usual days.

Citizens are more worried about natural disasters and pray that they will not happen again this year.

Although the Qing capital was not hit by famine because of the food supply from the Northeast, the price of food doubled and tripled, and the lives of citizens were greatly affected.

At noon on March 2nd, in a corner of a restaurant in the outer city of the capital, a group of middle-aged people were drinking and chatting.

Some businessmen were worried about the situation, so they started talking about things in the South.

"I remember that the news of the Southern Ming's Northern Expedition Manifesto has been circulating for more than half a month. Why is there no movement now?"

"He issued the manifesto at that time, but it doesn't mean he had to send troops at that time. Even if he did, it might not be that they have already fought against our Qing army now."

"The Southern Dynasty must cross the Huai River first. The battle on both sides of the Huai River may take several months. If the Southern Ming army is defeated by the Qing Dynasty, there will be nothing to say."

"Even if the Southern Dynasty wins, they still have to cross the Yellow River and pass through important cities like Xuzhou, Kaifeng, and Luoyang."

"The war is far away from the capital, the best place in the world. There is no need to worry about it."

"That's right, there's no need to worry..."

A group of people were discussing in a noisy manner, and then they all advised each other not to worry.

After all, in the normal cognition of people of this era, the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty would definitely be protracted.

Even if the Southern Ming wanted to march north, the battle would first begin on the southern border.

The struggle for the two banks of the Huai River and the Yellow River alone could consume several months or even years.

Most ordinary Qing people did not think that there was a huge gap between the Southern Ming and the Qing Dynasty. It was even a question whether the Southern Ming could cross the Yellow River.

In this peaceful atmosphere, several fast horses entered the capital, and then continued to gallop towards the inner city along Zhengyangmen Street.

The knight was wearing a military uniform and carrying an expedited flag, and was obviously a fast horse delivering military intelligence.

The people around hurriedly dodged, as being killed by such a horse would be a waste of life.

At the same time, the merchants in the restaurant heard the sound of horse hooves and saw the fast horses and began to talk.

"Is this urgent military information?"

"Is it that the Imperial Court and the Southern Dynasty have finally started a fight?"

"I don't know where the firefight took place, and I don't know who won or lost..."

Most people were still not too nervous, and were more looking forward to the specific information in this urgent military intelligence.

The messenger carrying military intelligence came all the way to the Forbidden City. After showing his identity card, he was directly allowed into the capital city to meet the emperor.

When the Ming Dynasty's Wu Kingdom's Northern Expedition manifesto reached Shuntian Prefecture, Emperor Qianlong immediately left the Old Summer Palace outside the city and returned to the Forbidden City inside the city to live and handle military affairs more conveniently.

Emperor Qianlong himself was much more serious than the citizens of the capital. He was aware that the gap in strength between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was growing larger and larger.

This Northern Expedition might be the doom of the Qing Dynasty. If it failed to overcome it, it would be driven back to its hometown in Northeast China or even North America to become a real hereditary officer of the Jianzhou Left Guard.

However, Qianlong's assessment of the war situation itself was not much different from that of ordinary citizens.

It is also believed that the capital will not be affected by war in the next one or two years.

Qianlong was already 77 years old. In that era, he could die at any time and it could be considered a happy funeral. Qianlong did not want to escape in embarrassment at this age.

Qianlong felt that the Southern Ming might not be able to reach Shuntian Prefecture before his death.

Until today, no battle reports had been received from the front, which meant that Qianlong believed that the battle had not yet officially started.

When the messenger delivered an urgent military report to Emperor Qianlong's desk today, Qianlong was not too nervous. He just sighed and felt that the official exchange of fire had finally begun.

Then he calmly opened the envelope, but after taking a few glances at the contents, he was stunned:
"The King of Wu of the Southern Ming attacked Tianjin. How is this possible—"

The first battle report was actually sent from Tianjin, which was only more than 100 kilometers away from the capital. This news gave Qianlong a huge shock.

Qianlong couldn't control his emotions and stood up. He continued to read all the instructions, and then asked himself with astonishment and confusion:
"How can we allow the Nanming fleet to enter Bohai directly? Where is Fu Kangan's fleet?"

No one could answer Qianlong because Zhu Jianxuan's fleet was faster than Fu Kangan's.

Fu Kang'an may still be floating in the Bohai Sea, and of course he may have been killed or captured by the Second or Third Fleet responsible for the cleanup.

(End of this chapter)