Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 217 Attack on Dengzhou

July 1632, 7, Dengzhou.

In the ninth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, in order to protect Dengzhou City, which was a hub of the sea route, from attacks by the more active Japanese pirates and Goryeo pirates at that time, a fortress with more complete facilities was built on the basis of Daoyuzhai, where the warships of the navy were anchored in the early Song Dynasty. This fortress was called Dengzhou Water City, also known as Beiwo City.

In the 20th year of Wanli's reign, Japan invaded Korea. In order to guard against a possible large-scale invasion by Japan from the sea, the entire coastal area of ​​the Ming Dynasty began large-scale military preparations.

During this period, Dengzhou Water City also underwent large-scale renovation. In addition to replacing the original rammed earth walls with rammed earth covered with bricks, some of the walls of the early Ming Dynasty were also reinforced and raised.

During the Chongzhen period, after Sun Yuanhua, an important member of the Western French Party, came to Dengzhou as the governor of Denglai, he, under the guidance of several Portuguese, imitated the European bastion style and added several artillery batteries protruding from the city walls to this water city.

These protruding gun emplacements are different from traditional horse-faced wencheng, they have a multi-angle cross-fire layout.

In Dengzhou Port, there is not only an almost closed ship berth called "Xiaohai", but also an artificial breakwater outside the port.

From the perspective of a military port, Dengzhou Water City has relatively tight defense capabilities and is also a natural deep-water anchorage.

However, the land walls of the water city facing the southwest are somewhat unsatisfactory.

The winding eastern section of the Luqiang city wall was newly built during the Wanli period, while the western and southern Zhenyangmen sections of the wall are relatively straight and neat, which is a typical style of the early Ming Dynasty.

Although this style of city wall looks more regular and beautiful, it cannot create cross-fire. In addition, there are no enemy towers and battlements built on these two sections of the water city wall, which makes the already simple defense of this section of the city wall even more reduced. It can be called the "Achilles' heel" of the entire Dengzhou Water City.

More than half a year ago, a part of the rebel army including Li Jiuchen and Kong Youde broke through the water city through the Zhenyang Gate in the south, and then cooperated with Geng Zhongmin to open the main city gate, and then the entire Dengzhou fell.

Initially, in order to prevent the imperial army from launching a surprise attack by sea, the rebels deployed a force of more than 2,000 people in Shuicheng to ensure the safety of their own retreat.

The sea gate of the water city is also built extremely narrow, only a dozen meters wide, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Considering that the main boats used in the north during this period were mostly slender sand ships, this width was sufficient for these large ships that were more than 30 meters long and several meters wide to pass through.

If the imperial navy wanted to break into the water city, they could only pass through this narrow water gate one ship at a time, leaving the rebels ample time to defend and counterattack.

Of course, if the imperial navy wanted to blockade Dengzhou Port, they only needed to block the sea gate of the water city to prevent the rebels from escaping by boat, thus trapping them in a jar.

The rebel leaders Li Jiuchen, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others were also well aware of all this, so they always paid attention and were alert to any movement at sea, fearing that the court would send another powerful navy to attack them.

Fortunately, several months passed, and except for the sneak attack in April by the stupid Tianjin deputy general Sun Yinglong who led a fleet of more than a hundred navy ships, there were no more sea enemies, allowing the rebels to concentrate on dealing with the imperial army that was gathering from all over the place.

There was no movement in Dongjiang Town, which they were most worried about. It was probably still struggling to appease the tens of thousands of refugees who were killed by the rebels within its jurisdiction.

I think that considering the enemy's predicament of having no money and no food, they probably wouldn't dare to leave Dongjiang without permission and come to attack the fortified city of Dengzhou for no reason.

According to Chen Shiyou, Mao Chenglu and others who fled to Dengzhou, after Huang Long swore an oath to raise his army from Pi Island, although the offensive was fierce, he recovered the Dongjiang Islands and captured Lushun in less than a month.

But their lives did not seem to be easy. Not only did they lose the money and food sent by the court, but the supply of materials from Pi Island was also cut off. It was estimated that their troops would stop at Lushun and it would be difficult for them to fight again.

Besides, the navy under Huang Long's command can show its might in the Dongjiang Islands not far from the mainland, but it is afraid that it will not be able to cross the Liao Sea and march to Dengzhou.

Otherwise, why did they delay coming to the sea of ​​Dengzhou after driving away Chen, Mao and other Dongjiang rebels?
However, no one expected that just before noon today, a huge navy fleet suddenly arrived in the sea outside the water city of Dengzhou, with flags flying, sails heavy, and a huge momentum.

What frightened the rebels even more was that there were several huge Western ships in the fleet, with towering masts and sides several feet high, which looked like pavilions.

There were also black gun muzzles on both sides of the ship, emitting a cold and chilling feeling.

Are these the imperial navy?

After hearing the news, Li Jiuchen and other rebel generals rushed over and stood on the enemy tower of the water city, looking at the densely packed warships on the sea, without saying a word for a long time.

"The court is untrustworthy!" Li Yingyuan (son of Li Jiucheng) said angrily.

Kong Youde, who was standing next to him, just glanced at him and then turned his gaze to the sea.

If we talk about being unfaithful, they should be ranked first!

In May, they successively defeated the encirclement and suppression armies in Shandong, Dengzhou, Tianjin, Baoding, Tongzhou and Changping, captured the important town of Dengzhou, and their power expanded greatly in a short time.

However, in June, they heard that the court had issued an edict to mobilize tens of thousands (actually more than 5,000) of elite Yi and Han cavalry from Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan and other towns outside the pass to come to Shandong to suppress the rebels, and they suddenly panicked.

Although the rebels recruited forces from all sides and used hundreds of thousands of looted money and grain to recruit soldiers, the number of troops expanded rapidly to 100,000 in a very short period of time.

But each of us knows our own business. Among the 100,000-strong army, there are only 4,000 to 5,000 troops that can really fight. There will definitely be no problem in sending them out to ravage the troops in the inland towns.

But if they were to face the powerful troops from the towns outside the Great Wall, they might not be able to match them, and they would be a little scared in their hearts.

The rebels who were well versed in the military situation in Liaodong knew very well that although the towns outside the Great Wall could not defeat the Jiannu, their combat effectiveness was far superior to that of the rebels.

Therefore, after discussing with Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and others, Li Jiuchen decided to talk to the court. If an acceptable and favorable condition could be offered, they might as well choose to accept the surrender and stop the war.

So, at this time, the Dengzhou rebels were "actively" negotiating with the imperial envoys, preparing to bargain with them on how to pacify them.

What happened? The imperial court used the pretext of appeasement and negotiation to secretly organize a powerful navy fleet, preparing to attack Dengzhou City from the sea?
The problem is that more than ten days ago, they broke their promise and lured and killed the Laizhou prefect Zhu Wannian in Laizhou City (now Ye County, Shandong), broke into Laizhou City, and then detained Xie Lian who was announcing the imperial edict. These things should not have been reported to the capital yet.

Then, this naval fleet most likely came to Dengzhou on its own without receiving any imperial orders.

If nothing unexpected happens, they should be from Dongjiang Town.

However, what puzzled Li, Kong and others was when the Dongjiang Navy had so many gunboats of Western style?
"They're moving!" someone shouted, pointing at the ships on the sea.

I saw that those large ships separated from the entire fleet and began to slowly approach the water city. With the help of the wind, they kept adjusting their positions, trying to turn their hulls sideways and face the defensive walls of the water city with their sides.

"They are going to... bombard the water city." Kong Youde murmured.

"Their target is the warships of Shuicheng." Li Jiucheng said in a low voice with a gloomy expression: "Huang Long's move is to cut off our retreat at sea."

"Is it still too late?" Kong Youde's face also changed.

"I'm afraid... it's too late."

In order to guard against the siege army, in addition to deploying various types of artillery stored in the city on the city walls, they also moved some artillery originally placed in the water city to the main city walls.

As a result, there were only three or five cannons left in the water city at this time to deal with possible surprise attacks by the imperial navy.

In their opinion, even if the imperial navy launched a large-scale attack, most of them would be sand ships with a capacity of hundreds of hu, which would not be able to threaten the safety of the water city at all.

Even without much artillery support, the bows, crossbows and kerosene of the soldiers defending the city walls were enough to keep all the attacking ships out.

However, they did not expect that the Dongjiang Town Navy had recruited several large Western ships from somewhere. With the power of the artillery equipped on the other side's ships, they would definitely pose a fatal threat to the water city and launch a devastating attack on the warships stationed in the "small sea" of the water city.

"Boom!" A loud roar sounded, and in a moment, a huge projectile passed over the wall of the water city and slammed into the "small sea" inside.

But it did not hit the warship anchored inside, but fell into the water, causing a huge wave.

"Boom!" As if in response to the enemy ship's artillery fire, the defenders on the enemy tower near the watergate also fired a cannonball.

Likewise, it missed its target and landed far in front of the ship.

The first round of artillery fire from both sides seemed to be cautious and exploratory.

The other party was trying hard to find the right target for his shooting on the shaking ship.

The cannons on the top of the water city were very cautious and only added a small amount of gunpowder to avoid causing the barrel to explode.

During the first month of the year, the rebels fought a field battle with Yang Yufan, the commander-in-chief of Denglai, in Xincheng Town, both sides used a large number of artillery.

At that time, the rebels used five red cannons and more than 300 general cannons, and with fierce firepower, they severely defeated Yang's government troops.

However, during the battle, many gunners were not familiar with the operating techniques of these new artillery pieces, resulting in the explosion of more than 20 guns. The rebel gunners are still frightened and dare not easily load more gunpowder.

Compared to the messy and sparse shells fired from the water city, the five large Western ships on the sea fired quickly and fiercely. With each salvo of dozens of cannons, the sky full of shells roared in like a rainstorm, treating the entire water city as the target of their attack.

When the shells hit the city walls and enemy towers, the fan-shaped radiation zone was filled with splattered soil and shrapnel, and not even a bug could survive.

Every impact point would create a deep pit, and smoke would continue to rise from the sea surface, like the hideous faces of demons.

After only eight rounds of artillery fire, the artillery pieces deployed on several enemy towers in Shuicheng went out one after another. Either the gun positions were overturned, leaving the enemy towers in a mess, or the gunners were frightened by the fierce artillery fire and scattered screaming.

The walls of the water city, the rock walls, and the "small sea" inside were all covered with craters made by enemy ships, and the air was filled with smoke.

After nearly an hour of bombardment, a section of fortifications was destroyed, cracks appeared on the rammed earth walls that had never been covered with bricks, the shocking corpses, the wailing wounded soldiers, and the whistling shells plunged the water city into an unprecedented hellish scene.

Well, it might be a little too early to call it a hell scene.

After Shuicheng gradually lost the ability to fight back, dozens of Dongjiang Town Navy warships immediately pressed forward.

They stopped when they were about a hundred steps away from the water city.

Just as thousands of rebel soldiers popped their heads out from the top of the city walls, wondering why the other side didn't rush towards the sea gate of Shuicheng all at once, they saw puffs of green smoke suddenly coming out of the leading dozen or so Dongjiang Town warships, accompanied by bursts of sharp whistling sounds, and beams of flames shot up into the sky, flying straight towards Shuicheng.

“…Divine Fire Crow!”

This rocket looks like a crow. It is hollow inside and filled with a large amount of gunpowder. When a long-range attack is needed, the fuse at the tail is ignited. When the gunpowder on the outside of the rocket burns, it will generate a powerful propulsion force. When the fuse burns to the inside, a violent explosion will occur.

Although this type of long-range rocket does not cause much actual damage during a siege, it can ignite surrounding flammable materials, such as kerosene, rolling logs, and flags, causing temporary chaos on the enemy side.

This weapon is particularly destructive to densely parked wooden ships.

In the "small sea" of Dengzhou Water City, there happened to be more than a hundred ships seized by the rebels anchored.

When dozens of "Divine Fire Flying Crows" rose into the sky and then plunged into the water in graceful parabolas, explosions were heard immediately and several wooden boats were quickly set on fire.

The rebels never dreamed that the Dongjiang Town Navy would use the primitive version of the "Shenhuo Feiya" "surface-to-surface missile" to attack their warships stationed in the water city.

When the "Divine Fire Flying Crows" poured down on the water city, everything that could burn began to catch fire. Ships, canvases, flags, and ship materials were all engulfed in flames.

Driven by the sea breeze, the fire grew bigger and bigger, burning more and more fiercely, and no one dared to put it out.

The still roaring sound of artillery and the flames rising into the sky shocked the entire water city. The earth was constantly shaking, gasping, and groaning.

The scene before them stunned all the rebel generals hiding in the distance. They had never seen such powerful firepower or such dazzling flames.

After a series of shocks, the courage and confidence accumulated by the rebels from their previous victories gradually faded away.

Even some of the rebels felt a hint of fear and despair.

Our escape route is cut off!
"Things have come to this. There's no turning back for us." Li Jiucheng saw the fear on the faces of the rebel generals present, so he shouted, "Since the imperial court is determined to suppress us, we have no choice but to fight to the death to have a chance of survival!"

"We are willing to follow the orders of the commander-in-chief!" The generals bowed and agreed.

"Mao Chenglu!"

"The general is here!"

"Instruct our troops to guard the water city carefully. Make sure to stop the enemy ships at sea and protect the safety of our retreat in Dengzhou."

"The general will obey the order!"

"Chen Youshi!"

"The general is here!"

"Lead your troops out of the city and attack Pingdu to protect Laizhou's southwest flank."

"The general will obey the order!"

"Geng Zhongming!"

"The general is here!"

"Lead this army to attack Fushan (now Fushan District, Yantai) and Ninghai (now Muping County) to ensure the safety of Dengzhou's southeastern flank."

"The general will obey the order!"

"..."

Li Jiuchen took a deep breath and glanced sharply at the generals present, as if giving a warning and encouragement.

"Since the imperial court won't give us a way out, then we must fight for it ourselves! Therefore, we all need to work together and abandon any thoughts of compromise. Only then will we have a chance to survive."

"We are willing to obey the orders of the Grand Marshal!" Everyone responded loudly again.

"Humph, do you really think that you can kill us by destroying our ship?" Li Jiuchen looked back at the burning "Xiao Hai" and his expression became even gloomier.

(End of this chapter)