Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 601: The Battle of Batavia (Part )

"Boom, boom, boom", the incessant sound of artillery fire rang out on this calm sea. The shells hit the sea surface, causing it to rise up high columns of water.

Opdam, the commander of the Dutch fleet, was on the flagship, looking at the pirates. Seeing that the pirates were fighting on their own without any rules, Opdam said angrily, "Damn pirates!"

At this time, the Governor of Batavia, Ruhansig, came to the flagship of the Dutch fleet in a small boat. Opdam was shocked when he saw this. He hurried to Ruhansig and said to him, "Governor, the naval battle is about to begin. Why are you here at this time?"

Ru Hansuige's face was gloomy, and he shook his head and said, "Commander, I am really worried, so I came to ask you."

"Your Excellency the Governor, please speak."

"Commander, what are our chances of winning this naval battle?" asked Ru Hansuige.

Opdam hesitated for a moment before he said, "In this battle, with the cover of the artillery, the fleet should have a 70% chance of defeating the Zheng family's navy."

Ru Hansuige frowned and said, "Seventy percent? Commander, are you sure?"

Opdam said that it was all the fault of these pirates. If the pirates could obey orders and fight the enemy under the cover of the artillery, then he would have at least a 90% chance of defeating the Zheng family.

Moreover, Opdam vowed that the Spanish fleet would also provide support because he had already sent people to ask for help. As long as the Zheng family's navy rushed into the port, with the artillery and the Dutch fleet as the hold, the Spaniards would attack from behind the Zheng family and would definitely be able to completely defeat the Zheng family's navy.

By that time, the entire China Sea will be their territory.

But now the Spanish fleet commander Ed only has the five galleons evacuated from Luzon and some scattered small boats. With such a small force, unless he can be sure that victory is just around the corner, he will not put the entire Spanish Far East Fleet on the gamble at Opdam.

Although the Spaniards have always been resentful about the loss of Manila, the era of Spain has long passed. Therefore, after losing Luzon, the mainland did not have the ability to launch an expedition to retake Luzon.

While the two were talking, a cannonball landed in front of the Dutch fleet, splashing a column of water into the sky. Opdam picked up the telescope and saw that this group of pirates could no longer hold out in the face of the Qian Dynasty navy's superior artillery.

As the battle continued, more and more pirate ships lost their combat effectiveness. They were either sunk or severely damaged. Among the more than one hundred pirate ships, nearly twenty raised the white flag, and four or five were sunk.

There were a lot of wreckage and corpses floating on the sea, a tragic scene. The pirates who had been hoping for luck at the beginning finally realized their recklessness. Therefore, some of the pirates who had not yet made contact with the pirates at the back began to try to escape to both sides.

This naval battle was different from the previous Battle of Liaoluo Bay. Back then, Zheng Zhilong defeated the Dutch by relying on a large number of fireships, beating the Dutch to death.

This time, in order to avoid being attacked by Zheng's fireship tactics again, the Dutch recruited a large number of pirates as helpers to guard the large ships of the Dutch fleet.

It's just a pity that these pirates were used to being lax and didn't obey the Dutch's orders at all. Moreover, for this naval battle, the Qian Dynasty's navy was fully equipped with artillery. Although there was still a gap between the Dutch in the number of artillery and the size of ships, the number of Qian's fleet was enough to offset that slight gap.

The battle lasted until noon. When the pirates saw that the Dutch fleet did not help them, a large number of them cursed the Dutch for being immoral and then dispersed.

The pirates rushed frantically to the places on both sides where there were no Qian army fleets. In order to run faster, the pirates threw all the debris on the ship into the sea. For a while, a large amount of debris was floating on the sea.

Zheng Chenggong did not feel proud when he saw the pirates' collapse, because the Dutch fleet was still hiding in the port. Zheng Chenggong naturally knew that this group of barbarians were relying on the cover of the artillery.

Zheng Chenggong was a little hesitant. He knew that if he rushed into the range of the artillery and engaged the enemy, the fleet would likely suffer heavy damage.

But seeing the high morale of his subordinates, Zheng Chenggong decided to give it a try. He then ordered twenty new ships from the court and three of Zheng's galleons, and twenty-five ships of various types to rush into the port, trying to defeat the Western fleet in one fell swoop.

Opdam saw the Zheng family's gunboats begin to move forward at full speed. The scale was very large. He said excitedly: "It's almost within range. The battle is about to begin!"

As the Qian Dynasty navy entered the firing range of the fort, the artillery on the fort began to fire one after another. The rumbling sound of the cannons, accompanied by the rising columns of water, fell on both sides of the Qian army's gunboats.

Not long after, a gunboat at the front row of the Qian army was hit by more than ten shells in succession, and one of them hit the bow at the waterline. A huge gap appeared at the bow, and seawater kept pouring in.

Seeing the seawater pouring in continuously, the Zheng navy on the ship, although they had been on the sea for a long time, couldn't help showing panic. Amid the bumpy ride, the sailors tried to block the gap with wooden boards and hemp bags.

In the meantime, the ship was hit by several rounds of artillery fire, and the already damaged hull was further damaged. The captain, standing on the command deck, saw this and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" The captain's voice sounded particularly shrill amid the howling sea breeze and the roar of cannons.

Zheng Chenggong was at the rear and saw everything clearly through the telescope, but he never frowned. The drumbeats and flag sounds of the fleet moving forward never stopped for a moment.

As the leading fleet entered the artillery range, the artillery of the Qian army navy began to fire one after another, and the artillery of the Dutch fleet also began to fire back.

At this time in the port of Batavia, the gunboats and broadside guns of both sides opened fire one after another. There were hundreds of guns on both sides, causing shells to interweave on the sea and smoke to fill the entire sea area.

The solid bullet hit the flagship of the Dutch fleet. With a loud "bang", the wooden boards exploded and the shells, carrying wood chips, swept across the deck, knocking down two sailors. Then, due to inertia, it broke through the side of the ship on the other side and fell into the sea, splashing a column of water.

Opdam's shouts to fire were still clearly audible even amid the deafening roar of artillery fire.

At this moment, a shrapnel bomb hit the Dutch flagship and exploded not far from Opdam. Five or six sailors nearby were blown away, and even Opdam's cheek was cut open by something that might have been wood chips or iron filings.