Chapter 211: Kill the King (8)

In the data released by later generations' Oceanic Administration, Fujian has 2,214 large islands. That is to say, even a Fujian native could never name every island right outside their doorstep. The largest of these islands are the size of counties, the smallest just half an acre of land, scattered like shattered stars along the Fujian coast — and nowhere are they more numerous than on the sea between Fuzhou and Putian.

On June 24, 1628, three cruisers with clean white soft sails and sleek lines were already lying in ambush in a nameless bay of the Meizhou Archipelago.

The Navy Special Task Fleet, with Liu Zhe as its Commander, had set out at almost the exact same time as the Zheng Family Fleet. The difference between the two was this: Zheng Zhilong sailed from Fuzhou Port at dawn, while at that same moment, the Special Task Fleet sailed from Dayuan Port.

It was already late June. The southeast monsoon blowing in from the Pacific Ocean allowed the Special Task Fleet's crossing of the strait, relying on sails alone, to maintain a high speed of 12+ knots the entire way. When the fleet drew a diagonal line from Dayuan and reached the Meizhou Island area along the Putian coast, the total 300-kilometer journey had taken only fourteen hours.

Darkness could not trouble the Transmigrators. The fleet quickly chose a bay facing the Fuzhou direction among the nameless islets near Meizhou Island, and dropped anchor to moor.

There was a reason for choosing the open sea off Meizhou Island to ambush the Zheng Family Fleet. The Zheng Family Fleet, exiting Fuzhou from the Min River Estuary, would soon encounter the complex archipelago terrain centered on Pingtan Island during its southward journey.

This area belongs to the Fuqing open sea, where large islands cluster densely and the shipping lanes twist and turn — too many uncontrollable factors, making it unsuitable for high-speed fleet maneuvers. The entire archipelago region extends all the way south past Nanri Island before the sea opens up.

So the Special Task Fleet set the ambush position on the sea between Meizhou Island and Nanri Island — any further south and they would enter Quanzhou territory, a bit too close to the Zheng main force, not safe enough.

As for the Zheng Family Fleet, they had dropped anchor and stopped long before dark — the Fuchuan ships had no radar or sonar installed. The Zheng were now sailing from north to south, against the wind, so in one day's time, the Fuchuan fleet could not possibly get beyond Nanri Island no matter what.

In fact, the Transmigrators now knew the exact position of the Zheng Family Fleet.

The pocket watch given to Old Zheng was only meant to locate the man himself — the battery and transmitter device inside the watch were too small, so the monitoring range was short. As for the Zheng Family Fleet... for such a critically important large-scale operation that had consumed countless resources, the Transmigrators would naturally not pin their hopes on a tiny pocket watch.

During those days when the Zheng Family Fleet was moored at the Fuzhou docks, the Fuzhou Station had already used various government contacts to send several "gifts" aboard the fleet. Among these was a gift from the Grand Coordinator's Office's favored advisor, Huang the Provincial Graduate: a copper Buddha.

The big-bellied copper Buddha was only entrusted by Huang the Provincial Graduate to Zheng Zhihu on the very day Lao Xiong saw him off. And Zheng Zhihu gave his guarantee on the spot: he would be sure to deliver the copper Buddha to a certain Master Huang's fellow examination-year associate in Zhangzhou.

Therefore, the Special Task Fleet now knew the Zheng Family Fleet's position very clearly: on the computer's LCD screen, several red dots north of Nanri Island were clearly displayed.

Early the next morning, open sea off Meizhou Island.

The Special Task Fleet was slowly circling on the sea. The crewmen, who had undergone over half a year of formal training, were carrying out a series of pre-battle tasks on the pitching deck: working the sails, scrubbing the deck, maintaining the cannons, lashing down supplies... The entire scene was orderly, busy but not chaotic, fully reflecting the fruits of the Navy Faction's hard training.

These crewmen were today uniformly dressed in indigo front-buttoned short jackets and form-fitting knee-length trousers. Additionally, on their feet today they wore leather shoes: water buffalo leather shoes.

With large quantities of supplies procured in Fuzhou City, the Textile Factory finally had enough ramie for weaving. Similar to denim, the indigo twill imitation denim woven from 30-count three-ply ramie thread was remarkably effective, and as soon as it left the factory it became the standard uniform material for both soldiers and workers.

Aside from being heavy and prone to fading after being dyed with natural indigo, this cloth had virtually no drawbacks, so the Navy used it in bulk to make clothing.

As for the expensive leather shoes, there was no helping it — the Transmigrators could not tolerate their own soldiers still wearing laughably shabby straw sandals on the battlefield. So, truth be told, for today's operation, certain people had truly gritted their teeth and bled money.

Leather shoe craftsmanship was nothing worth mentioning to a certain power base. Among the 200-plus Transmigrators, no fewer than five had "in their previous lives" worked in the leather shoe trade in Wenzhou, including someone who had worked at the famous Wenzhou Leather Factory.

The difficulty with leather shoes lay in the materials.

Taiwan could provide large quantities of deerskin, but no cowhide. Deerskin was excellent for making soft, high-end luggage, but it was highly unsuitable for the feet of soldiers undergoing off-road training.

So for the time being, cowhide imported from across the sea had become a sought-after commodity. These heavy-duty leather shoes issued to the soldiers were usually carefully stored away after a few days of breaking in, and only worn for celebrations and battles like today's.

The Army soldiers, dressed in lampwick gray, were also taking turns practicing observation and aiming by the ship's rails. The original plan had been to station fifty Army soldiers per ship, but later, considering space constraints, the number was reduced somewhat.

The reason for wearing the somewhat rustic lampwick gray uniforms was that this was currently one of the easiest plant dyes to obtain. As for whether to go the hot-and-cool route of the British Empire's bright red Lobsterbacks or the cold-and-cool route of Imperial Germany's field gray once chemical dyes were sorted out in the future — people were still arguing fiercely over that, and nothing had been decided yet.

It was now 10 a. m. on June 25. This fleet, which concentrated the elite of the Crossing Army, was like a few languid sharks, slowly cruising the open sea off Meizhou Island, waiting for their prey to come to them.

And a group of Crossing officers were at this moment gathered in the sterncastle of Flag Ship 301, collectively watching the red dots on the computer screen that marked the Zheng Family Fleet's position.

"If I were Zheng Zhilong, the first moment I saw the fleet, I'd turn around and run toward the mainland — maybe there'd still be a sliver of hope." Qian Tieshan, the Marine Corps Commander, whose build was twice as wide as an ordinary person's and who wore a light-colored tropical camouflage uniform, was now spouting off grandly in the cabin.

"That would require him to know just how formidable we are first." Navy Commander Liu Zhe at this moment tossed his pen onto the tactical table with a click, then smiled as he looked at a man beside him with a 70-30 hair parting, wearing a gray jacket: "Director Ma, does Old Zheng know how formidable we are?"

"You all underestimate Zheng Zhilong too much. Given his level of understanding of us, turning around and running is the high-probability outcome."

Ma Yue, a former professional from the State Security Bureau. This man had not been crossed over for long, but after crossing over, relying on his unique expertise, he quickly rose to become Intelligence Bureau Deputy Director, ascending in a single step.

"Dayuan now has ships coming and going almost every day. According to our observations, various spies are still quite active. So, Zheng Zhilong should have a clear judgment of our strength, especially in terms of military force."

After hearing Ma Yue's opinion, Liu Zhe was not particularly surprised: "Doesn't matter, we've fully considered all scenarios. Whether he runs or not... it's all the same. The only thing we need to focus on now is which side of Nanri Island Zheng Zhilong will round."

Nanri Island, located north of the Special Task Fleet, lay horizontally across the sea surface shaped like a dumbbell. If the Zheng Family Fleet soon came south through the Nanri Strait on the side closer to the mainland, then the Special Task Fleet would have to continue waiting for the enemy in the relatively wide open sea of Meizhou Bay: if they charged in, the Zheng Family Fleet, as just said, would very likely flee toward the mainland coast less than five kilometers away.

If the Zheng Family Fleet took the open sea route past Nanri Island, then the Special Task Fleet could charge in: a sea journey of over twenty kilometers from the mainland was more than enough for the attackers to sink every last Fuchuan ship.

As time ticked by minute by minute, the Zheng Family Fleet, sailing south from the Haitan Island Strait, gradually approached Nanri Island lying across their path ahead. Under the intense gaze of the Transmigrators on the three ships, the red dots on the screen began to slowly change direction, moving toward the open sea off Nanri Island.

"Turn the rudder, full sail north, engine room begin adding coal and preheating." When Liu Zhe confirmed that the red dots on the screen had moved to the eastern side of Nanri Island, he began issuing the order for the entire force to head north.

Quickly, the three ships of the Special Task Fleet formed a battle line and sailed north at full sail and full speed. Meanwhile, the Zheng Family Fleet, over thirty kilometers away, was at this moment heading into the wind, in the midst of rounding Nanri Island.

The current distance between the two sides was over thirty kilometers — meaning that in just under an hour and a half, the Special Task Fleet could fight its way from the open sea off Meizhou Island to the open sea off Nanri Island. And since the two fleets were moving toward each other, in fact it would not take that long: at most about one hour before the two sides would meet. By that time, the Fuchuan fleet should have left Nanri Island about ten kilometers behind them.

The naval officers' chart work was fairly accurate. Fifty minutes later, when the Special Task Fleet arrived near Luci as planned, the lookout in the lookout basket had already reported clearly: fleet spotted ahead.

Luci was a palm-sized islet, with an area of only 1.2 square kilometers, located on the sea between Nanri Island and Meizhou Island — one of the few scattered fragments of land in these waters.

And the Zheng Family Fleet, now not far from Luci, had also already spotted the Special Task Fleet bearing down on them.

When Zheng Zhilong, upon hearing the news, emerged from the cabin and observed through his brass telescope, what appeared in the lens were three strange sailing ships with sleek lines and bulging sails, racing toward him like wind and lightning.

"It's those shorn-headed freaks' ships. All hands on deck, prepare the cannons." The young leader, at his very first glance at the approaching enemy, immediately identified his opponent's identity, then coolly issued the battle order.

Zheng Zhilong at this moment had no illusions, because he knew very well his opponent's strength and intent. In fact, no one knew that long ago, he had sent spies of various professions to Dayuan. So, whether it was the Transmigrators' machine guns or their Italian cannon, Zheng Zhilong was well aware of the range and power of these weapons.

Moreover, back when Destroyer 301 was still conducting tests in the open sea off Dayuan, he had already obtained drawings of this ship.

Therefore, after issuing the first combat readiness order, he immediately followed it with a second order: "Shift sails, head toward the mainland."