"retreat!"
Shang Kexi gave orders to the messenger beside him.
"Our army has the upper hand, and the Ming army is on the verge of collapse. Why are you retreating, sir?" a Manchu military supervisor asked in an accusatory tone.
Although Shang Kexi was a little unhappy, he still answered honestly: "First of all, our army has been unable to attack for a long time and is showing signs of fatigue, and the Ming army's reinforcements are coming, which is extremely disadvantageous to our army."
"Secondly," Shang Kexi pointed at the setting sun, "it's going to get dark soon, and fighting at night on the sea is a taboo in military strategy!"
The Manchu military supervisor could not find any reason to refute and could only nod to the messenger.
The herald immediately used flags to convey the military order to other warships.
At the same time, Shang Kexi's ship began to withdraw from the battle.
Seeing this, the other Jiannu warships adjusted their sails and rudders and left the battlefield as quickly as possible.
Zheng Chenggong was afraid of a trap and did not send troops to pursue.
By the time Zheng Hongkui's reinforcements arrived at the scene, the once raging scene had returned to calm.
There was only smoke, burning warships, and soldiers who fell into the water and asked for help on the sea.
Zheng Chenggong held his still-beating heart and said, "Save the soldiers who fell into the water and order all units to count the losses."
The warships quickly set out to search for friendly troops who had fallen into the water on the sea.
After the search and rescue, the fires on those warships that were not seriously burned were also put out.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, when the sun was about to set, each department finally finished counting the losses.
"In this battle, we burned two enemy ships, sank one, and killed more than a hundred enemies."
"One of our army's Fu ship and one Dong ship were burned, and another one of our patrol boats was sunk. Eighty-nine soldiers were killed, drowned, or missing, twenty-five were slightly injured, and eleven were seriously injured." General Hong Xu reported.
Bang!
Zheng Chenggong slammed the table heavily and said, "The Zheng family army, which has been sailing on the sea for decades, actually tied with the Jiannu navy. What a shame, such a shame!"
"Sir," Hong Xu tried to explain, "In fact, being able to fight the enemy like this is already very good. After all, the enemy has nearly ten more warships than us!"
"Ha," Zheng Chenggong sneered, "You are quite optimistic!"
"Your subordinate..." Hong Xu wanted to explain.
"Stop talking!" Zheng Chenggong interrupted Hong Xu, "Failure is not terrible. What is terrible is to find excuses for failure and accept it calmly."
"I am grateful for your advice." Hong Xu saluted Zheng Chenggong and said, "Master Zheng Hongkui said that he found dozens of warships flying the Jiannu flag in the south, and the enemy retreated without attacking."
"Jiannu warships?" Zheng Chenggong's mind was also a little confused, "Why don't they attack?"
Hong Xu thought for a moment, "It's possible that they were fake! Since they didn't know the true identity of our army, they didn't attack."
"Wait a minute," Zheng Chenggong's mind became even more confused. He held Hong Xu's shoulders and said, "It's a bit confusing. Let me sort it out."
"Sir, please stroke it slowly." Hong Xu said respectfully.
After thinking for a while, Zheng Chenggong said, "There are three fleets on the sea now. Our Zheng family army is in the middle. To the northwest is the Jiannu disguised as the Ming army. To the south is an unknown team disguised as the Jiannu."
"Isn't that right?"
"Uh..." Although Hong Xu was very smart, it was the first time he encountered such a complicated situation. He answered uncertainly: "It should be... probably."
"In that case, I have to think about it carefully." Zheng Chenggong frowned and fell into deep thought.
After a long while, he suddenly raised his head and said, "As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall! Regardless of whether the fleet in the south is an enemy or a friend, we must not take it lightly."
"And today the Jiannu have gained the upper hand. If they hadn't seen our army's reinforcements, they would never have retreated. If nothing unexpected happens, they will come back tomorrow."
Hong Xu nodded, "What does your Excellency mean?"
"The best way is to run away!" Zheng Chenggong made up his mind and said, "Send a message to all the warships and the caravan leaders immediately, and order them to set out before dawn tomorrow. After setting sail, do not follow the previous course, but go north first, then east, and finally turn south to prevent being followed by the Jiannu."
"yes!"
......
On the sea more than ten miles northwest of Zheng Chenggong's fleet, Shang Kexi gritted his teeth after listening to the loss statistics, "Damn it, it's okay that Zheng's army launched a sneak attack, but they actually caused such a huge loss to our army. It's so hateful!"
The military supervisor was also very angry. He let out a long breath and said, "I must report this matter to Prince Rui and ask him to put pressure on Zheng Zhilong and claim compensation!"
"It's not enough to just report the claim!" Shang Kexi's eyes began to spit fire, "We also need to restore the reputation of our army and make them pay the price they deserve!"
The military supervisor was startled and asked hurriedly, "What do you mean, sir?"
"Blood debts must be repaid with blood! Let's eat early tomorrow, then weigh anchor and set sail to pursue Zheng's army!" Shang Kexi said confidently.
The military supervisor was a little worried. "But... the total number of Ming army warships is not less than ours. If we really fight, it is still unknown who will win or lose. I hope you will think twice!"
Shang Kexi smiled faintly: "If it is a head-on confrontation, our army may not have the upper hand. But the mission of the Zheng family army is to escort. At that time, we only need to divide our troops to sneak attack the enemy's merchant ships to cause chaos in the escorting Zheng family army!"
"Our army took advantage of the chaos to launch a general offensive. How can we not win?"
"Great idea, sir!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
