About the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, everyone must be very familiar with it. It can be said that this was the largest naval battle between China and the West before the Opium War . In this naval battle, the Ming army won the final victory with fire ship tactics. After the war, the Dutch were forced to accept the proposal of Zheng Zhilong , and Zheng Zhilong also deservedly became the overlord of East China Sea and South China Sea.
However, one phenomenon reflected after the victory of this war is that the Ming Dynasty's naval innovation process has become stagnant. It can be said that from the victory of the Battle of the Liaoluo Bay Sea to the collapse of the Ming Zheng regime in Taiwan, the entire naval development of China has not made any new progress, and it has even been regressed compared with the period from 1620 to 1633. What this article is about is precisely the manifestation of this regression.
Starting from the early 17th century, Europe's newly emerging ocean overlords began colonial expansion activities that made money all over the world. The reason why the Dutch could travel unimpeded on the sea was that their victory was tall and sturdy ships and fast fire cannons. Even the armed merchant ships of the Netherlands were only , and the firepower level and model size of the Portuguese military warships at that time. Not to mention the giant Galen warships that can be pressed against Spanish and British warships on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, the Dutch carrier-based cannon was also one of the most advanced artillery artillery in Europe at that time. Its 12-pound and 18-pound ship-based cannon cast in bronze or stainless steel can easily capture various defense facilities along the coast of Asia. Because this cannon is too powerful, it has also set off a "red cannon craze" in East Asia.
This almost invincible existence in the ocean world at that time made the overlord of East Asia, the Ming Empire felt a faint uneasy. Because at that time, the Ming Navy's warships were compared with the Dutch ocean-going ships, it was obvious that they were in the sky and the other was underground. In a book written in 1646, it was written: "The giant ships built by the Red Barbarians are as big as mountains, as solid as iron, and cannot be broken in the end... If they can't stand it, they will not suffer from damage everywhere." And the evaluation of their own warships is "as ugly as an ant cave." In 1636, the British traveler Peter Mundy described a jack ship he saw on the coast of Guangdong. According to Peter, the jack ship was already a large warship of the Ming Navy, and it only had two decks of gun positions and could only carry light guns, which was far less powerful than European gunboats.
However, in this environment, there will always be some accidents. Here, this accident is Zheng Zhilong.
needless to say, Zheng Zhilong, the famous "One Piece" in the late Ming Dynasty, had almost covered the entire East China Sea and the South China Sea, and once penetrated into Malacca. The key to his success was the barbarian ships and guns.
In the East Asian waters at that time, the use of Western weapons was not new. It can be said that the East China Sea waters during this period were very mixed. A Chinese ship was likely to fly a Japanese flag, use a European map, and carry European artillery. The crew was Chinese, Dutch, Southeast Asian and Portuguese. There are many such cases, but everyone has one thing in common, that is, they all use traditional Chinese lucky ship-type Junke ships.
, and Zheng Zhilong is completely different. His early pirate activities made him deeply aware of the advantages and terrible aspects of Dutch warships, so he was dedicated to imitating Western warships and then devoted himself to the use of his own fleet. In the Ming Dynasty literature, two reports confirm the historical facts of Zheng Zhilong's imitation of Dutch warships. One wrote: "As for Zhilong, all those who invest in the ships and all those who use are barbarian cannons." Another document reads: "The vessels are all made from external channels, with tall and firm signs, never ending when entering the water, never breaking when encountering reefs, sharp equipment, and a gun cannon cannon cannon, and it will be broken by dozens of miles."
Similarly, in the chart drawn by Dutch painting master Simon de Fleig, Zheng Zhilong's ship is no different from the Dutch side gunboat in terms of size and appearance.In a Dutch document, it is mentioned that Zheng Zhilong deliberately built his own warships in the style of Dutch warships, especially the decks of the warships used double-deck technology like European warships, so that they could withstand the bombardment of Dutch heavy artillery.
, and another document in the Netherlands pointed out that the artillery equipped by Zheng Zhilong on the warship is even better than the standard equipment of the Dutch warship. First of all, each battleship can be equipped with 36 heavy artillery, which is a cannon that can fire 18 pounds of shells. In addition, Zheng Zhilong also equipped these artillery with four-wheeled cannons, ring bolts and stationary retreat cables.
However, it is such an excellent warship, but it did not show its power in the Battle of Liaoluo Bay. Some people say that Zheng Zhilong deliberately did not use his own warship in order to preserve his strength. However, in later foreign documents, there was no mention that Zheng Zhilong had used such advanced ships, which means that it is very likely that Zheng Zhilong Group lost these Western-style warships in the later period. So how Zheng Zhilong lost the ace warship in his hand? This comes from a battle report from the Netherlands.
In the battle report of the Dutch army, the Dutch fleet arrived at Xiamen on July 12, 1633. Although the Ming and Dutch sides had already started war in South Australia at that time, the garrisons in Xiamen were not yet informed of the military situation. So a Dutch official and several sailors sneaked into Xiamen Port to investigate the Western warships that Zheng Zhilong was repairing at that time, and issued a statement: "It has never been on this land, at least no one has ever seen such a beautiful, huge and exquisite Junke fleet, equipped with excellent cannons... two solid decks, high-quality cannon vehicles, and retreat grommets." After sighing, such a Dutch official took advantage of the time when there were no sailors on the ship, and even if there was no time to set fire, he would destroy them with the cannons of the Dutch warships. During this raid in Xiamen, Zheng Zhilong lost a total of 30 large warships, including all side-side warships.
It can be said that the sneak attack in Xiamen Port destroyed Zheng Zhilong's business achievements for many years and also annoyed Zheng Zhilong. Zheng Zhilong, who had not thought of making things so big, then organized a fleet of old warships and merchant ships, filled with flammable materials and gunpowder. On the Liaoluo Bay, Zheng Zhilong ordered 100 ships to form an encirclement to quickly approach the Dutch army with the wind and make a close fight. Then he ordered the fire ships to ignite. In an instant, two fire walls were lit on the sea surface. At this time, the Dutch warships and Liu Xiang's pirate ships had no time to open fire, and could only be swallowed by the fire in a confused face. According to the recalls of the Dutch war participants, "The terrible flame suddenly surged high, and the flames were raging. I couldn't believe it at all."
After this battle, the Dutch officially stipulated that "the main warship must not approach China and stay in a safe area to prevent the Chinese from repeating the Luowan incident." He also reached an agreement with the Zheng Group, and the two sides became trading partners until Zheng Zhilong left Fujian.
This big victory also seemed to have wiped out Zheng Zhilong's shrewd mind, making him and his successor Zheng Chenggong believe that even if he does not imitate the Dutch warships, he can still defeat the Dutch. In addition, at this time, the Zheng Group had completely monopolized the trade rights between the East China Sea and the South China Sea, so there was no need to invest huge financial resources to build giant warships.
However, this idea has always influenced the Chinese people in later generations, not to mention that the Qing Dynasty did not pursue huge sail warships before 1838. Just over twenty years later, Zheng Zhilong's heir Zheng Chenggong defeated the Dutch by land when he regained Taiwan, but he had no advantage in naval battles. In the Taiwan Naval Battle in 1661, the Dutch could fight against the 60 Junk ships of the Zheng army by relying on just three Dutch warships. Whether the Zheng army wanted to use fire ships or hand-to-hand tactics, they were all repelled by the Dutch's side firepower. In fact, the final victory of Zheng's army was only due to a fatal mistake by the Dutch - a Dutch gunner accidentally brought a Mars into the gunpowder chamber, which immediately caused a big explosion. Then the chaos, the Zheng army launched the final attack and defeated the Dutch army in panic.
includes the later Xiamen Naval Battle in 1663, when the Qing-Dutch coalition forces besieged Xiamen, Zheng Chenggong, who suffered a great loss, wrote a letter to the Dutch, asking them not to attack. But he was rejected by the Dutch. In the letter written by the Qing army general to the Dutch army general, it was written: "I happily saw your fleet from the top of the mountain, and heard the thunder of artillery and the rebels fled invincible... I will report to the emperor as soon as possible... The Dutch are extremely brave and extremely brave." In this battle, the Ming Zheng and Qing army both believed that the warships between China and the Netherlands were very different, and the Dutch only needed 15 warships to easily defeat a 100-man fleet in China.
But from the perspective of the environment at that time, whether it was Ming Zheng or Qing Dynasty, they all had sufficient strength to imitate the Dutch sail warships. However, the victory of Liaoluo Bay was lingering, which made these coastal generals always have luck, but unexpectedly, the Opium War suddenly came.
