After the meeting, Deng Ming stood on the flagship under the escort of some officers and looked at the expeditionary force's fleet. The Ming army fleet anchored in the north of the Babuyan Strait was quietly waiting. Hundreds of sailboats fell down their sails and formed a mast forest over the moor.

"When Lao Wang was there, he thought of landing from the other side, and then going straight to the city of Macheng by water." The person who spoke was Feng Xifan, the envoy sent by Yanping County Prince. In the third year of Kangxi, the Qing court tried to discuss peace with Zheng Jing on the condition of not shave his head, not paying court, and not paying tribute, and hinted that he could stand on Zheng Jing's side in the internal strife of the Zheng family, but was sternly rejected by Zheng Jing. The second generation of Yanping County Prince, who was in his early twenties, had a very bad relationship with Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan at that time. Moreover, due to trade with Japan and Zhang Huangyan's intake of Zheng Xi and Zheng Zanxu, it was almost the point of war. However, Zheng Jing still said that he would never consider surrendering to the Qing court - Zheng Chenggong chose to fight for the nation to the end. This was also Zheng Jing's pride. He even clearly stated to the Qing court that even if Deng Ming and Zhang Huangyan chose to discuss peace with the Qing court, he would not agree.

However, although Zheng Jing was ambitious, he still remained in his relationship with his allies. From the third year of Kangxi and the 19th year of Yongli, with the support of Liu Guoxuan, the pro-war faction, he had many frictions with Zheng Chenggong's old subordinates and Zhejiang East Army in Zhoushan. However, Deng Ming showed a tolerant attitude towards Zheng Jing and compensated Taiwan as much as possible without angering the West Sichuan Academy. Now it was the tenth year of Kangxi and the twenty-sixth year of Yongli, Zheng Jing was nearly thirty years old, and his hot temper seemed to be restrained. Moreover, the long-term tolerance attitude pursued by western Sichuan was also understood by some people in the Yanping County Prince's Mansion. For example, this time, Zheng Jing appointed Feng Xifan, who accompanied Deng Ming's expedition, was a lord and peace faction against the Ming army in western Sichuan.

As far as Deng Ming knows, Chen Yonghua, who handles government affairs in Taiwan, is also an ally of Feng Xifan. Western Sichuan has been sharing profits with Taiwan in sea trade, which has helped the internal affairs of Yanping County Prince's Mansion. Therefore, Chen Yonghua has been striving to ease the relationship between Dongning and Chengdu, avoiding conflicts between the two sides, causing Taiwan to suddenly lose its main financial pillar. Feng Xifan also agreed to maintain good relations with Chengdu, and the main reason was that he was a firearm faction. In Deng Ming's previous life, Feng Xifan insisted on imitating Western warships, and even suggested that Zheng Jing hire British instructors to train the Taiwan army and replace firearms in a comprehensive manner; Liu Guoxuan was much more conservative, and was very obsessed with the blessing ship and the traditional arson tactics, and repeatedly refuted Feng Xifan's initiative, saying that Feng Xifan did not understand war at all.

Liu Guoxuan's opinion is not only the mainstream opinion of the Taiwan army, but also the general opinion of the Zheng army in eastern Zhejiang. Zheng Chenggong used this tactic to repeatedly defeat strong enemies, so everyone believes that the Zheng army did not have a major reform. Feng Xifan's reform opinion was not approved by Zheng Jing. When he saw that Deng Ming was not persuaded to renovate Western merchant ships and vigorously developed firearms troops, Feng Xifan became a Sichuan faction in Taiwan. When he talked about military affairs, he always called western Sichuan, which was used to make up for his shortcomings that he had not led troops to fight.

"The plan of the Prince of Yanping is to cooperate with water. Will he fight all the way?" Deng Ming knew that Zheng Chenggong had a plan to include the Philippines in the Ming Dynasty, but he was not clear about the specific plan. When Feng Xifan talked about Lao Wang, he asked curiously: "Although the navy is much safer to get the cooperation of the army, and with the navy, the army will not be too hard to march, but it is still too far from here to Macheng?"

Deng Ming’s main question is, what should I do if I am constantly harassed by the Spanish Navy? The Spanish fleet can even use the tactic of fighting and running away, and always maintain pressure on the Ming army. As long as the Ming army accidentally reveals flaws, it may lead to disaster.

"If it were Lao Wang to command the army, the Western Yi would definitely be called back and forth." Feng Xifan's face showed a hint of pride. Zheng Chenggong had experienced many battles, land and naval battles. Even if the enemy had an advantage in ships or firearms, he would always be tempted by Zheng Chenggong to defeat him on the battlefield where he could play his strengths. After Zheng Chenggong's death, Feng Xifan simply disagreed with continuing to covet the Philippines and opposed continuing to block the strait; on the eve of the end of Deng Ming's previous life and the eve of the Ming-Zheng Zheng's end, Feng Xifan also opposed going to the Philippines to take a desperate adventure, because he believed that without a commander like Zheng Chenggong, the Ming-Zheng group could not defeat the Western ocean-going warships and musket forces with the blessing ships and heavy infantry.

After that flash of arrogant look, Feng Xifan showed a regretful expression on his face: "So Hu Zhi has always suggested to the king that he should build Western warships like the prime minister and train musketeers. Although it was not a big problem to deal with Taixi with Lao Wang's magical posture, Lao Wang's opponent was not a famous general of Taixi. In other words, because of the different equipment, it took a lot of effort to deal with several unknown people, which is enough to show that the great Western ships and muskets are powerful, so we must change it."

Because the rifles showed great power, the Taiwan military now recognizes that firearming is the future development direction and reforms are slowly beginning; but the Zheng army's obsession with the blessing ships is still there. Because the Qing army has no naval division worth mentioning at all, it is difficult to prove the value of these Western warships purchased by Deng Ming. In the Zheng Chenggong era, these Western warships were not Zheng Chenggong's opponents.

Deng Ming couldn't help but look at Feng Xifan. He knew that many people who oppose military reform were not only limited by their inherent experience, but also had simple national emotions mixed in it. For example, the promotion of rifles in the Sichuan Army was smoother than that of Myanmar muskets. As long as the price was right, there was no problem, because in the Sichuan Army, the rifles were invented by the Han people themselves, at least improved firearms, while Burmese muskets were barbarians. If muskets could replace all traditional weapons, wouldn't it be a barbarian to raise barbarians and belittle their ancestors? The reason why the navy is easy to deal with is because the Sichuan Army lacks naval traditions, and Deng Ming has authority, he can easily make a decision. However, in the Zheng army in eastern Zhejiang, until now, he is still thinking about how to improve the traditional blessed ship to make it faster and larger, or discussing all day long how to carry forward Zheng Chenggong's tactics to achieve the goal of defeating Western giant ships with a small tonnage blessed ship.

"I didn't expect Feng Xifan was actually a reformist." Deng Ming thought in his heart. Unlike someone like him who is familiar with alien technology, Feng Xifan has a very good knowledge of reform, especially he can also summarize completely different experiences from Zheng Chenggong's victory. Generally speaking, victory will only make people complacent and conservative, rather than realizing that reform and learning are needed.

The upcoming naval battle actually made Feng Xifan extremely nervous, and he was eagerly looking forward to a glorious victory. In Deng Ming's previous life, after the Three Feudal Rebellion, Feng Xifan began to gain a certain say in the army, but military reform was too late for Ming Zheng. In this world, Feng Xifan was also Zheng Jing's most trusted guard officer, and he could use Deng Ming as an example to convince the lord to agree with his military view. After learning that Deng Ming decided to start the war with Spain and the Netherlands, Feng Xifan volunteered to be Zheng Jing's special envoy and lead a team of Taiwanese troops to join the war. These officers accompanying the lord were all young officers carefully selected by Feng Xifan, and they all had the same idea of ​​carrying out military reforms. If Deng Ming's navy could defeat the Spanish fleet through a dignified naval battle, Feng Xifan believed that it would bring enough shock to his lord.

"Even if other people say that Lao Wang can defeat the Red-haired warship, the king may also say verbally, but the king also understands how powerful the Western warships are." When Deng Ming quietly looked at Feng Xifan, the latter clenched his fist and said to himself in his heart: "The king sent me to Luzon, which actually means that the king is also moved. Let me see with my own eyes the combat power of the firearmed army - I heard that even the Tartars have begun to form a firearmed army; the king asked this team to follow me, in order to make it true for everyone to see whether the new fleet of the Baoguo Duke can fight. In the future, those who oppose it will have nothing to say."

Everyone knows that Deng Ming will definitely not be able to imitate Zheng Chenggong's plan, and the decisive battle with the Spanish main fleet was imperative. At the beginning, Feng Xifan and other Taiwanese army's suggestions were to try to lure the Spanish fleet into the port to rest, and then concentrate all the Ming army's warships to besiege the port. Unload all the cannons to increase the speed of the ship, and convert every warship that can be put into battle into an arson ship. In short, it is to use the tactic of using arson ship on a large scale to try to wipe out the Spanish fleet in the port.

But this means a huge sacrifice. The soldiers of the Ming army need to brave the Spanish artillery with the greatest courage and charge at full speed. In all directions, reserves need to be retained to prevent the Spanish from breaking out in one direction. If the enemy is let go out of the sea, the Ming army's arson ship charge will become a reckless death. Therefore, the formation thickness must be maintained; and the collective charge of the arson ship also needs to keep the front line as tight as possible. If the lineup thickness is simply paid to be not tight enough, it may lead to the Spanish scattered from the Ming army's ship array space to rush out of the outer sea.

There is no need to expect Deng Ming to do the complex on-site command, let alone Deng Ming cannot do it. After Zheng Chenggong passed away and Zheng Tai was killed, no one in the Fujian army dared to say that they could do it. Therefore, in order to increase the success rate, Feng Xifan and others even suggested that Deng Ming use iron chains to connect some charge ships - this will of course lead to the charge Ming army slower speed and slower movements, thus causing greater casualties. However, if the Spaniards cannot be stopped, the Ming army will die in vain.

After seeing Deng Ming's new shells, the Fujian Army revised its suggestions, but still felt that arson ships were indispensable: after the arson ships in the front row of the Ming army rushed forward with fearless spirit, the same brave assault gunboats were followed - if the fire on the enemy ship could be extinguished in time, the warships could be repaired. If not, at least they would ensure the Ming army's sea control in the Philippine waters.

"I plan to fight at night." When I was in Sichuan, Deng Ming made some simple deductions with his subordinates, believing that even if this charge wins, it would cost the Ming army a heavy price. In Chongming, the Zheng army in eastern Zhejiang also recommended arson ship tactics to Deng Ming. At that time, Zheng army suggested that it was necessary to try to lure the Spanish fleet near the coast, and the Ming army's arson fleet was located between the outer sea and the Spanish fleet. Zheng army was estimated to have to pay the price of thousands of casualties of the Ming army.

After meeting with Feng Xifan, Feng Weishi thought that this number was still too optimistic. Although Zheng Chenggong easily defeated the Dutch with this tactic and only paid the price of a few ships and dozens of people, probably no one was able to lure the Dutch navy into the river estuary like Zheng Chenggong, and it was perfect in terms of concealment and attack time. Feng Xifan believed that with Deng Ming's command level, if he used an old-fashioned lucky ship, he would have to be at most half of the expected success. Now the faster sailing ship has increased Deng Ming's great chance of success. However, he estimated that the casualties would be more than two thousand people, and the loss of the sea ship would probably be more than one hundred.

Of course, Deng Ming was unwilling to bear this loss, so the Sichuan Army decided to wait for the Spaniards to stop and then launch a dignified challenge after going to bed. However, in the eyes of Feng Xifan and other Taiwanese and Zhejiang East Army participants, this was obviously a lack of understanding of naval warfare.

"Prime Minister Ming Jian." Like those generals from the East Zhejiang Army who heard this plan for the first time, Feng Xifan and several Taiwanese generals immediately made clear their objections: "The night can indeed make the Spaniards (after Deng Ming's continuous influence, they no longer use the title of Folangji) to discover us for the time being, but we can't see the lineup of the enemy fleet."

Since we cannot see clearly the mooring of the enemy's ships, the Ming army's assault is very accidental - this is not an inland river. Even with the vastness of the Yangtze River, the mooring positions of ships are still quite limited, but it is hard to say where the ships are parked in the sea - the Spanish fleet is in a state of preparation for war and will not gather together to set fire to the Ming army.

The arson ship is even more obvious in the darkness. At that time, the Spanish are in the darkness and the Chinese are in the light. Blind impact will definitely lead to shocking losses. The disadvantages brought by the darkness are enough to offset the Ming army's advantage of being able to quietly get closer.

Feng Xifan thought that Deng Ming might be superstitious about his new shells. That shell is indeed very powerful, but it can only be based on being able to hit the enemy. When shooting randomly in the dark, the Ming army's hit rate will be greatly reduced. The biggest possibility is that both sides will suffer no losses overnight. The Spanish fleet moved to the outer sea without any damage after dawn. After dawn, the Spanish fleet, which had not suffered any losses, would give the Ming navy a devastating blow.
Chapter completed!