The Battle of Gulangyu Island between the Dutch East India Company and the Ming Dynasty
The Battle of Gulangyu between the Dutch East India Company and the Ming Dynasty
As a super killer weapon in the history of naval development, fire ships have been full of drama since their birth. Not only has it created numerous classic scenes similar to the Battle of Red Cliff, it can also always inspire the weaker side's desire for a comeback in adversity. Therefore, no matter how high the cost or how complicated the operation, it will inadvertently appear in the words left by the ancestors.
Fire ship tactics often place extremely high demands on both the user and the environment.
However, fire ships are by no means a panacea that can cure all diseases. They have high requirements on the users themselves. technical and experience requirements. For example, the Battle of Gulangyu Island in 1622 AD was a very typical failure case. As the host, the Ming army tried many times but failed to harm the Dutch invaders at all. They could only watch the Dutch invaders fly away.
As early as 1621, in order to open up the Asian market, the Dutch East India Company joined forces with its British allies to dispatch a large fleet to the Far East. They will bypass the crisis-ridden Strait of Malacca and seek monopoly trade opportunities in the waters of Fujian and Guangdong further north. Later, they made contact with Batavia on the island of Java,
established a triangular trade channel across the Southeast Asia, and strived to include the Japanese market. Of course, this also means going to war with multiple forces, and even facing internal and external attacks by the Portuguese-Ming coalition forces at the same time.
The following year, the Dutch-British fleet launched its strategic plan as scheduled and aimed its attack at the Macau concession at the Pearl River estuary. However, the team composed of landing sailors and third-rate mercenaries performed poorly and encountered a head-on attack halfway into the core area of the city. Although the ship itself on the sea was not affected, the costly attack plan had to be abandoned.
Then it moves along the water towards the southern Fujian region and turns to the Penghu Islands known as Pescador. Since there was no strong guard in the area, the Dutch did not hesitate to take it as their own, preparing to build it as a bridgehead to dominate the Chinese market.
Perhaps drawing on their previous experiences along the Guangdong coast, the Dutch judged that their hasty visit would not be recognized by the local authorities in Fujian. Therefore, after sending away the first group of negotiators who came across the sea, they immediately decided to rely on military deterrence and use all means including blockade, interception and intimidation to force the other side to comply.
As a result, merchant ships passing through the Taiwan Strait were intercepted on several occasions, and large ships with stronger endurance were sent away to sail in Nanyang and Japan. In the end, they had to order all the ships to visit, hoping to use Zhangzhou as a stepping stone to enter the mainland market.
At the same time, the Ming Dynasty was still immersed in the prosperity brought by the Longqing Switch. Although the political status of the Zhangzhou region has never been as high as that of Quanzhou and Fuzhou, it has unexpectedly benefited from the dividends of foreign trade with the establishment of the Yuegang City Shipping Department, which has also supported the economy of Xiamen Island, which is in a better position.
So much so that in the eyes of the newly arrived Dutch, the lower reaches of the Jiulong River, where merchants gathered, was the center of the province, and they did not care that the real core of decision-making was actually far away in Fuzhou. In addition, the mother state is following the route of establishing a country through trade, which makes it easier to have unrealistic illusions about the Xiamen Bay area known as the Zhangzhou River.
On October 18, 1622, a fleet composed of three Galenic sailing ships and five sloops arrived in Xiamen Bay. Due to the coastal defense reform half a century ago, the local Ming army had abandoned the outermost water fort on Wuyu Island, allowing any outsider to rush into the harbor from the south side openly.
The Dutch are also keenly aware that they seem to be in a completely undefended body of water. Therefore, they confidently and boldly sent all three large ships to the surrounding areas to intercept moving targets, leaving only five small ships with weak firepower to perform destruction + blockade tasks. Even so, they still formed an asymmetric advantage over the unarmed officials and merchants, and instantly burned 60-70 merchant ships preparing to go to Luzon.
On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty's official army's defense of the Jiulong River outlet was not without arrangements. For example, the officers and soldiers originally stationed in Shuizhai on Wuyu Island were transferred to Xiamen and Gulangyu Island with their families. On Kinmen Island across the water, there is also a large-scale guard army population, and Lieyu Island sandwiched between the two also has a patrol ship base.
But they were all unprepared for the sudden attack. Among them, although the main island of Xiamen is the target of public criticism, it has long evolved into a special anchorage for the city's shipping company. When a small group of Dutch were forced to set foot on land due to bad weather, they used their muskets and swords several times to scare off armed soldiers and civilians dozens of times their size until their companions arrived to pick them all up.
The patrol fleet on Lieyu simply turned invisible, fearing that warships such as bird boats or eight-oared boats would go for reinforcements, which made it impossible for the soldiers on Kinmen Island to do anything practical. These unfavorable factors were intertwined, forcing the defenders to resort to the most helpless option - fire ships.
Ironically, although the Dutch did not encounter any decent resistance, they continued to suffer non-combat attrition due to their unfamiliarity with the local conditions. Some people died of illness due to lack of food and clothing, while others died in shipwrecks while collecting supplies in kayaks. In order to prevent themselves from being wiped out before waiting for reinforcements, they sent three dhows to leave the formation on November 25 and ventured to the villages on Gulangyu Island to plunder livestock. Unexpectedly, the nearby Ming army had been waiting for a long time and released nine fire ships bound to each other downstream to attack. Unfortunately, it failed to reach the target, and all burned up while floating.
After that, about 50 Dutch sailors boarded Gulangyu Island, but to their horror, they found themselves trapped in a tight siege. The local garrison was not prepared to give up the village easily, and instead gathered a thousand people to block the entrance. They also used the 9 Frankie cannons in their hands to fire continuously, and dispatched 4 remaining naval warships to the shore to strengthen defenses.
For a while, it really showed a good effect, holding the opponent in place for three days. It was not until two Galenic sailing ships came to the harbor again on the 28th that the overwhelming firepower of the red cannons was used to rescue the trapped people. The troops defending the island could only drag the remaining Franchise away from the village and let the other side's warships that were unable to leave in time to be burned down.
On November 29, the reinforced Dutch fleet moved its position and sailed to the other side of Gulangyu Island to search for targets. After easily destroying a Ming army ship on the battlefield with naval guns, they found that the opponent had prepared two unreleased fire ships on the shore. However, the suppressive firepower of the surface ships was so fierce that no one dared to take the risk of launching them into the water.
The invaders seized the opportunity and sent 37 musketeers to land for a surprise attack the next day. They also chased the fleeing military households in the water village to the gate of the fortress. Although the latter rushed outwards with all their strength, they could not withstand the powerful rifle volley and could only watch the fireship being burned from behind the high wall. Many supplies that were too late to be moved were collected, including pigs, sheep and hens, which were valuable sources of protein.
Finally on December 3, the invasion fleet was preparing to return to Penghu to rest, but was counterattacked by two fireships at the foot of Ta Tsai Mountain not far away. One of them almost hit the target, which made the Dutch, who regarded themselves as the new masters of the ocean, break out in a cold sweat. However, this was already the last struggle of the entire Xiamen Bay Ming Army.
From beginning to end, they did not dare to assemble a larger navy and army to fight. Instead, they sat back and watched their opponents go to Gulangyu Island to replenish fresh water before leaving, and then headed towards the other side of the strait without looking back.
In this battle of Gulangyu, which lasted for about 47 days, the gap between the Ming Dynasty navy and the Dutch East India Company fleet was clearly visible. Because according to the memories of those who experienced it, the defenders' warships were often taller than the invaders' sloops. Not to mention the absolute advantage in quantity and familiarity with the home environment.
But except for the detachments that had no choice but to retreat, almost all the friendly forces on the remaining islands were pursuing pure self-protection. That's why I released the fire ship very passively instead of thinking of more ways to respond.
Unfortunately, fire ships often require strict conditions of use in order to achieve the brilliant effects in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" segment. Generally speaking, it is to find a water area that lacks maneuvering space to release, and the maneuverability of the platform itself cannot be weaker than that of the target unit. It is best to have a brave person who is responsible for controlling all the way and not leaving calmly until the final stage.
Obviously, the above requirements are difficult for the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers to fulfill, so it is no wonder that their performance was ruthlessly ridiculed by outsiders and latecomers.