Chapter 23: The Counterattack from Xiamen

The crowd that had gathered in front of the Dunren Pavilion instantly erupted into chaos. The tense, silent atmosphere of waiting for orders vanished, replaced by a chorus of wails and screams. People, desperate to survive, scrambled and fled in all directions, trying to escape the sudden arrival of death.

Ying Yu began to fire at a steady rhythm, one shell after another, with an impact every ten seconds. The shells rained down on the courtyard. With each deafening explosion on the stone pavement and rooftops, flames and black smoke shot into the sky. Debris—stones, tiles, bricks, and splintered wood—flew everywhere. In a matter of moments, the courtyard was littered with bodies.

Ying Yu knew his cannon couldn’t be perfectly accurate; it was enough to generally cover the area centered on the Dunren Pavilion. As more shells landed, the smoke and dust grew thicker, making it difficult for the spotter to accurately locate the impacts. Any further firing would likely result in many stray shots. But this was no longer important. After the bombardment of 20 high-explosive shells, no one in the Zheng mansion would be willing to stay.

He remained calm and, after firing the last high-explosive shell, waited 20 seconds before switching to shrapnel. He no longer aimed for a specific target but fired for effect across the entire mansion complex, seeking to inflict maximum casualties on the fleeing personnel.

One after another, black puffs of smoke bloomed in the sky, spraying iron pellets down onto the ground. The people, pushing and shoving, crowded in the courtyards and corridors as they tried to escape, were reaped by wave after wave of this “iron hail.” One shell exploded at the courtyard gate, cutting down 25 people as if they were grass.

The fleeing people had no idea what was happening. They only knew, instinctively, that they could not stay here. They ran frantically towards the various exits of the mansion, letting out meaningless, crazed screams, pushing and trampling each other. Women, children, and the elderly were mercilessly pushed down and trampled. Many were trampled to death. The corridors and doorways were piled high with the bodies of the dead and the groaning wounded.

Zheng Zhilong was not in the mansion at this time. He had been in Xiamen for the past few days, overseeing the establishment of an arsenal on Gulangyu Island. The contact, a man named Hale, had been brought to him by Zheng Zhifeng. His grandiose claims and the few firearm samples he provided had greatly piqued Zheng Zhilong’s interest. For over a year, he had been painfully aware of the vast “technological gap” between himself and the Australians. Without “sturdy ships and powerful cannons,” the maritime trade hegemony he had so painstakingly built would be snatched away by them.

This mysterious Kirishitan (Christian) had offered to build a weapons factory for them, one that could produce “new-style Hongyi cannons” that were in no way inferior to those of the Dutch or Portuguese. Additionally, he could also provide them with the same kind of “great cannons” the Australians had. Of course, the latter were very expensive. But this brought a great deal of hope to the increasingly desperate Zheng Zhilong.

If not for this sense of urgency, he would not have so easily agreed to Zheng Zhifeng’s suggestion to cooperate with the Kirishitan, Paul. For his planned “rearmament” program, he had not only sent men to Macau to recruit “black barbarians” as mercenaries but had also sent men to Japan to recruit the ronin he was more familiar with and to purchase copper for casting cannons.

He was awakened by his personal guards when the first wave of cannon fire from Anping was heard. But he didn’t know what was happening in Kinmen. He could only hear the thunder of cannons and see the sky lit up with fire. It was clear that someone was attacking Big and Little Kinmen Islands.

Zheng Zhilong couldn’t immediately determine who the enemy was or the scale of their attack. It was several dozen nautical miles from here to Kinmen Island; a small sailboat would take the better part of a day to make the one-way trip. Even if a messenger were dispatched from Kinmen immediately, they wouldn’t reach Gulangyu until noon.

He could only trust the commander in Kinmen. Stationed there was his brother, Zheng Zhihu. Many of his own brothers and clan brothers had joined him when he rose to power, but his bond with Zheng Zhihu was special. Zheng Zhihu had followed him as a vagrant in Macau and had fought alongside him as a pirate in Japan, facing life and death together. Their bond was the strongest, and he trusted him deeply. Moreover, he was brave, decisive, and skilled in martial arts, having won many victories in the battles to pacify the various sea powers. He was known at the time for his “dragon’s wisdom and tiger’s courage.” That was why Zheng Zhilong had placed this brother in command of Kinmen, to guard the key to Xiamen Bay and Weitou Bay for him.

Now, he stood on Sunlight Rock on Gulangyu, gazing at the smoke and fire in the direction of Kinmen. Whoever the attackers were, they must have many men and ships. It was bound to be a fierce battle over there.

“Is there any message from Second Master Mang?” he asked his personal guard again. He had an agreement with Zheng Zhihu that if there was urgent news, he would send a messenger by fast horse instead of waiting for a boat.

“Reporting to the General, not yet.”

Zheng Zhilong watched the sky gradually lighten. The smoke and fire grew more intense. The sky near Kinmen Island was almost completely shrouded in black smoke. He had a bad feeling. It seemed the battle was not going well for Zheng Zhihu. There was no time to lose. He immediately ordered:

“Beat the drums and raise the banners! Prepare a boat, we are returning to Zhongzuosuo!”

The cannons signaling a council of war were fired, followed by the dense roll of drums and the mournful sound of horns. The Zheng family commanders, who had been in a state of uncertainty, quickly donned their armor and hurried towards the central command tent in Zhongzuosuo.

Half an hour later, the first wave of fire ships set sail under the protection of other vessels, commanded by Zheng Lian, the commander of the Xiamen garrison. The entire fleet anchored at Xiamen set out, leaving behind only a few small, useless boats and half of the fire ships. After all, the waters between Gulangyu and Xiamen Island were more suitable for using fire ships than Xiamen Bay. If Zheng Zhihu and the reinforcing fleet couldn’t hold back the enemy, the enemy would inevitably advance on Xiamen. As long as he had fire ships, he still had one last chance to fight back.

At the same time, he dispatched two teams of personal guards, one by sea and one by land, to ride with all speed to Anping. The commander of Anping was his clan cousin, Zheng Zhiguan. Zheng Zhiguan was a man of limited ability but was honest and steady. Anping was protected by the Kinmen islands, so the commander there didn’t need to be a great general; he just needed to be prudent and maintain order in the city and ensure the safety of the Zheng family.

However, he had some doubts about whether Zheng Zhiguan could hold the city and protect the entire Zheng clan if the enemy really did reach the walls of Anping, especially since his wife, Dong-shi, and his son, Fusong, whom he had brought back from Japan, were currently in the city. Although he didn’t think Zheng Zhihu would necessarily be defeated at Kinmen—and even if the enemy did capture Kinmen, they probably wouldn’t dare to venture deep into the unfamiliar waters of the Shijing River to lay siege to the heavily fortified city of Anping—a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. It would be safer to temporarily move his family to the county seat of Jinjiang.

At this moment, Zheng Lian was on his flagship. This was not a three-masted gunship but a large, three-masted vessel he had recently purchased from the Portuguese at a high price—an old Portuguese merchant ship armed with 24 bronze cannons, the largest of which could fire 24-pound balls. To operate this “Frankish” ship, he had specially recruited many foreign sailors from Macau and Manila. It was currently the most powerful ship in the Zheng fleet in terms of overall combat capability. Zheng Zhilong had given him this ship as his flagship, a clear sign of his high regard. Zheng Lian, in turn, was eager to prove himself in this critical moment.

Zheng Lian and his brother, Zheng Cai, were not from Zheng Zhilong’s Shijing Zheng clan, but from the Gaopu Zheng clan. They were not, as is commonly believed, Zheng Zhilong’s clan cousins or adopted sons. The brothers had joined Zheng Zhilong in their early years and quickly became key figures under his command. By 1640, Zheng Cai had become a garrison commander permanently stationed in Xiamen, only a rank or two below Zheng Zhilong himself. Zheng Cai was stationed in Xiamen for a long time, managing the overseas trade at the mouth of the Jiulong River. By the time Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing, the two brothers had formed a powerful faction within the Zheng clan. After Zheng Zhilong was taken to Beijing, Zheng Cai controlled the main overseas trade of the Zheng group and was, for a time, powerful enough to contend with Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) for the leadership of the Zheng clan. It was not without reason that when Zheng Chenggong sought to reorganize his forces, his first target was the Zheng Cai and Zheng Lian brothers in Xiamen.

Zheng Lian’s main force consisted of three three-masted gunships and two European-style sailing ships, along with dozens of Fuchuan and Guangchuan ships. Over a hundred fire ships, laden with dry firewood, sailed in a group on the other side. Each ship was equipped with grappling hooks and iron chains to ensure they could latch onto their targets.

With a favorable wind, Zheng Lian’s fleet set its sails and headed towards Kinmen.

Although Zheng Lian was unsure of the situation on the battlefield, he knew that a fierce battle lay ahead. The only ones who would dare to storm Weitou Bay were the Dutch, Liu Laoxiang, and the Australians. The Dutch and Liu Laoxiang had a history of collusion. Not long ago, when Liu Laoxiang attacked Min’an, Dutch-style sailing ships were spotted in his fleet.

However, Liu Laoxiang had just suffered a major defeat at Min’an and sustained heavy losses; it was impossible for him to regroup so quickly. If it were the Dutch, their trade commissioner’s ship in Xiamen had shown no unusual activity. The surprise attack on Kinmen was, in all likelihood, carried out by the Australians.

The thought of the Australians made Zheng Lian tense. He had heard that their ships were sturdy and their cannons powerful, so much so that even the leader himself dared not confront them head-on. If they were the ones attacking, he would have to be extremely careful.

As the Zheng family’s reinforcement fleet sailed forward with the wind, the five steam warships of the First Squadron were also heading towards Xiamen at a speed of 8 knots. Because the First Squadron was so fast, the transport ships and motorboats carrying the landing force couldn’t keep up. Therefore, the landing force—four infantry companies with a few attached cannons—was transported in a short-haul manner, distributed among the five warships. The small landing craft were also stowed on their decks.

By 19th-century standards, the First Squadron was entering battle in an extremely dangerous state, with their decks packed with soldiers and ammunition and small boats lashed to the decks. A single enemy cannonball could cause severe casualties and damage. But the superiority they held in firepower and mobility allowed the Transmigrator officers to disregard such concerns—all that mattered was maximum efficiency.