The sky was gloomy, thick lead clouds seemed to be pressed down from the sky, the wind gradually increased, wave after wave, seabirds swept low in the air, scurried over the stirred waves, flew around the towering mast several times, and spread their wings in the distance with a terrible chirp.

Pan Motang stood at the bow of the boat, stretched out his hand to fish a handful in the air, leaned into his nose and smelled it, as if he smelled something, and his face became more and more serious.

"Order, all warships, sail close to the coast." Pan Motang said in a deep voice.

"Boss, has the weather changed?" Beside him, a bearded general wiped a handful of water droplets from his beard and asked in a low voice.

Pan Motang nodded: "Yuan Ming, I'm afraid the wind and waves this time are not small, looking at this day, I'm afraid that it will come in one to two hours at most, let all the big boats live on the outside, and the small boats are in the middle, keeping a safe distance." ”

"Yes!" Tang Yuanming.

With the flags flying above the mast and the sound of horns, the whole fleet began to change its formation, from the original two-way column to a diamond shape, with large and medium-sized ships on the outside and small warships in the middle, slowly approaching the coastline.

The wind gradually became stronger, and all the warships dropped their sails, and even a large warship like the Dingyuan was no longer as smooth as before, but jolted.

"How far is it from Zhoushan?" Watching the sailors busily fixing the things on the ship that were easy to move, Pan Motang asked.

Tang Yuanming took out a sheepskin drawing from his arms, looked up and looked at it carefully, and said, "General Pan, at our current speed, it will probably take about two hours. It seems that this storm cannot be avoided. But don't worry, everyone is a veteran, and it's not like they haven't been through the storm and can cope with it. ”

"I'm afraid it's a little sinister this time." Pan Motang shook his head: "Tell everyone that you must be careful, the soldiers are all in the cabin, and those who must stay to operate the ship will fix themselves with ropes for me." ”

"Got it!"

The storm came as scheduled.

In the face of the power of nature, human beings seem extremely small and helpless, even if it is a large warship like Dingyuan Fuyuan, it is like a toy ship at this moment, sometimes it is held up by the huge waves, and sometimes it sinks to the bottom of the valley with the sea water, and above the head, the sea water and rain will be poured down together, and they can't distinguish each other at all.

On top of the high Diao head, the signal soldiers tied themselves to the mast, and at this moment the military trumpets and banners no longer played any role, and the only thing that could connect with each other was the glass lamp installed on the Diao head. The glass lamp is installed in a wooden box, the four sides of the wooden box have circular holes, the holes are inlaid with different colors of glass, outside the holes, there are hinges installed one by one, which can be opened and half-closed.

This special glazed lamp makes full use of the specially polished glaze and exquisite design, so that the light is enhanced, which greatly enhances the means of communication between the Tang army sailors under harsh conditions, and also greatly increases their survivability.

The three large warships of Dingyuan, Fuyuan, and Zhenyuan each led a detachment of fleets, and at this moment, they were all led by these three large warships, forming three groups fighting against the wind and waves.

Although Pan Motang has one less hand than others, the whole person seems to grow on the deck, and with the ups and downs of the warship, the people also fluctuate, and only with the iron hook in his right hand hooking the side of the ship, he stands firmly on the ship. With their eyes dead in front and their mouths constantly giving orders, the sailors behind them relay the orders to the heralds on the masts, who then use the lights to send the orders to the ships.

The fleet of the Tang Army's naval divisions struggled with the wind and waves.

In the wind and waves, there are occasional screams, but Pan Motang's expression has not changed at all, such a thing, in his life, I don't know how many times he has seen it, in such a storm and storm, everyone can only rely on themselves to protect themselves while completing the task. No one can help you, and if you're not careful, you'll become a delicacy for fish and shrimp in the sea.

It has to be said that this kind of warship specially built for battle, in terms of structure, is much stronger than ordinary merchant ships, and the ability to survive in the fight against wind and waves is also stronger. Pan Motang knew very well that if he still carried the kind of warship that was converted from a merchant ship when he was a pirate before, he was afraid that he would suffer heavy losses when he encountered such a storm and waves.

On the sea, the pirates are not most afraid of officers and soldiers, because if they can't beat them, they can escape. Generally speaking, pirates are much more familiar with the sea than officers and soldiers, but when they encounter such weather, they can only sigh their own bad luck.

Time seems to pass slowly, as if every second is as long as a year.

Time seemed to pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the storm vanished, the sea was calm again, the lead clouds overhead had dissipated, and the sun came out from behind the clouds and spread warmth again.

Pan Motang let out a long breath, only to feel that his whole body was sore, and he wanted to sit on the deck with his ass like this, spread out his feet and sleep well. But when he saw the sailors who had collapsed on the deck, he forced himself to stand taller.

Tang Yuanming staggered over, when the wind and waves were at their highest, he went to the helm in person, and at this time he was exhausted, and a bag of the boss bulged on his forehead, as if he had grown a horn.

"It doesn't matter, right?" Pan Motang asked.

"It's okay, I accidentally hit the helmknob." Tang Yuanming laughed. "Go back and rub some lard, rub it, and the swelling will almost go down tomorrow."

"Let the brothers get up and go change their wet clothes. Then let the leader immediately boil a few pots of ginger soup to warm up the brothers. Pan Motang said: "Send an order to other warships, drop anchor in place, and let everyone rest before setting sail." At the same time, ask them to report their casualty figures and ask if there are any ships lost or damaged. ”

"Okay!" Tang Yuanming said.

Fighting the wind and waves like this is really much more tiring than fighting a naval battle. The key is that in many battles that took place after they formed an army, they fought with an overwhelming advantage against the enemy, but this time, it was God who pressed them on the surface of the sea and rubbed them, let alone counterattack, and it was difficult to even protect themselves.

Look at the usual vigorous men who look like little lambs at the moment, you can see how tired they are.

Ruan Er, who was above Diao's head, also had a blue nose and swollen face at the moment, he stayed in this small Diao fight, and from time to time he had to pass orders, although he tied himself, his head would hit the four walls from time to time, touching several big bags on his head, Ruan Er hissed and screamed.

Hearing Tang Yuanming's shouting below, Ruan Er untied the rope on his body, stood up, pulled out the red and blue flags from his waist, and waved them vigorously. The glass lamp was extinguished as early as after the wind and waves subsided and the sky brightened, and the lamp oil here was precious.

Giving the order to go far, he habitually took out the monoculars on his waist again, this thing is even more precious, on the entire Dingyuan, except for the general Pan Motang, he is the only one who has to match it, and the ordinary baby has to be with something, that is, Tang Yuanming wants to borrow it to play, and he has to say good things to him for a long time.

Watching the whole fleet in circles.

It seems that the situation of the two detachments of Zhenyuan and Fuyuan is much worse than that of them, because Ruan Er saw some floating objects on the sea, and it seems that the other two fleets have ships sunk. Also, their fleet has a veteran like General Pan in command, and the commanders of the other two fleets are much less experienced.

This made him feel a little sad in his heart, and he didn't know how many brothers had returned to the sea. I believe it won't take long for him to know the answer.

Half-turned, he looked elsewhere.

The scenery after a rainstorm is always different.

In the distance, the shadowy mountains were very clear in the telescope, and there was a rainbow at one end in the boundless sky, and at the other end, on top of the highest mountain, countless birds were spreading their wings and passing under the rainbow gate.

Slowly turning the direction, countless seabirds appeared in their eyes, and they did not know where they were hiding during the previous storm, but now they flew out in flocks, towards their fleet. Ruan Er is very fond of these seabirds, sometimes during the long voyage on the sea, these seabirds are his best companions, they are not afraid of people, they will often stop on the edge of Diaotou, and Ruan Er and look at each other.

The seabirds rested on the mast, on the edge of his fight, and their crisp cries sounded in his ears, and Ruan Er suddenly felt refreshed.

Turning his body again, his body suddenly stiffened, and his body, which had been leaning softly against the wall, suddenly straightened up, leaned forward, one eye subconsciously closed tighter, and the other opened wider.

In the telescope, a boat appeared.

No, not one, it's a lot of ships, they are scattered on the sea in the distance, if you look at it with the naked eye, they are either just inadvertent black dots, or they can't see clearly at all, because at this moment in his telescope, those ships are only the size of a palm, but in his experience, he knows that these are some very large sea ships.

At this moment, there are so many ships suddenly, then there is only one possibility, and that is a fleet of sizes like them.

That's what they want to hit on this trip.

Lingnan Water Division.

"Spot enemy warships!" He roared loudly.