After listening to Xia Nan's words, Lin Weiye said embarrassedly: "It's me who blames you." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Anyway, it's better to be a soldier for us to fight Huang Taiji than to be a slave to him as a pig and a dog. ”

Xia Nan smiled and patted him on the back: "Lao Lin, I'm not a saint, I do more for myself, but I won't watch the Manchu barbarians kill people and set fires." I can't be a savior, it's still okay to be a conscientious warlord, haha. ”

As the two spoke, the outline of the land appeared at sea level. William came to the bow of the ship and told Xia Nan: "There is an entrance to the sea ahead." Liu Heizi said that this place is called the Pearl River Estuary, and the inland river leading to Guangzhou is called the Pearl River, and our route is to enter the inland along the Pearl River. ”

Xia Nan waved his fist in the direction of Guangzhou and shouted: "Wang Zunde, I'm here!" Hurry up and pack up, roll up and leave! In the future, I will have the final say in the territory of Guangdong, and whoever will be the governor will have to hold my tail between my legs! ”

The hydrological conditions of the Pearl River in the 17th century were obviously much better than in the 21st century, the river was much wider, the water and the sky were as vast as the sea, full of harbors, rivers and sandbanks, and the plains where many waters converged on both sides of the river gave the illusion that it was an inland sea dotted with islands.

The banks are full of cultivated land, the late rice has bloomed, the aroma of rice flowers fills the air, villages and market towns are scattered along the banks of the river, there are hardly any roads, only boats come and go, and the large and small rivers form a complex network linking the towns and villages. From time to time, masts and sails can be seen looming in the depths of the rice fields.

There were no armed forces on the water along the way, and the strength of the Guangdong naval division simply could not guarantee the cruise of the Pearl River estuary - in the eyes of Xia Nan, they were not as threatening as pirates. There were some river transport ships and fishing boats sailing on the river, and seeing such a menacing fleet, they took refuge in the harbor rivers on both sides, and William ordered a few fishing boats to be caught and inquired about the situation on the river.

According to the information provided by the fishermen, there are no official and military boats patrolling the Pearl River, and if there are any official armed boats, only a few small boats are on the river. The only threat to the fleet was a few cannons on the Ya Niang Shoe Fort in Humen - the later famous Humen Fort was expanded from the fort on Ya Niang Shoe Island.

After several fishermen finished speaking, they begged for mercy pitifully: "Boss, let us go, we are old and young, and we all rely on us to fish and make a living." ”

William said to Xia Nan: "They are familiar with the hydrological situation, and if they want to enter the Pearl River smoothly, they need their help. ”

Xia Nan ordered people to take out a few pieces of broken silver and said, "We are not pirates, and we will not kill people indiscriminately. As long as you take us along the Pearl River to Guangzhou, I will not only release you, but also give you silver. ”

The fishermen had no choice but to act as temporary pilots. According to their description, there are two shipping lanes from the mouth of the Pearl River to the Pearl River inland river to Guangzhou. One is the outer route, which passes through Humen, passes through two sandbanks, and goes directly to Huangpu. This is the main route for general merchant ships to Guangzhou, and the navigation conditions are good. The other route, known as the Inner Route, runs from the western part of Macao, crosses the Sha Shoal, then reaches Heung Shan, and from there travels through Humen to Huangpu, passing through many shoals and rivers on the way, usually by small tonnage vessels.

The tonnage of the fleet determines that they can only take the outer route, so they must first pass the level of the Asian Shoe Battery.

Tiger Gate, Yaniang Shoe Fort.

Chen Qian, the general manager of the defenders, is basking in the sun in Humen Village at the moment, and his main duty is to be responsible for defending the Yaniang shoe fort. His entire army was 640 men - of course, on paper, and there were more than 200 people who were empty for empty pay.

There is a fort with an earth-and-stone structure on Yaniang Shoes Island, which was gradually built from the Wanli period, and there are many places that have collapsed and damaged. In addition to the Ya Niang Shoe Fort, there is also an earth and stone fort on the opposite side of the upper rung, on which there are 4 large Buddha Lang machine guns, and the cross fire formed by the Ya Niang Shoe Fort is very weak.

These two forts, a total of only 26 artillery, all of them are the Wanli period or even earlier cast Franc cannons and older cannons, not only the power is insufficient, but also the sun and rain on weekdays, rusty.

This amount of troops is similar to the artillery used to intercept merchants and deter the people, but it is not enough to deal with pirates. Fortunately, the pirates would not run to do such a non-oily thing as attacking the fort when they were full, Chen Qian drew some water from the passing merchants on weekdays, extorted some money from the passing, and the life was still quite peaceful.

When Xia Nan's fleet arrived at Humen, Chen Qian thought he was dreaming, he had never seen such a big ship, and it was five of them. He instinctively felt that this neat fleet would never be a merchant ship, and it was not a good intention, but he didn't know if their target was the Yaniang Shoe Fort or Guangzhou City.

However, no matter where this fleet came from, Chen Qian could not bear the responsibility: the Ya Niang Shoe Fort was the gateway to the Pearl River, and if there was a mistake, he would definitely be punished; If the other party is allowed to enter the upper reaches of the Pearl River, if he stabs the basket in Guangzhou, his head will fall to the ground. Chen Qian quickly figured out the stakes, and shouted hoarsely: "Everyone guys!" The battery hurriedly prepares to fire the cannon! ”

The cannons and guns began to fire at the fleet, and the sparse shells flew out of the batteries and fell feebly into the sea, splashing a column of water a man high.

William looked up at the position of the battery, "Such a good terrain has been wasted, if enough cannons of more than 12 pounder cannons are equipped to form crossfire, it will be a big threat to any ships passing through here." ”

He said to Xia Nan: "This level of firepower simply cannot cause real damage to the fleet, we can quickly pass through this water, and maybe not a single shell will fall on the ship." ”

Xia Nan observed the Ya Niang shoe fort on the right and the rung fort on the left, thought about it, and said: "This time we were able to pass unscathed, if the imperial court decided to expand the fort here, it would be a great threat to our future voyages." So, the best thing to do is to pull out this battery once and for all. ”

Chen Qian originally thought that the other party would quickly pass through the channel under the threat of shelling, and in this way, he finally intercepted it, but his strength was not good, and there would be an excuse in the future. Unexpectedly, the other party did not intend to do this at all, but moved closer to the fort, and the five ships lined up in a straight line, and lowered the anchor, and opened square windows one after another on the side. (To be continued.) )