In William's opinion, the Ming army that crossed the sea with ships of up and down 100 tons were at most used as communication ships, and it was okay to pass on the news, but it was enough to transport troops, and it was a joke to use them for naval warfare. Pen % fun % pavilion www.biquge.info Δ81 Chinese Ω net

Although the British Navy in the early 17th century was not the strongest maritime power in the West, the prototypes of battleships and line tactics had already appeared, and the main flagship already had three layers of artillery decks, hundreds of naval guns, and a displacement of one or two thousand tons, even if the frigates were not incorporated into the line formation, the displacement reached 7oo-9oo tons. If you meet such a shabby fleet at sea, let alone shelling, even if you hit it directly, it will be a collision and an accurate one, and it will capsize if it does not sink.

The only big point in the whole fleet is He Rubin's ship in the center of the fleet, which is a fortune ship of three or four hundred materials, with a displacement of about two hundred tons, and is newly painted, which is very eye-catching among the old cargo ships in front and behind.

After observing for about half an hour, William had a bottom in his heart and ordered to return. The "Yangming" drew an arc, turned around at a large angle, cut through the waves, and quickly disappeared into the sea surface.

The strange ship shuttled back and forth, and the fear of the unknown made all the staff on He Rubin's boat silent, and after seeing the strange ship leave, someone finally discussed: "This strange ship must have been sent by the Bofu thieves to spy on the news, and was shocked by the might of our army, and returned in a huff." ”

He Rubin stroked his beard and smiled: "Ten is yes." Although the ship is full of sergeants and is not afraid of thieves jumping into the gang, it is best not to have twists and turns on the way. After all, he was a young man, and when he saw my army, he didn't dare to test it in the end. He was also a little wary of this strange ship, but as the commander of the army, it was natural to show contempt for the enemy at this time, so as not to increase the morale of the thief and destroy his own prestige.

The staff naturally agreed, saying that the army would be invincible, and the thieves would flee from the wind, and suddenly the flattery on the deck was like a tide.

At the same time that the "Yangming" left Bofu Port to reconnoiter at the mouth of the Pearl River, five Wuyi-class warships also rushed out, sailed out of the port, and headed straight for Qiongshan. The destination of the officers and soldiers crossing the sea was Qiongshan, and as long as they followed this direction, they could meet the fleet head-on.

At this time, the five warships were no longer as shabby as the Tuolu Island that attacked Liu Heizi, not only the "Lingao" was equipped with all the guns and gunners, but the "Chengmai", "Changhua" and the newly joined "Danzhou" and "Yazhou" were all armed in place, and the sailors and gunners were mainly pirate prisoners.

Like Lin Chuanzong and Liu Heizi, after the lessons of the 32-pounder cannon and the lure of fixed monthly salaries and shares, the pirates did not hesitate to join this emerging maritime force.

Before the rise of this force in the summer, under the oppression of Liu Xiang and other giants, these small groups of pirates did not live well, and as Liu Xiang's power swelled day by day, they were either annexed or exterminated by the government. At present, there is such a fleet to receive them, no matter how you look at it, it is better than being swallowed up by Liu Xiang - joining a big pirate group like Liu Xiang halfway, you can only follow behind and drink some soup, how can there be such favorable conditions. Besides, the ship cannon of this "shopkeeper" is so powerful, Liu Xiang may not be an opponent.

Although the pirates have been exposed to Western-style soft sails for the first time, they can adapt to it with a little training, but the operation of the artillery is a bit difficult for them. At this time, the significance of Lin Weiye's insistence on choosing a large-caliber Caron gun became apparent.

Artillery battles at sea are no better than 6 places, the gun positions are fixed, the room for adjustment is limited, and the side of the ship can only be hit. The artillery on the battleship paid more attention to shooting than to accuracy compared to its counterparts on the 6 ground, and whoever could pour more shells on the opponent in a short period of time had the upper hand. Even so, the difficulty of reloading and resetting the long-barreled guns was still a challenge for pirates who could only wield knives and guns.

In contrast, the barrel of the Caron gun is short and thick, the loading is simple, and the reset is also easy, plus the close-range shooting, there is no need to consider the angle of the gun and the firing range, and the bombardment of the enemy ship is simple and crude, without much technical content, and the gunners from pirates are fully competent.

In many operations against small groups of pirates, the gunners were also slowly trained. One or two battles can get the gunners of one ship up to speed, and the new captives become the gunners of the next ship, training them with the unlucky ones behind. By snowballing in this way, the gunners of the five ships had completely mastered the simple operation, and without considering the operation of the long-barreled guns, most of the gunners had met the qualification standards in William's mind, and at least more than enough to deal with opponents who did not have naval guns in the Far Eastern Seas.

The fleet, led by the temporary flagship "Lingao", sailed along the coastline, and after two hours passed through the Qiongzhou Strait, left Qiongshan, and arrived near a small island called Luo Dousha off the coast of Xuwen. Here, the fleet slowed down and waited for news from the "Yangming".

Half an hour later, the "Yangming" appeared in the field of vision, after approaching the fleet, a small sampan was put down on the ship, William took Liu Heizi, Lin Chuanzong and others to board the "Lingao" on the sampan, Liu Heizi shouted to the sailors on the ship: "The official fleet has passed the three towns of Nansan, and it is estimated that this will be about to reach Donghai Island." ”

Donghai Island is a large island near Leizhou Province, near which fresh water can be replenished, and after passing this island, all the way to Luodousha Island, there are no decent islands and ports that can dock and replenish freshwater food. Although it passed through Xuwen on the way, except for the south facing Qiongzhou, Xuwen did not have a large port in the east, and some small fishing villages were not enough to accommodate a huge fleet. According to Liu Heizi, this sea area is the most suitable location to attack the fleet of the official army, and there is no village in front of it, no store in the back, and there is no suitable place to hide.

William straightened his collar - although he was not wearing Royal Navy clothing, but his experience in the Royal Navy had made him do this knee-jerk - and then slashed forward with his right hand, shouting, "Go all ahead, destroy the enemy's fleet on the sea!" ”

After receiving the order, all the ships of the fleet adjusted the angle of the sails, and the canvas was blown up by the wind, and moved along the eastern coast of Xuwen at the fastest degree at present.

In the 17th century, sea voyages followed the coastline, and the Ming fleet was no exception. As long as the other side's route is confirmed and the coastline is opposite, it is unlikely that the fleets of both sides will miss it, which is also the confidence of Xia Nan to dare to formulate such a sea attack plan. In the old time and space, fleets with modern seafaring technology could choose their routes at will, and on the vast sea, where to find each other, even if the number of ships was as high as 300. (To be continued.) )