One after another, sampans kept docking. More than two hundred British marines gathered on the beach.
During this period, a 36-gun main battleship usually carried a team of marines, including 1 commander, 3 officers and 46 marines. The main job of these people in peacetime is to guard warships and do some chores.
In wartime, it is necessary to conduct boarding battles or landing operations. The Marine Corps is completely separate from the crew and does not live in the same area.
2. This ship is a 74-gun main battleship, sailing from the British mainland. There were one hundred and twenty Marine Lobstermen on it. Each of the three armed merchant ships had 30 spear infantry.
Because in naval battles of this era, in addition to shelling, hand-to-hand combat still played an important role.
Because the artillery power of this period was insufficient, many times the above-water parts of enemy ships were damaged and they were still floating on the sea without sinking. At this time, you need to get closer and let the Marines jump over to fight hand-to-hand and capture the enemy ship.
Theodore accompanied Lord Marshfield and the party began searching along the south side of the island.
Among these two hundred people, there were actually seventy spearmen, thirty sword-wielding sailors, and the remaining one hundred and twenty were musketeers.
Among them, there are thirty heavy musketeers and ninety light musketeers.
Not only Britain, but also the European armies in the early 17th century had as many spearmen as musketeers. In 1595, the British Privy Council ordered militias everywhere to keep up with the European trend and replace longbows with muskets.
Since then, the British longbow, which had been brilliant for a century, gradually began to be eliminated in the 17th century.
In England, it was not easy to replace the longbow with a musket as a long-range weapon. At that time, Britain did not have a standing army, and the British Army was officially established in 1707. At this time, the county militia was the main army armed force. The militia's individual equipment is often purchased by itself.
Muskets were more expensive than longbows during this period, so militiamen had little incentive to exchange for muskets.
And the huge group of bow makers are not willing to usher in the end of the industry. They formed a group to petition Parliament to oppose the decree. They have widespread support.
There were people at all levels of society who saw the longbow not just as a weapon, but as a symbol of Britishness. This group of people opposes updating weapons from the perspective of cultural protection.
Britain's population at that time was only 5 million, about the same as Shanxi in the Ming Dynasty. The land area is small, so although the weapons update work was greatly delayed, it was finally completed.
In 1627, among the 40,000 British militiamen, the main weapons were simplified to spears, heavy matchlocks, and light matchlocks, while medieval weapons such as longbows were finally eliminated.
The year is 1629, and this team sent to perform a secret mission comes from the Royal Guards. Their equipment is the best.
Thirty Spanish heavy arquebuses, which required stands to fire. Usually a sword-wielding sailor and a heavy matchlock gunner.
A group of people began to expand the area according to the map, and a group of ten people searched towards the north of the island.
At this time, Yang Fan had already prepared the eel. He had a complete set of modern picnic equipment delivered to him. They are all made of foldable stainless steel and are very lightweight. You can just fold them and put them in your backpack.
Except for a group of servants standing guard around, Yang Fan put the eels cooked on the iron plate into the lunch boxes of his wives. Their lunch boxes already contained freshly cooked rice.
"Six yuan per person, plus a spoonful of soup." Yang Fan said as he put the eel pieces into their lunch boxes.
"How about it, it tastes good. This is my exclusive secret recipe." Yang Fan said proudly.
Yang Fan didn't cook them all because there were also sizzling squid and sizzling lobster. This eel is ready to be eaten for a few more days.
"Wow, it's delicious." Xiao Niangpi took a bite and exclaimed happily.
The eel rice is on the sweet side, especially when the sauce is poured on the rice, it's super delicious. It's a pity that Yang Fan didn't do much. Only six yuan per person. An eel measuring one inch wide and three inches long is actually enough for them to eat.
Yang Fan just ate a piece of eel when he saw the servant Zhang Baocai hurried over from the front.
"Master, I found a large boat and three medium-sized boats anchored in the south. There are small sampans on the beach, and there are guards. Judging from the number of sampans, there should be about 200 people on the island. "
Yang Fan was stunned for a moment. This is the commanding heights in the middle of the island. The secret whistle can see the beach behind. He quickly put down his lunch box. He followed Zhang Baocai to a big rock nearby.
The island has dense vegetation and there are no trees around the big rock, making it a better observation location.
Yang Fan climbed up and looked through the binoculars.
I saw a dozen sampans parked on the beach, and a dozen people with matchlock guns guarding the sampans. They wore military uniforms like tuxedos. The matchlock held had a bayonet. They all look European.
In this era, bayonets had just been installed on rifles less than twenty years ago, and these people were definitely Europeans.
Yang Fan was stunned. This was Ryukyu, and there were actually Europeans. Are they Dutch or Spanish? He soon knew where these people were coming from.
He looked more than a hundred meters away from the coast. Four European sailing ships were anchored there. It was customary for naval ships of this era to fly the national flag at the stern.
Yang Fan clearly saw the Union Jack flag. Well, it turned out to be Dai Ying.
They are full, what are they doing here? Aren't they in Mumbai, India? And that warship didn't look like something the East India Company could have.
But now is not the time to think about it. Apparently, they have a large force that has been on the island for a while, but the jungle is dense and invisible. However, this island is so big, sooner or later we will encounter it.
Yang Fan was considering whether to retreat back to the ship. A burst of gunshots was heard more than a hundred meters away, and dense white smoke rose there.
There was no smokeless gunpowder in this era, and every time a matchlock volley was fired, a puff of smoke would rise.
There is a guard there, the sentry post of servant Zhao Shengwu.
Bang bang bang! Zhao Shengwu immediately fought back. He not only had a flintlock rifle. and two revolvers.
"Master, you and your ladies can retreat back to the ship, and I will take the lead." Zhang Baocai said. He is the corps leader, and this corps is under his control.
"Don't panic, launch the signal flare first and call the police. Let's retreat together." Yang Fan said.
He has experienced many battles in the past two years and is not nervous about encountering enemies. The two got off the rocks and ran towards the camp.
Zhang Baocai took out a flare gun from his waist and fired a blue flare into the sky.
As soon as the gunshot rang out, Lin Yueru and Xiao Niangpi. Immediately put down the lunch box and chopsticks. Push Mei Xiang and Chen Xi to the ground and tell them not to move. Then grab the airsoft gun. It stretched out from the rotten gap of the fallen tree trunk. Watch the descent to the south with vigilance.
At this time, there was a bang as Zhao Shengwu threw a grenade. A thick cloud of smoke rose from the jungle opposite. Mixed with the screams of many people. At this time, Yang Fan also came back.
"Sir, it seems that there are barbarians and soldiers fighting below." Although Xiao Niangpi didn't understand English, she knew they were barbarians from the Franconian side by hearing their shouts.
After all, she and Tang Ruowang knew each other. Hear them speak European languages like Latin.
Yang Fan nodded and said: "It's the English. They came with a 74-gun warship and three 20-gun armed merchant ships. It is estimated that one or two hundred people came to the island."
"Master, what are they doing on this barren island?" the little girl asked in confusion.
"Nine times out of ten, they are the same as us. The pirate who hid the treasure was caught and hanged by them last year. But there are many treasure maps circulating, and I have one in my hand."
