Seven curtains gradually descended from the sky. The sea breeze blows from the sea hair, which is a common mist in Lingao when it enters early summer. The fog is getting thicker and thicker. Piers, trestles, coasts, islands, and factories are all covered with a layer of soft yarn, and only the lights in the buildings can be vaguely seen.
Dude looked at the luminous watch in his hand. It was already eight o'clock in the evening, and the lights near the naval shipyard were particularly bright. You can also hear the roar of steam engines. That was the sound of loading the Great Whale. The four smoothbore guns to be installed on the Great Whale were transported to Bopu during the day. In order to avoid being noticed, the loading work will be carried out by the navy at night at the dock of the shipyard without any labor.
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According to the plan, the Great Whale would build a protective wall with straw bags filled with soil, and stack rice bags or sugar bags outside. In fact, several artillery pieces and two platoons of marines were ambushed inside. As soon as the other party approaches, they will bombard the pirate ships with artillery. According to the descriptions of the sailors on the Guang Bing, the pirate ships are all small and medium-sized coastal ships. They will definitely sink if they cannot take a few shells.
If the pirates only move one or two ships, this plan is the simplest and most effective with the firepower that the whale will be equipped with. But in case there are many enemy ships. After all, the surprise effect achieved by sudden shooting can only be achieved once. After firing, it takes some time for the artillery to be reloaded and aimed. Ships that have not been hit can use scattered attacks to avoid the firepower on the ship. The whale is not a motor boat, and its speed is slow and its maneuverability is not flexible. Once it is entangled by a small ship and enters a close-up fight, the enemy will be outnumbered. Suffer. If the enemy is attacked and is frightened by the firepower of the big whale, he turns around and runs away, and the speed of the big whale cannot catch up, and it becomes a rout. Obviously it is not enough to use the whale itself, there must be ships to cooperate with the operation.
But as more ships move out, cunning pirates may retract their tentacles. Obviously, no matter what model the navy adopts, the basic condition for victory - "initiative" - is still in the hands of pirates.
Spread in front of you is a map of the distribution of islands and reefs in the sea near Haian Street on a one-hundred-thousandth scale map magnified by Tian times. This area is dotted with large and small islands, reefs, and sand, forming countless waterways and hidden canyons extending in all directions. In such an environment, it is naturally particularly beneficial to pirates who use light boats and small boats.
Pian Xuan pondered. He dialed Li Di’s phone number:
"Is the Deng Yingzhou in the port?"
"Report! Here."
"Call that, Wang." Dude suddenly remembered that everyone seemed to call the first mate who landed in Yingzhou, Wang Dabeard. The first mate should come to the base headquarters! "
"Wang Bearded? Call him immediately."
After coming here for a while, Big Beard Wang is here. Regarding his beard, the navy was divided into two different factions. One faction thought his beard was very beautiful and very "British" and wanted him to keep it, while the other faction believed that the beard was unhygienic and soldiers should not grow beards. The dispute between the two sides is not over yet. So Wang Dabeard still keeps his beard. After a voyage, the crew usually had to rest for a few days, so he looked very clean and fresh. He was wearing an original navy uniform and looked stylish. He no longer had the pirate image of the past.
"Based on your past experience as a pirate, where would you choose to intercept ships entering and leaving Hai'an Street Port?" Bu De pointed to the chart, "To ensure absolute safety, the other party may have escorts.
Wang Dabeard carefully looked at the sea chart. These extremely small details could no longer surprise him.
"Here." He pointed to a group of black spots on the chart.
Doude looked intently. This place called "Chrysanthemum Island" is not a formed island, just a bunch of rocks exposed out of the sea. This place is a must-pass for Hoi On Street Port.
He nodded. Guangbing was attacked four nautical miles southeast of this area. Bearded Wang’s experience is correct.
"Why did you choose this place?" Dude asked, because there are several similar islands and reefs nearby.
"The conditions here are the best. There are many and chaotic islands and reefs, and it is easy to hide the ship. Just hide the ship on the Juhua Island and send people to look out on the reef. If a ship comes, you can rush out. It will catch you by surprise." Wang Da Beard said. "If the opponent can't defeat it with escort, just escape through the outer island. There are many waterways, many rocks, and a lot of underwater sand. If the pursuing ship is not familiar with the route, it will hit the rocks immediately."
"Well, what if we try to catch these pirates?"
"The best way is to ambush the ship on the inner island in advance," Wang Bearded said without hesitation. "Unless the pirates are not prepared to escape through the outer island, the Maojiao gap between the inner and outer island is the only way to go. If there is a ship The gunboats are blocking them there, attacking from the front and back. No matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to escape."
"Very good." Dude thought that if he only looked at the chart, he would never know that there are so many tricks in the reef group with only a few black spots.
"But the inner island is very difficult to enter." Wang Dabeard reminded, "The waterway is too complicated, and there is no danger except for small Zhiban. Larger boats may run aground or run aground when entering or exiting the waterway."
"How big of a ship can it fit into?"
Wang Dabeard shook his head: "The boat that can take in most small materials. The water flow inside is very chaotic and there is a lot of sand."
"Are you familiar with the waterways?"
"This" Wang Bearded hesitated a little.
"Tell the truth." Dude said, "This task is very important. I will record it for you after it is completed."
! "
"Yes." Wang Bearded stood up first and said, "I did go in with someone, only once. I still remember some sea routes."
"Okay, get ready and report to the shipyard dock."
The next day, Dude was busy choosing weapons and troops. In this operation, he decided not to mobilize any troops from across the country to participate in this operation, but to mobilize the indigenous troops of the navy in an organized manner. In the evening, he and Wang Dashu boarded an old single-masted ship and went to Juhua Island to conduct reconnaissance in person.
To narrow the target. Except for seven or eight sailors and two officer candidates who were promoted from the first batch and are undergoing training, no one else will be brought. To ensure safety, the boat was temporarily equipped with a motorboat propeller.
The ship sailed for several hours during the night. It was approaching midnight, and Doude estimated that he was now close to his destination, Juhua Island outside Hai'an Street Harbor.
The sea was calm. The moon is very bright. The ship has lowered its sails and used rockers to slowly push forward.
"Are you here?" he asked Wang Dabeard, who was observing behind the bunker at the bow of the ship.
"Not yet. It should be soon." Wang Bearded observed the sea surface attentively. Now his eyes have become accustomed to the darkness and with the help of a visor, he can roughly distinguish three hundred things on the sea surface.
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The scout ship moved on.
"There are black spots ahead." Wang Bearded shouted in a low voice, "Watch the boat!"
At this time, more than a few black spots appeared in front of Dude's eyes. But a large group of black spots. The people on the boat became nervous. Did they take the wrong course? There are not so many small reefs and islets on the chart!
Just move forward! "Dude hurriedly ordered the captain.
The reconnaissance ship quickly lowered its speed and relied on the momentum of inertia to glide forward quietly. Bu De checked the compass, then went down to the cabin, turned on the flashlight, and carefully checked the chart. But there are no such strange markings on the chart. Have sea conditions changed so much over the past year? The compass degrees, the ship's heading, and the calculated bearing are all correct. Bu De thought for a while and calculated the time of the tide. Yes, it's the lowest tide now and it's a full moon, so many nameless reefs are exposed to the sea. For this kind of sea area that is not a waterway, the measurement will naturally not be too precise. And after all, the time is four hundred years apart. Even if the waterway is accurately measured, it will take several years. Due to changes in sea water, the waterway has changed beyond recognition. The only way now is to test the deep hammer, walk section by section and test section by section, and gradually enter Juhua Island.
The water surface of the outer island is open. But there are many rocks.
"The tide is low now." Wang Bearded said, "Under normal circumstances, most of these rocks would be submerged. Ships like ours should be careful and nothing will happen."
Doude observed the sea conditions here. Secretly I felt that it was right to call Wang Dabeard as a staff advisor. In this place, if a large ship of unknown depth pursues it, it is indeed very likely to run aground on the rocks.
Now we have to enter the inner island. "Wang Dabeard said nervously.
The scout ship passed a black rock and turned into a narrow channel. The reconnaissance ship was like an old donkey. It walked and stopped, and the sailors came one by one. He held his breath and stared at the strange-shaped rocks that emerged from the seabed from time to time with his eyes wide open. He held hooks and fences in his hands, always ready to deal with unexpected situations.
The current in the waterway was abnormally turbulent, and the sailors struggled to hold on to the oak pole to prevent it from rushing to the rocks and being smashed to pieces. Wang Bearded recalled the waterway he had traveled and guided the scout ship in the direction it should go. Sometimes in order to confirm whether a reef is a landmark. He wanted to confirm for a while.
After stopping and stopping like this for almost an hour, the boat sailed into the narrow inner island. Then slowly headed towards Maotiaokou. Here are two huge rocks. The sea between the two rocks is extremely narrow, and a ship with 200 pieces of material can only barely pass through.
"This is the cat's jumping point." Wang Bearded pointed at two rocks. "It is said that even cats can jump across the distance."
Dude nodded: "Is this Waiyu outside?"
"Yes. As long as pirates pass through this place, they can go out through other waterways on the inner island. It is said that there are seven or eight such waterways. A small boat that can travel a hundred or two hundred meters needs someone to guide them."
"Then why don't we enter the inner island from here?"
"I'm not familiar with this waterway." Bearded Wang was very straightforward. "I heard that there are several dark sands in the sea near Maotiao Pass on Waiyu Island. Their positions change frequently. People who are not particularly familiar with the hydrology here will most likely be stranded on them. "
Dude ordered the reconnaissance ship to enter a narrow waterway, find a rock beach that could be leaned on, throw iron and cobalt onto the rock, seize the rock cracks, and secure the ship.
The entire Juhua Island is just like its name, similar to the shape of a chrysanthemum, scattered on the sea. There are many strange and various backflow channels and small and pitiful bays formed between islets and rocks. At low tide, large ships cannot move in it at all. Only the outer islands have relatively wide sea surface.
Dude brought the king with a big beard and a. The sailors climbed onto this unknown island. He had binoculars hung around his neck and an oilskin raincoat draped over him. The three of them climbed up the mountain with one foot deep and one foot shallow. It scares animals such as seabirds and lizards into running around. Doude stopped and paid attention to the movement on the sea around him.
The entire Juhua Island sea area was extremely quiet, with only a little bit of slag fire in the distance. Seeing that there was no movement around, he continued to lead people to climb up.
Half of the island. It is a thick layer of wet velvet-like moss. When one steps on it, it makes a sizzling sound like a water-absorbing sponge. The steep valley is very slippery. They almost fell down several times in a row. Climbing up to the top, it turned out to be a fairly flat open space covered with thorns and thorns. Dense hard cao and dead branches that have reached across. Just intertwined into a natural fence. The sailor used a machete to clear the way, and the group came to a relatively gentle clearing near the cliff. The full moon was in the sky, the waves were sparkling on the sea, and the entire Maotiaokou sea area was visible to them.
Remain.
The view from this place is very good. Nade said in Xinyue that an observation post could be arranged here. Suddenly an idea entered his mind. Isn't this place a better shooting position than a ship with one or two hundred materials?
A 200-material ship can only be equipped with light artillery, and not a few of them. If we really want to block the attack here, we still won't have any advantage in terms of firepower. Since there are so many islets on Juhua Island, we can definitely make a fuss about them and arrange more artillery on them. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel excited that he had found a good strategy.
He visually checked the angle here and then looked at the surrounding environment. Although this slope is slightly sloping, the slope is gentle, and medium-sized artillery can be placed if the ground is slightly flattened. And the area is large enough to accommodate three or four 1-cannon batteries, as well as a small number of covering infantry.
Looking at the opposite side, there are several places that may be suitable for placing artillery, one or two at each place, so that there will be a total of more than seven cannons to form a crossfire. Gunfire from fixed islands and reefs is much more accurate than from shaky ships. Prepare one or two more ships to intercept them at Maotiao Pass. Once a pirate ship arrives here, it will be a situation of catching a turtle in an urn. Not even one can escape.
"Let the officer cadets come up!" Nade ordered, "Carry out mapping operations here and map the surrounding target reference objects!"
After giving the order. He went down to the ship and reported the plan to Lingao via the radio.
"Please ask Director Ma to coordinate this matter." He added this sentence at the end of the message. ! ~!
