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Chapter 79: Sweet Harbor - Catching Turtles in a Urn
Night gradually fell from the sky, covering the latest chapter of the harbor. The sea breeze blows the mist rising from the sea - this 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 surrounded by a layer of soft gauze, and only the lights in the buildings can be vaguely seen.
Wu De looked at the luminous watch in his hand. It was already eight o'clock in the evening. The lights near the naval shipyard were particularly bright, and the roar of the steam engine could be heard. 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 publicity, the loading work would be performed by the navy at night at the dock of the shipyard without any labor.
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 can't take a few shells.
If the pirates only dispatch 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 sailboat, it is slow and its maneuverability is not flexible. Once it is entangled by a small boat and enters a close-up fight, the enemy will be numerous. You will suffer a loss. If the enemy is attacked and is frightened by the whale's firepower, then turns around and runs away, and the whale is unable to catch up quickly, 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 are dispatched, cunning pirates may retract their tentacles. Obviously, no matter what mode the navy adopts, the basic condition for victory-"the initiative" is still in the hands of pirates.
What is spread out in front of you is a map of the distribution of islands and reefs in the sea near Hai'an Street on a 1/100,000th scale map magnified 50 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.
After thinking for a moment, he dialed Li Di's phone number:
"Is the Deng Yingzhou in the port?"
"Report in."
"Call that, Wang—" Wu De suddenly remembered that the first mate who landed in Yingzhou seemed to be called Wang Bearded by everyone, "First mate, come to the base headquarters."
"Big Beard Wang will 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 "British" and wanted him to keep it. 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 had to rest for a few days as usual, so he looked very clean and fresh. He was well-dressed in an original navy uniform and 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?" Wu De pointed to the chart, "To ensure absolute safety, the other party may have an escort."
Wang Dabeard looked at the sea chart carefully - these extremely detailed things could no longer surprise him now.
"Here." He pointed to a group of black spots on the chart.
Wu De looked closely and saw that this place was called "Juhua Island". It's not a formed island, just a bunch of rocks sticking 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?" Wu De 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. As long as the ship is hidden on the Juhua Island, and people are sent out on the reef, they can rush out when a ship comes. It will catch them by surprise." Wang Da Hu Zi said, "If the opponent cannot defeat it with escort, just escape directly 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 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 pass. There are two gunboats blocking us there, attacking us from both front and rear. No matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to escape."
"Very good." Wu De thought that if he only looked at the chart, he would never know that there are so many tricks in this reef group with only a few black spots.
"But the inner island is very difficult to enter." Wang Bearded reminded, "The waterway is too complicated. There is no danger except for small sampans entering. Larger boats may run aground or run aground when entering or exiting the waterway."
“How big of a ship can it fit into?”
Wang Bearded shook his head: "The boat can only take 200 materials at most. The water 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," Wu De said, "This task is very important. I will give you credit when it is completed."
"Yes," Wang Bearded stood up to attention first, "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, Wu De 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 a 100-ton sloop and went to Juhua Island to conduct reconnaissance in person.
In order to narrow the target, except for seven or eight sailors and two first-batch promoted officer cadets undergoing training, no one else was 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 Wu De estimated that he was now close to his destination - Juhua Island outside Hai'an Street Harbor.
The sea was calm and the moon was bright. The ship has lowered its sails and uses oars to slowly push forward.
"Did you find it?" he asked Wang Bearded, 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 are used to the darkness, and with the help of the telescope, he can roughly distinguish things within three hundred meters of the sea surface.
The scout ship moved on.
"There are black spots ahead." Wang Bearded shouted in a low voice, "Pay attention to the speed of the ship."
At this time, what appeared in front of Wu De's eyes was not just a few black spots, but a large group of black spots. The people on the boat became nervous. Could it be that they were on the wrong course? There were not so many small reefs and islets on the chart.
"Stop moving forward" Wu De quickly ordered the captain.
The reconnaissance ship quickly reduced its speed and relied on the momentum of inertia to glide forward quietly. Wu De checked the degree of 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. Could it be that the sea conditions have changed so much in the past 400 years? The compass degrees, the ship's course and the current calculated position are all correct. Wu 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, after a few years, the waterway will be completely different due to changes in the sea water. 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. A 100-material ship like ours needs to be careful and nothing will happen."
Wu De 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 are entering 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 for a while. The sailors held their breath and stared at the strange-shaped rocks that emerged from the seabed from time to time with their eyes wide open. They held hooks and poles in their hands, constantly Be prepared to deal with unexpected situations.
The current in the waterway was extremely turbulent, and the sailors struggled to hold on to the oar 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 has to confirm it 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."
Wu De nodded: "Outside here is Waiyu"
"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, and they can all take a boat worth one or two hundred pieces - they just need someone to guide them."
"Then why don't we enter the inner island from here?"
"I'm not familiar with this waterway -" Wang Bearded said bluntly, "I heard that there are several dark sands in the sea near Maotiao Pass on Waiyu Island, and their positions change frequently. People who are not particularly familiar with the hydrology here will most likely be stranded. above."
Wu De ordered the reconnaissance ship to enter a narrow waterway, find a rocky beach that could be leaned on, throw the anchor to the rock, grab the crack in the rock, 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.
Wu De, Wang Dabeard and a sailor climbed up to this unknown island. He had binoculars hung around his neck and an oilskin raincoat draped over him. The three people climbed up the mountain with one foot deep and one foot shallow, scaring seabirds, lizards and other animals into running around. Wu De stopped and paid attention to the movement on the sea around him.
The entire Juhua Island sea area was extremely quiet, with only a few fishing fires in the distance. Seeing that there was no movement around, he continued to lead people to climb up.
Half of the island is covered with a thick layer of wet velvet-like moss. When one steps on it, it makes a sizzling sound like a sponge absorbing water. The steep places are very slippery. They almost fell down several times. 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 fallen sideways. 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 sea was sparkling, and the entire Maotiaokou sea area was unobstructed before their eyes.
The view from this place is very good. Wu De said in his heart 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 ship with one or two hundred materials 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 12-pound 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 fired from fixed islands and reefs is much more accurate than from swaying 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," Wu De 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 through the radio.
"Please ask Director Ma to coordinate this matter." He added this sentence at the end of the message. ,.
