Zheng Wenxian took hundreds of people to Siam to pick up the ship. It was impossible for such a big news not to spread. Mo Guanfu inquired about the ship Zheng Wenxian and his companions were traveling on in advance, and asked his men to disguise themselves as fishermen and monitor the Qizhouyang Islands, Damen, Xiaomen, Fuguo and other islands.
Hundreds of people took two boats from the Pearl River Estuary to Siam. They would definitely need supplies on the way, and considering the route, Zheng Wenxian and the others would definitely have to follow the Huangsha and Wanli Changsha Islands, so the news continued to spread back. In the ears of Chen Tianbao and Mo Guanfu.
Since the collapse of the Zheng Group in the Qing Dynasty, piracy activities along the coast of China have not been large-scale. Their most common method is "step fighting", which is what Xu Dayong and Wang Changsheng did before.
The specific method is to gather three to five people, or at most seven or eight people, to lurk in the port. When they see a small boat docking, they will suddenly launch a force to board the ship with weapons and threaten the sailors to go to sea. When they encounter a large fishing boat, they pretend to want to buy fish. After the two boats are connected, they climb on the boat and seize the goods. As for the people on the fishing boats, they will also coerce them into joining the gang, and the situation will get bigger and bigger.
This method is to bully those fishing boats, and large merchant ships are difficult to rob. And if you encounter a patrol boat of officers and soldiers, you will basically be killed.
Speaking of which, the Xishan Ruan Dynasty was the main culprit for the rampant pirates along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong after the middle of the Qing Dynasty. In addition to luring, coercing, and conferring official titles, the pirates also learned maritime warfare and organizational methods from the Xishan Army, and obtained cannons and other weapons. What ultimately changed the fate of the Fujian and Guangdong pirates in history was not the Qing Dynasty's encirclement and suppression policy, but the military defeat of the Xishan regime.
At this time, the safe haven provided by the Tay Son regime for pirates was located in Jiang Ping, Van Ninh Prefecture, Quang Ngai Province. The waterway here was narrow and it was far away from Hue, the capital of Annam. It had been a paradise for pirate activities since the Ming Dynasty.
After careful consideration, Mo Guanfu, after discussing with Chen Tianbao, led more than 2,000 pirates and more than 50 large and small ships, departing from Jiangping and arriving at Dazhan east of Dazhan Dengkou, Yanfu County, Guangnan. Near Zhan Island. The place he chose to take action was Ganquan Island in the Paracel Islands to the west.
Since it is called Ganquan, as the name suggests, there is fresh water on the island, and passing ships usually replenish it here.
On the official map of the Qing Dynasty, the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha Islands were all called "Qizhou Ocean"; on the official map of Annan, they were called Huangsha and Wanli Changsha.
Mo Guanfu chose to take action here after repeated consideration.
First of all, Qizhouyang is located at the strategic intersection of the North-South Channel, and all ships heading north must pass through here. However, the annual tea trade season has not yet begun, and it will take two or three months for merchant ships from various countries from Southeast Asia to pass by. Therefore, there are very few merchant ships passing by on the Qizhou Ocean, and they do not attract attention.
Secondly, it is because this place is more than 500 miles away from the Yazhou Xie Navy Camp. With their few broken boats, even if something happens, they will not be able to respond in time. Even if they collide and pirates fight pirates, the Qing army may not care.
The last one is that he feels that he has the support of the Xishan Imperial Court, so he is not afraid even if he runs into the legendary big iron ship.
Therefore, vision and knowledge determine a person's structure, and for Mo Guanfu and his pirates, it is a "poor man suddenly becomes rich" mentality.
"Brother Mo, Zheng Yi and his fleet have just passed through the big and small gates. They will reach Ganquan Island in about four days."
"Wen Geng," Mo Kan looked at the young man reporting to him in front of him and said in a deep voice, "Didn't they recruit people from Siam?"
"No! I have been sending people to keep an eye on the dock. I have already inquired about them. There are five hundred people in total."
Mo Guanfu nodded. Recruiting people cannot be done in a day or two. Since Zheng Yi and the others did not recruit people after arriving ashore, it means they have no such plan.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work. Reward!" As soon as he finished speaking, a guy who looked like a master next to him handed the young man two silver ingots worth ten taels.
The young man looked excited and had just put the silver ingot into his arms when he heard Mo Guanfu say again: "Wen Geng, after this battle, I will tell Brother Chen that I will give you two black cockroaches and get them for you." A thousand-year-old official position."
"Thank you, Brother Mo, no, Commander Mo!"
"Okay." Mo Guanfu stepped forward and helped the young man up with a smile on his face. Then he turned around and said to Wushi Da, Wushi'er, Da Pao Fu and others around him: "Brothers, remember, our goal this time is to capture the ten red-headed boats. If those sailors don't resist, we will spare their lives. But we must not Let the little thief Zheng go."
The leader, Wu Shida, replied nonchalantly: "Brother Mo, don't worry. We have many people and boats, and that kid Zheng Yi can't escape from our Wuzhishan..."
Mo Guan nodded and praised: "Brother Mai, what you said is good! You must remember that when the Qiancai Island beacon is lit, they will act on my flag. Although they are new ships and are faster than our ships, we only need to block them If they flee north, seize the upper wind, and use cannon to destroy the sails, things will be easier to handle. Once their speed slows down, we can join forces to seize the ship."
"I will obey Brother Mo's orders!"
"That being the case, please go back to the ship and prepare yourselves for departure tomorrow!"
Four days later in the morning, a fleet consisting of ten Guangzhou ships and two crow boats sailed towards Ganquan Island. It was the fleet led by Zheng Wenxian.
On the leading boat, Lin Daosheng looked at the Ganquan Island in front of him and said excitedly: "Brother 1, we are finally back. After passing here, we should go home."
Zheng Wenxian smiled and said: "I have to go home first to pick up your sister-in-law. I'm really worried about leaving her alone here."
"Will the old gang leader also follow?"
"My dad," Zheng Wenxian shook his head and smiled bitterly. His father, Zheng Lianchang, had given up the idea of going north with his son since he heard that there were no brothels in Beihai Town. Guangzhou is so wonderful, but he hasn’t had enough of the flower boats outside Youlanmen.
During the chat, the fleet sailed past the west side of Qiancai Island and saw two small fishing boats parked on the shore of Qiancai Island. As soon as Zheng raised his telescope and looked, he saw someone on the reef looking down to pick up seafood. Because there are often fishermen fishing in small boats nearby, no one on the boat paid much attention.
Ganquan Island is not big, with a length of 700 meters from north to south and only 500 meters from east to west. However, among the many islands in the Xisha Islands, only the water in the wells here is sweet, year-round, and has no bitter taste. Therefore, in addition to a few wooden houses built by fishermen to shelter from the wind, there are also several dilapidated small temples built with coral stones on the island.
The sunshine in the South China Sea is really scorching. If you stay under the sun for a long time, your skin will be burned out and you will have to replenish a lot of fresh water.
After the fleet anchored outside the reef area, a dozen short-berthing boats were lowered from the deck, carrying sailors and empty wooden barrels filled with water and sailed to the island. Because of the hot weather, there were not many people on the decks of each ship. Many people took advantage of this gap to take a nap in the shade, even Zheng Yi and Lin Daosheng.
At this moment, the sea breeze was gentle and the waves were blue. The mast swayed slightly with the waves and made a soft creaking sound.
Suddenly, someone lit a bonfire on the reef of Facai Island in the south. After the fire got stronger, the man piled a large pile of mugwort that had been prepared on the fire, and thick smoke billowed straight into the sky. .
The sailor sitting in the watch room of the Guangzhou ship built a tent with his hands. After seeing the situation to the south, he hurriedly sounded the gong in his hand. Everyone on the boat was immediately awakened. Zheng Wenxian took a look with his binoculars and knew that the situation was not good. He thought that the people on the reef of Facai Island just now were not fishermen at all.
He immediately shouted to the sailors in the battle: "Hang the red flag and call the water fetchers back!"
The sailor listened with open ears, quickly took out a red pennant from his arms, and tied it to the top of the mast in the lookout. As the red flag was raised, every ship in the fleet understood that this was an alarm signal, so all the red pennants were hoisted.
At this time, the sailors on the shore of Ganquan Island saw the warning signal and immediately ran towards the well to call for help.
The thick smoke from the south rose higher and higher. Before the sailors fetching water came out of the woods, Zheng Wenxian heard the sailors shouting: "There are sails to the north!"
With a roar, everyone on the deck rushed to the bow of the ship. Under the sunlight above their heads, they saw a group of black spots suddenly appearing on the sea ten miles away to the north. Zheng Wenxian hurriedly raised the telescope in his hand to look. The black dots in his field of vision could already be seen clearly as dozens of ships, large and small, all heading towards him at full speed with their sails swollen.
"Oops! We've been ambushed!" He was shocked in his heart and turned to look at Ganquan Island. He saw dozens of sailors rushing out of the woods and running towards the boat. Everyone on the deck also clasped their hands towards the sailors. call out.
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
The black spot got closer and closer, and after a while, the shape of the ship's hull was clearly visible in the telescope. In the field of vision of the telescope, I saw a red flag fluttering in the wind on the top of the main mast of the leading ship, which read "Shanfang Road Chief Military Officer Mo".
"Fuck your mother! It's Mo Guanfu!" Zheng Wenxian gritted his teeth in hatred, knowing that he was careless. He quickly said to Lin Daosheng: "Inform all ships to raise anchors!"
At this time, the sailors who were fetching water had just pushed the short berthing boat into the sea and started paddling desperately. Lin Daosheng didn't care about them at all and shouted: "Raise the anchor quickly! Raise the sail!"
Except for a few cannons on the two crows built before going to Siam, there were no cannons installed on the other ships in the fleet. When he was in Siam before, the other party asked Zheng Wenxian if he wanted to buy it. It can be seen that after seeing the weapons of the North Navy, he would not be interested in those iron cannons that weigh hundreds or thousands of kilograms.
This time it was troublesome. Mo Fuguan was obviously here for himself and the boat. At this time, the red flag gangs on the two black ships of our own side sent a semaphore signal to Zheng Wenxian, which meant that they would step up to block it and let the ten Guangzhou ships quickly retreat to the northeast.
Zheng Wenxian made a calculation in his mind. At this time, the southwest wind was blowing. If his side retreated in the northeast direction, they would definitely collide with the opponent head-on. After being defeated again and again, the only way is to run eastward first. Relying on the speed of our own ship, we can cross Bison Island (Xishadong Island) and keep running north-east. As long as we can enter Wailingding, we will be far away from the Hongqi Gang's territory. Not far away.
At this time, there were constant shouts and shouts on the deck. Zheng Wenxian shouted "Quiet". When everyone stopped talking, he gave an order to the sailors in Wangdou to use flags to notify the ships.
The sailors on each ship responsible for sending and receiving semaphores are from the Red Flag Gang. Zheng Wenxian and Lin Daosheng have specially recruited more than 20 people for training in the past few months, just to ensure that the fleet can be coordinated when it returns. It took the two of them three months to learn this set of semaphore before they could remember it. The main reason is that it takes a lot of effort to remember the 26 English letters.
The flag language of Beihai Town is derived from the nautical flag language of another time and space. That is, the flag bearer holds a square flag in each hand. The flag is divided into red and yellow along the diagonal (red and white on land), and is represented by different pointing. There are different letters and numbers, in addition to some phrases.
Historically, this method was not invented until 1793 by the French using the left and right wooden arms of the cross. Therefore, so far, except for the own sailors in Beihai Town, outsiders cannot understand it at all.
Zheng Wenxian's order was: all ships should follow him eastward, and the two cannon-powered crow boats should be in charge of the rear.
At this time, no one on the ships could care about the sailors who were rowing desperately. With a turn of the huge rudder, they all filled up the sails and turned south. Mo Guanfu's fleet was only five or six miles away from Zheng Wenxian and the others. The sailors on the short berth kept shouting, but the fleet was getting farther and farther away from them. Everyone had no choice but to turn around and return to the island.
"Hmph, you want to run away?" Mo Guanfu sneered, put away the telescope, and said to the left and right: "Bang the drum! Fire two cannons first to scare them. Let Liang Wengeng and the others send people to the island to arrest all those sailors. Got it!"
It is said that after Guo Xuexian arrived at Shizimen in Beihai No. 2, because he was from Panyu and was from the Hongqi Gang, he contacted the people from the Hongqi Gang through the fishermen selling vegetable supplies the next day. Only then did he know that Zheng Yi had gone Pick up the boat in Siam.
On the third day, Guo Xuexian took a watermelon boat and went to Lei Yue Gate to meet Zheng Lianchang. Zheng Lianchang was very happy to see him and immediately hosted a banquet in honor of him.
Although Zheng Lianchang knew that his son was highly valued by Zhao Xin, Guo Xuexian was now the captain of the Wanshi battleship (one stone is one material, equal to 92.5 kilograms), which was higher than his son's acting captain, so he was very enthusiastic and even asked his daughter-in-law to come out Seeing each other is like family.
During the dinner, Zheng Lianchang listened to Guo Xuexian's account of the situation in the past few years. When he heard about the naval battle at Changxing Island and the subsequent invasion of Dagong, he couldn't help but be shocked. He didn't expect that the Northern Navy could threaten the capital. He couldn't help but feel fear for the Manchu and Qing court. A few points missing.
After that, Zheng Lianchang talked about Mo Guan Fu coming to recruit him years ago, saying that Zheng Yi was too impulsive and should not have let Mo Guan Fu come to Taiwan. Then he talked about the situation along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong in the past few months. Guo Xuexian's expression suddenly changed after listening.
Compared to Zheng Wenxian, Guo Xuexian, who loves reading, actually likes to use his brain more. He immediately asked Zheng Lianchang about Zheng Yi's route back and forth. Zheng Lianchang only knew a rough idea, so he asked his men to find an old captain who used to travel to Southeast Asia.
Guo Xuexian compared the chart in his hand, and when the old captain said it, he immediately felt something bad. Zheng Lianchang saw something was wrong and asked quickly, but was shocked when he heard it. In fact, this person is not stupid, he is just mediocre in intelligence and likes flower boats.
When he heard that Guo Xuexian was about to go back to the ship to pick up Zheng Yi, he decided to follow him and even called the old captain on board. He only has a son like Zheng Yi, and if he really has three advantages and two disadvantages, what will he do in the future? Although they already have a daughter-in-law, no one knows whether she is a boy or a girl!
In this way, Beihai 2 set sail south early in the morning on the fourth day after its arrival. After setting off the ship, Guo Xuexian asked Zheng Lianchang and the old captain, if they were Mo Guanfu, where would they start? The old captain didn't even think about it, he just mentioned Ganquan Island and explained why. Guo Xuexian understood it as soon as he heard it, and immediately ordered to head towards Ganquan Island at full speed.
Beihai No. 2 is a third-class sailboat. Although it has been modified, its speed is only between 11 and 12 knots. From Shishimen to Ganquan Island, the straight-line distance is more than 300 nautical miles, and it takes more than a day to travel 24 hours a day.
Fortunately, Guo Xuexian has a well-made chart of the South China Sea, so he will not get lost in the vast ocean. After they had been running around for a day, the lookout on the mast finally saw what seemed to be a thick smoke on the sea in the distance.
When Guo Xuexian received the report, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. At this time, there was not much diesel on the ship, but Guo Xuexian still ordered to increase the power to move forward. When Beihai 2 continued to move 15 degrees south-west for two nautical miles, it finally saw the red-headed Guangzhou ship being chased by a group of crow boats. He immediately issued combat preparations.
At this time, Zheng Wenxian and the others were already being chased by Mo Guan. The opponent was one or two miles away from them. He tried to surround them several times, but he narrowly dodged them. After chasing for a day and a night, Mo Guanfu also figured out that Zheng Wenxian must be on the big boats in front of him. So he ignored the small ships and pursued the big ships at full speed.
The problem is that he doesn't want those Guangzhou ships that cost 5,000 materials. Others want them. Even 5,000 materials are much better than the pirate ships with 1,000 or 2,000 materials. When the pursuit at sea got to this point, the pirates were no longer so focused.
The two Wushi boats in charge of the rear were surrounded by the fleets of Wushida and Wushier. After a few cannons, the two sides quickly entered into a boarding battle. Although everyone in the Hongqi Gang fought bravely, Wushida and his men had enough firearms and a large number of people, and they were quickly killed and their blood flowed like a river. Those who were lucky enough to survive were also locked up and kept as meat tickets.
Among the ten Guangzhou ships, the rudder stock of one ship was damaged by the opponent's bow cannon, and it could only spin in circles; the others were also scarred and were about to be captured.
At this time, the lookout on the warship where Mo Guanfu was located reported that a sail was found in the northeast, which looked like a foreign merchant ship.
"Foreign barbarians? We are on equal footing with them. Just ignore them and keep chasing them!" Mo Guanfu was already chasing after them red-eyed, loving everyone. At most, it would be half a day before Zheng Yi could not escape.
But when the foreign merchant ship was still seven or eight miles away from them, there was a "boom" and a water column rose in Mo Guanfu's fleet, and everyone was stunned.
Who hit him?
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