What Tang Ping didn't know was that their whereabouts were still being watched.
"Boss, there is a strange fleet arriving near Sea Rat Island."
"Sea Rat Island?" In early spring, a strong man who was shirtless and watching several beautiful women dancing below threw a big piece of meat to the younger brother who came to report: "Is there anything strange?"
"There were twelve ships in front and behind, some large and some small, but they had no sails or flags."
The strong man didn't mind that there was no sail. Some ships use oars, so it's not surprising that they don't have sails.
What caught his attention was that there was no flag.
You must know that any official ship of any country will fly the flag of the country. If you are provoked at sea, you must consider whether you can withstand the subsequent blows of this country.
There is also a kind of family or chamber of commerce ship that will also display its own flag to tell the maritime forces where they come from. The forces that have been dealt with in normal times will not come to cause trouble.
On the contrary, a fleet like Tang Ping's without any flag is most likely a smuggling team at sea, doing some smuggling work secretly.
If such a fleet were to be used in the past, they would not look down on it. The smuggled items are of mixed quality, and some are difficult to get rid of. The key is that they can smuggle, and their subordinates are also hard-hitting. If they lose too much in a fight, , it seems that the gains outweigh the losses.
But life for pirates like them is not easy now.
The entire territory of the three eastern provinces in the west is now owned by Hou Junji. Although Hou Junji is now divorced from the Tang Dynasty, the crackdown on pirates like them is not small. After all, they all have some wealth. Once they are captured by Hou Junji, Knowing this will definitely lead to a crackdown.
Going south, the entire East China Sea is the territory of the East Vietnam Navy. In recent years, they have dominated the entire East China Sea with their new warships. Even the navies of Fuyu, Goguryeo, and Fusang have been subdued. Post, let alone pirates like them.
East Vietnam wants to do maritime business, so the crackdown on pirates like them will naturally be severe. Now these pirates can only act like guerrillas, making money in the vacuum zone near the exit of the Bohai Strait where East Vietnam and Hou Junji have power. benefit.
"It's been a long time since it opened. Twelve boats are just twelve boats!" This strong man has more than thirty boats under his command. He is already one of the largest forces in this area, but he can survive until now. It depends on careful sailing.
"You go and inform Qian Laosan that you will work with us tonight. The old rule is that whoever takes the boat will own the things on it."
Qian Laosan was an old friend of this strong man, Fourth Master Luo. The two of them were originally members of a pirate group. After the old leader died, the pirate group split into two. One part followed Fourth Master Luo, and the other part followed Qian. The third child.
However, the two of them had never had much trouble, and they had big fat sheep, so they could do it together.
After receiving the notice, Qian Laosan quickly came with his people.
"Qian Laosan, why are you living longer and returning home? There are only more than ten ships?" Standing on the bow of the flagship, Fourth Master Luo asked loudly.
"Luo Laosi, you have had this concept for too long. Now it's not about who has the most ships, but whoever is more powerful. So if the East Vietnam Navy has ten ships, do you dare to get on them?" Qian Laosan said with a rat's beard. While stroking his beard: "Look at my two ships, they are newly built according to the drawings of the new East Vietnam Navy warships. Although they are smaller, they are much faster than the original ones." Speaking, Fourth Master Luo discovered that Qian Laosan's ship indeed looked like a small new warship used by the East Vietnam Navy. He said with some jealousy: "Qian Laosan, you are a little unreasonable. I only think about good things. , but you hid it from me?"
"Luo Laosi, last time I told you to go to East Vietnam together. Something good happened, but you didn't want to go there yourself. Stop talking nonsense and deal with today's fat sheep first. I'll give you a copy of the blueprint. That’s it.”
Fourth Master Luo didn't expect that Qian Laosan could really get the drawings of Dongyue, but now was really not the time to talk about it, so he also told Qian Laosan the situation reported by his subordinates.
"Sea Rat Island? They found a good place." Qian Laosan smiled happily. If they had taken over, they wanted to escape from Sea Rat Island, but the wind was against the ocean current and the speed was absolutely impossible.
"Are you sure that the other party is not a fleet of some major force?"
"It's confirmed, guess what? There isn't even a crossbow on those twelve ships!"
For warships of this era, the long-range weapons were crossbows or trebuchets. Because the warship itself was a sailing ship, it was difficult to use the trebuchet. In addition, the stone projectiles were heavy, so the trebuchet was not the first choice. The truly powerful warships were all Equipped with bed crossbow.
And these ships don't even have a crossbow, which means they are completely merchant ships. Isn't this a proper piece of meat in a bowl?
"Then let's set off. We'll get there soon and have something to eat at Red Crab Island, which is forty miles away from Sea Rat Island. We'll just wait until dark so we can start working!"
"OK!"
This was not the first time they had cooperated, and the two of them had a tacit understanding. Fourth Master Luo shouted at the top of his lungs: "Young men, let's lift the anchor and work. Hun Tian has done the business, and we will have good wine and meat when we come back."
Qian Laosan sent out eighteen boats, while Fourth Master Luo sent out thirty boats. After all, whoever grabs the most boats will get the spoils. The more people who go there, the more they will get. Lots of loot.
Forty-eight ships of various styles began to head towards Sea Rat Island where Tang Ping and the others temporarily settled.
Naturally, Tang Ping couldn't predict the situation. He would be taking Wang Qingluan to catch fish at the beach.
After being bored on the boat for several days, Tang Ping was still a little bored although he didn't get seasick.
The couple has been in Chang'an City for the past few months, always around the child, and it is rare for them to have time alone.
Now there is no danger on the island, so people like Lao Cui and Lao Du ran away by themselves, leaving this beach for the two of them.
In order to go out to sea, Tang Ping bought a set of fishing gear for sea fishing. Unfortunately, the fish here were not given any respect. After fishing for a long time, he still caught nothing.
"Husband, do you want me to try it? You told Lao Cui and Lao Du to eat the fish we made tonight!"
Tang Ping's face became a little uneasy, and the hand that was holding Wang Qingluan scratched her waist dishonestly: "You can't rush fishing. Don't worry, you will definitely catch a big fish."
Wang Qingluan giggled when he was tickled, and he was smiling like a flower in Tang Ping's arms. Tang Ping's mind was swaying, and he inserted the fishing rod into the ground, leaning against Wang Qingluan and wanting to stick to it.
At this moment, the cell phone on the other side rang.
Wang Qingluan chuckled and pushed him away, then handed him the phone.
"Hello? What's wrong?" Tang Ping asked angrily, and he almost lost his temper.
"Ping Guo Gong, the drone discovered that there is a fleet coming towards us in the northeast, and it is now parked behind a small island twenty kilometers away!"
"Fleet? Are you sure it's coming for us?"
"I'm not sure, but the other party is probably not a merchant ship, but an armed sailboat. The photos I took have been sent to you."
"Okay, keep an eye on them, be careful."
Tang Ping hung up the phone and then looked at the photo that was sent. Although it was twenty kilometers away, the drone shot was still very clear. It was a dense sea of ships. After zooming in, you could see the crossbows and arrows standing on it. Less armed men.
After coming out, Tang Ping's drone has been continuously conducting reconnaissance overhead. Apart from them, there are only a few small fishing boats in this sea area.
It's impossible for such a large formation from the other side to be directed at those small fishing boats, right?
Therefore, the most likely target is their fleet, and the identity of the other party can be guessed from the messy ships and the various costumes of the people on board. There is a high probability that they belong to the legendary pirates.
The reason why it is said to be legendary is because the last time Tang Ping saw a pirate, it was a young man named Luffy in the comic book.
However, their luck may not be as good as Luffy's, because Tang Ping, who almost got angry just now, has become angry.
"Very good. Now that I'm here, I'll just give you some training!"
You must know that although Tang Ping brought all the naval forces of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty did not rely on the sea in the past. These naval forces were mainly on warships on rivers, which was very different from naval battles.
At first, Tang Ping felt that his only shortcoming in fighting the East Vietnamese Navy was his lack of experience in naval warfare. Now that he had such a good opportunity to upgrade his Taihao fleet with experience, he couldn't be polite.
At this moment, the bell on Tang Ping's fishing rod stuck on the ground began to jingle.
Tang Ping grabbed it and felt a huge force coming from him, causing him to stumble and almost lose his balance. Fortunately, Wang Qingluan reached out and grabbed his arm in time.
"Did you see it, wife? I said you can catch a big fish, right?" Tang Ping said to Wang Qingluan with a happy face.
"Get up!" Wang Qingluan grabbed the fishing rod, exerted force, and with a swish sound, a 40- to 50-centimeter sea fish was lifted out of the water.
"Hahaha, let's go, let's go back and eat the fish first, and then wait for the bigger fish to bite." Tang Ping took advantage of Wang Qingluan to take the fish into the fish guard, and finally kissed him with a sound.
Wang Qingluan glanced at him with a slightly red face, and then walked back with him carrying the fish.
"Tell the brothers to eat too. When it gets dark, I will take you to fight monsters and level up!"
Tang Ping proudly threw the big fish to Lao Cui and said loudly.
Many people in the Tang navy were actually unsure of themselves. Although they were new warships with new weapons, the opponent had a total of forty-eight warships, and they only had twelve on their side. In addition, they had never engaged in a naval battle, and they were worried. There is for sure.
This met with Tang Ping who looked indifferent, as if he had found a backbone.
