"Master, that ship is getting closer and closer to us! Oh, no, Master, another sailboat has appeared in the south. Master, the new ship looks bigger than our bird ship. , it’s probably a Haicang!”
In the lookout's field of vision, the fully loaded small sand ship turned around, and with the help of the strong wind and the six extended oars, it actually began to gradually reduce the distance from its own fleet, and what was even worse was that, To the south of the merchant ship, unexpectedly another larger ship appeared!
"Ring the whistle, summon all sailors, prepare to fight!" Conlin soon understood the situation of the incoming ship from the intermittent warning sound of the watchman. Then, with his loud orders, the deck Everyone immediately began to prepare for battle!
"The Fo Lang cannon is loaded with ammunition, and the sails are maneuvered to grab a favorable wind position. Commander Lin, dispatch one man to the cabin to row oars to increase the speed of the ship. The other sailors are preparing muskets and crossbows. Quick, quick, Quick, everyone, get moving!" Here, the head of Kang Da had just issued the order to prepare for war. Over there, Manager Liu Da, who had experience in specific operations and experienced sailing, took over the command. Soon, in the roar of the old man, everyone except Kang Lin Everyone outside began to play their roles and became busy on this small bird ship.
"Master, Sixth Master, the enemy ship is about three miles away from me, the enemy ship is about three miles away from me!" However, after a while, the roar from Diao Dou made this group of Xinza sailors look like The true colors are revealed! They had not received any training and had never had any combat experience. Therefore, when they heard the news that the enemy ship was approaching, these thugs were instantly unable to do the job at hand and began to panic.
"Liu Xiong, Wu Fang (after the Flying Tianjin Man disappeared in the storm, the crew and sailors on the ship were all incorporated into the navy attached to the flagship, and Wu Fang's current position should be an armored officer in the navy) Where is the commander, who is in charge of ten subordinates?" Looking at the chaotic newcomers, Liu Laoliu couldn't help but sigh, but in an instant, he put away his helplessness and began to call out to himself The two men under his command are very capable in the future.
"My subordinates are waiting for the orders of the chief steward!" When they heard the actual commander of the fleet calling him loudly, the two strong men who were busy commanding their subordinates to prepare for war immediately put down what they were doing and came to Liu Laoliu.
"You two, the war is about to begin, and most of our troops are newcomers, so the morale of the army is inevitably a little unstable. Therefore, I now order you two to inspect the entire ship immediately, and the pressure is unstable! His grandma's, I want to see Look, who are these guys who are evading cowardice and disrupting the morale of our army..." Liu Laoliu was actually very worried that these guys on his ship who had never fought in a war would do bad things before the battle, so he specially dispatched two of his subordinate leaders who had their duties. Patrolling ships, hoping to calm the morale of the troops as much as possible and eliminate possible cowardice when encountering the enemy.
"I have the order, Chief Steward!" Lin Wu and Wu Fang saw Liu Laoliu's solemn expression and knew that the trouble was serious, so they stopped talking and immediately accepted the order to patrol the ship.
A quarter of an hour later.
"Master, Chief Manager, the Fo Lang machine gun and the Baizi gun (i.e. Tiger Crouching Cannon) have been loaded. Can it be fired now?" On the flying Henanese, Kang Lin, Liu Laoliu and others were not needed at this time. The telescope can clearly see the sand ship less than one mile away from our own fleet, and the peasants and soldiers of the guard station who are temporarily acting as gunners on the deck of the ship have also loaded all the artillery under the supervision of Commander Yan Si. , just waiting for the big leader's order, he began to fire cannons to bombard the enemy ships.
"Adjust the sails with your hands. When the enemy ship approaches us, fire a cannon from the port side Franchise to give the little sand ship a warning. If they don't know what to do and continue to approach us, use all the firepower to sink this gang. Bastard!" Liu Laoliu had been at sea for decades. At this moment, he could not figure out what was going on. Therefore, he immediately gave the order to fire to the temporary gunners on the deck.
"That little sand boat probably wants to lure the Haicang boat chasing them to our place, and then pull us to help him defend against the enemy. Hehe, it's a beautiful idea, but I don't want to let it be satisfied..." Kang What a shrewd person Lin is, no, as soon as Liu Laoliu gave the order, he guessed the ins and outs of the matter! However, he understood clearly that he did not want to interfere with Liu Laoliu's command. Instead, he chose to stay on the poop and quietly observe the enemy's situation with a telescope.
"Port side Folan machine, fire a salvo, all guns ready, fire!" Yan Si's roar soon rang in my ears. After hearing his order, the temporary gunners on the deck immediately tried their best to push out the heavy artillery. , aimed at the sea next to the small sand boat and fiercely burned the torch.
"Boom! Boom!" The heavy Folan cannon shook violently, and the two fired shells immediately passed over the small sand ship with a whistling sound, and then flew all the way until the last kinetic energy was exhausted. Just plunged into the blue water! However, just these two small, black, and weak-looking projectiles not only succeeded in causing the sailors on the small sand boat to scream in surprise, but also completely ignited the passion of the temporary gunners on the bird boat. Under the command of the bosses, remove the hot musket and replace it with a brand new one at a speed far exceeding your training level!
"Mr. Xiyu, we can't go any further. You see, those two bird boats are firing warning shots. If we continue to ignore them and get close to them, the consequences will be disastrous. Maybe they won't be able to bombard them in the next round." You will be polite to us again, you also know that our ship will definitely not be able to withstand the cannons..." On the deck of the small sand ship, the ship owner was worriedly whispering to the cargo owner, a middle-aged businessman wearing a silk gown, Beside them, a group of shirtless sailors were carefully adjusting the sails of the sailboat. They wanted to use the sea breeze as much as possible to make the small sand boat under their feet travel faster!
"Boss Ji, we don't have many options now. If we don't bring those two bird ships into the battle, then next year's day may be the death anniversary of all our brothers. So I didn't say anything, while we still have time The ability to resist, risk your life..." Looking at the ship boss who was worried about his sand ship, Xi Yuxing, who was on a secret mission and disguised as a merchant, did not hesitate at all. He directly explained the pros and cons of the whole matter to him briefly, Then, in order to further dispel the ship boss's concerns, he also offered a higher chip,
"This time, if we can successfully escape from danger, Boss Ji, I will not only guarantee to give you three times the employment fee, but also put in a good word for you in front of thousands of households, and let your Taiping Ship Gang go to the Fushun Ship Gang to place incense. You know, the Fushun Boat Gang is the property of Commander Wei’s brother-in-law, and a little leakage from them every year is enough to feed you for a long time..."
"Okay, everything is according to what Mr. Ji said! However, Mr. Ji is a rough man and likes to talk ugly things first. After we escape from danger, we hope that Mr. Ji will not forget today's promise. Otherwise, even if Mr. Ji can't find Mr. Ji, I believe we will be safe. The boat gang will not let you go!" After thinking for a while, the boat boss was completely convinced by Xiyu Xingshang, so the oars and sails moved forward, and the entire small sand boat quickly sailed towards Kang Lin and his fleet at the risk of being sunk. Come!
"The enemy ship is about four hundred steps away from our ship (nautical measurement unit, 1 step is approximately equal to 1.6 meters)!" In the watch fight, the watch hand began to count.
"The port side Folan cannon is ready again!" Looking at the sand ship that ignored the warning of his own fleet and continued to approach his own fleet, Liu Laoliu had only one idea in his mind, and that was to sink it completely!
"Front Machine No. 1 is ready!"
"Front Machine No. 2 is ready!"
"The enemy ship is about three hundred steps away from our ship!"
"Fire!" After learning that the two port guns were ready to fire again, Liu Laoliu waved his hand and gave the order to bombard again.
"Boom, boom!" In the thick and pungent smoke, the bird ship Conlin was on obviously tilted to the right, and the two black cannonballs once again broke free from the shackles of the gun barrel, roaring towards the ship. The small sand boat is trying its best to get closer to its own bird boat!
"Folang machine No. 1 continues to reload, Folang machine No. 2 continues to reload!" The smoke cleared, and before the results of the battle could be seen clearly, Liu Laoliu ordered the gunner to continue loading the Folang machine gun. He wanted to use this primitive rapid-fire cannon. Suppress the forward speed of enemy ships.
"The No. 1 Folan machine has loaded ammunition and has been reset! The No. 2 Folang machine has loaded ammunition and has been reset!" Regardless of the heat coming from the cannon body, the temporary gunners, with the help of the leader, quickly loaded the Folan machine again. gun.
"Fire!" The order to fire came out of Liu Laoliu's mouth again. The next moment, the black and heavy muzzle spurted out orange flames and thick white smoke!
…
"Don't just stand there stupidly, continue loading the cannon, helmsman, adjust the bow of the ship so that the Folang machine on the starboard side is ready to fire!" After three rounds of salvo fire, the barrel of the Folan machine gun had begun to get hot. Mr. Liu Liu Sheng was afraid that the rookie artilleryman would accidentally explode the cannon, so he ordered the helmsman and oarsman to adjust the warship and aim the starboard side, which was ready to fire, at the small sand ship coming upwind.
"The enemy ship is about three hundred steps away from our ship!" The distance is getting closer and closer, and now even the counting sound of the watchman begins to become more exciting.
"The No. 3 Franchise has been loaded with ammunition! The No. 4 Franchise has been loaded with ammunition!"
"fire!"
"Boom, boom!" Two Folang machine guns weighing four to five hundred kilograms and their heavy gun mounts suddenly retreated, and two dark lead balls flew out of the barrels with hot air waves. Then, the three temporary gunners didn't care that the barrel wall was hot, and immediately rushed forward to remove the empty blunderbuss, and then replaced it with a brand new blunderbuss. Even, taking advantage of this gap, under the guidance of Commander Yan Si, they learned to adjust the rudder of the Folan aircraft to attack enemy ships more accurately.
"Sign the flag and order the Hebei Ren to adjust the sails and prepare to attack the small sand ship together!"
"Bang!" Only two or three of the seven or eight rounds of artillery shells fired by Kang Lin's ship hit Boss Ji's small sand boat by chance. However, due to the distance, they did not have any impact on the wooden hull of the small sand boat. Several The holes that were still warm were quickly repaired by the sailors on the ship! Therefore, the entire small sand boat still maintained a high speed with the efforts of all sailors!
At this time, the distance between the two ships was shortened to more than 200 steps (about 360 meters) for the first time!
Note: A Haicang ship is a type of ship slightly larger than a bird ship. It can carry nine boatmen and forty-four sailors. The official standard weapons are 2 3-pound general cannons, 6 large Franco machine guns, and a bowl. There are 3 guns, 6 shotguns and several other firearms.
