The pirates chasing Guan Zhao and others were undoubtedly the Zheng family.
On the eight pirate ships, Zheng Hongkui's eyes flashed with cruelty.
"Want to escape? Can you escape? On the sea of the East, if you don't obey my orders from the Zheng family, you will only die."
Seeing three merchant ships approaching Chi Chi, Zheng Hongkui was eager to get a complete victory as long as he rushed up and engaged in a boarding battle. He had already begun to calculate how much of the cargo he had grabbed for himself.
At this moment, he saw a cloud of white smoke suddenly rising from the leading merchant ship.
Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar exploded beside him.
A round black spot in the sky enlarged like lightning and hit the ship next to it heavily.
It was a Haicang ship, and there were dozens of pirates from the Zheng family on board, all of whom were brave and good at fighting.
But it is a pity that under the bombardment of artillery shells, no matter how brave a person is, it is useless.
Amidst the loud noise of the earth shattering, the Haicang ship could not hold on even for a moment, and it disintegrated into pieces.
Zheng Hongkui jumped up and looked at the opposite side in disbelief.
He suddenly realized that something seemed wrong.
Without giving him much time to think, the other two merchant ships also roared with cannons.
Although the cannonball missed, the rising waves still caused the two ships beside him to deviate from their course and collide with each other.
It took a lot of time just to separate the two ships.
Zheng Hongkui never expected that the three merchant ships on the opposite side all had artillery, and they were all bronze cannons.
The ships on the Zheng family's side are all old Fran cannons, and their performance cannot be compared with bronze artillery.
But they came out pretending to be pirates, so naturally they couldn't show all their skills.
As a result, it was now bombarded by bronze cannons, and one ship was immediately lost.
"Rush up, kill these bastards, and grab those artillery pieces."
Zheng purchased many bronze cannons from the Xia Kingdom. He was already very familiar with the performance of this weapon and was even more coveted.
Now that he had the opportunity to capture, Zheng Hongkui became more motivated to fight.
He didn't think much about it.
After all, the bronze cannons were cast by the Xia Kingdom and sold to merchants for use in armed defense, so there seemed to be nothing wrong with them.
In just a moment, the boats on both sides got closer.
The Fran cannon on Zheng's ship roared one after another, and finally it hit its target.
The last merchant ship was hit by two cannonballs in succession, and two large holes were punched out in its side.
Fortunately, the location of the shot was above the water, and the sea water did not pour in, so it did not affect navigation.
Many people were killed on the boat, but they couldn't care less at this time.
The people on the merchant ship fought back with all their might, even showing the momentum of a naval battle.
At a distance of less than 200 meters, the bronze cannon's range advantage could not be fully utilized, so it was no match for Zheng's Folan cannon.
However, the power of the two cannons is not on the same level.
The merchant ship took a lot of cannonballs, but as long as it was not below the waterline, its operation would not be affected. However, Zheng's ship was hit by a bronze cannon and was immediately paralyzed on the spot.
If it hadn't been for the reinforcements from the seven pirate ships from the east, Zheng Hongkui's side might have been at a disadvantage.
Seeing that the encirclement was about to be completed, Zheng Hongkui picked up his big sword.
He swore that if he caught the people on the boat, he would cut off their arms and legs, tie them to ropes and throw them into the sea to feed the sharks.
If you don't do this, it will be difficult to let go of the hatred in your heart.
Guan Zhao was under increased pressure at this time and had to deal with enemies on both sides. But he knew that he could not run away at this time, otherwise he would not be able to buy time for the Dutch.
He had no choice but to let each ship fight back desperately, trying to delay Zheng's approach.
It's a pity that the bronze artillery is not a weapon for the Xia army's own use. It has no explosive shells, and its power is really inferior.
One of Zheng's pirate ships avoided the cannon fire from the front and rammed into it, causing Guan Zhao's ship to stop on the spot.
The pirates took out their grappling hooks, firmly fixed the two ships together, and then began to climb this way.
What these pirates like most is hand-to-hand combat.
With their large numbers and strong martial arts skills, they will definitely win if they fight.
However, the moment the pirates at the front jumped onto the merchant ship, the roar of muskets was like fried beans, and the group was swept away.
Then came the second wave of musketry.
None of the pirates on that ship could gain a foothold on the merchant ship, and they were all killed.
Zheng Hongkui's expression suddenly changed, and he finally realized something was wrong.
It is nothing to say that these merchant ships have muskets and artillery for self-defense.
Many merchant ships in this era were actually armed, otherwise it would be difficult to survive on the sea.
But the number of muskets far exceeds the norm, which is inconsistent with common sense.
Before he could think clearly, right behind them, the roar of artillery was heard in a continuous sound.
Dozens of water jets surged into Zheng's queue.
Two more ships were hit one after another, their masts were broken, and they started spinning on the water.
Zheng Hongkui looked back in shock.
When he saw that it was a Western warship and the flag on the mast was a red cross on a white background, he secretly screamed something bad.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
At this moment, Zheng Hongkui finally understood everything.
For the current plan, the only way to escape quickly is to prevent the entire army from being wiped out.
The situation suddenly reversed. It was no longer the Zheng family's pirates that besieged the merchant ships, but the merchant ships and Dutch warships were chasing the Zheng family's pirates.
On the wide sea, when the Dutch warships joined the battle, Zheng Hongkui faced an extremely dangerous situation.
The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and sooner or later they will be bitten if this continues.
Zheng Hongkui's eyes were scarlet and he gave the order decisively.
He ordered the two Haicang ships to turn around immediately and intercept the Dutch warships, buying time for the group to retreat.
The pirates of the Zheng family are still very resolute in carrying out their orders.
The two Haicang ships resolutely turned around even though they knew they were bound to die.
When they die, their families will be taken care of by Zheng, so they don't have to worry about life problems.
Because of the desperate interception of the two Haicang ships, the Dutch warship finally slowed down. They could only watch Zheng Hongkui go away and finally disappeared on the sea level.
Guan Zhao's side began to attack the Zheng's warship that had lost power.
As long as they don't surrender, they will be bombarded with artillery.
As it turned out, these Zheng pirates were ruthless enough. Seeing that there was no hope of escape, they actually lit the explosives on the ship, turning them into balls of flames on the sea. No one surrendered.
The Zheng family formed a pirate group with the village as a link, so it was very cohesive.
These pirates know very well that once they fall into the hands of their enemies, they will betray the fate of their loved ones.
