Although most of the ships of the Qing court's inland river navy were small inland river vessels such as bird boats and sand boats, their seaworthiness in the sea was very poor.
But the Yu family’s boat wasn’t much better!
It’s just a flat-bottomed sand boat with 500 materials!
If the sailors of the Yu family hadn't gone through the sea trade and were good at handling ships, they might have been overtaken by the navy of the Qing army.
But even so, the distance between the two parties is getting closer and closer!
Boom! Boom!
The artillery on the Qing Dynasty's river navy ships began to roar, with French cannons and bowl-mouth blunderbuss firing alternately.
Cannonballs hit the Yu family's ship one after another!
The cannonball fell into the water, causing a violent splash, and the waves caused the ship to roll violently from side to side.
The artillery on the Yu family's ship also began to fire back!
Several small-caliber bowl-mouth guns spit out large amounts of gunpowder smoke, and projectiles fell towards the Qing fleet.
But without exception, all failed!
"Hurry, faster!"
"Zhoushan is ahead, don't stop!"
"..."
The Qing court's river navy pressed forward step by step, and everyone felt the pressure of Mount Tai.
If the Qing army catches up, the Yu family will be completely doomed!
No one on this ship, including the Yu family’s relatives and the Yu family’s sailors, will survive!
At this moment, two large Western ships that looked like hills suddenly appeared on the sea line in the distance.
The large Western ship hung the flag of the Ming Dynasty, set its sails fully, and cut through the waves, heading towards the battlefield here.
All the gun windows on the side of the ship were opened!
The black muzzles of the guns are exposed, which is full of intimidation.
Seeing the sudden appearance of the Ming Navy, the Qing Navy, which was still pursuing, quickly stopped, turned around and ran away.
I don’t dare to fight against Ming Dynasty’s navy at all!
Because the strength of both sides is no longer on the same level.
It is different from the artillery on the Qing Dynasty's river navy ships, which are mostly small-caliber artillery such as Franco machine guns and bowl-mouth blunderbuss.
The artillery on the Ming Dynasty's naval battleships were real large-caliber long-barreled naval guns.
Also known as the red cannon!
Not to mention attacking the Qing Dynasty's inland navy, as long as it can be pulled onto land, it can be used to siege cities.
Boom! Boom!
Light the fire, fire the cannon, and the roar resounds throughout the sea!
A large amount of gunpowder smoke spewed out from the side of the Ming army's ships, and cannonballs the size of human heads fell in the direction of the Qing court's inland water division.
The cannonball entered the water and caused a large amount of water splash!
The water mist is steaming and the waves are rolling!
One Qing ship was so unlucky that it could be hit by naval gun shells from such a long distance.
With a click, the cannonball broke the mast and hit the deck.
The cannonball completely penetrated this small Qing army sampan and smashed it directly into the sea.
A large amount of sea water poured in, and this small Qing court sampan began to sink rapidly.
As long as it can hit, with the caliber of the Ming warship's gun, it is not an exaggeration to shoot a child with one shot.
Duan Xiuhu, commander of the Zhejiang Navy of the Qing Dynasty, looked at the hill-like Ming warships with dull eyes, and at the thick naval guns on the opposing ships, he opened his mouth and let out a helpless sigh.
"The navy of the Ming Dynasty, the navy of the Ming Dynasty is really...the ships are strong and the guns are sharp!"
"How can we, the Qing Dynasty, be our enemy?!"
Seeing the Ming army's warships getting closer and closer to him, Duan Xiuhu could only give an order.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!"
"Although the navy of the Ming thieves is fierce, our Qing Dynasty has a fort at the mouth of the Qiantang River. As long as we can retreat to the river, we don't have to worry about the navy of the Ming thieves!"
"No matter how arrogant the navy of the Ming Dynasty is, he will not be able to enter the Qiantang River!"
"..."
The Qing army's navy was no match for the Ming army in water warfare, so it could only comfort itself with the spirit of Ah Q.
…
On the other side, Lao Yu's ship simply raised the white flag when facing the incoming Ming Navy.
Old Yu was also brought to the deck by the Ming army's sailors and met the commander of the Ming army's navy.
A very young general!
He has a short beard on his chin, and his face is typical of a young man who has just faded away from youth, but he is very resolute.
The military uniform on his body is straight and the sword is hanging on his waist. He looks very imposing.
Especially those eyes, firm and full of high-spirited confidence!
As soon as Yu Taqin saw the commander of the Ming army, he shouted loudly.
"This general, the common people have important information to report to me, Daming!"
Lao Yu knew that if he wanted to be taken seriously, protected by the Ming Dynasty, or even stand out, he must show his worth.
It just so happens that he knows a very important piece of information!
Naturally, he planned to use this piece of information as his own promotion step.
Wu Ming frowned subconsciously, but still spoke.
"Bring people here!"
Looking at Lao Yu who was dressed as a shrewd businessman in front of him, Wu Ming asked.
"Who are you? Do you have any important information to report?"
Yu Taqin regained his breath and then spoke.
"To this general, the grassroots are our remnants of the Ming Dynasty, after Yu Qian Yu Shaobao!"
"After the common people learned the important information that the Qing captives had against our Ming Dynasty, they were worried about our Ming Dynasty's safety, so they took the information to the sea and their families came to vote for our Ming Dynasty!"
"I hope the general will accept it!"
Wu Ming raised his eyebrows, but he was slightly surprised. Is this the descendant of Yu Qian Yu Shaobao?
I just don’t know if this is true or not!
Wu Ming asked, his tone slightly impatient.
"What kind of information is it?"
As a soldier, he hates this kind of roundabout and procrastinating way of speaking.
Yu Taqin was also a discerning man. Seeing that Wu Ming was a little impatient, he stopped talking nonsense and went straight to the point.
"The Qing government mobilized heavy troops from Shandong in the north and the Huaihe River to the south along the canal. It also mobilized green camps in Jiangnan and other places to gather in the Hangzhou area to launch troops against the Zhoushan Islands."
When Wu Ming heard this, his brows became visibly more solemn, and he asked.
"Seriously, are you sure that the Qing Dynasty intends to attack Zhoushan?"
The Qing government mobilized heavy troops in the south of the Yangtze River, causing quite a stir. There was no way it could be hidden.
The spies from Jinyiwei and Tiandihui are not blind either!
However, although the Ming army knew that the Qing government mobilized heavy troops, they did not know why the Qing government mobilized troops!
Wu Ming suddenly heard Yu Taqin swearing that the Qing government was moving troops to attack Zhoushan. How could he not be surprised?!
Wu Ming asked uneasily.
"How did you determine that the Qing government was going to launch troops against Zhoushan?"
Yu Taqin stopped beating around the bush and answered directly.
"My Yu family is engaged in maritime business. Those of us who are colleagues in maritime trade have our own circles."
"The Qing government has recently been recruiting skilled sailors and ships on a large scale in the south of the Yangtze River. It has also recruited water bandits who are good at water warfare in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, the Longjiang Shipyard is also building sea-going ships at an extremely fast speed!"
"Besides this, the most favorable evidence is that the Qing government has recently been collecting charts of Zhoushan waters at maritime offices throughout the south of the Yangtze River."
When Wu Ming heard this, he nodded to Yu Taqin with a serious look on his face and said.
"Very good, you can go down and rest first. If this news is true, the imperial court will definitely reward you!"
Yu Taqin nodded vigorously, and the expression on his face was very excited.
Wu Ming then asked.
"Do you know who is leading the Qing army this time?"
Yu Taqin thought for a while and then spoke.
"It seems to be Shi Lang, the Fujian navy admiral of the Qing Dynasty!"
"The common people are not convinced of this, because accompanying Shi Lang from the capital to the south of the Yangtze River, there were also the Manchu general Duolong, the British captain Brown... and so on!"