On the rough sea, the deep blue sea contrasts with the blue sky. White clouds float leisurely in the sky. The white clouds turn into camels and small fish when blown by the wind. The breeze on the broad sea
The ripples make people feel warm in their hearts. If a person who goes to sea for the first time sees such a scene, he will definitely praise him with the most beautiful words.
And now, a huge fleet is sailing on this sea. This fleet is composed of eight ships. Among these ships, there is a large ship that is the most eye-catching.
The ship is about 78 meters long, about 30 meters wide, with a hull depth of seven meters, a draft of five meters, a bulwark height of 1.5 meters, a displacement of about 6,000 tons, and a load capacity of more than 3,500 tons. It has a total
9 masts, four decks, and ladders connecting each deck. The upper floor is a palace-shaped building, divided into forecastle (front cabin), middle building (middle cabin), and stern building (rear cabin). The middle floor is the bedroom.
The lower two floors store tributes, gifts, and treasures. There is a "needle room" in the poop, which houses a magnetic compass, a starboard, a sounding weight, a clock burning incense, and navigational charts. The upper level of the ship
Thirty-two cannons are arranged on both sides, and sixteen cannons are arranged in the middle. In this era, it was a veritable maritime giant.
Next to this giant, there are two smaller ships. These two ships are in a long direction and look very Spanish-style. Next to it are eight three-masted ships. At this time, they are moving mightily.
Exercise on the endless sea.
This fleet is the fleet that Pang Gang photographed as an envoy to the Netherlands. It consists of a large treasure ship, two Spanish galleons and five large fortune ships. It carries a total of more than 3,000 people, including more than 300 merchants.
people, and the rest are sailors and soldiers. Although this number is larger than what Pang Gang originally told Putsman, Putsman and others did not pay too much attention to it. Anyway, the larger the number, the better.
It means that Pang Gang attaches more importance to the Netherlands.
Lin Feng, the supreme leader of the mission, was standing on the deck of the treasure ship. He was holding on to the mast beside him and said with a sallow face to Lieutenant Commander Nairn of the Royal Netherlands Navy who was standing next to him: "Major Nairn, how long will it take to reach the Netherlands?"
?”
"It will take about two months." Nairn said helplessly: "Lin, you have asked this question no less than twenty times, can't you change the question?"
"No!" Lin Feng shook his head resolutely: "Nairn, do you know how many pounds I have lost since I went to sea?"
Without waiting for Nairn to answer, Lin Feng raised three fingers and said: "Thirty kilograms, a full thirty kilograms! If this continues, I will probably be dead before I get to the Netherlands."
After wandering on the sea for several months, Lin Feng became familiar with the Dutch major who was said to have been driven back to the country on his own initiative, and the two of them didn't talk so much to outsiders.
A smile appeared on Nairn's thin face. "I didn't expect that you had been drifting on the sea for several months and still couldn't overcome your seasickness. It seems that you Ming people are destined to have no fate with the sea."
There is a certain reason for Nairn's words. In the past few days, except for the experienced sailors and Pang Gang's brother-in-law Kong Lin, everyone who has gone out with the fleet has suffered from seasickness to varying degrees. The only difference is that...
Big or small, but what surprised everyone was the fat man Lin Feng. After experiencing seasickness for the first two months, he was one of the first to return to normal. Although the cost was to lose thirty kilograms, he could not
Not to mention it's a miracle, for example, after the storm that just passed yesterday, he was the first to get up today.
Nairn patted Lin Feng on the shoulder and comforted him: "Lin, don't worry, you will wait for that day."
After two months of getting along with each other, Nairn knew that even though the fat man in front of him was complaining now, his vitality was not generally tenacious. This was evident from the fact that the businessmen were still lying in the cabin, but he could go to the deck to relax.
knew.
"Okay. Lin, let's talk about something else, such as the ship under our feet." After living in Taiwan for five years, Nairn has learned a Chinese that is not fluent, but has no problem communicating.
Lin Feng didn't want to answer Nairn's question because this guy didn't think highly of Ming people. Although this happened two months ago, it still couldn't change Lin Feng's wariness towards him.
Lin Feng said lazily: "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
"Lin, I really want to know how you built such a huge ship. It's amazing. This is at least a seven-thousand-ton super battleship. Did you know? It can hold a hundred doors.
You have only placed less than fifty of the above artillery pieces, which is really a pity."
When the ship was mentioned, Nairn's eyes shone with excitement. He still clearly remembered that when the ship sailed into the Taiwan port for the first time, he, Putsmann and a group of Dutch officers almost
They are suffocating. They have never seen such a large ship. Even the first-class battleship currently recognized by the Western world only has a tonnage of about 3,000, and the displacement of this big ship is twice that. It is a pity.
The people of the Ming Dynasty positioned this battleship as a battleship carrying soldiers and cargo. Otherwise, if it were to be equipped with all artillery, not to mention a hundred, it could also hold two hundred artillery. By then, which battleship would there be in the world?
its opponent.
What makes Nairn, Putsmann and other Dutch people even more curious is where and how such a ship is built. As far as he knows, there is no shipyard in the Ming Dynasty that can get it early.
For such a big ship, he often made insinuations about Lin Feng, but this guy named Lin was very tight-lipped and couldn't ask anything useful.
As for Lin Feng, due to preconceptions, although he and Naien were on normal terms, he was unusually tight-lipped when it came to Qingzhou's secrets, which made Naien curse inwardly. But Naien still refused to give up, and now he
He started to bring the topic to the subject of sitting on this treasure ship in a roundabout way.
"Major Nairn, you know that I know nothing about shipbuilding." Lin Feng slyly changed the subject.
Nairn, who was secretly resentful in his heart, felt his teeth itching, but he also knew that the Qingzhou side must have done a good job in keeping this giant ship secret. It would be difficult for him, a foreigner, to find out anything.
Just when Nien was at his wits' end, the lookout's voice suddenly came from above his head: "Report, an unknown fleet has been spotted ahead, numbering at least ten ships!"
"What, an unknown ship was discovered." Lin Feng became interested as soon as he heard about it. After sailing on the vast sea for several months, he saw almost nothing except seagulls. Now he was naturally a little excited when he heard that the fleet was discovered ahead.
.
"Hurry up and ask them who they are..."
Before Lin Feng could finish his excited words, he was interrupted by a loud voice coming from behind.
"Pass my order and raise the battle flag. All gun doors are opened and all gunners are in position!"
Immediately afterwards, a burly, middle-aged man wearing light armor appeared on the deck. He was Mo Hui, deputy commander of the Qingzhou Navy. Mo Hui was seen holding the scimitar hanging on his waist in his right hand, with a look on his face.
He solemnly walked to Lin Feng and said to him: "Mr. Lin, the situation is unclear at the moment, why don't you go back to the cabin to rest?"
Lin Feng was stunned, "You want me to go back to the warehouse? Commander Mo, what are you doing? You ordered the battle flag to be raised without even knowing who the other party is. Isn't that not good?"
"you......."
Mo Hui was annoyed by Lin Feng's layman's words. He pointed at Lin Feng helplessly and said: "Master Lin, if you don't know, don't talk nonsense. Although Master Pang appointed you to be in charge of the affairs of the mission, the war is still left to me.
Well done. As for why I ordered the battle flag to be raised, you should ask Major Nairn for advice." After saying that, Mo Hui issued a series of orders, and the entire fleet began to change formations following the orders.
Lin Feng, the bored boss, turned to look at Nairn, his eyes full of questions. Nairn had no choice but to explain, "Lin, what Commander Mo said makes sense. It's better to leave professional matters to professional talents.
As for why the battle flag is raised, it is because anything can happen on the vast sea. We not only have to fight against the storm, but also fight against the same kind, and sometimes the same kind is even more terrifying than the storm. Don’t you Ming people have a saying?
It’s called being prepared. Maybe that’s what it means?” After saying that, Nairn took out a telescope from his body and started to watch.
After hearing Nairn's words, Lin Feng curled his lips and stopped talking. He also knew that he was a layman and it was better not to get involved in the war.
Seeing the opponent's fleet getting closer and closer, the distance between the two sides was less than three kilometers, and the flag on the opponent's mast could already be seen through the telescope.
"Commander Mo, this fleet is flying under the British flag."
After a while, Nairn saw a familiar Union Jack flag through the telescope.
"Well, one three-masted soft sailing ship and ten two-masted hard sailing ships. Their ships are only about two hundred to four hundred tons. They look like armed merchant ships."
Nairn skillfully told his observations to Mo Hui beside him, but Mo Hui remained silent. For the sea, this naval officer who was born in the country of sea coachmen is more familiar with the sea than he is.
"Should the alarm be lifted?" Lin Feng asked curiously.
"Not yet, we have to wait a while." Mo Hui shook his head. Although he didn't know much about the Western world, but with a soldier's intuition, he always felt that there was something wrong with the three ships opposite.
Mo Hui then ordered: "The big sailing ship is approaching and orders them to reveal their identity, origin and purpose."
Following Mo Hui's order, the two Spanish galleons outside the treasure ship left the fleet and pushed forward.
Just as the two Spanish galleons speeded up and approached, the atmosphere on the ships opposite was so tense that it almost solidified.
On the front deck of the largest three-masted sailboat, stood a Western man in his thirties. He was very tall, with a strong build. His thick blond hair covered his big head, and his forehead was very damaged.
It was so low that it was almost connected to the eyebrows covering his pair of blue eyes that were similar in shape to apricots. Although his eyes were not very flexible and lacked expression, they were paired with his fierce gaze and strength.
The body can easily make people feel scared.
He was wearing a pair of khaki trousers with wide red stripes embedded in them. He was wearing an old-fashioned military uniform, a pair of black leather shoes on his feet, and a slender command knife beside his waist. At this moment,
He was staring fiercely at the two large sailing ships approaching quickly in front of him.
"Hell, how could we meet the fleet here?" The man kept cursing. From time to time, some saliva spurted out from the gaps in his yellow teeth. "Observation tower, hurry up and see them clearly.
Flag to see which country’s navy it belongs to.”
Soon, a voice came from the observation tower high up, "Boss, I can see their flag clearly, but I have never seen this kind of flag. It is a sun and moon. God, what did I see?"
.Is that a super battleship?”
At this time, the huge figure of the treasure ship appeared in his eyes. It looked so huge and majestic surrounded by five big fortune ships.
The voice on the observation deck became more and more urgent. "Oh no, the first two ships sent signals. They asked us to report our identity, origin and purpose, and asked us to stop the ship."
After seeing the flag sent by the other party, the middle-aged man suddenly became furious, "Do these bastards want us to die? Rick, order the guys to get into battle formation, show our flag, and tell them that we are not good
Provoked."
Soon, a strange flag was raised. This flag had a skull painted on it. It held an hourglass in one hand, and in the other hand, it held a still dripping blood that had been hit by a dart and spear.
There is a heart through the flag, and there is a letter under the flag that reads "For God and Liberty."
"Damn, it's a pirate!"
On the Dabao ship, Nairn's expression suddenly changed, and he quickly said to Mo Hui: "Commander Mo, please quickly order the two ships in front to come back. These people are not merchant ships, they are pirates! They are "Happy Roger""
"Roger?" Although Mo Hui didn't know what Roger was talking about, but seeing Nairn's nervous face, he decided to follow his advice and return the two Spanish galleons in front.
But it was already too late. Facing the fiercely approaching pirate ship, the two large sailing ships had already approached each other to a distance of about a mile. In an instant, the two Spanish large sailing ships collectively made a beautiful turn to the left.
One side of the ships was aimed at each other. Three twenty-four-pounder Napoleon bronze cannons on one side of the two ships opened fire first.
"Boom boom boom..."
A burst of white smoke flashed, and thirty black iron pellets flew forward with a whistling sound. The fast shells quickly covered the eleven ships in front, and the shells fell into the sea like hail.
Make the sea water splash.
"Which bastard launched these ships? How could their cannons hit so far?"
On the opposite ship, the middle-aged man looked at the rain of bullets falling around him with a look of shock on his face. The other party's cannon could hit a distance of more than 500 meters. This really surprised him, because
Today's cannons in the West that can hit 500 meters away are at least 30 pounds or more, but according to his observation, those projectiles that fell into the sea were obviously only more than 20 pounds of artillery.
But this was not the time to think about this. The middle-aged man began to yell, "Everyone speed up and sink them!"
"Sir, Commander Mo ordered us to retreat quickly and join the brigade to form a formation!"
On the deck of a Spanish galleon, a messenger panted and reported to the captain of the ship (Mr. Qian).
The chief officer said angrily: "You haven't seen that the enemies have surrounded us now. We can no longer retreat. You should quickly send a flag to Commander Mo and ask him to come closer."
"yes!"
Although the two Spanish galleons were unable to retreat in such a short period of time due to their huge size, they still had no problem dealing with the pirate ships in front.
As the distance between the two sides approached, the artillery on the pirate ship also began to fire. After a while, the slower-moving treasure ship and five Dafu ships also rushed over, and soon the diffuse smoke enveloped the sea area.
"Aim at the largest soft sailing ship in front and fire!"
On the Dabao ship, Mo Hui commanded the fleet to line up in a straight formation, pouring artillery fire on the opponent. The distance between the two sides was less than 300 meters. From time to time, sailors were shot, and screams were heard from the surrounding ships from time to time.
This naval battle was the first naval battle commanded by Mo Hui. It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous at the moment, as the sweat constantly seeping out from his forehead was proof.
The Qingzhou Navy is a young navy, and its experience is naturally inferior to those of the previous pirates who have been wandering at sea for many years, but they also have their own advantages, that is, whether it is a Spanish galleon or something
The five Fu ships were much larger than the pirate ships in terms of tonnage and number of guns.
In particular, the thirty-two-pound bronze cannon equipped on the Dabao ship caused the pirates to suffer a lot. Once this caliber of artillery hit the target, it would make a big hole the size of a washbasin.
As long as three to five hits are made, those small boats of only about 200 tons are in danger of falling apart. If they are hit below the waterline, sorry, the boat will sink quickly like a weight in the water.
Less than half an hour after the battle started, three pirate ships were sunk. Both sides became angry at the end of the battle. The distance between the battles was reduced from two hundred meters to about one hundred meters. As long as the gunner's eyesight was not too bad, he could fire three rounds.
One shot will hit the opponent's ship.
On the gun emplacement on the Dabao ship, a gunner ordered loudly: "Load shotguns!"
A well-known loader picked up a heavy bag and came to the artillery. He poured the iron beads inside into the barrel of the cannon. "Clatter, clack, clack..." Countless iron beads rolled in.
into the huge barrel of the thirty-two-pounder cannon, and then stabbed it quickly with a long pole a few times.
"preparation!"
"put!"
"boom........."
Countless thumb-sized iron beads flew towards the enemy ship with a whistling sound...!~!
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