According to the deployment, six warships were in the front, and more than a dozen ordinary troop-carrying ships were in the rear. The last convenience was a vast fleet of civilian ships and fishing boats.
The people on the shore beat gongs and drums to see off the fleet as it set off and sailed all the way along the river bank.
Zhang Yanling was riding on a troop transport ship in the middle. These ships were all ordinary military patrol wooden ships. They were not equipped with cannons and other long-range attack weapons, and were only used to carry South China Sea Guard soldiers.
Looking at the mighty fleet on the river, the soldiers around him were very excited, but Zhang Yanling understood that although this posture was intimidating, it actually had no combat effectiveness.
There were 800 young and strong civilians on the 80 ordinary civilian ships. In order to give them some fighting strength, Qin Yong sent a soldier to each ship to lead them and gave them some simple weapons. But after all, they were just civilians, and Zhang Yanling actually did not
There was no idea of letting them participate in the war. Letting the people participate in the war was actually to die. If they could save their lives, it was Mazu's manifestation.
The fleet traveled all the way along the river. Two hours later, the river surface in front gradually opened up, and it had reached the mouth of the Pearl River. Soon after, the surrounding land became vague and distant, the river surface and the sea surface merged together, and the water color was different.
, turned into a blue color. At this moment, the sun sets in the west, the sea and sky are the same color, the waves are surging, and the seagulls are flying in the sky, which already has the vastness of the sea.
But in fact, this place is still in a bay and is still far away from the real sea.
The location of Guangzhou is still three to four hundred miles away from the Pearl River Estuary to the real open sea. This is just a bay surrounded by surrounding land, and at best it can only be regarded as an inland sea at the mouth of the sea.
At dusk, the fleet passed between the two islands in Hutou Pass. This place is the famous Humen, which is under the jurisdiction of Dongguan County. The fleet entered the more open channel from the narrow channel of Humen Pass.
When leaving the sea, a signal came from the warship ahead, requesting two speedboats to go out for reconnaissance. This was also the plan that had been discussed before.
After leaving Humen, it is only three hours by sea from Tuen Mun Island. In this wide bay area, it is also an area patrolled by ships from the Fo Lang Kingdom. The further you sail, the easier it is to encounter Fo Lang.
From a certain perspective, the ships of the machine country have entered the combat zone and may encounter enemy forces at any time and trigger a battle.
The two speedboats moved forward to change their formation and conduct reconnaissance ahead. Once traces of enemy ships were found, they could immediately alert them.
At the same time, Zhang Yanling also issued an order to conduct light control on all ships.
It was almost dark. If lights were lit on the ship, this vast fleet of ships at sea would be discovered immediately even if they were dozens of miles away.
The night is dark, the sea is also pitch black, and the sky is also pitch black. The wind on the sea has become strong. Although Lingnan is the land of spring all year round, the sea breeze at this moment also has a bone-chilling chill.
The sound of oars paddling in the surroundings was heard clearly, and the sound of hunting with cloaks could be clearly heard. Other than that, there was only the sound of wind whistling in my ears, with a faint sound of wind and thunder.
At this moment, everyone was feeling extremely nervous. The silence and darkness around them seemed to be the silence before the war. The quieter it was, the more suffocating emotions were spreading.
The thing that Zhang Yanling was most worried about did not happen. Along the way, what Zhang Yanling was most worried about was that the Folangji people knew what happened in the city. The news had leaked. But it was not until this moment that Zhang Yanling felt relieved. It seemed that the other party was
No discovery, otherwise, this sea area would never be so quiet.
Two long hours passed, and a warship in front slowed down. When Zhang Yanling ordered the ship to approach, Wang Hong and Qin Yong were standing on the side of the ship, waiting.
"Master Hou, not far ahead is Tuen Mun Island." Wang Hong said loudly, cupping his hands.
Zhang Yanling used a telescope to look at the sea in the distance, and saw a faint light flickering in the waves in the distance. It was about ten miles away.
"Okay. My lords, please act according to the plan." Zhang Yanling put down the telescope and shouted in a deep voice.
"I humbly obey my orders!" Wang Hong and Qin Yong said, cupping their hands.
Zhang Yanling nodded, cupped his hands and said in a deep voice: "My lords, please take care of yourself. Lure the enemy first, don't go all out. When I take Tuen Mun Island, they will be dead dogs."
"Thank you, Lord Marquis. Please take care of yourself, Lord Marquis." Wang Hong and Qin Yong said solemnly.
Zhang Yanling waved her hand and shouted: "Action."
The formation of the fleet changed rapidly. The six Nanhai Guard warships quickly separated from the rear fleet and sailed quickly towards the dimly lit Tuen Mun Island in front. Behind, Zhang Yanling ordered the ships to turn and slowly head eastward towards Tuen Mun Island.
The sea on the north side is slowly approaching.
The last large number of civilian ships were still ten miles away. Zhang Yanling ordered a speedboat to pass the order. He ordered them to park and wait where they were and not to get closer.
The sea wind became stronger and stronger, and the sea waves became more and more turbulent. However, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to be blown away, and the stars in the sky began to twinkle. Above the sea and under the starry sky, a battle was about to begin.
About half an hour later, Zhang Yanling saw in the telescope the figures of six warships disappearing into the night. Because they hung up red wind lanterns almost at the same time. A long series of red wind waves even appeared in the darkness.
To be eye-catching.
At the same time, a distant roar like thunder came from the sea. Along with the roar, several fires exploded near Tuen Mun Island.
This roar broke the quiet sea surface. Everyone looked there, and their nervousness suddenly became relaxed. The battle began, but they were not so nervous anymore.
Zhang Yanling knew that the roar was the first attack launched by Wang Hong and Qin Yong after they approached. Or to be precise, it was a sneak attack.
According to the plan, it is best for our ship to sneak into the harbor near the west side of Tuen Mun Island when it is not prepared. It would be best if we could carry out a sudden attack and severely damage or sink one of the enemy gunboats.
result.
Judging from the roar and fire, it seems that it hit the ship, but I don't know if it was the other party's gunboat.
"Send the order, move forward at full speed, approach the shallows on the northeast side of the island and land on the island." Zhang Yanling shouted the order.
Chen Shiyi promised loudly and quickly conveyed the order to the other ships. In addition to Zhang Yanling and a dozen others, more than 600 South China Sea Guard soldiers were loaded on more than ten troop transport ships. These soldiers were the main force led by Zhang Yanling to land on the island.
.
"Where is Figo?" Zhang Yanling shouted.
"Here you are, my dear Lord Marquis." Figo poked his head out from the side.
Zhang Yanling brought Figo and two other Franco soldiers with him on this trip. He originally hoped to use their identities to sneak in. But later this risky plan was unanimously opposed by everyone, thinking it was too risky, and believed that the Franco soldiers
Not trustworthy.
Zhang Yanling also felt that it was a bit risky. But more importantly, he felt that the opponent's three gunboats were a big threat. There were also a lot of troops on the island, as well as firearms. Entering with a small number of people might not be able to control the situation, so he had to give up.
However, it is also beneficial to bring Figo and the other two soldiers here. At least they are familiar with the route and the distribution of the fortifications. They can be ordered to assist in attacking the island and seizing the castle.
"Are you sure there is a shoal on the east side of the island to land on?" Zhang Yanling asked.
Figo hurriedly said: "I guarantee with my military honor that there is a beach there. The beach there is very good, and I even sunbathed there."
"Bah, you still have the honor of being a soldier? It's ridiculous." A guard next to him sneered.
Figo blushed and shouted: "I'll just walk ahead in a moment. If there is an ambush, I will die first. In fact, except for the castle, there are not many people stationed on the rest of the island. There are only a few guard towers."
"
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Okay, Figo, this is your chance to prove your loyalty to me. You will be the first to come ashore in a while. I will send people to keep an eye on you. If you play tricks, the island will be your burial place."
.”
Figo said repeatedly: "Dear Lord Marquis, please rest assured. I promise to God that I will be loyal to you."
Zhang Yanling nodded, turned to the two personal guards and said, "Keep an eye on them for a while and let the three of them lead the way. If there is anything unusual, kill them directly."
The two guards glanced at Figo, smiled evilly and nodded.
"Boom! Boom!"
A violent roar suddenly came from the southwest side of Tuen Mun Island. The huge roar was earth-shattering. It made people's ears buzzing from several miles away.
At the same time, a ball of fire exploded on the sea. It seemed that a ship was hit and started a fire.
Zhang Yanling hurriedly used his telescope to look in that direction. After a while, he put down his telescope and shouted with a livid face: "Speed up and get ready to land on the island."
Chen Shi noticed something was wrong and whispered: "Master Hou, what's wrong?"
Zhang Yanling handed the telescope to Chen Shiyi. Chen Shiyi raised it and looked at it. He saw a warship on the sea torn apart and burning. There seemed to be countless figures struggling in the fire, and many figures jumped into the sea.
The mast was not broken, and the red wind lantern on it was still swaying. It was one of our own warships that had been hit.