The battle at sea has lasted for an hour. This may not be called a battle between two sides, because both sides are extremely unequal in terms of the range and power of the artillery. It may be called a one-sided hunt.
Killing is more appropriate.
Wang Hong and Qin Yong have tried their best to respond to the powerful firepower attack of the opponent's three centipede ships in a flexible way.
The opponent's broadside naval gun salvo is the most intensive and fierce attack method. Therefore, Wang Hong, Qin Yong and others controlled the ship to avoid the attack angle as much as possible to avoid being hit by the opponent's powerful dense artillery.
However, the problem is that on the one hand, you have to avoid the opponent's attacks, and on the other hand, you have to hang the opponent. This behavior is undoubtedly dancing on the edge of a dangerous cliff, and you will be in catastrophe if you are not careful.
Wang Hong and others could not completely escape the opponent's sight, and even had to hang a red wind lantern on the mast to guide the opponent. Otherwise, the opponent would not be able to find their position and would probably lose the desire to attack and turn around and return to the dock.
.
It has to be said that Wang Hong and Qin Yong have done a very good job. In the constant provocation and evasive actions, the five warships have never been hit, and they sailed through the rough waves set off by the opponent's continuous firing of shells. It was like
It's like walking a tightrope.
The turning point occurred not long ago. When the artillery roared at the castle, the sound of muskets and gunfire resounded, and fireworks for help rose above the castle, the French soldiers on the three centipede ships seemed to realize that they had fallen into a trap of diverting the tiger away from the mountain.
The three centipede boats then collectively turned to the castle for rescue.
Originally, this was a chance for Wang Hong and others to take a breather, but Wang Hong was worried that Zhang Yanling could not attack for a long time. Once the Franco gunboats drove him back and bombarded the bays on both sides of the castle, they would lose their success. So he made a decisive decision.
Five warships were ordered to pursue him.
Qin Yong was also a ruthless man, and he actually did not object to this approach. The five warships followed him and chased them within the range of Li Xu, using the general cannons on the bows to continuously bombard the Franco machine gunboats.
A Franco gunboat behind was hit by a shot. Although the damage to the soldiers was not serious, it annoyed the other party. They decided to stop the ship and fight back. When the three centipede ships crossed the hull, the five South China Sea guard ships wanted to
He fled quickly, but it was too late.
Because they were not fast enough, they raised the sails and accelerated with the wind when they were chasing. The sea breeze blowing from the sea outside Guangzhou Bay made them much faster, and they successfully closed in on the opponent. But at this time, if they wanted to get out of the opponent's range, there was no way
It's possible.
The two warships were hit one after another, explosive shells exploded on the ship, and the warship caught fire. Fortunately, Wang Hong had made preparations for the worst, and several lifeboats had already been hung at the stern. As soon as the ship was hit, they immediately lowered the boat to escape.
Most of the two hundred soldiers on the warship escaped.
The other party obviously did not want to pester anymore, and after they succeeded, they quickly drove towards Tuen Mun Island. After Wang Hong rescued the soldiers on the boat, he did not dare to continue the pursuit. He had to follow the three centipede boats out of range.
Come down.
…
There was chaos on the pier under the cliff on the west side of Tuen Mun Island. Hundreds of French soldiers and family businessmen living in the castle were running around on the beach. There were many boats docked on the pier, and they squeezed onto the boats desperately, trying to
Seize the boat and escape.
There are also many women and children among them. Maybe they would be well taken care of in normal times, but now, they can't get on the ship at all. After some French soldiers got on the ship, instead of saving their own women and children, they hurriedly unmoored.
They fled without caring about other people. Some people grabbed the boat and climbed up, but they were beaten into the water by their old tricks.
The soldiers of the Franco Eastern Fleet, who are originally a group of gangsters and criminals, have no morality or gentlemanly spirit at this time. Anyone who delays their escape is an obstacle and must be kicked away ruthlessly.
When Zhang Yanling arrived with his people, a group of Nanhai Guard soldiers were arresting the fleeing women, children and merchants of Franji country on the shore. There were howling and crying like pigs everywhere. Some soldiers started to shoot those people with bows and arrows.
The Francois were running around on the dock. Many of them had fallen into a pool of blood.
Zhang Yanling frowned and stopped the behavior of the Nanhai Guard soldiers. Attacking these women and children was beyond Zhang Yanling's bottom line.
"Figo, shout to them and tell them not to run away. My officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will not kill women and children. As long as they surrender obediently, their lives will not be lost," Zhang Yanling shouted.
Figo, Mario and Gusta quickly started shouting at the top of their lungs. Soon, the fleeing crowd stopped in disbelief and gathered around after repeated assurances from Figo and others.
Zhang Yanling had no time to delay here, so he ordered a group of soldiers to stay at the dock and asked Figo Mario and others to stay here to appease the prisoners of the Franco Kingdom. He, Chen Shiyi and others led more than a hundred soldiers to board several ships docked at the dock.
The boat went up to the sea.
The battle on the sea was so fierce and more than half of the warships were lost. Zhang Yanling had to take his men to join the battle.
Seven or eight small boats headed towards the sea against the wind. In the distance, the dark figures of three centipede boats appeared on the sea several miles away. Farther away, three own warships with red lights were following behind.
Come.
"Master Marquis, we can't greet him like this, it's too dangerous. They can sink a small boat like ours with one shot," Chen Shiyi said solemnly.
Zhang Yanling frowned and nodded. It was natural that he would die if he rushed forward like this. However, the situation was difficult to escape. The opponent should have known that the castle had been lost, but judging from their posture, it seemed that they did not intend to give up and wanted to take it back.
It's no wonder that they have three powerful gunboats and can completely control the situation. Moreover, this castle is their foothold, and there are women and children here, so naturally they want to take it back desperately and cannot give up easily.
In this case, I will force myself to have a decisive battle with them.
While Zhang Yanling was nervously thinking about countermeasures, suddenly the roar of firearms rang out from the northwest sea. Zhang Yanling looked carefully with a telescope and found that there were countless black spots on the sea not far away, riding the wind and waves.
Firearms roared from several small boats, but they were fired at those ships.
Zhang Yanling immediately understood what was going on. Those ships were the eighty civilian ships that followed him. He ordered them to stay on the sea more than ten miles away and did not allow them to participate in the battle. But they obviously saw the light of the fire.
Hearing the sound of fighting, everyone rushed over.
What they encountered must have been a few small boats of Franconian soldiers who had escaped from the dock. The Franconian soldiers were frightened and opened fire with muskets when they saw the ships approaching.
Zhang Yanling gave a loud order and ordered everyone to get closer quickly. Seeing that the situation was not good, the small boats on which the French soldiers were riding quickly fled in the direction of the centipede boat. The distance was too far and in the bumpy waves, the cannons were useless.
"Stop the boats, folks, there is danger ahead, you can't get close." Zhang Yanling shouted loudly towards the dark civilian boats.
More than a dozen boats surrounded them, and they were civilian boats driven by the people of Guangzhou Prefecture.
"Get out of here quickly, it's very dangerous on the battlefield." Zhang Yanling shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Master Zhang, we are not afraid. We saw our warship on fire, and we came to help. Master Zhang, tell us how to fight."
"Yes, Mr. Zhang, those three centipede ships are too powerful. We must get on board together. Otherwise, we will not be able to defeat them."
Zhang Yanling waved his hands and shouted: "No. The warships have artillery and they are still invincible. What can you do to fight them? Leave quickly."
The people were silent.
Someone asked loudly: "We saw that our warship was hit by them. Many people must have died. Why are they hanging red lanterns? Isn't that looking for a fight? I really don't understand."
Chen Shi said: "What do you know? Mr. Wang and Mr. Qin deliberately used red lights to lure the enemy so that we could capture the castle. Now that we have captured the castle, the kidnapped people have also been rescued. I thought they
They would escape without the castle, but who would have thought that instead of escaping, they would come back killed."
When the people heard this, they were both happy and sad. What they were happy about was that the people were rescued and the island was captured. What was sad was that the red-haired ghost's big ship was back and it would be difficult to deal with it.
"We understand, how are you going to fight the red-haired ghost's big ship?" An old voice sounded from the opposite ship, and an old man with gray beard stood on the bow. It was the old man on the dock. I don't know who he was.
How did you get on the ship?
Zhang Yanling muttered: "The enemy's artillery is fierce. We can only find a way to get closer and board the ship to fight hand to hand. There is no other way."
The old man nodded slowly and said: "I understand. Mr. Zhang, you have gone through life and death for us Guangzhou people. I am afraid that many soldiers died in this battle. How can we just sit back and watch. Naturally, we people cannot succeed in fighting.
But I also want to help you."
Zhang Yanling frowned and was waiting for advice. The old man suddenly turned his head and raised his arms and shouted: "Hang up all the lanterns. Red lanterns are best. Those who don't have red lanterns can be wrapped in red cloth. We all rush forward. Although they have cannons, they can
How many ships will be sunk? Cover the Marquis and others and rush over."
Zhang Yanling was shocked. He heard a burst of shouts from ships far and near the sea, which was earth-shaking. In a moment, red lanterns were hung on the masts. These ships were originally fishing boats. When fishing boats go out to sea, they hang red lights to lure fish, so most of the boats have red lights.
Wind lanterns. If there are no lanterns, wrap them in red cloth and hang them up.
For a time, the sea for several miles around looked like a lantern market during the Mid-Autumn Festival, with red lanterns hung like festive joy. The red lights reflected on the sea, and the sea seemed to turn red. The scene was gorgeous and magnificent.
"From all directions, rush forward." The old man raised his arms and shouted.
All the ships began to disperse randomly, with red lights dotted and densely packed, and rushed towards the three centipede ships not far away.
"Master Zhang, don't hesitate, hurry up and rush over. I'll go first, old man." The old man's ship passed in front, his rickety body holding the rudder, and his figure looked unusually tall and majestic.
This situation made Zhang Yanling's blood surge, and he felt excited, and a strange emotion surged in his heart.
"Master Hou." Chen Shiyi asked in a deep voice from the side.
"Send the order, attack." Zhang Yanling shouted in a deep voice.