The fire began to burn outside the Fo Langji warship. Zhang Yanling and others' plan was to light a few fires at the upwind point of the perimeter and use the sea breeze to quickly sweep a large number of enemy warships and burn most of them.
However, things did not go as well as Zhang Yanling thought. The harbor is well sheltered from the wind. In addition, the wind on the sea surface is not strong tonight, and the wind blowing into the harbor is also weak. Although I chose the upwind port, with the help of the sea breeze
The plan swept the entire place where the warships were parked. I'm afraid it was just wishful thinking.
But even so, after the sails were ignited, the fire quickly rose, with flames reaching into the sky and thick smoke billowing. The French warships used multi-sided sails. In addition to the huge main sail, a warship also had
There were several auxiliary sails. Once a fire broke out, the entire ship would be almost covered in flames.
The sail will fall off after catching fire. If there are other igniting objects on the boat, it will be ignited. It can spread to the wooden hull in a short time.
Because time was very tight, Zhang Yanling and others split up and lit fires on several outer warships. Originally, there were people left behind on the Fo Lang warships, and even if there were only a few, it would be difficult for them to set fires arbitrarily, and they would encounter resistance from the other side.
But when the Folangji soldiers returned from training, the soldiers on duty would go ashore and have dinner before coming back. This period happened to be a vacuum, and they were accidentally hit by Zhang Yanling and others. It must be said that, secretly, they
There is providence.
In just a short cup of tea, four people set fire to seven or eight warships. The warships were close together, which made it easier for Zhang Yanling and others to move around, and also facilitated the rapid spread of the fire.
When a sharp whistle sounded on the dock, a large number of Franco soldiers were warned, and when a large number of Franco soldiers rushed towards the burning warship, the fire had spread to more than ten warships, and the fire became more and more fierce.
It is not the sea breeze that helps, but the fire wind that comes with it when a fire starts. One of the reasons why fires are often difficult to control is the fire tornado caused by the scorching air. This is the most deadly fire wind formed in the fire scene, which will quickly spread the fire to all directions.
spread.
Almeida loudly ordered the soldiers to put out the fire. There were water hoses on the ships. In a very short time, the French soldiers pulled out dozens of water hoses and started to put out the fire. The action was very fast.
At the same time, Almeida ordered the warships close to the side to leave the dock immediately to make room for the evacuation of other ships. Only by evacuating all ships on the path of the fire spread can the fire be controlled in a very short time. Because Almeida
Meda was not sure whether the water dragon could stop the fire.
Soon after, what worried Almeida finally happened. A burning warship erupted with a violent explosion. The fire burned through the deck and spread to the cabin. The gunpowder and explosive shells in the cabin of the warship were ignited and martyred.
Explosion, the explosion was earth-shattering, the entire ship was torn apart, burning wood and debris flying everywhere. The seven or eight soldiers who were closest to fighting the fire were instantly blown up to the sky, and were torn apart by the power of a large number of explosive ammunition.
Almeida cursed angrily and decisively ordered the abandonment of several warships that were already in flames, and only saved those ships that could be saved. At the same time, he accelerated the evacuation of the ships.
Under orderly organization, the warships were quickly evacuated. After the ships on both sides left, the ship in the middle was able to quickly distance itself from the burning ship to avoid the spread of the fire.
Soon after, two more warships exploded. But this time, the Franco soldiers who were fighting the fire were not affected. They were only affected by the explosion, and several surrounding warships were on fire fiercely, making it impossible to rescue them.
Almeida's face was distorted as she watched the pile of burning warships explode one by one, and then fell into pieces. Within a hundred steps above the sea, there were a large number of wreckage floating, and some were still burning on the sea.
.The tragedy of the scene made Almeida painful and angry.
"Find the spies who set the fire. The cunning and despicable Ming Dynasty people, I will hang them all..." Almeida had never been so out of control, he waved his fist and roared.
The transferred warships searched everywhere on the sea, but found nothing. The person they were looking for had already fled quickly in a small boat on a French warship after the fire broke out. On the dark and vast sea, they wanted to find a small boat.
Easier said than done. Moreover, Zhang Yanling used a counter-motivated attitude. The boat did not go to the sea in the strait. Instead, it took a detour from the West Port to the East Port and landed ashore mixed with a mess of merchant ships.
After landing, the four people walked non-stop through the eastern city and left quickly. Because they knew that a large-scale manhunt was coming.
Two hours later, the fire was extinguished and everything returned to calm. A total of nine French warships sank in the explosion and fire. Another six warships were affected by the fire. Although the fire was extinguished by water dragons,
The sails, masts, decks and other parts of the ship were burned, and it was impossible to fight for a while. The Franco Eastern Fleet warships of more than fifty warships lost fifteen in this sudden fire.
Lost 20% of combat power.
Naturally, Almeida could not accept this result and was heartbroken.
He ordered people to arrange the aftermath and ordered a city-wide search before he stormed ashore in anger.
His daughter Helena stood on the shore waiting for him helplessly.
"Father!" Helena looked at her father striding over in horror.
Almeida came angrily, raised her hand and slapped Helena.
"It's all your fault, Helena, you let me down so much. It's all because I pampered you too much and your almond-sized brain has no wisdom at all, which ruined everything." Almeida roared, like
An angry lion.
Helena covered her face and fell to the ground, crying in pain.
She didn't blame her father for the slap, nor did she blame her father for scolding her. She only blamed herself for being used by others. Those cunning guys, she regarded them as friends, but they turned out to be spies of the Ming Dynasty. She
He actually led them into the port and caused such a huge disaster.
In Helena's eighteen years of life, she has met people who loved her and respected her very much. She has a noble status, and all the men she has met are gentlemen. In her opinion,
There are no bad people in this world, they are all trustworthy people. Even if they are foreigners, she has never felt any discrimination or hatred.
In her understanding, as long as she sincerely treats others well, others will respond in kind. But today, she understands what it means to be unpredictable and insidious.
That Ming Dynasty man named Zhang Yi had a handsome face and a gentle smile. But he was plotting against himself from beginning to end. He was really stupid. He was deceived by this shameless man and caused such a big disaster.
The loss. I hated him so much.
"God, forgive my stupidity. Let me die. I ruined everything. I regret it so much. Father, just hit me. If you can fix everything, I would rather be beaten to death by you." Helena
cried sadly.
Of course Almeida would not kill his daughter. In fact, he had never laid a finger on Helena since he was a child. His daughter was his heart and soul, so how could he hit her if he was not extremely angry.
Seeing that Helena was crying bitterly and would rather die, Almeida was willing to blame her too much to avoid getting killed. So she shouted in a deep voice: "Helena, I don't have time to tell you this now. You should go back to the manor immediately. No way."
Come out. I will order someone to send you back to China in two days. I hope you can reflect on yourself and never make such a big mistake again."
Helena cried: "Father, will this matter affect you? The Ming Dynasty is about to attack. Will this loss lead to failure?"
Almeida shouted coldly: "You burned more than ten of my ships, just to make me fail? How can I, Almeida, be defeated so easily? I still have more than thirty warships. The advantage is mine. And
, what happened this time made me even more eager to defeat these despicable people. Don’t worry about the war."
Helena whispered: "Father, my daughter has a request."
Almeida said angrily: "What else do you want to do at this time? No matter what kind of request you have, you will not be allowed."
Helena gritted her teeth and said: "My daughter just wants to ask my father to do me a favor. After defeating the Ming Dynasty's fleet, I will catch those Easterners who pretended to deceive me. Especially the one named Zhang. I want to kill him with my own hands. He
He deceived me and used me, he deserves to die. I want to kill him, otherwise it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart."
Almeida looked at her daughter in surprise. Helena had never said such words. There was no hatred in her heart, but today's incident made her feel hatred. This may not be a bad thing. At least Helena
She knows the dangers of this world. Otherwise, she will always live in her world, unaware of the cunning and dangers of this world, and the evil of human nature.
"Okay, I promise you. You go back to the manor. I'm afraid I won't be able to rest tonight." Almeida said.
"I'm sorry, father." Helena whispered.
Almeida sighed and waved away.
Several soldiers came over and politely asked Helena to get in the car and leave. Helena glanced at the messy sea, turned around and got into the car. The carriage started and left quickly.
…
A large-scale manhunt was launched throughout the city. A large-scale manhunt was launched throughout the eastern and western districts and even on the sea surface of the strait.
In fact, the people in the whole city already knew what happened at the military port. The sound of the violent explosion was shocking, and the news had already spread throughout the city.
After a night of searching, countless fugitives, thieves, and idlers were caught. But those four people were not found. All people with oriental faces were arrested and asked about their traces one by one. Anyone who could not answer the questions would be severely punished.
That night, the Francois killed hundreds of people during the search, including dozens of residents with oriental faces. They had nothing to do with this matter at all, and many of them could not even speak the Ming language.
But where does the angry Almeida care about this? It is difficult to vent his anger without killing some people.
That night, the entire port city of Malacca fell into a terrifying panic. The real culprit had already left Malacca before midnight and escaped on a bad horse. He crossed the Malay Peninsula and headed straight to the northwest of the island.