Daming pirates

As Hun Jianglong's fleet gradually approached, the upper bucket on the top of the mast could basically see the situation of the incoming people. This time Hun Jianglong gathered sixteen two-masted ships at once, and there were also

More than a dozen sloops followed to assist in the battle.

In this way, the strength of both sides can be seen. In terms of the number of ships, the Shark Gang is at a disadvantage. However, among the large ships on Hunjianglong's side, there are relatively few Fu ships, and smaller ships such as Bird ships and Cuzeng ships.

Some two-masted sea-going ships accounted for a relatively large proportion. In this way, the strength of the two sides was basically equalized. After all, the small single-masted fishing boats had weak combat power and could only be used for sneak attacks. Once a fight started, they would not be of much use.

But once the two sides fall into a melee, the small boats brought by Hun Jianglong can no longer be ignored. They can completely rely on the small and flexible advantages of the boats and cooperate with the larger ships to sneak attack on the Shark Gang's ships and let the Shark Gang's ships

Each ship has to concentrate on dealing with it, and if it is not careful, it will be destroyed.

Therefore, Qian Song did not feel too nervous about this situation, nor did he have the idea of ​​giving up. He continued to lead the fleet to the north, dragging Hun Jianglong's fleet to follow them.

Now Yu Xiaotian can see Qian Song's thoughts. Qian Song does have rich experience at sea, and he knows their disadvantages very well. The other party is just waiting for work, and they are traveling a long distance. If they fight Hun Jianglong immediately

, it is relatively disadvantageous, and there are many ships on the other side. In a melee, even the other side's small ship will be a big trouble.

Therefore, Qian Song's idea must be to use the brakes and pull Hun Jianglong's fleet around for a while. In this way, Hun Jianglong's slower boat will be gradually overwhelmed because it cannot keep up.

Throwing them behind, the only ones left were the larger ships under Hun Jianglong.

In this way, the strength of both sides will be equalized, and the Shark Gang will even have a certain advantage.

After thinking about this, Yu Xiaotian couldn't help but look at Qian Song with admiration. After all, these guys have been at sea for a long time, and they all have their own tricks. They know how to deal with conflicts at sea and can quickly master them.

Live the key.

If he had been asked to command this maritime conflagration, he would probably not have thought of so much. He might have taken the fleet and rushed directly to fight with the opponent. Needless to say, the result was that the chance of winning was

It is estimated to be zero.

While observing the situation at sea, Yu Xiaotian secretly pondered in his mind and kept summarizing. He felt that no matter what, he came to the right place this time, otherwise he would not have learned so many things.

In addition, Yu Xiaotian also used his own understanding of naval warfare in later generations to compare the current situation. As far as he knew, after this era, due to the advancement of ships and artillery in the West, their ships could carry more and more ships.

With more artillery, and the fact that the hulls are getting bigger and taller, and their protection is getting stronger, the mode of naval warfare has changed a lot.

In the past, traditional boarding battles and hand-to-hand combat have become more and more difficult in this era. More often, Western warships have adopted the tactic of firing salvos of artillery to attack enemy ships until the enemy is defeated.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, due to the stagnant development of ship technology and the limitations of the ship's own performance, although artillery began to be loaded on the ship, it could not carry too heavy artillery, let alone many artillery. Therefore, the mode of sea battles was still

Traditional ramming, hand-to-hand combat based on the broadside, combined with ship power and manpower, and artillery battles have not yet become the dominant force in naval battles.

This time he followed, and the upcoming conflict was also conducted in this way. The next step would be to see who has high morale, whose command is flexible, and whose ship is stronger.

The chase between the two sides was still going on. After Qian Song led the fleet northward for a while, he saw that he was about to approach Beigantang, so he turned around again and headed west, passing through the waterway between Nangantang and Beigantang, heading towards

Across the sea to the north of Nangantang.

Hun Jianglong's fleet following behind them also turned around and continued to follow behind them, assuming a posture that this time they vowed to have a real showdown with the Shark Gang.

Yu Xiaotian observed his ship at this time. Coming from this way, he felt that the renovation of the Sea Wolf after the new year was still effective. After the bottom of the ship was cleaned again, the resistance of the hull in the sea water was reduced.

Some, coupled with the reinforcement of the mast and several parts of the hull and the repair of the sails, the speed of the ship was obviously improved. When accompanying Wang Hong's ship, he often did not need to order the sails to be raised, and he could easily

Follow Wang Hong and Fang An's boat.

Speed ​​is undoubtedly a very important thing when fighting at sea. In comparison, among the entire Shark Gang fleet, his Sea Wolf's speed is also one of the best. When cooperating with the fleet, he

Even with half sail, he could easily keep up with the speed of the fleet, which made him very satisfied and more confident.

If a worker is good at his work, he must first sharpen his weapon. Although his Sea Wolf is not eye-catching in the fleet, it is not as strong as the Fu Ship, it does not have as many manpower as other ships, and its firepower is relatively weak, but it is valuable.

The ship is faster and more flexible, which is why Wang Hong values ​​​​him and always asks him to accompany him.

What Wang Hong valued was the flexibility and speed of his Sea Wolf. His presence would undoubtedly give Wang Hong an extra layer of protection.

In any case, Yu Xiaotian is still optimistic about the current situation. At least he has the ability to protect himself even if he cannot win.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, he walked around the boat, chatting and laughing with his men with a cheerful face. At this time, most of the men on the boat seemed very nervous. Like Yu Xiaotian, they were the first

This was the first time I had experienced such a battle. Although the battle had not started yet, seeing so many ships chasing after them still made many people nervous.

But when they saw Yu Xiaotian wandering around the boat with a relaxed look on his face, joking with them from time to time, they immediately felt a little more relaxed. Since their boss was not afraid, they became more confident.

Invisibly, Yu Xiaotian's performance resolved a lot of tension on the ship.

However, Yu Xiaotian also checked the preparations on the ship and saw Hei Tou and others placing two boxes of incendiary bottles filled with whale oil on the deck without any cover. He still reprimanded Hei Tou and ordered them to

Immediately put these two boxes of incendiary bottles under the side of the ship and cover them with something. If they were shot by someone with a rocket, his ship would be in trouble. He prepared these for the enemy and he couldn't use them anyway.

on board.

In addition, he took this opportunity to check the preparations everywhere on the ship. All the personnel on the ship were basically ready at this time, especially the damage control matters. Each barrel had been prepared at this time.

It was filled with water, bags of sand, and several pumps, all placed within easy reach.

Including the spare sail ropes, they were also placed under the mast at this time and could be accessed at any time. Everything was prepared according to the plans they could think of before.

Even in order to prevent rockets from damaging the ship, the sailors used this time to fill up the seawater with pumps or buckets, and wet the sails and the entire ship surface. Although this increased the weight of the sails, it could

After effectively preventing the sail from being hit by the rocket, it was quickly ignited and bought a certain amount of time to extinguish the rocket.

All these preparations made Yu Xiaotian very satisfied. As for the weapons, several large bundles of arrows, as well as several bird and fire blunderbuss have been loaded and can be fired at any time by lighting the match rope.

As time went by, the distance between the two sides became closer and closer, but Shangdou reported on the mast at this time. After making this big circle, the single-masted boats in the Hunjianglong fleet were already far away.

Left behind, only a dozen larger ships under Hun Jianglong remained, still following them at this time.

Yu Xiaotian took a deep breath and thought to himself, it's almost done, it's probably time to start.

By this time, it was already afternoon time. If they didn't start, they wouldn't be able to fight Hun Jianglong today. Once it gets dark, Qian Song would be crazy to have a naval battle under these conditions.

On a dark night, the current technical conditions make it impossible to conduct effective command. Once a fight breaks out, it will definitely be a big melee.

So Yu Xiaotian guessed that if Qian Song wanted to take action, it would be this time.

Sure enough, just when Yu Xiaotian was thinking about this, news came from Wang Hong's ship, telling Yu Xiaotian that the fleet began to turn right and was preparing to turn around.

Yu Xiaotian immediately understood that it was time to start.

Led by Qian Song's boat, the Shark Gang's fleet made a large circle in the wide waters north of Nangantang, and gradually turned around to meet the fleet of Hun Jianglong that was following.

Although they didn't get the absolute upper hand, they did get a good wind angle. At least the fleet was no longer in a headwind situation.

When Hun Jianglong's fleet saw the Shark Gang's fleet beginning to turn around, it also began to turn and rush towards the Shark Gang's fleet.

The atmosphere on the sea immediately became more tense, and the roars of the leaders came from all the ships. The pirates were either busy adjusting the sails, or tightening their weapons in their hands, getting ready for battle.

More than thirty ships were divided into two groups, heading towards each other like two wolf packs, and began to rush towards each other head-on. Everyone's heart felt as heavy as a big stone. Just now they were shouting: "Little wolf!"

The pirates who shouted, all kept their mouths shut at this time.

This time was different from when they robbed merchant ships before. They all knew that the other party was a pirate like them, not some docile sheep. While they wanted to tear each other into pieces, the other party also wanted to tear them into pieces.

The two fleets were heading towards each other, getting closer and closer, with no one showing any signs of retreating. They also raised their sails together, increased their speed, and rushed towards the other side.