Daming pirates

Due to the limited water depth of the temporary wharf on Yangma Island, some large ships, especially the deep-draft Fuzhou ships, cannot berth directly at the piers on the shore and can only anchor in deeper waters, which causes a lot of trouble for loading and unloading activities on the ship.

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However, due to their shallow draft, some sand ships could get as close to the shore as possible. In order to transport these refugees as quickly as possible, Wu Shengtian and Liu Butong gathered manpower and quickly built several simple temporary trestles on the beach for the ships to load and unload cargo.

When the ship docked, bags of grain were unloaded from the ship. This completely alleviated Xishan Village's shortage of grain storage, and it was enough for Xishan Village to use for a long time.

Liu BuTong then arranged for the refugees who had been hoarded on Yangma Island to board ships in batches and transport them away. These refugees were deeply afraid of getting on such a large ship and sailing to an unknown place. Many of them did not

I didn't want to board the ship and cried like a mess.

However, Liu BuTong threatened them that if they refused to board the ship, he would cut off their food supply, drive them out of Yangma Island, and leave them to fend for themselves.

Such a threat is indeed very effective. There are rebels everywhere outside. Now Xishan Village and Yangma Island have become the only places in this area where they can survive safely. If they are driven away, what fate will they face next?

These hungry people themselves know this very well.

In addition, after they came, they all signed the deed of sale, and now they are no longer free persons. In name, they are all slaves of Mr. Liu. They really have no right to say what the master wants them to do.

Don't do it.

So this group of people began to board these large ships one after another under the urging of the soldiers of the Yu family army, and embarked on their unknown future. They were transported away from Yangma Island one after another, making Yangma Island already overcrowded.

Inside the island's enclosure, it suddenly became empty.

The movements on Yangma Island were naturally detected by the rebels who had been watching them. Li Jiucheng soon learned that a large number of large ships had appeared on Yangma Island, and they were loading the goods hoarded on Yangma Island.

A large number of refugees were transported away from Yangma Island, and it was unknown where they were transported.

Now Li Jiucheng is actually no longer interested in these refugees. What he is most interested in now is the food hoarded in Xishan Village and Yangma Island. After continuous expansion during this period, the rebel forces have become more and more powerful. For

The consumption of food is also increasing. They definitely don't want to be self-reliant. They can only obtain food and military pay by robbing.

Nowadays, they have not conquered the entire Denglai area, except for the southern part of the Jiaodong Peninsula. In the northern states and counties, as long as they can catch their eye, they have conquered all the villages and towns, and have destroyed all the wealthy squire families in these villages and towns.

Kill them all and take away everything you can.

So now the entire Denglai area has been completely destroyed by them, but the food problem has never been completely solved. Their grain reserves are still not enough to meet their needs for a long time in the future.

Therefore, Li Jiucheng is most concerned about the food issue. In addition, he heard that many large ships came to Yangma Island this time. These ships are also very tempting to him, although he now controls many warships.

, but most of these ships are old or crude, and some ships are simply built directly with wet materials. The quality is extremely poor, and they often deform and leak.

In fact, the wind and waves in the Bohai Bay are not that big, but over the years, a large amount of materials transported from Shandong to Dongjiang Town have still drifted away during the transshipment.

Although a large part of this is due to the officials who used it to enrich their own pockets, there are also cases where the ships are of poor quality and often sink in accidents at sea.

Going to sea on such a ship carries considerable risks. Some time ago, Mao Chenglu and others gathered thousands of Dongjiang troops to surrender, and they capsized several ships and drowned many rebels who came to surrender.

This time I heard that many large ships came to Yangma Island, and according to Xisaku, these ships are not only large, but also very well-built.

Li Jiucheng immediately became interested in these large ships and thought that if he could capture a batch of such large ships, even just a few, it would be a great thing for them. With these large ships from the south, their rebels would be able to control the situation in the future.

Isn’t it possible to walk sideways in the Bohai Bay? Who else can be their opponent?

In addition, if one day they cannot hold on here and the imperial court sends a large number of officers and soldiers to suppress them, and they cannot withstand it, then retreating to the Dongjiang River by boat and sea is undoubtedly a good way out.

If they can acquire some large ships like this, it will be a great good thing for them. By the way, they can also rob a large amount of food, which will be even better.

So Li Jiucheng immediately summoned his naval rebel generals and began to discuss with them. The more the rebel generals discussed, the more they felt that this matter could be done. They had many ships. If they could not be beaten, they might really be able to seize it.

Some large ships can also attack Tuweizi on Yangma Island from the sea, so that they can have great fun.

So Li Jiuzheng sent Mao Chenglu, an old Dongjiang general who had just led his troops to join him, to lead 3,000 rebels and dozens of warships to sneak attack Yangma Island, first seize the ship, and then capture Tuweizi on Yangma Island.

Mao Chenglu was Mao Wenlong's adopted son. He was highly regarded by Mao Wenlong and always led Mao Wenlong's personal troops. He was also known as a good fighter among the Dongjiang Army. Moreover, Mao Chenglu was also good at water warfare and had led the fleet into battle many times.

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Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong. Mao Chenglu, as Mao Wenlong's adopted son, was of course unwilling to let Mao Wenlong end up like this. After Yuan Chonghuan's death, Mao Chenglu united with the old generals of the Dongjiang Army many times to petition for Mao Wenlong. Chen asked Chongzhen to clear Mao Wenlong's grievances, but Chongzhen because of his face

problem, but ignored it, which made Mao Chenglu and other old Dongjiang generals very disappointed with the Ming court.

In addition, after Mao Wenlong's death, Yuan Chonghuan deliberately wanted to divide the Dongjiang Army, and the Dongjiang Army began to split internally. These old Dongjiang Army members fought against each other, fighting every day, and they could not get along with their own people.

Mao Chenglu felt that continuing like this was not an option, so he learned that Kong and Li had received a letter from them after they rebelled in Denglai, so he immediately decided to respond to Kong and Li and rebel in Dongjiang Town. However, Dongjiang Town

General Huang Long is currently in charge here. Mao Chenglu led thousands of troops to rebel, but failed to defeat Huang Long. So he took the rebels across the sea by boat and defected to Dengzhou. He was appointed by Li Jiucheng as the chief military officer of the rebel army and led an alliance.

Soldiers and horses guard the large campus outside Dengzhou City.

This time Li Jiuzheng wanted to seize the Yangma Island ship and capture Yangma Island Tuweizi, so he thought of Mao Chenglu and asked Mao Chenglu to lead his troops into battle.

After Mao Chenglu heard this, he also felt that after coming to Dengzhou, he had not accomplished anything except eating, drinking and playing with women, so he immediately agreed, ordered his troops and horses, and boarded the warship in Shuicheng. In early June

At that time, he finally set off to lead the fleet to Yangma Island.

At this time, most of the refugees on Yangma Island have been transferred away by ship, but a large number of refugees will be admitted every day. After undergoing simple quarantine, they will continue to be shipped away, so from mid-April onwards

, there are several large ships coming in and out of Yangma Island every day.

This made the rebels jealous. On the ninth day of June, the rebel fleet, led by Mao Chenglu, finally appeared in the waters west of Yangma Island.

But at this time, Kongtong Island in the sea to the west of Yangma Island had been seized by Yu Jiajun personnel and controlled by Xishan Village. A hidden observation post was set up here to monitor the situation on the surrounding sea.

, is also responsible for the movements of the rebels at Qishan Station on the shore.

So when the rebel fleet just appeared in the waters of Kongtong Island and just rounded the promontory of Zhifu Island, it was observed by the outpost on Kongtong Island, and then a warning rocket was released, a red rocket.

, pulling black smoke, soaring into the sky, soaring up to more than a hundred meters in the air, bursting out a dazzling red bright spot.

The black smoke and red light emitted by this rocket could be seen far away. A small single-masted speedboat patrolling the waters east of Kongtong Island and west of Yangma Island immediately discovered it.

After receiving the warning rocket, he immediately launched a rocket without saying a word to relay the news back to Yangma Island.

Soon, Xishan Village, including Tuweizi on Yangma Island, learned of the incoming rebel fleet. The specific situation was unknown, but it was certain that the rebel fleet was coming.

As a result, several large ships on the shore that were loading and unloading people and cargo immediately stopped their operations. The crew on the ship quickly raised the sails and anchors. Under the tow of the small boats, they moved into deep water and began to turn around and sail to the sea north of Yangma Island.

noodle.

There were already seven warships around Yangma Island at this time. Among these warships, three were Sea Wolf's unique sloops, namely the Feihao Clipper.

This kind of ship seemed very small when dealing with Western-style galleons, but now it was definitely a gunboat with heavy firepower when faced with Chinese-style warships.

There are also four other No. 2 Fu Ships, and they are modified and enhanced Fu Ships. In the cabin below the deck, a gun cabin is set up, and six twelve-pound guns are installed. There is also a gun at the bow position on the deck.

There are two twenty-four-pound short guns, and four three-pound cannons are also reinforced and installed on both sides of the deck.

Although this kind of firepower is not too strong, it depends on the opponent it faces. At least in the Bohai Bay, it is definitely a super battleship.

Several warships patrolling here immediately began to rush to the waters west of Yangma Island after hearing the news, and began to gather into a ship formation in the waters west of Yangma Island.

Three Fei-type clippers were in front, and four No. 2-enhanced Fu ships were behind. A rapid whistle sounded on the ship. The sailors and soldiers on the ship rushed to their respective positions in armor, nervously operating the sails with their hands.

, follow the helmsman’s instructions and constantly adjust the sail’s wind direction.

The gunners opened the gun doors on the ship's side one after another, took off the gun jackets, and the cannons revealed their ferocious appearance, with the black muzzles pointing outside the ship's side.

All preparations for loading ammunition were completed almost in an instant. The soldiers lined up on both sides of the ship and placed their short flintlock rifles at designated positions, ready for loading.

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