On the morning of June 19, 1536, a large fleet was slowly approaching the sea near Ganyang Castle.

In the bridge of an ironclad battleship, a middle-aged man with a thin figure said to Cui He, the living king of Yama, "The big boss, now there should be only about thirty nautical miles left from Ganyang City. ”

Cui He nodded, "Fourth, send flags to the ghosts, poisonous spiders, and fire mantises, and block the military port and the civilian port of Ganyang City respectively according to the plan agreed before. ”

The person known as the fourth child is the middle-aged man who participated in the auction of the Nine Star Hotel with Cui He, his name is Hu Wei, and he is the fourth master under Cui He.

Hu Wei was originally an officer in the navy of Shuonan Town, and after falling into the grass, he soon became Cui He's confidant.

Cui He, who has a reckless personality, can become the living king of the coastal area of the Han and Tang Empires, and he is inseparable from Hu Wei's advice over the years.

Ghost Sorrow, Poisonous Spider and Fire Mantis are the other three pirates that Cui He found in order to deal with the coastal defense fleet of Ganyang City.

"Yes, big boss."

"Fourth, you said that this transaction won't be messed up, right?

The Zhou family's coastal defense fleet, after all, has an all-steel battleship and two large armored cruisers, and none of the warships on our side can compare with those three warships. ”

Hu Wei couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, and said secretly: Since you know the power of the three warships of the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet, why do you have to stand up for the Cui family?

However, Hu Wei did not say so, "Don't worry, the three of us gathered together this time, and there are three ironclad battleships, two armored cruisers, four light cruisers, six iron-ribbed wood-hulled warships and eight gunboats, as well as twenty-three armed merchant ships."

As the saying goes, ants bite elephants to death, not to mention that the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet has just received those three warships, and it has not been able to give full play to the combat effectiveness that those three warships should have. ”

Cui He nodded first, and then sighed again, "I don't know what's wrong, the closer I get to Ganyang City, the more I feel unsteady in my heart." ”

As soon as Cui He's voice fell, a pirate hurriedly walked over, "Big boss, four bosses, a large armored cruiser has been found ahead!" ”

When Cui He and Hu Wei heard this, they picked up the monocular at the same time, looked into the distance through the observation window in the bridge, and sure enough, they found a large armored cruiser.

A large armored cruiser was found in this place, which must have belonged to the battleship of the coastal defense fleet of Ganyang City.

"Fourth, what now?"

Although the Cui River crisscrossed the coast of the Han and Tang Empires for many years, it never really fought against the regular navy.

Cui He is also very clear about how many catties and taels he has, so Cui He understands that if he fights with the coastal defense fleet of Ganyang City at sea, he still has to rely on Hu Wei to command.

"Hehe, big boss, we were originally going to force the Ganyang City coastal defense fleet to go to sea and have a decisive battle with the fleets of our four families.

Now that the other party has taken the initiative to come out, of course, it is to meet it, and it is best to deal with this large armored cruiser first, but I don't think this large armored cruiser may dare to fight. ”

"Fourth, don't forget to capture as much as possible, if you can snatch the three warships of the Zhou family, the entire coastal area of the Han and Tang Empires will be left to us in the future!"

The armored cruiser that appeared in the distance was the Anhai of the coastal defense fleet.

In the bridge of the Anhai, the captain Wang Xuewen put down the telescope in his hand and looked a little nervous.

In recent days, in order to guard against pirate attacks, two armored cruisers of the coastal defense fleet have taken turns patrolling the waters near Ganyang City.

I didn't expect that not long after the Anhai came out today, it discovered the pirate fleet, and it was a very large pirate fleet.

Wang Xuewen turned his head and said in a deep voice to the first mate beside him: "Send a report to Zhenhai immediately!" The Anhai has spotted an incoming pirate fleet!

According to preliminary observations, the pirates had at least three ironclad battleships, two armored cruisers, four light cruisers, and more than thirty other ships.

Please ask the Jinhae to instruct our ship on its next move. ”

"Yes, Captain."

Soon the first mate of the Anhai ran back, "The Zhenhai called back, telling the Anhai to immediately retreat in the direction of the military port and prepare to join the main force!" ”

Dozens of pirate ships, after discovering the Anhai, rushed up with great momentum.

After the Anhai turned around, it quickly retreated at a speed of about 16 knots, and among the dozens of pirate ships, the fastest old light cruiser had a speed of less than 16 knots.

Dozens of pirate ships chased the Anhai for more than ten kilometers, and they were getting farther and farther away from the Anhai.

However, soon a report came from the watchtower on the ironclad battleship where Cui He was located, and the lookout soldiers noticed that there were a few more wisps of soot in the direction of the military port.

After dozens of pirate ships sailed a little further, the targets that appeared in the distance gradually became clear.

"How is this possible? How could the coastal defense fleet of the Zhou family have two all-steel battleships?

Why didn't the Cui family tell us such an important thing? Hu Wei, who was holding a telescope, shouted in shock.

At this time, the Anhai had already joined up with the other four warships of the Ganyang City Coastal Defense Fleet, and directly formed a formation to meet the pirate fleet.

In addition to the all-steel battleship Zhenhai, the armored cruiser Pinghai and the light cruiser Shuguang, the last of these four warships was the Iron Fist-class all-steel battleship that Zhou Rui purchased from the Fifth Fleet of the Red Tiger Empire Navy.

This Iron Fist-class all-steel battleship was sent to the military port of Ganyang City by the Fifth Fleet of the Red Tiger Empire Navy in the middle of the night of the 15th, and was immediately named Jinghai by Zhou Rui.

The Jinghai was then hidden by the coastal defense fleet in the sea near the military port, except for the naval officers and sailors transferred to the Jinghai, the existence of the Jinghai was only known to a few people such as Zhou Rui, Song Limin, and Zhou Xiaorong.

"The big boss, two all-steel battleships, we may not be able to gnaw down." Hu Wei said hesitantly.

Cui He slowly put down the monoculars, and pretended to be relaxed: "It's nothing to have one more all-steel battleship, but this time the four of us have gathered forty-six ships."

Didn't you also say just now, the fourth child, the ants bite the elephant to death, even if I pay some price today, I will take down the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet! ”

"Big boss, I see that the all-steel battleship is very similar to the Iron Fist class of the Red Tiger Empire, if it is really the Iron Fist class, today's transaction will be a big trouble."

"Iron Fist?"

"The big boss, the Iron Fist class of the Red Tiger Empire, is the last all-steel battleship built by the Red Tiger Empire, with a full load displacement of 21,500 tons......"

After Hu Wei finished introducing the parameters of the Iron Fist-class all-steel battleship, Cui He couldn't help but gasp.

"With such a powerful all-steel battleship, how could the Red Tiger Empire sell it to the Zhou family?"

Hu Wei said with a wry smile: "The big boss, it is no longer a question of why the Red Tiger Empire sold the Iron Fist class to the Zhou family, but the sum of our forty-six ships may not be the opponent of an Iron Fist class all-steel battleship." ”

After a pause, Hu Wei continued: "The big boss, I suggest retreating immediately, leaving Qingshan in the green mountains without fear of no firewood, it is not easy for us to save these family funds."

What's more, once the war starts in this situation, I am afraid that ghosts, poisonous spiders, and fire mantis will flee from the battle. ”

Cui He raised the monocular again, looked at the five warships of the Ganyang City Coastal Defense Fleet, and then gritted his teeth and said: "Among the five warships of the Zhou family, the four strongest in combat effectiveness have just been received by the Zhou family, so this is our best chance to grab these four warships."

Fourth, send flags to the ghosts, poisonous spiders, and fire mantises, according to your previous arrangement, let the ghosts see sorrows in charge of the left wing, and the poisonous spiders and fire mantis in charge of the right wing, outflanking the Zhou family's coastal defense fleet, and we will carry the front! ”

Hu Wei wanted to say something at this time, but was stopped by Cui He raising his hand.

"Fourth, you know my temper, since I have made up my mind, I will not change it, let people send flags to ghosts, poisonous spiders, and fire mantises!"

In the bridge of another ironclad battleship, after receiving the flag from Cui He, Ghost Saw couldn't help but say angrily: "The Living Yama King is crazy, those are two all-steel battleships, and they are all big guys, plus two large armored cruisers, doesn't this make us die?" ”

A ghostly henchman immediately said: "Big boss, for a mere 800,000 silver coins, I don't think we need to fight with the Ganyang City coastal defense fleet, I think it's better for us to withdraw!" ”

Oni Jian hesitated for a moment and shook his head, "You can't just withdraw like that."

If I withdraw like this, my reputation will stink in the future. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Pass my order, our ship will pass from the left bread, but let's all drive slowly, let the Living Yama King go and touch the coastal defense fleet of Ganyang City first, and we will act when the opportunity arises."