On Nanao Island at the turn of Fujian and Guangdong, it takes 50 minutes to shake the flat-bottomed mu boat from the Laiwu Ferry in Chenghai to the Changshanwei Ferry in Nanao Island. It's a relaxing island, calm and serene, like a paradise.

However, that's just what it looks like. In fact, in the historical records of all dynasties, the records about this small island are not calm and soft, but unruly. It's not an idyll, it's a sword and blood. It is a synonym for "pirates", and it is a nightmare that disturbs local officials and even the imperial court in Fujian and Guangdong from time to time, especially after the opening of the sea in Longqing, the frequent and scale of piracy activities here can be called "the most in China", and it has become a "cancer" of public security on the southeast coast.

The reason for this is the geographical environment here. The distance from the mainland is neither far nor close, which is enough to keep a "safe distance" from the government, and it is convenient to go to the mainland at any time to "invade"; The inhabitants of Nanao Island were forcibly relocated during the Hongwu period, leaving large tracts of land to cultivate; The mountains on the island are steep, which is conducive to building cities and building walls, and there are dangers to be found. On top of that, it's located at the heart of international trade, just a few nautical miles from the main Pacific shipping lane. Therefore, since the Southern Song Dynasty, it has become a place of refuge for pirates. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the pirate force in Nanao had become so large that they would "hundreds of warships and more than 10,000 people" at every turn, rampant on the sea, taxing passing ships, like a sea kingdom. Well, how does it sound a bit like the practice of pig's feet?

Wu Ping, Lin Guoxian, Xu Dong, Xu Chaoguang, Lin Feng, Lin Daoqian, and Zeng Yiyi were among the many pirate leaders who were active on Nanao Island during this period, and they all "successively appropriated Nanao as a cave house" or were active in the nearby waters. They have an intricate relationship with each other. For example, Lin Feng is Lin Guoxian's grandson, Wu Ping is Lin Guoxian's nephew, and Lin Daoqian's fleet has Lin Feng's ships, and he once inherited Wu Ping's subordinates......

And now, it has become Liu Xiang's destination.

There is no other reason, in addition to the above-mentioned reasons, there are also conditions and mass bases suitable for the normal needs of pirates.

Although because of the ban on the sea, it is not possible to go to the sea blatantly, but "no one does the loss-making business." Kill the head and rush to do it". In the face of the temptation of huge profits, few people can withstand it. Many wealthy families, officials, and relatives of officials along the coast have ties to pirates; Openly and secretly through Guò Nanao Island to trade with Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong and others in front of Zhao'an. For those who rely on maritime trade to make a living, not being able to "pass through" is undoubtedly a huge lethal to their livelihood, so they often participate in fornication activities with pirates. With the "One Leaf Boat." Send a melon. If you have a fortune, you will get a lot of profits", and some simply join the "organization". Make piracy a profession. In this case, the pirates have a "popular base", and when the officers and soldiers come to encircle and suppress the pirates, the reaction of the coastal people is that "whenever they see the movement of the officers and soldiers, they will report to the sparks, and the government will not obey the secret orders of the sentinels."

Here, Liu Xiang's gang can be replenished with personnel, materials, and equipment, repair damaged ships, and breathe a sigh of relief, so as to meet Zheng Zhilong's attack again.

Seeing Nanao Island appear in the distance where the sea and sky meet, Liu Xiang couldn't help but let out a long breath at the bow of the boat. When you get here, you're in a safe haven. Located at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, even if Zheng Zhilong has great courage, it is a very troublesome thing to fight across the border. Moreover, Liu Xiang's gang also has an inexplicable relationship with officials at all levels in Guangdong Province.

Although from the third year of Wanli (1575), a deputy chief soldier yamen was set up here, and there was a deputy general, who led 3,000 sailors to garrison here, but with the help of Brother Kong Fang, it was still a paradise for pirates.

"Spread the word, tell all the shipowners and brothers, when you get to South Australia, you will have enough meat and meat, and there are beautiful girls waiting for your brothers on the island! But, remember! Rabbits don't eat the grass next to the nest, and they are not allowed to commit flower crimes! Only prostitution! No Adultery! ”

There is no way, the relationship between the residents of Nanao Island and the various gangs at sea is too close and complicated, and it is difficult to say which girl is a distant relative of a certain ship owner, and in order not to offend the partners who make a living at sea, discipline should also be emphasized.

What's more, there is also a South Australian Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mansion on the island, although it is said that it was all made with silver in the past, if something really happens, everyone must not look good.

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

"Hey! There are so many secret doors and half-hidden doors on the island, why do we have to bother to use the strong ones?! ”

A group of people let out a rough and violent laugh, looking at the island of Nan'ao not far away getting closer and closer. Seeing the small red-headed boat that was casting its nets in the distance to catch fish in a panic, turning around and running in the direction of the island, several pirate leaders laughed even more.

"We're going to your island to replenish fresh water and repair ships. By the way, let the brothers get a good night's sleep. It's not a land bandit who doesn't give money, why are you panicking?! ”

Amid laughter, a clipper came galloping from behind to deliver the news.

"Enlighten the shipowner! Liu Jiu, the seventeenth housekeeper behind the palace, called the flag, and the Dutch fleet was also defeated! There seems to be a Zheng family's pursuit team behind, and the seventeen people asked, what to do?! ”

Hearing this urgent military situation, several leaders got up from their seats!

"This Zheng Yiguan is really desperate! He defeated the Dutch with his family?! ”

"How many boats do the Dutch still have?"

"Captains, bosses, only five of the Dutchman's nine boats remain, and all of them have suffered a lot of injuries, and from a distance, many of the sails are only half gone!"

"How far is it from us?"

"It's about two hours of waterway, right?! But, the brothers say, at the moment the Dutch gunboats are scarred and run slowly. I'm afraid it will take three to four hours to catch us! ”

"Flag! Sue the boats, pull up the full sails! Speed up! Give me all the oars you have! ”

"Captain, are we going to run faster?"

"Nope! We're going to get to Nanao Island as soon as we can, and we're going to get there. In four hours, each boat replenishes grain, vegetables, fresh meat, fruits, and water, which is enough! When the Dutch arrive, we'll sail with the wind and go damn bad! Let Zheng Zhilong, that traitor, fight with the Dutch! Let's just go to the sea of Guangdong to find an island to rest and sleep! ”

Nearly sixty pirate ships of all sizes pulled up their full sails, stretched out their long oars from both sides of the ship, and hurried towards the direction of Nanao Island.

The outlines of the houses on the island could be clearly distinguished, and the color of the roofs could be clearly seen, and suddenly, with the last fishing boat, they passed around Nan'ao Island and entered the harbor. A shadow of a white sail looms from behind the island.

Followed by. One, two, three, five, ten. The white sail shadow is like the clouds that are rolled up when a typhoon comes at sea. Quickly roll up and rise. With the appearance of the sail shadow. Gunboats appeared on the sea surface of Qingao Bay!

"! Whose ship is it?! At present, Liu Xiang is in a state of being trapped in the shallows and being played by shrimp, and he finally escaped from the siege of the official army and Zheng Zhilong. But he was blocked from going here, if it was really a tiger that didn't wield it, you should be a sick cat?

"Look at the flags! Are they those broken ships from the Yamen, the deputy chief soldier of South Australia?! ”

If those broken ships from the South Australian Deputy General Military Mansion, Liu Xiang wouldn't mind sending them all down to the sea to take a shower and sober up.

"I didn't find the banner of the Great Ming Water Division!"

Such a sound floated down from the lookout on the top of the mast.

"Ship owner! The shape of the ship is not the fortune ship of the Ming Dynasty! It's a bit like a Franc machine ship! ”

One of the leaders pointed to the distant gunboats, whose silhouettes could be faintly discerned, and his voice was somewhat distorted.

It's not a Ming sailor, and the ships are in the style of some Westerners, and no one has such a large fleet on the water in this area. Could it be that Dutch reinforcements arrived from Batavia?!

When people encounter such a situation, they are willing to think about the good side. Especially in the situation of the end of the road and the unpredictable future, it is even more willing to believe that this is a reinforcement from the Dutch.

Seeing that it was getting closer and closer to the fleet sailing out of Nan'ao Island on the opposite side, it could be seen from the shape of the ships and the black holes on both sides of the ship's side that the design style and construction technology of this fleet had a strong European style.

couldn't help but feel that a hanging stone in Liu Xiang's heart fell to the ground.

"This must be a Dutch reinforcement, if not an Englishman, or a fleet of Francos who came to explore the wind. Who doesn't care about it, Lao Tzu still goes to Nanao Island to replenish and rest first! ”

The distance between the fleets of the two sides was only a few miles, and Liu Xiang waved his hand and ordered someone to come forward to talk, trying to understand the origin and purpose of this fleet.

A clipper was about to gallop out of the fleet, and the opposite fleet was adjusting its formation and made a somewhat puzzling move.

Flags are raised on the mast!

"The President Ma officer of the Southern Chinese Army of the Ming Dynasty! Lee!"

Along with this flag, there are several other flags, and fluttering in the wind on the foremast is the flag of the naval division of the Nanzhong Army, the iron-blooded eighteen-star flag. Fluttering on the mainmast was the commander's handsome flag, and a big Li character was burning in front of Liu Xiang's eyes, burning his eyes.

"I'll cut you with a peach! You Li Shouhan, I have no grudge against you for a long time, and I have never robbed your territory, why do you treat me like this?! Did I throw your son into the well, or did I rob your aunt?! You're doing this to me?! ”

Liu Xiang's heart was full of resentment.

But is resentment, complaining, useful? The gun windows of several Fubo-class warships of the Nanzhong Army's naval division training fleet have been opened, and the guns of one door are like the fangs of a dragon, shining with penetrating light.

"I opened this mountain, I planted this tree, if you want to live from here, leave to buy road wealth. Half of the tooth collapse said no words, come and watch, the cannon is one cannon at a time, and it doesn't matter if it's buried! ”

On the bow of the Chang Sheng, the shou man sitting firmly on the tiger skin chair deliberately recited the green forest song he heard from the commentary, which made Xiao Huamei who was sitting on the side laugh more than once.

From Hong Kong to the departure, a day and night voyage to this Nan'ao Island, which is not far from Hong Kong Island and Liaoluo Bay, the naval division of the Nanzhong Army immediately went to the island to take control of this island, which is located at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, only 11.8 nautical miles from Shantou in Guangdong, 160 nautical miles from Kaohsiung in Taiwan, 97 nautical miles from Xiamen in the north, and 180 nautical miles from Hong Kong in the southwest.

Whoever has a man in his family who earns a living at sea. A piece of cloth was issued as a piece of cloth as a reassurance, "Go back and tell your brothers and nephews, don't follow Liu Xiang blindly, following my general is the right way!" ”

The people Liu Xiang saw on the boat who cast nets to catch fish were all disguised as sailors of the Nanzhong Army, in order to observe the movement on the sea and lay a good foundation for the fleet's attack.

The naval division of the Nanzhong Army, which rested for a day and a night, waited for the rabbit in the waters of Nanao Island, waiting for Liu Xiang's fleet, and the remnants of the Dutch who were chased down by Zheng Zhilong's brothers were defeated.

"I repeat the lord's military order again! The battle was dominated by capture. First, it is forbidden to use shotguns. Second, it is not allowed to use rockets, and thirdly, try to take prisoners as much as possible after falling into the water! Did you hear it all?! Before leaving the port, Chu Tianlei, the commander of the practice fleet, reprimanded several captains with a dark face.

Although I don't understand why I don't let you use rockets with naval weapons. I don't let you use a shotgun either. But the captains still nodded aggrievedly to make it clear.

"Under the attack of the huge Chinese national fleet. We have to admit that the company's operational purpose and mission this time have completely failed. We are faced with at least 150 junks. Among them were about 50 particularly large ships, which were equipped with well-performing guns and fired very fast, and I believe that there was an extremely well-trained artillery corps on the opposite side! Under the cover of these artillery fire, the soldiers were full of morale and eagerness, and at such moments, they approached us, and the speedboats Slooterdijck and speedboat Brouckerhaven were hooked by Chinese ships, which immediately ignited and burned without regard for their own lives and the lives of others. As soon as our ship was hooked by the junk, the Chinese would frantically jump into the ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat with us on the narrow deck. On two occasions I had to go into battle myself in such brutal battles, because you don't know when a weapon or a projectile of a firearm will strike you from a strange angle. In this case, only a brutal battle could push the Chinese back, but the Sikape was finally broken by the outnumbered Chinese who jumped in and was taken by them. The commander of our fleet was also taken prisoner. I had no choice but to lead the Bredam, Bleyswijck, Zeeburch, Wieringen, and Salm with all the best effort to escape from the many fireships and flee to the open sea, in pursuit of our ally Liu Xiang's fleet. and returned with him to Batavia for rest. As a result of this defeat, I think the company's maritime power has weakened to the point where it can no longer do anything off the coast of China this year. ”

Putsmann had written his diary of today's voyage almost with tears in his eyes, and he had to give an explanation to the board of directors of the East India Company for the fiasco at Liuluo Bay, and provide a logical explanation. Otherwise, it will be an extremely cruel end to face him.

Eleven ships from Batavia! Now there are only five left, all of them scarred. And the gold coins that hired Liu Xiang's group, the cannons and gunpowder that armed them, all of which were spent in the company's finances, were now in vain, how could this not make Putmans's heart twitch?

There were a few rhythmic knocks on the door, and the ship's captain and Putsmann's lieutenant appeared at the door.

After a bloody battle, the captain's beautiful uniform was torn one by one, and the bloodstains on the snow-white shirt stained the placket red, and the lieutenant of Putsmann was in a more serious situation than the captain, and his head was slashed by a shot of buckshot, which fortunately had no interest in getting to know his head deeply, and was slashed in the arm by a dying Japanese soldier, almost to the bone. For now, he could only hang his arm from a strip of cloth torn from a cotton shirt.

"Your Excellency the Governor, we have caught up with Liu Xiang's fleet, do you want them to wait for us and advance in formation together?"

The captain is still relatively professional, and he knows that this is not the time to pursue Liu Xiang and abandon his allies and flee.

"But the soldiers and officers of the rest of the ships came with banners and demanded the necessary punishment for these cowards of the sea, the scum who escaped from battle, the cowards! Otherwise, they would not have known how powerful the Dutch were! ”

The opinion of the adjutant represented the opinion of the remaining soldiers and officers of the fleet. If it weren't for Liu Xiang leading his fleet to abandon the Dutch and flee first, Zheng Zhilong would not have concentrated all the artillery and fireships to attack the Dutch's eleven ships, which was the most important reason for today's fiasco.

"Maybe it's a good idea to use Liu Laoxiang as a scapegoat." The thought crossed Putsmann's mind.

"No, you can't! We still have the pursuers of Officer Nicholas behind us, how can we fight with Liu Laoxiang's troops at this time? If we fight, we will have to wait until our troops disengage from Nikolai's troops and reach a safe place, and then we can find a way to punish Liu Laoxiang's behavior! ”

"Where are we now?"

Putsmann was reluctant to engage in such a pointless quarrel, and his concern for the moment was how to get rid of his pursuers as best he could. He knew that a little further on the land and water was the sea surface of Guangdong, and it would be difficult for Zheng Yiguan's sailors to pursue him here.

"In front is the so-called Nanao Island that the Chinese say, and now on our right side are the four islands they said Longyu, Huyu, Shiyu and Xiangyu."

Looking to the right through the window of the cabin, several small islands are inlaid in the water like black pearls in the distance, and they have reached the boundary of Fujian waters!

Putmanston heard God's hymns.

However, a terrible cry came from the top of the mast!

"Enemy attack!"

A flotilla of ships quickly attacked the flank and rear of the Dutch fleet from the direction of Brother Island on the south side!

On the bow of one of the warships at the head hung a huge three-headed tiger emblem made of gold and silver.

It was the two-masted schooner fleet led by Zhang Xiaohu, the commander of the left wing of the naval division of the Nanzhong Army, which also included four rocket ships!

The siege of Liu Xiang and Putmans is complete! (To be continued......)