Chapter 407 Artillery Preparation

The first to encounter the Dutch fleet was the left flank detachment headed by the "Qinzhou".

At this moment, the "Longsheng" with the right-wing detachment had long disappeared from view and was nowhere to be found.

According to Lin Xiao's order, the warning direction of the left and right detachments is very clear - the right wing is responsible for searching the ocean in the direction of Dagou, while the left wing is on guard in the direction of Dayuan.

To tell the truth, Lin Xiao arranged this way, in fact, he hoped that the "Longsheng" would meet the enemy, after all, it was more likely that the enemy ship would appear from the direction of the dog.

The huge "Longsheng" has a faster sailing speed, and although it does not have naval guns, it is a whole special operations squadron with rich combat experience on combat readiness duty, and they have not only machine guns but also mortars in their hands, and their firepower is very powerful.

Unexpectedly, the Dutch fleet not only did not seek a decisive battle in Penghu, nor did it appear from the right flank, but went straight down the wind from the direction of Dayuan.

In fact, the Dutch people had already come to Penghu, but by mistake, the commander of the fleet, Vanderland, almost returned with the fleet......

Five days earlier, at the request of Governor Fairburg, Vanderland had sent three gunboats and two reconnaissance ships to Dacheng, while he himself had personally led the main force of the fleet - six large gunboats and eight light reconnaissance ships to Penghu.

However, after patrolling the Penghu Ocean for several days without finding the Ming fleet, the bored Vanderland was a little resentful - the June sea, staying on a stuffy ship, the taste was not very pleasant.

"This shit!"

Looking at the empty ocean, Vanderraine cursed hatefully, "I don't know where I got the information, the ghost knows if those yellow-skinned monkeys dare to come!" ”

Suddenly, his eyes were drawn to the faint sight of several fishing boats in the distance—the boats of local fishermen.

Since their arrival, most of the fishing boats in the area have hidden, but there are still some brave fishermen who go out to sea as usual - no way, life is forced, what do you eat if you don't work?

"These cunning local monkeys won't secretly report to the other side, will they?"

Looking at those small boats, Vanderland's heart moved, "Damn, why didn't you expect to arrest them all and escort them to the big guy!" ”

Thinking of this, a sneer appeared on the corner of Vanderlaan's mouth.

Idle is idle, eagle catches chicks, let's have fun!

From here to the big man, a round trip is enough for almost a day, and it can't delay the business.

At that moment, Van der Laan gave an order, and the reconnaissance boats under his command quickly attacked, not only capturing those fishing boats, but also simply searching around Penghu Bay, and in the end, a total of dozens of fishing boats were found.

"My lord, I found a ship of hundreds of tons, and it was sneakily following us all the way,"

On the way back to the captain with the fishing boat, in the evening his lookout reported to him, "There is no flag on board, and it is suspected that it is a spy ship...... It's just that I don't know if it's a pirate or a Chinese. ”

Vanderraan was furious!

"Sure enough, there are spies! Whoever sent him, chase! ”

The strange thing is that the suspected spy ship did not run in the direction of the mainland, but took advantage of the night to escape all the way to Dayuan......

Vanderland didn't have time to think about it, so he should practice and chase after him!

More than a dozen boats scattered in formation, and under close pursuit all the way, although it was getting dark, they were never escaped by the spy ship, and when they reached the sea near Citrus Island, they were finally surrounded.

Gang jumping, arresting, interrogating...... It's a hectic mess.

At the sight of the captive, Vanderlaan became even more angry, it turned out that the ship was full of his own people - it was sent by Felburg to keep an eye on him!

The captain of the boat was also unlucky, and had been following from a distance, but as the visibility dropped, he got a little closer, and was immediately spotted......

"Shit!"

Vanderland was ashamed and hateful, "Don't scout the Chinese, but spy on your own people?" ”

"You, take them back to the general,"

It was almost dawn, and after calming down, Vanderlaan ordered, "Order, the main force of the fleet will return to Yuwen Island overnight!" ”

After the reconnaissance fleet escorted the fishing boats away, Vanderland hurriedly returned to Penghu with six large warships.

"Shit! Idiot! Be sure to settle accounts with him! ”

On the way back, Vanderraan was still chattering.

After this battle, you must extort some gunpowder and silver money from the shit of Felburg - this dog-fighting governor is always deductible, and it is impossible to say that he does not take the opportunity to knock him off......

It was almost noon, and before the main island of Penghu could be seen, Vanderland's surprise was the scene in front of him - in the field of vision, three large gunboats were slowly approaching.

"Huh?"

These three gunboats are all large ships of more than 1,000 tons, and the first one looks strange, obviously slender and narrow, and the key is - in high-speed sailing, there is no sail raised!

Vanderlaan rubbed his eyes in confusion and lifted the telescope again......

……

Here, He Shouxin, who was standing on the stern of the "Qinzhou", also held a telescope and watched the opposing fleet that appeared in front of him.

When the telescope lens saw the figures of six sailboats, He Shouxin immediately shouted to a herald beside him: "Enemy ships have been found!" Artillery ready! ”

The herald was a little nervous, and before he could run out, he leaned out of the stern and shouted to the sailors on deck: "Enemy ship! Enemy ships! ”

Although the wind and waves were not small, the "Qinzhou" was moving very smoothly, and the captain who was on the deck still clearly heard his cry and immediately shouted: "Enemy ship! Artillery ready! ”

The captain's name was Jiang Dazhuan, a native of Fujian, a former sailor, and one of the 500 piglets that Lin Xiao rescued from Temasek.

The southern accent is indistinct, and the name Jiang Dazhuo sounds like "ginger garlic", so familiar people call him nickname - "Bolt", and his sailors also call him "Captain Garlic".

This kid has always been obsessed with this, obviously Captain Jiang, okay, what do you want to call Captain Garlic!

Although He Shouxin took away the command, Captain Garlic was an aspiring officer.

As early as before he set out, he actively asked for battle, and strongly asked He Shouxin to allow him to use naval guns to engage in battle after the battle, and only after the enemy ships approached, he hoped to use missiles to protect himself.

He Shouxin agreed without even thinking about it.

After all, he is a serious captain, in terms of age, he is much younger than garlic, and sinking an enemy ship with cannons instead of missiles is not exactly a challenge for young people, but a very enjoyable thing.

Anyway, there is no danger, and Mr. Lin is not here, so of course he is happy to see the captain's invitation to fight......

With the order of Captain Garlic, the sailors of the "Qinzhou" were busy and began to make preparations.

On the "Qinzhou", a 24-pounder breech cannon was mounted on the fore and aft decks.

This was manufactured by Cao Jiawen according to Sun Lei's request, and was improved on the basis of the batch of artillery sent to Li Dingguo.

Although it was still a breech gun, it could accurately project a 24-pounder solid shell at an angle of 5 degrees to a distance of three miles, and an astonishing five miles at an angle of 10 degrees.

In addition to the firing range, the firing accuracy of this gun was also at a high level at that time, enough to engage the enemy at a distance of 1,000 meters.

Moreover, the shells fired by this cannon have a penetrating ability far beyond all kinds of artillery of the same period, and only a few hits can make a large gunboat of 1,000 tons incapacitated.

(End of chapter)