Zhao Xingde shouted in a deep voice: "Raise the sails and go to the sea." "Although merchant ships usually sail along the coast, even if they get lost in the sea for a while, they can still hold out for a while. Pirates are outnumbered, but their ships are small and often reluctant to go too far from shore, and if they get lost, they don't even have enough food and water.

A string of lanterns was raised to the ship's mast, and the three Xia merchant ships raised their full sails and headed away from the shore, leaving one pirate ship behind, waiting for the accomplices on the small boat that had been put down to re-board the ship, and the other three followed closely. Zhao Xingde once again gave the order with a lantern, and the three Xia merchant ships gradually adjusted their queues and gradually sailed in an inverted zigzag. Two smaller ones on the sides and sailed slightly faster. The ship where Zhao Xingde was in the middle, because of the largest hull, the most load, and the deepest draft, gradually fell behind.

The pirate's ship was long and light, with a shallow draft and difficult to carry heavy loads, but it was much faster than a cargo ship. Most of the old pirates can estimate the amount of cargo according to the draft of the merchant ship, and the draft of the merchant ship of Xia Kingdom hanging behind it at this moment is extremely deep, presumably it is loaded with a lot of oriental goods, and the goods loaded by the other two cargo ships are probably not as much as the latter one. These pirates all increased the frequency of their rows, the speed of the ship was extremely fast, the high bow of the ship split the water like a sharp blade, and chased closely towards the Xia Guo ship that fell behind, and the plan was that as long as the last big ship was intercepted, this trip would not be in vain.

The enemy ship was getting closer and closer, and the sergeants all looked at Zhao Dutou. Zhao Xingde's eyes were staring at the rear, secretly calculating the distance and speed of the enemy in his heart, the enemy ship was getting closer and closer, and he could almost see the hideous face of the pirate standing on the bow of the ship pulling the sail rope, Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "Drop the sail and engage the battle." The blue and red lantern was raised to the mast again.

This is a set of Zhao Xingde's pre-planned tactics. The Xia merchant ships on both sides of the ship lowered their sails together, and the oarsmen on both sides of the deck struggled to row the wooden oars upside down, and the long wooden oars made a gurgling sound, almost as if they were shortened, and the sea water on both sides of the hull was violently stirred, as if boiling. The merchant ship, which had just been sailing forward, shook violently for a while, stopped abruptly, and then, under the vigorous rowing of the oarsmen, began to quickly retreat.

Zhao Xingde's boat also lowered the sails, and the oarsmen on both sides struggled to stop the boat, and then turned to the right full rudder, the right oarsman still rowed backwards, and the left oarsman changed to row forward, so that the hull of the ship was deflected ninety degrees, and the starboard side was aimed at the chasing pirate ship. The turn was so sharp that the tall hull not only shook violently, but also tilted visibly to the right, and the sergeant on the starboard side had to hold on to the side of the ship so as not to fall into the bottomless waves.

In the shortest possible time, the three Xia ships completed the transformation from an inverted zigzag array with two fronts and one back to a concave zigzag formation with one horizontal and two backs. And the one in front also turned so that the starboard side, which was already full of crossbowmen, was aimed at the incoming enemy. After the three ships were repositioned, the hulls on both sides were almost simultaneously supported by hooks to prevent them from being rammed by the pirate ship. Bed crossbows were set up on three sides, and the sides of the ship full of crossbowmen were ready to fight, like a fierce beast, suddenly opening its bloody mouth and showing its bloodthirsty fangs.

The speed of the three pirate ships chasing after was already extremely fast, and the fleet of the Xia Kingdom suddenly changed in front, and the pirate oarsmen did not have time to reverse the rowing, and the three ships got into the zigzag encirclement of the Xia Kingdom merchant ships one by one, and the positions of the hunters and the prey suddenly changed.

In order to carry more cargo, merchant ships have tall hulls and higher sides than pirate ships on the water. From the pirates looking up from the low deck of the fast ship, the side of the Xia merchant ship seems to be a towering city wall on three sides, and behind the side of the ship, the sergeant of the Xia army bends his bow and arrows, and the sailor holds a fire hammer and a fire fold, condescendingly aimed at the pirates who are a little flustered. Behind them, Xia saber and shield bearers and sturdy sailors, each armed with sharp axes, horizontal swords, shields and other short soldiers, were waiting for battle.

Zhao Xingde looked down, and the pirates were standing up in a hurry, some brandishing short knives and shouting loudly to their accomplices, some grasping various hooks and ropes, and some even climbing directly onto the side of the Xia State ship. At this time, there was no need for extra military orders, he stretched out his bow and arrows, and said in a deep voice: "Kill!" A long arrow swooped out to the throat of a pirate, and then, from the high side of the ship, one after another, flaming oilbed crossbow arrows were nailed to the deck of the pirate ship, and the arrows rained down on the air, mixed with the roar of sailors lighting their firearms. The pirates who had no time to dodge were knocked down and shot down, and the living ones either desperately jumped to the Xia ship, hoping to offset the gap in the crossbow firearms with hand-to-hand combat, or hid in the back cabin of the ship, where the archers shot arrows upwards in embarrassment, and they were all unable to get their heads due to the suppression of the Xia army.

"Howl your mother!" Jian Cheng shot an arrow out and shot a pirate in the left eye. Another pirate climbed up from the side of the ship, Jian Cheng drew his horizontal knife, and cut off ten fingers with one sword, and the pirate screamed and fell into the sea. A pirate with a short knife in his mouth, pulling a cable in both hands and swinging in the air, before he landed, an arrow pierced his throat, fell heavily on the deck and saw that he was not alive, Zhao Xingde bent his bow and arrows again. Chen Yongqi held a generous shield beside him. A pirate just jumped on the deck, Liu Zheng scolded his mother, kicked him on the stomach with one leg, didn't wait for him to get up, hurried two steps, stepped on his chest, grabbed the iron shield with his right hand, and fell to the ground with a bang, and the horizontal knife in his left hand was inserted down, nailing the desperately struggling pirate to the deck. In the broadside battle, the deck is extremely narrow, usually one-on-one or one-on-two, and the amazing martial arts of the sergeants of the Chengying Battalion are fully revealed. The pirates thought that there was a group of brave sailors on deck, but they were surprised by a group of murderous patrol yakshas.

The remnants of the pirate ship who remained on the pirate ship saw that the situation was not good, and wanted to turn the rudder and escape, but it was too late. Just when the side was fighting, the sailors under the deck of the Xia State ship changed to short oars, turned the hull slightly, and the two Xia Kingdom merchant ships on the side moved closer to the middle, and actually surrounded the three smaller pirate ships in the middle, which were blocked by the long hook of the Xia State ship, and they could not advance or retreat. The seabed crossbow of the Xia Kingdom continued to fire fire oil crossbow arrows, and in a short time, the pirate ship was on fire, and the sergeants continued to shoot arrows to kill those pirates who dared to put out the fire. The pirates had to jump into the sea to escape, and Sergeant Ming Hongdu took advantage of the light of the fire to shoot the pirates who were fluttering in the water without mercy, and red blood flowers bloomed in the black water. In fact, this place is far from the coast, and even if you don't shoot arrows, it will be difficult for pirates to swim back to shore.

The surviving pirates begged for mercy in a variety of languages, including the Great Eater, Turkic, Rus', Greek, and Latin, and many took off their white clothes and waved them desperately. In this battle, Zhao Xingde commanded Ming Hongdu to outnumber, beheaded more than 70 levels, and captured more than 50 prisoners. The sergeants who had won the bloody battle were extremely excited, and Jian Cheng, Du Fujiao, Liu Zheng and others slammed the hilt of their knives on the side of the ship rhythmically, shouting: "Long live Daxia!" "Long live Great Xia!" Zhao Xingde was also infected by the atmosphere, raised his sword, and shouted, "Long live Daxia!" The sergeants gathered him around him in the middle and shouted together, and the whistling sound was wave after wave, and it lingered on the surface of the sea for a long time. On the sampan tied to the stern, dozens of pirates were pale as dead men.

On the way back, he met the fourth pirate ship, and saw that there was only a Xia merchant ship, so he knew that his accomplices had missed, and immediately raised the sails and shook the wooden oars, and fled. This group of pirates of hundreds of people has been robbing merchant ships in this area for several years, and the wealth they have accumulated is really a lot, and it has become the spoils of war in Minghongdu. The head and the captives were handed over to the court of the Lumei Kingdom to receive another reward. According to the rules of the Chengying Battalion, thirty percent of the property was left for the families of the fallen sergeants and the robes of the seriously injured and retired. The rest is divided into ten parts, the centurion gets one percent, the ten masters get two percent, and the remaining seventy percent of the cost should be divided according to the size of the merit, but no one can tell how many kills in the melee, and in the end it is divided evenly. After returning to Lumei, Zhao Xingde privately added his success to the families of the fallen sergeants, just to avoid trouble, and no one in the battalion knew about it.

After returning to the barracks, the attentive Theodore was sent away, and Zhao Xingde opened the package sent from home, which contained three pieces of clothing. A robe, a big coat, and a jacket are all very thick, and they must be very warm on the body. The fine and dense stitches are all sewn by Li Ruoxue. It takes more than half a year to send it from Dunhuang to here. The inconspicuous part is embroidered with a cut of red plum, which is made of gold thread to outline the blood stains that pierce the fingers. There is a letterhead in the clothes, the fragrance is refreshing, and the handwriting on the plain paper comes into view, or parting, or proud, Li Ruoxue's life is like a clear stream at a glance, and occasionally a small word expresses the parting, and the resentful and coquettish eyes are like in front of him, which makes Zhao Xingde ashamed, and said secretly: "This military service is completed, even if it is a voluntary retirement, I have to leave more time to accompany Ruoxue." ”

After writing the letter to Ruoxue, it was late at night. There was a lot of laughter outside the barracks. The military camp of the Praetorian Guard where the Chengying Battalion is stationed is next to the palace of the Lumei Kingdom, and there are countless mansions of dignitaries and magnates around it, there is no curfew in the Lumei Country, the rich and noble people feast and drink, often all night long, not drunk or happy, Chen Xizhai once took Zhao Xingde to see it several times, which was arrogant and extravagant. Yizhi is far better than the Central Plains.

The nobles of Lumei even have an ancestral secret medicine to induce vomiting, every time after eating Haise, take a little, go to a remote place to vomit the contents of the stomach, not nauseous and uncomfortable, rinse your mouth with fine wine and spices, and continue to feast and drink as if nothing happened. For many nobles of Lumei, the afternoon is the time to freshen up in the morning, the night is the real beginning of the day, and the late night is the time when the banquet atmosphere is the most enthusiastic. The Lumei people also had the misconception that wine was less likely to stink than water, and therefore more suitable for the nobility. There are always drunks screaming and screaming in the streets.

Over the past year or so, in addition to going out to fight, Zhao Xingde has been understanding the national conditions and folk customs of Lumei, and has a deeper understanding of the situation in Lumei.