March 20, 1650, sunny, off the coast of the Bahamas.

Li Yi held a monocular and carefully observed the galleon in front of him. The galleon was a three-masted Galen ship, and the tonnage was about 400 tons, which was a great ship in the trade with the New World. You must know that the average tonnage of the fifty or sixty ships of the famous Spanish treasure fleet is only about 400 tons, and the tonnage of ships from other countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, and France to the colonies is generally only two or three hundred tons. This shows how rare it is for this three-masted galleon to appear in this area.

The ship was flying the flag of the Kingdom of France, had a deep draft, and it looked like the cargo hold was stuffed with cargo. In terms of armament, it is also of the general standard of ocean-going merchant ships, and a total of 12 guns of various calibers are equipped. I can't see the number of crew members, but it shouldn't be too much, after all, it's a merchant ship, and you should pay attention to the cost control, there will probably be forty or fifty people.

What a good fat sheep! Li Yi put down the binoculars, looked back at the row of officers standing behind him with their heads held high, his face was suddenly full of smiles, only to see him wave his hand, and said in a relaxed tone: "French big fat sheep, full of goods from the Old Continent, do it, brothers!" Do you still use me to urge you? ”

The people who heard the order immediately responded with a bang, and then scattered to their respective areas of responsibility to begin commanding. The sailor roared loudly to adjust the sail boom, the chief engineer went into the bottom compartment to inform the stoker to start raising the temperature of the furnace, the chief gunner instructed the gunners to tear open the gun jackets, and the chief sailor stared at the ship in front of him with wide eyes and began to adjust the course. The officers and men of the army who accompanied the ship also silently picked up their muskets and began to prepare for the loading charge. After a while, the fight will start. They will be an important force to take over enemy ships.

These Army combatants are elite soldiers drawn from the county militia by the War Department. Because this was a privateer mission tantamount to piracy, the Executive Committee did not send regular army soldiers, but instructed the War Department to select the best militia from among the counties and form a force of more than 700 men to accompany the navy to the Caribbean. Of course, the War Department is willing to do this, after all, they are also very angry when the navy goes to sea to make a fortune, and now they send some soldiers to help, and they can get some share when they divide the spoils after the war. to subsidize the army's finances, which are now very embarrassed.

The sun is shining on the sea today, and the visibility is good. Under Li Yi's order, his ship "10 August" took the lead and slaughtered from the hidden sea area. They were followed by four auxiliary ships, a repair ship (the "Sea Engineer"), a draft water supply ship, an ammunition supply ship, and a coal carrier, which were largely unarmed or minimally armed, but were so fast that they could not be captured by the enemy in battle.

The "Fat Sheep" apparently spotted the uninvited guests, and in a panic it began to turn the bow of the ship. Prepare to run away from the wind. The strait, which is only a few tens of kilometers between Florida and Cuba, has always been an active area for pirate ships. Every ship that passes through here will be on high alert. Although the French ship had a large tonnage and a lot of artillery, it was also afraid of sailing, for fear that an eyeless pirate ship would come to raid them, so the captain of the ship immediately spotted several ships on the east coast that rushed towards them with bad intentions.

Moreover, the well-informed French captain recognized this kind of ship with a high chimney amidships: it was a ship that only the infidels had on the east coast! Remembering the high tariffs on all kinds of goods from the East Coast just a few months ago, the experienced captain immediately understood that this was not the time to be.

"God testifies that the great French never fought against the East Coast Republic alone, and that in fact the British, the Dutch, and the Portuguese Jewish merchants were the greatest victims of this high tariff policy......" The captain drew a cross on his chest, then tore off his hat and shouted to the pale sailors standing behind him: "That is the main warship of the pagans on the east coast, and we have no chance of winning by counting the number of gun windows." Now listen to me, Mr. Pires, I'm going to throw some of the bulky cargo in the hold into the sea, or we'll not try to escape. ”

Mr. Pires, who seemed to be the owner of the goods, had a painful face, but he also knew that life and death were at stake, so he nodded heavily. He also didn't think that the sneaky East Coast ships that didn't fly any flags just came to talk to them.

Large quantities of heavy iron were first thrown into the sea, then the tiles used to build houses, and then all kinds of mining machines and barrels of wine...... As heavy cargo was thrown into the sea, the speed of the ship was noticeably faster. But I don't know if it was a mistake on the part of the sailors, but the cargo in the rear of the ship was thrown a little more than in the front, which caused the stern to tilt up a little, which in turn affected the speed of the ship in the rough waves.

But what the French did was doomed to be in vain. Even without the latest high-horsepower marine steam engines, the 10 of August was still 3-4 knots faster than the heavily loaded French merchant ship, which was almost fatal at sea. Therefore, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the officers and men of the East Coast Navy, who had finished lunch in batches for a long time, finally caught up with the French merchant ship that was pouring vinegar into the sea at this time. They looked at the panicked French sailors with a playful eye, and then, on the orders of the officers, mercilessly launched a fierce bombardment of the French with their powerful 18-pounder and 24-pounder guns.

Smoke suddenly filled the sea, and the iron bullets slammed into the deck of the French ship with a scream of death, and the debris was flying, the sailors were screaming, the officers were roaring, and the French ship was in chaos. The "10th of August" was unhurried, relying on superior mobility to keep the distance to the enemy, and the ship's 24-, 18-, and 12-pounder guns poured ammunition on the enemy's hull without money. Hollow iron bombs, explosive bombs, chain bombs, red-hot bombs, etc., anything that can be fired will be smashed on the heads of the French! However, the French were unable to inflict sufficient damage on the battleships of the people on the east coast due to the heavy ship, lack of maneuverability, and the range of the artillery, so they could only be beaten passively, and they were miserable.

An hour later, three guns on the port side of the French merchant ship had been silenced, the foremast had been broken, and the canvas had been extensively damaged; Two hours later, the top and upper sails of the mid-mast caught fire under the repeated blows of the blazing bombs, and the raging fire soon burned the mast and cables, and a large mass of fiery canvas fell to the deck, covering a group of French sailors who were shooting at the east coast; Three hours later, the captain's cabin was destroyed, the backmast was broken, many places on the ship caught fire and burned, and the crew was killed and injured in a large area; Four hours later, the fear of death finally overwhelmed Yiqiē, and the rumors of the "pirates of the East Coast" who had been widely circulated among European sailors were the last straw, and a dozen French sailors killed the ship's captain and cargo owner, and then surrendered under a white flag...... This is the end of the battle!

Pei Qin from the Qingdao County Militia Brigade frowned and stepped onto the deck of the untamed enemy ship, followed by dozens of brothers, most of whom were from various towns and villages in Qingdao County, who were now holding their bayonet rifles, carefully gathering the sixteen surviving French sailors together, then collecting their weapons, escorting them to the deck, and transferring them back to the big ship in the guò dinghy. It is true that the people of the East Coast will not kill these French sailors who surrendered, but these people will not be easy either, and their final destination may be the construction site of the Transoceanic Railway, or some plantation on the island of New China, in short, it will not appear in the West again, and this also prevents the French government from obtaining the most direct evidence that the East Coasters have privately plundered their ships.

"Blouses, trousers, capes, scarves...... There were a lot of tattered textiles, some of which were linen, some of which were woollen fabrics, and not many of which were cotton. Look at this color, indigo is extracted from plants, it's so bad, it fades and fades after washing it a few times! Do you dare to sell this kind of rag goods to Peru and Mexico? People in Peru and Mexico have been fooled by these goods for more than a hundred years? Damn, I still don't want to take up space when I bring these things back......" Li Yi, who was standing on the deck of the ship, first sarcastically mocked the loot brought back by his subordinates, then sighed, and continued: "Let's take it first, go back and ship it to Xinhuaxia Island to sell, the slave owners who run the plantations there should be happy to buy some for their slaves, anyway, those indentured slaves don't need to wear any good things." ”

Unfortunately, the French ship, which had been captured by the people on the east coast, had been so badly damaged that it was slowly sinking, and it seemed that it could not be towed back to the mainland for repairs. As a result, the East Coasters also began the intense work of transporting the spoils of war. Most of the goods on board were smuggled into Peru, such as clothing, ironware, wine, mining machines, tiles, etc., most of which were discouraged by the people on the East Coast. But on the other hand, if you knock out this French smuggling ship full of goods, then there will be less such goods flowing into Peru, and the corresponding people on the east coast will be able to export more such goods to Peru, and some of them will still make money, but they will not be able to make double money at the same time.

Of course, there were not no things in the cabin that the people of the East Coast needed, such as candles, mercury (used in the mines), lead blocks, bronze and silverware with European style, etc., which the French had not yet had time to throw away, and they could always get some money back. Thinking of this, Li Yi's face finally softened a little.

"Hurry up and transfer the goods back, and then leave here and set up a toll booth elsewhere!" Looking at the sky where there was only a trace of sunset left, Li Yi smiled and commanded his subordinates, and then enjoyed his dinner. (To be continued......)