On 19 March, after a two-day voyage, Zhang Han led a fleet from Haizhou to Ningbo. This time, it's not just two lucky ships, but except for one that is still being renovated, the other seven lucky ships have all been opened. However, only three of them were well-maintained and converted into combat ships, and the other four were transports.

The transports were equipped with only one bow gun and one trebuchet on each side for defense, and the vacated deck was occupied by a chain of ships, which were supported by shelves, and each position could hold two of them. Each ship could carry eight serial boats, and the serial boats were also changed to use wheel pulp to paddle, four sailors operated two pairs of wheel paddle, and at the bow of the ship, two hundred catties of explosives could be placed, enough to blow out a large hole in the diameter of seven or eight feet for the enemy ship.

On each side of the upper deck, a hanger is installed to retract the serial ship. The hanger was made of stout wood, with a six-foot top protruding from the ship's side, and a block of pulleys on top of it, so that three men could easily lift the chain of ships carrying sailors and explosives. In order to prevent the chain ship from spinning in the air or colliding with the hull, on each deck, there are people holding bamboo poles from the portholes and holding the chain boats against them until they enter the water.

In the lower deck, in addition to the power plant of the wheel pulp, it was also loaded with food, fresh water, explosives, gunpowder projectiles, fire pots and other materials to provide material support for the entire fleet. They sailed during the day and docked at night, and there was no shortage of fruits and vegetables, but in order to prepare well for this voyage and battle, they still filled the transport ship with water, grain and vegetables. Their goal is to wipe out the pirates on the islands such as Dongji Island, and they don't know how long the battle and pursuit will take, so it doesn't hurt to be well-prepared.

Their mission was to completely wipe out the water forces of the Haikou, and there was already a contingent of 1,000 men on standby in Ningbo, and more than 80 large fishing boats had been recruited to transport soldiers for landing operations. Fortunately, Dongji Island is not far away, and it can be transported by fishing boats, and when they carry out longer transportation missions in the future, their own fleet needs to be able to carry out the transportation of soldiers and equipment. Of course, this requires more and larger ships.

Early in the morning of the third day, the fleet sailed towards Dongji Island under the guidance of the guide. With the northwest wind, you don't need to start the wheel pulp, and you can sail eastward smoothly.

Around the end of the day, the lookout on the mast spotted the pirates' fleet on the north side of the fleet, and it seemed that the pirates had received the news and were waiting at sea for a long time.

When he got closer, Zhang Han watched through a telescope and found that the ten big ships of the pirates were gathered together, and there were many small boats around. He sneered: "It seems that the intelligence is correct, the pirates still have the upper hand and are ready to take on the side in close combat." ”

He then ordered: "Let the convoy go south, distance itself from the main battle fleet, and wait for instructions to release small boats." The main fleet lowered its sails and waited in place to see if it could lure the fleet of the pirates over. Get the wheel slurry ready and ready to start. The artillery is in position, the musketeers are ready. Pay attention to the use of bullets, and iron bullets are not allowed without orders. ”

The subordinates immediately went to give the order, and asked the standard-bearer in charge of liaison to pass on the order, and the ships followed the order and immediately began to act.

But Luo Hyun Miao and the others were confused, they didn't expect that this official army sailor would act like this. They were still more than ten miles apart, and part of the official fleet fled first, and the remaining ships actually lowered their sails and surrendered.

"Boss Luo," one of his subordinates asked puzzledly, "has our prestige reached such a point?" The sailors of the official army came all the way to surrender to us? ”

Luo Xunmiao frowned, thought for a long time, and then ordered: "Lao Hong, your boat will go up and have a look first." It would be better if they were here to surrender. If there is fraud in it, let's go over and fight. ”

Lao Hong hasn't answered yet, but the other is a suggestion: "Boss Luo, this is not appropriate." They have three boats, and it is too dangerous for Lao Hong to go over. If you want me to say, no matter whether he calculates or not, let's all rely on the past, even if the officials and soldiers are cheating, they can't beat us, and they have to surrender if they don't surrender. ”

Luo Xunmiao still hesitated, because he saw that the fleet of officers and soldiers going south did not escape, but stopped after walking a distance, obviously picking up the three boats left behind.

He was still thinking about countermeasures, but these people under him were impatient and asked one after another. Those who are anxious are already preparing to return to the ship by themselves, ready to take the lead in attacking the officers and soldiers.

Luo Miaohyun also has no choice, these subordinates are all guys with tendons, otherwise they wouldn't be pure pirates. So he quieted his men and ordered: "In this way, let the small boats go first, and force the four boats of the officers and soldiers away." Let's not be greedy, let's take down these three ships with lowered sails first. Let's go over with ten big boats, there shouldn't be any accidents, what do you say? ”

The subordinates did not hesitate and immediately agreed. All they cared about was the stabbing during the loot, and not much else.

After a while, the surrounding boats received orders, some hoisted their sails, some rocked, and some rowed, and began to sail in groups of three or five towards the south. Some of their ships were loaded with sulfur firewood and grass for fire, and some were carrying soldiers with bows, arrows, knives and guns.

At this time, it was Zhang Han's turn to be embarrassed. There were forty or fifty of these boats, and it would be dangerous for them to come close. They didn't smear mud on the hull of the ship when they left the port this time, because they didn't expect that the pirates would have so many small boats.

Zhang Han hesitated for a while, thinking about whether to retreat back to Ningbo first, and then come to exterminate these pirates after making preparations for fire prevention. However, he immediately rejected this idea, this was the first battle he led the fleet, and if he went back in such a gloomy manner, I am afraid it would be difficult to explain it to the imperial court. This is just a group of small pirates, and there is Zheng Zhilong, who is even more amazing, if he doesn't perform well this time, the future will not be good.

He immediately ordered: "Inform the convoy and take care to hide from the enemy's arson boats." The main battle fleet immediately set sail, holding the enemy's small fleet and destroying as much as possible. The trebuchet is ready to launch bombs, firing at maximum speed. ”

The ammunition men of the Frankie cannon loaded the sub-guns with shotguns, while the soldiers in the warehouse on the second deck had boxes of ammunition ready to deliver to the deck at any time. In the power compartment, the sailors connected the turntable to the wheel pulp with gears, and began to pull the crankshaft on their seats to the beat of the drum. At the junction of the axle and the side of the ship, there is always a sailor with a lubricating grease bag, as long as he hears the sound of the wheel shaft turning jerky, he will squeeze a little grease on the wheel axle, so that the wheel pulp can always rotate without hindrance.

As the sailors in the power compartment turned the crankshaft, the wheel pulp began to rotate slowly, and the battleship, which still had not raised its sails, also slowly moved.