The Pattani River brings sediment that accumulates on the outside of the estuary into a row of intermittent sandbars. Between the coastline and the sandbar is an inland sea about 5 nautical miles long and 2 nautical miles wide. The opening of the inland sea faces northwest, avoiding the northeasterly wind, and the land barrier the southwesterly wind. In addition, the Malay Peninsula is rarely hit by typhoons, so the inland sea of Pattani has also become a good anchorage for sailing ships.

The simple piers on the sandbar lit up black smoke to warn everyone that there was a strong foreign invasion.

The beacon warned the enemy early. The Changshui spread its wings and sailed to the front of the fleet.

When Chen Shouxu cut diagonally from the outside into the sandbar and the inland sea, what unfolded in his eyes was a slightly messy scene.

The sea and sky in the distance are all bright blue; On the land side, the scenery is green trees, white sand and broken waves. In order to avoid running aground on the sandbar shoals, the Changshui was still some distance from the shore. Rounding the tip of the sandbar, the Long Water plunged diagonally into the inner and outer seas.

A Malay merchant ship burned a short distance beyond the opening of the Inland Sea, and the lookout pier on the sandbar lit up black smoke that seemed to alert everyone to the invasion of foreign enemies.

Chen Shouxu walked to the bow of the boat and pulled out the binoculars. The southwesterly wind was downward, and a few junk boats pulled their sails and headed northeast. More than 20 galleys and spinnakers chased after the junk, and the formation was very scattered. Some have given up the pursuit and are hurrying to the port, while others are still in the process of turning around.

The junk ship heading north is Wang Huizhi's Natuna pirate fleet. On the other side, it is the sailor of Pattani. According to the pre-war plan, Wang Huizhi's fleet sailed at full speed downwind after the sailors of Pattani went out to fight. Try to get the sailors of Pattani out of port.

In order to intercept Wang Huizhi's headwind sailing, the Pattani people sent galleys and dhows at the same time. According to Portuguese records, the Malay boats were mostly sturdy, high-sideboard flat-bottomed boats. The ships had four masts, three or four overlapping decks, and were taller than the Clark galleon. These ships were able to resist the shelling of the Portuguese battleships for a day or two, until the Portuguese discovered the weak point of such flat-bottomed boats, the rudders. By destroying the fragile rudders, these tall and sturdy native East Indian ships will have to wait for their deaths. In the battle with the Portuguese, the original large Malay ships were quickly eliminated, and now these green and green warships, regardless of the ship type, use European rudders.

The Changshui is in the position of cutting off the sailors and the port in the U-turn. The Changshui had a speed advantage of about 1 knot over the rest of the fleet. The main fleet, led by the Raphael, was 3 nautical miles behind the Long Water. For at least a while, the Changshui will have to face the enemy forces alone with overwhelming numerical superiority.

The Changshui completed the U-turn with a crisp downwind change. The stern of the ship is facing land, the bow of the ship is facing the open sea, and the hull of the ship is crossed to block the channel.

Chen Shouxu's position is in the upper hand position of the Pattani Navy. The enemy forces who hurriedly turned the bow of the ship could only be divided into two groups, and if the schooner Shabeck wanted to return to port, they could only sail to the open sea with the wind and open enough space before changing sides and sailing into the port. This enemy detachment can not be left alone, if they do not change course, they will run headlong into the follow-up main fleet.

Another detachment of the Pattanians, a cluster of galleys, folded their sails and swooped down on the Changshui entirely by sailors. Of this group of enemy troops, five replica galliers were the core of the enemy army, and the rest were local small and medium-sized galleys. Although not as imposing as the Venetian Gallier, the Gallier, with its many oarsmen, sailed at the front of the fleet with excellent sprint ability.

On the sea about two nautical miles wide, there is only one pirate warship, the Changshui, and this target is too conspicuous. No galley will miss the target. If the galleys had chosen to bypass the bow of the Changshui from the east, they would have had a chance to return to the harbor. But the commander's flag hoisted on the Changshui seemed to be releasing taunting skills to the audience, and the Gallerie ship did not choose to make a detour and rushed straight towards the Changshui.

The Long Water was in full swing, the gun deck, the cannons on the open deck, and the roundhouse guns on the bulwark, almost every tube was spewing artillery fire outward. Galen's firepower advantage was brought into full play at this moment.

It wasn't one or two shells that hit the green-green deck, rolling from bow to stern, bringing up a mist of blood.

The galleys had a cannon in the bow and some Franc boom boom guns on the bulwarks on the sides. There were only five or six bow guns, but they had to face all the broadside guns of the Changshui. The earth-shattering roar of the 24-pounder startled the charging Calries. No one knows how many of the ship's densely packed oarsmen would have survived intact if a 24-pound shell had been rolled onto the deck.

The Galie ship invariably chose to make a detour to the east to avoid the shells fired from the side of the Changshui.

Gardner seized the opportunity and hit the lagging Galie in the queue with a powerful gun deck salvo. Facing the side of the Changshui, rows of oars were blasted into powder. The Callie ship immediately staggered and came to a halt within the effective range of the artillery. This was followed by a burst of three volleys, and although the sturdy Gallet was not mortally wounded, not many people survived. One after another, sailors and oarsmen jumped into the sea and abandoned ship, ignoring orders.

The Changshui got its first blood of the day.

The rest of the galleries went around the sides of the bow of the Long Water, avoiding the muzzles of the 24-pounder guns. Although their guns were of a relatively small caliber, the hull of the Nagasui was sturdy and did not suffer much damage. But the constant artillery made the sailors on the Long Water feel insecure.

Harris's face was blackened by the smoke, and he hurriedly climbed up to the stern and said to Chen Shouxu, "Commander, shall we adjust our position and resume the maneuver of the battleship." ”

The Long Water had now retracted most of its sails, blocking the deepest channel of Green's return to the harbor like a floating battery.

Chen Shouxu firmly rejected Harris's suggestion, "No, we are here to stay. ”

In the middle of the Long Water and the shoreline, there is a shoal, and the galleon should not want to land safely. If the ship runs aground in the shoals, the distance from land is still enough for most soldiers to have no chance of survival.

As the cannon rumbled, Harris had to raise the volume as much as he could to make it heard, "Sir, there's no one standing on the mast, and the small Moro cannonballs have smashed it into a sieve. ”

"Harris, have you forgotten how we fought in the Caribbean?"

"I haven't forgotten, sir. ”

The recent battles have been so easy that many people think that war is a relaxing trip.

Chen Shouxu put down the binoculars, "So, what is this in front of you?" ”

Harris: "Yes, I see, sir. ”

Chen Shouxu: "Back to your position, I will try to annihilate as many of their soldiers as possible at sea." ”

Harris: "Yes, sir. ”

The enemy came from all sides, and Harris's position was the bow of the ship. He and Chen Shouxu are two of them one by one, so that they can grasp the changes in the surrounding battle situation.

The smoke of gunpowder was filled, and in order to see the sea clearly, Chen Shouxu had to constantly adjust his position. When necessary, he leaned out of the bulwark. Lead bullets and iron sand hit him right next to him, and Chen Shouxu seemed to ignore it.

Although the Galie warship did not have a strong artillery installation, the hull was not weak. The follow-up small and medium-sized galleys of the Pattani also joined the siege of the Changshui. The battlefield was chaotic.

Some of the fragile parts of the battleship, such as the stern decoration and the bow beak, as well as some of the gangwales were beaten with sawdust. There was a mess of whistling and roaring everywhere. The sun was obscured by the smoke of gunpowder, and the smoke billowed and the flames rose to the sky. Solid bullets, shotguns, iron sand, arrows, nails, and other unspeakable jumbles erupted from the muzzles of the cannons and whizzed through the smoke. The God of Christians, God's other name in the enemy's army, and the names of the saints. This is relatively common. During the battle, Chen Shouxu also faintly heard the sound of praying to the Heavenly Concubine.

The Long Water is as determined as a fortress on the sea, holding its position. Although the galleys fought very tenaciously, they did inflict horrific damage on the Changshui. The lack of bulwarks and tightly wrapped canvas protection on the Long Water is no longer tenable. Several warriors on the mast lookout were loaded onto the deck.

There were about some skilled archers on the galleys, and they shot with great accuracy. After winning the battle on the high mast, they tilted their feathered arrows downward. The gunners were completely unprotected and looked vulnerable under bows and arrows. Deck crews in non-combat positions had to dodge the arrows behind a wooden barrier. These arrows are inserted between the masts and look like the spines of a porcupine. Many people suffered arrow wounds.

Chen Shouxu pulled the captain of the Marine Corps on board, Carl. Langemann. "Carl, this can't go on. You go and assemble the Marines and take down those birds. ”

Karl drew his command knife and shouted. With Karl as the pacesetter, two platoons of marines took positions on the deck. During the procession, some soldiers were shot and fell. The rest of the soldiers were stunned, and at Karl's order, the first platoon knelt on the ground, and the second platoon stood, raising their guns towards the lookout of the enemy ship.

"Fire." Karl slashed the command knife.

Even against the background of deafening artillery sounds, a volley of platoon guns is a strong sound that cannot be ignored. The undisguised Marines showed their formidable presence to everyone with a platoon of guns. Load, aim, fire, back and reload. Cycle. This is a line on the deck of a battleship to shoot.

The fall of a comrade from an arrow did not affect the rhythm of the Marines who had already been organized, even if it was Carl Langemann who was hit by the arrow. The commander of the Marine Corps had fallen during the third round of firing and the first platoon commander automatically took over the command. Platoon gun salvos continued.

Gradually, the arrows thinned out until they finally disappeared.

The sailors let out a cheer for the whole day. On battleships, the marines had a rank lower than the sailors and were often the object of bullying. This time, the Marines defended their honor.

After the battle broke out, Chen Shouxu went down the stern for the first time. He walked among the wounded of the Marines, most of whom were not fatally wounded. Karl Langemann was shot three arrows and carried to the lower deck by sailors. He's strong and should be fine.

The Long Water continued to blast out a sea of shelling that would have been overwhelming for Green, and the continuous fire even shook the planks of the ship's hull. Some of the seams began to loosen, and although the hemp wool automatically blocked most of the openings as usual, the battleship inevitably began to seep water.

When the carpenter suggested to Chen Shouxu to slow down the pace of the shelling, Chen Shouxu asked, "Do you need to pump water?" ”

"Not yet."

"That's fine, let's fight like this."

"But Commander, this will make the ship need to be overhauled soon."

"That was later. We'll overhaul the ship then. ”

In the galleys of Pattani, the oarsmen were mostly slaves locked in the oars. Although the green-green soldiers desperately whipped the slaves with their whips, forcing them to speed up their rowing. But the headwind and the current still slowed down their travel, and in some positions, they were still easy targets.

Some of the brave galleys might have judged that they would be able to rush before the next round of gunfire, but the speed with which the Changshui gunners loaded cost them their lives.

With the destruction of the ship's hull by the shelling, more and more slaves regained their freedom hand and foot. Not all of these slaves were willing to give their lives for a certain god, and more and more were jumping into the sea. This, in turn, further deteriorated the speed of the ship.

Three heavy artillery shells hit a medium-sized galleys, shattering the ship to pieces. The crew was thrown into the water, and the boat following behind could not get around the wreckage of the ship in front, and two more shells flew by, leaving a mess behind.

The battle was fierce and short, and the green-green fleet retreated in front of the erupting volcano. Seeing that there was no hope of avoiding Chen Shouxu's main fleet, and that they could not cross the main fleet into Pattani, the dhows on the periphery simply disbanded the fleet and fled in all directions.

The three translude sail notification ships, the Tempest, the Excellence, and the Adventure, chased after each other and named the dhows with their guns, destroying their sails. The junk fleet led by Wang Huizhi also posted up, chasing the dhows that were scurrying around under the guns of the notification ship. Although they had never practiced coordinated tactics, they gradually developed a tacit understanding and harvested the lives of the enemy everywhere.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Changshui did not face the enemy for a long time. It's just that people in it feel like every second passes very slowly.

After the main fleet forced over, and the dhows and galleys of Pattani disbanded one after another, the battle was effectively over. At first, the Green Water Division only saw the commander's flag flying high on the Changshui, and wanted to try his luck with more fights and less. When they found that they could not take it and that a new enemy was approaching, many of the ships ignored the order and shouted. The boats, which were not injured and ran early, are now about to sail into the Utabanian Sea. There are also some boats that feel that their draft is shallow enough, so they simply rush to the shoreline, but they really run back to many people.

There are still some who didn't run away, and there is naturally only one end, and they are bombarded into powder by the fleets that rushed in.

After cleaning up the remnants of the enemy, Chen Shouxu shifted his gaze to the inland sea.

The wind direction is south-southwest, and the position of the sea in the north is three compass points south-east of Changshui. The angle of wind direction is barely sufficient.

The new cruiser captain Thomas Mello applied to be the first to charge the enemy. Considering that the current condition of the Changshui is indeed a little unsightly, Chen Shouxu agreed to Thomas's application.

So, with the Changshui as the pilot ship, the fleet slowly sailed into the inland sea of Pattani. The castle of Pattani is located on the left bank of the estuary, the deepest part of the inland sea.

The black muzzles of more than 200 cannons made the people facing them tremble. Lin Tongwen provided sufficient hydrological information on inland waters, and the captains of each ship knew very well where and how deep the channel was.

In less than a meal, the fleet dumbed down the outermost battery and headed for the next target. The slowly advancing Galen fleet pressed towards the city of Pattani like a mountain peak.

It can be clearly seen from the battleship that more and more green soldiers are leaving their posts. Flee to the city, or even bypass the city and go straight away.

More than a dozen arsonist boats sailed out of the harbor. If you can cooperate with the galleys just now, in this inland sea, you may cause some trouble for the fleet. But now, Thomas Mello simply turned his hull to port sideways, met the arsonists with rows of cannonballs, and then simply reoriented the ships to avoid the flaming flares.

Having eliminated the enemy's sea power, Pattani Castle appeared to the pirates like a girl who had been stripped of her coat.

The Changshui raised the landing signal flag.