The fleet was still slowly moving, heading towards the north, the boss of the ship stood at one end of the cargo ship, holding a telescope, shaking and looking south, even if his dark face could well hide the change in expression, it was difficult to hide it at the moment, his wrinkles appeared obviously, forming a miniature version of the ravine, and his body exuded an indescribable solemnity. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

I saw the south of the fleet, as far as the eye could see, there was a faint group of ships coming, as many as ten large warships led the way, and there were more than 20 small boats around the left, like the 23-oars fast boats used by the Guangdong sailors, small warships specially used for rapid attacks. There are also some rushing ships, which have been converted into merchant ships.

At this moment, the ship's boss was very worried and uneasy, and while observing, he had not forgotten to give the order, hurried and nervous, and the flag flew with it, and quickly delivered the order to the other cargo ships.

"Hurry up, let all the gangs move, no one is allowed to be idle, speed up, speed up at all costs, get rid of the fleet trailing in the rear."

"Let me tell you, once the goods are robbed, even if someone goes back alive, they will not be able to escape the punishment of the gang rules, and the court will be held accountable, and in the end, it will be difficult to escape death!"

The words of the boss of the ship were like a shot in the heart, which instantly stimulated the strength of everyone on the cargo ship, and the speed of the cargo ship increased significantly, passing through the surging waves, and moving rapidly, the air was filled with a tense atmosphere, so that everyone did not dare to relax in the slightest, did not dare to be lazy, and those disguised soldiers also joined in and did their part.

Despite this, the group of ships that followed from the south was getting closer, after all, some of the ships were better than the cargo ships, and a few of them were repurposed, although not as large as the cargo ships, but they were very fast.

It seems that the group of ships in the rear felt the acceleration of the fleet, and it is more likely that they could clearly see the flags between the cargo ships to convey instructions, and the order of the ship boss had not been issued for long, and the six ships had just increased their speed one after another, and the group of ships also accelerated and chased after them.

As the group of ships approached, the captain of the ship saw more and more clearly.

I saw that at the front of the group of ships that followed, the ten largest ships were all warships, surrounded by cannons, and there were many soldiers, although their clothes were strange, but the breath on their bodies could be felt by the boss of the ship, although the distance was still far away, it could not be changed and it was obvious that only strong soldiers could have the breath.

The boss of the ship did not hesitate any longer, did not wait any longer, and did not apprehension, began to calm down, and new instructions followed, reverberating loudly on the cargo ship, and drowned out by the roaring waves, which could not be transmitted to other cargo ships, and could only rely on the flag to convey the instructions.

"Officers and soldiers, now it's your turn, stop paddling, get those cannons out quickly, and load the shells; Pick up your bird guns and get ready to take on the invading enemy! ”

At this time, the ship boss is not like a gang member, but more like a commander of an army, when the war is about to ignite, he rhythmically commands his subordinates, commands his soldiers, and responds calmly.

Perhaps, this is the ability of a man to respond to emergencies, which an experienced ship boss has. Once things can't be changed, and it's extremely critical, when life and death are at stake, you can calm down.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere changed from the tension just now to a tense state, and the smell of gunsmoke became more and more obvious, gradually diffuse, more and more intense, and the breath of death began to envelop this sea area, stimulating everyone's nerves.

No matter who it was, the members of the Green Gang or the elite soldiers of the Sailors, at this moment they were sweating down their foreheads, although some of them were caused by the weather, but most of them were caused by the tense atmosphere, and death was threatening their lives.

All the personnel were preparing, the cargo ship was still accelerating, and the group of ships in the rear began to disperse, coming strongly in a semi-encircled posture, outflanking from three directions.

As we approached, the captain had ordered his fleet to fine-tune the bow and head west, hoping that the closer it was to the shore, the more it would attract the attention of the nearby villages, or that the sailors could feel the rumbling of the impending artillery fire, and that the resulting grounding of the cargo ship would not be taken into account.

The similarity of the ship's performance, or not far apart, but the cargo ship was piled up with a large amount of grain, which greatly increased his load and seriously affected its speed.

As the atmosphere became more and more tense, not every officer and soldier on the cargo ship was nervous, although those men kept their fingers on the trigger or were ready to fire the cannon, there was a different kind of meaning that emanated from these people.

Thundered

Several shells flew and landed in the sea near the cargo ship, exploding a large area of breaking waves and rolling, causing the cargo ship to shake, and the speed suddenly decreased, and the artillery chasing after it attacked first.

Not only is the artillery ability of the rear group inadequate, but it is also intentional, and every time the shells fired at the convoy either fall not far from the cargo ship, or exceed the distance, and hit the front of the convoy.

Thundered

The captain of the ship gave the order, and the flotilla also began to return fire, firing shells without stopping. However, the cannonballs on the cargo ship only went the ordinary distance, and then came to an abrupt stop, and quickly fell, plunging headlong into the sea, and swept up in the waves that came one after another.

Even then, the cannons on the cargo ship returned fire, firing shells without stopping. Seeing this situation, the captain of the ship was stunned for a short time, he didn't expect this to be the result at all, and he began to be resentful in his heart, complaining about the stinginess of those Guangdong bigwigs, and he didn't know how to prevent it, so he actually equipped the cargo ship with such a cannon, and the range was only more than half of that of the other party.

Despair, powerlessness, and a dead heart, all kinds of negative emotions are entangled in the heart of the ship boss and filled his body. The difference in performance between cargo ships and warships, the cannons are far inferior to each other, how can they fight themselves? How do you still hold on?

At this moment, the only hope of the ship boss is to pin on external reinforcements, hoping that the sound of such thunderous cannons can attract the attention of nearby sailors, and hurry to help and relieve the siege of the fleet.

At the same time, the ship's boss was deeply puzzled and puzzled, didn't the three bigwigs in Guangdong Province know the importance of these goods? Don't you know the dangers of this trip? Even so, officials are corrupt and incompetent, and only know how to take bribes.

But what about the hall master? It shouldn't be such a low-level mistake, this is related to the future development of the Green Gang, and its status in the court, how can it be sloppy?

Then, a soldier of the sailor came up and expressed his opinion, which also solved the confusion in the heart of the captain of the ship, wondering why he was equipped with such a cannon?

"My lord, stop firing the cannon, if you continue to shoot like this, it will not be of the slightest use, not only will you not be able to attack the ship group in the rear, but it will also drag down the sailing speed of the cargo ship, and there will be no harm in all kinds, after all, our cannons are all made by the imperial court, and they are not as good as the cannons of pirates, they are all bought or robbed from foreigners, and the range is much better than ours!"

The boss of the ship suddenly realized, no wonder the sailors of the imperial court couldn't beat the pirates, not only the military discipline was lax, the personnel were not regularly trained, and they were not taken seriously, and the original cannons and warships were not as good as the pirates, so what else to talk about exterminating the pirates?

Thinking about it carefully, it is not difficult to understand why every time the imperial court has a move to exterminate pirates, it will unite the naval fleets of Portugal and Britain, and the Guangzhou government is only responsible for cleaning up the battlefield and renovating the warships.

All kinds of distracting thoughts flew by, and not long after the sailor soldier finished reporting, the order of the captain of the ship followed, and he agreed to the soldier's suggestion.

"All cargo ships stop attacking, swing their oars with all their might, speed up, try to get as close to the coast as possible, ask the sailors along the coast for help, this is our only hope of escape, these pirates are murderous, they will not leave a mouth, you don't fantasize about surrendering!"

At the sound of the order, the flags were unfurled, all the cannons on the cargo ship were extinguished, and the roar of the crew swinging the oars began to echo, and everyone burst out with all their strength, rowing without reservation, making the voyage faster, hoping to get rid of the pursuit of the pirates behind and dodge the constant cannonballs. (To be continued.) )