Chapter 958 - Large Fireship!

（o958）

[Today's second update is delivered! ] 】

Whoever can hold on to the end will be the real winner, this is what Zhang Zhun said the most. Persistence is an important condition for victory! Li Jicheng had enough reason to believe that if Zheng Chenggong did not take some other measures, he and his fleet would all be buried on the surface of the Yangtze River.

Suddenly, behind the Zheng family's fleet, there were clusters of fierce fires. These fires, and the fires of the cannon SE, are completely different. The fire of the cannon SE is flashing and fleeting, but these fires are long-lasting and enduring.

"Commander, the enemy is going to set fire to the ship."

The staff officer reminded Li Jicheng in a low voice.

On the naval side of the Tiger Ben Army, except for Li Jicheng, they all have a good understanding of the attack methods of the Zheng family's fleet. Seeing these fires, a staff officer immediately concluded that Zheng Chenggong was preparing to take a fire attack. Those that endure the fire are the burning fireboats.

"Take precautions."

"Order the Cangshan ship to attack."

Li Jicheng nodded and said calmly.

Zheng Chenggong finally came to his senses and decided to take the form of fire attack. Judging from the number of those fires, the number of fireships in the first batch should be quite a lot, and it is estimated that there are at least ten or more. If you guess correctly, it should be the best phoenix fireship in the Zheng family's fleet.

In ancient legends, when the phoenix reaches nirvana, it will turn into a flame, and then it will be reborn. Compared to the legendary dragon, the phoenix is not inferior. Zheng Zhilong used the phoenix to name his fireship, and its meaning can be imagined.

In fact, from the intelligence side, it is known that the fireships of the Zheng family's fleet are all specially made. The construction of the ship, as well as the incendiary material it carries, must be particularly particular. When the Phoenix Fireship burned, the fire was particularly violent. Ordinary warships can easily be ignited if they get close to it. In addition, the Phoenix fireship also burned for a long time, and the destructive power was particularly high.

The best way to deal with these fireships is, of course, the Cangshan ship. The size of the Phoenix fireship is very fast, and if a large warship gets close, it can only be burned. However, Cangshan ships are different. The Cangshan ships are equally light and nimble, and as long as they get close to the Phoenix Fireship, there is a way to deal with them.

Those Cangshan ships that had retreated to the vicinity of Yangzhou had all rejoined the battle, and the number added up to forty or fifty ships. Because there is no war in Bohai Bay, and the Cangshan ships have no meaning there, most of the more than 200 Cangshan ships of the Huben Navy are on the Yangtze River. Except for some that were intercepted upstream, the other Cangshan ships all participated in the battle.

After receiving the battle order, one by one the Cangshan ships passed out of the middle of the sword tooth ship with light movements, and came to the front of the sword tooth ship, ready to intercept these fireships. The most eye-catching equipment on these Cangshan ships is probably a few Popeye and specially designed flying cymbals.

Ordinary fireships are unmanned and unmanned, and after they are released, they can only go down the river and float with the waves. If anything happens in the middle, its original owner can only watch. Basically, after the fireboat is released, it is equivalent to a child that no one wants, no matter how others toss.

Zhang Zhun's method of dealing with the fire ship still comes from the allusion of burning Chibi. When I was very bored, a few people blew water, and someone inadvertently talked about how to deal with these fireboats. In fact, as long as you are prepared in advance, it is really not difficult to deal with these fireships. What's so difficult about dealing with a group of XI ships that have lost control?

The sailors of the Tiger Army, as long as they use a flying cymbal, hook the burning fireship, and then slowly drag it over, they can eliminate the hidden danger of the fireship. Under normal circumstances, it is no problem for a Cangshan ship to hook five or six fireboats. Wait for the fireboat to burn slowly on its own, and when it burns out, it will be fine.

If there are too many fireboats, you can also send someone to use iron tongs or the like to scuttle the bottom of the boat, and the river water will continue to pour in, and the fireboat will gradually sink. Of course, if you find this method too cumbersome, you can douse the fire with water, but it will take a little more time.

In general, with the Tiger Ben Army occupying the absolute main force, the fire attack of the Zheng family's fleet had little effect. Of course, the Tiger Army Navy cannot be taken lightly. In case something goes wrong, it's also bad.

Those phoenix fireships, even if they burned a hundred, were worth only a few hundred taels of silver, and if the Tiger Ben Navy lost a sword-tooth ship, it would be tens of thousands of taels of silver. A phoenix fireship of more than a dozen taels of silver, in exchange for a sword and tooth ship of tens of thousands of taels of silver, no matter how you look at it, it is the Zheng family fleet that takes advantage.

What's more, the Tiger Ben Navy is at the forefront, but a big treasure like the Dragon God Ship is worth 20,000 taels of silver! If Zheng Chenggong burns a dragon god ship, even if Li Jicheng kills Zheng Chenggong, he will definitely be scolded by Zhang Zhun after he goes back.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before fifteen or sixteen fireships sailed down the river. In order to prevent being destroyed by the artillery fire of the Tiger Army, these Phoenix fireships were very scattered. The raging fire lit up the entire river. The sun in the sky has long lost its brilliance.

The Cangshan ships of the Tiger Ben Army Navy immediately went upstream, like a group of hungry wolves coming down the mountain, rushing towards these phoenix fire ships. The distance between the two sides was about three or four hundred meters. The Phoenix Fireship that is going down the river needs at least half a xi hour to reach the position of the Tiger Ben Army Dragon God Ship. This half-hour journey is completely the world of the Cangshan boat.

"Cover!"

"Cover!"

"Cover!"

Zheng Chenggong hurriedly shouted.

Of course, he understands what these Cangshan ships of the Tiger Ben Army Navy are going to do. From the clairvoyant mirror, he could clearly see the Popeye of the Tiger Army, as well as the flying cymbals in the hands of the Popeye. Such a weapon made Zheng Chenggong feel very depressed, and felt that his strategy seemed to have been cracked again. Fools know that if all the fireships are hooked by them, the fireships will fail.

However, using the red-coated cannon against these Cangshan ships is even worse. Use the red-coated cannon to bombard the Cangshan ship, which is a real cannon to fight mosquitoes. Aside from the 1ng cannonball, it has no effect. Fighting a behemoth like the Dragon God Ship may be able to hit some, but in the face of the Cangshan Ship, no matter how clever the gunner is, there is nothing he can do.

If the three-masted gunboats were allowed to turn their sides around and fire, they would have a better chance of destroying these Cangshan ships. On the side of the three-masted gunboat, there are dozens of Franc machine guns, and if you continue to SE, you should be able to knock out some Cangshan ships.

However, the side of the three-masted gunboat turned over, and the redcoat cannon could not fire. Without the bombardment of the red-coated artillery, the artillery power of the Zheng family's fleet would have been greatly reduced. Trying to use the Franc cannon to deal with the dragon god ship is completely tickling the other party!

Besides, if the three-masted gunboat falls, there are only six or seven that can be placed at the same time. In terms of firepower, it is far inferior to the ferocious Dragon God Ship. These warships of the Tiger Army Navy are simply designed by madmen, and almost every cent of open space is used to install cannons. The Dutch's warships of the same tonnage were not as ferocious as the Tiger Navy.

Thinking about it, Zheng Chenggong feels that it is better to maintain the status quo. For the sake of these phoenix fireships, adjust the entire battle queue, and the gains outweigh the losses. As for those phoenix fireships, they had to be left to fend for themselves. It's all released, and even if he wants to manage it, he can't manage it anymore.

……

"Ready!"

"Throw!"

On the river, Hu Xibin stopped drinking in a low voice.

A popeye immediately threw the cymbal out with great force.

Next to the Cangshan boat, a fireboat is slowly going down the river. Because there are no sails, no sailors Netg, it is like a helpless child, waiting for someone to take care of it. However, on its surface, there is a raging fire, which emits a lot of heat, making people afraid to get close.

"Whew!"

After the cymbal was thrown, it fell quickly towards the fireship. It's a pity that there was no hook. The cymbal made a beautiful arc in mid-air, and then smashed deep into the river, splashing a lot of water. There was a splash of water on the raging fire, and instead of stopping, the fire burned even more violently.

"Come again!"

Hu Xibin said calmly.

At this moment, Hu Xibin seemed extraordinarily calm, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him. The rumbling sound of cannons, and the pervasive smell of gunsmoke, he couldn't feel it at all. His only task was to hook the fireship and dispose of it.

Popeye retracts the cymbal and throws it a second time. This time, the cymbal landed on top of the fireship accurately, splashing a large amount of fire. There were sparks falling on the surface of the river, and they were fleeting. Unfortunately, because of the angle, the effective part of the ship was not hooked. The cymbals slid through the fire, splashing a lot of sparks, but it couldn't stop the Phoenix Fireship from continuing to fall.

"Come again!"

Hu Xibin said calmly.

Popeye retracted the cymbal, took a deep breath, and threw it hard again. This time, the cymbal lived up to expectations and hooked somewhere on the fireship. The fireboat that went down the river was hooked up like this. The raging fire was still so fierce, but it could only burn quietly.

With the help of the other sailors, Popeye slowly retracted the cymbal and pulled the fireship over. The size of the Phoenix fireship is actually not large, and with the help of buoyancy, several sailors can pull it. Slowly, the Phoenix fireship was pulled behind the stern of the Cangshan ship, and then it was fixed.

Hu Xibin and a few other sailors immediately picked up a basin or something, scooped up a large amount of river water, and splashed it on the top of the Phoenix fireboat. Ordinary fireboats are covered with tung oil, vegetable oil, and the like. There are also kerosene (oil), but not in large quantities. This kind of fire is generally very afraid of water. As long as there is enough water, the fire will naturally be extinguished.

Sure enough, after dozens of basins of water were splashed, the fireship was completely finished. When the fire stopped, all I saw was pitch black. The tung oil and vegetable oil in it can no longer burn after soaking in water.

"Put!"

Looking at the blackened fireboat, Hu Xibin waved his hand.

Popeye let go of the cymbal, and the black fireship was let go.

This process, to describe, seems to take a long time, in fact, the whole process, that is, a matter of minutes. In just a few minutes, a Phoenix fireship was disposed of like this.

In addition to Hu Xibin, the other Cangshan ships also successfully dropped all the fire ships by 1ng. The raging fires that were originally raging were all extinguished. The number of Cangshan ships in the Tiger Ben Navy is indeed very large. Dozens of Cangshan boats are distributed on the surface of the Yangtze River, which is enough to hold all the fireboats.

Of course, on the Zheng family's fleet, there are still phoenix fireships put down. Sometimes it's several, sometimes it's a dozen, and at most, twenty ships have been released at once. However, these released fire ships were all eaten by the Cangshan ships of the Tiger Ben Army. With the lightness and flexibility of the Cangshan ship, it is indeed not difficult to deal with these fireships that are not controlled.

Under normal circumstances, fireships are specially made, which does not mean that a random fire ship can be used as a fireboat. Without enough tung oil, vegetable oil, or fire oil, the fire could not burn at all. Moreover, the bottom and hull of the fireship must also be specially made. In other words, the number of fireships in the Zheng family's fleet cannot be too much.

Sure enough, the degree to which the Zheng family fleet released fireships was far less than the degree to which the Huben Navy collected fireships. When about a hundred fireships were released, all the fireships in the Zheng family's fleet were used up.

"Sixth grandfather, let's 1ng a big boat!"

Now the effect of the Phoenix fireship is not great, and Zheng Chenggong feels depressed and unconvinced. The Cangshan ship of the Tiger Ben Army was actually equipped with such a weapon to deal with fireships, he really didn't expect it. A hundred phoenix fireships were all hooked like this, and none of them played a role, which was indeed too shocking. However, Zheng Chenggong was not willing to fail.

Fire attack has always been the strength of the Zheng family's fleet, and he will not give up this advantage easily. The current terrain is too conducive to fire attack. Since the power of the Phoenix Fireship is not enough, Zheng Chenggong is ready to make a more powerful one, at least, not to let the Cangshan Ship easily hook it. As long as the fire attack is effective, it is enough for the Tiger Ben Navy to drink a pot.

"Big ship?"

Zheng Shouyuan hesitated.

The fireboat had no effect, which made Zheng Shouyuan feel a headache. With such a favorable terrain, it is really embarrassing that it is impossible to carry out fire attacks. Zheng Shouyuan felt that it was necessary for him to improve the way of fire attack. But is it useful to have a large fireship?

Since these Cangshan ships of the Tiger Ben Navy can hook ordinary fireships, they can naturally hook large ships. Unless it's big enough to easily overturn the Cangshan ship. However, in that case, at the very least, an armed merchant ship would have to be set on fire. Igniting an armed merchant ship? It's ridiculous.

"!"

Zheng Chenggong did not hesitate at all.

Although he sometimes short-circuits his brain and can't find the most correct way at once, when his brain is clear, he is still very decisive. If he was defeated this time, the ships he brought with him would either sink to the bottom of the river or be captured by the Tiger Army. Rather than this, it is better to burn them all and let the Tiger Ben Army get nothing.

"Prepare ten armed merchant ships, and pour all the remaining fire oil, tung oil, and oil production on them! In addition, put a lot of sediment on the bottom of the boat to press the boat! ”

Zheng Chenggong shouted fiercely.

Since you're going to have a big one, let's try to make it as big as possible. Ten roaring armed merchant ships are enough for the Tiger Navy to drink a pot. Putting a large amount of sediment on the bottom of the ship can increase the weight of the armed merchant ship, even if several Cangshan ships are on the board together, they can't pull a heavy armed merchant ship.

Zheng Chenggong could almost have predicted that ten flaming armed merchant ships would break into the fleet of warships of the Tiger Ben Army Navy and ignite a skyrocketing fire. As the fire burned, the barrels of fire exploded one after another, bursting out with a deafening loud noise. After the explosion, the river was full of wolves, and there were no more warships of the Tiger Navy......

However, in order to let the ignited armed merchant ships smoothly go down the river, it is necessary to adjust the position of the three-masted gunboats in front, otherwise, the fire on the armed merchant ships will burn first to the Zheng family fleet itself. Therefore, while preparing large fireships on the one hand, Zheng Chenggong began to order the three-masted gunboats to pull away on both sides of the river, revealing the gap in the middle.

"What is Zheng Chenggong going to do?"

On the side of the Tiger Ben Army Navy, of course, the movement of the Zheng family's fleet soon appeared, and some staff officers and colleagues looked at each other and said suspiciously.

"I guess there's going to be some kind of moth."

There was a cautious answer from the staff officer.

Li Jicheng held the clairvoyant mirror and carefully looked at the movements of the Zheng family's fleet. The Zheng family's fleet was preparing to turn armed merchant ships into fireships in the back, but Li Jicheng did not see it for the time being. He estimated that Zheng Chenggong was preparing to release the ship with ramming angles and the like.

For the sake of safety, Li Jicheng decided to remove a saber ship in the middle, and also empty the Jiangxin channel of the Yangtze River. In the unlikely event that an enemy ship with a ramming angle crashes down from the upstream, it is also possible to clear the channel in the middle of the river and let the opponent pass.

"Knock knock!"

"Knock knock!"

"Knock knock!"

The warships on both sides continued to fire their guns, and the shelling was very fierce.

However, the attention of the commanders on both sides is no longer on the shelling. Zheng Chenggong is concerned about whether the ten large fireships can achieve the purpose of burning the company camp. Li Jicheng is concerned about what the hell the opponent is doing.

Suddenly, Li Jicheng saw the faintly beating fire behind the Zheng family's fleet from the clairvoyant mirror. At first, the firelight was still a little faint, like an ordinary phoenix fireship, but soon, the firelight immediately turned into a sky-high fire, lighting up half of the sky. Obviously, this is an unprecedentedly large fireship.

"!"

Li Jicheng quietly scolded in his heart.