Beneath the blue sky is the vast expanse of the sea, and the wind pushes the white waves in a northwesterly direction. [No pop-up novel network]

A clipper cuts through the wind and sails against the wind.

Deng Pei stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the ripples on both sides of the bow, he was not the first to go to sea, but he never felt bored, because he liked the sea.

"Deng Xiaoqi, I saw Lao Bai and them, are we too close?" There was a shout from the lookout post at the top of the mast, and the stubble-faced lookout waved his hands and pointed to the east to signal to Deng Pei.

With the continuous launching of new ships, the status of flywheel warships is also decreasing, in the beginning, at least a thousand households can serve as captains on battleships, but now, most captains are just small flags.

"Ignore it, keep staring." Deng Pei said without looking back, the lookout can see, it doesn't mean that he can also see, not only because of standing tall, but also because of the clairvoyant mirror in the other party's hand, if there is no task, he also likes to stand on the mast, holding the clairvoyant mirror to take in the sea view.

"Brother Deng, what happened? Why is the vigilance getting higher and higher in recent days? It was Deng Pei's deputy Pang Dong who spoke, the two of them were fellow villagers, and they both came from a certain fishing village in Weihaiwei, and he asked with a puzzled face: "Could it be that there are still forces on the sea that can challenge Hou Ye?" ”

"I don't know the specifics, but since there is an order from above, we just have to carry it out." Deng Pei was actually quite puzzled, the improvement of vigilance had started a year ago, and the patrol system had begun even earlier, after the establishment of the port in Weihai.

However, since the beginning of the summer, the situation has changed significantly. On each voyage, there were more than five ships on patrol, not only full of men, but also equipped with sufficient ammunition, according to the rules of the navy, such a guard was beyond the scope of vigilance, but was in a state of imminent combat.

It is certain that there is an enemy, but he has no idea who the enemy is and where it comes from, after all, he is just a small flag, how can he know such a confidential matter?

"It's good that there is really an enemy, I've been practicing for so long, this is the first time I've got a chance to fight the enemy, I've wanted to try it for a long time." Pang Dong rubbed his hands excitedly and said eagerly.

Deng Pei smiled: "What's there to worry about, don't you remember what Hou Ye said?" The world is big, sooner or later, we will cross the four seas and conquer the world, and some enemies are waiting for us to clean up, so let's concentrate on the task now. ”

"It's just that I know it's in a hurry, Hou Ye said, in two years, we will go to the South Seas, and then follow the old road of the Three Treasure Eunuchs to the West, it's really a dream to think about, I heard that the West is ......."

"A ship is coming from the south!" Another shout came from the lookout, which not only interrupted Pang Dong's words, but also made everyone on board nervous.

"It's really here!" Deng Pei felt that his palms were sweating, and he couldn't tell whether he was nervous or excited, he raised his head and asked in a loud voice, "What kind of ship is coming?" How many? What is the type of ship? Is it a fortune boat? Although it has not been explicitly stated above, he vaguely knows that there are people in Jiangnan who are against the emperor and the Hou Ye, and the people there use lucky boats.

"It's not a fortune boat......" is still far away, and only the lookout hand holding the telescope can see it, and the others can only tilt their heads and hold their breath to wait for his news, but the lookout hand doesn't know what's wrong, he can't speak for a long time, Deng Pei's eyes are sharp, and he can clearly see that the lookout's lips are trembling, and the expression on his face is also a little strange.

Could it be some new strange ship? Deng Pei knew very well that there were many ship types marked on the Diandian, including the Banwu ship of North Korea, the Anzhai ship of the Wa Kingdom, the fortune ship and the Guang ship of the Ming Dynasty, and even the ship style of some Fanren, but the Hou Ye said that the Diandian was not comprehensive, and there were many other types of ship types that were not included.

“…… Lord Deng, it's a flywheel battleship! There are ten of them! The lookout finally confirmed, but as soon as he spoke, he was shocked.

"Is it from the Golden State Island? Lost allies? Pang Dong scratched his head and asked suspiciously.

"Not necessarily," Deng Pei shook his head solemnly, and suddenly raised his voice: "Look carefully, see if it's our ship." ”

"Brother Deng, what do you say? It's a flywheel battleship, and besides our Royal Navy, how can anyone have such a ship? Pang Dong's mouth opened wide, and he felt that what the captain said was really a bit clueless.

"How?" Deng Pei didn't have time to explain to him, just stared at the lookout, before Weihaiwei strengthened the guard, there was a secret order on it, saying that the enemy might also have copied the flywheel battleship, even if he saw the ship's shape, he couldn't be sure of the enemy or me.

"The ship is about the same size, and it also has the flying dragon flag, and the oars behind it are no different......" The lookout leaned half of his body outside the lookout, making people worry about whether he would fall headlong, and he reported the results of his observations while trying to observe, "only the deck is a little different, and it is covered with canvas ......"

"Isn't our ship covered with canvas to prevent corrosion when sailing?" Pang Dong muttered quietly, feeling that the lookout was making a little fuss.

I don't know if it was to refute Pang Dong, or because it was too amazing, the voice of the lookout suddenly increased: "It's different, our thunderbolt is more than one person tall, but the thing covered by the canvas only reaches the waist of the person, my lord, this is not our ship!" They spotted us and started to speed up! ”

Speaking of the back, the lookout's voice became more shrill, sounding very poignant, which made everyone's hearts tighten, and after discovering it, it accelerated, and the hostility of the other party was already manifested.

"My lord, the Flying Fish has also discovered the enemy, and I will raise the flag to ask you, is it to meet the battle, or to return?" The lookout was very conscientious, and without waiting for Deng Pei's order, he immediately conveyed the message sent by the friendly ship.

"When I think about it...... "The enemy is ten, and there are only five on my side, and they have not yet been assembled, the enemy is outnumbered, and the ship is the same shape, so it is obviously not the wisest choice to meet it." But since the above has made this arrangement, I am afraid that he also has the intention of fire reconnaissance, and Deng Pei is a little embarrassed.

Pang Dong waved his fist vigorously and shouted loudly: "Let's fight, although there are many of their ships, they are pirated after all, and they may not be able to win us, besides, they don't have thunderbolts on their ships, what are you afraid of?" ”

"Dongzi, have you forgotten what the dictionary said?" Deng Pei shouted: "Only idiots can be arrogant and arrogant for no reason, since the enemy can imitate the flywheel battleship, it will also be equipped with corresponding weapons, as the first line of defense of the Bohai Sea defense circle, what we have to do is to send the warning message back, so as not to catch our comrades off guard." ”

"Do you just want to retreat?"

The pace of naval combat was not fast, and the Asuka saw the enemy so clearly that it was expected to be telescope, but in fact the enemy ships were just a few slowly moving black dots. At such a distance, with the speed of the Asuka, the retreat was easy, but the sailors were somewhat unwilling.

"No, it has not yet been determined whether the enemy will attack on a large scale or on a small scale, and it will not be possible to withdraw like this." Deng Pei thought for a while, and then ordered: "Tell the Flying Fish to tell them to return first to warn......"

"What about us?" Pang Dong perked up and hurriedly asked.

"Let's go south to reconnoitre." Deng Pei said with a smile.

"Huh?" Pang Dong was stunned, and the sailors were also a little dumbfounded, if the opponent was a lucky ship, with the speed of the flywheel battleship, even if it was against the wind, there was hope to pass through, but now, the enemy's ship was not slow, and it was also a tailwind.

"Stupid, who said to go through? If you can't do it, let's take a detour, although I don't know if they have powerful weapons, but I can guarantee that they will definitely not see as far as us. Deng Pei smiled proudly: "Dongzi, you take people to the rear cabin, take turns, and you must maintain the highest speed." ”

"Okay, I'm the best at running." Pang Dong went with a smile.

"Big Eyes, you're standing firm on it, we're going to start soaring." Deng Pei raised his head and shouted at the lookout.

"No problem, I'll take a rope and wrap myself around the mast, let the brothers race hard, and leave me alone." The lookout lifted a roll of rope and shook it at Deng Pei.

"Then let's go up." The crew was in place, and Deng Pei himself stood in the helmsman's position, and after a loud shout as his tongue bloomed, the first duel between the flywheel battleships began.

......, "Hmph, those thieves are really cowardly, and they ran away before they could see people clearly." Boss Shi stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the two small black dots in the distance, and sneered.

The Xu brothers finally decided to join the Jiangnan Coalition Army, and this decision was unanimously supported by the top and bottom, and Boss Shi, who had personally participated in the negotiations, especially agreed with it.

The attitude of the five islands is too tough, after recruiting An, the pirates can be in the army or in business, but they must be disrupted, and they have to start from low-level officers. Is this a solicitation? It's clearly a condescending almsgiving! Rumors that this thing really can't be believed, what a generous champion Hou, hmph, is a miser at all.

Or the Jiangnan family is more generous, the boss is the chief military officer of Fujian, and a small leader like himself can also get a position such as a general. Of course, this is a later story, you can't count anything that you don't get your hands on, Boss Shi knows this truth, but the one in front of him is very good.

Not to mention the overwhelming fleet, nor the generous rewards of the adults of the family, just talking about the ship under your feet is extraordinary. The coalition forces attached great importance to the Xu pirate group, and specially allocated ten flywheel warships to them as outpost scouts, opening the way for the army while clearing the enemy's eyes by the way, and playing a role in blocking intelligence.

What I'm afraid of is nothing else, but I'm afraid that after the plague god sees that he is invincible, he simply flees inland, which will be troublesome, so the later the specific situation of the fleet is discovered, the better.

"Boss Shi, shall we chase after it?" Ruan Si leaned up and asked.

"Don't chase too quickly, keep the boat distance and catch up steadily." Boss Shi's eyes showed a fierce light, and he sneered and waved his hand, and the ten battleships were full of sails and rode the wind north.

The skirmish began.

(To be continued)