"Gorou, don't worry, as long as I can go back alive, these two children will definitely be taken care of properly, and I will prepare a rich dowry for the girl, and as for the boy, I will treat it as my own younger brother!"

"Then please!" Goto Goro knelt down and kowtowed to Zheng Cai, got up and walked towards the Goto team. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info looked at the back of his subordinates leaving, Zheng Cai couldn't help but burst into tears, he turned his head to wipe his tears, and said loudly: "Each team will set off in order!" ”

"Tsk!" On the high ground, Du Gu let out a disdainful exclamation: "I can't imagine that this Zheng Cai still knows a little bit of the art of war!" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Lin Heshui asked with some doubts, although he had also experienced several major battles, he still didn't know how to observe the situation on the battlefield, and how to analyze the hidden information behind some seemingly inconspicuous details. And for an old soldier like Du Gu, these are like writing on a big white paper, and only a very few geniuses can quickly cross this chasm and jump from ordinary people to become the main general of an army. At this time, Du Gu was in a very good mood, and knew that Lin Heshui had made a lot of contributions in this overcome, and the future was immeasurable, so he explained with a smile: "Mr. Lin, have you seen the big flag with a horse spoon embroidered on it?" ”

"Horse spoon? General Du, are you talking about the big banner at the back of the enemy army? Lin Heshui looked in the direction of Du Gu's finger, and sure enough, he saw that the big flag embroidered with the horse spoon was at the end of the enemy army, and the other teams were rushing around, but the horse spoon flag was not moving.

"Yes, that's it!" Du Gu stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Mr. Lin, that horse spoon flag is the banner of the previous team of Japanese soldiers, among the group of thieves, this team of Japanese soldiers is the most daring to fight, I originally thought that Zheng Cai would keep this team of Japanese soldiers by his side, and he could protect himself to escape in danger, but I didn't expect this guy to leave it behind and break it, but I underestimated him!" ”

"I see!" Lin Heshui also understood the reasoning after the elite soldiers were broken, and he nodded: "Then how should we deal with it now?" ”

"Feed the horses, eat dry food, rest!"

"Feed the horses, eat dry food, rest?" Lin Heshui was stunned when he heard this: "Just watching them escape?" ”

"Don't worry, they can't run!" Du Gu jumped off his horse, walked to the high ground, untied his trouser belt and urinated while explaining to Lin Heshui: "They are all infantry, as long as they send out more than a dozen horsemen to decorate them, even if the thieves are released to go for a long time, they will not be able to escape, and after feeding the horses and people, it will be too late to chase after them!" There's another benefit to doing this! ”

"What's the benefit?"

"The thieves must have been very nervous when they first retreated, beware of us coming from behind, trying to get back to the ship as quickly as possible. But they can't run like this, and when they get tired and find that we haven't caught up, they will relax, and then we will kill them by surprise! Du Gu, who finished urinating, tied his pants and explained to Lin Heshui with a smile: "Mr. Lin, this is what I learned from our Zhentai, and the Lord Zhentai likes to play this trick the most. I don't know how many people have died on his trick, not to mention just one Zheng Cai! Speaking of this, Du Gu shouted to his soldiers on the side: "Quickly light the wolf smoke and inform Silva to attack by sea!" ”

To Du Gu's surprise, the enemy's retreat was much slower than he had imagined, and Zheng Cai had only walked out two miles away for most of the hour when they had eaten and fed his horses and rested, and at this rate, Zheng Cai would definitely not be able to return to the Longarm Cape before dark. He began to realize that his judgment was somewhat different from the facts, and he summoned the detective to ask, "Has the order of the thieves' march changed, and is their banner in the front, center, or back?" ”

"Tell your lord! The marching order of the thieves has not changed, and the handsome banner is in the back position, next to the team of Japanese soldiers behind the palace! ”

"That's a problem!" Du Gu's face became ugly, and he paced back and forth in front of Lin Heshui, muttering in a low voice: "In the back position, in the back position!" ”

"General Du! Do you mean that Zheng Cai personally broke off? ”

"Almost!" Du Gu nodded: "I originally thought he was just a fool, but now it seems that I underestimated him, and he will be a brave man in the army, as long as he is still behind, other people will not worry about being lost." It's a pity, it's a pity."

"Yes!" Lin Heshui sighed, Du Gu's two voices were a pity, but he also understood that it was not easy to lead the enemy army to this favorable environment for his own side, if he could not take the opportunity to destroy it, the situation on the battlefield would change rapidly. Although they seemed to have an advantage at the moment, the Dutch defenses in the city of Geranza were very strong, and the reinforcements from Batavia did not know when they would arrive, which was like a thorn in the heart, and as long as they did not go, they would not be at peace for a day. Only by destroying the enemy in front of them as soon as possible, Zheng Zhilong, who was shocked by Anping, did not dare to continue to meddle, and they had time to go all out to take down the Dutch in the city of Geranza and eat the fat meat of the big man.

Du Gu jumped on his war horse and ordered loudly to his own soldiers: "No matter, pass the order, pull the infantry team in the barrier over, even if you lose hundreds of lives, you can't let Zheng Cai's guy return to the long-arm cape!" ”

"The enemy cavalry is catching up again?" Goto Goro asked.

"Yes, my lord! Not only cavalry, but also infantry and big cylinders! The voice of the Japanese sentinel was a little hoarse, and in his broken sleeveless burqa****, the dried blood stains covered the pattern of a slim tree, which was the family crest of the Goto family.

Goto did not speak, and because of the injury to his crotch, he could neither walk nor ride a horse, and sat on a ride burdened by four soldiers. Goto Goro got down from the ride, looked at the surrounding terrain, and without saying a word, the sharp pain rushed from his crotch to his brain when he moved, reminding him of the taste of the battlefield. The terrain in front of you can't be arrayed, the baggage has been destroyed, except for a little dry food that the soldiers carry with them, there is nothing, the enemy general is fierce and cunning, even if it is like Shui Gong (Kuroda Takataka, also known as Kuroda Kanbei, the law name Longguang is like water Yuanqing) here, I am afraid that it will be at a loss!

The samurai quietly waited for Goto's orders, most of them were forced into exile because they could not live in Japan under the rule of the Tokugawa family, and had nothing to do with the Goto family, but after following Goto Goro for a while, they were as loyal as the retainers of the Goto family.

"There, just get to that pine hill and we'll be safe!" Goto suddenly pointed to a small hill about two miles away and said to everyone.

"Oh!" The samurai replied in unison, their voices full of enthusiasm, since His Highness Goto said so, it must be no problem, everyone thinks so. Looking at his high-morale subordinates, Goto Goro summoned his own surname and said in a low voice: "You go and tell Lord Zheng Cai immediately, let him send someone to build a barrier on that hill overgrown with pine trees first, and I will lead my team to hold on there and cover the retreat of the army!" If our team is besieged by the enemy, ignore it, just continue the march and return to the old camp as soon as possible! ”

"Yes, sir!"

"My lord, the Japanese soldiers have gone up the mountain!" The sentinel pointed to the pine hill not far away and told Du Gu, who looked in the direction of his subordinates' fingers, and saw that the group of Japanese soldiers who were responsible for the task of the rear of the palace did not continue to retreat along the footsteps of the previous team, but instead climbed a small hill on the right side of the road. He sighed a little disappointed, he had planned to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop, and it seemed that he could only hope for Silva's fleet. He jumped off his horse and ordered loudly: "Let the artillery team come forward and give those pirates a little color!" “

It was already afternoon, and the wind was chasing from the land, blowing the sails of the ship to the sound of hunting. Although the wind was not too good, the Queen Mary and Santiago were able to sail in a zigzag pattern towards the long-arm headland. Silva stood on the deck of the bow tower, with a soft blue sky above him and a grey cliff on his left that plunged almost straight into the sea. His cheeks could feel the chill of the gentle southwesterly wind, and the winged elves flew in loose formations over the heads of the fleet, sometimes in sparse rows, sometimes in groups. There are seagulls, egrets, eagles and ibises. Most of the time the birds fly very low, almost past the top of the mast of the Queen Mary, and Silva can even see the goshawk's orange eyes.

"My lord, there's a long-armed cape ahead!" The lookout pointed to a headland in front of him and shouted, the shouting pulling Silva's attention away from the birds. The locals gave the promontory a figurative name, like an arm reaching into the sea, and he carefully observed the surface of the sea for a while. God forbid, there is not a single enemy ship on the sea, presumably they are all anchored on the shore. Silva turned around and gave a loud order: "Ring the battle alarm, clear the deck, prepare for battle, and, get the fire attack ship ready!" ”

Until the second half of the eighteenth century, fire attack ships were a common tactic in naval warfare, especially in the offshore areas where the sea was narrow and there were many island bays. The reason is simple, shells with internal charges such as shrapnel and grenade are usually only used in short-barreled, low-bore pressure guns such as mortars, such as mortars. The short barrel and low bore pressure mean that the firing range is short and the trajectory is high, which is contradictory to the requirements of naval warfare that need to bombard point targets in motion. Therefore, until the end of the eighteenth century, and even the middle of the nineteenth century, the main role in naval warfare was the singing of solid shells, in other words, the main way to sink an enemy ship was to use iron balls ranging from twelve to forty-eight pounds to smash several holes in the waterline of the enemy ship, obviously this was not an easy task, and the oak planks several inches thick, supported by ribs, were enough to protect against guns under twelve pounds, and even if a few shots were hit, it was only a hole the size of a head, which was nothing more than an itch for a large ship that already had watertight compartments. Sailors can pump water and fill holes at the same time. Therefore, instead of bombarding the waterline, the navy at that time usually focused on bombarding the enemy's middle deck and stern to eliminate the enemy's personnel, or to count on hitting the powder magazine under the stern. No matter how strong a ship is, as long as it is hit, it will basically stop eating, and it can disrupt the enemy's formation, which is extremely important for the era of sail warships that are fighting against each other.

At the sound of Silva's order, the Queen Mary was busy, the sailors pushed out the cannons, opened the gun windows, and prepared the gunpowder shells, while the soldiers on the deck cleared all unnecessary things, sprinkled sand to avoid bleeding and slipped, lowered the extra sails, and put the ropes away, while a few sailors carried into the stern tin buckets, saws, cotton, and white cloths for boiling water, which were for the wounded, and some unlucky ones lost their hands and feet in every naval battle.

The "Queen Mary" rode the wind and glided briskly over the end of the long-arm headland, and a terrible horn was heard, and it was evident that the lookout post had already spotted the raider, but it was too late, and there was not enough time left for a ship to anchor and raise its sails. Silva saw that the shore was neatly filled with boats of various sizes, like a herd of grazing sheep, and four fire attack ships were rushing towards them, less than three hundred paces from the moored ships, and the light of the fire rose from the bow of the ships. The sailors on board desperately fired at the attacking ship in an attempt to stop them, but it was too late, the dice had already been dropped, and the outcome was decided! Silva said to herself.

Rumble!

With a loud bang, the first fire attack ship hit the target, it was a twenty-two meter-long lucky ship, the huge impact force made the hull shake violently, and lifted more than a dozen people on the bow deck into the sea, almost at the same time, the flames also jumped over, the tongue of fire seemed to have life, everywhere ****, cables, sails, and decks everything burned, and the sailors let out a desperate cry and jumped into the sea. Soon, the water was filled with human heads, barrels, and other floating debris, and the air was filled with the smell of scorching and panic.

Silva did not rush his "Queen Mary" into the bay, and the fire attack tactics were a double-edged sword, and the flames did not know how to distinguish between friend and foe. He simply turned his ships sideways and shelled the enemy ships that tried to escape, while he also shot the enemy's camps on the shore and the ships on the inner side of the bay with that terrible rocket, and as time went on, the flames became larger and larger, and the sea and land gradually became one.

Click!

The shells hit the masson pine, breaking the thigh-thick trunk and toppling the dense canopy with a tooth-aching cracking sound. Koshi pounced and pushed Goto Goro aside, the toppled canopy almost grazing his right arm and smashing to the ground, splashing up a cloud of dust. (To be continued.) )