The sun shone on the sea, and the flags on the towering masts sparkled in the sea breeze. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info On the undulating sea, two fleets are facing each other, one fleet has the sun and moon flag fluttering on the mast of the Ming Dynasty, and the flag of the other fleet is embroidered with a vicious shark, and you can see that it is a pirate.

The number of ships of the officers and soldiers was smaller, nine three-masted ships and five two-masted galleons, but the number of large ships was relatively large. There were forty or fifty pirate ships, but there were only three real three-masted ships, which was not as many as the officers and soldiers. In terms of ship strength, the two sides are evenly matched. But the leaders of both sides don't see it that way.

In the eyes of the pirate leader Gu Rong, the number of his own ships is four times that of the other party, and the combined manpower on the ships is twice that of the other party, although I don't know why this official army is so bold as to dare to break into the Shengsi sea area, but with Gu Rong's understanding of the combat effectiveness of the official army, there is no big problem in taking down the other party by himself.

Of course, in Ren Siqi's view, although there are many ships on the other side, most of them are small boats, you must know that fighting at sea is basically a big ship is better than a small boat, in this empty sea, the number of ships is not too important, because you are unlikely to completely surround the other party, and the other party can divide you and annihilate you.

Now that both sides are confident of victory, a fight will be inevitable. Under Gu Rong's order, the pirate ships lined up and quickly headed towards the other party, in the process of driving, the formation gradually adjusted, the speed in the middle decreased slightly, the speed of the ships on both sides increased, and the entire formation formed an inverted character, revealing the intention of encircling the other party and annihilating it.

Under Ren Siqi's order, the Daishan fleet turned the rudder in unison, shifted direction due north, and aimed at the left flank of the pirates to meet them.

When they were two miles apart, the "Princess" and the "Exocet" turned in the direction again, facing the enemy on the side of the ship, the guns on the two ships had already faded their armor, the shells were loaded, and the long barrels pointed through the round holes to the enemy ships in the distance, there were twenty-four cannons on the Princess, and twelve on the Exocet (six of which were transferred from the Princess), and with Ren Siqi's order, the guns on one side of the two ships opened fire in turn.

A loud noise was heard, and the two ships shook violently on the sea, white smoke rose from the flash of firelight, and round cannonballs crossed the sea surface for two miles and smashed into the pirate array.

In those years, the artillery had only a simple sighting device, the hit rate was not high, and in addition to the fact that it was firing on a turbulent ship, none of the eighteen shells at a time hit. Cannonballs fell into the sea near the pirate ships, and huge splashes of water rose left and right, and many pirates turned pale with fear.

"Oops, why are the officers and soldiers so strong!" On a two-masted pirate ship, the young captain was shocked and cried out. In the hearts of many pirates, naval battles are naturally broadside battles, the two sides are close to each other, first bows and crossbows are fired together, the officers and soldiers are at most attacked with muskets, and then there is a broadside battle, who is more powerful and not afraid of death can achieve victory. In the past, everyone did not fight with the official army, although the weapons of the official army were far stronger than the others, but on the fear of death, no one has been afraid, it is by relying on the fierce and unafraid of death that everyone can cross the sea in eastern Zhejiang, so that the Ming Dynasty's naval army did not dare to enter the waters of Shengsi.

However, the firepower of the officers and soldiers on the opposite side is really strong, although no ships have been hit at the moment, but looking at the number of cannons on the other side, it is a matter of time before they are hit.

You must approach each other as soon as possible and fight on the side! This thought crossed the minds of many seasoned veteran pirates.

As the big boss of the pirates, Gu Rong certainly knew that in order to reduce losses in this situation, he had to reduce the distance with the other party as soon as possible.

"Turn the rudder and meet the pass!" With Gu Rong's order, the pirate ships also turned their rudders, and the ships on the right flank increased their speed, still outflanking the other party. However, after all, the pirates are not as rigorously trained as the Daishan Army, and when they turn the rudder, there is inevitably some chaos, some ships move fast, and some are much slower, such as the new pirate Song Liben's ships are significantly slower than other ships, and they are far behind.

After a round of artillery fire, the Exocet and Princess turned their hulls, turned the other deck at the enemy, and continued to fire.

The luck of the pirates was not so good in this round, and after a round of artillery fire, two ships were hit, one of which happened to be hit on the side of the ship's side near the sea, and the sea water poured into it from the hole that was knocked out, and the ship was tilted, and the pirates on board had to abandon the ship. The other pirate ship that was hit was in a slightly better condition, but the mast was broken by a cannonball, and the upside-down hard sail smashed straight into the bow, and the pirates on the deck were killed and wounded.

Despite the casualties, the ferocity of the pirates was aroused, and they shouted loudly and rushed towards the enemy in the face of a rain of bullets.

The Exocet and Princess continued to fire at each other, while the remaining ships were fully raised and rushed towards each other at unabated speed.

The distance of two nautical miles disappeared in a blink of an eye, and in the process the artillery fired two rounds of artillery fire, and five pirate ships were hit one after another.

By this time, the ships of both sides were already fighting together. Most of the Daishan military ships were large ships, much larger and heavier than the pirate ships, and in this kind of collision they had the upper hand unsurprisingly, and all the pirate ships that were hit by the three-masted sailing ships were thrown aside like toys blocking the way, the ship's side was broken, the sawdust flew together, and the pirates on board screamed and rolled all over the deck.

There is a pirate ship desperately approaching the Daishan ship, the pirates on the deck threw their claws to hook the opponent's deck, and planned to climb up for a broadside battle, but before they could climb up, more than a dozen black muskets poked out of the side of the opposing ship, and the "bang bang" muskets rang out, and the pirates who pulled the ropes screamed and fell into the sea.

The ships in front of them had already engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the other side, and the gunners on the "Princess" and "Exocet" were still unhurriedly cleaning the chambers and loading gunpowder shells, and one cannon after another was firing freely at their targets, the distance was already very close, almost firing at the chest of the opponent, and at this moment, the hit rate of the guns increased greatly. From time to time, pirate ships are hit by artillery, but the power of artillery in these years is limited after all, and many times a few cannons or even a dozen cannons can't sink a ship, but although the ship is not easy to sink, the pirates on the deck have suffered heavy casualties.

"Go, attack those two ships!" Gu Rong saw the damage caused by the "Princess" and the "Flying Fish" to his side, and sent more than a dozen fireships to outflank the other party. (To be continued.) )