The "Cypress", which gradually increased its speed, finally distanced itself from the pursuers, and soon caught up with the "Tsubaki" in front, both accelerated, and left the battlefield to speed westward.

Under the joint treatment of Guo Zhongjun and the four of them, the three unlucky middle arrow soldiers successfully took out the crossbow arrows and saved their lives.

Zhu Daolin was speechless for a long time in the face of the dejected captain Chen Xuan and other officers, until Xu Wenjue, Zhao Huaizhong and others rushed from the bilge, Zhu Daolin said expressionlessly:

"I don't blame you, you are all recruits, the training time is too short, come back after you go back, now you are all in place, there is still a 300-kilometer voyage from Tianjin Port, cheer up."

"Yes."

Chen Xuan and the others saluted and returned to their respective posts in shame.

Xu Wenjue took the first step, grabbed Zhu Daolin and asked eagerly: "Who is the opponent?" ”

Zhu Daolin smiled bitterly: "Dengzhou rebels! After the storm last night, we accidentally stopped in the northeast corner of Dengzhou Water City, fortunately I did not order to berth and land, it is estimated that the rebels on the shore also found us when it was dark, but I didn't expect that there was a battery at the exit of Dengzhou Water City, at least 6 general guns fired at us, I wanted to shoot back a few times, but the gunpowder on the ship was damp, the lack of training of the officers and soldiers on the ship was a mess, and they had to flee if they couldn't beat them. ”

Everyone was taken aback, no one expected that the strong wind and waves would send them to Dengzhou, and they thought that they had just fought with the water bandits on which island.

"Is the loss big?" Zhao Huaizhong, whose face was full of consternation, asked.

Zhu Daolin smiled bitterly again: "Fortunately, only three people were hit by arrows, two were injured in the arm, and one was injured in the neck, so they couldn't die, and the rebel gunners also lacked training." More than a dozen shells from three rounds of shelling hit the sea, and the most dangerous one passed between the two masts, causing no damage, but scaring our officers and men into silp. ”

Everyone was overjoyed and looked at the already blurred coastline, and no one knew that the rebel leaders Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, Geng Zhongming, Mao Youshun, Mao Chengfu and others had rushed to the coastal fort. The two hundred households stationed in the water city and the forts on both sides were questioned strictly.

After listening to the stammering report of the two hundred households, Kong Youde and the others couldn't cry or laugh, launched three rounds of shelling in a row, and were shot and killed by the opponent's musket when they were pursuing, and finally couldn't figure out the identity of the other party.

Kong Youde motioned for the generals to be quiet, and asked kindly to the soaking and trembling Baihu in front of him: "Leper, think about it again, what are the two warships that suddenly appeared?" What's the flag on it? ”

Baihu, who is called a leper, slowly stopped shaking: "The ship type is rare, and the shape is a bit like a ship with a Franc machine." But the bow is not as high as the Franc machine, there are two masts, the sail is very similar to the soft sail of the Franc machine, but there are stringers on the sail, the lifting is very fast, the whole hull looks much longer than the Franc engine, and the sides of the ship are also higher than the Franc engine, and it is relatively straight...... That's right. It seems that there are quite a few artillery pieces, at least 10 more per ship. It is strange that they did not fire back at us. ”

"The other ship fired two shots, and the shells flew over our batteries and fell into the water city, without damaging the boat inside." The short and sturdy hundred households of the chief fort hurriedly added.

Kong Youde and the others were startled, and Li Jiucheng asked sternly: "At least 600 steps from the sea to Shuicheng, can the artillery on those two ships fight so far?" ”

The short and sturdy hundred households nodded again and again: "It has indeed entered the water city." At that time, he also frightened Beizhi, but fortunately, the two ships quickly escaped and did not fire again, and Beizhi felt that the opponent did not seem to have the intention of fighting, and they ran fast. Our artillery could not hit them, so we had to order the shelling to stop. ”

The hundred households called the leper have calmed down and reported an important clue again: "Their banner is very strange, square, most of them are red, the lower half is black, and there is a white dragon with teeth and claws painted in the middle, and the appearance of the sergeant on the ship is similar to ours, wearing black robes and brown and yellow leather armor, and wearing a leather helmet without red tassels, I feel weird, I really can't figure out the origin." ”

"Could it be the Franc man?" Mao Wenlong's righteous son, Mao Youshun, asked.

"Didn't you hear that they look similar?" Mao Chengfu reminded.

Everyone discussed for a while, and finally Li Jiucheng expressed his judgment: "Wasn't it windy and rainy last night?" It is estimated that the Japanese people who came to the east sea to avoid the wind and waves, or the sea heroes who were hired by the Francophone man, I have no such warships and flags in the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Could it be the person who has recently become famous in Baoshanwei and commanding Zhu Daolin?" Geng Zhongming asked.

Everyone was stunned again, Kong Youde shook his head: "According to the news reported by the imperial court, Zhu Daolin, who was born as a Taoist, has only been the commander of Baoshanwei for two months, where can he have time to build a warship so quickly?" ”

"I heard that this person is very good at business, and at a young age, his family is already rich and rich, and he has a lot of 8,000 ship-to-sea ships, and he has done a lot of business with the Francophone man, and it is estimated that because of this, he has been hated by the powerful family in Jiangnan."

"It is rumored that the two sides are fighting to the death at this time, Zhu Daolin was almost assassinated by Jiangnan Haoqiang, how can he have the strength to run to the Bohai Sea thousands of miles away at this time? If you want to do business, you have to have a fleet with you, right? ”

Most people felt that the two ships were hiding from the storm and came over by mistake, and it was only natural for them to take the lead in firing artillery, after all, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers surrounded Dengzhou City, and no one dared to be careless.

The second is that there are so many artillery on the other side of the ship but they are not used, it seems that it is a pure misunderstanding, and the other party has no malicious intentions, so Kong Youde ended the argument and issued an order to send ships out on strict alert, and the matter was over.

At 2:40 p.m. on the thirteenth day, the exhausted Zhu Daolin and his two warships arrived at the mouth of the Haihe River smoothly, and under the guidance of the Tianjin Weihaiphong patrol boat, they went upriver to Tianjin Port, and everyone on board breathed a sigh of relief.

In the evening, 30 boxy military tents were erected above the relatively deserted ferry on the north bank of Tianjin Port, and two warships with sails quietly docked on the wooden wharf on the west side of the ferry, and more than 300 officers and men were finally able to sit around the blazing bonfire and eat the hot rice and soup they had not seen for a long time.

The long temporary table in front of the main tent was full of people, and Yang Junwu, the shopkeeper of Bofu Branch, who had been waiting in Tianjin for a long time, held a bowl of hot soup, respectfully reported to Zhu Daolin, and finally suggested considerately:

"The Tongzhou branch has prepared the convoy, and it is not too late for the general to rest for one night before setting off, and the 300 cavalry led by the imperial horse supervisor Liu Gonggong has been waiting in Tongzhou for two days, and everything is easy to do when he arrives in Tongzhou, and it only takes five hours to reach the capital."

Zhu Daolin said in a low voice: "There must be a lot of people on the other side of the strait staring at us at this moment, and no one dares to say that there are no Manchu spies or rebel spies in it?" There are also the Cao Gang and the Donglin Party who have been disgraced by us, and it is difficult to guarantee that they will not be bad at this time. ”

Yang Junwu, who is over forty years old, was awe-inspiring: "What does the general mean is to set sail north overnight?" ”

Zhu Daolin nodded: "That's right!" You tell your men to cross the river, find a few carriage and horse dealers, not to mention renting a car, just ask if you can buy a good horse, turn around and come back, and then order the leader of the guard you brought to quietly ride back to Tongzhou to prepare......"

"After eating, we will sleep, set sail after midnight, and hurry away while the northeast wind is still tonight, and strive to arrive in Tongzhou tomorrow afternoon, and then unload the ship and load the goods to rush to the capital."

Yang Junwu nodded again and again: "Understood!" This is arranged in the next. ”

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PS: Happy holidays to everyone! (To be continued.) )