Zhao Lie said goodbye to Zhang Keda in the waters of Shidao, and took the Weiqing to return to Shidao, while the Chaohu continued southward. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe Spring Festival is approaching, and there are still many matters waiting for him to decide in Shidao.

Fifty miles west of Xiaoliuqiu, three Portuguese merchant ships were marching northeast under the escort of three warships of the Broken Army.

These ships were loaded with raw silk, silk, porcelain and other items of the Ming Dynasty, and of course, 30 9-pound and 12-pounder cannons and 500 arquebuses, as well as more than 50 sets of full armor and half-body armor, which were also indispensable bestsellers on the ship's journey to Nagasaki and Hirado.

Huo Quai, Li Guang, and Feng Yi were the warships escorting this time, and Zhang Huan, the captain of the Huo Quai, was discussing with boatswain Ma Kui on the deck about the leakage of the lower water tank.

The most important thing on the long-distance voyage ship is not food, but fresh water, food is in short supply, there are spare fishing nets on board, and they are really hungry, but without fresh water, it will kill people, originally this matter only needs to be discussed by the first mate Zhao Liang and Ma Kui, but Zhao Liang began to have a fever today and has been isolated in his cabin, so at this time, it can only be discussed by Zhang Huan and Ma Kui.

"Captain, my subordinates went to the four water tanks to take a look, only one of the water tanks began to seep water, and the subordinates have asked the sailors and armor to unload the water in the water tanks, and there is no problem with the remaining three water tanks, and they can hold on to this escort." Ma Kui Dao, who is in his thirties.

"Tsk," Zhang Huan had a headache, the water in the remaining three tanks was barely enough, but there could be no more mistakes, and it was always unsettling to have no spare baggage on the vast sea. "Tell the boys below to use water carefully from today onwards. Then there are those who spend money and are punished for rubbing the deck for ten days. ”

The Huo Qubing is a Galen ship of more than 300 tons. It's not a small deck. And it was a laborious task to clean every wipe, and Marquise knew that the captain was showing his importance for frugal water.

"There's a lot of fog coming from the north." The bronze bell of the watchtower rang, and the shouting of sailors on the main lookout was heard.

Zhang Huan and Ma Kui hurriedly raised their binoculars to look north, their position was low, and only a little mist could be faintly seen.

"Send a signal to Li Guang." Zhang Huan shouted.

Ma Kui hurriedly gave the order, and the rapid sound of the brass bell rang, sending a signal of contact to Li Guanghao, two miles to the south.

The captain of the Li Guang is the famous Fang Mao. The captain of the clipper ship is now also the captain of the main battleship Li Guang, which is more than 300 tons.

Fang Mao and Zhang Huan used the flag to lower the sails to control the speed of the ship, and sent sailors to observe, and at the same time raised the pilot lights to prevent the ships from colliding and maintain the formation.

"Maqui, send sailors to the other two lookouts, lower the sails by a third, and then light the pilot lights. The sides of the ship are also to be hung up. Zhang Huan turned to Ma Kui and ordered.

Ma Kui was ordered to go and set it up.

At this time, you can see with the naked eye that a gray-white fog is gradually drifting in, approaching the boundary of less than two miles.

Zhang Huan used a telescope to carefully observe the situation of the dense fog. I couldn't help but feel nervous, it is very common to encounter dense fog on the sea in winter, but the location is wrong, this location is the location where the Dutch people often sneak attack, and this dense fog may give the Dutch people an opportunity.

"Dai Ben, Wang Tong." Zhang Huan shouted loudly.

"I've seen the captain." Dai Ben, the leader of the armor team in his twenties, and Wang Tong, the leader of the fire gun group, heard Zhang Huan's shout and hurriedly came to the front.

"Dai Ben, order all the soldiers in your armor to wear armor, and your two soldiers to prepare their ordnance and guard, when they leave the Xiaoliuqiu Sea area, and then resume their daily duty." Zhang Huan commanded.

"Yes." The two gave a military salute and hurriedly went back to arrange.

I hope it's too much. Zhang Huan muttered.

The fog shrouded the whole sea, but at noon there were no hundred steps to be seen, there was nothing else around, and everything you saw was white fog.

The fleet moved slowly through the fog, and in fact the ships could no longer see each other. In this way, the fleet traveled for two hours, and the fog did not dissipate.

Zhang Huan looked around, and his heart became more and more worried. He thought for a moment, if he was the captain of the Netherlands, this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get close to the Broken Ships.

The Dutch knew the power of the Breakers' cannons, and began to bombard them at the hour of one mile, and the Tiago guns on the Breakers' ships were able to cripple their ships before the Dutch approached, so the Dutch tried their best to fight with help, and this was a good opportunity.

"Guo Chang." Zhang Huan shouted.

"Guo Chang has arrived." Thirty-year-old artillery commander Guo Chang stepped forward and said.

"Check the cannon, it's loaded. In addition, put the gunners on full alert. Zhang Huandao.

"Yes." Guo Chang hurriedly received his order.

For a moment, the atmosphere of the whole ship became tense. The gunners on the artillery deck were also busy, checking the guns, and after the inspection, the personnel remained in the gun positions, which was a requirement for vigilance.

"Guo Tou, is Captain Zhang too worried, I'm afraid that the Dutch people don't dare to approach from the fog in such a ghostly weather." Wang Xin, a captain in his early thirties, didn't care, and said in his heart that this young captain was too much of a soldier.

"Okay, less nonsense, it's better to hurry up and get busy, it's better than cramming." Guo Chang scolded, although he was also a little disappreciative in his heart.

Zhang Huan didn't hear the discussion of his subordinates, and he was now listening to the movements around him with all his might.

"Captain, the artillery deck is ready." After Guo Chang returned, he replied to Zhang Huan.

Zhang Huan nodded, and at this moment, Zhang Huan smelled a hint of smell, a little stinky, as if it was... Zhang Huan trembled, he listened attentively, the sound of some ropes, he looked up at the ship, although the sailors on the deck and rope ladder can only be faintly visible, but they do not have too many movements, there is no need to adjust the course at this time, so there is no sailor to adjust the rigging.

"Ma Kui, send a contact signal." Zhang Huandao.

"Yes." Ma Kui said in a deep voice.

Immediately the bell rang and went out in all directions, but there was no response.

"Gunshot, alert." Zhang Huan shouted.

Guo Chang hesitated for a moment and issued an order.

Three cannon shots rang out, and a warning signal was issued to engage the enemy.

The cannon roared in the distance, and Li Guanghao and Feng Yi sent out the corresponding cannons.

At this moment, a noisy sound sounded two hundred paces to the north, the sound of quickly retracting the rigging and the shouting of the Dutch language, it was obvious that a Dutch warship had secretly approached two hundred paces, if it wasn't for Zhang Huan's alarm, they would have been able to continue to approach until they were discovered close to a hundred paces, and at that time, Huo Qu's illness would be in a hurry to prepare for battle, and it was likely to be taken advantage of by the enemy.

Zhang Huan quickly weighed it in his heart, the enemy was discovered, and in the approach of two hundred paces, the artillery bombardment was afraid that it would not be possible, and the enemy ship could not see the enemy ship at all, but the enemy ship was likely to find its own pilot light, but at this time the pilot light was its own shortcoming.

"The lights are out." Zhang Huan shouted.

Immediately, the sailors extinguished the pilot lights around the Huo Quai, and the two sides continued to approach at this time.

"Armor group, fire gun group, prepare for the enemy." Zhang Huan ordered, at this time, the artillery battle is temporarily unworkable, I am afraid that the broadside battle is certain, the two ships are too close.

The ship on the opposite side gradually revealed in the thick fog, it was a round Dutch warship of about the same tonnage as the Ho Qu Sick. At this time, many Dutch sailors loomed on the deck of the ship, and it seemed that the other side was playing the abacus of broadside battle.

Zhang Huan glanced at it quickly, the other party was almost facing him head-on, I am afraid that there is no way to shell now, and there are few side guns that can hit the other party.

"Marque, portside." Although it is impossible to shell at the moment, it is certain to adjust the sail, spinnaker, and upper sail, even if they are pasted together, the artillery still has its irreplaceable role.

Of course, Ma Kui knew what his boss meant, and hurried to order the sailors.

"Guo Chang, go down to the artillery deck, and once you have the opportunity, you don't have to wait for my order, you can shell immediately." Zhang Huan shouted as he stared at the Dutch battleship.

"Yes." Guo Chang ran to the artillery deck as fast as he could.

"Dai Ben, Wang Tong is on guard." Zhang Huan commanded.

All forty armor-clad and thirty musketeers lined up on the deck under the command of Dai Ben and Wang Tong.

The armor in front of him picked up the heavy wooden shield in both hands and erected it in front, which was the key to the protection of the entire formation. Since it was to fight against the musketeers, this was the usual protection. The same is true for the Dutch.

When the two sides approached a little more than a hundred paces, Zhang Huan shouted, "Fire." ”

The ten firecrackers behind the wooden shield fired, and the thumping firebolts exploded, puffs of smoke rose up, and the projectiles rushed towards the enemy formation with a whistling sound, and almost at the same time, the opponent's firecrackers were also fired, and the wooden shields in front of both sides were hit almost simultaneously.

In the muffled sound of the fluffy, the wooden shields on both sides were shocked, but they both withstood the impact of the projectile, which did not break through the three-inch-thick wooden shield, but was deeply trapped in it.

The two ships continued to approach to a hundred paces, and the firecrackers in the second row on the Huo Qu Sick fired again, but they still did not break the opponent's wooden shield, and after ten breaths, the opponent's salvo was the same.

For the time being, both sides have nothing to do with each other.

At more than seventy paces, the third platoon of ten captive munitions fired at the same time, which was the result of thousands of tempering, and the sailors of the Huo Qu Sick maintained their formation in the fierce battle and insisted on firing a salvo.

This time, a wooden shield could not withstand it and shattered, and there was a scream behind it, and a Dutch sailor fell to the ground to fight for his life, but soon a wooden shield was replaced.

Ten breaths later, scattered counterattacks came, but they only made the wooden shields of the Breakers shake even more. The Arquebus of the Netherlands was still a little less powerful.

Under the command of Ma Kui, the sailors of the Huo Qu Sick moved quickly on the rope ladder, and turned the hull by rigging the angle of the sails, and the body of the Huo Qu Sick began to run parallel to the Dutch warship, but it was a little late, and the two ships were about to collide. (To be continued.) )

ps: Thank you for the reward of the monthly pass of the young master of the Li family, thank you to the friends who subscribed to the recommended reward, bow and thank you.