Life is like a dream, fortune and misfortune are impermanent, the day before yesterday was happy, and now death is coming......

Trembling as he walked up to a fortress that had been half destroyed by artillery, he looked at the countless sails that suddenly appeared at the intersection of the sea and the sky to the north. Chen Defang chanted a limerick poem in the saddest tone.

Poetry is a thing that is really high-grade and reflects the author's true state of mind. This kind of neat work can only be used in literati gatherings or in the imperial examination (before Wang Anshi's reform of the imperial examination, the Jinshi department was used to compose poetry). And this kind of poetry that can truly reflect the author's state of mind may not have the value of being handed down. For example, this limerick poem made by King Taizong of Great Britain when he was "dying" is a bit too cheap. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was a frightened baby.

Regret, despair, despair, overwhelmed, eager to find a hole to get into. This is probably the mood of our later King Taizong of Great Britain, who was known for his iron-fisted rule and insidious viciousness.

The day before yesterday, the battle to capture Malé went very smoothly, and as soon as the cannons of the twenty armed merchant ships were fired, the old soldiers of the Moon Dynasty and the black slaves of Solomon's family on the island of Malé were all frightened. No one had ever seen such a powerful weapon, and the castle collapsed in a few hits. If a person is hit, he immediately says a puddle of mud! The Moon King of Male and the Black Boss of House Solomon are both delicate and noble masters. At this time, all the heroes did not suffer the immediate losses, and they all chose to surrender to save their lives - if they don't surrender, they will die! The black slave soldiers, sailors, and old soldiers in their hands together are less than 3,000, and they are all like frightened birds, how can they fight?

Who would have thought that it would take less than two days. As the victor of Tran Defang and his six thousand hundreds of Chinese pirates. has become a frightened bird, just like the Maldivian lord and the African black uncle who were defeated by them.

There are so many enemies coming! There are so many of them that the sea is almost covered. There are 900 if not 1000. On the island of Malé, there are only 21 Chinese ships.

1000 to 21! No matter how you look at it, it's a dead end! On the beach, Chinese pirates who have just woken up from the drinks of the celebration feast. Almost all of them are like ashes. It's almost, because there's one more person who behaves like a hero. This person is the Tiger (the front is written as the Decepticon, Khan one, why don't you change it to the Decepticon?) Later, he became the admiral of the British Navy and was nicknamed "Decepticon".

"I'm afraid of a bird! Isn't it a man who runs the sea? Since he ran away from the sea, this head is tied to the belt of his trousers. Who comes out to mix, who doesn't have a life in their hands? It's a big deal to return my life today! But even if you die, you have to die. Die out of the spirit of our heroes who brave the sea! ”

How they yelled, a group of pirates who were almost stupid were relieved a little. One after another, eyes fell on this man who stepped forward at a critical moment. I saw that Lei Batian's face was fearless, holding down the horizontal knife with one hand, and pointing at the slowly approaching Heavenly Sect fleet with the other.

"What if the enemy has a thousand ships? Are they cannons again? Are they muskets again? Do they have steel armor? Their ships are almost full of seas, can they come up together to fight? We have 21 ships and 420 cannons! Even if you count only half of them, there are 210 doors. Let's line up on the sea, one closely follows the other, and the cannons fire in a volley, and I don't believe that we can let them rush over! ”

That's a solution! Form a battle column and fire a salvo with artillery. More than 200 three-inch guns firing together was no joke. The Arabic galleys and sailboats on the Little Western Ocean today are all products of the pre-artillery age. The planks are thin enough to wear in a dozen, and it is easy to penetrate the paddle cockpit. The Celestial Sect of the Maritime Merchants liked to use slave oarsmen, who were forced to paddle in the first place. As soon as there is a mess, they will make a fuss.

"You can also hit chain bombs and bombard their sail masts, as long as you knock off their masts and sails. You can't catch up with us if you rely on the oars. ”

"Don't be afraid even if a few get close, we have muskets on board. There are thunder arrows in the sky, and we are still powerful at a distance of one or two hundred steps. ”

"What if they can climb aboard our ship? We have a lot of people. And everyone has armor, even hand-to-hand combat is not afraid! ”

Seeing that the morale of the group of pirates was slightly boosted, Lei Batian did not delay, and rushed to the half-collapsed fortress where Chen Defang was located as soon as he slipped away. Before I saw Prince Chen, I heard a female voice like a silver bell enlightening there.

"Master, you will be fine, you are the noble prince, even if it falls into the hands of the Heavenly Sect, they will not dare to harm you. Your Majesty and the Ming Sage are willing to pay a large ransom, and you can regain your freedom......"

Then Lei Batian heard Chen Defang trembling and saying, "I...... I, I am the Crown Prince of Great Britain, how can I be captured alive by Hu Lu? I deserve to die to repay the country! ”

Having said that, Chen Defang is about to regret his death in his heart, isn't it good to stay in the riverside mansion? You have to be a good man. What about those pirates who can't be commanded by others? It's never worth putting your life into it.

Moreover, as soon as he dies, who will inherit the throne of the British king? I have countless younger brothers!

Just when this master was full of remorse, the guards under his command came to report, saying that Major Lei of the British Navy asked to see him.

Major of the British Navy? The surname Ray ......

Chen Defang didn't react for a while, he always felt that he was a professional, better than himself, a prince who didn't know anything and fainted when he got on the boat, right? So they asked this Major Ray to come up and meet him.

After meeting Chen Defang, he remembered that this major turned out to be a "head" for him when he bought a slave oarsman.

"Your Highness, don't panic, there is still room for change this time, maybe there will be a big victory." Lei Batian made a big salute, and quickly informed Chen Defang of his agreement with Lieutenant Colonel Chen Deshun, a staff officer of the Nanyang Fleet.

"What, what...... The 'Oceania' of the South Sea Fleet is nearby? Chen Defang opened his mouth wide and looked at Lei Batian in disbelief.

He hadn't seen the "Oceania", but he had heard of it, there were 108 cannons! And it's not a 3-inch gun, a 4-inch gun, it's all a 5-inch gun! If this battleship can arrive in time, not to mention the great victory or anything, there will always be a single ship savior!

"Your Highness, we have 21 gunboats here. It's not that there is no power to fight, and the lower officials have a way. Can ......"

Lei Batian still wanted to sell the tactics he had figured out -- in fact, the standard tactic of the Ming Navy was artillery bombardment on the battle line -- but Chen Defang waved his hand impatiently.

"You don't have to tell me, I don't know about water warfare." Chen Defang is still self-aware. He, the admiral of the navy, is a kind of goods, and he doesn't understand it at all. He pointed at Lei Batian, and then pointed at a major of the British Navy who followed him, he was a bachelor who had just graduated from the Daming Naval Academy, surnamed Han, and was Chen Huaiqing's brother-in-law. "You two are now the left and right military divisions of my British Navy, how to fight this battle, you two will discuss it!"

……

In the clear blue sky of the Indian Ocean, a rocket suddenly burst open, like a giant fireworks. It turned into countless stars and sparkling lights. Then, another rocket exploded. Over the island of Male, a rocket exploded every other pillar of incense, as if it were a fireworks display.

And the audience for this performance seems to be the thousands of warships of the Heavenly Sect Combined Fleet that spread across a large area of ocean around Male Island. The small island has been surrounded by clusters, and the pirates of the Celestial Sect of Maritime Merchants, who have ruled the Indian Ocean for hundreds of years, have finally shown their maximum power at this moment.

"Collect the sails and put the anchor!"

On the "Tiger", Lei Batian roared and ordered. After discussing with the graduate of the Daming Naval Academy who was already a little frightened for a long time. Lei Batian took the idea - put away the sails, put anchor, and lined up the 21 ships against the dock of Male Island in a rather tight battle line. The two ships at the top of the battle line faced the enemy with their bows, and their side guns were aimed at the flanks.

Don't maneuver anymore, a group of pirates don't have such the ability to operate ships. It was simply impossible to maintain the line of battle in a naval battle. Moreover, the maneuvering ship shook badly, which would affect the accuracy of the shelling. It's better to get off the anchor and use these 21 lucky ships as water batteries.

Other than that. The pirates also unloaded 20 cannons from their ships and deployed them on the beaches near the top of each side of the battle line. It was also covered with branches and sandbags.

"Move all the bed crossbows to starboard!"

Lei Batian saw that his "Tiger" was stable, and then began to shout loudly: "Move faster!" Install it now! Take out the Thunderbolt quickly...... Be careful! ”

"Musketeers. Ready to get started? ”

"Archer, stand behind the musketeers!"

"Everyone else is getting ready to fight hard! Killing one is enough, killing two to earn one, the life of our Han family's sons and daughters is not so easy to ask those Tianfang Sect Bai Fan to take it! ”

Under this encouragement, the pirates below still turned pale - even if they believed what Lei Batian said, the flagship of the Ming Nanyang Fleet, the "Oceania", was nearby and would arrive soon. But there are just too many enemies! Even if the entire Nanyang Fleet arrives, I'm afraid it won't be able to deal with it, right? However, these pirates, including the two fathers and sons of the Lai family, whose legs and stomachs trembled, still prepared for war.

Come out and mix, it seems that you really have to pay it back! Now, it's time to die......

……

"Your Highness the Emir, it seems that the enemy has dropped anchor, and has formed a column in the sea north of the island of Malé, and it is still close to the shore......"

Emile Gaylavin was standing in the bow of the Vostok at this time, and had forgotten the feeling of nausea. All attention was drawn to the enemy on the sea.

"What kind of naval battle formation is this?" Emir Gaelavin asked Maher beside him.

"This ......," Maher shook his head, "this is not a naval battle formation. ”

Of course, he understands naval warfare, and when he was young, he personally participated in fights and brawls at sea. Although he has not been on the ship to fight again in these years, he has always paid attention to every move of the Nanyang Fleet. Naturally, some naval battle formations and tactics of the Nanyang Fleet were also collected.

The tactics and formations of the Nanyang Fleet are not complicated, that is, column shelling, horizontal assault (the Nanyang Fleet has galleys), chaotic fighting alone, and arson ship tactics. But they lined up and anchored at sea......

"Your Highness the Emir, it seems that our opponents do not know how to fight naval battles, they are at best some robbers at sea and do not understand regular naval warfare."

Maher thought for a long time, and finally came to a conclusion, with a regretful expression on his face, "It's a pity that we didn't bring the arson ship, otherwise we would definitely burn these Chinese sailing ships that have fallen anchor to ashes." ”

The arson ship tactic is very ancient, both in the East and the West. However, this tactic is generally only used in narrow waters, and is basically useless in the ocean. This kind of enemy anchoring by the island array is really beyond people's imagination. Therefore, the combined fleet of the Tianfang Sect did not travel with an arsonist ship in tow -- dragging an arson ship would affect the speed of the voyage, and the combat speed of sailing on the ocean was very important.

"Where is the Crown Prince?" Gahravin asked, wrinkling his eyebrows.

"That's what the message says." "Because these privateers had little discipline and were difficult to command, the Crown Prince had to go out on his own. ”

"Then you can't use an arson boat, you have to catch it alive. A living Crown Prince is more valuable than a dead Crown Prince! Because he is the elder brother of the Ming Sage. Tell the order to go down, be sure to capture this person alive! ”

Gaerawin said confidently. Although he doesn't know naval battles, he can still count. It's a lot 1000 to 21, how can you lose? So this battle is won. Now the question is just how much to win? A dead Chen Defang is not of much value, he knows that the British King Chen Huaiqing has many heirs, and there are still a dozen who have died. The British throne will not go uninherited (Tianzhu Great Britain is not a Chinese country, so there is no need to abide by the "Chen Li", if Chen Defang dies, his son and younger brother may become the new crown prince). But Chen Defang, who is alive, is a good bargaining chip.

"Maher, how are we going to capture this adventurous British prince alive?"

Gallavin asked how to fight. He is a great general on land, whether it is cavalry, infantry, field battles, siege cities, he is an expert. However, he did not know anything about naval warfare, and could only rely on his staff.

"Your Highness, the enemy's fleet is spread out with its back to the islands, and it is difficult for us to detour behind them, so we can only attack from the front and from both sides. And the width of their unfolding is not large, and we can only put about 100 warships at a time. Can be made in Isfahan. Mr. Youssef was in full command and was the most proficient convoy of pirates in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Seas. ”

Maher did not hesitate to push his good friend Isfahan. Yusuf. Most pirate leaders are proficient in single-ship combat, but they rarely have the opportunity to command a fleet. But Isfahan. Youssef is an exception, as a scholar-type pirate. He will draw strength from books. He studied all the classic naval battles in the Mediterranean since the time of the Spow Wars, and mastered at least 10 naval battle formations. And in his opinion, it was almost easy to take down the 21 Chinese sailing ships that gave up their maneuverability and laid iron anchors at sea! (To be continued......)