Chapter Twenty-Three: The Spice Ship

Gangzi drove the conch back to Heifan Village, Sun Tiezui and Liang Hong received an order to also return from the southern part of the Yellow Sea, they need to go back to Heifan Island to rest first, and join Gangzi to go to Donglai to pull back the old cannon, after all, the matter of pulling the old cannon was discussed privately by Gangzi and Cui Shi, and this kind of violation of the rules is better for Gangzi to come forward in person.

The Conch crossed the Jiaozhou Peninsula and headed south, but Liang Hong of the Sea Lion sent a message at this time: "Found a Goryeo fleet, three brig merchant ships, one brig armed merchant ship, and one brig escort ship, I know this caravan They specialize in selling Nanyang spices, if we can dig a piece of meat on them, we don't have to worry about money in a short time." ”

Brig escort ship: total deadweight: 200

Weapons: 20

Steering force: 90

Propulsion ratio: 75

Standard sailor: 40

Necessary sailors: 10

Maximum sailor: 60

The Brig Escort is a simplified version of the Brig, with increased bin capacity with a slight reduction in hull defense. Merchants seek profits, in their opinion, it is really a waste to escort with warships, after all, the probability of encountering pirates at sea is not too big, brig escort ships can carry more goods without losing too much combat effectiveness, and the firepower of 20 guns can also make pirates have more scruples, you must know that most pirates do not have brigs, so brigs and brigs are the main force of small and medium-sized merchant fleets.

Ocean trade is lucrative, dozens of times the increase in value is enough for the local cabbage price of special items to be transported thousands of miles away than gold, spices are the best quality of the South Seas, five ships of South Sea spices are enough for many thugs, of course, the premise is to know the items they transport, pirates under unknown circumstances will not rashly attack the fleet composed of five brigs.

Fortunately, Liang Hong's eyes were sharp, and he recognized at a glance the spice fleet that he often encountered when patrolling before. Gangzi was as excited as if he had been beaten with chicken blood, this is a spice, in the north of the Han Dynasty is a boatload of gold, since he was lucky to be touched by himself, how can he step forward and bite off a piece of fat, but the other party has five brigs......

Gangzi asked, "I'm afraid you can't beat them with one ship, right?" ”

Liang Hong: "Of course I can't beat any of them, but add your conch number...... You should be able to give it a try. ”

Gangzi thought for a moment and asked, "How about another dhow?" ”

Liang Hong: "Two sloops, one brig, it shouldn't be a problem to leave them with one ship." ”

Gangzi hurriedly said: "I am now near ***:*** in the northwest of the Yellow Sea, I need to go back to Heifan Village to replenish manpower first, that dhow should have reached Heifan Village, it will take half a day to repair, we will set off together, you calculate the speed and direction of the other party's ship, set a meeting position for us, and then we will encircle." ”

Liang Hong: "They are fully loaded, and the speed of the ship is not very fast, but they have already discovered me, and I have been following them like this, which will definitely arouse their alarm, if they suspect that I will notify the Goryeo Navy to take over." I will break away from them first, and then make a detour to the Yellow Sea first***:***, and you must arrive here early tomorrow morning. ”

Gangzi: "Wood problem! ”

ended the call with Liang Hong, and Gangzi chatted with Tang Yao privately.

Gangzi: "Tomorrow Saturday, there's no event, right?" ”

Tang Xiaotang: "Tomorrow, Huacai is going to organize a large merchant fleet to go to Hangzhou to run merchants, and has already summoned 50,000 college students to raise 2.5 million gold coins, and the captains of all university alliances need to participate in the escort." ”

Two and a half million gold coins, don't you think this number is unlucky? Besides, even your little sailboat can escort you? Brother a dhow will abuse you, or brother will not go to Goryeo, just rob you, anyway, the privateer license is only applicable to NPC merchant ships, and the crime of robbing players will be eliminated by spending some money.

Gangzi: "Sister, when are you leaving?" ”

Sugar Xiaotang: "...... tomorrow morning, brother, what the hell do you want to fight?" I won't be an inside line for you, you dare to come to rob, be careful that I kill you. ”

What does my brother want to do, my sister can guess so quickly, is this the legendary ...... with a soul, this is really a godsend.

Gangzi hurriedly said: "Little sister, look at what you said, who did my brother rob?" I can't rob you! Besides, how much cargo can my boat hold? As for offending your college alliance for that little money, I really have something to ask you for help? ”

Sugar Candy: "Hmph...... Count you as acquaintances, what's the matter? I'm going to be with the fleet tomorrow, and I may not be able to help. ”

Gangzi: "You can find someone to help you drive that little sailboat, I have prepared a dhow for you, just like my brother, ten large-caliber smoothbore guns, no more powerful than your small boat cannon." ”

Sugar Xiaotang hurriedly said: "Where is it!" Where is it! Brother, you are really my good brother, tomorrow I will drive a dhow to escort the escort, it will definitely be majestic. ”

Gangzi: "Why do you still want to escort things!" Fly quickly to Heifan Village, the dhow has arrived, you hurry up and repair it, arrange for people to get on the ship, the gunpowder and shells are fully replenished, I will arrive in the early morning, let's go to rob together, after this big ticket, your dowry will come out, wahaha......"

Sugar Xiaotang: "Brother, you are so bad!" ”

After sailing in the middle of the night, Gangzi arrived at Heifan Village, where Tang Yao was already waiting, and quietly parked in the harbor along with the newly renovated dhow.

On the bow of the ship, the jade man stood in the wind, the white clothes were better than the snow, the brocade sleeves were fluttering, and the seven-foot Qingfeng wanted to step on the moon and go.

Tang Yao saw Gangzi coming, and smiled: "Brother, I'm ready, when are we leaving?" It's about to be robbed, as a pirate...... Think about it all over the place. ”

Gangzi came back to his senses and said: "This caravan was discovered by Liang Hong, three brigs merchant ships, one brig armed merchant ship, and one brig escort ship, transporting South Sea spices, we must rush to the Yellow Sea at dawn ***:***, the Sea Lion is already waiting for us there, how to fight until the convergence." ”

Tang Yao: "Five brigs, can we fight them?" ”

Gangzi said confidently: "The Sea Lion is a brig battleship, and our two are also warships, and you will know when the fight starts, it is always the battleship that determines the right to speak in naval warfare, let's go, Sun Tiezui's sloop merchant ship has rushed over, and it is not easy to run into a fat sheep, so why do you have to load more." By the way, did you name your dhow? ”

Tang Yao: "It's called ham." ”

"......, what a foodie!"

After replenishing the Conch, the sailors took advantage of the night and the Ham to leave the port, and the Black Sail Village was still in a state of great construction, and I don't know when it will be completed.

At dawn, the blackness receded, the sun revealed half a red figure, and the early seabirds flew in the air. The Conch and Ham arrived at the confluence area, where the Sun Tiezui and the Sea Lion were already waiting. It is located west of Jeju Island in Goryeo, outside the territorial area of Goryeo, and if this merchant ship cannot be intercepted here, the chances of encountering the Goryeo Navy after entering Goryeo's territorial waters will be greatly increased.

On the Conch, Gangzi raised the flagship command flag, and Liang Hong, Sun Tiezui, and Tang Yao boarded the Conch to discuss the battle plan together.

The dhow captain's room was cramped, and four people stood on the deck, and Liang Hong, who was the first to discover the Goryeo merchant fleet, spoke first.

"This time our target is a caravan transporting South Sea spices to Goryeo, a total of five brigs, the brig merchant ship has eight guns, the brig has fourteen brigs, the brig escort ship has twenty, the total firepower of the opponent is 58 guns, we have two sloops, ten guns each, one brig twenty guns, one sloop merchant ship four, our total firepower is 44 guns, but the sloop merchant ship is not suitable for the battle, you need to go to a safe position and wait for the battle to end, So the firepower we can put on is 40 guns, which is eighteen less than the opponent, and I have a big disadvantage in firepower. ”

"Of course, we also have our own advantages, all the warships we use are much higher than the opponent's defense, and the opponent is full of spices, the draft is deep, the ship speed is slow, and the steering is not flexible, if we have the right tactics and make up for the firepower with flexibility, the chance of defeating them is still very large."

"This place is close to the territorial waters of Goryeo, and if a war starts, they will definitely notify the Goryeo Navy to rescue us, and we have to fight quickly because we don't have much time. Calculating the time, they are almost there, the sea we gathered together to monitor is a little narrow, I plan to disperse four ships to expand the search area, once the opposing fleet is found, the Sea Lion strikes first, the Sea Lion has strong firepower, fast speed, and high defense, they must deal with it with all their might, their most likely way to deal with it is to use brigs armed merchant ships and brig escort ships to contain the Sea Lion, and the three brig merchant ships quickly enter the territorial waters of Goryeo and go west to Jeju Island to seek refuge, where there is the Jeju Island fleet in Goryeo. ”

"At this time, the Conch and the Ham need to stop them, the two sloops have twenty guns, the other side has twenty guns, the artillery is not much different, our defense and mobility have an absolute advantage, we can quickly defeat them, and then turn around and encircle the armed merchant ships and escort ships."

See! This is a naval officer who was born in a professional class and has a serious situation, and he has formulated a set of battle plans in a few words. However, after you've finished speaking, wouldn't it be obvious that the leader of the Black Sail Pirate Regiment has no sense of existence?

Gangzi felt that he should add a few words, after all, he was a leader: "Ahem...... I heard it, so let's do it, and the meeting is dismissed! ”

The four sailing ships of the Black Sail Pirate Regiment spread out and fanned back and forth in this area. It didn't take long for the Sun Tiezui sloop merchant ship to report that a fleet of "coordinates***:*** visually had five brigs, a brig escort ship piloted, a brig armed merchant ship dragged behind, and in the middle were three brig merchant ships, the ships had a deep draft, and they were target fleets, and they were determined to be target fleets. ”

Gangzi replied: "You immediately dodge and sail eastward. ”

Then he shouted on the Black Sails Territory Guard (Black Sails Pirates) channel: "The target appears, the coordinates *** :***, the hunt begins, the Ham moves closer to me, the Ham moves closer to me, the Sea Lion can act, we wait for your signal." ”