Qu Jing had already walked in at this time.

"Strategist, I just got a tip. A large number of warships were quietly approaching us from upstream. ”

Yu Ren froze, "Don't panic, can you see who the officers and soldiers are fighting?" ”

"It is the banner of Yu Zhigao, the chief soldier of Fujian." Qu Jing said.

Yu Ren knocked on the bed with his fingers and muttered softly, "It seems that my second uncle is quite well-informed!" ”

Speaking of this, Yu Ren suddenly woke up. "Not true. This must be Xu Hai's ghost behind his back, otherwise my second uncle would not have known that we were here. ”

"Then, do you want me to send someone to chase Huang Suqin back immediately?" Qu Jing asked.

Yu Ren waved his hand, "No need." Since my second uncle already knows that we are here, even if you recover Huang Suqin, he will still beat us. He Yu Zhigao is not Xu Hai, and we can't threaten Xu Hai's woman.

By the way, how far are they from here? ”

"Less than thirty miles."

Yu Ren jumped off the bed all of a sudden, took his clothes on the one hand, and said to Qu Jing on the other, "You go and divide the brothers into two teams immediately, one team stays to block the officers and soldiers, and the other team protects everyone and quickly retreats to the chicken coop." ”

Qu Jing agreed, and hurried down.

Yu Ren got dressed and went to the outside deck, and the lights were already bright, and the brothers of the ships were already in action.

Yu Ren called Qu Jing to his side again, "First transfer me twenty of the best warships ten miles forward and set up a formation on the river." You're responsible for taking the rest of the ship. ”

Qu Jing became anxious when he heard this. "Strategist, this is not going to work. According to the informant, Yu Zhigao has nearly 100 warships under him! And there are also five shipwrecks. With their firepower, we are no match for us. It's too dangerous for you to stay! Let me stay! ”

Yu Ren shook his head, "No." This blockade is a matter of life and death for thousands of brothers and sisters, and you have always been less than a soldier to take on this heavy responsibility. ”

"Then, let Liu Qiang stay and I will block the officers and soldiers with me, you can take your brothers and leave quickly!"

Yu Ren still shook his head, "I have made up my mind, you don't need to say it anymore." There's no time, so go ahead and do it! Otherwise, as soon as Yu Zhigao's fleet arrives, we will have to be wiped out! ”

Qu Jing understood Yu Ren's temper and knew that it would be useless to persuade again, so he had to grit his teeth and go down.

When Yu Zhigao's fleet forced into the exit of Hangzhou Bay, the front line reported that a large number of ships were found.

Yu Zhigao was very excited. "It seems that this time Xu Hai's kid finally didn't lie to me. If this group of pirates can be caught this time, I will forgive him for capturing Daqushan in advance and stealing my first credit. ”

After speaking, Yu Zhigao called the herald. "Pass the order, the fleet is moving at full speed, and not a single pirate shall be spared."

At this time, a general standing beside Yu Zhigao said, "My lord, I'm just afraid that it's not right!" I just got a tip, these pirates also have a lot of warships, and their combat effectiveness is not weak, and it is late at night at the moment, and their vision is greatly affected. Let's rush over at this time, if there is any ambush, we will be in danger. ”

Yu Zhigao laughed, "Hongsheng! You'd be wrong. These pirates have no real fighting power, but they are just a rabble of robbers. Don't look at their many ships, but when they see us, where do they dare to resist, it's too late to escape! Have you forgotten when we fought the Li pirates on Chicken Coop Island?

At that time, how much did the rivers and lakes spread the stakes of this group of pirates? But what about the result? Are they really at war with us? It's just a one-touch collapse. If it weren't for the size and speed of our boat, they wouldn't have been able to run away.

So, we can't wait any longer this time. According to Xu Hai, there were nearly 10,000 pirates this time! If we catch all of these pirates, I promise you'll be promoted to lieutenant general. ”

Liu Hongsheng didn't speak again.

Yu Zhigao was a little excited, he walked out of the cabin and came to the deck. This was the largest number of pirates he had ever faced in his life. However, he was not a little afraid, but had an inexplicable excitement. Although he had only 5,000 men, he was confident that he would be able to defeat the pirates in one blow.

Back then, his father Yu Dayou started his family by fighting pirates. In the end, he became one of the three famous generals of the Wanli Dynasty. Yu Zhigao's biggest ambition in life is to surpass his father's achievements back then. However, the southeast coast of the Ming Dynasty has experienced repeated blows from the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli dynasties, and the pirates have basically disappeared. It's rare for him to get a decent fight. Since he inherited his father's general soldier, he has not fought a truly decent battle.

Almost every time, it's a small organization of a few dozens, a few hundred people. Yu Zhigao has always lamented that he was born at the wrong time and did not have the opportunity to show his talents. Therefore, this time when he heard that the imperial court was going to fight the Xu family, he was the first to jump out and ask for his life. Now looking at the big fat piece that was delivered to his mouth, Yu Zhigao hated to swallow it in one bite.

Looking at the river in front of him, Yu Zhigao was suddenly a little confused. Fang Cai's informant clearly said that there were a large number of pirates, but now from his position, the river was dark. Because there is no moonlight tonight, you can't see the distance at all!

Have they fled? Yu Zhigao was thinking about it when he suddenly heard a cannon shot. Then he felt his ship shake violently.

The violent shaking made Yu Shigao almost fall.

"What's going on?" He grabbed the edge of the boat and shouted a question to his men.

Before they could answer, there were bursts of cannon fire one after another. After more than 20 artillery shots, the river gradually returned to calm.

"My lord, we have been ambushed by pirates." Liu Hongsheng hurriedly ran over.

Yu Zhigao was quite calm, and he tried his best to raise his eyes and look forward. But in the night, I really couldn't see clearly, I could only see in the darkness, and there were shadows on the river in front of me, and there seemed to be countless pirate ships, but they didn't seem to be any. "Have you ever found out how many ships the pirates have? What about firepower? ”

"This, the lowly position will send someone to investigate immediately."

Before Liu Hongsheng left, another round of artillery fire came. In these two rounds of artillery shelling, seven or eight of the warships of the officers and men were hit, and three were seriously damaged. Although the warships of the officers and soldiers also returned fire. But the pirates on the other side didn't seem to reflect at all. I don't know if these cannons hit them or not, and whether they had any effect.

"There's no need to probe, organize people for me first, and return fire with artillery. I don't believe it, these pirates are all iron, and they don't respond at all. Tell everyone, hit me hard, and don't spare the shells. ”

In this round, the artillery fire of the officers and men was very fierce, and the river was stirred up by the continuous artillery fire.

However, as soon as the artillery fire of the officers and soldiers stopped, the pirates' artillery came again. And the firepower does not seem to have diminished at all.

The two sides fought for more than an hour, and Yu Zhigao's fleet had lost eight warships, and another five had lost their combat capability. Liu Hongsheng came to Yu Zhigao's side again at this time.

"My lord, it seems to me that these pirates are fighting to the death, and they don't seem to have any intention of fleeing. At this time, the night is not clear, our ship is large, and the lights are bright, which is exactly their target, and their ship is small and does not light the lights, so it is difficult for us to effectively attack them.

Besides, in this darkness, I don't know how many warships they have, and if there will be any tricks, let's spend it here with them, in case they send fireships around our backs, and then flank back and forth. Then we're done. It is better to withdraw twenty miles one after another, leaving only five boats to hold on to them at a distance here, and there is no need to fight them. When the day comes, we'll take them down in one fell swoop.

At this time, it was only two or three hours before dawn, and even if they wanted to escape, they would not be far away. The sea is empty, and the wind is light these days, and they definitely can't run fast. And we have fifty clippers that can be accelerated by men, and it won't be difficult to chase them when the time comes. ”

Yu Zhigao thought for a while and nodded, "Okay, then let the entire fleet retreat fifteen miles, and when it is dawn, we will fight them again." Just leave three to watch here. ”

Yu took a nap on his main ship. Seeing that the sky was faint, he couldn't help but get up.

"Give the order to go down and cook immediately. The flotilla advances. This time, I must defeat these pirates once and for all. ”

However, when Yu Zhigao's fleet reached the river last night, it was already calm, and there was not even a small fishing boat on the river. Where else is there the shadow of pirates.

Yu Zhigao slapped his thigh, "It's not good, chase after it." After speaking, Yu Zhigao personally climbed the lookout and looked into the distance. In the distance, two fleets were moving northeast and south, respectively.

When Yu Zhigao saw it, he was inexplicably excited. "Over there, chase me. They must not be let go. Hongsheng, you take thirty clippers and chase the pirates in the northeast for me first. ”