Liu Hongsheng stood beside Yu Zhigao. "My lord, in my opinion, we might as well chase the gang from the south first. You see, although the fleet in the northeast direction is obviously smaller, the ships are all warships. It will not be easy to take down these pirates.

But the fleet to the south is very mixed, slow, and numerous. Such a team will definitely play well. Why don't we send ships to defeat this group of pirates in the south first, and then concentrate on fighting the group in the east. ”

Yu Zhigao looked at the sea, "It's okay." However, I don't understand why these pirates are divided into two directions. ”

This is not difficult to understand from a humble point of view. I heard that since Xu Xinsu's death, everyone has been torn apart in order to compete for the position of this big boss. Xu Hai is one of them. In addition to Xu Hai, there are two other factions. One faction is headed by Yu Ren, and the other faction is headed by Xu Keming, the son of Xu Xinsu. ”

"Yu Ren!" Yu Zhigao muttered, "It's the same name as my eldest brother's Ren'er." Speaking of this, Yu Zhigao sighed. What is the origin of this Yu Ren? ”

"I heard that he was originally a businessman in Songjiang Prefecture. I don't know how he colluded with Xu Xinsu, although this person is young, he has won Xu Xinsu's trust and has a very important position in the Xu family. And more importantly, his father-in-law is still Li Dan, the leader of Chinese businessmen in Japan. That is, the big backstage of the Lee pirate we fought last year. Liu Hongsheng obviously put a lot of effort into suppressing the bandits this time.

"No wonder. It seems that it must be Yu Ren who is going northeast. And the one who went south must be that Xu Keming. Okay, order the troops, head south at full speed. Today, I will capture this Xu Keming alive and present it to the imperial court. ”

Liu Hongsheng bowed down and took the order.

Yu Shigao still stood on the lookout and did not go down. Seeing that Liu Hongsheng sent thirty clippers to pursue the pirates in the south, Yu Zhigao was relieved. He was confident that his thirty speedboats would be able to catch up with the pirate ships.

I don't know what the reason is, although he knew that this Yu Ren couldn't be his cousin, Yu Zhigao was still reluctant to fight with him in his heart.

Shortly after their clipper departed, the sea suddenly changed. The group of more than a dozen warships that had fled northeast suddenly turned and headed towards their clipper.

At this time, Liu Hongsheng had also returned to Yu Zhigao's side.

"Your Excellency."

"Didn't you say they were torn apart? Why did Yu Ren come back to save them? ”

"I don't understand this." Liu Hongsheng said. "However, I can't be wrong with this news. I got the news from a close confidant of Xu Hai, who saw them quarrel on Nansha Island. It is said that he almost pulled out his knife and dried up.

As for why this Yu Ren came back to save Xu Keming, he really can't figure it out. ”

Yu Zhigao glared at Liu Hongsheng, "Don't care about your news, right?" Since this Yu Ren is returning to the voyage, he wants to fight with us. That's just right, you go and give the order, let the big ships be in front, and the clippers in the back, and line up on the sea. Defeat them first, and the remaining pirates won't have to worry about it. ”

Liu Hongsheng hurriedly went down to give the order. Yu Zhigao looked at the seventeen warships lined up in front of him, and there was a hint of excitement in his eyes. These seventeen ships were the strongest opponents he had ever encountered since he led his troops. Judging by the equipment of these pirates, they still have considerable strength.

Although these seventeen ships were both commercial and war ships, the guns on board were not weak at all; On each ship, there were no less than fifty small Francophone cannons.

Although the opponent's fleet was not weak in battle, Yu Zhigao did not take them seriously. Because compared with the nearly 100 warships he carried, the combat effectiveness of these pirates was not worth mentioning, especially his five large fortune ships. If it is only about fighting, without using other ships, only these five large ships are needed, Yu Zhigao believes that he can solve the opponent's seventeen warships. Therefore, he believed that if his fleet surrounded these pirates, it would take less than two hours to wipe them out.

Fighting against their own fleet, these pirates are simply hitting a stone with an egg.

When Yu Zhigao was complacent, he suddenly found that the seventeen pirate ships on the opposite side began to turn around again and fled to the northeast again. Because he put his five Daifuku ships in front, although the two fleets were very close, they just couldn't catch up, and the distance between the two sides was gradually widening. At this time, the fleet that had been heading south was getting farther and farther away from them.

The pirate's ship was lighter than Yu Zhigao's larger ship, and its speed was naturally faster. Yu Zhigao saw that the fat that was about to reach his mouth was about to slip away, so he was willing to rest.

"Quick, let all the clippers chase forward, don't let them run." Yu Zhigao said, and asked Liu Hongsheng to pass the order, "Leave twenty No. 3 fortune boats to pursue Xu Keming south." ”

Yu Zhigao's main ship was slower, and he could only follow the clipper far behind the big ship. Fifty clippers were approaching the pirate ship. The pirate ship suddenly fanned out. Then, an onslaught was launched on the Clippers.

Seventeen pirate ships concentrated their artillery fire on ten of the clippers. Although the fifty clippers returned fire in time, the limited number of guns on board the clippers did not pose much threat to the corsairs. As soon as Yu Zhigao saw this, he was anxious. He knew all too well the weaknesses of his Clippers. If you fight these pirates like this, it won't be long before all the fifty clippers will be reimbursed.

"Quick, go and transfer the twenty No. 3 ships chasing Xu Keming." Yu Zhigao shouted to Liu Hongsheng. The twenty No. 3 Fu boats are currently the only ships that Yu Zhigao can catch up with Yu Ren's fleet except for small clippers. Yu Zhigao saw that his clippers were being eaten by Yu Ren's warships one by one, but he could only watch and couldn't arrive in time, so he couldn't help but scold angrily.

By the time Yu Zhigao's big ship arrived, his clipper had already been hit and sunk more than a dozen ships. And Yu Ren's fleet, seeing his big ship coming, did not engage him, but just turned around and ran. Before Yu Zhigao's artillery could fire a round, Yu Ren's pirate ship had once again broken free from their entanglement and headed northeast.

Yu Zhigao's anger was like thunder, but there was no way at all. Although his fleet is much stronger than Yu Ren's now, it seems that he is using anti-aircraft guns to fight mosquitoes, and he can't use his strength.

"Don't worry, sir. I heard that this Yu Ren has always been very cunning in war. Their ships are fast, and if we use fast boats, the firepower is far from being their opponent. I don't think he's going to fight with us. However, it is not impossible to deal with these guys. Liu Hongsheng looked at Yu Ren's fleet that had left them in front of him.

"Oh! What's your best idea? ”

"Their ships are faster than our big ships, but they are slower than our fast ships. All we have to do is wrap the clippers around them and let the big ships follow closely behind. We can't destroy them, but they don't want to get rid of us. Our fleet is well supplied. And none of their seventeen ships had a supply ship. I believe that it will not be long before they will have supply difficulties, and when the time comes, they will surrender to us on their own initiative without us doing anything. ”

Hearing this, Yu Zhigao nodded slightly, "What you said also makes some sense." I'm in no hurry to wipe them out, though. After speaking, Yu Zhigao's eyes narrowed, and he glanced at the subordinates beside him.

"What you mean is to keep an eye on them, to push them too hard, and eventually they will definitely take us into their lair. So that you can wipe out all these pirates in one fell swoop? ”

Yu Zhigao glanced at Liu Hongsheng approvingly, "Hongsheng still understands me." You know, it's easy for me to kill these pirates in front of me.

But they must be just a side branch of the pirates. Earlier, I thought that they were really divided into several factions, as you said, and went their separate ways, and each did not care about each other. However, you have also seen the scene just now, this Yu Ren actually risked being surrounded by us and annihilated, and returned to the ship to save the group of people who went south. What does this mean? It shows that they are not divided at all.

In this way, even if we wipe out the seventeen ships of pirates in front of us, the main body of the Xu pirates is still there. Judging by the direction they headed south, it was likely that they went to Dongfan Island. Dongfan Island is a close neighbor of Fujian Province, only separated by a sea. If we let them go this time, and wait for them to gain a firm foothold on Dongfan Island, then they will become a great disaster for us in Fujian. ”

[For someone like me, who works 12 hours a day, it's really stressful to work two shifts a day. I'll try to stick to it, though. I hope that friends who like this book will give me more flowers and applause! 】