"They came in two groups, the first was estimated to be four or five thousand people, and the latter group was three or four thousand. According to my estimates, there should be no less than eight thousand. However, a significant number of them are women and children. ”

Yu Zhigao nodded, "Do you know how many boats they have?" ”

"Let's talk about boats! I'm afraid that there are no less than five hundred. ”

"What, so much?" Liu Hongsheng was taken aback.

Yu Zhigao is still more calm. "What kind of ships are they?"

"It's mostly small dhols, but there are big boats, but there aren't many."

Liu Hongsheng breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you know where they live?"

"Well, the villains have never been there, but I heard from others that they live in Tamsui, which is more than thirty miles away from here, and from here they go down the waterway in front of them, and they will arrive thirty miles ahead."

Yu Zhigao glanced at Liu Hongsheng. Liu Hongsheng nodded to Yu Zhigao.

"Okay, you go down first! Reward this fellow with ten taels of silver. If he will show us the way, give him fifty taels of silver. Yu Zhigao commanded.

The man went down with a thousand thanks.

"What to do? My lord. As soon as Liu Hongsheng saw the man walk out of the cabin, he asked anxiously.

"There's no hurry. We've been waiting for so many days, and we don't care about waiting any longer. Send someone to call back the clippers we were chasing. If my guess is correct, they should be engaged in the pirate battle by now. If they don't withdraw, there is only one result. ”

"What result?" Liu Hongsheng asked.

"Annihilation. So, you hurry up and bring someone to meet them. But it's important to remember that if you engage a pirate, you can only lose, not win.

This is a great opportunity from heaven to make sure that these pirates are wiped out here. If they are allowed to escape, it will be a big problem in the future. ”

Liu Hongsheng agreed to go down.

As soon as Liu Hongsheng left, Yu Zhigao immediately summoned two of his subordinates and asked them to lead 1,000 men to detour by land by night to Tamsui, which was thirty miles away, and secretly surround the pirates from the north and south, so as to prevent them from breaking through to the surrounding mountains after the battle.

"Remember, you two must hide your whereabouts this time, and you must not let the enemy discover your whereabouts. Go back and prepare early, and at midnight you will circumnavigate the boat five miles to the north and south, and then abandon it and go ashore. Let no one discover your whereabouts. If the enemy discovers our intentions and runs away, I will only ask you. ”

The two thousand chiefs bowed down and went down.

After a while, Liu Hongsheng hurriedly walked in with a soaking wet Qianzong.

"Report to your lordship, I've brought them back."

"How's it going?"

When Mr. Qian heard this, he lowered his head in shame. Liu Hongsheng replied for him, "Defeated, defeated very badly." Almost all of them were wiped out. When I went to pick him up, Mr. Liang Qian escaped with only two small boats. ”

When Liang Qian heard this, his head lowered lower.

"Good, good!"

Liang Qian always thought that Yu Zhigao was talking back, so he quickly knelt down and kowtowed, "Adults spare their lives, adults spare their lives." Please give the villain another chance, and I promise not to disappoint the adults again. ”

Yu Zhigao laughed twice, "Didn't I say it's good?" You've lost well! That's exactly what I wanted. ”

Liang Qian always thought that Yu Zhigao refused to forgive him, so he had to kowtow vigorously.

Yu Zhigao said to Liu Hongsheng, "Hongsheng, help him up." ”

Liu Hongsheng walked over and helped Liang Qian up, "Don't worry!" Shihu, my lord really didn't mean to blame you. In this battle, the adults originally wanted us to only lose and not win, and the worse you lose, the better. ”

Liang Shihu looked at Liu Hongsheng suspiciously, and then glanced at Yu Zhigao. Seeing that there was no anger on Yu Zhigao's face, he was a little relieved.

"Can you see the exact location of the enemy's lair?" Yu Zhigao asked.

"See."

"Where is it?"

"It's on either side of the waterway thirty miles from here. As soon as we got there, we were surrounded by a large number of pirates who suddenly appeared, but luckily we were able to run fast and save our lives. ”

"Are you sure their lair is there?" Yu Zhigao asked again.

"You can't go wrong. I saw with my own eyes that thousands of makeshift wooden huts had been erected on the shore on either side. Liang Shihu said.

"Okay, you go down!" Yu Zhigao said and waved his hand to Liang Shihu.

Yu Zhigao's fleet was divided into two groups and came from the east and west to Tamsui the next day. At this time, the group of pirates of the Xu group gathered in Tamsui did not react. Yu Zhigao led his fleet to Tamsui for more than ten miles, but still did not encounter a single boat.

This abnormality made Yu Zhigao a little worried.

"My lord, these pirates are a bit unusual! Could it be that they have already laid a trap? Liu Hongsheng stood behind Yu Zhigao, the waterway in front of him was really not wide, although their big boat came in, but it was a little difficult to want two boats to run side by side.

What worries Liu Hongsheng even more is that this waterway is tortuous, and the straightest place cannot be seen two miles ahead.

"My lord, otherwise, let's just withdraw the fleet first, and then encircle and suppress the pirates by land!"

Yu Zhigao shook his head, "No." On land, we don't have any advantage, how can we guarantee victory in this battle? Only by relying on the guns on the ships can we have absolute superiority and deal a fatal blow to the pirates.

I know they might be making small moves in the water. But don't worry, they've only just escaped here, and even if they want to be in the water, they don't have the time. Do only temporary simple traps or obstacles. Our ship is big, and ordinary traps and obstacles can't help us at all. ”

Liu Hongsheng didn't speak again. Since the suppression of Xu's pirates in Zhejiang, Yu Zhigao has often anticipated the enemy's opportunities, and every material must be hit. Although Liu Hongsheng was a little worried, he still believed that his coach's judgment was correct, and believed that he could completely sweep away the remnants of the enemy in front of him in one fell swoop.

Of course, another reassuring thing for Liu Hongsheng is that Yu Ren, who is said to be the most resourceful and capable of fighting in the Xu group, has died. Without Yu Ren, Liu Hongsheng believes that these pirates are nothing more than food in their mouths.

Yu Zhigao's fleet came to a halt less than ten miles from Tamsui. He was waiting, waiting for a signal from the north and south of the land to close the team.

About an hour later, three cannons were heard from the south, followed by shouts of killing, and then from the north there were also cannons and shouts of killing.

Yu Zhigao heard the voice and excitedly picked up the order flag. "Well, the time has finally come." After speaking, Yu Zhigao waved the flag, and the fleet moved forward quickly.

Seeing that this encirclement and suppression was about to end, Yu Zhigao's heart was thinking about this post-war retribution. It has always been his habit that every time he writes a war report, he must judge the amount of property that his subordinates have captured for him. As for how many enemies you kill, that's just a side reference.

At this moment, Liu Hongsheng hurriedly ran over.

"Report, report to your lordship. A group of enemy ships was spotted ahead. ”

"Enemy ships? All right! Shoot them right away and destroy them. Yu Zhigao said.

"But, but, their ship is full of things." Liu Hongsheng's voice sounded a little trembling.

"What's that? Isn't it silver? If it's silver, you'll have to be careful with me, and don't sink it, or it will be a pity if you can't get it later. ”

"No, it's not silver." Liu Hongsheng shook his head.

"What's that?"

"Yes, it's fire." Liu Hongsheng said.

"What? Fire? They want to set fire to our ships? Rest assured! I had expected them to do this. Command the boats to bring out the buckets that have been prepared. Don't worry, they won't burn us for a while. When our 2,000 troops on land advance, they will be completely desperate. At that time, they will also become the meat of our case. ”

Before Yu Zhigao's words fell, another Qian general manager hurriedly came to report.

"Report to your lordship, the fire on the enemy's ships cannot be extinguished, as if they used oil? What to do? Are we going to withdraw? ”

"Withdraw? No. Aren't they just a few fireboats? Send the order down, let the three No. 2 fortune ships in the front stop the water, don't let their fireships rush over, the other warships keep a distance of twenty zhang from them, I don't believe it, their fireships can still burn us. As for the ...... of those three boats, let them burn them! Order all the ships to fire their guns on the shore to support our land troops. Remember, the point is to hit their fortifications. ”

As soon as the herald went down, he saw another colonel running over.

"Report to your lordship, it's not good."