The reason for the surprise was that it was the pirates who were the first to fire.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The pirates used small guns to fire shells at the breakthrough ships, because the distance was too far, the aim was too low, most of the shells fell around the ships, the splash was not noticeable in the bad weather, the fleet broke through the rain and the waves, and made a determined advance beyond the west anchorage.

Compared with the sampans and small boats that the pirates fought back, the Dongfang and Lingding Island are undoubtedly fortress-like existences, and they are far faster than each other.

On the ship, the soldiers of the trading company were unconcerned about the pirate's counterattack, until an orange spark exploded in the pouring rain, and it was a pirate boat that had misused its cannon and caused the explosion.

"Reload your ammo and get ready for hand-to-hand combat!"

On the open deck of the Vostok, English gunners cleaned the guns with water-soaked bristle brushes, filling bags of shotguns. Now that the two sides are in a state of hedging, the pirates are especially good at hand-to-side combat, and hand-to-hand combat is inevitable.

When the two sides got closer, the three warships of the Eastern Trading Company remained silent, and it has been proven that the time window for the use of firepower in naval battles, especially in broadside naval battles, is not too large, and the first round of fire is especially important.

But the pirates had already begun to throw incendiary grenades, using bows and arrows to attack, and the high bulwarks formed a defense that perfectly protected the soldiers and sailors of the fleet, until there was a thump and the pirate's boat collided with the fleet, which was the order to fire.

"Shoot, shoot!"

Chen Liuzi was covered in armor, but he showed his loud enough voice, he held an arquebus, and carefully protected the back of the arquebus with a hat and poncho, but the air was too humid, so when a pirate climbed up along the rope, the arquebus in Chen Liuzi's hand was unexpectedly extinguished.

He didn't pull out the flintlock pistol that was attached to his chest, because Chen Liuzi couldn't be sure if it worked.

Pulling out the bayonet and stuffing it into the muzzle, Chen Liuzi stabbed the bayonet into the enemy's lower abdomen, and the shirtless guy was in pain, hugged Chen Liuzi's bayonet, and fell down with the bayonet that had not yet been inserted.

An arquebus without a bayonet was no match for a burning stick, and the pirates, who had already swarmed him, did not draw his sword, but took off a round rattan plaque from the bulwark and guarded the gunner's side.

Because of the center of gravity, the six-pounder gun was arranged in the middle of the lowest open deck, which was the easiest place to climb up compared to the stern and bow towers that were as tall as castles.

Suddenly, there was a shock under his feet, the gunner finally completed the shell firing, Chen Liuzi saw with his own eyes that the two sampans and a long dragon that flew in were hit, those small boats, at such a close distance, even in the face of the shotgun fire could not resist, the heavy rain destroyed the launch of the shells, but the enemy was too close, and every successful launch was undoubtedly fired on the opponent's head.

Shotguns are like torrential rain, but they are better than torrential rain, these iron balls and lead bullets, in the chamber of the cannon, are shot out by the deflagrated gunpowder, which can shatter everything they encounter, and the water they explode is as if the ocean is boiling.

The battlefield took the form of a hedge between the two sides, and the flagship Vostok in the first position became the target of public criticism, countless pirates besieged and climbed, and heavy rain reduced the effectiveness of firearms, but every time the guns deployed on the deck erupted into a roar, it would give the pirates lethal damage.

At the most dangerous time, it was the king crab fast crab ship at the end, overtaking and approaching, first smashing a sampan with a ramming angle, and then cleaning the side deck of the Dongfang with a four-pounder gun loaded with double shotguns, this was Tang Mu's order, although he also knew that his shelling might hit his own people, and even hurt the sworn brothers of the big shopkeeper, but Tang Mu still gave this order.

Far away on the island of Hong Kong, the torrential rain and the light of the fire reflected on the old face of the stone wall, and in the heavy rain, the fifty-five-year-old pirate was silent and motionless, looking like a stone sculpture.

But the battle that took place in front of him was an unacceptable nightmare for him.

Originally, the rainy night came, so that the old man could sleep well in the complicated life, but in the second half of the night, the sudden sound of cannons woke up the stone wall where he had finally slept.

When he opened his eyes and came to the window, he saw that more than a dozen of his large merchant ships and armed ships had been attacked by enemy heavy artillery, then set on fire by sailors, and then exploded, sunk, and ran aground.

And the warships of the Oriental Trading Company also shelled the large fleet of Xu Guixiang and Ma Xuansheng, and it seemed that the more the fleet was hidden in the depths, the more vulnerable it was to attack.

The enemy came from the East Waterway and entered through the Lei Yue Gate.

As a result, the three pirates launched a counterattack, and finally even the martial arts conference participated.

At least three hundred small ships entered the western anchorage, like three hundred hungry wolves, and tore at the three giant whale-like warships.

Ants bite elephants to death, this is the iron law of nearshore combat.

The fleet, which was as strong as the Dutch, was not defeated by the Zheng family's small ships along the coast of Fujian? Not to mention the fact that the enemy rushed to his lair and was defended on all sides.

But what happened in front of him was not the case, the three big ships rushed at the fastest and most ferocious speed, especially the Vostok, as if they were mocking, attracting the siege of hundreds of small ships, but easily crushing these hungry wolves.

The siege did not stop the fleet of the Eastern Trading Company, and the large ships had the right wind speed and occupied the upwind direction, and the charge was definitely not something that the sampan boats could resist.

With the fleet breaking through at full speed, the hardest battle was over.

Especially after the pirates who boarded the battleship were killed and pushed down, the deck guns on both sides of the ship were finally granted free fire, as were the boom guns on the bulwark.

The gunners became more and more composed, and instead of aiming, they watched as the boats reached the muzzles, spitting out lethal fireworks and metal as the view was full of enemies.

Sampans and dragons are mostly powered by oarsmen, and these small boats have no cabins, and all oarsmen are exposed to the air, making them vulnerable to lead shots.

Often, when one or two oarsmen are killed, the boat loses its control.

Rain always makes it difficult to fire artillery, but it is not impossible to solve, on the contrary, rain can make it easier for artillery to dissipate heat.

The battle began in the strait and continued to the edge of West Anchor Bay, and it turned out that the courage of the pirates, the power of hatred, was nothing in the face of chemical energy, steel and gunpowder, and the generation gap in technology could not be compensated for by fearlessness.

This naval battle entered a climax from the beginning, and then slowly fell lonely, not because the pirates were willing to let go of the fleet of the Eastern Trading Company, nor because the fleet of the Eastern Trading Company lost its combat effectiveness.

Rather, the chase war is a war of attrition, and attrition is unfair to both sides.

The Oriental Trading Company took the upper hand and sailed at full speed, consuming the wind that God had bounced, while the pirates who fought with it used sampans and consumed the power provided by the oarsmen.

The wind is endless, but the oarsman's muscles will be sore, but when the oars in his hand cannot be lifted, the pursuit should be over.

The sky was bright, the rain became lighter, and the battlefield West Anchor Bay just now was displayed in front of everyone.

Broken and wounded sampans were everywhere, corpses were floating on the sea, the wounded were struggling, and sailors who had fallen into the water struggled to swim towards nearby boats and islands.

Some unlucky ones managed to get close to a sampan in the icy waters, but they were hit in the head by an oar, and they didn't know until they died that they were on the wrong boat.

Those who fall into the water belong to the stone wall, and the sampan is under the command of the martial arts assembly.

Vostok.

When Tang Mu came to the ship, he saw the pothole on the side of the ship that was punched out by his own artillery, but when he arrived on the ship, he got a warm embrace from Chen Liuzi.

That round of shotgun salvo did kill the two own sailors on the ship, knocking countless holes in the sails, and one shotgun even grazed Chen Liuzi's armor, sending out a spark, but no one stood up to deny that it was the King Crab that saved everyone.

"Sixth master, look at the pirate, spinning around on the sea, I'm afraid that he is too tired to paddle, let's go back and kill him seven in and seven out!" Tang Mu was still excited, and he shouted loudly, wanting to expand the results of the battle in the dawn.

Chen Liuzi didn't want to take any more risks, he said: "I'm worried that we will rush in and find that the wind has stopped, and then the enemy will kill us without leaving a piece of armor." ”

Tang Mu grinned, no longer asking for battle, the wind here is a little weird, the channel is even more complicated, and there are islands of all sizes all around, which is not a familiar place for the trading company fleet.

"It's just a pity that we can't catch some prisoners, we have fresh water, but there is a shortage of people." Said the captain of the Vostok.

Chen Liuzi laughed: "Next time, next time, tie up all these hateful pirates to Tamsui and let them cut down trees and farm!" ”

"Good!" The crowd cheered.

The members of the trading company were all bullied by pirates, and they were full of hatred for pirates.

Chen Liuzi said to everyone: "Stew meat for the brothers, take out the wine from the bilge, enter Lingdingyang, let's eat and drink first, and then go to Macau, where there are bathhouses, beds, and most importantly, women!" ”

This aroused everyone's enthusiasm, and everyone started to get busy again, eager to arrive in Macau as soon as possible.

"Tang Mu, Zheng Tingqiu, bring him here." Chen Liuzi said to Tang Mu.

Tang Mu smiled, because of the entire battle, Zheng Tingqiu was thrown into a coma in the bilge of the king crab.

Not long after, Zheng Tingqiu was tied to a stretcher again and lifted up by a crane, but unlike the last time Chen Liuzi was captured, the wound on Zheng Tingqiu's body was healed, but one arm was still hanging, slightly embarrassed.

Chen Liuzi sat in a chair, enjoying the relaxation after the battle, and he said: "The battle is over, Zheng Tingqiu, we are victorious." With your help, we were able to bombard the other three fleets, and as the leader of one of the four pirates, you know what that means. ”

Zheng Tingqiu's face was grim and he didn't say much.

Pirates deal with the sailors of the government and the gunboats of foreigners, and only tactics such as fire attack ships and sampan siege are easy to win, and they also have to cooperate with familiar waterways and geography, of course, if God protects them, it will increase the probability of victory.

But the battle between pirates and pirates is not like this, the ranking of strength between the four surnamed pirates, in addition to the number of subordinates, there are also the number of big ships, Shibi has more than 20 big ships, and he became the boss.

This is because, pirates fight pirates, everything is fair to everyone, and their firepower is weak, and the big ships tend to have an impact and condescending advantage.

Now, the large fleet of the other three families is almost wiped out, and the sudden attack has made the trust between the four pirates even more gone, and more importantly, the fleet of the Eastern Trading Company has appeared where it should not be, shelling the large fleet outside Zheng Tingqiu, making the situation even more chaotic and complicated.

Who is in the gang with whom, who is in collusion with the Oriental Trading Company, no one can say clearly, and the scuffle will be inevitable.

Zheng Tingqiu spread his hands: "Are you going to unload the mill and kill the donkey?" ”

Chen Liuzi laughed: "Of course not, after passing this island, I will send you back in a small boat, I hope you can regain your position as the treasurer at the Martial Arts Conference." Ten days, is that enough? ”

"What about ten days from now?"

"Ten days later, the pirates here will hear a rumor, you, one of the four surnamed pirates, Zheng Tingqiu, who was robbed and deceived by the Oriental Trading Company, is the most sincere friend of our Li Zhaoji Li Shopkeeper, and only your large fleet was not shelled, which is the best evidence."