1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 55 Met Pirates? (two)

Feiningberg and Chartres observed the convoy traveling in the same direction for nearly half an afternoon. All the ships had a deep draft and were almost fully loaded.

The two also agreed that the Spanish galleon might have stronger firepower, and the other four ships, seeing that there were not many artillery pieces, were good prey.However, on all the ships, there seemed to be many armed men with cold weapons.This made them a little confused. Could it be that the Spaniards were planning to move troops to attack a certain Nanyang force?
"Could it be a Spanish treasure ship?" Feiningberg said suddenly.

"Treasure ship?" Chartretran was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, "Spain's treasure ships are generally three-masted galleons, and they all form a large fleet. There are more than a dozen ships, and there are fewer There are also six or seven ships....Besides, the Spaniards don’t seem to have used the Dongfang Ming style ships.”

"Oh, yes!" Feiningberg nodded, "Then do we need to attack them...It's already dark."

"Of course!" Chateltrane said with a smile: "Mr. Berg, we followed for an afternoon, but we didn't escort them! ... After a while, we will approach them quietly, maybe we can leave a ship behind!I'll bet there's an insane amount of gold on board, maybe silver, maybe precious jewels!Ha ha……"

After nightfall, two English merchant ships sailed quietly towards the blurred shadow of the fleet like night owls.Considering the great firepower of the Spanish galleon at the rear of the convoy, they sailed past it cautiously to the front.

Under the cover of night, two English merchant ships slowly approached the convoy. When the distance was only [-] yards, they fired a salvo towards the shadow of the Haicang ship ahead.

"Damn it, is Liao San blind? Everyone else fired, but no one gave warning!" Hu Wenjin yelled at the lookout.Although the enemy's first round of volleys were all missed, it was really irritating for people to touch them without anyone noticing.

"See where the enemy is?... Hurry up and fight back!" Hu Wenjin yelled at the gunner again, "Helmsman!... Wu Manzi, turn, turn quickly! Damn it, stop and wait for someone to bombard you again ?!".

The two English merchant ships stopped quietly not far away, planning to fire another volley before the other party found them. Two minutes later, "Boom! Boom..." The two ships fired another round of salvos towards the place just now.In the light of the fire, he suddenly discovered that the opponent had moved his position, and all the projectiles were missed again.

After firing their cannons, the two English merchant ships quickly adjusted their sails and headed straight for the slope of the ship.

"Boom! Boom!..." The few cannons of the Haicang ship fired one after another, but all of them missed.

In sea battles from the 16th to the 18th centuries, the artillery of the ship and the ship bombarded each other. Without the aid of optical sighting instruments, hitting the opponent, or being hit by the opponent, sometimes, it was really all luck.Most of the battles are usually close to each other, with a distance of two to three hundred yards, to see who has more artillery and fights faster, so that the opponent can't bear the damage and withdraws.What's more, in this dark night, if you want to hit the opponent, you have to test the character of both parties.

Cao Xiong's character was obviously good. The English merchant ships surrounded Hu Wenjin's Haicang boat and fired five salvos back and forth, without even touching a single plank.

"Slow down! Slow down!... I seem to have seen those two large western ships..." Cao Xiong had already leaned out of the bow of the ship, and shouted loudly, "I've got the artillery aimed!"

"Boom! Boom!..." The two English merchant ships fired again. This time, the flames from the muzzles completely exposed their positions.

"Fire! Fire!" With a loud shout, several cannons on the bow of the Spanish galleon where Cao Xiong was located fired one after another, and several projectiles flew straight towards one of the English merchant ships.

Tonight, the English merchant ship's goddess of luck was obviously off guard. A round projectile accurately hit the midship of the English merchant ship "The Iron Man", and after brushing a sailor's shoulder, it hit hard The captain's cabin broke through the bulkheads at both ends, and finally rolled down to the right side of the ship's side.The splintered wood from the captain's cabin instantly hit four or five people inside.

"what!"

"Oh God, my face!"

"Ah! I've been hit! . . . Ah!"

"..."

Feiningberg looked palely at the second officer and several sailors who fell on the ground and kept screaming, a little unbelievable.Oh God, why is the opponent's artillery so accurate!The first round of shelling by the coming Spanish galleon hit us!

"Blow the horn, retreat!" Feiningberg shouted.He felt that his luck tonight was really bad.Taking advantage of the night to sneak attack, the artillery fired seven or eight rounds without any results, but there were actual casualties on our own side.Forget it, the opponent has five ships, and it's really hard to say who will win the final victory.

Chartelon was puzzled when he heard the retreat signal from the Iron Man.It's not that it's agreed, like a wolf in the wild, taking advantage of the night to bite the enemy hard.Maybe, "a corpse" can be left behind, so that they can enjoy themselves during the day.

Why did you leave suddenly?Could it be that Mr. Feiningberg discovered something?
Chartres didn't dare to stay alone, so he quickly adjusted his sails and left the battlefield.

Cao Xiong's ship fired a few rounds of artillery at the position of the English merchant ship just now, then shifted its position, quietly waiting for the other party to reveal its target.

One stick of incense passed, a quarter of an hour passed, two quarters of an hour passed... and the sea was silent.No one on board dared to speak loudly, they didn't know where the enemy was hiding.The watchman on the ship opened his eyes wide and looked around, while trying to listen to the surrounding movement with his ears.However, apart from the continuous turbulence of the waves, there is only the sound of the sails being "fluttered" by the wind.

"Didn't it... run away?" Niu Hu whispered.

"Shut up!" Qi Dajiang turned his head and glared at Niu Hu, then, leaning on the side of the boat, he quietly listened to the movement around him.

Half an hour passed, and there was still silence all around. The waves gently patted the hull, as if they wanted to say something, but they were quickly pushed away by the hull.The waning moon hung in the sky, emitting a faint and cold light.Qi Tian leaned against the bulkhead of the cabin, thinking that it would be great if there was a searchlight, so that the enemy hiding in the dark would have nowhere to hide.But he never thought that even with searchlights, he would be exposed first.

Thinking, thinking, Qi Tian closed his eyes and fell asleep!And the dog sitting next to him looked at the fourth uncle with admiration, waiting so anxiously, he could actually lie there calmly.It's not like myself, who has to look out for a while, and can't help but want to open his mouth to ask questions.

In the early morning, at Mao's time, the slight skylight made people gradually see the surrounding sea area clearly.Cao Xiong and other five ships lined up on the surface of the sea, not forming any formation.Looking far away, there are no ships on the horizon except for the calm water on the surface.

"Damn it, you actually ran away!" Cao Xiong spat into the sea unhappily.All the ships were on alert all night, lest they be attacked by the enemy.Unexpectedly, the other party took advantage of the night and suddenly slipped away!Let them spend countless minds and wait all night in vain.

"Dutch?" Qi Tian asked.

"I can't say it!" Cao Xiong thought for a while, and replied: "Looking at the shape of the boat, it doesn't look like a red-haired ghost! ... But this area is all under the influence of the red-haired ghost..."

During this period, the Spaniards generally did not appear here. The Portuguese only had a small colony in East Timor, but their power was relatively weak.The Dutch are the rulers of the East Indies. Logically speaking, they should also be the guardians of order in this area. Could it be that they still want to be a pirate?
However, if they really did, it would run counter to the Dutch's commitment to making Batavia the largest trade center in the region.

"Leave him alone!" Cao Xiong waved his hand, "From now on, we just need to be more careful on the road."

The fleet regrouped slightly and continued to sail towards Batavia along the planned route.However, around late afternoon, the fleet heard rumbling guns from a distance.Three or four miles ahead, three large Western ships were engaged in a fierce chase.

(End of this chapter)