The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 245

At first, Jia Huan captured a total of six pirates who were responsible for sailing the ship. One of them died in the storm not long ago. Now there are only five left. When the soldiers shouted "Wan Sheng" excitedly, these five The pirate crouched in the corner cunningly with his head in his hands, looking at everyone with idiotic eyes.

It's no wonder that as pirates, they don't have much feelings for their family and country. Even if Jia Huan's words are ten times more impassioned, they won't be able to incite them. What's more, they have not forgotten their identity at the moment - prisoners.

At this time, Jia Huan stepped forward, kicked Zheng Sanxi's butt gently, and said in a commanding tone: "Roll on the ground, I will now promote you as their leader, fully responsible for driving the ship."

Zheng Sanxi was stunned when he heard this, pointed to his nostrils, and said in disbelief: "I...I? I am fully responsible? I am a pirate!"

Jia Huan said: "Nonsense, if you can't sail a boat, let alone a pirate, I won't hold you accountable even if you are the ancestor of a pirate."

Zheng Sanxi smiled and said: "What I mean is, Mr. Huan, do you trust me?"

Jia Huan said bluntly: "Of course I can't believe it, but I'm not worried. I've said something ugly before. Now that we are on the same boat, if we get shot, you must also know the consequences. So, if you don't want to die, just be fine." Come on, don’t play tricks!”

Zheng Sanxi smiled and said: "Haha...then...that can be done!"

Tiehu gently put the iron rod on Zheng Sanxi's shoulder and said murderously: "If you dare to play tricks, I'll knock you on the head."

Hey, Tiehu's iron rod weighs eighty kilograms. He held it in his hand as if he were playing with it. Others thought it was ordinary, but it turned out to be scary once he got started. This was the case for Zheng Sanxi, who was hit by the iron rod on his shoulder. He was immediately pushed down and fell onto the deck. If Tiehu hadn't used his strength to hold it, his arm would have been dislocated by this bump.

Zheng Sanxi was horrified, and the other four pirates were secretly shocked when they saw this.

"Haha, Mr. Hu, don't worry. I will never dare to play tricks. Just as Mr. Huan said, we are in the same boat. If we play tricks, we will be making fun of our own lives." Zheng Sanxi said with a smile, My heart is still beating wildly, tsk tsk, if this iron rod hits my head, it will really bloom immediately.

Jia Huan nodded and said: "It's good to know. Get up and sail the boat well. If you capture the western boat, I can plead with the governor and absolve you of your sins. Your past deeds will also be wiped out. You can go back to your hometown to live normally in the future." ."

Zheng Sanxi and the other five pirates were all overjoyed when they heard this. Hey, this is a real benefit. They quickly said that they would do their best to sail the ship and help Jia Huan defeat the red-haired foreigners on the opposite side.

At that moment, the five pirates all showed their special skills. Zheng Sanxi was responsible for steering the helm, and the other four were responsible for adjusting the sails. Soon, the three-masted ship turned in a direction and sailed diagonally about two miles away from the Western ship. Its stern avoids the broadsides where fire is concentrated.

Seeing this, Jia Huan nodded secretly. Although this guy likes to brag, he does have some real skills. He didn't instruct Zheng Sanxi to do this just now. It was the other party who took the initiative to take this evasive action. This shows that this guy does have experience.

At this time, the Western ship on the opposite side fired again. Two shells roared in, but they both hit the sea behind the three-masted ship.

Today's artillery is not a perfect missile for future generations. The range and hit rate of artillery in the 17th century are not even as good as modern mortars. Especially on the sea, the hull continues to rise and fall with the waves, which also seriously affects the accuracy of the artillery shells.

Jia Huan is an archeology major. He once specialized in the development history of firearms in China and the West during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. I remember one of the documents mentioned that the hit rate of ship-based artillery at that time was only about 45%. In other words In short, it takes a hundred rounds to get four or five hits, which is basically random cannon. Therefore, in order to make up for the shortcomings of low hit rate, Western gunboats will set up a large number of artillery to cover the strike with intensive firepower.

For example, at that time, Western maritime powers such as the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal all built first-class battleships equipped with more than a hundred guns. They were simply ruthless gunboats armed to the teeth. Once fired, they would carry out carpet bombing and destroy the sky. Like destroying the ground, it instantly exploded the enemy ship into pieces.

However, such a battleship was too huge, weighing thousands of tons, had poor stability, and was very slow. There were no steam engines at that time, and it was impossible for an ocean-going ship to be driven only by wind power, so it never appeared on the coast of the great Eastern countries. Otherwise, one or two bows would be enough to dominate the Pacific Ocean.

Nowadays, most of the Western ships appearing along the coast of Dajin are third- and fourth-level cruisers, or armed merchant ships, equipped with dozens of cannons. Armed merchant ships need to make room to load cargo, so the number of cannons they are equipped with will increase. There are relatively few, about twenty or thirty, while regular third- and fourth-level warships have more than fifty.

Now what Jia Huan and others are facing is an armed merchant ship with less than 30 guns on board, and all the sails were damaged in the storm and completely lost power. It is estimated that there will not be too many people on board. After all, it is Merchant ships must save labor costs.

Because of this, Jia Huan dared to choose to launch an attack, otherwise he would have been a hero and would not have suffered the immediate loss - his feet were greased. After all, face is important, but he only has one life!

Let's get back to the subject, let's say that Zheng Sanxi's skills are indeed excellent. He keeps circling the Western ship, and the radius of the circle is slowly shrinking, which means that the distance between the two ships is gradually getting closer.

Boom boom boom...

The Western-style ship could not move, so it could only fire continuously in an attempt to sink the ship of Jia Huan and others, but unfortunately they failed. The hit rate of the artillery shells was already low. In addition, the enemy ships were constantly moving, and the setting sun had completely set. Once the eyes were darkened, it became even more inaccurate.

After circling the Western-style ship twice, Jia Huan finally figured out the opponent's firepower arrangement. There were twelve cannons on each side of the ship, and only one at the bow and stern. However, they were all more powerful heavy cannons. Just listening to that Just look at the terrifying sound of gunfire.

At this time, a bright moon rose from the sea level. It was big and round. Under the cold moonlight, one could see the outline of a Western ship in the distance. At this moment, the three-masted ship was still about a mile away from the Western ship, and it continued to circle around it. However, the frequency of the Western ship's cannon fire was obviously much lower. It was either because the ammunition was almost consumed, or because Jia Huan and others had seen through it. strategy, so start saving ammo.

"Third Master, the distance is not that far now. Why don't we choose a group of brothers who are good at swimming and hold the planks to swim over and attack them. This would be too tiring." Dai Shilin suggested.

Jia Huan decisively refused: "No, the opponent's ship is big, and the side of the ship is almost three meters high from the water. It is difficult to attack. Even if we can barely attack, it will be difficult to stand firm. We will just sacrifice the lives of our brothers in vain and lose money on our business." If you can't do it, wait a little longer. When the distance is closer, our artillery will be able to reach them."

When Dai Shilin and all the soldiers heard this, they all felt warm in their hearts. To put it bluntly, love is relative. A general who loves his soldiers as his sons will naturally be supported by the soldiers.

The three-masted ship circled the Western ship again, but as the distance got closer and closer, the possibility of being hit by the opponent's artillery also greatly increased. Zheng Sanxi, who was standing at the bow of the ship at the helm, was also nervous at this moment. He stared wide-eyed at Bean, looking left and right, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Not long ago, a cannonball passed over his head, and the terrifying roar made his eardrums still buzz. As soon as he lay down subconsciously, he got kicked on the butt.

Iron Tiger held an iron rod and stood behind him like an iron tower. His eyes were as wide as a copper bell and emitted a faint cold light as he shouted: "Get up and take the helm."

Zheng Sanxi thought about it and felt that Tiehu's iron rod was the greater threat to his head, so he had to stand up and continue to steer.

Although Jia Huan rejected Dai Shilin's suggestion, the latter's suggestion also gave him an idea, so he ordered people to dismantle part of the deck, pour kerosene on it, light it, and throw it all into the sea. Soon, there were more people on the sea. There were many torches. At first glance, Li Yuan thought that there were many small boats released here, preparing to launch a siege.

Sure enough, the Western ship was fooled, and the already sparse cannon fire became denser in vain.

Boom, boom, boom...

In the dark night, the muzzles on the side of the Western-style ship spurted flames one after another, and the fierce shells roared in, blasting water columns on the sea surface one after another, extinguishing many burning wooden boards. Seeing this, Jia Huan secretly called him lucky. It seemed that the opponent still had a lot of ammunition. At this moment, there were faint cheers from the western ships in the distance. He was probably celebrating the destruction of many small ships.

"Haha, let them be happy again!" Dai Shilin ordered people to throw more lit boards into the sea.

Boom, boom, boom...

The artillery on the Western ship continued to roar, and a red-bearded foreigner who looked like a leader observed it with a monocular telescope for a while, his face gradually became ugly, and suddenly shouted: "Stop, we have been fooled."

At this time, the first mate next to him ran over, took the telescope and observed it for a while, and couldn't help but said rudely: "Son of a bitch, it's all made of wooden boards. These yellow-skinned monkeys are too cunning."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden flash of fire in the darkness on the opposite side, followed by a bang. Redbeard and the first mate hurriedly got down. A shell roared through the air and landed on the water about thirty meters near the Western-style ship. There was a big splash of water.

It turned out that Jia Huan ordered the cannon to be fired. At this moment, the distance between the two was only about three hundred meters, and the range of the bowl-mouth cannon was barely within reach.

"Damn it!" Redbeard got up and cursed angrily, shouting: "Fire the cannon and kill these yellow-skinned monkeys!"

"Boss, we don't have much ammunition." The foreman called out nervously.

Redbeard's heart couldn't help but sink, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Don't worry about the damn ammunition, the enemy is coming up soon, fire for me and crush them."

"Okay boss!" The gunners started to operate, and the cannons on the ship roared again, boom boom boom...

At this distance, there is no need for telescopes. With the clear moonlight, each other can clearly see each other's ship, and even the movement on the deck can be seen clearly.

"Haha, hit, ten points!" Redbeard suddenly waved his arm vigorously and laughed wildly with pride.

It was indeed a hit. One shell hit the stern of the three-masted ship, directly punching a big hole in the deck. In an instant, wood chips flew into the air, and several nearby soldiers were also blown to pieces. It was terrible!

The hull of the ship suddenly shook, and Jia Huan stumbled and fell to the ground. When he got up, the hull of the ship obviously tilted slightly, and a shrill scream could be heard in his ears.

"Third Master, we were hit. Three brothers were killed and four injured." Dai Shilin rushed over to report with red eyes.

Jia Huan said in a deep voice: "Don't panic, is there water?"

Dai Shilin looked pale and nodded: "There is a hole in the side, just near the waterline."

Jia Huan's heart sank instantly, and he gritted his teeth and shouted: "It's rolling all over the floor, and it will hit you directly."

Zheng Sanxi trembled and said, "Collision?"

Tiehu slammed the iron rod and shouted: "Stop talking nonsense, just hit Mr. Huan whenever he wants."

"Damn it, let's fight!" Zheng Sanxi suddenly turned the rudder and hit the Western-style ship.

On the Western ship over there, Redbeard and the first mate were so frightened that they saw the enemy ship ram directly into them, and shouted: "Fire, fire!"

"Boss, there are no more shells!" the gunner shouted helplessly.

boom……

At this time, the bowl-mouthed cannon on the opposite side showed its power, and a shell roared in, scaring Red Beard and others into hurriedly lying down.

The distance of two to three hundred meters was almost reached in the blink of an eye. Just when the two ships were still about a hundred meters apart, Zheng Sanxi's guy hit the rudder hard, and the bow that had been heading straight towards the Western ship suddenly turned around, making a beautiful "drift" , the two ships slowly became ship side to ship side.

"Hit!" Jia Huan shouted, and the musketeers and crossbowmen on the ship immediately opened fire.

Bang bang bang... whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Lead bullets and sharp arrows poured towards the opponent's ship from a distance of dozens of meters, and the foreigners on the opposite side also raised their guns to fight back.

bang...

There was a sudden earthquake in the hull. It turned out that the two ships had finally collided with each other. Due to Zheng Sanxi's superb sailing skills, the impact was not very strong and the ship's side was only slightly damaged.

All the soldiers on the ship had been holding back their anger for a long time. However, they were suffering from inferior artillery and had been passively beaten. Just now they were hit by another bullet, killing three brothers and wounding four others. At this time, they saw the ship approaching. As soon as they got together, they were like a group of tigers coming down the mountain. Without any mobilization, they jumped over the boat and started slashing with their swords. The Westerners were killed until they cried for their fathers and screamed for their mothers, and ran away with their heads in their hands.

bang bang bang...

The sound of gunfire was like popping beans, and the fierce battle lasted less than two minutes before someone was heard shouting in blunt Chinese: "Don't fight, don't fight, we surrender secretly, we surrender secretly!"

Tiehu had just jumped onto the Western-style ship carrying the iron bar and was about to start a killing spree. Hearing this, he couldn't help but spit on the ground and cursed: "Foreign devils really don't deserve to be beaten!"

(End of this chapter)