Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 189 Fire Suppression

Zeng Wulao had not slept well in the past two days. He was sent to Tongshan City by Zheng Zhilong the morning before yesterday, and he was strictly ordered to arrive at Gongqian Village that night to garrison.

But after Wuliting and Zheng Zhipeng separated, Zeng Wulao walked forward for more than ten miles. The sun was still hanging in the sky. More than ten of his thousand pirates were sitting on the roadside, unwilling to keep going.

Zeng Wulao originally wanted to order his trusted subordinates to tie up the dozen or so people and whip them, but all his subordinates persuaded him not to offend the public.

After all, the looting in Fujian was not as good as that in Guangdong. Zheng Zhilong had strict requirements for military discipline. It was rare for a big guy to go on a foreign mission. If he didn't let Lehe Lehe, it would be a bit disappointing.

Besides, Gongqian Village is too far away, and there is no enemy situation at the moment. It really forces all the men to rush all night. Even if there is no trouble, it will at least result in a lot of complaints. If they really encounter officers and soldiers, who will be willing to fight hard.

Zeng Wulao thought so, so he simply ordered the march to stop and asked the leaders to take their people to several surrounding villages to rest. At the same time, he repeatedly warned his men to restrain themselves and not to kill people at will, especially not to set fire to houses. As for other things, I can't care about that much.

While having dinner, Zheng Zhilong suddenly sent someone over, saying that Zhong Bin and Liu Xiang's troops had suffered a defeat in the sea, and urged Zeng Wulao to garrison in Gongqian Village as soon as possible. If officers and soldiers were allowed to go ashore within his defense area, they would be killed without mercy.

Zeng Wulao did not dare to neglect, and quickly sent people to gather the troops. As a result, it was easy to disperse the thousands of men, but difficult to gather them. It was not until the middle of the night that most of the people were gathered in.

He had no choice but to take the more than 700 people and set off first, leaving a few leaders to continue gathering the remaining 200 people, and strictly ordered them to arrive at Gongqian Village before noon tomorrow.

The next morning, enemy ships were seen at every sentry post. Zeng Wulao did not dare to disperse his men anymore, so he sent a team of people to collect water and food. The rest rested in a temple in Gongqian Village. On call.

Fortunately, no officers and soldiers landed that day, but the news from Tongshan City made Zeng Wulao dare not let down his guard. Yesterday's battle outside the sea actually cost thousands of people, and even Zhong Bin died in the battle.

Zeng Wulao didn't sleep well all night, and was awakened by slight noises several times. In the morning of the next day, enemy ships were discovered in Gongqian Bay for reconnaissance.

Now Zeng Wulao had basically determined the enemy's landing location, and he couldn't help but admire Zheng Zhilong's foresight. If he had not been sent to Gongqian Village in advance, he would have surely lost the opportunity to attack halfway across the border.

Sure enough, at noon, the sentry saw a fleet of nine ships heading towards Gongqian Bay. Zeng Wulao quickly led his troops to ambush in the woods, and finally fired the first round of salvo when Huiyou Company launched the landing operation. .

When the gunshots from the opposite side rang out, Lin Hai was still a little surprised. Although he was prepared for the worst case scenario, it was only just in case. Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhilong actually sent troops to the palace sixty miles away. Bay.

Several stray bullets fell on the deck of the Bowang. The maximum range of the Ming Dynasty three-coin gun shot from above was only 200 steps. Generally speaking, it could not kill anyone at this distance. But if unfortunately a stray bullet hits a vital part, you must die.

Lin Hai saw the stray bullets bouncing on the deck with his own eyes. He smiled and said to Wu Guoyi beside him: "This must be someone firing a cannon into the sky, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hit this far."

Wu Guoyi also laughed when he heard this: "Only after the first shot was fired, there were people beating randomly. It can be seen that Zheng thief's troops are just a bunch of rabble."

In actual combat in the black powder era, the first salvo of the firearms unit was often the most important. At this time, the ammunition was preloaded, the line of sight was not disturbed by the diffuse smoke, and the soldiers' minds were relatively stable.

Because of this, well-trained troops often wait until the enemy is close enough before firing their first shot, ensuring the highest hit rate for the first salvo.

This requires strong self-confidence and strict shooting discipline, because the opponent may use various tactics to induce you to shoot in advance. The defeat of Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng in Xiamen in the first game is a living example. "Commander, I think we can let the navy fire a round of artillery in the woods." Wu Guoyi continued.

"I think that's fine." Lin Hai nodded when he heard this, and then ordered the other six old lock boats, except the Bowang, to fire a broadside salvo at the woods filled with white smoke.

At this time, firing is purely blind, and the actual killing effect must be very limited. However, it is difficult to achieve strike efficiency with solid bullets in the field, and aiming on a ship is more difficult than on land.

Therefore, firing at the woods where the enemy is ambushing at this time is actually a kind of psychological oppression. Even if it fails to cause a large-scale collapse of the enemy, it can at least interfere with the loading and shooting of the enemy gunners. To a certain extent, it can be regarded as A kind of suppressive fire.

In accordance with the flag language agreed before the war, the Bowang raised the flag representing the salvo command. Forty broadside artillery pieces on the six old lock ships began to roar, and one after another six or seven kilogram shells roared towards the A forest shrouded in smoke.

Dongshan Island is at the southernmost tip of Fujian, and its latitude is close to the tropics. Thanks to the denseness of this forest, the killing effect of this round of shelling is still better than expected.

Several pine trees were hit by cannonballs, and the soft trunks were hit with sawdust flying, creating a shotgun-like effect. Soon more than a dozen pirates were hit.

These people were basically only seriously injured and would not die for a while. The continuous wailing sounds further amplified the panic effect. The gunmen who were loading the gun immediately began to rush around. Some people even dropped their firearms and started to move back. run.

"If you dare to howl again, I will send you to see the King of Hell." Zeng Wulao walked up to an injured boy with a knife, pointed the tip of the knife at the man's neck and said coldly.

This person was a close aide of Zeng Wulao and was originally a member of the supervising team. Since his position was relatively far back, he was unfortunately blinded by sawdust and was not fatally injured. At this time, he was rolling on the ground in pain.

After hearing what Zeng Wulao said, he quickly picked up a wooden stick, bit it tightly, raised his head and shook his head at Zeng Wulao.

Zeng Wulao lowered his head and glanced at this young man, and saw that indeed there was no sound coming from his pale lips, but the big beads of sweat were still flowing down his face mixed with blood.

"Anyone who retreats will be killed. If the injured brothers can't stop screaming, give them a good pleasure." Zeng Wulao ordered coldly, and the supervising team beside him suddenly accepted the order.

As the supervising team was dispatched, the order of Zheng Jun began to stabilize. But after such a chaos, the Jieyou Princess and Madam Feng had already docked.

Zeng Wulao saw from a distance that the two boats were hung with thick wet quilts and rawhide. These things had a certain defensive effect on lead bullets at long distances, so the salvo just now probably did not cause much damage. .

"Damn, this Lin Hai is really not simple. He actually expected that we would hit him halfway." Zeng Wulao regretted not letting the first round of guns be fired later.

He originally wanted to fire two rounds of musketry before the enemy ship docked, but was disrupted by a blind fire from the opposite artillery. Until then, he had not been able to organize a second round of volley.

At this time, the wet quilt on the bow of the Jieyou Princess was lifted, and several shields were exposed from behind the quilt.

(End of this chapter)