"Second Master, it's a really good day today. It's rare to have such a good day in winter. I'll ask the brothers below to bring some seafood over in a while, and I'll drink two cups with you. In the future, our Daming Shui

You still have to carry the teacher."

"Brother said that if the boiler can be moved to the ship, a warship made of steel can be built. With this thing, I can lead the fleet to fight all the way to the horizon. I heard that those people on the horizon have red beards and blue heads.

Eyes."

"With a red beard and blue eyes, isn't that a ghost? Second Master, please don't scare me. Can an iron guy float on the sea?"

"It's really possible. My eldest brother mentioned it at that time. I made a tin basin and it didn't sink to the bottom when I threw it into the water. I never missed what my eldest brother said. Sometimes it feels strange. My eldest brother has lived with us in the village since he was a child.

How do you know so much?"

"Second Master! Someone down there is chewing his tongue and saying...!" Chen Laohu looked outside with a sly look, and his voice slowly lowered.

"What are you chewing on?"

"The people below say that this world was brought down by the commander-in-chief and his people. They started fighting against the Tatars and have been fighting until they destroyed the Jinling Nanming puppet court. So this world should be conquered by the commander-in-chief. It seems like that or something

...Zhao...Zhao Kuangyin."

"Who dares to talk such nonsense? You have to control the nonsense below. I know you all have plans in your stomach, but you have to listen to the big brother's wishes for this kind of thing."

"That's what the brothers below are saying. I'm just saying it. Second Master! I also think that since this world was conquered by the general, why can't the general do it? How can that baby on the dragon throne be the emperor?

Not to mention that we are not convinced, our brothers in the army are not convinced either."

"Does the Army also say the same thing?"

"Yes! What the Marine Corps brothers said when they came back can't be false!"

"Don't say these words from now on. Wait until elder brother orders you to say anything else."

"No, Second Master! Hey...! Second Master, what do you think that is?" Chen Laohu looked outside the Jian Bridge and suddenly noticed black spots appearing on the sea level in the distance.

Following the direction of Chen Laohu's finger, Li Xiu raised the telescope. It was too far away to see clearly, but these black spots did not look like merchant ships. Merchant ships were not of such a large scale, and these black spots were probably thirty years old.

Multiple ships. Looking at the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, and the Japanese Kingdom, no one has a fleet of such large ships.

"Second Master, it looks like a battleship to me." Chen Laohu muttered after looking at it for a long time.

"Warships? No, these are big ships. They are bigger than their ships. If they are warships, whose ships are they? Zheng Zhilong is a small ship, and there is no such big warship."

"Japan? Korea?"

"It's not like that! They can't afford such a large fleet. It costs more than 100,000 taels of silver to build a five-masted ship."

"Who could that be?"

The two people were guessing when suddenly a plume of smoke appeared in the distance.

"Second Master, something is wrong. There are boats in front of those boats, and they are chasing those boats. Look, one of the boats has already caught fire."

"The ship that caught fire is the flag of Zheng Zhilong. Who is so bold as to dare to do something on the East China Sea? Do you think that I, Li Xiu, am dead?"

"Second Master, they have more than 20 ships, and we only have two. And their ships are also very big, they seem to be bigger than ours. We'd better get out of the way!" The distance was getting closer, Chen Laohu

After taking one look at the size of the fleet on the opposite side, my heart began to beat.

"Are you scared? We're scared! We have explosive bombs on our ship. What can they have on their ship? A big iron ball? How powerful can that thing be!" Li Xiu now looked down upon the navies of other countries. How dare he?

Coming to the East China Sea to cause trouble is just out of boredom.

Explosive bombs and the big iron balls of ordinary artillery are completely different things. The former is devastating to ships, but the latter is facing a warship with watertight compartments. Even if it hits ten or twenty shots, it will still be a hit.

Warships may not sink.

"Second Master is right, our cannons have a long range and the ship is fast, so fuck him, son of a bitch."

"Turn the rudder to the left, take advantage of the wind, and meet the enemy on the side." Li Xiu put down the telescope and immediately ordered to turn the rudder.

The bow of the ship beat waves, and the ship began to raise the sail. The battleship suddenly accelerated, the bow cut deeply into the water, and then raised high, breaking the mountain-like waves. It sailed towards the battleship in the distance!

"Mr. Wu, the gunpowder you prepared is indeed good. The power of the cannonballs is much greater. In the past, if you wanted to blow up a warship like this, one shot would not be enough."

"Hehehe! Mr. George, this is the classic recipe of our Ming Dynasty. You will not suffer any loss in this business." Wu Sangui looked at the sinking warship with a smile.

"The United Kingdom came to the Far East this time to teach the proud Ming Dynasty a lesson. The duck fillet trade is the main commodity of our East India Company, and your Ming Dynasty dared to ban the duck fillet trade. Her Majesty the Queen ordered me, George Yilu, to lead the fleet

When I came to the Far East, I wanted to use powerful warships to blast open the country of Ming Dynasty. Let you accept products like duck slices!" George Yilu looked at the burning warships in the distance with a fierce look in his eyes.

Half a month ago, they attacked the Mawei Shipyard in Fujian. Using the new gunpowder provided by Wu Sangui, they successfully blew up all the warships in Mawei Port. The fleet that Zheng Zhilong had worked hard to build for several years was completely destroyed in one afternoon.

Today they chased the warships that escaped from Mawei all the way to the East China Sea, and finally sank the last warship. From then on, the Zheng family fleet roaming the South China Sea was no longer a problem. East India Company ships could easily pass through

Strait, there is no need to pay the Zheng family a fortune.

Moreover, the cargo ships of the East India Company can also transport duck fillets directly to the coast of Ming Dynasty. The coast of Daming is so large that it is impossible for the officials of Ming Dynasty to close all ports. There are always channels to transport duck fillets to the shore for sale.

Wu Sangui smiled, and he had seen it clearly in Java for more than a year. The silk, tea, and exquisite porcelain produced by the Ming Dynasty were all liked by these barbarians. But nothing of theirs could be sold to the Ming Dynasty. Every year

The cargo of the ship traveled across the ocean and was transported to the far west, where it was exchanged for piles of silver.

This kind of loss-making business will sooner or later empty out the treasury of the Far West. With no other choice, the East India Company could only sell duck fillets to the Ming Dynasty to earn huge profits. But the Zheng family allowed everything to be trafficked, but they just refused.

The East India Company's request for trafficking duck fillets. Just three years ago, the Zheng family burned five opium ships at sea. This incident completely angered the United Kingdom. Their queen sent the best Royal Navy generals to listen.

It is said that George Yilu, who was still a royal family, led a fleet to the Far East in order to open the door to the Ming Dynasty.

Force them to accept the duck fillet trade! The most profitable product of the East India Company and even the United Kingdom.

"Unidentified warship spotted ahead!" the lookout post suddenly shouted loudly.

Yilu immediately picked up his telescope and looked in the direction pointed by the lookout post. Sure enough, two huge five-masted ships appeared on the sea level. They looked like Dutch warships, and they were approaching quickly with full sails.

I heard that the Netherlands spent all its efforts on an expedition to the East a few years ago, but in the end it sank in the East, and not a single warship returned to Europe. Since then, the Netherlands has declined, and its maritime supremacy has also been lost to Her Majesty the Queen.

replaced by the Kingdom of Great Britain.

"The Dutch ships don't seem so friendly to us. Prepare to fight!" Yi Lu put down the telescope and ordered his men to prepare for battle.

"Mr. George, this is not a Dutch warship. It is a Dutch warship captured by the Ming Dynasty. They are personally commanded by the younger brother of the ruler of the Ming Dynasty. Be careful of them. Their artillery is very advanced and the range is very long. And

...They also use blooming cannonballs!"

"Her Majesty's Royal Navy is not afraid of any enemy." George Yilu looked into the distance proudly. It was this fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. He did not think that the Ming people in front of him were more powerful than the Armada.

"If you can defeat these two ships, then you will have severely damaged the Ming Navy. As far as I know, the Ming Navy only has five such warships. The remaining small ships are not even as good as Zheng Zhilong's fleet and are not worthy of fear.

"Wu Sangui saw George Yilu's confidence and immediately encouraged him to rush over and kill the two ships.

He was 80% sure that Li Xiu was on one of the battleships.

As long as Li Xiu is killed, it is equivalent to taking off one of Li Xiao's arms. As long as it can make Li Xiao unhappy, Wu Sangui is willing to do it. Moreover, killing these two battleships has only advantages and no disadvantages for him.

George Yilu's confidence is very reasonable, because he is only leading the fleet's clippers. The remaining main force of the fleet is still on the coast of Fujian. The size of the entire fleet has reached one hundred ships. This time the Kingdom of Great Britain has also been conquered.

It costs a lot of money, but compared to resuming the duck fillet trade and earning a lot of silver, it is worth paying any price.

The British battleship quickly seized the upper hand and got into battle formation.

"The enemy is well-trained! Second Master, you have to be careful." Chen Laohu held the binoculars and saw the movements of the opponent's fleet. The opponent's fleet's quick response surprised him. This navy is absolutely well-trained.

white.

"They are quite good at measuring range!" Li Xiu said with a sullen face. He also felt that the navy opposite him was different. It was not just the number of their warships, but also their tactical movements. This was definitely a professional navy, and

Very powerful. Far from comparable to those pirates!

"Five thousand meters!" the ranging soldier reported loudly.

"Across the hull, fire a salvo!" Five thousand meters, this distance can already meet the requirements for artillery fire, but the distance is relatively far and the hit rate is not high. Therefore, Li Xiu used a salvo of artillery fire on one side of the ship. This can

It effectively increases the probability of hitting. It is no joke to hit one of the explosive bullets.

The warship quickly turned to the left rudder, and the huge hull pressed against the waves. The sides of the ship full of gun ports were exposed. The calculation soldiers took the shortest time to take aim. Following the officer's order, twenty copper tube cannons fired at the same time.

There was a loud noise, and the shells flew toward the opposite warship with a whistle.

George Yilu looked a little disdainful when he saw the opposing warship passing sideways. He didn't believe that the opponent's cannonballs could hit as far as five thousand meters. Even if they could hit such a distance, the hit rate of the cannonballs was frighteningly low.

Let them fire the first round first, and your warships need to stay calm. Take advantage of the opponent's opportunity to load the shells, and lead the fleet to pounce on them. There are only two warships, and just one salvo can turn them into pieces.

George Yilu's confidence had not lasted more than two minutes when a huge explosion was heard from the third warship on his right side. Two shells accurately hit the warship, and the shells easily shattered the wooden side of the ship.

One of them went directly into the gunpowder magazine. The huge explosion directly blew the battleship into two pieces.

Countless fragments fell from the sky like rain, causing countless splashes on the sea.

"Damn it!"

"I warned you, Mr. George."

"Turn sideways over the ship and fire." Naturally, George Yilu would not suffer this dumb loss. He was very surprised when he lost a battleship just after the battle started. The opponent was indeed not a fuel-efficient light. The range of the artillery was so far, and it was still

Can accurately hit your own battleship.

Nineteen warships quickly crossed the hull. Under the urging of the officers, the gunners quickly took aim. With a roar, cannonballs like raindrops flew towards the Ming warships.

In naval battles, by crossing the hull of the ship, the power of the side string cannon can naturally be exerted. However, there is also a drawback. Exposing the side string increases the area of ​​the hull, which naturally also increases the probability of being hit.

"Bang!" Li Xiu felt the ship's hull shake, and then another shake.

Although Li Xiu ordered the warship to sail in a zigzag, three shells still hit the hull. Smoke billowed from the left side of the ship, and the screams of the injured sailors were heartbreaking. Fortunately, the warship's gunpowder magazine was below the waterline.
To be continued...