However, the beautiful scenery was fleeting. The setting sun, which had just dyed half of the sky red, sank to the bottom of the lake less than a minute later, and finally the sky turned dark.

"It might be a little rough tonight!"

After Felai watched the sky turn dark, he suddenly said this.

The veterans around him did not take it seriously. They all felt that he was too young to take charge of them. He was not mature enough and had little knowledge. It was just because of his brother-in-law's face that he usually did not dare to raise objections on the spot.

It's possible that Feilai didn't notice it, but he didn't bother to pay attention or explain anything.

He was born in a military major, and many of the battle cases he read in class were vaguely similar to the situation at hand, but he couldn't really tell the details. He just felt that the lake was a little too quiet.

Most of those who lead troops in war are superstitious about their intuition or what is called their sixth sense.

The sixth sense reminded Felai that something might happen tonight.

"Notify everyone, including the soldiers on the barge, to be on alert tonight, as water bandits may attack." As the platoon leader and the squad leader on duty, he finally issued the order.

The signalmen on the deck signaled the soldiers on the barge.

An old soldier touched his head and said doubtfully:

"Platoon... Platoon leader, haven't the water bandits been repulsed? Will they attack at night?"

"Who knows? I feel like things are not that simple. These water bandits won't give up so easily. Anyway, we are sailing a thousand-year-old ship carefully, and it is always right to be on guard!"

These veterans had a rebellious mentality and did not take Felai's concerns seriously. However, the military orders were overwhelming, so they had no choice but to silently follow the orders of their superiors and start strengthening inspections.

Compared with land defense, the scope of the ship is much smaller. There are lookout posts on the ship tower. You only need to place a few warning posts at key positions such as the bow and stern of the ship.

After nightfall, a large cargo ship with a trailer on the empty sea was slowly moving towards its destination like a python.

On the lake about 300 meters to the left of the fleet, under the cover of darkness, a dozen speedboats were chasing the freighter from behind at high speed.

"Fifth Master, do we really want to go against Fengzhong Mining?"

On the boat, a small boss looked nervously at the fifth leader next to him.

"What are you afraid of? What happened to Fengzhong Mining? Lord Long said that after we finish this job, the Japanese people will invest a lot of money and send us cannons and firearms. The Japanese people are willing to pay a big price for these seven or eight thousand tons of coal.

And this giant ship and barge, as long as we can get it, we will make a fortune, hehe!"

"Okay, let's follow Master Wu's arrangements!"

"..."

The dark night became the best cover. The lights on the freighter were brightly lit, and several searchlights were constantly patrolling the sea area around the freighter.

In an emergency, you have to be cautious in everything you do. Any inattention may give gangsters an opportunity to take advantage of you.

A dozen speedboats led by Master Wu quickly passed the cargo ship Orchid and met up with the water bandit team ambushing ahead.

There are two large gunboats converted from sail barges, three large fishing boats, and a dozen speedboats.

The men and horses from both sides gathered together, and in total there were more than 200 water bandits, 30 speedboats, two artillery boats, and three armed fishing boats.

Each artillery ship was equipped with old-style French rapid-fire cannons, five on each side, ten in total, and its firepower was not weak.

This kind of Furlong machine gun first appeared on Dutch pirate ships in the late Ming Dynasty. Later, some people used the Furlong machine gun in land warfare.

The early Fran cannons did not have optical sights or scales for conversion coefficients between ranging and firing angles. The gunner's bombardment was completely estimated based on experience. Generally, the accuracy was very poor, and it was incomparable with today's Western gunboats.

"Fifth Master, did Master Long really let us rob this fleet? This Fengzhong escort team is quite evil. I just heard that they knocked over several speedboats with rifles!"

Before the action, this group of water bandits were still a little worried. After all, some people had seen their real skills, and they even carried light and heavy machine guns. These things were not just for free.

The leader named Wu Ye was the fifth master of the Dongting Lake Yunze Gang. He smiled contemptuously, looked at everyone around him and said:

"What are you afraid of? With so many speedboats and gunboats, we defeated these birdmen. Mr. Long said that as long as the Orchid freighter and barge are seized, 30% of the ransom will go to us participants, who are the first to board

Those who board the freighter will be rewarded with a thousand silver coins, and those who board the barge will be rewarded with a hundred silver coins."

"good…"

The eyes of a group of water bandits suddenly lit up after hearing this.

People die for money, and birds die for food. Isn't it just for money that you come out to be a bandit?

There is a saying that there must be a brave man under a heavy reward!

"Okay, I'll join!"

"I'll join in too!"

"..."

This is a group of utopian organizations. Although they all belong to various branches of the Yunze Gang, many of them are scattered on different islands. When something happens, they give centralized orders, and when they get results, they share the spoils.

Now, a consensus has been formed that everyone should work together to rob the Orchid freighter in the dark.

Now that we have left the lake, if we return empty-handed, we will have to chew on the soil again during this period, and we will have to shoot the arrow on the string.

"Set off!"

Following Master Wu's order, the ships of the bandits began to accelerate and dispersed to the left and right sides of the Orchid.

It is pitch black on the lake at night, and it is very easy for ships to get lost while sailing. However, the lights on a large cargo ship are like a beacon in the night, allowing these water bandits to clearly see their target.

Several speedboats accelerated on the left side of the Orchid. When they passed the freighter about 150 meters away, the two speedboats began to separate from the position where they were connected, and one of the speedboats crossed diagonally to the right.

The water bandits on the speedboat were dragging something like a large fishing net, which they had thrown into the lake.

After the separation, the speedboats headed toward the freighter, while iron blocks hung under the large nets began to sink rapidly toward the lake.

This is the most common method used by water bandits in Dongting Lake to rob motorized cargo ships. After using the large fishing net with this characteristic to entangle the propeller of the ship, the cargo ship will naturally lose power and stop in place.

If one net failed, they were prepared with a second net and a third net until the propeller was entangled.

The propellers of wheeled cargo ships are mostly installed on the centerline of the stern. Two speedboats drag large fishing nets and slide along the contour from the bottom of the bow to the stern, and nine out of ten times they can successfully cover the propeller.

The freighter Orchid is driven by a steam wheel. There are two boilers on the ship. The propellers are made of alloy steel. They are very large, but they are most afraid of being entangled in fishing nets and the like.

In order to effectively stop the freighter, the large net wrapped around the oars generally does not exceed 60 meters.

Because after it exceeds 60 meters, the resistance generated by the large net falling into the water will cause the speedboat to capsize.
Chapter completed!