Zhou Lie, wearing a large cloak, stood on the roof of the warship's cabin, looking south.
The Liaodong Navy owned two Sea Falcon ships, which were also the most elite warships in the Tang Dynasty.
The shape of the sea falcon boat is low at the head and high at the tail, with a large front and a small back. The shape actually imitates a seabird that is good at cutting through the wind and waves, and is suitable for paddling on the waves.
The warship is equipped with floating plates on the left and right sides, which can stabilize the ship in wind and waves, block side waves, reduce the lateral sway of the hull, and make it stable in rough seas.
In addition, iron plates were installed on both sides of the ship to enhance its protective capabilities, and a sharp iron tip was installed on the bow to attack enemy ships.
This kind of sea falcon ship is naturally expensive, and the craftsmanship to build it is also very complicated. It is not comparable to ordinary ships.
When Zhou Lie took charge of the Liaodong Navy, he had great ambitions. He once thought that if he could own fifteen such Falcon warships, he would be enough to become the most powerful navy in the world. From then on, the Bohai navy could only
Always huddled within the harbor.
But reality slapped him hard in the face.
The cost of naval forces is much higher than that of land troops. The cost of maintaining a Falcon warship with less than 260 men is even more expensive than an army of 800 elite cavalry. If according to Zhou Lie's
Imagine that if the Donghai Navy builds fifteen warships and maintains them all year round, the annual military expenditure will be no less than a cavalry regiment of ten thousand people.
This is of course something that the Liaodong Army cannot accept.
If Wang Xingchao had not appreciated Zhou Lie and understood that the Liaodong Army could not even have a maritime force, and had given Zhou Lie certain support, otherwise the Liaodong Navy would probably not have been able to maintain even a single Sea Falcon warship.
Today, the Liaodong Navy has less than twenty large and small warships, including two Sea Falcon warships and five medium-sized warships. The rest are all small warships that can only maintain order in the offshore.
Many of these warships are too old, and they are just fine for cruising in the coastal waters. However, they may not be able to protect themselves when they go to the open sea. Therefore, there are only four warships that can really go to the open sea, two sea falcons and two medium-sized warships.
Boat.
However, the Liaodong Navy has rules. Unless absolutely necessary, two Sea Falcon ships cannot leave the port at the same time. One Sea Falcon ship must be moored in the harbor at all times to protect the port.
After planning this time, Wang Xingchao and Zhou Lie set up a trap to lure the snake out of its hole, using merchant ships to lure out the pirates, and then took advantage of the situation to attack and capture them.
After the two merchant ships set off from Hangzhou Bay, Zhou Lie had been paying attention to their movements. In fact, after the merchant ships arrived in the designated sea area, they had already sent out signals to Zhou Lie, and the three warships led by Zhou Lie had also been in the north.
Hidden and followed in the sea area, until the pirates took the bait and the merchant ship sent a signal, they immediately attacked.
Among the three warships, the two medium-sized warships are Changfeng and Changyun. They are also one of the few warships in the Liaodong Navy that can be used for long-sea operations. The main warship is naturally the Sea Falcon ship Tianying.
Number.
In this operation, if the pirates don't show up, the plan will be successful as long as they show up.
With the strength of these three warships, no pirate group on the sea can be an opponent.
The total number of officers, soldiers and sailors on the warship exceeds 500, which is already half of the Liaodong Navy.
Although there are not too many people, each of them is an elite sailor who has been trained for a long time and has extremely strong combat effectiveness. After all, the navy has a small establishment. Zhou Lie is naturally extremely strict in selecting soldiers. Regardless of water quality or combat effectiveness, if they do not meet the strict requirements
Even if you ask for it, you won't be able to enter the Navy.
Of course, capturing a few pirate ships was not Zhou Lie's personal purpose.
For him, since he took action personally, he must completely annihilate this group of pirates.
To capture the thief and capture the king, no matter how many minions are captured, it is not as good as capturing the bandit leader.
After the signal was sent from the merchant ship, although Zhou Lie immediately ordered to approach the merchant ship, he did not let the several warships move forward at full speed.
Zhou Lie naturally understands the principle of playing a long game to catch big fish.
The pirates were lured out, but this group of pirates was very smart. When they realized something was wrong, they immediately turned around and fled. This was exactly the result Zhou Lie wanted to see.
There is no doubt that the pirates turned around and fled. Naturally, they realized that they had been trapped. In panic, they only became more frightened when they saw a ship chasing behind them.
In this case, this group of pirates is likely to flee towards their lair.
After Zhou Lie received the news that the merchant ship had been robbed last time, he naturally pointed his suspicion at the Taihu Navy. Both he and Wang Xingchao knew that if the leader of this pirate group could be caught, Long Ruijun could be implicated in the interrogation confession.
, then the Liaodong Army will unite and make a name for itself.
With the evidence that Qin Xiao colluded with the Taihu navy to rob merchant ships, even if the imperial court did not take measures against Qin Xiao, it would not risk the disapproval of the world and continue to support Long Rui's army, which colluded with the pirates.
For the Liaodong Army, as long as Long Rui's army does not have the support of the imperial court, it will definitely lose.
Zhou Lie's purpose is very simple. The best result is to find the pirate's lair and capture the bandit leader.
Even if they can't find the lair, they still want to come out to rob the bandit leader this time.
According to the information obtained last time, this group of pirates has at least fourteen or five ships and a bandit force of four to five hundred people. Such a force must have a stronghold on the sea.
There are many islands on the sea, and of course Zhou Lie cannot search them one by one. It is almost impossible to completely search all the islands on the sea, so the best way is of course to let the pirates expose their lairs themselves.
"General, the merchant ship has separated!" A general next to Zhou Lie raised his hand and said alertly.
Zhou Lie looked calm and said calmly: "The pirates' teams separated, and Jiang Tu also ordered the merchant ships to separate and pursue them." He put a hand on the side of the ship and said, "He wants to kill all the pirates."
"General, should we divide our forces?"
"Show the flag and ask where the boat flying the python flag is going."
Soon, the sailors on the mast used torches to play flags, and not long after, they heard the report: "General, the python flag is fleeing to the southeast."
Zhou Lie ordered: "Give me the order. The three warships are chasing to the southeast and are not allowed to act without authorization. Tell Jiang Tu to let his ship keep an eye on the python flag. There is no need to rush to attack. Just follow behind.
OK, keep your distance on purpose."
The three warships pursued in the southeast direction.
Zhou Lie never despises anyone when facing enemies.
He naturally also knew the reputation of Taihu King Linghuxuan. He heard that Linghuxuan was the king in Taihu Lake, with tens of thousands of people under his command, and nearly a thousand boats of different sizes. Although most of them were just small fishing boats, there were some who could participate.
Small battleship.
After all, the Taihu Navy were fishermen. Although the imperial court used the Taihu Navy to restrain Jiangnan families, it was impossible for Linghu Xuan to really build a huge warship. Otherwise, once the Taihu Army really possessed a large number of warships, then
But the tail is too big to fall off.
Zhou Lie judged that these thieves were probably Taihu Navy soldiers in disguise.
But even so, the opponent's strength at sea is limited.
In fact, after suspecting the Taihu Navy, the Liaodong Army has already sent spies to keep an eye on the Taihu Navy. Since the last robbery, the Taihu Navy has been calm and has not made any movements. In addition, the Taihu Navy leads to
On the waterways of the East China Sea, the Liaodong Army also sent many spies to keep an eye on them, in order to prevent the Taihu Navy from secretly sending reinforcements to the sea.
The Taihu Navy had no ships to continue entering the East China Sea. Even though the Taihu Navy had already established a stronghold on the sea and did not receive military support from Taihu, Zhou Lie concluded that the strength of the pirates was definitely not strong.
To those pirates, the Sea Falcon ship was like a huge monster. Even if more than a dozen pirate ships appeared at the same time, the Sea Falcon ship would not be afraid at all. It would be like a tiger facing a dozen hunting dogs, fighting.
Even if it is impossible to be completely at the upper hand, it will not be at a disadvantage.
But in addition to the Tianying, there are also two warships, Changfeng Changyun. The strength of the three warships is enough to crush each other.
After chasing for more than twenty miles, the sailors on the watchtower suddenly heard a loud report: "General, a signal was sent from the merchant ship. A large ship suddenly appeared on the sea, also flying the python flag. It stopped in the sea and fled.
The pirate ship passed by the big ship, and the big ship seemed to be covering the retreat of other pirate ships." After a pause, he continued: "We are asked to speed up the reinforcements over there. The enemy ship on the opposite side has no intention of escaping.
It seems that they are going to fight us head-on."
Zhou Lie frowned, and the generals around him said in surprise: "Why do the pirates dare to fight head-on when they know we have reinforcements here? Are they seeking death? Or do they not know that the reinforcements are the navy?"
Zhou Lie pondered for a moment and finally said: "Give me the order and move forward at full speed."
The three warships immediately accelerated their speed and moved straight forward, cutting through the waves. The Aquila was like a giant beast on the sea, staring at the prey, opening its bloody mouth, trying to swallow the prey in one bite.
As we got closer and closer to the merchant ship, we suddenly saw the fire on the mast of the merchant ship suddenly extinguished, which was very sudden.
Zhou Lie's face darkened, and his keen intuition immediately led him to realize that something was wrong, and he made a decisive decision: "Send the order, Changfeng continues to move forward, Tianying and Changyun stop moving forward."
Caution is the boat.
Although there are almost no pirates on the sea who can compete with the Liaodong navy, Zhou Lie will not take it lightly. The torch on the mast of the merchant ship was extinguished, which almost made Zhou Lie instantly conclude that something must have happened there. At this time, the world was filled with chaos.
It was dark, and the situation ahead could no longer be seen clearly. The best way was to let the Changfeng continue to move forward to check the situation.
If there is really a trap over there, all three warships will not fall into it. If there is a problem with the Changfeng, we can respond at any time.
"General, is there a problem on the merchant ship?" The general looked grim and said in a deep voice: "The fire signal goes out. This is a taboo. Colonel Jiang will never do this."
Zhou Lie, on the other hand, half-closed his eyes and listened intently, as if he wanted to detect what was happening ahead from the wind.
The wind was not strong tonight, coming from the southeast, and the merchant ship in front was only a few miles away. Zhou Lie held his breath, and after a moment, he opened his eyes, held the knife on his waist, and said in a cold voice: "Over there