"Captain, the clipper ship in front seems to have spotted us." In the eyes of the lookout standing on the tall mast.
The clipper ship ahead was raising its sails and correcting its course.
Under normal circumstances, ships will not move forward at full sail and maintain high speed for a long time, which will cause certain damage to the hull.
So at this time the lookout can see the "Monkey King" in front doing the sail raising operation.
"They can't escape. No prey can escape our Beagle. The boys chase them at full speed and send them to the bottom of the sea to avenge the naval officers of our Great Empire." Captain Dupuy
He opened his mouth with only a few sparse yellow teeth left and smiled.
Dupuy hated these Easterners, not only because they had defeated the navy of the Great Empire many times, but also for a special reason.
That is, the Renaissance Army took the lead in inventing the ironclad ship and using it in actual combat, which brought an end to the era of old-fashioned sailing warships.
This is why Dupuy really hates yellow people.
Just a few months ago, the "Beagle" and more than twenty remaining old-fashioned warships of the Great Empire received orders from the Admiralty.
The military headquarters ordered them to enter the Pacific Ocean from a suitable route and find ways to attack the Renaissance Army's maritime defense line in the Pacific.
Originally, most of these old-fashioned warships were deployed around the African colonies to perform some patrol missions.
Some sensitive places like the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean require at least a warship equipped with steam-assisted power to go there.
It was precisely because he wanted to be hidden in the snow that Captain Dupuy passed on this hatred to the Renaissance Army.
This mission to the Pacific is a very dangerous mission for them because the coastal area of South Amelia south of Busi has been controlled by the Donghua Navy.
The "Beagle" originally performed patrol missions in the waters of Cape Verde, West Africa.
In order to enter the Pacific Ocean, they must cross the Atlantic Ocean and bypass Cape Horn, where storms are frequent and the weather is harsh, without any supplies.
It is close to Antarctica, the water is cold, there is either heavy fog or storms.
This is every navigator's nightmare.
However, after accepting this task, Dupuy was inexplicably excited.
He felt as if he was twenty years younger again.
It only took him two days to prepare the necessary supplies.
Due to the lack of supplies, unnecessary items were unloaded on the ship, and all the places where supplies could be stored were filled with supplies.
Lemons and oranges that can be stored for a long time, canned beef, and canned fruits.
At this time, navigation knowledge already had a complete set of methods to prevent scurvy.
Scurvy is the biggest enemy of long-term voyages.
As for the crew, there was no need to mobilize at all. When he started working as a sailor, his superiors and teachers used whips to teach him.
So he never reasoned with other sailors. If someone was disobedient or couldn't figure it out, he would usually kick him.
But the sailors on the "Beagle" all liked the old captain very much.
Because Dupuy often ignored the military discipline of the army and let the sailors go ashore for fun.
In the coastal areas of West Africa, white people are like nobles.
If you find any tribe at random, sailors can make a lot of money and solve their own physiological problems.
From this point of view, Dupuy is not a rule-abiding person.
This is the tradition of the navy, which loves adventure, is ruthless and unruly.
The "Beagle" had a total of 345 sailors and 36 guns. After being loaded with supplies, they embarked on the journey.
They sailed more than 4,000 nautical miles and arrived at East Falkland Island, which is only more than 500 kilometers away from the Tingen Federation.
Although the Tingen Federation has always claimed suzerainty over this place, the Yu people actually control it.
The Donghua Empire had just ended a war and had not had time to pay attention to this remote island.
With Donghua's strength, it is actually not difficult to occupy this place.
There were only a few thousand British colonists on East Falkland Island, and they hunted seals on the island. The seal skins and oil were very popular here.
There are also people running ranches on the island, which produces fine wool.
In the past, no warships would dock at East Falkland Island.
There is no large port here, only some hunting posters or whale boats occasionally dock here.
However, in recent times, nearly a dozen ships have docked here to supply supplies, almost wiping out all the supplies on the island.
Because the ports on the east coast of South Amelia were blocked by the Donghua Navy.
These old battleships are no match for the Donghua Fleet.
So they could only carry out final supplies on East Falkland Island.
There are officials sent by the Great Empire on the island. They have been notified by the government in advance and have prepared abundant supplies for them.
The previous voyage of more than three thousand miles was like a test for them.
Next they will pass through the Devil's Sea, the Drake Passage.
There are storms, sea ice, and thick fog here. All conceivable maritime dangers may occur here.
Before passing here, villains like Dupuy pray devoutly to God.
There is no problem at all in saying that Dupuy is a villain,
After so many years of life at sea, he traveled to various colonies and killed enough natives to fill an entire ship.
This is a total racist.
However, Lady Luck seemed to favor the villains. When passing through the Drake Passage, one-third of the ships sank forever under the ice, but the "Beagle" remained intact.
Here nature fully demonstrates its violent and invincible side.
After passing through the Drake Passage, some ships chose to sail more than 4,000 kilometers west to Wellington, New Zealand for repairs.
They will supplement the strength of the enemy army wherever they are, and can also choose the opportunity to move north to harass the route of the Renaissance army.
But Captain Dupuy felt that his guns were impatient.
He chose to head directly north to the Pitcairn Islands.
This place is located in the southeast of the Polynesian Islands and is still under the control of the Chinese.
The routes of the Renaissance Army rarely go south of the equator, so they did not spend special effort to occupy these remote islands.
The islands controlled by the Baath Army are mainly Guam, the Marshall Islands and Christmas Island in Micronesia.
These islands are connected in a line north of the equator.
Not only is it a base for the Renaissance Army, it is now also a signal relay station in the Pacific.
So Captain Dupuy used the islands in the South Pacific as his base, and would go north from time to time in search of prey.
Although he is vulgar, he has become more mature with age.
He knew that this place was closer to Donghua, so he only attacked those cargo ships heading west. These cargo ships were generally loaded with ore, had a deep draft, and were slow.
Usually it only takes a few hits to send the opponent to the bottom of the sea.
In this way, the "Beagle" attacked seven or eight such ships in succession.
There are even two steamships of three to four thousand tons among them.
The continuous achievements have also greatly increased the confidence of the officers and soldiers on the "Beagle".
Dupuy seems to have found his value again.
Who can say that sailing warships have become outdated and will withdraw from the naval arena?
What the armored ship cannot do, the sailing battleship can do.
Dupuy now very much wants to know the results of the Great White Fleet's operations in the east.
If the Great White Fleet has won, then he now wants to sail the "Beagle" to the Far East, or even into the Yangtze River.
Just like twenty years ago.
On the sea, the speed of the "Monkey King" has increased.
After all, it is a clipper ship known for its speed.
In addition, the ship is loaded with cotton and steel, which are not as troublesome to discard as ore.
"Captain, the speed of the ship in front does not seem to be slow. They abandoned all the cargo." The lookout observed the movement on the "Monkey King" and immediately reported it to Captain Dupuy.
"How about we look for prey again, Captain." First Mate Thomas Middleditch suggested.
Now that the speeds of both sides are almost the same, it will be difficult for the "Beagle" to catch up with the other side.
"No, how can we give up so easily? Even if we follow each other, it will not delay us from finding the prey again. Why give up? What's more, such prey is more interesting to capture."
Middleditch felt that what the captain said seemed reasonable, so he stopped trying to persuade her.
A flying shear merchant ship and a warship staged a game of chasing each other on the sea.
"Damn it, why is this Korean warship stuck to us like a dog-skin plaster?" Zhu Conghai was a little angry, why did the other party just follow him and not let go.
Now the "Monkey King" is an empty merchant ship with no oil or water on it.
"Captain, we can't continue like this. The current wind direction is favorable to our clipper boats. If the wind direction changes, they will definitely be able to catch up with us."
"I have seen the cruisers of the Nanyang Navy, just like this Korean warship. Their downwind speed is better." The first mate on the ship was very knowledgeable after having been with Zhu Conghai for many years.
"By the way, Nanyang Navy, I remember buying a newspaper when we set out. It said that Nanyang Navy was going to visit Donghua to attend the birthday ceremony of Queen Donghua." Although Zhu Conghai was vulgar, he had the habit of reading newspapers.
The first mate's words just now reminded him of this incident.
Zhu Conghai then silently calculated in his heart.
According to the departure time of the Nanyang Navy stated in the newspaper, they should have already left Honolulu.
Then you and them should be on the opposite route.
If the "Monkey King" does not yaw, it will be able to hit the Nanyang Navy.
Zhu Conghai called in the chief mate to calculate whether the "Monkey King"'s course was accurate and corrected the course.
In fact, Zhu Conghai could have used the darkness of night to change the waterway and try to escape.
But he came into conflict with the large warship behind him.
He now wants to send the opponent to the muzzle of the Nanyang Navy.
People become a little stubborn as they get older.
So try not to mess with the elderly and children.
In this way, the "Beagle" followed the "Monkey King" for three days.
On the third day, the wind direction finally changed. At this time, the speed of the "Beagle" increased and gradually approached the "Monkey King".
The sailors on the merchant ship all complained about Zhu Conghai.
If the captain hadn't insisted on hanging the large warship, they might have escaped by now.
However, Zhu Conghai usually held great authority on the ship, and no one dared to raise this issue in front of him.
"Boom..." A shelling sounded in the distance.
Many crew members were so frightened that they shrank their necks.
It turned out that the Han people had already entered the shooting range.
Zhu Conghai quickly grabbed the steering wheel from the helmsman's hand and turned it quickly to the left.
The cannon fell to the side, but there were retired sailors on board.
They knew it was an enemy artillery fire in the school.
Sure enough, after this shelling, there were successive shellings on the sea.
Although this wave of shelling was avoided by Zhu Conghai by turning around.
Because of the steering, the distance between the "Monkey King" and the "Beagle" narrowed again.
In this case, it was only a matter of time before the "Monkey King" was sunk. The Nanyang Navy, which was supposed to meet them according to Zhu Conghai's calculations, should have met them long ago.
Ordinary merchant ships like Zhu Conghai cannot afford to install radio stations.
They had no way to get in touch with the fleet.
There are many uncertain factors in maritime navigation, such as having to make a detour in case of a storm, or the navy staying in Honolulu for a few more days, so the calculated time error is still too large.
"Boom..." A cannonball exploded on the poop.
A sailor lying on the stern of the ship observing was blown to pieces.
He didn't even have time to let out a scream.
Fortunately, this is an old-fashioned battleship, and the artillery on it is still a muzzle-loading cannon. If it were the artillery on the Great White Fleet, this gun would be able to send the "Monkey King" to the bottom of the sea.
"Damn it, first mate, you can steer the ship. I also have cannons. Today I will fight with them. Even if I die, I will tear off a piece of each other's flesh."
There is a cannon on the "Monkey King". Although the caliber is not large, the range is quite long.
Logically speaking, merchant ships cannot be equipped with artillery. However, the merchant ships of the Renaissance Army all sail within the Greater China Circle.
Therefore, even if there are artillery on the ship, it can enter the port.
The first mate originally wanted to persuade the captain to simply surrender.
But looking at Zhu Conghai's posture, if he surrendered, the captain could throw him into the sea.
Zhu Conghai came to the deck with several of his sailors.
There was also a bloody arm with a bit of flesh scattered on the deck.
Several sailors almost vomited after seeing it.
Zhu Conghai pulled off the canvas from the cannon and covered the arm.
The caliber of this artillery is only 60mm. It is fixed on the deck and has a metal base below that can be rotated manually.
Because of its small caliber, this self-defense artillery basically does not need to consider recoil.
The explosion just now cut off half of the stern of the "Monkey King", and the furniture inside was in a mess.
It was originally Zhu Conghai's captain's lounge.
Through this gap, Zhu Conghai could see the warship of the country following behind making another serpentine maneuver. It was probably to expose the side cannon on the other side.
"Give me the gunpowder." Seeing that all the sailors under him were shaken into sieves, Zhu Conghai grabbed the gunpowder and loaded it himself.
But they are merchant ships after all, and the enemy is a professional warship.
Two old men, two old boats.
One wants to send the other to the bottom of the sea. The other also has the same idea.
It's just that what Zhu Conghai did was more like mantis mantis acting as a chariot.