At this moment, wind and waves were sweeping in from all directions, and the sky was completely dark. The strong wind blew away the foremast square sail that could not be furled in time. The sailors of the mainmast were desperately lowered, but the upper bowsprit was
It had been broken by the storm. The bow of the ship was swept into the waves again and again, and it struggled out of the water again and again.
Yin Feng and Bernardo stumbled down to the bilge, where there was water up to their ankles. Everyone, regardless of skin color and nationality, was busy. Several wine barrels and benches were flowing under people's feet.
Drift.
There was water seepage at the front of the ship's keel, and a large amount of seawater also seeped into the port side, and the water level in the bottom tank was getting higher and higher. The crew desperately used cloth and cowhide to patch the leaks, and blacks, Indians, Malays, and Chinese were noisy in various languages.
There was a lot of shouting and chaos.
The captain, first mate and others stood firm on the deck, while dozens of people below the bilge were completely confused. Bernardo had never been on a route north of Macau and had no experience with typhoons in the northwest Pacific; Zeng Jingshan only
He was doing business on the mainland and had no sailing experience; only Yin Feng, who had reported news of typhoon landings many times in his previous life, and had many years of experience in field interviews, calmed him down quickly.
Yin Feng shouted: "The crew will mend the leaks, and others will drain the water!" He first organized the Zeng family's servants and used all the utensils that could scoop water to drain the water. This was the first priority: otherwise, not only the cargo in the cabin would be
will be damaged, and the ship itself will be destroyed. Then he ordered the crew in Portuguese to use all means to plug the leak. The crew who were familiar with the ship's situation also began to concentrate on plugging and repairing the leak, but the situation was only slightly relieved: more seawater was coming from
The hatch was filled with wind and rain.
The portholes cannot be opened at this time, and the water cannot be drained out if the hatch is closed. If it is not closed, more and more seawater will be poured in.
Yin Feng climbed out of the hatch with difficulty, and saw the first mate lying on the hatch and about to come in. Yin Feng shouted: "Tell the captain, more and more seawater is pouring into the bottom tank, but the problem with the hull is not serious."
,what to do?"
The first mate did not hesitate: "Close the cabin door!"
The hull of the ship was creaking, and the sound of wind and waves was getting louder and louder. The dark bottom cabin was so humid that water could almost be squeezed out of the air, and it was getting hotter and muggier. All kinds of strange smells were hitting people's noses. Everyone
They were all swaying along the bumpy hull. From time to time, someone bumped into the ship's planks, objects or people, groaning in pain. The turbid water rolled over people's feet, bringing up unknown debris. Yin Feng
This was the first time I encountered such a dangerous situation, so I could only force myself to stay calm.
I don't know how much time passed, "Boom!" The hull of the ship suddenly shook, and a creepy creak came from the deck. Everyone looked at each other, and the Zeng family members began to kneel down in the sewage to pray to Mazu, while the black people prayed.
To pray to God, the Indians turned to Varuna, the water god, and the Malays prayed to Allah; Bernardo and his men kept making the sign of the cross on their chests.
Fortunately, this was just a broken foremast. The first mate went down to the cabin and told everyone that the wind had decreased and asked everyone to continue draining water.
Yin Feng got out of the cabin. It should be daytime now, but he could still see nothing except the waves and the storm. The guide acupuncturist Lin Ah Shui was looking at the compass on the bow of the ship. He told Yin Feng that the storm had been blowing for three days.
Well, the ship has drifted downwind for at least a thousand miles.
"Then where did we end up?"
"I don't know." Mr. Lin said simply: "For a while, our ship was spinning in circles. Last night when the wind and waves were the strongest, the ship rocked so hard that the compass lost its function and we could no longer figure out the direction."
Captain Rodriguez also came to the bow of the ship at this time, and Yin Feng translated the guide's words to him. The captain was not nervous at all. He patted Yin Feng on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, God blessed us last night. As long as the ship is okay,
, we will be safe.”
"This is Mazu's territory, your god is probably of no use." Of course, this was what Yin Feng was saying from the bottom of his heart.
The wind and rain were indeed gradually decreasing, and by noon, the sky began to lighten up. One of the two masts of the Goa was broken, and the remaining mainmast also lost nearly half of its canvas. In addition, the crew in the bottom cabin reported,
The tank storing fresh water ruptured, and the remaining fresh water could be used by everyone on the ship for up to 2 days.
The crew below the deck were still draining the accumulated water. After Yin Feng and Bernardo got on the deck, the wind and rain slowly stopped. Suddenly, a ray of light in the southeastern sky tore through the dark clouds, and everyone's eyes suddenly lit up: In an instant, thousands of people
A ray of sunshine cut through the dark clouds in the sky, the blue sky suddenly appeared, and the sea immediately calmed down docilely. A piece of emerald green land suddenly appeared in front of everyone, with a winding coastline.
The storm finally passed.
However, the Goa had lost its foremast, most of its sails, and had lost power. The ship slowly drifted into an open bay along the rising tide and the westerly wind, with a beach and rocky coast ahead.
There seemed to be residential buildings on the beach. Further inland were the rolling green mountains, most of which were vaguely like smoke. When the boat approached the coastline, everyone saw a simple bamboo trestle on the beach, and several small animals parked on the beach.
Fishing boats. The residential area on the beach in the distance is a mess of Chinese-style buildings. There is a fence wall surrounding the entire residential area. There is a gate and a simple watchtower at the exit of the fence wall.
The captain looked at the settlement with a telescope and asked the guide Lin Ashui: "What is this place?"
Lin Asui looked around and said, "Pirates' den."
Yin Feng ignored the translation and asked in shock: "Pirates' den? Is it..."
"This is Jingang. This island is what the government calls Dongfan or Beigang."
This is the Yingang Port of Taiwan Island. In Yin Feng's world, it is what the Dutch later called the Inner Harbor of the Wind. It is located in the Haomeili area at the mouth of Bazhang River, Chiayi County, Taiwan Province. Later, due to the diversion of the rushing stream, the floods destroyed the Yingjia Harbor.
The peninsula connects the entrance and exit of the land, and Jingang Port has become an isolated island. Coupled with the siltation of the waterway, its port status has been replaced by Butai Port. The bay to the south is Damuan Port, which was built by the Dutch in Yin Feng's previous life.
The embedded city is right there.
Yin Feng did not expect that in this era, his first overseas trip would be in Taiwan. He was very excited: "Ah, this is Taiwan!!"
"Taiwan Harbor in Taiwo Bay is further south, and this is Jingang Harbor." Lin Ah Shui was busy correcting the mistake and did not notice Yin Feng's excited expression. According to legend, the name of Taiwan comes from "Taiwan Bay".
The Dutch occupied Anping in May of the fourth year of Tianqi (1624). They first built Orange City and then renamed it Relan City. Because the city was adjacent to Taiwan Wo Bay, it was only called Harbor Road at first, but later it was called the whole island.
Already.
Of course, there are other sayings: Taiwan is a homophonic word for "Da Yuan": "Yuanyou Bian Dong Fan Ji" written by Zhou Ying from Quanzhou contains the word "Taiwan Yuan". Nowadays, "Taiwan" is still pronounced as "Taiwan Yuan" in Hokkien. Yin Feng always wanted to travel to Taiwan in his previous life but never managed to go. Now he suddenly came to Taiwan 400 years ago, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit excited.
The captain looked at Yin Feng's excitement and asked inexplicably: "Mr. Yin, where is this place? Can we get supplies and repairs?"
Yin Feng said hurriedly: "This is the base of pirates along the coast of China, called Jingang. You should be able to get everything here..."
The captain frowned and wondered: Why are you, a businessman, so excited when you arrive at the pirate den?
He loudly ordered the crew to take out weapons from the cabin, and ordered to temporarily stop water drainage and make every effort to repair the sails. At this time, it happened to be low tide, and the Goa lost power and could not be maneuvered. It could only follow the current and start drifting to the sea surface again. But the sea water The tide receded too quickly, and the ship swayed and creaked for a while before being stranded on the seabed beach about 1,000 meters away from the coastline. It can only escape from this place when the tide rises again in the afternoon. The ship must repair its sails and restore power before it can sail. Leave here with the tide.
The situation was not optimistic. Just as everyone was repairing the sail, a sailboat appeared from the east side of the bay, with a skewed rigid sail and the stern higher than the bow. Someone exclaimed: "It's a Japanese pirate's ship!"
Yes, this is the so-called "Yamato type" sailboat. It is a Japanese sailboat built by absorbing the advantages of Chinese rigid sails. In appearance, the stern is taller than the bow. Authentic "Yamato type" Japanese pirate ships often carry the Hachiman Dabodhisattva. flag, so it is generally called the Hachiman-bune.
The Japanese ship's resistance to wind and waves is very poor. This ship must have been avoiding the wind and waves in the port. Now it is completely possible to take the opportunity to rob the immobile Goa.
Everyone panicked. The reputation of Japanese pirates was notorious in the maritime world of East Asia, and the Portuguese had always been friends and foes. They saw this Japanese ship sailing straight towards the Goa, with sharp blades of swords and guns blazing in the sun. Reflective, its intention is obviously not a friendly visit.
The captain ordered the first mate to be responsible for the defense work. There was a small copper cannon at the bow and stern of the Goa, which was originally used to fire shotguns to resist pirate attacks at close range. At the same time, the ship was equipped with 16 matchlock guns and 5 pistols. trigger crossbow, a few miscellaneous Portuguese swords, 6 daggers carried by the Tseng family servants, and two shoulder poles that also served as weapons. The matchlocks were distributed to the black crew, and the trigger crossbows were distributed to several Malays. China People were armed with their own cold weapons, mainly defending the hatch area.
Yin Feng loaded ammunition into his revolving musket and stood among the armed crew members. The black man Magaro stood next to him, holding the carpenter's iron hammer on the ship. The two looked at each other and smiled at each other. Laugh. Yin Feng has a good impression of this black man: he doesn't talk much, but he is hardworking and willing to work. Moreover, he now regards Yin Feng as his master and follows him all the time.
The Japanese ship was getting closer and closer. The flag hanging on the upper part of the sail was painted with the image of the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman. The deck was filled with Japanese pirates dressed as Japanese ronin. There were more than a dozen long oars on both sides of the ship, paddling hard.
"Click!" With a sound, the Japanese pirate's boat stopped and ran aground.
There was a burst of cheers on the Goa, but soon there was an exclamation: the Japanese ronin pirates put down three small boats, and nearly 30 Japanese pirates got on the small boats one after another, rowing and continuing to approach the Goa. They deflected the small boats.
Coast direction, then turned the boat towards the Goa, took advantage of the current direction to rush towards the Goa merchant ship, and issued a burst of shouts.
No one on board the Goa understood Japanese, but everyone knew that the Japanese pirates' attack was about to begin.
"Bang bang!" There was a chaotic sound of gunfire. The crew members of the Goa gathered on the deck leaned down one after another, and a few Japanese iron cannon-matchlock bullets hit the side of the ship and the mast. The first mate suddenly shouted: "
OK, launch!"
The small bronze cannon on the bow that had been prepared for a long time was fired, with a loud "boom", and countless iron sand rushed towards the three Japanese pirate boats. The Japanese pirates were caught off guard. Five or six people screamed and fell into the water, and four or five people fell into the small boat.
There were screams on the boat.
But this group of Japanese pirates were obviously desperadoes and did not panic because of this. The uninjured people immediately fought back. "Bao Bao" continuously used matchlocks to knock down the crew around the small bronze cannon on the bow, including the first mate who had no time to escape.
Everyone was shocked. The black crew members rushed to the bow of the ship and fired indiscriminately. After more than a dozen gunshots, no more Japanese pirates fell. Instead, several black men were knocked down by the Japanese pirates' bullets, screaming and squirming on the deck.
Blood began to flow.
Yin Feng floated under the left side of the bow. Several bullets flew over his head. His palms were sweating and his heart was beating wildly. He had already fired three shots, but it felt like he didn't hit anyone. This was his first time participating.
In the battle with this kind of early firearm, his mind was empty for a while, and he only knew how to shoot and avoid shooting.
This scene of firearms shooting was very unfamiliar to other Chinese businessmen present. The Zeng family's servants and Zeng Jingshan gathered at the door of the cabin, holding cold weapons and panicking, completely at a loss.
Seeing that the situation was urgent, the captain and his second officer ran to the stern of the ship and removed the small copper cannon at the stern. The two men carried it to the bow of the ship, set it on the side of the ship, and fired it.
"boom!"
A burst of iron sand rained down on the Japanese pirates on the sea. Unfortunately, this time the bronze cannon was mounted on the side of the ship, and the shooting angle was too high in the rush. This shot only knocked one Japanese pirate over in the sea water.
But the Japanese pirates began to retreat. They had already suffered more than 10 casualties. It was not clear how many guns the Goa could fire, so they retreated first.
Before the Japanese pirates retreated, they fired a burst of firecrackers, injuring both the captain and the first mate, who fell to the ground and lay moaning in a pool of blood on the deck. Now, the crew, who had lost their leader, became even more panicked.
The Japanese pirate's small boat returned to its own ship, carried away the wounded, boarded a group of fresh troops, and then rowed towards the Goa again.
The Goa was in chaos. Yin Feng stood up, took a deep breath, and looked at the Japanese pirate boats on the sea: there were not many of them, only about 30 people. Among the crew and passengers on the Goa, there were also
There are more than 30 people, but they are already in complete chaos. If this continues, the Japanese pirates' second attack will be easy to succeed.