Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 774 Pirate Ship

One ironclad warship, five sail warships, and six warships are almost full.

The captain of the armored warship is Zheng Jian, a cousin of Zheng Chenggong.

Zheng Jian is not very old, only 16 years old, because of his outstanding performance in the battle against Japan, he was named the captain of Zheng He, and accompanied Baihu and others on their voyage to Europe.

It can be said that in order to return the Opium War to Britain more than 100 years later, Zhu Youjian also spent a lot of money, even using iron-clad warships.

Three thousand tons of opium were placed on the ironclad warship Zheng He, also to prevent being robbed by pirates.

They sailed according to the nautical chart given by Zhu Youjian, and the voyage can be shortened by at least one third.

In August 1856, Huang Kuan, the first British student from China, returned to Hong Kong, China from the United Kingdom, but he walked for 8 days.

This time is currently the longest voyage record, and I don’t know how it got there halfway.

In 1876, Guo Songtao, China's first ambassador abroad, boarded a ship from Shanghai to England.

Halfway through the Straits of Malacca, Sumatra and other places, it took more than 50 days to arrive in London.

Their ships at that time were driven by steam engines, so they should be faster than Da Ming's armored warships at this time.

However, the nautical chart exchanged by Zhu Youjian from the system should be the most convenient now. Zheng Jian estimates that the trip will take at least 45 days.

Out of Malacca, enter the Indian Ocean, take the Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean Sea, exit the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean, and then go north into the English Channel to Southampton. This route is the most convenient route.

The fleet of six warships is not small, and it is several times larger than the entire naval power of many countries.

In the past few days, the road was almost calm, and there were no typhoons or extreme weather.

But on the third day after entering the Indian Ocean, the observation post reported to Zheng Jian:

"Report to the captain, eight sailing warships are found ahead in our direction."

Zheng Jian didn't care. Not long after entering the Indian Ocean, there was no powerful navy here at all.

Although there were navies from western powers passing by, they had long been defeated by the Ming navy, so they should not have dared to intercept Ming warships.

"Continue to observe and report immediately if something is wrong."

"Yes"

The observation post continued to observe with a telescope in hand.

Zheng Jian said with a smile to Bai Hu, the deputy commander of Jin Yiwei:

"My lord, what will happen to our army if it is intercepted by the navy of another country?"

Baihu smiled coldly:
"It depends on the situation. If they dare to be unreasonable, they will be sunk directly!"

"Okay, we will act according to your lord's opinion, and we must ensure the safety of the opium on the battleship no matter what."

After Zheng Jian finished speaking, he immediately sent an order:
"Come on, pass on the captain's order, all arms will be in position immediately, and the artillery is ready to fire at any time."

"Yes"

A burst of alarm bells sounded, and the six warships immediately entered a wartime state.

The high-power telescope in the observation post on Zheng He's ship was staring at the fleet ahead, and soon the flag on the other ship caught their attention, which turned out to be a skull.

The observation post hastily reported to the captain of Zheng He:

"Reporting to the captain, the other party is a pirate ship. There are eight ships in total. They have no intention of changing their course and are sailing head-on."

"pirate?"

"Pirate ships dare to rob my Ming fleet? Don't they see that we are military ships?"

Zheng Jian and Bai Hu looked at each other and laughed, none of them cared about a few pirate ships.

As the distance between the two sides got closer, the observation post on the pirate ship also discovered that the fleet ahead was a warship of the Ming Dynasty, and the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty fluttering in the wind was eye-catching.

The pirates suddenly became excited, now who doesn't know that Daming is rich, if they can capture the Daming fleet, they will get rich.

"Report to the captain, the target ahead is the Ming Fleet, we have made a fortune..."

"Yaoxi, tell me to order eight pirate ships to surround them from both sides, which sailing warships are the targets, and don't do anything to the iron-clad warships.

The two sailing warships of Da Ming must be captured. Ming people's sailing warships are all transport ships, and there will be great rewards after they are done! "

It turned out that the pirates on these pirate ships were basically Japanese, with only a few Westerners.

They are all Japanese ronin who can't go back after Japan closed the country. They have been pirates in the Indian Ocean for many years.

The leader of the pirates is Yamazaki 21, who used to be the deputy captain of the Japanese Navy. He was expelled from the navy because of a mistake, and has since become a ronin.

He once participated in the massacre of Ming people in Manila, and successfully escaped when Ming attacked Manila.

When they first became pirates, they only robbed merchant ships, and then gradually began to attack warships from various countries.

Because of the high price of buying Western artillery, it is really not their opponents to return the navy from several small countries around them.

Once a large fleet arrives, they will immediately lose their lives, and there is nowhere to look for them in the vast sea.

As time went by, more and more people joined their team, and even many national navies joined their team.

After all, the income of pirates is many times higher than that of soldiers.

Yamazaki 21 wanted to take advantage of the cover of the Daming Navy's sailing warships and seize the opportunity to hijack two sailing warships.

He believed that although the iron-clad warships of the Ming army were very powerful, they would never dare to fire at their own warships.

There were still three kilometers away, and the pirate ships began to spread out and outflank them. They all deliberately avoided the iron-clad battleship Zheng He.

This style of play of the pirates is a tactic they often use, and it is very practical and effective.

"Report to the captain, it looks like the pirates are going to steal a certain warship..."

This is the first time Zheng Jian has encountered such a situation, but he is not panicked as he has rich experience in naval battles.

"Order, the six battleships of the Ming Dynasty immediately form a triangle battle formation, and once the pirate ships approach, they will immediately fire and bombard them with explosive shells."

"Yes"

The six Ming warships quickly formed a triangular battle formation with two ships as a direction.

The pirates hijacked so many ships, and it was the first time they saw such a formation of Ming warships.

As soon as they rushed into the range of the opponent's naval guns, more than 300 naval guns from six warships fired together:
"Rumble..."

"Boom bang bang..."

Five pirate ships were immediately hit by a salvo, and three of them were directly blasted into a two-meter hole at the waterline by the flowering bomb, and the seawater immediately poured into the cabin.

Seeing the five sailing warships of the Ming army exposed their gun holes, the pirate ship felt something was wrong. The [-] cannons on one side were clearly all real warships, and there was not a single merchant ship in the true sense.

It was too late for them to run, and the second round of shelling had already begun. There were nearly 700 shells in the two rounds, and whatever they hit, they would hit the pirate ship.

After two rounds of salvo, almost all the pirate ships were damaged, and Yamazaki 21 immediately ordered to retreat.

But the warship was damaged, the deck was on fire, and the Ming warship was still bombarding. The helmsman didn't dare to go to the deck to adjust the sails, and the pirate ship couldn't get up to speed at all.

Since Zheng Jian dared to attack the warships of the Ming army, it was impossible for Zheng Jian to let them go. With an order, the six warships of the Ming army immediately separated to pursue them.

Half an hour later, the pirate ship Yamazaki 21 was on was sunk by the Zheng He, and the other five pirate ships were also severely damaged and sinking slowly.

And the eight pirate ships fired a few shots in a panic. Because of the range problem, they didn't hurt the Ming army at all.

(End of this chapter)