Kai Fu Han

Chapter 72

"Not necessarily. We are sailing so close to the coast. If they pursue us, we have plenty of time to find a port to dock. So I think it is very possible that we are waiting in front." Liu Xinqi somewhat disagreed with Zhao Liang's point of view.

"Then how did they pass on the news? How did the accomplices in front know that a ship was coming?" Zhao Liang asked.

Liu Xinqi was not in a hurry to answer Zhao Liang's question. He looked towards the mast and asked the soldier:
"Did you notice the doves flying in the sky?"

The soldier recalled for a while and replied:

"There seems to be one. If I'm not mistaken, just a moment or two before you got on the deck, I saw one flying from north to south. At that time, I was still wondering why there were pigeons flying over the sea. In the past few days, Most of the things I saw were petrels, puffins, seagulls, etc. This was the first time I saw a pigeon, and I thought I had seen it wrong.”

Liujiabao's fleet was heading south, and the following barge was to the north of the fleet.

"If he read it correctly, it should be a 'flying pigeon passing a message' to deliver the message." Liu Xinqi said.

"The people in the south are amazing. They can tame pigeons and use them to deliver letters." Zhao Liang admired.

"Please note that flying pigeons cannot guarantee that a message will be delivered with [-]% certainty. Therefore, usually two or three will be released at a time to ensure that the message can be transmitted absolutely. There are many raptors on the seaside, so the uncertainty of flying pigeons to send messages is even greater. It's so big, the ship behind might send pigeons to send messages." Liu Xinqi said: "If we see it again, we can basically be sure that someone is waiting for us in front, and we will notify everyone to be ready for battle."

In the age of sailing ships, naval battles lasted very long, and just chasing them would be very time-consuming.Because everyone is a sailboat, the speed is not much different. It may take a day or two to catch up.

Moreover, there is a lack of effective long-range strike weapons in this era. Naval battles are basically side-to-side battles. Whoever kills the opponent's resistance first wins.

Therefore, in naval battles, one must first catch up before they can fight together.

This is also the reason why Liu Xinqi judged that the "enemy" was in the front instead of behind.

After the arrangements were made, Liu Xinqi returned to the cabin again and continued to record the knowledge in his mind. The situation was still unclear and there was no use staying on the deck.

……

After noon, Liu Xinqi came to the deck to check the situation and found that the boat behind him was already very close. It was about three miles away. With the eyesight of the soldiers and Liu Xinqi, they could already see a dozen people standing on the deck of the boat.

According to the previous introduction by Dengzhou Navy Qianhu Gaoyuan, the ship following the Liujiabao fleet should be a "walking boat".

Gao Yuan's introduction to it at the time was: "Light and fast, suitable for pursuit."

However, this kind of ship is small, carries few people, and sacrifices a certain amount of defense for speed.For a small boat like this, the deck of the boat can be smashed in one stroke according to the racket on the Penglai.

Because Liujiabao's iron-making and steel-making industries have not yet started, and there are no muskets or artillery, the four sand ships in Liujiabao still use the previous water warfare equipment, and the racket is one of them. First, after Liu Xinqi bought the ship, he did not dismantle it in order to increase the cargo capacity.

Now it seems that if the boat behind you is not friendly, then if you have a racket, it is nothing to fear.
So this ship is definitely not the enemy's main force, and there must be follow-ups.

Liu Xinqi was a little worried about how many enemies there were that had not yet appeared.

"You're right, another pigeon flew over just now. I tried to shoot it with a crossbow, but it didn't hit." Zhao Liang came over and said after seeing Liu Xinqi coming up.

It seems that a battle is inevitable.

Another hour later, the boat following Liujiabao's fleet had approached about a mile. During this period, Liu Xinqi did not return to the cabin and kept checking on the deck.

"Patriarch, there is a situation ahead." The warrior on the mast shouted to Liu Xinqi.

Ever since he discovered that there were ships following the fleet, Zhao Liang had been arranging personnel to look out on the mast.

"what's the situation?"

Liu Xinqi came to the mast and asked. "The top of the mast is exposed, there should be a ship in front." The soldier replied.

"Pay attention to observation."

After saying this, Liu Xinqi began to arrange to send signals to the Chaoyang so that everyone could prepare for battle.

This time, Liu Xinqi brought all the existing crossbows in the family, a total of forty, each with 150 crossbow arrows.

In addition to the crossbow, a weapon for water warfare, all 210 members were also equipped with rattan armor, which not only has strong defense, but can also be used as a life jacket if they accidentally fall into the water.

After the signal was sent, the sailors on the Penglai also began to prepare for battle. All armor and weapons were moved onto the deck. The 50 people in charge of the battle began to dress, and the two 50-year-olds served as assistants to help them put on the rattan armor.

The deck of the Penglai is basically the same as that of the Chaoyang. The upper deck of the ship is ten feet long and three feet wide. Without the mast, pilot house, upper and lower entrances, racket poles and other upper deck building items occupying the positions, the battle position can be arranged. Not many. 50 people at a time is already the limit. If more people participate in the battle, they will hinder each other.

"Chief, you see clearly, they are big ships, three big ships." The soldier shouted to Liu Xinqi again: "Two sand ships and one blessing ship."

"What should we do? There are more ships on the other side than ours. Counting the boats behind them, they are twice as many as ours." Zhao Liang couldn't help but ask first.

"Don't worry, notify the Chaoyang to sail towards the shore and be prepared to run aground. This lucky ship cannot be beached. Use the terrain to eliminate it first. If the two sand ships insist on catching up, it will be much easier."

"it is good."

After a few breaths, the two ships turned the rudders, adjusted the sails, and sailed towards the shore.

When going to sea, five of the ten warriors were assigned to each ship. Counting the two captains and Liu Xinqi, there were six warriors on the Chaoyang and seven warriors on the Penglai. However, Li Cang possessed a three-star general card, or Water battle general card.

Therefore, the combat power of the two ships is basically the same.

Liujiabao's two ships sailed straight toward the shore, and the small ship behind and the three large ships in front also adjusted their direction and chased after them.

By this time, it was already clear that they were enemies and not friends.

Liu Xinqi looked at the three large ships. The two sand ships were about the same size as the Penglai. They should both be two thousand stone sand ships. The Fu ship was slightly larger and should be about two thousand five to three thousand stone.

Liu Xinqi came to the big drum at the bow of the ship. This big drum was set up when the drum was used for communication. Later, after the Liujiapu people who learned semaphore came back, the big drum was basically no longer used. It was only used at night or in heavy fog. Limited time messaging only.

For this reason, the drum was not removed.

Picking up the drumstick fixed on the side of the drum, Liu Xin used all his strength to hit the drum surface.

"Boom, boom, boom...!"

The sound of drums spread far away.

This is the drum beat of "Fight to the End".

In Liu Xinqi's view, encountering this wave of pirates at sea this time is both a danger and an opportunity. If they are defeated, they will definitely suffer heavy losses. It is estimated that not many people will survive. If they win, it is possible to seize one or two ships, and even the lucky ship. The ship can be seized.

Counting the possible pirate lair behind, the harvest will be huge.

Liu Xinqi had in his hands two hundred fully armed militiamen who had received preliminary sergeant training, as well as thirteen warriors with military commander cards, plus forty weapons that could fire two arrows in a row and effectively kill unarmored targets within 70 steps. crossbow.

Liu Xinqi was confident of winning the battle.

(End of this chapter)