Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 296: Danger at the Pearl River Estuary

The fleet dispatched by Huiyou Company this time has a similar ship composition to that of the Battle of Xiamen a few months ago, and is still composed of cruise ships, old lock ships, frigates, and reporting ships.

However, due to the diplomatic actions of Li Guozhu, Miguel, Ou Zuoji and others, the only 500-ton old lock ships that the Navy Department could requisition were the Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang. As for medium and large ships alone, the number was half less than last time.

Fortunately, the first batch of ten-jin cannons cast in iron molds had just been produced. Lin Hai also temporarily transferred some cannons that had been cast in mud molds from the artillery positions in Keelung and Tamsui. He replaced all 40 seven-jin cannons on the two ships with ten-jin cannons, thus making up for the lack of large-caliber firepower on the Bowang.

There are 4 frigates this time, 1 more than last time. Since the two slipways in Keelung are used for cruise ship construction, Huiyou Company has no plans to build frigates in the near future, and the current 4 frigates are almost enough.

The notification ship is not restricted by the slipway, and its use is more extensive than that of the frigate, so the shipyard in Tamsui is working at full capacity. In just four months, Huiyou Company launched another 8 notification ships, and now the total number has reached 20.

The frigates and the notification ships were both equipped with forged iron cannons, and of course they were fully equipped with artillery. The frigates were equipped with six-jin cannons, and the notification ships were equipped with four-jin cannons. They were not powerful enough to fight against the cruisers, but they were fully sufficient to fight against Li Kuiqi's fleet.

As for the Calais, just like last time, it was not deployed this time. The main reason was that the winds in the Taiwan Strait were strong and the waves were rough in winter. The Calais had a shallow draft and it was feared that something might happen if it was brought out.

In fact, paddle boats are quite useful in fighting at the mouth of the Pearl River. It can even be said that paddle boats and sampans dominate most of this sea area.

The Pearl River Estuary, also known as Lingdingyang, is roughly trumpet-shaped, with a water area of ​​2100 square kilometers, but the average water depth in later generations is only 5 meters. In this era, the water depth is definitely greater than in later generations, but it is also quite limited.

This average water depth is only slightly greater than the maximum draft depth of the Dingyuan, so at the mouth of the Pearl River, cruise ships can basically only take those fixed deep-water channels.

Even a 100-ton notification ship, due to its thin underwater cross-section and draft of 2.5 meters, is far from being able to hit whatever it is pointed at in the vast waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

This is why Lin Hai told Master Xu that it would be difficult to completely wipe out Li Kuiqi. If that guy was determined to be a coward, it would almost be an impossible task.

Fortunately, Li Kuiqi also has a lot of large ships, and the fleet of Huiyou Company can go wherever these large ships can go. Therefore, it is still a very promising goal to severely damage this guy's fleet.

Before this expedition, Huiyou Company did not formulate a specific combat plan because the Navy Department had very little knowledge of the hydrological conditions at the mouth of the Pearl River.

The only two people who can be said to know a little about the local hydrology are Shibi and Zheng Tingqiu. But for the 2100 square kilometers of the Pearl River Estuary, the hydrological knowledge they have is far from enough.

Fortunately, Li Zhongguo has spent most of his life at the mouth of the Pearl River. Among the one thousand remnants under his command, there should be many people who are proficient in local hydrology. If we put their knowledge together, it should be enough to formulate a detailed battle plan.

The first combat meeting was held on the afternoon of the day when he met Li Zhongguo. In addition to Lin Hai, Shibi, Zheng Tingqiu, Li Zhongguo, and Jiang Junshi, several staff officers from the Navy's General Staff Bureau also attended the meeting.

This department was established at the same time as the Army General Staff Bureau, and its main responsibility is to survey and map the sea. Currently, the department has very few personnel, mainly due to the lack of relevant talents.

"Hang up the nautical chart of the Pearl River Estuary!"

Following Lin Hai's order, two naval staff officers hung up a huge nautical chart.

The nautical chart clearly showed the shape of the coastline and the distribution of islands in the Pearl River Estuary, including Nei Lingding Island, Qiaoao Island and other islands in the Lingding Ocean, as well as more than 100 islands of various sizes, mainly the Wanshan Islands, at the outer entrance. These islands are one of the reasons for the complex hydrology of the Pearl River Estuary.

This is naturally still based on the game map. Although the coastline has changed a bit four hundred years later, it is still much more accurate than the nautical charts of this era.

When Li Zhongguo and Jiang Junshi saw the sea chart, their pupils shrank. The father-in-law and son-in-law looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes.

What do pirates rely on? A thorough understanding of the local hydrology. If officers and soldiers can do this, what are they doing?

As a veteran pirate at the mouth of the Pearl River, Li Zhongguo had seen countless local nautical charts in his life, including official ones, private ones, and even those of the foreign pirates in Macau.

But he only had to take a quick look to know that compared with the one Lin Hai took out, all the nautical charts of the Pearl River Estuary he had ever seen in his life could only be described in two words: garbage!
Lin Hai asked with a smile: "This is a map of the Pearl River Estuary that our friends have. What do you think of it?"

Li Zhongguo blurted out: "This... this sea chart is amazing!"

Military Advisor Jiang could not help but ask, "Where did General Lin get this map?" Lin Hai did not answer this question, but continued, "Judging from your reactions, this map is certainly useful. Let's discuss the route of advance first. This is the first meeting, and everyone can speak freely. It doesn't matter if you are wrong."

Li Zhongguo and Jiang Junshi were a little reserved, and Shi Bi was a little arrogant and refused to speak first. Finally, Zheng Tingqiu said, "General Manager, since no one wants to speak first, why don't I, Zheng, talk about the main waterways leading into the Pearl River Estuary first?"

"Okay, go ahead." Lin Hai said as he picked up a thin wooden stick and handed it to Zheng Tingqiu, "Use this to gesture so that everyone can see more clearly."

"There are hundreds of islands at the entrance of the Pearl River Estuary. It seems that there are many water routes, but in fact, there are only two routes for large ships..."

Zheng Tingqiu gestured with a thin wooden stick and said, "One way is to enter from the west, and the general direction is from south to north. The other way is to enter from the east, and the general direction is to go from east to west first, and then turn north."

Lin Hai nodded as he listened. The two waterways that Brother Zheng mentioned were actually the two main waterways leading into the Pearl River Estuary in later generations. The former was called the Daxi Waterway, and the latter was called the Dangan Waterway.

Zheng Tingqiu continued, "Let's talk about the western waterway first. The advantage is that it is wide, but the disadvantage is that there are many reefs and the current is fast. In the middle of winter, only rowing boats can barely make it, and sailboats are absolutely impossible to make it..."

The Great Western Channel can be said to be the widest waterway entering the Pearl River Estuary, because from this channel to the east, the endless island chains turn the outer periphery of the Pearl River Estuary into an intricate maze, and there is no other waterway that can be called wide.

But precisely because there are few islands in the Atlantic Passage, the flow of the Pearl River is very fast here, while in the east, due to the existence of large islands such as Lantau Island, the flow is much gentler.

Therefore, in the sailing age, sailboats could only enter the Atlantic Passage in the summer with the help of stronger south winds, and they were basically unable to enter except from June to August of the Gregorian calendar each year.

Moreover, there are no islands on the surface of the Atlantic Passage, but there are many reefs under the water. Even if a sailing ship with excellent headwind performance managed to enter in winter, sailing against the wind here would be tantamount to suicide.

Miguel once hit a reef on the Atlantic Passage during the summer when the wind was favorable. The pilot's carelessness led to the destruction of the ship and the death of everyone on board.

It was midwinter, and Lin Hai's fleet was made up entirely of sailboats. Needless to say, the largest gate at the mouth of the Pearl River was tightly closed.

After talking about the Great Western Passage, Zheng Tingqiu went on to talk about the Dangan Waterway: "Let's talk about the eastern waterway. The first half of this route is in the middle of the Wanshan Islands. Going from east to west, it is basically a crosswind or a side tailwind. After passing Wai Lingding Island, we need to turn northwest and pass through the Soko Islands and Zhizhou Islands..."

The waterway mentioned by Zheng Tingqiu is actually slightly different from the Dangan Waterway in later generations. The first half is the same, but the second half after passing Wai Lingding Island is different.

The reason is that there is a large reef in the second half of the Dangan Channel, called the Four-foot Rock, which is too dangerous for sailing ships with difficult maneuvers. Even in later times, when the maneuverability of ships has been greatly improved, the Four-foot Rock was eventually blown up for navigation safety.

As for the second half mentioned by Zheng Tingqiu, it was actually called Dahao Waterway in later generations.

The importance of the Dahao Channel in later generations was not as great as that of the second half of the Dangan Channel. The reason is actually very simple. It has no advantages in terms of channel width or water depth. In addition, the water flow here is actually quite fast.

So if we were to name the eastern waterway mentioned by Zheng Tingqiu, it could probably be named "Dangan-Dahao Waterway". This waterway is equivalent to sailing in the archipelago, and only a team leader who is very familiar with the local hydrology can complete the navigation.

The Portuguese were never able to master this waterway, so they could only enter the Pearl River Estuary for three months in summer every year, and could only watch helplessly in other seasons!

Sometimes they would stray into the Wanshan Islands, and then they could only stop their boats and wait for rescue. As a result, a special pilotage business was formed, with the practitioners mainly being the Tanka people and the clients being the Portuguese, Dutch, British and other Westerners, which lasted for hundreds of years during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

There are many advantages of "Dangan-Dahao Waterway", the biggest advantage is that it runs roughly east-west and can be freely entered and exited regardless of the season.

Secondly, this waterway has almost no reefs and the water depth is sufficient for all ships to navigate. Even if the wind direction is unfavorable occasionally and it is necessary to sail against the wind, it can generally be guaranteed to be safe.

It’s a pity that if the “Dangan-Dahao Waterway” was used as the passage for advancement in the sailing era, it had a fatal flaw - it was too narrow!

It's narrow, but it's not that narrow. A large fleet can sail there normally. But if the enemy uses fire ships to defend, it will be a natural barrier.

Especially in the section of the Dahao Channel, you have to sail against the wind in winter, and the current is relatively fast. If Li Kuiqi deployed a fire ship array here, the Navy's fleet would probably never return!

(End of this chapter)