Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 306: Rockets Slip! Masts and Sails Turned to Ashes
"It's too early to talk about victory now." Wei Xiaodong is not only the captain of the USS Lubode, but also the commander of the surprise attack fleet. He knows that the next task will be very difficult.

In order to improve navigation safety, the surprise attack fleet can only pass through the four-foot reef when the water level is high. This means that after passing the four-foot reef, there will still be a long period of low tide.

The ebb tide at the mouth of the Pearl River is slower than the flood tide. There are still nearly two hours until the end of the ebb tide. During this period, the surprise attack fleet will not receive reinforcements from the main force.

Because of the existence of the four-foot reef, the main fleet could not follow through the Dangan Channel and could only take the Dahao Channel. However, the Dahao Channel was against the wind and the current at low tide, and the flow was extremely fast, so it could only be sailed at high tide.

After the surprise attack fleet passed the Sichi Rock Reef, it was equivalent to bypassing the southwest side of Lantau Island. There was no longer any dangerous pass between it and Li Kuiqi's old nest, Fanguitang, and it was possible to be discovered by the enemy's patrol boats at any time.

In the next two hours, the surprise attack fleet could only fight alone, and its primary task was to destroy the enemy's incendiary fleet deployed near the western entrance of the Dahao Waterway.

The General Staff had made a study on the location of the enemy's incendiary fleet and believed that it was likely deployed at Fanliu Temple Bay in the southwest corner of Lantau Island. This was because it was the nearest harbor on the west side of the Tai Ho Channel and could quickly launch an attack after receiving the warning.

To attack Fenliu Temple Bay, the surprise attack fleet has two routes to choose from:

First, after passing Niutou Island, the ship immediately changed direction into the wind, and the course was changed from 3 compass points north-west to 5 compass points north-east, heading straight to Fenliu Miao Bay from the western entrance of Dahao Waterway.

The advantage of this route is the shortest distance, but the disadvantage is that after the tack change, the ship is still sailing close to the wind, and it is considered lucky if the speed can reach 5 knots. Moreover, if it goes straight to the southwest corner of Lantau Island, it will almost certainly be discovered by the enemy at the west entrance of the Taiho Channel.

The second option is to continue sailing northwest along the Dangan waterway, creating a sufficient angle to catch the wind, then turn the rudder and head southeast, riding the crosswind to Fenliu Miao Bay.

The advantage of this route is that the first half is relatively concealed, while the second half can guarantee a very high speed, which may have a surprising effect. The disadvantage is of course that the route is tortuous and takes a long time. If it is discovered in the first half, it is very likely that the enemy's reinforcements will arrive at Fenliu Miao Bay faster than ours.

The General Staff Bureau put forward these two plans at the pre-war meeting yesterday afternoon, but Lin Hai did not give any instructions on this. Instead, he asked Wei Xiaodong, commander of the surprise attack fleet, to make a decision on the spot.

Wei Xiaodong glanced at the clock on the captain's desk and quickly made a decision: "Send a flag signal, we will implement the second plan!"

The surprise attack fleet continued sailing along the Dangan Waterway, which was in the direction away from Lantau Island. It only encountered one fishing boat along the way. Wei Xiaodong ordered the detention of several fishermen on the boat.

At 10 a.m., Wei Xiaodong opened a telescope and looked at Lantau Island from the starboard side of the Lubode. He then gave the order to turn the rudder, and the surprise attack fleet turned collectively and headed straight for Fenliu Miao Bay in the crosswind.

After the collective turn, the fleet's formation inevitably fell into chaos. Wei Xiaodong did not make any further adjustments, and the ships sailed at full speed in a similar diagonal formation, once again reaching an ultra-high speed of 12 knots.

The fleet was rapidly approaching Lantau Island, and soon encountered some ships of Li Kuiqi's army. According to the pre-war training, the fleet did not engage with the scattered enemy ships, but continued to advance at full speed while firing to drive away the enemy ships that tried to approach.

Soon, the fleet arrived at the entrance of Fenliu Miao Bay. As expected by the General Staff, there were hundreds of galleys parked densely in the harbor, and it goes without saying that these ships were full of flammable materials. Fenliu Miao Bay was just a small harbor, and Wei Xiaodong ordered the fleet to line up at the entrance of the bay and started firing broadsides without saying a word.

60 4-jin cannons roared in unison, and the flames from the muzzles formed a line. Fist-sized iron bullets flew into the bay like raindrops, instantly destroying the arson fleet, and the pirates' cries for their parents were all drowned out by the roar of the cannons.

These pirates had just received the alarm not long ago, but unfortunately, they received the signal gun alarm, because no pirate ship could outrun the reporting ship sailing in the crosswind.

Because of this, Chen Liu, the pirate leader stationed in Fenliu Miao Bay, thought that the main force of the enemy was coming from the Dahao Waterway.

The Dahao Canal is ten kilometers long, and the enemy had difficulty even in basic navigation due to headwind and current problems. Therefore, after receiving the alarm, Chen Liu did not order some of the fire ships to take emergency action, but instead organized everyone to board the ships step by step.

Unexpectedly, the surprise attack fleet suddenly appeared like a god descending from heaven, and caught the arson fleet off guard. The pirates were rushing to board the ship, and after firing their cannons, they hurriedly jumped into the water, and the whole scene was in chaos.

However, the next scene made Chen Liu even more desperate. The cannons on the opposite side were still roaring, but countless rockets flew out from the smoke. These rockets nailed onto the ship of his side, and soon burst into bright flames. It was the after-fire after the propellant was exhausted...

In order to increase their lethality, the fireships piled up flammable materials such as saltpeter and firewood in advance. In a moment, flames rose from more than a dozen ships.

Rockets were still being launched, the fire ships in the harbor were densely packed, and with the wind fanning the flames, Fenliu Temple Bay soon turned into a sea of ​​fire.

"It's over, it's all over!" Chen Liu suddenly felt hopeless. He saw that the enemy ship was not very tall and had originally planned to organize a suicide squad to board it, but now it was completely meaningless.

"Stop launching rockets! Withdraw from the bay!" Wei Xiaodong also issued the order in time. Due to the obstruction of smoke, flag signals could not be used at this time, so they could only lower the small boat to manually pass the order.

It is very dangerous to launch rockets from a ship. Moreover, the mouth of the Diversion Temple Bay faces west, and the surprise attack fleet is actually downwind. It is possible that they will burn themselves accidentally.

Fortunately, this time the fleet carried a piece of equipment called a rocket launcher, which is a single-soldier rocket launching device shaped like a bird gun, equipped with a matchlock bolt that automatically opens and closes the firing port cover, and uses a matchlock to ignite the rocket.

Unlike the bird gun, the rocket lance has no barrel. Instead, a slide is installed on the gun bed. There is also a baffle at the rear of the gun bed to prevent the soldier's eyes from being burned by the tail flame.

The advantage of using a rocket slide to launch a rocket is that you can aim before launching, avoiding initial deviation caused by hand shaking. This can greatly improve the accuracy of the rocket, at least basically prevent yourself from getting hurt.

This was an individual firearm developed by the Firearms Bureau based on the records in Zhao Shizhen's "Catalogue of Divine Weapons". It was certainly a burden to the army because it was almost as heavy as a bird gun, but in the end it unexpectedly won the favor of the navy.

(End of this chapter)