Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 298 Sweet Hong Kong Situation - Catch a turtle in the urn

Night gradually fell from the sky, covering the harbor.The sea breeze blows the mist that rises from the sea—this is the common mist in Lingao when it enters early summer.The fog is getting thicker and thicker, and the docks, trestles, coasts, islands, and factory buildings are all surrounded by a layer of soft veil, and only the lights in the buildings can be vaguely seen.

Wu De looked at the luminous watch in his hand. It was already eight o'clock in the evening. The lights near the Naval Shipyard were particularly bright, and the roar of steam engines could be heard.It was the sound of loading the Great Whale.The four smoothbore guns to be installed on the Big Whale were transported to Bopu during the day. In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, the loading work will be carried out by the sailors at the shipyard pier at night without any labor.

According to the plan, the admiral of the Big Whale will use straw bags filled with soil to build a retaining wall, and pile up bags of rice or sugar outside. In fact, several artillery pieces and two platoons of sailors are ambushed inside.As long as the other party approaches, they will bombard the pirate's ship with artillery - according to the description of the sailors on the Guang Bing, the pirate's ship is a small and medium-sized coastal ship, and it will definitely sink if it can't eat a few shells.

If the pirates only dispatch one or two ships, this solution is the simplest and most effective with the firepower that the big whale will be equipped with.But in case the enemy has too many ships.After all, the surprise effect achieved by sudden shooting is only once.After firing, it takes a while for the gun to reload and aim.Ships that are not hit can use scattered attacks to avoid the firepower on board—the big whale is not a motor sailing ship, its speed is slow, and its maneuverability is not flexible. You will suffer.If the enemy is frightened by the firepower of the big whale and turns around and flees after being attacked, the speed of the big whale can't catch up, and it becomes a battle of defeat.Obviously, it is not enough to use the big whale itself, and there must be ships to cooperate with it.

But when there are more ships dispatched, the cunning pirates may retract their tentacles. Obviously, no matter what mode the navy adopts, the basic condition for victory-the "initiative" is still in the hands of the pirates.

Spread out in front of you is a map of the distribution of islands and reefs in the waters near Hai'an Street magnified 50 times on a one-hundred-thousandth nautical map.In this area, there are large and small islands, reefs, and dark sand, forming countless waterways and dark canyons extending in all directions.Under such an environment, it is naturally particularly beneficial for pirates who use light boats and small boats.

After pondering for a moment, he dialed Li Di's phone:

"Is the Dengyingzhou ship in the harbor?"

"Report! On."

"Call that, Wang—" Wu De suddenly remembered that Deng Yingzhou's first officer seemed to be called Wang Dabeard by everyone, "...the first officer came to the base headquarters!"

"Wang with a beard? Call him immediately."

After a while, Wang Dabeard came.Regarding his beard, the navy is divided into two different factions. One faction thinks his beard is very beautiful and very "British" and wants him to keep it.The debate between the two sides is not over yet.So Wang Dazi still kept his beard.After a voyage, the crew had to rest for a few days as usual, so he looked very clean and energetic, dressed in a first-year navy uniform, and he no longer had the image of a pirate in the past.

"Based on your past experience as a pirate, where would you choose to intercept ships entering and leaving Hai'an Street Port?" Wood pointed at the chart, "To ensure absolute safety, the other party may have an escort."

Bearded Wang looked at the sea chart carefully—these extremely detailed things can no longer surprise him.

"Here." He pointed to a group of black dots on the chart.

Wu De took a closer look, this place is called "Chrysanthemum Island".It's not a formed island, just a bunch of reefs out of the sea.This place is at the necessary place of Hai'an Street Port.

He nodded, Guang Bing was attacked four nautical miles southeast of this area.Wang Dabeard's experience is correct.

"Why did you choose this place?" Wu De asked, because there are several similar islands and reefs nearby.

"The conditions here are the best. There are many islands and reefs in disorder, so it is easy to hide the boat. Just hide the boat in Juhuawaiyu, send people far on the reef, and rush out when there is a boat coming. Take it by surprise." Wang Da Hu Zi said, "If the opponent cannot be defeated by an escort, they can escape directly across the outer island. There are many waterways, reefs, and a lot of dark sand under the water. If the chasing ship is not familiar with the route, it will hit the rocks immediately."

"Well, what if we want to catch these pirates?"

"The best way is to ambush the boat on the inner island in advance," Wang Dahuzi said without hesitation, "Unless the pirates are not planning to escape through the outer island, the Maotiaokou between the inner and outer islands is the only way to go. There are gunboats blocking them, attacking from front to back. Even if you have the best ability, you can't escape."

"Very good." Wu De thought that if he just looked at the chart, he would not know that there are so many tricks in the reef group with only a few black spots.

"However, the inner island is very difficult to enter." Wang Dahuzi reminded, "The waterway is too complicated, except for small sampans, there is no danger to enter. Larger boats may run aground and run aground when entering or leaving the waterway."

"How big a ship can it fit in?"

Wang Dabeard shook his head: "The boat can take up to 200 materials. The water flow inside is very chaotic, and there are many dark sands."

"Are you familiar with access to waterways?"

"This—" Bearded Wang hesitated.

"To be honest," Wu De said, "this task is very important. I will give you credit when it is completed!"

"Yes," Wang Dabeard stood at attention first, "I did go in with someone, only once. I still remember some sea routes."

"Okay, get ready and report to the dock of the shipyard."

The next day, Wu De was busy choosing weapons and men.For this operation, he decided not to send the cross-travelers to participate, and it was completely organized to use the native troops of the navy.In the evening, he and Wang Dahuzi boarded a 100-material sloop and went to Juhua Island to conduct reconnaissance in person.

In order to narrow down the target, except for the seven or eight sailors and the two first batch of officer candidates who were promoted and undergoing training, no one else was taken.To ensure safety, the boat temporarily installed a motorboat paddle machine.

Ships sailed for hours at night.When it was approaching midnight, Wu De reckoned that he was already approaching his destination—Juhua Island outside Hai'an Street Harbor.

The sea is calm and the moon is bright.The sails of the ship have been lowered, and the boat is slowly advancing with the scull.

"Did you find it?" He asked the bearded Wang who was observing behind the bunker at the bow.

"Not yet. It should be soon." Wang Dazi watched the sea intently.Now his eyes are used to the darkness, and with the help of the telescope, he can roughly distinguish things within 300 meters of the sea surface.

The scout ship moved on.

"There are black spots ahead." Wang Dabeard shouted in a low voice, "Pay attention to the speed of the boat!"

At this time, there were not only a few black spots in front of Wu De's eyes, but a large group of black spots.The people on board became nervous, did they go in the wrong direction?There are not so many small reefs and islets on the sea chart!

"Stop advancing!" Wu De hurriedly ordered the captain.

The scout ship quickly slowed down, relying on the momentum of inertia, and slid forward quietly.Wu De looked at the degrees of the compass, went down to the cabin, turned on the flashlight, and checked the chart carefully.But there are no such strange marks on the chart.Could it be that the sea conditions have changed so much in the past 400 years?The degrees from the compass, the heading of the ship, and the bearing now calculated were all correct.Wu De thought for a while, and then calculated the time of the tide.Yes, it is the lowest tide and the full moon, so many unnamed reefs are out of the sea.The measurement of this kind of sea area that is not a waterway is naturally not too precise, and after all, the time is 400 years apart.Even if the waterway is measured accurately, after several years, due to the change of sea water, the waterway will be changed beyond recognition.The only way now is to rely on testing the deep hammer, walk a section and test a section, and gradually enter Juhua Island.

The water surface of the outer island is open, but there are many reefs.

"The tide is low now." Wang Dahuzi said, "In normal times, most of these reefs are submerged. As long as our 100 material ship is careful, no accident will happen."

Wood observed the sea conditions here.He secretly felt that it was right to call Wang Dabeard as a staff officer.In this place, if a large ship of unknown depth chases in, it is very likely to hit the rocks.

"We're going to enter Neiyu now." Wang Dabeard said nervously.

The scout boat passed a black reef and turned into a narrow channel.The scout ship was like an old donkey, walking and stopping for a while. The sailors held their breath and stared wide-eyed, staring at the strangely shaped reefs that emerged from the bottom of the sea from time to time. Be prepared for unexpected situations.

The current in the channel was abnormally turbulent, and the sailors tried their best to keep the scull shaft from rushing to the reef and smashing into pieces.Wang Dabeard recalled the channel he had traveled, and guided the direction of the scouting ship.Sometimes in order to confirm whether a reef is a marker or not, he has to confirm for a while.

After stopping and stopping like this for about an hour, the boat sailed into the narrow inner island.Then slowly headed towards the cat jumping mouth.Here are two huge reefs.The sea between the two reefs is extremely narrow, and if it is a ship of [-] materials, it can barely pass.

"This is the cat jumping mouth." Wang Dahuzi pointed to two rocks, "It is said that the distance even a cat can jump over."

Wu De nodded: "Waiyu is outside this?"

"Yes, as long as the pirates pass through this place, they can go out from other waterways in the inner island. It is said that there are seven or eight such waterways, and all of them can take a boat of one or two hundred calibers—but someone needs to lead the way."

"Then why don't we enter the inner island from here?"

"I'm not familiar with this waterway—" Wang Dahuzi also said bluntly, "I heard that there are several dark sands in the sea area near Maotiaokou in Waiyu, and they often change positions. People who are not particularly familiar with the hydrology here will probably be stranded in above."

Wu De ordered the scout boat to enter a narrow waterway, found a rocky beach that could be leaned on, threw the iron anchor on the rock to catch the rock crack, and fixed the boat.

The whole Juhua Island is just like his name, it is shaped like a chrysanthemum, scattered on the sea.Between islets and islets, reefs and reefs, many strange and various reverse flow channels and small poor bays have been formed.When the tide is low, the big boat can't move in it at all.Only the outer island has a relatively wide sea.

Wu De took Wang Dabeard and a sailor to climb up this unnamed island.He wore binoculars around his neck and an oilskin raincoat.The three of them climbed up the mountain with one foot deep and one foot shallow, frightening seabirds and lizards and other animals to run around in disorder.Wu De stopped and noticed the movement on the sea around him.

The entire Juhuayu sea area is extremely quiet, only a little fishing fire in the distance.Seeing that there was no movement around, he continued to lead people up.

The half-waist of the island is covered with a thick layer of wet, velvet-like moss. When people step on it, it makes a sizzling sound like a water-absorbing sponge, and the steep place is very slippery.Several times in a row they almost fell down.Climb to the top, but it is quite a flat open space, full of thorns and thorns.Dense hard grass and dead branches that have fallen sideways.It just interweaves into a layer of natural fence wall.The sailor opened the way with a machete, and the group came to a relatively flat open space near the cliff.The full moon was in the sky, sparkling on the sea, and the entire Maotiaokou sea area was unobstructed in their eyes.

The view from this place is very good.Wood said in his heart that an observation post could be arranged here.Suddenly a thought drilled into his mind.Isn't this place a better shooting position than a ship of one or two hundred materials?

Ships with one or two hundred materials can only be equipped with light artillery, and they can't install a few.If you really want to block the attack here, you still won't have an advantage in firepower.Since there are so many small islands in Juhua Island, it is entirely possible to make a fuss about them and arrange more artillery on them.Thinking of this, he couldn't help being excited that he had found a good strategy.

He visually checked the angle here, and then looked at the surrounding environment.Although the slope is a bit sloping, the slope is gentle, and the medium-sized artillery can be placed on the ground with a little leveling.Moreover, the area is large enough to house three or four 12-pound cannon battery groups, and a small amount of covering infantry can also be arranged.

Looking at the opposite side, there are also several places that may be suitable for placing artillery, one or two in each place, so that a total of more than seven cannons can form crossfire.Cannon fire fired from fixed islands and reefs is much more accurate than from shaky ships.Prepare one or two ships to intercept at Maotiaokou.As long as the pirate ship arrives here, it will be a situation of catching the turtle in the urn.Not one can escape.

"Let the officer cadets come up!" Wu De ordered, "Do the drawing work here, and map the surrounding target reference objects!"

After giving the order, he went down to the ship and reported the plan to Lingao over the radio.

"President Ma, please coordinate this matter." He added this sentence at the end of the telegram.

(End of this chapter)