Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 693 Go to Hong Kong
Shi Zhiqi regained his spirits.He watched Xiaofa's traffic boat sailing to the other side of the gangway of Linyun No. 11, and immediately notified the messenger:
"Signature to Linte 11, I want to go to the flagship to report on the preparations!"

There was no large-scale ceremony for the departure of the Pearl River Estuary Task Force. Only the tweeter played "March of Warships" as a farewell song. I can only learn from TV textbooks, which is naturally difficult.

The formation was led by 4 patrol boats of the 4th Patrol Boat Squadron, and then the ships of the squadron by squadron began to sail.Every ship was covered with military flags, the flag of Chen Haiyang's head of the navy and the flag of Wen Desi's naval adviser were flying on the main and secondary masts of Linyun 11.Shi Zhiqi sat on his flagship whale, watching the flag of his naval detachment leader fluttering with some pride.

There are many spectators on the coast, and it is a rare and spectacular performance for them to sail in a large formation.Ships full of flags, mighty sailors standing on slopes, and polished cannons... Wen Desi spared no effort to promote the concept of "Navy Show". Only by making the public think that the army is mighty and beautiful can it attract People come to serve as soldiers, instead of semi-mandatory forcing people to serve as soldiers like now.

The policy of being a soldier first and then being reformed is certainly good.But Wen Desi hopes to form a social value that is proud of service in the future empire.Therefore, he is extremely in favor of all things that enhance the sense of honor and social image of soldiers.

Shi Zhiqi just presented a copy of the "Marine Corps Uniforms, Insignias, Military Ranks, and Etiquette Plan" that he painstakingly compiled—or "plagiarized".On the surface, this is a proposal to "improve the image of the military", but it is actually the beginning of Shi Zhiqi's "de-navalization of the Marine Corps".Wen Desi didn't think so deeply, and he admired the system he worked so hard to create.This made Shi Zhiqi feel better.

The Pearl River Estuary Task Force arrived in the waters of Macau on September 9. The sudden appearance of such a large fleet in the waters of Macau caused panic among the Portuguese in Macau. After a short period of confusion, all the large ships of the Portuguese in the port All hoist the sails and prepare for battle.

The veterans watched the forts and ports of Macau with binoculars. Of course, it was not difficult to take Macau, but this place is too small, and even the basic vegetables and fresh water supply often have difficulties, and there is not much development prospect.Hong Kong Island is much better than here.

"Leave this place to the Portuguese." Wen Desi was lying on a wicker chair in the back of Linte No. 11. He was a little seasick—the ship was still too small, and it would sway in a strong wind and waves. sharp.Shi Zhiqi once invited him to go aboard the Big Whale, but he declined.

"At least we have to wait until they finish building the St. Paul's." Chen Haiyang said jokingly, putting down the binoculars.From a naval officer's point of view, Hong Kong is one of the few good naval bases, and the port of Macau is much worse.

The fleet left the waters of Macau and continued to sail westward.In fact, it has already entered the waters of the Pearl River Estuary—that is, Lingdingyang, which became famous because of Wen Tianxiang's poems.Neilingding Island is in front of the fleet on the left.

This is part of the so-called "Inner Ocean".The coastline here is twists and turns, uneven, and harbors that can be hidden and ambushed can be seen everywhere.Occasionally, you will encounter river estuaries where vast freshwater and seawater meet.

The "inner ocean" is full of islands dotted with dots, some of which are settled, and some are good places for fishermen to stop their boats and anchor to rest, but most of them are uninhabited islands and reefs.

These deserted islands also provide good places for pirates to rest and ambush.The entire task force was always vigilant when sailing to prevent sudden attacks by pirates-not only Liu Xiang's ships were active here, but there were also more sporadic small groups of people.Even the fishermen themselves have the possibility to "catch a catch" anytime and anywhere.

This area is a good hunting ground for pirates: the maritime traffic here is very developed, and the harbors that exist everywhere give the merchants the greatest convenience. Large quantities of goods are loaded on board and shuttle between the coastal cities and villages.Although the goods here are not as valuable as the goods of "foreign ships", robbing a ship of daily necessities is also very valuable for pirates-they can sell them faster.After collecting and sorting out a large amount of pirate information from the Foreign Intelligence Service, Xu Xu told Chen Haiyang that the pirates here want everything, not to mention low-value daily necessities such as fishing rods, rice, and salt, and even cold goods such as bricks and tiles.

"I can only say that the pirates are too poor..." Xu sighed.

Chen Haiyang said: "When the water sinks, the boat is low, but when the tide rises, the boat rises. At the beginning, I bribed a few bottles of wine and a few cigarettes. Later, a red envelope of [-] was just a trivial matter."

"Ahead is North Lantau Island."

"Order the pilot ship, turn the course to 120, and keep up with the ships in order! Don't fall behind!" Chen Haiyang issued an order to turn the rudder, "We want to cross the Great Sharpening Sea."

Chen Haiyang is going to command the fleet to pass through Lantau Island, pass through Damodao, and then pass through the Ma Wan Strait to enter Victoria Bay from the west channel of Hong Kong Island.Of course, this place will no longer be called Victoria Bay in the future.But the proposal to call Wu Zetian Bay was opposed by many people.

After the European ships set off from Macau and entered the waters of the Pearl River Estuary, the sharpening knife was the first important landmark on their charts.It can also be said that after the voyage has been sharpened, the first step to Guangzhou is taken.

When the fleet entered the Damodao sea area, Chen Haiyang ordered the entire fleet to be on alert-the north of this sea area is the famous Tuen Mun.At the beginning, the Portuguese tried to occupy this place as their Chinese trade base, but they were defeated by the Ming army. According to the information provided by the Foreign Intelligence Agency, there are hundreds of Ming army stationed here, and there may be a small number of division ships responsible for monitoring and patrolling the sea. .The emergence of the Australia-Song Navy is likely to trigger an armed conflict.

But the fleet passed through this water without any fighting.Chen Haiyang and others observed along the road, and hardly saw any signs of navy ships-according to the historical data provided by Yu Eshui, the Guangdong Navy should have regular patrols by division ships in the Pearl River Estuary.

Huang Zhuzi commented: "A system is a system, and whether it can be implemented is another matter. It is the end of the Ming Dynasty. It is probably just a dead letter."

Yellow Claws boarded the ship as a member of a long-distance survey team—the Hong Kong Island in this time and space also needs a comprehensive survey and mapping.In fact, he could let other people come, but Huang Claw very much hoped to be a captain in the future, so he took the initiative to participate in this voyage in order to accumulate his own sailing knowledge and sailing skills.

Chen Haiyang said: "It should be that the navy has too few ships to take care of them."

"I really hope that I can meet the Daming Navy and fight with real swords and guns! Even if I can shoot a few shots!" Huang Zuozai was very excited. He looked far away, except for scattered fishing boats. Besides, there is nothing on the sea.There are many large and small islands and sandbars in this area. In another time and space, they are all administratively subordinate to the Outlying Islands District of Hong Kong.

Yellowpaw's hope of fighting a battle was soon realized.In the afternoon of that day, when they were passing through Ma Wan Bay, the signal soldier suddenly shouted:
"Avantgarde found a suspicious ship!"

The Ma Wan Strait is a north-south waterway, with Ma Wan Island to the west and Tsing Yi Island to the east.And under Ma Wan Island, there is a small island called Denglong Island.In the sheltered waters between the two islands, there are many large and small fishing boats moored.The lookout post on the vanguard patrol boat vigilantly found that there were bonfires on the hills of Tsing Yi Island and Ma Wan Island.Obviously in contact with something.

Afterwards, several suspicious fishing boats appeared on the sea, gradually approaching the vanguard squadron, as if they were spying on the fleet.When it was discovered that the fleet was very large, they left quickly.

Chen Haiyang said: "This is a pirate's ship." He raised his binoculars, "Order the patrol boat squadron to capture the enemy ship!"

As the semaphore signaled, a few minutes later, the four patrol boats of the leading patrol boat squadron left the queue and rushed towards the fleeing fishing boat.

Yellow Claw raised his binoculars and watched the scene in the distance.Obviously there were not many enemies, and I saw three small black boats fleeing near Ma Wan Island, but the clumsy hulls could not compare with the light and light triangular sail patrol boats in terms of sailing speed.

The patrol boat quickly surrounded the three black boats. At this moment, Huang Zhazi saw a puff of white smoke rising from the first black boat, and vaguely heard the sound of the cannon.

"Fight, hit!" The sailor who was watching shouted, "The enemy ship fired!"

Almost at the same time, thick smoke erupted from the two patrol boats that had already blocked the pirate ship, and clusters of flames flickered in the smoke.

Immediately, many small white water columns rose up on the sea surface around the ship, the hull seemed to be shaking, and the sails on the black boat fell down.

"The enemy ship is on fire!" The lookout just yelled, when suddenly a small-scale explosion ignited a big fire on a black boat.

"I didn't see a cannon fired, why did it explode?"

"The gunpowder on the pirate ship exploded." Chen Haiyang said casually, "The gunpowder barrels of the pirates were thrown open on the deck when fighting."

The battle ended quickly, and two black boats were captured, and the other one was too hot to save.

According to the procedures for catching pirates, the captives were not dealt with at sea, but they sent someone to dismantle the cannons above and confiscated the gunpowder.Then the sailors were ordered to drive the black boat to advance with the team, and they were not allowed to leave the formation.

(End of this chapter)