Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 143 The Songs Are Unsatisfactory (5)

Zhao Xingde shouted in a deep voice: "Raise the sails and go to the sea." Although merchant ships usually sail along the coast, even if they get lost temporarily in the sea, they can last for a while.There are many pirates, but the boats are small, and they usually don't want to leave the shore too far. Once they get lost, they don't even have enough food and water.

A string of lanterns was hoisted on the mast, and the three Xia merchant ships sailed away from the shore with full sail. The pirate ship left one behind, waiting for the companions on the lowered boat to re-board, and the other three closely followed each other. caught up.Zhao Xingde issued the order again with lanterns, and the three Xia Kingdom merchant ships gradually adjusted their queues and sailed in a reverse shape.The two smaller ones flanked each other, sailing slightly faster.The ship in the middle where Zhao Xingde is located has the largest hull, the largest load, and the deepest draft, so it gradually falls behind.

The pirate's hull is long and light, and the draft is too shallow to carry heavy loads, but its speed is far faster than that of a cargo ship.Most old pirates can estimate the amount of cargo based on the draft of the merchant ship. At the moment, the draft of the Xia Guo merchant ship hanging behind is extremely deep, and it must be loaded with a lot of oriental cargo. The cargo loaded by the other two cargo ships is probably not as much as the one behind.These pirates all accelerated the frequency of paddling, the speed of the ship was extremely fast, the high bow of the ship split the water like a sharp knife, and they were chasing the Xia Guo ship that fell behind. As long as the last big boat is intercepted, this trip will not be in vain.

The enemy ship was getting closer and closer, and the messengers all looked at Zhao Dutou.Zhao Xingde's eyes were staring at the rear, secretly calculating the distance and speed of the enemy and us. The enemy ship was getting closer and closer, and he could almost see the ferocious face of the pirate standing at the bow pulling the sail rope. Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "Sail down, Let's fight." The blue and red lanterns went up the mast again.

This is a set of tactics planned by Zhao Xingde in advance.The Xia Kingdom merchant ships on both sides lowered their sails together, and the oarsmen on both sides of the deck struggled to row the wooden oars backwards. The long wooden oars made a rattling sound, almost as if they were being shortened, and the sea water on both sides of the hull was violently stirred up, as if Boiling is average.The merchant ship, which was sailing forward just now, shook violently for a while, stopped abruptly, and then, under the vigorous paddling of the oarsmen, began to back quickly.

The boat that Zhao Xingde was on also lowered its sails at the same time. The oarsmen on both sides rowed hard to stop the boat, and then turned to full rudder to the right. The body turned ninety degrees, and the starboard side was aligned with the chasing pirate ship.This turn was very sharp, and the tall ship not only shook violently, but also tilted obviously to the starboard side. The sergeant on the starboard side needed to firmly hold on to the side of the ship so as not to fall into the bottomless waves below.

In the shortest period of time, the three Xia Guo ships completed the transformation from a reverse-shaped formation with two fronts and one rear to a concave-shaped formation with one horizontal and two rears.And the ship in front also turned, so that the starboard side, which was already full of crossbowmen, aimed at the incoming enemy.After the three ships adjusted their positions, the hulls on both sides supported the hooks almost simultaneously to prevent them from being hit by the pirate ships.The bed crossbows were set up on three sides, and the side of the ship full of crossbowmen was ready to fight, like a ferocious monster, suddenly opened its bloody mouth and showed its bloodthirsty fangs.

The speed of the three pirate ships that were chasing after them was already extremely fast, but the Xia Guo fleet in front suddenly changed, and the pirate ship oarsmen had no time to paddle in reverse. The position of the prey suddenly changed.

In order to load more cargo, the merchant ship has a tall hull, and the ship's side on the water is also higher than that of the pirate ship.From the pirates looking up from the deck of the low clipper ship, the side of the merchant ship of Xia Kingdom looks like three towering city walls. Behind the side of the ship, the soldiers of the Xia army bent their bows and set arrows, and the sailors held firecrackers. 'Messy' pirates.Behind them, Xia Jun sword shield and strong sailors, each holding sharp axes, horizontal knives and shields and other short soldiers, are waiting in full force.

Zhao Xingde looked down, the pirates stood up in a hurry, some were waving short knives and shouting loudly to others, some were grabbing all kinds of hooks and swinging them, and some were even going directly to the side of the Xia Guo ship on the climb.At this time, there was no need for extra military orders, he raised his bow and set an arrow, and said in a deep voice: "Kill!" A long arrow flew out, directly hitting a pirate's throat, and then, from the high three sides of the ship, On the ground, the burning kerosene bed crossbow bolts were nailed to the deck of the pirate ship one after another, the arrows pierced the sky like rain, mixed with the roar of the sailors lighting the firecrackers.The pirates who had no time to evade were knocked down and shot down, and those who were alive either jumped desperately onto the Xia Guo ship, hoping to use close hand-to-hand combat to offset the gap in the bow and crossbow firearms, or hid in the cabin behind the side of the ship, and the archers went up in embarrassment. 'Shooting' arrows was also completely inaccurate because of Xia Jun's suppression.

"Howling your mother!" Jian Cheng went out with an arrow and 'shot' a pirate in the left eye.Another pirate climbed up from the side of the ship. Jian Cheng drew out the horizontal knife and cut off his ten fingers with one blow. The pirate let go and fell into the sea with a strange cry.A pirate held a dagger in his mouth and 'swung' in the air with both hands holding the cable. Before he landed, an arrow pierced through his throat and fell heavily on the deck. Seeing that he was dead, Zhao Xingde bent his bow and set his arrow again.Chen Yongqi stood beside him holding a large square shield.A pirate had just jumped onto the deck. Liu Zheng scolded his mother and kicked his leg on his stomach. A pirate who rushed up fell to the ground, and stabbed the horizontal knife with his left hand, nailing the desperately struggling pirate to the deck.In the boarding battle, the deck is extremely narrow, usually one-on-one or one-on-two hand-to-hand combat, and the amazing martial arts of the Chengying camp sergeants are fully displayed.The pirates thought that there were a group of brave sailors on the deck, but unexpectedly they encountered a group of murderous Yaksha patrolling the sea.

The remnant bandits who were still on the pirate ship saw that the situation was not going well, and wanted to turn the rudder and escape, but it was too late.While fighting on board, the sailors below the deck of the Xia Guo ship switched to short oars and turned the ship slightly. The two Xia Guo merchant ships on the side moved closer to the middle, and surrounded three smaller pirate ships. In the middle, he was blocked by Captain Xia Guo's long hook, unable to advance or retreat.Xiaguo's ship bed crossbow continuously fired fire oil crossbow arrows, and after a while, the pirate ship was on fire, and the sergeants kept firing arrows to kill those pirates who dared to put out the fire.The pirates had to jump into the sea to escape, and the sergeant Ming Hongdu used the light of the fire to shoot again, and shot arrows without mercy to kill the pirates who were thumping in the water, and a flower bloomed in the black sea water. A red blood flower.In fact, this place is far away from the coast, even if they don't shoot arrows, it is difficult for the pirates to swim back to the shore.

The surviving pirates begged for mercy in Dashi, Turkic, Russian, Greek, and Latin. Many took off their white clothes and waved them desperately.In this battle, Zhao Xingde commanded Ming Hongdu to attack the crowd with few people, beheading more than [-] ranks and taking more than [-] prisoners.The sergeants who won the bloody battle were extremely excited. Jian Cheng, Du Chuijiao, Liu Zheng, etc. knocked the hilts of their knives rhythmically against the side of the ship, and shouted loudly: "Long live the Great Xia!" "Long live the Great Xia!" Zhao Xingde was also moved by the atmosphere Infected, with one stroke of his sword, he shouted loudly, "Long live Daxia!" The sergeants surrounded him and shouted loudly together.On the sampan tied to the stern, dozens of pirates looked as pale as dead people.

On the way back, I met the fourth pirate ship. I saw only the merchant ship of Xia Kingdom, so I knew that my accomplice had missed. I immediately hoisted the sails and shook the wooden oars, and fled. 'A small island entrenched.This group of hundreds of pirates robbed merchant ships in this area for several years, and they accumulated a lot of property, which became Ming Hongdu's spoils of war.Handing over the head and captives to the court of Lumei Kingdom will give them another reward.According to the rules of the Chengying Battalion, [-]% of the belongings were left to the families of the soldiers who died in battle and Pao Ze, who was seriously injured and retired.The rest will be divided into ten parts. The centurion will get [-]%, and the ten commanders will get [-]%. The remaining [-]% should be divided according to the merits. However, no one can tell how many people will kill in the melee. up.After returning to Lumei, Zhao Xingde privately gave his [-]% to the family members of the fallen soldiers, just to avoid trouble, and no one in the camp knew about it.

After returning to the barracks, Zhao Xingde sent away the attentive Theodore, and Zhao Xingde unpacked the package from his home, which contained three pieces of clothing.A robe, a cloak, and a jacket are all very thick, and they must be very warm to wear.The fine and dense stitches were all sewn by Li Ruoxue.It took more than half a year to send it from Dunhuang to here.A cut of red plums is embroidered in an inconspicuous place, which is made by outlining the blood stains from pierced fingers with gold thread.There is a piece of letter paper in the clothes, the fragrance is refreshing, and the beautiful handwriting on the plain paper comes into view, whether it is a parting feeling, or a funny story, every bit of Li Ruoxue's life, like a clear stream, can be seen at a glance, or a small poem The words express parting emotions, and the resentful and charming eyes are in front of his eyes, which makes Zhao Xingde feel ashamed, and secretly said: "This military affairs are completed, even if I voluntarily retire, I will spend more time with Ruoxue."

After writing the letter home to Ruoxue, it was already late at night.There was noise and laughter outside the barracks.The barracks of the imperial guards stationed in Chengying Camp is next to the Lumei Kingdom's palace, surrounded by countless mansions of high-ranking officials and dignitaries. There is no such thing as a curfew in Lumei Kingdom, and rich and noble families often feast all night long, neither drunk nor happy , Chen Xizhai once took Zhao Xingde to see him a few times, among which the extravagant and "lewd" places are far better than the Central Plains.

Lumei nobles even have an ancestral emetic secret 'medicine', after eating hesai, take a little, and go to a remote place to vomit the contents of the belly, without nausea and discomfort, gargle with fine wine and spices, and then Can continue to feast as if nothing had happened.For many Lumei nobles, the afternoon is the time to wash up in the morning, the night is the real beginning of the day, and the banquet atmosphere is the most lively in the middle of the night.Lumei people also have a misconception that wine is less likely to stink than water, so it is more suitable for nobles to drink.Every time there are drunks yelling wildly on the street.

Over the past year, apart from going out to fight, Zhao Xingde has been learning about Lumei's national conditions and customs, and has a deeper understanding of Lumei's situation.