Kowloon wins

Chapter 1078 Humen sells cigarettes ([-])
"Mr. Hull, look, the yellow-skinned monkey's boat is coming!"

At the same time that Pan Futai and others discovered the British merchant ship, the lookout post on the tall mast of the British merchant ship had already spotted four ships coming to meet them, and they immediately raised their voices and shouted.

"Down half the sail, let them come up!"

Brooks Hull is a middle-aged man with a dark face, cautious by nature, even though he heard the call from the lookout post, he did not give an order immediately, but picked up the monocular binoculars hanging from his waist, and aimed at the four ships. After looking at the medium-sized merchant ship for a while, he gave a cautious order.

"Half sail!"

As soon as Brooks Hull opened his mouth, the bosun standing next to him immediately shouted, and the sailors responded immediately, and the speed of the "Rose", which was driving at high speed, suddenly slowed down. However, it did not suspend the flight, but was ready to adjust the course at any time. There is no doubt that the people of the British East India Company did not fully trust Pan Futai and others who came to meet them. It was a small-scale transaction, the largest amount was no more than 45 taels of silver. Now, the value of this shipment of opium is as high as [-] taels of silver, so one cannot be too careful.

"Boss, Guilao's boat has slowed down, and a signal has been sent to ask us to go up by ourselves."

While slowing down, the "Mayflower" was waving flags to ask the ships from the Qing side to come closer. Seeing this, the lookout post on the mast of the "Shunfan" dared not be careless, and hurriedly pulled With a voice, he reported the information from Great Britain.

"Damn, these cunning ghosts! Speed ​​up and get up!"

Hearing what the lookout post said, Pan Futai, who was in a hurry to make a fortune, was obviously a little upset, so he cursed bitterly, but he didn't hesitate to give the order he should give, and then he saw four ships The ships on the Qing side began to speed up with full sail, and the distance between them and the "Mayflower" shortened rapidly.

"Send a report to General He. The snake has disappeared. The location is: 113 east longitude, 79 north latitude!"

The ocean near Shangchuan Island is where the fishing ground is located. There are many boats out to catch fish, big and small. One of the black-covered boats is always hanging far behind the four medium-sized merchant ships that Pan Futai and others are on. The dozen or so fishermen on board are all strong and strong, and they seem to be busy casting nets and fishing, but in fact, their attention is always on the whereabouts of "Shunfan", waiting to be discovered When the "Shunfan" was speeding up to join a large merchant ship coming from the south, a middle-aged fisherman with a dark complexion finally broke the silence, and gave the order in a cold voice. This person was indeed Daqing Nanhai Wang Kuan, Commander of the First Brigade of the Fleet Marine Corps!
"twitter!"

The fishermen on this boat are all dressed up by elite soldiers from the First Brigade of the Marine Corps. Naturally, there will be no discount in the execution of military orders. No, Wang Kuan just gave an order, and two fishermen dressed up The marines agreed loudly, and rushed into the cabin with strides, quickly lifted off a piece of canvas, revealing a strange machine covered under it—the whole machine was in the shape of a cuboid, more than three feet high, Two feet wide, two and a half feet long, and a large voltaic battery connected externally, it looks extremely weird, and this is the latest invention of the Qing Academy of Sciences-the electronic tube wireless telegraph!
"Drip, drip..."

With the coordinated operation of two specially trained telegraph operators, a series of beeps sounded, and the first radio practicality test in human history began.

Ten nautical miles northeast of Shangchuan Island, a large-scale fleet is cruising quietly. The entire fleet consists of eight warships, all of which are fast cruisers. Mainly, there are few heavy artillery, and they are generally used to detect the enemy's situation. Obviously, the arrangement of such a fleet is by no means the regulation that the Qing fleet should have. In fact, it is true. Each squadron of the South China Sea Fleet specially selected a task force composed of fast cruisers, and the commander was He Ming, Commander of the First Squadron of the Nanyang Fleet of the Great Qing Dynasty!
On the front deck of the flagship "Weifeng", He Ming in military uniform stood under the mast, looking at the southeast direction with a slightly dignified expression, his brows were slightly frowned. Don't worry, after all, the wireless telegraph is a new gadget. It's really hard to say whether it can really work. According to He Ming's original intention, he would rather take down Pan Futai and other internal thieves first, and then go to arrest Great Britain under his false name. He Ming dared not disobey the smuggling boat, but there was an order from Shangfeng, but he didn't know what to do in his heart, and worry was inevitable.

"Report, report to General He, received a call from Brigadier Wang, the snake has disappeared, location: east longitude 113, north latitude 79!"

Just when He Ming was worried, he saw a low-ranking naval officer rushing out of the cabin, rushed to He Ming with a few strides, performed a standard military salute, and hurriedly made a report. road.

"Oh? Okay, according to the general's order, the whole fleet turned to the southeast, and rushed to 113 east longitude, 79 north latitude at full speed. There must be no mistake!"

He Ming obviously didn't expect the wireless telegraph to be so useful, he couldn't help being taken aback, and hurriedly snatched the telegram from the officer who came to report it, and after browsing it quickly, he called Say hello, and then gave the general order with a murderous look.

"twitter!"

Hearing that He Ming gave the order, his own messenger hurriedly submitted the order to the bannermen on the tall mast. With the dancing of two small flags in the hands of the bannermen, the ships that were cruising quietly began to hear the order immediately. They moved, turned their course one after another, and galloped towards the predetermined location with full sail at full speed...

"The Qing Fleet is here, the Qing Fleet is here!"

On the southwestern ocean of Shangchuan Island, the handover between the smugglers was still in progress. The British merchant ship took advantage of the height of the ship to load and unload boxes of opium on pulleys, and sent them to the medium-sized cargo ship of the Qing Dynasty. When hundreds of people got up and were busy, they heard the horrified shouts of the lookout post from the tall mast of the "Mayflower".

"What? Damn, quick, sail, sail, retreat, retreat!"

Hearing the call from the lookout post, Brooks Helden, who was chatting with Pan and Luo allies through an interpreter, became anxious. He quickly grabbed the binoculars stuck in his waist and looked towards the southwest direction. Seeing the eight Qing fast cruisers approaching the transaction site in two directions, Brooks Hull roared at the top of his throat, not caring that the transaction was still in progress.

"All the ships are there, outflank and move forward, don't let this group of thieves go!"

At the same time when the observation post of Great Britain discovered the Qing fleet, on the front deck of the "Weifeng", He Ming, who was observing the transaction scene between the two parties in the distance with a telescope, gave the order to die with a stern voice, and immediately saw eight Qing troops. The warships were divided into two formations, rushing toward the smuggling scene like a big net.

"All the ships fired warning bombs and sent semaphores to make the gang of thieves stop for inspection. Anyone who violated the order will be killed without mercy!"

The British sailors on the "Mayflower" were all veterans of the sea, and their movements were very quick. They finally managed to get ahead of the Qing fleet and completed tactical maneuvers such as turning and full sail. However, merchant ships are merchant ships. In terms of speed, it is difficult to compare with fast cruisers. It has only just set sail for a short while, and the Qing fleet has already rushed to the vicinity. Seeing that the "Mayflower" was about to escape, He Ming refused to let it go. As soon as he raised his hand, he gave the general order loudly.

"Boom..."

With the order of He Ming, the bow guns of the eight Qing warships fired almost simultaneously. Amidst the rumbling sound of the guns, eight shells roared through the sky and exploded at both ends of the "Mayflower" hull. There were eight huge waves.

"Slow down, hurry up, send a semaphore, and say that my ship is a British merchant ship. Please don't misunderstand the Qing side!"

Brooks Hull had served in the navy, and he knew that merchant ships were like lambs under the knife's edge in front of fast cruisers armed to the teeth, with no resistance at all. It is obvious that the gunners on the ship are all well-trained people. If they really try to escape again, they will probably be bombarded by shells, so they dare not act recklessly, but they are unwilling to surrender just now. He brought up his own origins, hoping that the Qing fleet would be afraid of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

"Decree: The three ships 'Wei Feng', 'Wei Wei' and 'Wei Meng' stopped the barbarian merchant ships, and the rest of the ships captured the ships of the Jardine Company and the Qihang Company, and those who dared to resist were sunk on the spot! "

Seeing that the "May Flower" had already half-sailed, He Ming did not order to fire any more. Instead, he commanded three fast cruisers to force the "May Flower". Like an eagle catching a chick, he rushed to the "Shunfan" and other merchant ships that were fleeing in all directions on the sea.

"Stop the ship and accept inspection!"

The three fast cruisers including the "Prestige" were galloping at high speed on the sea like three sharp knives, but within about a stick of incense, they had already surrounded the half-sailed "Mayflower" among them. The semaphore soldiers on the "Weifeng" raised the flag and ordered the "Mayflower" to be inspected. At the same time, the smuggling ships of the Qing Dynasty, such as the "Shunfan", were forced to stop by the Qing army. .

"Pick up the boat!"

Following He Ming's order, the sailors on the "Majestic" immediately threw several hooks and ropes, hooked the side of the "Mayflower", and with all their strength, the two ships quickly leaned against each other. Together, several Daqing sailors took advantage of the opportunity to set up the springboard, ready to board the ship for inspection...

(End of this chapter)