The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 594
The forward main force of the Daming Navy, on the bow deck of the fifth-tier frigate Ji'an.

Liu Guoxuan's eyes widened, and he stared at the sea surface in front of him with the help of the faint morning light. The sky at this time was almost the minimum requirement for sailing, and it was absolutely not allowed to sail at such a fast speed in such dark conditions.

But the dim light is also beneficial to the surprise attack on Laizhou Port. Thanks to the few and elite sailors, there are only more than 30 Ming warships that are bulging their bows and stern sails at this time, and they are gathered into a dense formation as much as possible. , so it is extremely difficult to find it seven or eight nautical miles away.

In fact, Liu Guoxuan was already able to vaguely see the breakwater of Laizhou Port, and the Ji'an was not spotted by any Jianlu patrol boats this way.He suppressed his excitement, and looked up at the pennant flying on the top of the mast—for the sake of concealment, there was only a small white flag hanging there, not the flag of the Daming Navy—it was Beifeng.

Laizhou Port is a narrow and long waterway that borders the Bohai Sea in the north and extends southward for more than 20 miles. Therefore, the north wind is suitable for naval warships to enter the port with the wind.If it weren't for the zigzag turn at the entrance, a warship with full sails would be able to reach the deepest part of the port in less than half an hour.

Liu Guoxuan couldn't say how excited he was, and smiled secretly: "God helped Daming." Suddenly, the lookout on the mast anxiously waved the signal flag in his hand, and then beat the mast rhythmically.

Liu Guoxuan was very familiar with the semaphore of the navy, and immediately searched the water surface at three compass points west by south with binoculars according to the report from the lookout, and soon found a small jet-black boat.

"It's a captive patrol ship!" He turned his head quickly and told his adjutant, "Raise the command flag and let the Han Shizhong and Li Guangbi outflank it from both sides. Try to jump in and seize the ship, and don't fire unless it is absolutely necessary!"

The vanguard he led was only the Ji'an and three sixth-level light frigates, all of which had been emptied of food, fresh water, etc. in the cabin, in order to maximize the flexibility of the warship and clean up the Jianlu patrol ships along the way to cover the navy brigade .

"Yes!"

When the Han Shizhong and Li Guangbi sailed out from both sides, the small boat apparently also spotted the oncoming uninvited guest, but it seemed to think that it was its own warship—the "Wei" brand Galen War under Zheng Zhilong's command. The ship also has this kind of tall soft sail, although it is a little smaller, but it can't be distinguished clearly in the dim light.

On the bow of the captive ship, a flag officer was still waving the flag stupidly and desperately, asking who the Ji'an was under and what he was doing.

It wasn't until the Han Shizhong rushed to the place where it was four or five hundred steps away that the patrol boat felt that something might be wrong, and turned the bow cautiously, but still didn't intend to warn.

Liu Guoxuan was overjoyed to see this scene through the binoculars, and hurriedly said to the adjutant in a low voice: "Send the Han Shizhong to wait for the opportunity to crash the captive ship!"

"Yes!"

The Han Shizhong immediately corrected the direction of the ship's bow, Yang Fan broke through the waves and came, but there were two men dressed in the costumes of the Qing army sailors standing at the bow, and even wore a braid made of ponytails behind their heads.

The officers on the Jianlu ship also carefully watched the opposite plywood ship. Although they seemed to be all their own people on the deck, they never got a reply from the semaphore.

After another moment, the Qing army found that the ship was rushing towards them without slowing down. There was a sudden panic on the patrol ship, and the officers and soldiers ran and shouted, "Turn the rudder! Avoid!"

"Be careful, you're about to hit it!"

"Flick away..."

But they turned a big turn just now, and at this time they were facing the Han Shizhong on the starboard side, and there was a crosswind, which made them look extremely clumsy compared to the Han Shizhong.

Immediately, with a dull and loud noise, the bow of the light frigate of the Ming army plunged into the side and rear of the enemy ship.The boat was only about fifty or sixty tons, but it was knocked out a hole six or seven feet wide in an instant. At the same time, the hull was pushed to a serious tilt, and a large amount of seawater poured in from the hole.

On the other hand, the Han Shizhong had a nearly five-inch-thick beech hull. Although it tilted under the collision, as it changed the direction of the sails and pulled the hull out, it almost immediately regained its balance.

At the same time, the Li Guangbi also came from another direction.The two frigates sandwiched the sinking boat, and the sailors stood in a row on the deck, shooting bows and arrows to kill the captive soldiers who fell into the water.

After only one meal, no one could be seen struggling on the water near the enemy ship.And the lights in the boat seemed to be knocked down, and flames came out from the bottom cabin.

On the Shaowu ship following behind, Zheng Chenggong saw flames rising from the sea ahead, and couldn't help frowning, and ordered: "Laizhou Port will soon see these thick smokes, and immediately order all ships to disperse and divert." 'Word plan."

"Yes!"

As the flag of the Shaowu was raised, all naval warships were immediately divided into six teams, with large ships of more than [-] tons as the core, and light frigates followed closely. They rushed towards the predetermined target in the port.

The Ji'an side also saw the flagship's order, and Liu Guoxuan was very annoyed at the moment. The "B" word plan meant the end of the sneak attack and a frontal attack.

Fortunately, at this time, he had bypassed the "Zigzag" bend at the entrance of Laizhou Port, and was very close to the anchor ship of Jianlu. He didn't hesitate anymore, and all the four ships under his command raised their sails and headed straight to Nan rushed away.

After another journey, the sky began to get brighter, and Liu Guoxuan could see the situation in Laizhou Port without binoculars.There are masts everywhere, big ships outside and small boats inside, tied with a large number of cables, densely crowded by the pier like a canine tooth, at least five or six hundred!

But unlike what he had expected, where there were loud drums and captive soldiers running around for defense, the Laizhou Port was still as quiet as usual, and the masts of all the ships were bare, and none of them looked like they were going to hoist their sails.

It turned out that Zheng Du, who was in charge of port defense, thought that Laizhou Port was heavily guarded, so he never thought about the Ming army daring to attack.He heard his officers report that there was smoke rising from the sea, and he thought it was a lost fishing boat that caught fire nearby, so he sent two boats to investigate, and then went back to continue the half-eaten breakfast he had just eaten.

Although Liu Guoxuan didn't know why, it was obvious that Jianlu hadn't reacted yet, and he was very grateful in his heart.When he sailed until he was less than three miles away from a large number of enemy ships in the mooring port, he saw two chasing boats approaching head-on at a leisurely pace.

There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he said loudly to the adjutant: "Raise the command flag. Beat the drums, open all the gun ports, and prepare for war!"

"Yes!"

At this time, the entire Laizhou Port could see the dark gun barrels protruding from the four large and small warships, and they rushed over aggressively, but they were all stunned on the spot for a while.

The two Jianlu chasing boats that were sent out to investigate could see it even more clearly, and immediately turned the bow of the boat, and at the same time hastily fired a warning cannon from the bowl mouth cannon on the bow.

(End of this chapter)