Chapter 139 wei wei

And the two old ships under Chu Cai did not immediately find them at first. They were still sailing slowly to the north along the eastern coast of Kinmen Island, because it was winter and the northwest wind was blowing on the sea, which made their speed very slow.

But soon after the three ships of the sea wolf made a mist, the rooks on the two Chucai old boats still found their traces, and the rooks on the two boats suddenly made an exclaim.

They don't need to make too much judgment on the identity of these three ships, because during this period, the situation of these boats has been well known among Chu Cai's old men. The Chu Cai's subordinates who narrowly escaped firmly remembered the characteristics of these ships and widely spread them to Chu Cai's others. Members of his subordinates.

So as soon as the sailboats of the three sea wolves appeared, their identities were immediately confirmed by these old Chu Cai's men, and the people on the two ships suddenly shouted loudly.

And the people on the two ships quickly raised their full sails, began to adjust the sails to eat the wind, and raised the speed of the ship. At the same time, they made a posture to escape, and also made a posture to resist on the ship.

However, their speed was really a little pitiful in front of these sloops. Even in a state of headwind and breeze, the sea wolf's ships still showed their rapid characteristics and accelerated to catch up with these two colorful ships in a short time.

The people on the two ships under Chu Cai obviously did not intend to sit and wait for death, and there were many people on the two ships. After discovering the three ships of the sea wolf, they shouted and prepared all the cannons and crossbows on the ship. As soon as the sea wolf's ship approached, they fought. Take action.

Luo Xianbin commanded the three ships to keep formation and accelerate the two Chu Cailao's ships, while observing the reactions of the other ship's personnel through the telescope. When he saw Chu Cailao's men making a posture to carry to the end, a cruel smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

After putting down the telescope, he took out a thin cotton cloth from his arms, carefully wiped the lenses on the telescope, and said with a sneer, "Grandma, these lifeless things actually took out everything, and actually put on a posture of being with us forever!

Hum! They look at us too much! Today, let them see what it means to beg for every day, and the taste of the earth!

Give me the order, prepare the artillery of each ship, lock the ship in front of you, shoot in 200 steps, and beat it first and then talk about the next one!"

Shangdou immediately waved the signal flag and conveyed his order to the other two ships. The three boats immediately began to change their formation, changing from a character shape to a head-to-end formation, and continued to keep up with the two Chucai old ships at high speed.

Because of the difference in boat speed between the two sides, such a chase did not last long. In just two quarters of an hour, the three ships of the sea wolf caught up with the two Chucai old boats and stabilized the fleet at a distance of about 200 steps on the right side of their two boats.

The reason for maintaining a 200-step distance is that Yu Xiaotian has learned that in this era, pirates even include the artillery range of officers and sailors, and few can hit more than 200 steps. Even if some artillery has a range of more than 200 steps, they can shoot relatively far. But after 200 steps, their artillery also completely lost their accuracy, and it was all luck to reach anything.

So after the sea wolf acquired the ability to build its own six-pounder gun and gradually popularized the six-pounder gun to their armed fleet, the sea wolf had a great advantage in firepower and range when dealing with the same Chinese pirate ships and even military naval warships.

The 200-step range is the best range for six-pound guns to effectively exert their firepower, and it can also effectively ensure the accuracy of artillery firing. In addition, all the artillery on sea wolf ships have adopted four-wheel guns similar to those of Western countries, which makes its operation much easier and makes them occupy the ultimate in firepower. Right advantage.

This is also the reason why Luo Xianbin and others chose to bombard enemy ships at a distance of 200 steps. There is no doubt that their choice is a very correct decision.

At the moment when the two sides were equalized, Luo Xianbin did not talk much with the old men of Chu Cai, and began to shell the leading Chu Cai's old boat with an order.

Although the number of cannons loaded on sloops is not large, it is only the result of comparison with Western gunboats. Compared with the pirates of this era, the number of artillery on their ships is already very large.

In order to ensure the firepower advantage of this private fleet, Yu Xiaotian strengthened these three ships when forming the private fleet. Each of the three ships was equipped with three six-pound guns on the left and right sides of the middle deck, and two 12-pound howitzers were also arranged in the open air of the bow and stern. , you can shoot forward or backward, and if necessary, you can also adjust the muzzle to aim at any side of the ship's side for shelling.

In addition, at the side of the upper open deck of these three ships, two small Franco cannons were added on each side to strengthen their ship's ability to kill the deck personnel of enemy ships during the battle.

In addition, each ship is also equipped with ten short-hulled southern Japanese huskling guns and many new bamboo shells*, as well as some old-fashioned whale oil*.

In order to strengthen the effect of *, Yu Xiaotian has even sent people to Manila, Batavia, Macao and other places to buy oil from the Middle East to replace whale oil as *'s filling fuel and enhance the arson effect. However, so far, this plan has not been successful. After all, oil is such a thing. So far, it has not been widely used and has not been used as a commodity export by Westerners, so even if he is looking for this thing, it is estimated that the acquisition time will be at least half a year later.

So, the displacement of the three sloops is not large, but the firepower is never weak, let alone be underestimated. Anyone who underestimates them will pay a heavy price.

Today, these two old ships have obviously not accepted the lessons of their former accomplices, and have not paid enough attention to the long-range firepower advantages of these ghost ships, putting on a posture of carrying to the end.

A series of roars suddenly sounded on the sea. Headed by Luo Xianbin's ship, three dhows began to fire in turn. In an instant, more than a dozen roars broke the calm on the sea, and the smoke also enveloped the side of the three ships.

During the shelling, the hulls of the three ships vibrated violently, and driven by the recoil of the artillery, there was a certain lateral shift on the sea, but the solid hull effectively withstood such vibration. Soon after the shelling, the roll immediately recovered, and the cabin was filled with a stream. The choking smell of gunpowder smoke.

However, the gunners inside and outside the cabin couldn't care about this at all. In the roar of the gun commanders of each gun, they rushed to grab various tools and began to clear and reload their guns. After completing the reloading, they immediately dragged the ropes of the towing guns and pulled the gun racks back to the side of the ship. The door is ready for another shelling.

There are special personnel on the deck of each ship to evaluate and record the effect of the shelling of each ship, and they quickly reported the effect of the shelling on their ships to the captains:

"Captain, our ship fired five times, hit the enemy ship with two shots, two firing arrows, and one shot was lost! ......”

The captains stared at the target they attacked and were also observing the situation of the enemy ship. At this time, Luo Xianbin had obtained a summary of the shelling effect. In the first round of valley, their three ships fired a total of 13 shells, two shells of mute fire, and hit the enemy ship five times, and most of the rest were close arrow shells. But two shots were also lost, and the shells deviated far from the target.

Luo Xianbin was very dissatisfied with such a shelling effect and immediately scolded: "Stupid! What are you doing with this distance? Slow down and keep heading, and prepare for the second round of volley. Who the mother will give me dumb fire again, blow the cannonballs away, and see how I deal with him at night!"

The swirling hands of the three ships immediately began to collect their sails and lower their respective ships, so that the fleet remained in parallel with the two colorful old ships, and the gunners of each ship immediately began to prepare for the second round of shelling nervously.

Although the first round of shelling was not effective, it was enough for the target Chu Cai's old ship.

They were hit by five shells in an instant, and the shells fired by the enemy were very powerful, touching their ships, leaving a big hole, and destroying a large area of their ship on the spot.

The landing point of the five shells was basically evenly distributed throughout the hull, and their ship immediately seemed to have been reclaimed. The people on the ship even were torn into pieces by shells on the spot. The fragments of the collapsed shipboard also injured several people on the ship, causing them to scream. A voice of exclamation.

And this is not the most unfortunate. The most unfortunate thing is a near-arrow bomb near the middle of their ship. After falling into the water, it did not sink into the sea, but produced a bounce effect with the help of the surface of the sea. After the shell bounced up on the sea, it directly hit the waterline of the lower side of their ship, and as a result was in them. The ship's department smashed a hole, and a cabin began to pour a large amount of seawater in an instant, making their ship clumsy in a short time.

This time, they knew the power of these three "ghost boats". Whether they were in charge of the ship or the guys, they were shocked and dared not wait any longer. They didn't care whether the range of the broken cannons on their ship was enough or not, they just began to shout and began to These three "ghost ships" fired fire and began to fight back.