At night, a bright moon rises over the sea, and the sky is filled with light clouds and stars.
A small sampan painted entirely black quietly sailed into Zhuqi Bay, north of Qing'ao Bay.
Zhuqi Bay is separated from Qing'ao Bay by Qing'ao Mountain, which is also a good natural harbor. In the past, fishermen on the island would stop at Zhuqi Bay in spring and summer to avoid the south wind, and move to Qing'ao Bay in autumn and winter to avoid the north wind.
With the faint moonlight, the small sampan rushed onto the only small sandy beach at the foot of Qing'ao Mountain.
Two figures in black shorts jumped off the boat. After they got on the beach, one of them took out a mud whistle and blew it in short and long bursts.
Amid the everlasting sound of the tide crashing against the shore, there suddenly began the sound of birds chirping, which was very eerie in the night.
However, in the opposite forest, there were unexpected responses from the sound of birds, as if their own kind had been woken up.
The two men crawled forward following the sound, and soon, one entered the dense forest while the other hid outside.
After entering, they exchanged commands again, and saw a figure in a ghillie suit coming out from behind a big tree, handing the latest instructions and a pigeon cage to the person.
The man took the things and left without saying much. Together with his companions, he pushed the boat into the sea, and took advantage of the receding tide to row back into the sea.
~~
The daily results of each fleet can be sent back to the base by carrier pigeons. However, carrier pigeons cannot fly back to a moving ship, so people still have to be sent back to contact them regularly. The time difference between the arrival of carrier pigeons and messengers is just right for making decisions, and giving the summarized intelligence and the latest orders to each fleet.
So Zhao Hao had already learned about today's results two hours ago. In fact, the reconnaissance balloons on the island could give a rough idea, while the carrier pigeons could provide more accurate details.
Today's victory naturally made him happy, but he was only slightly happy because the pirates, who lacked training and equipment, were nothing more than scum with a combat effectiveness of only 5% in front of his armed squadron.
Moreover, the Portuguese and the Japanese fleets did not participate in the battle, so no matter what the result is today, it is not a victory to be celebrated.
The lights in the operations room were on. Zhao Hao supported himself with his hands on the edge of the blue sand table, staring intently at the two fleets flying the Portuguese flag and the Five Goat Flag to the northeast of Nan'ao Island.
According to the report, they have been cruising in the upwind area today, and even though Lin Feng's fleet approached them at one point, they did not react.
The coast guard fleet flying the sun and moon flags was located to the north of Nan'ao Island, facing the Portuguese fleet at a distance of twenty taels, and there was no movement for the entire day.
"The commanders on both sides want to wait for the other side to join the battlefield first." Jin Ke stood opposite him, staring at the sand table, and said in a deep voice.
"They are not in a hurry, so we can't be anxious either. After all, we are the underdogs." Zhao Hao sighed. Apart from the two of them and Secretary Ma, there were only a few staff officers on duty in the operations room. There was no need to brag anymore.
Whether it was the naval battle experience taught by Pinto or the naval battle knowledge accumulated in Zhao Hao's mind, they all clearly pointed to the same point - in a naval battle, the battleship determines the outcome. The larger and stronger the battleship, the greater the advantage. With the current level of weapons, even if there is only one battleship, no matter how many small boats you have, you can't eat it.
Just two years ago, at the same time when Zeng Yiben's fleet returned home in defeat in Macau, another Portuguese caravel was besieged by 200 ships of the Sultanate of Aceh in the Strait of Malacca. The two sides fought for three days, and the battle ended with 40 warships of the Acehnese being destroyed and forced to retreat.
This is the fundamental reason why Mr. Zhao does not value today's victory. As long as the four Portuguese battleships are intact, the outcome is uncertain!
Unfortunately, the four main ships of the Coast Guard Fleet were only a large Wuwei ship and three half-sized galleons modeled after the Oriental Beauty. The size difference between them and the four large Portuguese sailing ships was like that between an elementary school student and an adult.
Moreover, the materials used for the three new warships were also very ordinary. Because the construction period was too tight, the oak wood cut from Ezo had not been dried in the shade yet, so Yang Fan could only use what he had. Except for the keel and key parts, ordinary wood was used in large quantities in other parts. It was unknown whether they could withstand the same blows as the other side.
As compensation, Yang Fan installed watertight compartments under the lower decks of the three ships. But without actual combat testing, no one knew how useful the cute little compartments would be.
The only thing the Coast Guard Fleet relied on was artillery. The Hongwu and Yongle cannons, which were ahead of their time, had a longer range than the other. Moreover, the Hongwu cannons and half of the Yongle cannons used the flintlock developed by the nephew. It can be said that except for the caliber, they were ahead of the Portuguese artillery in all aspects.
To make an inappropriate analogy, today's Coast Guard fleet is like a mage with high attack and low HP. The Portuguese fleet is a warrior with high attack and high HP, the only flaw being its poor range.
As we all know, warriors are good against mages, because warriors are tough and can kill mages instantly. If mages want to defeat warriors, they can only keep a safe distance and kite with caution. If they are not careful, everything will go to waste.
This meant that Wang Rulong and his team could not be impatient and had to wait patiently for the opportunity to arise.
But it was hard for Master Zhao who was waiting for news on the shore. Every day he got a result at sea made him feel uneasy.
~~
The next day was a clear, cloudless autumn day with a light breeze.
But this is not good news for sailboats, because when the wind is weak, the power is small and the sailboats naturally move slowly.
At dawn, the Ryukyu fleet returned to Qing'ao Bay for supplies. The disadvantage of galleys is that they have a lot of people and consume a lot of energy, but the space is very small. In order to take advantage of the speed, Zheng Yu only brought five days of supplies. To be on the safe side, they had to enter the port to replenish fresh water and food on the third day.
According to the prior agreement, when the Ryukyu fleet entered the port, the Chen Huaixiu fleet and the Lin Feng fleet were cruising and protecting the waters off Qing'ao Bay to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
The Ryukyu fleet had just finished replenishing and had not yet left the dock when a large number of sails appeared in the northeast direction.
"He's really a wolf. He came here just because he smelled something fishy." Lin Feng put down the telescope, whipped a member of the Beidou team beside him and said, "Tell that woman, I'll go stop her."
"..." The police officer was stunned for a moment before he understood what she meant and quickly fired two red flares.
Chen Huaixiu's fleet in the distance easily understood Lin Feng's fleet's intentions by comparing the temporary combat manual issued before the war.
"This show-off scoundrel." Chen Huaixiu crossed his arms to look even more majestic, and complained to Elder Niu who was steering the ship beside him: "I think something bad will happen to him sooner or later, don't you think?"
Elder Niu mooed, not daring to comment. He was not blind, so how could he not see the feelings of the leader towards the young master? But he had no idea what was going on, so he might as well pretend to be deaf and dumb.
~~
Relying on their skilled seamanship, Lin Feng's fleet took advantage of the breeze and lined up in a line to the north, preparing to use the same trick to grab the T-shaped enemy.
However, she was surprised to find that a clearly different fleet suddenly emerged from the messy pirate fleet.
It was completely different from the Chinese sailboats. The three-masted triangular sails and the pointed bow clearly showed that it was a fleet of caravels!
"The Portuguese can't hold back any longer." Lin Feng licked the corner of his mouth excitedly, and with a snap of the whip, he said, "Boys, cheer up, we're going to have some fun!"
"Ah!" The sailors shouted excitedly, even the originally rigid and conservative coast guard gunners joined in the shouting. It was not known whether it was because Lin Feng's personal charm was too strong or because all men liked to be whipped.
The caravel originated in the Mediterranean. Because the Mediterranean is an inland sea, there is no strong wind. Therefore, the pointed bow with less resistance and the triangular sail invented by the Arabs are used to make the steering performance higher, the sail is easier to blow up, and it can sail quickly in a breeze. Its superior performance is deeply loved by navigators and merchants. Columbus used this kind of ship when he discovered the New World.
The Portuguese also found that this type of ship was more conducive to their voyage around the African continent, so they also adopted it in large quantities. However, in order to meet the needs of long-distance voyages, they increased the size of the hull and increased the number of masts from two to three. This made the ship more stable and could carry more artillery.
According to intelligence, these caravelle sailing ships, which were similar to the Dafu ships, were generally equipped with sixteen guns, two at the stern and seven on each side.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..." Lin Feng counted while staring at the triangular sailboat that was obviously bigger than his own but faster. It was obvious that it was trying to counterattack his T-shaped boat.
She hesitated for a moment, then changed her tactics and said, "Turn east! Stay parallel to them!"
An excellent commander never sticks to the rules.
Under the command of Ma Yishan and others, the sailors and oarsmen skillfully completed the turning action. It was just that the wind was not strong enough, so it was not as fast as usual.
Fortunately, the triangular sailboats came closer after Lin Feng's fleet completed the turn. And because the Lacaville sailboat had no front gun, it could only watch and miss the golden opportunity to fire at the turning point.
At this time, the Portuguese fleet was sailing 15 degrees northwest, and the Lin Feng fleet was sailing 15 degrees east south. With the help of the southward ocean current and the north wind, the speed of the Lin Feng fleet finally surpassed the caravelle.
The two sides met on two parallel tracks nearly one kilometer apart and launched artillery fire at each other at the same time!
At this distance and speed, firing would just be a waste of time...
Almost all of them missed.
But Lin Feng's target was not the Portuguese sailing ship at all, because her fleet used this maneuver to form a 50-degree angle with the pirate fleet.
Her starboard guns were aimed squarely at the port side of the pirate fleet.
The cannons of pirate ships were always installed on the bow. It was not just them. All the warships of the Ming Dynasty, except for the Coast Guard Fleet, never had firepower on the sides... After all, this was too counterintuitive.
So now, it was like the pirates showing their soft white bellies to face the whip in Lin Feng's hand... oh no, the sharp knife!
Why are you being so polite?
Salvo bombardment!
ps. It's easy to write about a naval battle, but it's too difficult to conceive it. Because it has to live up to this long-prepared decisive battle. It took me a whole day to figure out how to fight it. I'll post it first, revise it later, and then write the next chapter.