It has been six days since the two cargo ships set out from Hangzhou Bay. In the first few days, they went north along the coastline, and then turned northeast, day and night. After two days, they were getting farther and farther away from the coast and entered the open sea area.

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The two shopkeepers had trouble sleeping in the first few days, and now that they are far away from the coast, it is even more difficult to sleep.

The sailors on the watchtower did not dare to relax for a moment and were always paying attention to the movements around them.

Although this time it was not Tiger God Hall's cargo ship, in addition to the original sailors of the cargo ship, Wang Heng also secretly hired a group of people from Tiger God Hall. The two ships totaled more than 200 people, all of whom were equipped with weapons.

Having learned the lesson from last time, the guards hired this time not only had a large number of swordsmen, but also many archers. They also prepared a lot of arrows in the cabin in case of any unexpected events.

"Dr. Qian, do you think you can pass the test smoothly this time?" Standing on the side of the ship and looking at the sea, shopkeeper Wanqi was worried.

Although shopkeeper Qian felt uneasy, he seemed to be cheering himself up and said: "What you are wearing is the flag of the Liaodong Army, and what you are shipping is military supplies. Do those pirates dare to hijack military supplies?"

The flags of the Liaodong Army were indeed hoisted on the two ships.

This also means that no matter what cargo the two ships transport, they are military supplies for the Liaodong Army.

Hijacking merchant ships is a bandit, and hijacking military supplies is a rebel.

Shopkeeper Wanqi sighed and said: "Do those pirates really care about this? The last time they robbed the cargo ship, they knew that we were the supplies of Shibafang. Shibafang was a force of the Liaodong Army, and they didn't let go at that time.

In your eyes, does it mean that if you hang a flag, it will really be smooth sailing?"

"What can we do now?" Shopkeeper Qian also had a solemn look on his face: "Master Wang promised us that as long as this batch of goods is successfully transported to Changsheng Port, our two companies will be exempted from paying for the goods this year. If this is true,

The business between the two companies can still continue." He glanced at Shopkeeper Wanqi and said softly: "Last time, all our goods were robbed. How can we have the nerve to go back to see our boss? Not only will we suffer heavy losses, but we will definitely lose money in the trade market in the future.

There is no place for our two families. Mr. Wang has given us a way to survive."

Shopkeeper Wanqi looked around and lowered his voice: "I have been uneasy. The Liaodong Army knew that there were pirates on the sea. At this time, it should send out navy warships to suppress the bandits. But Mr. Wang arranged two ships

The merchant ship continues to take risks. Isn't it true that we know that there are tigers in the mountains, but insist on letting us go to the tiger mountains?"

"We are well prepared this time, and there are many archers." Shopkeeper Qian seemed to be comforting himself, saying: "Even if we do encounter pirates again, they may not be our opponents."

Shopkeeper Wanqi shook his head and said: "I don't think so. You saw it last time. The pirates were very fierce and the guards were defeated without fighting. This time we really have to fight. If we lose, you and I will

...Hey, I'm afraid we won't be as lucky as last time. They spared us once, but they won't be merciful this time."

Shopkeeper Qian frowned and glanced at Shopkeeper Wanqi. He seemed to think that Shopkeeper Wanqi's words were too unlucky, but he didn't know what to say.

As the sun set, Shopkeeper Qian couldn't help but look up at the watchtower and asked loudly: "Did you find anything?"

The sailor above shouted back: "No, everything... wait!" After a pause, he suddenly said loudly: "Southeast... a black shadow appeared in the southeast...

..!”

Shopkeeper Wanqi's face changed drastically and he asked urgently: "But a pirate?"

There was no immediate answer from above. After a short while, I finally heard the person above say: "There is a ship... there is a ship coming...!"

Shopkeeper Qian was shocked and immediately shouted: "The pirates are coming, come out, the pirates are coming!"

He panicked, and shopkeeper Wanqi also lost his mind, shouting: "Hai pirates, pirates are out again."

Rapid footsteps sounded immediately from the cabin and the side of the ship, and soon a large group of people rushed out of the cabin. Someone was already shouting towards the watchtower: "How many people? How many people do they have?"

"Look clearly, there are seven or eight boats." The sailor replied condescendingly: "They are coming this way."

"Can you see the flag clearly?"

"You can't see clearly!" said the sailor: "It's far away, so you have to wait!"

Someone on the boat ordered: "Don't act rashly, everyone, be prepared and wait until you understand the situation." He also ordered: "Slow down the speed of the ship, raise the flag, and let the ship behind follow you!"

The sailors on the watchtower quickly signaled to the merchant ship behind, and then looked toward the southeast. They saw a few black figures in a crane-wing formation, with the ship in the center at the rear, and the ships on both wings moving forward, facing directly.

Coming here quickly.

"They have seven boats." After the sailor saw clearly, he reported below: "They are coming directly this way."

The merchant ship behind had already accelerated its speed and soon caught up with the merchant ship in front which had slowed down. After a while, the two ships were running parallel to each other.

"You see, they are flying the python flag." The sailor shouted: "Their boat can only accommodate twenty or thirty people. It is a small boat."

The guards on the merchant ship were quickly in place. Before setting off, they already knew that there was a group of pirates in the distant sea and they were likely to encounter them during this trip. Therefore, not only were they fully prepared in terms of weapons, but everyone was also mentally prepared.

.

At this time, I heard that the pirates were all in small boats. If one boat could accommodate twenty or thirty people, then the seven boats of this group of pirates could only carry about 200 people, so they did not have any advantage in terms of numbers.

Wang Heng asked two Tibetan shopkeepers to purchase a large amount of goods in Hangzhou with great fanfare. However, when the goods were shipped, less than half of the goods were actually shipped to the merchant ship, freeing up a lot of space to hide sailors and place weapons.

The two cargo ships are naturally much larger than the ships in Haikou. When full, they can accommodate about a hundred people. To free up space, each ship can accommodate nearly 140 people. Excluding the handymen on board, at least 200 people can fight.

"Are there any pirate ships in other directions?" Shopkeeper Qian asked with concern.

The last time the pirates plundered, they came out in two directions. At this moment, shopkeeper Qian was only worried that the other party would follow the same pattern and attack them in two directions.

"There is only one group of pirates." The sailor confirmed: "There are no traces of ships in other directions."

Shopkeeper Qian was slightly relieved when he heard this.

The strength of the two sides is similar, and they are well prepared, so the certainty of victory is naturally greatly increased.

The last time we were robbed, apart from the lack of preparation in advance, the most important thing was that the pirates had many archers, and the cargo ship had no arrows prepared. The other party threatened them with rockets, which put them at a disadvantage in terms of equipment.

But this time the merchant ship has prepared enough arrows and has many archers. In addition, the merchant ship is much larger than the pirate ships. It is condescending and has an advantage in range. If the two sides really get close, the merchant ship will

This side will definitely not be at a disadvantage.

Within the cabin, more than a dozen people rushed out, but they were all holding long bows and carrying arrow boxes on their backs.

The first person ran to the bow of the ship and looked to the southeast. When he saw the seven ships of the pirates approaching quickly, he turned around and made a gesture without hesitation. The dozen or so archers were all bending their bows and setting arrows.

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The two shopkeepers were a little surprised when they saw it, thinking that the enemy ship hadn't approached yet, so why prepare so early.

But at the next moment, more than a dozen archers were already shooting arrows into the sky. At that moment, the shrill sound of arrows sounded, and more than a dozen loud arrows flew into the sky. The sound was extremely harsh and spread far across the sea.

Both shopkeepers were surprised.

Naturally, they are not weak in knowledge. Of course, they know that these are the sounding arrows that send signals. One sounding arrow is enough to send a long distance. If more than a dozen sounding arrows are fired at the same time, they can be heard farther away.

Moreover, the craftsmanship of making this kind of sounding arrow is extraordinary. It is usually only available to the military and is rarely seen among civilians.

After one round of sounding arrows, more than a dozen shooters did not hesitate, and the second round of sounding arrows took off again.

The sailor on the watchtower was not idle either. He actually lit a torch on top, hung the torch with a rope, and pulled the rope to raise the torch to the highest point of the mast.

Shopkeeper Qian seemed to understand something and rushed to the side of the ship. He saw a torch on the mast of another merchant ship that was running parallel to each other. At this moment, a torch was also lit and raised to the highest point.

"What's going on?" Shopkeeper Wanqi was still in shock, so he came to Shopkeeper Qian and asked.

Shopkeeper Qian murmured: "Bait, it's bait, I...I finally understand!"

"What's going on?" Shopkeeper Wanqi hadn't reacted yet: "What do you understand?"

"Master Wang went to Hangzhou not to transport goods." Shopkeeper Qian said: "The Liaodong Army sent Master Wang to Hangzhou to lay a trap. Our two cargo ships are bait to lure the pirates out."

"Seduction?"

"These people are all pretending to be members of the Liaodong Army." Shopkeeper Qian secretly pointed at the archers and whispered: "They are the archers that Mr. Wang secretly brought to Hangzhou to cooperate in setting up traps. Just now they used loud arrows to fire

We have received the signal, and now we are lighting up the torches. This is to provide a position for the reinforcements." He looked around and said softly: "It's not far from us, and there are reinforcements all the time."

"Reinforcements?" Shopkeeper Wanqi also became excited. He looked around and said blankly: "Where are the reinforcements? Why can't I see them?"

"Of course the reinforcements have been hidden all along." Shopkeeper Qian said: "We can't see them, but they definitely know where we are. If we all know the location of the reinforcements, wouldn't it be easy for the pirates to find them?"

Shopkeeper Wanqi finally understood at this time and said: "Are you saying that these two ships have always been bait, waiting for the pirates to appear. Now that the pirates have appeared, a signal has been sent here, and reinforcements will come soon?"

Shopkeeper Qian let out a long breath and said with a smile: "Yes. If I'm not wrong, this is a trap set by the Liaodong Navy. They are waiting for the pirates to be caught and kill them in one fell swoop." He turned to look at the sea coming this way.

The pirate ship sneered: "They have fallen into a trap. As long as we catch them, we can know the pirate's lair. Hehe, whatever they stole must be vomited back!"

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ps: I went back to my hometown a few days ago to catch a banquet, and the air conditioner was installed on the mat that night. The next day, I felt dizzy and couldn't get out of bed. The banquet was not made, and it was difficult to even get out of bed. I hung up on salt water for three days, which caused the interruption. I sincerely apologize to everyone.

, I'm sorry. I took it easy today and wrote a chapter. I'll be back to work tomorrow, and I'll speed up the update later. I'd like to explain it to you here, and please understand me. I'm really sorry for you all. In addition, the habit of air conditioning and mats is really unacceptable, almost.

Half my life is gone!

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