After Chen Jingdan and his friends took a detour, the lucky boat walked dozens of miles more. When the sun set, they arrived at Wailingding Island. There was no way to sail at night, so everyone had to agree to wait on Wailingding Island for a night before talking.

These days, Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng took turns to chat with Zheng Yi and others, talking about how big the world is, where all countries are, why these countries come to Guangzhou to do business. They also talked about Zheng He's voyage to the West in the Ming Dynasty, talk about the shipbuilding technology of the ancients and why the Manchu Navy was not good.

In fact, from the Shunzhi period to the Kangxi period of the early Qing Dynasty, the main forces of the Manchu Navy were the Zhejiang Navy and Fujian Navy. During the shipbuilding competition that emerged in order to eliminate the Zheng family in Taiwan, the Qing army imitated a large number of large bird ships. However, after taking over Taiwan, the bird ships were immediately cut off.

The Guangdong navy was inherently deficient. The early warships were all captured Zheng warships, which had long been decayed. On the paper of the Ministry of War, although there were 84 ships and 60 ships in Guangdong's water camps, in fact, there were only 15 ships in total, and the largest one was only seven meters long. The entire Guangdong navy has become an inland sea fleet for inspection and smuggling, and he dared not go deep into the ocean. When pursuing sea bandits, the Qing army often recruited civilian ships. Once something happened, the government did not care about compensation. Therefore, civilian ships regarded catching thieves as a fear of their way, and they hid when they heard the news. When they finally had a suitable ship, the bandits would have run away long ago.

Before going to bed today, Zhao Xin spent two hours talking about writing and drawing pictures, and told Zheng Yi and the others about what Fushou cream is, what harm is, and why Westerners sell this to the Qing Dynasty.

"Boat Master Zhao, I understand all this. Since Fushou Paste, oh, it is opium. Since opium is not a good thing, how can we block this poisonous substance and prevent everyone from buying it?" The question was Zheng Qi.

"Oh, you asked this question very well. But this matter cannot be explained clearly in just a few words." Zhao Xin nodded in praise. He thought for a while, then found a piece of white paper, roughly drew the topographic map from Guangzhou to Malacca on it, and pointed the location of Malacca Port with a pen, explaining to Zheng Qi: "Occupying this place and controlling this strait can eliminate most of the smuggling."

Zheng Qi scratched his head and said, "Is this place so important?"

Zhao Xin said: "It's very important. The British from the East India Company have always wanted to take this place from the Dutch, and they are waiting for an opportunity now."

“What opportunity?”

"The French opportunity."

"Ah?" Zheng Yi and the others were confused.

Zhao Xinxin said this was so tiring. When talking about Southeast Asia, should we talk about Europe? He simply used his pen to draw a big circle from the Strait of Malacca, drawing the entire Malay Peninsula, Indonesian Archipelago, and even the entire South China Sea. He pointed to the circle area and said, "Whoever can control the Strait of Malacca can block the opium passage."

Zheng Qi's eyes were shiny, and he wanted to put his face on the paper. He said, "Good guy, I see that these islands are almost the same as those of the Qing Dynasty, right?"

"It's smaller than the Qing Dynasty, but the territory is larger enough."

Zheng Yi, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said: "Mr. Zhao, you said so much, do you want us to help you knock down the place?"

Liu Sheng, who was reading a book, smiled and poured a basin of cold water. "You? You can't do it. Just your boats and manpower will only be ravaged by the British when they arrive."

Zheng Qi said unconvincedly: "Why underestimate people?!"

Liu Shengdao: "Understanding? Do you know how many artillery guns are on an ordinary British warship?"

Zheng Qidao: "There is one parked at the port south, and I see that there are only twenty or thirty gates."

Liu Sheng shook his head and said, "Xiaoqi, that's a merchant ship, mainly cargo. For warships, the smallest 600-ton class also has more than fifty guns. As for the worst third-class battleship, there must be 60 to 80 cannons, which you towed sailboats and oyster shell ships cannot beat."

Zheng Qi stood up and said with his waist on his back: "We can attack with fire boats, attack at night, can..."

Zhao Xin interrupted: "The battle of sea wars is about ships and artillery. You can win once or twice with fireboats and sneak attacks, but how can you seize the turrets in Malacca? Can you fill them with human lives? Furthermore, even if you take them down, the British send more than a dozen warships over, and the cannons will be bombarded, and you can't defend them at all."

Zheng Yiruo thoughtfully said, "Mr. Zhao, what should we do? Just watch the Western ghosts transport all the Fushou cream to Guangzhou to harm people?"

Zhao Xin said: "You and Xiaoqi are both smart people. Come back to Beihai Town with us to practice hard for a few years. When we come back, let's defeat the Strait of Malacca and drive away the British and Red-haired people!"

After saying this, Zhao Xin turned his head and looked at the watch on the wall. It was already past ten o'clock, so he said to Zheng Yi and others: "It's quite late, I'll talk tomorrow."

On the way back to the bow cabin by several soldiers, Zheng Qi said to Zheng Yi: "Brother No. 1, what do you think?"

"Me?" Zheng Yi looked at the darkness in the distance blankly and said, "Although the ship owner Zhao has said a lot, I have never heard of it, but I know what he said is reasonable. Where are you?"

Zheng Yi used to think that being able to unify the various gangs at the Pearl River Estuary and make a "big trip to the sea" would be a blessing for his ancestors, but he did not expect that his ideal was not worth mentioning in Zhao Xin's words.

"Brother No. 1, Brother Chang won't let you go because you have to inherit the family business. I have thought about it these days, and I don't want to do a business of robbing the family anymore. The government regards our Han family as a pariah. How can anyone like me have a chance to make a comeback? Following them may be a chance."

Zheng Yi patted Zheng Qi on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Qi, what you said is what I have been thinking about these days. When I look back, I will beg my dad to plead with him. I really want to see it even bigger than this ship."

After that, the two of them had nothing to say and went back to the cabin and went to bed.

At midnight, on the Qianshanzhai Wharf north of General Mountain, there were crowds of people, and countless torches and bonfires were shining on the beach. According to the order of Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, this time, the left and right battalions of Xiangshan Association dispatched more than 800 troops, two ships, 10 water hulls, and five civilian ships recruited. In addition, there were several gunpowder ships used to approach sneak attacks and more than a dozen small boats carrying people sneak attacks.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this time, more than a hundred crying madams, mothers and prostitutes, were escorted by more than a dozen Qing army veterans, walking onto a Tong'an ship that was being recruited.

"What a mourning thing! If anyone else cries, I will slash and throw it into the sea to feed fish and shrimps!" A Qing army in his forties cursed fiercely at several crying madams.

A madam who was crying and snotted and tearfully asked the veteran: "Mr. Jun, will it be our business after the formation really come to the next stage?"

"What? Can Lord Shi still lie to you?! After this fight, I will go to the yamen to receive the reward!"

In the light and shadow of the torch, Li Dagang, who was standing not far away, looked at the scene in front of him, sighed a long time, and said to General Qian under his command: "Are our things ready?"

President Qian gave a military salute and said to Li Dagang: "The gunpowder is not enough, so he has sent someone to the fireworks shop outside the city to ask for some gunpowder."

Before the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty had very strict management of gunpowder, almost every matter, and the army was never allowed to privately allocate gunpowder. The military gunpowder in the entire Guangdong was led by the head of the Governor's Office, and then handed over to the Central Army of the Left-wing Naval Camp to distribute it to each battalion again. Now that the launch is about to be launched, it is too late to adjust the gunpowder, so it has to find a fireworks shop to make up the number.

There are two main types of firearms made by Li Dagangshi.

The first is the fire ship that Li Dagang wanted to build himself. The boat was filled with gunpowder bags and covered with thick reed mats. The fire device consists of tinder, lit incense and ropes. After approaching the enemy ship, the suicides manually pulled the rope and let the incense light the incense light the tinder. After burning, the fuse was lit and then detonated, causing an explosion and a fire.

The second type was to consider that the Thor ship's side was very high and difficult to climb, so he made a batch of gunpowder jars for throwing and pots filled with black dog blood and shit and urine. Li Dagang didn't believe in any magic tricks, but he couldn't resist the thousand generals under his command, so he agreed after asking.

The Taoist priest Ma Benchu ​​was arranged to continue setting up the altar on a Tong'an ship. After three consecutive days, the old Taoist priest was almost exhausted and vomited blood. He thought he was really going to die! After getting the money for this trip, he had to go back and rest for a few days.

When it was Zizheng's second moment, the Qing army soldiers began to board the ship after a full meal.

The deputy general Shi was wearing a shiny military armor and a copper inverted U-shaped helmet hat. There were copper gilt hollow phoenix-shaped ear wings on both sides. The top of the helmet was small on the top and the bottom was large. There was a treasure cover plate in the middle, and the top was an otter tail hair, two small copper tubes on the left and right, and two pheasant feathers were inserted.

Standing beside Deputy General Shi was a painting book office sent by the Central Army Chief Minister and the Governor's Office. For safety reasons, Deputy General Shi decided to take the same boat with Master Ma.

At the right time, the Qing army fleet began to set off. The distance from Shanzhai Wharf to Tanzai Island was not far, with a 50-mile water route.

In ancient times, the most important thing for water attacks was to see the changes in water flow and tides. The tide near Tanzi Island is part of the tide of the Pearl River Estuary. The flow direction is northwest at high tide and southeast at low tide. The tide level is highest from the Chou time every day, and then the tide starts to fall. After Yin time, the attack is launched, and the water flow is just right.

The Qing army fleet sailed slowly for about an hour before carefully reaching a distance of 500 meters north of Thunder. At this time, the sea surface of Tanzai Island was silent, and all you could hear was the sound of water waves eroding the hull. The Thunder ship in the distance was pitch black, and only the top of the bow mast and the top of the ship tower were flashing red.

Zhao Xin and others were finally careless! No one was nervous for more than ten days, saying that they should be strictly guarded, but there were always some people who did not take it seriously. The calmness of the past few days made everyone on Thunder gradually ignore the hidden dangers.

In order to train their senior crew members, the sailors on the boat are responsible for the night duty these days. Zhao Xin and the others only come to patrol occasionally. If they really want to make the three of them 24-hour rounds and guard each shift in 2 hours, they will sooner or later become mentally broken.

The sailor on duty tonight was tired of the "anti-drowsing system" that had to be pressed once every five minutes, and in the middle of the night, he actually closed it without authorization. After closing it, he didn't think it was enough, so he ran to the second-floor restaurant to move a chair, put his feet on the navigation table, and started to doze...

In the bow cabin of the ship, Zheng Yi lost insomnia. He listened to the snoring sounds beside him, but what he was thinking about was what Zhao Xin told him these days. Yes, this world is too big! Compared with the entire South China Sea, his original ambition was not even as good as a sesame seed. Westerners, government officials, opium, Malacca, etc. made Zheng Yi feel confused.

After tossing and turning, Zheng Yi quietly stood up and walked to the main deck in his coat. He looked up at the stars in the sky, thinking about the marriage he had made with the Xu family.

Zheng, Xu, Shi, and Ma are old pirate families in Fujian and Guangdong. The Shi family has long been wiped out. I heard that a girl survived and even entered a brothel. The Xu family and Ma family have also declined, and only the Zheng family is the dominant estuary of the Pearl River. At present, the Xu family has weak power, so there is no need to worry about replacing it. Therefore, Zheng Lianchang took great pains to make an appointment with this marriage.

While thinking about it, Zheng Yi walked to the side of the boat and looked straight in the distance. Suddenly, he saw a little fishing fire on the sea in the distance, and he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. It's so late, can anyone still fish?

He saw the fishing fires gradually approaching, as if they were fan-shaped, and they were coming towards the Thunder God. Zheng Yi felt something was wrong. He was familiar with the tactics of the Qing army or the pirates at the Pearl River Estuary in this era. The strings of lights in front of him clearly showed an attacking posture.

At this time, as the ship opposite became closer, the torches on the ship and the lanterns on the mast became clearer. Zheng Yi had already seen the words on the lantern clearly and shouted, "No!"

He turned around and ran towards the boat building, shouting: "There are officers and soldiers! The officers and soldiers are here!"

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! The soldiers of Beihai Town who were on duty on the lower floor of the ship were frightened by Zheng Yi's shouting. Just as they were about to curse, Zheng Yideng ran over and grabbed his shoulder and shouted: "Bian! Bing! Call people!"

The soldier looked in the direction of Zheng Yi's finger and was shocked. He slapped the alarm button with a casual slap. The harsh alarm sounded on the Thor, and the lights in the cabins on the third and first floors were lit one by one. The guy on duty in the cockpit was shocked and turned over and fell to the ground. When he walked to the radar with a grin, he was immediately frightened and lost his soul. On the north and south sides of the Thor, more than a dozen ships of different sizes were approaching.

At this time, the gunpowder ships under Li Dagang had already been dispatched. Each boat was rowed by three Shui Yongs, and a distance of ten meters arrived in a blink of an eye. After approaching Thor, these selected Shui Yongs tried to hook the hull with the iron hook on the ship. Who would have thought that the Thor's hull was smooth and had nothing to rely on.

On a gunpowder ship near the bow, Shui Yong saw that the hull could not be hooked. When he was worried, he suddenly saw the black anchor chain not far away, and hurriedly called his companions to lean over, then hooked the iron hook on the anchor chain, and then tried hard to sideways the hull of the gunpowder ship and approached the hull.

When a Shu Yong saw that the boat had stopped, he pulled the rope in his hand. As soon as the incense of the thread was poured down, the turquoise gradually began to fall.

"Go away!" The three Shui Yongs quickly dived and swam towards a water boat.

The other gunpowder ships became more and more panicked. The water brave men just put the ship on the hull of Thor, and didn't bother to find a place to hang the hook. They pulled the rope and dived and fled. In addition to the ship hooked on the anchor chain, the other gunpowder ships were washed away to drift to both sides of Thor under the action of the water flow.

In the power distribution room on Thor, the sailor who was running hurriedly turned on the headlights on the main mast. Zheng Qi and others who were awakened from the bow cabin came out one after another. They were confused and saw that the lights on the main mast were bright, and they didn't know what was happening.

At this time, Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng were wearing vests and shorts, running out barefoot, holding only a pistol in their hands. Ding Guofeng ran to the cockpit and saw the sailor on duty trembling. He asked quickly, "What's wrong?"

The sailor on duty knew that he had caused a big disaster and was so scared that he couldn't speak at all. Suddenly, Ding Guofeng saw the main mast lights on and was about to go to the Luojing deck with a pistol to check the situation. As a result, as soon as he opened the cabin door, he felt a flash in front of him, and then he heard a "boom!" sound.

The explosion shock wave overturned Zheng Qi and others on the bow of the ship on the deck. In the stunned gaze of everyone on the ship, a ball of fire rose from the left outside of the bow of the Thor.

"It's broken!" Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng had just come out of the boat building, and they shouted in their hearts as they looked at the fire. At this time, Zhao Xin saw Zheng Yi running to him and shouted: "Officers and soldiers! The officers and soldiers are here!"

When Zhao Xin and Liu Sheng heard this, they didn't care about anything else and quickly called others to rush to the side of the ship, found an M2HB and were about to prepare for shooting.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Zhao Xin, who was overturned to the ground by the shock waves of the first two rounds of explosions, just as he got up, he heard a familiar voice coming from above his head.

"Why are there two kicks?" The thought flashed by, and he rushed to the heavy machine gun again, pulled the rope on the edge of the canvas, and then lifted it with his hand.

"Bullets!" Zhao Xin shouted, and a soldier was carrying the bullets to run here. In each heavy machine gun, the bullets were usually equipped with fifty rounds. If the war really started, they could be wiped out in a blink of an eye.
Chapter completed!