Lu Ming

Chapter 238 Peeling Onions ([-])
Departing with the main fleet were five logistics fleets with hard sails.

The configuration of the logistical fleet follows the consistent style of Transit: a "new lock ship" equipped with electronic equipment is the flagship, leading the rest of the ships.

The "new lock boats" that are still very rare at present are the Taijiang Shipyard version of the mixed-race old lock boats mentioned above.This type of ship is huge, with a length of 45 meters, a width of 8.5 meters, a draft of 5.3 meters, and a rated displacement of 400 tons.In the eyes of the wise, this is a big ship of 400 materials. You must know that the most common 100 materials Fuchuan on the ocean usually has an actual displacement of less than [-] tons.

Since the Western-style "U"-shaped bottom is adopted, multiple side cannons can be installed on the deck of the new lock ship.Of course, this kind of armament is actually meaningless-their main function is to transport supplies, and usually only need to install a Napoleon 6-pound gun on the bow for self-defense.

As the main force on the surface of this battle: the hand-to-hand + musket brigade composed of 30 Fuchuan ships is still staying in the Maweishui camp for training at the moment, and did not go out with the team immediately.

As soon as the slow transport fleet left the mouth of the Minjiang River, it was left far behind by the main fleet.Right now is the south wind season, so the fleet sailing south from Fuzhou belongs to sailing against the wind.

Without the help of turbines, the speed of the two Youguang-class destroyers is actually not high, only 8 knots, and this is still in the case of tailwind.Therefore, as soon as the fleet left the mouth of the Minjiang River in the early morning, the two destroyers compensatoryly started part of the turbines to keep the speed of the ship at about 10 knots.

10节就是每小时18公里。而福州到厦门的海路是多少呢？200公里。所以当12个小时过去后，下午6点半，舰队已经来到了距离金门以东20公里的外海处。

After reducing the speed of the ship to only 3 knots, the fleet began to circle on the sea surface—the crossing people were waiting for the night to come, and by the way, they were preparing for the battle.

The first thing to prepare is food.Since this mission is an offshore operation with supplies, there are plenty of fresh ingredients on board: the dinner is Yangzhou fried rice.

Fried rice is perfect for this situation because the rice can be steamed ahead of time, as can the diced peas and radish.When it’s time for the meal, the chef only needs to throw vegetable oil, eggs, peas and diced vegetables into the big pot and stir-fry. Of course, the most important diced salt pork, commonly known as ham, is indispensable here.

Heavy oil and heavy salt, fried rice with a lot of egg flower and diced bacon is the soldiers' favorite.After gulping down the rice in the iron rice bowl, each person will be given a pot of black tea with sugar.Soldiers would shake the rice jar gently, and then drink the black tea and the oil and water at the bottom of the jar.

After the meal, the deck department began to clean up and bundle up all items that hindered the battle in accordance with the combat regulations, including the key departments such as gun crews and engines, and were also making their own pre-war preparations.

After all the preparatory work was completed, it was already dusk when the sun was setting.At this moment, the burning clouds in the distance covered the sky, as if foretelling that there would be a flame rising above the sea tonight.

When the fleet came to the sea off the east side of Jinmen at a low speed, the sky was already completely dark.

The dark night is a friend of the time traveler.The fleet with all kinds of electronic equipment was like a god in the dark night of the 17th century.

In Zhangzhou Bay right now, there are a total of 3 pirate forces assembled in large numbers.

The largest number of people is naturally Li Kuiqi's gang.The Li Kuiqi Group, which is based in Xiamen Zhongzuo, has been recruiting scattered stocks and integrating teams these days, so its strength is now expanding: there are already more than 500 warships in the gang, and the number of troops has reached more than 2 .

The Pirate Pioneer Group stationed in West Bay of Kinmen consisted of Zhong Bin, who was recently separated from the big gang, and the soldiers of several outside shopkeepers.

Zhong Bin's troops were only recently transferred to Jinmen.As Li Kuiqi's most powerful ally, Zhong Bin stationed his troops here. The first purpose was to monitor the fleet of the Zheng family in Weitou Bay in the north, and the second purpose was to serve as the commander in the upcoming looting operation. Pioneer, drink soup—this is also the hidden benefit that Li Kuiqi gave to several allies.

And the third force in Zhangzhou Bay is the Zheng family soldiers who are currently entrenched in Weitou Bay.The Zheng family who were driven back to their lair are now weak and confused about the way forward; after losing their leader, they no longer pose a threat to other forces, so the cross-travelers plan to clean up these gangs at the end.

In this way, the main target for tonight is very clear: Jinmen Zhongbin Group, which is the outermost berth.

The shape of Kinmen Island is a horizontal dumbbell shape with two big ends, a thin middle, and a missing piece on the left.The location where Zhong Bin's fleet is berthed at the moment is on the left side of the Golden Gate, in the gaped bay opposite Lieyu.

When the crossing fleet came to the sea area 5 kilometers away from the Golden Gate, the ships that were already in a state of silence began to lower their sails, and the fleet completely switched to the propeller power mode-the upcoming battle is likely to require large-scale maneuvers on the sea at night , Can't keep up with the frequency of wind direction conversion, and the sail outfit that increases the complexity of the ship has become a burden at this time.

After lowering the sails, the fleet began to adopt a low-speed propulsion method with relatively low noise.When the pointer on the watch was at 8 o'clock at night, the fleet had quietly arrived only 2 kilometers away from the enemy.By this time, a large area of ​​fishing fire in the bay has clearly caught the eyes of the sailors.

At this moment, in the Nakajima of the flagship Youguang, the passers-by who have just detected the number of enemy ships through radar and night vision goggles are discussing the battle plan.

In front of the crossing crowd, there are nearly 200 berthing ships in the bay.

A little closer to the south are 50 elite ships lined up in two columns.This part of the ships is the core strength of Zhong Bin and outside shopkeepers like Chen Zhongji, and they are all elites.

The remaining 150 miscellaneous ships of various colors were crowded closely next to the large fleet, forming a square 4-row team.

A large number of pirates on the ship are living their night life in the cabin with oil lamps on at the moment: some gamble, some stand on the bow and sing opera at the top of their voices, and some are drunk and carry wine jugs from house to house. In addition, There were quite a few people picking up soap in the dark cabin. In short, there was a lot of noise in Pirate Bay.

"I don't think there are many enemies here? Why don't you go directly to Xiamen?" Wang Xiaohui, the chubby fleet chief of staff, looked up after reading the information.

"That's not much? No wonder you're fat, your appetite is really good." Sha Zhengming pointed at the radar screen: "There are at least 200 ships, and one-third of Li Kuiqi's strength is here, how little? "

"If you go to Zhongzuo Institute, won't you be able to handle the two-thirds?"

"Not necessarily. The pier in the middle left is east-west, and now the wind is blowing south, so our big move is not effective." Sha Zhengming said with a finger on the screen from top to bottom, and said with a smile : "The boat here is north-south, just right."

Although he accepted Sha Zhengming's analysis, Wang Xiaohui still smacked his lips: "Oh, I'm always a bit unwilling."

"Come on, hurry up and order."

The next moment, a frigate at the end of the fleet slowly raised its position.

The "big move" that Sha Zhengming and the others talked about for a long time is true: this 150-ton Taijiang-class frigate named "Helang" is a hidden big move for the fleet.

At the stern of the heat wave, there is a multi-stage high-pressure oil pump spray gun system from Siemens.This system can inject the gasoline stored in the stern to 14 meters away at a pressure of 150 MPa.

In the distant Miaosu, most of the barrels of black crude oil that were carried down the mountain by savages, and the first 2 tons of gasoline extracted were used here. In order to slaughter the same kind, human beings will do everything possible and think carefully fear.

And Wang Bo, the captain of the crossing crew on the Heat Wave, started to act after confirming the order with Sha Zhengming through the walkie-talkie.Under the watchful eyes of everyone on the 7 sister ships, the Heatwave began to slowly start the turbines and headed north at a low speed.

The departure point of the Heat Wave is in the south of Pirate Bay.The ship's driving route was to draw a circle from the left side of Pirate Bay, through the strait between Jinmen and Lieyu, and circle to the north of Pirate Bay.

The low-speed detour is because I don't want the pirates to be disturbed by high-frequency noise.And to launch an attack from the north, because it is now a southerly wind, the oncoming sea breeze will blow the gasoline sprayed by the Heat Wave from the stern behind, instead of blowing it on itself in a funny way.

It took 40 minutes to slowly move to the Heatwave, which was 1 km north of Pirate Bay, and launched an attack after confirming the order with a walkie-talkie for the last time.

With the increasing sound of screeching turbines, the Heat Wave, whose flammable parts were covered with ceramic fireproof cloth, began to rush towards the enemy while increasing its speed.

In just a few minutes, the charging knight increased the speed of the ship to 12 knots.At the same time, it was the noise of the engine that was getting louder and louder in the silent night wind.

The pirates reacted quickly. After all, not everyone is drinking in the noise: it is the hottest August of the year, and there are also a lot of people who come out to enjoy the cool air on large sea ships, so many people are drinking from the noise at this moment. The bow of the ship stood up and looked towards the north where the strange noise was coming from.

Then they saw the sun.

The Heat Wave, which had already reached the position 200 meters north of the ship array, had no scruples at this moment, and immediately turned on the searchlight on the bow.

Accompanied by a bright white beam of light passing through the night sky, the position of the formation of more than 100 Chinese ships was clearly illuminated at this moment.And those unlucky people who were staring north were all dazzled by the bright beam of light, covering their faces one by one, jumping and shouting.

It's too late to say it, and the distance of 200 meters is just a few seconds for a frigate with a speed of up to 12 knots.The next moment, according to the enemy's position illuminated by the searchlight, Wang Bo, who was at the helm himself, guided the ship to slide steadily from a position 100 meters in front of the enemy ship.

At the same time, Wang Bo saw that the stern of the ship was already parallel to the opponent's ship, and a smile finally appeared on his thin face: "I order, launch!".

(End of this chapter)