The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 241 Go with the Wind

As the Fu ship headed towards the deep sea, Yang Hao and Pei Dahu were still arguing about the destination when the sailors brought bad news:

The mast of the Fu ship was broken by artillery fire and the mainsail was severely damaged, making it difficult to repair it for the time being. They would soon be caught up by the warships of the water camp.

Yang Hao said with a look of resignation: "I would rather jump into the sea and feed the fish than be arrested and thrown into prison!"

Pei Dahu comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, I will bring Yang Jinglue back to Shandong safely."

After dawn, the sky was covered with dark clouds and a storm was coming this way.

Han Chao on the lookout pole looked embarrassed. He had been at sea for many years and had never seen such chaos as this year.

The weather in Bohai Sea is becoming increasingly bizarre under the Little Ice Age climate, and storms can occur even in the coldest winter.

A gray-haired sailor next to him regretted:
"Boss, if I had known this business was so difficult, I wouldn't have accepted Yang Hao's money."

"I think they must be rebels from the imperial court. The entire Tianjin garrison is chasing us! Boss, there are white waves in front of us, water camp soldiers behind us, and the sails are tangled in the ropes. I'm afraid we're going to have to go back to our positions."

Han Chao glared at the white-haired sailor and said coldly:
"Qian Lao San, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I will cut off your tongue and feed it to the fish!"

Qian Laosan didn't dare to say anything more. He wrapped himself tightly in his sheepskin coat, climbed down the observation pole, and headed towards the deck.

The northwest wind came howling, making the Fu boat sway.

Han Chao looked towards the stern of the ship. On the distant, gloomy and dark horizon, a dozen blurry black dots appeared faintly.

"Damn, they caught up so quickly!"

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The black spot grew bigger and bigger, and its outline became clearer. It was obvious that the warships from the water camp were chasing them.

Pei Dahu took out a telescope from his arms. This telescope was a gift given to him by Ping Liaohou before he came to the capital. Now it came in handy.

He looked for a while, then handed the telescope to Wu Xiao beside him, who took it and looked through it.

I saw twelve warships cutting through the waves and rushing towards this side quickly.

"Why are there so many warships in the water camp?"

Pei Dahu said in a deep voice, "There's more to it than that. This is all the imperial court's defense against Kaiyuan. I don't know which court official came up with this idea, but Tianjin Wei has sent a lot of additional warships this year."

At the forefront were six medium-sized Haicang ships.

Wu Xiao could clearly see the thousand-jin falconets equipped on the side of the ship. He counted them and found that there were four in total, as well as some bowl-mouthed guns, squirt guns and other firearms.

"So many artillery pieces, just to deal with this broken ship of ours? Lu Tongzhi thinks highly of us."

Shen Lian laughed and said, "You have robbed them of their cargo three times. This is worse than killing someone. They will definitely come after you."

Following the Haicang ship were six No. 1 Fu ships. Compared with the Haicang ship, the Fu ships were larger in size and equipped with more firearms.

In addition to the Qianjin Franco, the ship is also equipped with Dajiangjun cannon, Wankou gun, Thunder cannon, etc.

It seems that the water camp soldiers are determined to kill them.

The warship was getting closer and closer, and everyone was like ants on a hot pan, pacing back and forth on the deck, feeling restless.

"I can't swim. If I fall into the water, you have to rescue me!"

Wu Xiao found a helmet and put it back on. He touched the arrow holder out of habit, but found that all the arrows were used up. He had no choice but to throw the bow on the deck and pull out the broken goose-feather knife from his waist.

"come!"

Pei Dahu held down the Yanling knife and said to Wu Xiao:
"Let's rest for a while. They won't board us or engage in close combat. They will just fire directly until the Fuzhou ship is sunk."

The mainsail hung obliquely from the mast, its ropes and rags tangled together, like a bird caught in a net, its wings drooping limply.

"Boss, what should we do?"

Han Chao looked at the two small Francois cannons at the stern, then looked at the storm clouds forming on the sea in front of him, and pointed at the inky black sky and said:
"Push the boat in!"

"Boss, there's a white-hair wind blowing over there, a white-hair wind, the wind is like a knife, and the waves are higher than the sky!"

The sailors' eyes were filled with fear. They had been sailing on the sea for a long time and naturally knew how powerful the white-haired wind was.

At this time, muffled thunder was heard from the distant sea. "Boss, it's thundering!"

"It's not thunder."

In half a day, a small black dot flew rapidly towards the Fu ship. Under the gaze of everyone, the black dot became bigger and bigger.

"General Cannon!"

The iron ball fell on the sea surface more than three or four hundred steps away from the stern of the Fu ship, splashing a little water.

Before everyone could react, two more shells were fired at them. This time, they were even closer to the Fu ship, only about three hundred steps away, and the splashes became even bigger.

The sailors no longer hesitated, and regardless of whether the wind was strong or weak, they immediately steered the ship forward.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, making it almost impossible for people to stand. The deck was freezing cold, so Pei Dahu asked several wounded soldiers to go into the warehouse to take shelter from the wind.

There were more and more splashes on the sea surface at the stern of the ship, and the shells were getting closer and closer to the Fu ship. If this continued, the Fu ship would soon be within the artillery range of the warships behind it.

However, the Fu ship was still more than two miles away from the turbulent black cloud. At this speed, it would be hit by the artillery behind it before it even entered.

"Raise the mainsail!"

Manager Qian Er shouted against the strong wind.

"Boss, we can't raise it! The wind will tear the mast apart!"

Han Chao pushed the shopkeeper Qian Er away and pointed at a tall and thin sailor beside him and said:
"Climb up and hoist the sail!"

The sailor hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and climbed up the mast.

He had just climbed two steps when the ship suddenly shook. The sailor's feet loosened and he was blown down by the wind. He was holding on to the side of the ship but before he could stand firmly, his body flew into the sea like a piece of paper.

A white wind blew past, and the surrounding sea surface seemed to be boiling, with waves rolling up and down. The thin sailor fell into the water and disappeared.

With a loud bang, a three-pound iron ball hit the left side of the Fu ship, smashing a big hole in the fir wood guard plate. The wind and waves swept in, pouring water into it.

"Go down and seal the hole!"

The two sailors hurriedly pried open the secret compartment under the deck and struggled to seal the hole with wooden boards.

Lin Yu looked around, spat into his palm, pushed away the sailor blocking his way, and moved his giant bear-like body under the mast.

"Big Lin, what are you going to do?"

Pei Dahu looked at his taciturn subordinate in surprise.

Lin Yu said nothing, took the dagger from the belt, bit the handle of the dagger with his mouth, hugged the mast which was more than one person thick, and climbed up in two or three steps using his hands and feet.

Everyone looked at Lin Yu in amazement, and Wu Xiao was even more surprised. He had been with Lin Yu for so long, but he didn't expect that this kid had this skill.

Under the gaze of everyone, Lin Yu quickly came to the place where the sail was entangled and waved his dagger to cut the entangled rope.

The sails were untied and immediately spread out. The Fu ship flapped the sails and accelerated towards the storm clouds, quickly leaving the pursuers behind.

Lin Yu clung to the mast tightly, and heard the crackling sound of breaking wood all around him. He felt his body rising and falling with the Fu ship.

Lin Yu looked up at the sky. Dark clouds covered his head, like millions of huge hands controlling the sea surface. The sea was surging, and white waves were everywhere.

Heads were swaying on the deck, and the sailors were shouting and running away. He could faintly hear Pei Dahu and Wu Xiao still shouting at him.

He recalled the time when he went out to sea with his father as a child. There were also white-tipped waves like this, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Suddenly, there was a sound of galloping behind me, as if tens of thousands of cavalry were coming.

A huge wave, almost as high as Lin Yu's head, hit the Fu ship with the force of a tidal wave.

With a loud crack, the shaky mast was finally torn off by the sail.

Lin Yu jumped, grabbed the sail rope, and went with the sail in the wind and rain.

(End of this chapter)