Chapter 103 Dutch Supply Ship
Late at night, the winter sea breeze was unusually clear and biting.
Zhao Chang, wearing a sky-blue navy uniform, strolled on the deck. The "Bloodthirsty Wolf" was about to set sail secretly.
As the first 500-ton three-masted sailing ship built by Taiwan Island, the entire ship was equipped with 8 twelve-pound and 12 ten-pound steel cannons, which is currently the biggest trump card in the navy.
And this time its target is "Xiamen" of the Fujian Provincial Government of the Ming Dynasty. As for why it is it, there is only one reason, it is Zheng Zhilong's nest.
After receiving the letter from Zuo Guozhu, Qin Hao knew that Zheng Zhilong was going to attack him, and he was also very troubled.
The maritime power of his old friend on the other side of the strait is not bad, with one or two hundred ships of various types. If he really confronts him head-on, he will definitely not get any good, so Zhao Chang made this late-night voyage.
"Sir, food, fresh water, gunpowder, shells and other supplies are ready. Please sign for them." The voice of the dock official stationed at Keelung Port sounded not far away.
"Well, the number is correct. Thank you for your hard work." After checking some numbers, Zhao Chang signed his name and thanked the dock official.
"Excuse me, where are you going?" The dock official asked with a smile. Although he received the message from above to prepare the ship and supplies, he couldn't help but be curious when he saw such a big ship leaving the port.
If an experienced dock official would never ask such a shallow question, because the answer might cost him his head. However, this dock official was assigned here not long after graduating from Hsinchu Political Affairs Hall, so he naturally had no experience.
"You don't want to know." Zhao Chang replied lightly, and then put on his shoulder bag and got on the ship.
The dock official was left alone shivering in the cold wind.
Fifteen minutes later, the "Bloodthirsty Wolf" carrying 200 army soldiers, 50 Spanish sailors, 10 students from the Navigation School, and 30 gunners sailed out of the port in silence and headed south-east.
The cold sea breeze blew on the deck of the "Bloodthirsty Wolf".
Wang Qi patrolled back and forth on the deck with his flintlock rifle on his back, and with him was his captain Sun Jun.
In order to accompany the navy in the attack this time, the Qi family army specially selected a group of elite soldiers to form the temporary first row, which was under the command of the captain of the "Bloodthirsty Wolf", Zhao Chang. He and his captain were among the selected personnel, and the two were in the same ship's hold.
The wind and waves in the western Pacific Ocean were a bit strong. Wang Qi tried to keep his body steady while chatting with Sun Jun: "Before I came out, I just bought 10 mu of land. Each mu of land was only 1 tael of silver. They were all mature fields we had cultivated. It will be almost time to sow in another month. This time I will plant five mu of wheat and the rest will be planted with potatoes. Oh my God, buying wheat seeds will cost a lot of money again."
"You used all your enlistment and resettlement fees to buy land?" Sun Jun looked at Wang Qi in surprise, then laughed at himself: "I bought a few bottles of wine and a piece of cotton cloth, which is most of the money."
"You are so extravagant. The cotton cloth produced in Hsinchu is so expensive, but you are willing to spend it. Why don't you use coarse linen? That thing is very strong for making clothes." Wang Qi said. He knew that the captain was still single and spent money lavishly, so he tried to persuade him.
Sun Jun waved his hand: "This cotton cloth is warm to wear. Besides, it's very convenient to find a wife with this clothing."
The two chatted for a few more words. When they were about to turn around and start the next patrol, the lookout on the main mast shouted: "A sailboat was found in the front right! Attention, an unidentified ship was found in the front right!" After that, he pulled a rope with a bell hanging on the mast.
As the bell rang, the sailors immediately became nervous, and shouts came one after another.
Zhao Chang raised the telescope and looked forward from the bridge. I saw a tall mast appeared at the end of the sea level in the front right, followed by the second, the third...
"Dutch!" The Spanish first mate Harley Valdez raised the telescope and saw the identity of the other party from the flags of the sailboat, castle and crown flying on the other side's main mast.
"Come over and prepare for battle! Julien, go and command the sailors!" Zhao Chang ordered after calming down a little.
This time, their route must not be discovered by anyone, even the Spanish ships must be sunk.
This Dutch warship was also lucky to encounter the "killer" lurking in the dark.
Halley walked out of the bridge, observed the other party's position again on the wooden corridor, and then ordered loudly: "Raise the auxiliary sail!"
"Understood! Raise the auxiliary sail!"
"Gunner! Load the bow gun!" Zhao Chang ordered after repeatedly confirming the distance between the two sides through the telescope.
"Understood, load the bow gun!"
"It seems that the other party is a supply ship." Zhao Chang smiled to Halley Wade beside him, "We are lucky."
"Yes, poor Dutch." First mate Halley Wade also held up a telescope to observe, "It may be a ship transporting arms from the Dutch East Indies or it may be a passing merchant ship."
But no matter what ship it is, they must not have checked the almanac when they went out today, and they are destined to sleep in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan Island.
"Boom!"
A 12-pound cannon on the bow began firing after entering the maximum range. Of course, it was inaccurate at this distance. The projectile splashed a column of water about 200 meters away from the bow of the other ship.
However, this shot obviously scared the other party. The distance between the two ships was more than 1,600 meters, and the other party actually fired a cannon attack. The range was too far.
The Dutch ship began to turn against the wind and prepared to escape.
It was obviously extremely unwise for a supply ship equipped with only a few small-caliber guns to confront a warship that obviously had a large number of long-barreled heavy guns.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the other side turning around, the "Bloodthirsty Wolf" once again shortened the distance by several hundred meters. The two 10-pound guns on the bow fired continuously. After several rounds of shooting, one shell actually hit the other ship, but it obviously did not cause any major damage.
"Come over and shoot with the side guns." Zhao Chang ordered while observing. The speed of the other supply ship was slow, obviously far less than the speed of the "Bloodthirsty Wolf" at 8 knots with a tailwind.
The excessive cargo capacity and ship type severely limited its escape speed. The "Bloodthirsty Wolf" only took a while to catch up.
"Gunner, prepare the gun crew." At this time, the two ships were only a few hundred meters apart, and the panicked sailors on the deck of the other ship could be vaguely seen.
"Fire!" Zhao Chang ordered.
"Fire!" Gunner Doug Parra stood on the port gun deck and ordered loudly.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Six guns fired almost at the same time. Large and small projectiles flew over a short distance of four or five hundred meters and created a large number of wounds on the enemy ship. Some unlucky sailors fell on the deck screaming.
"Reset the guns! Clear the chamber, load the gunpowder, and load the gun!"
The enemy's three-pound and four-pound small guns fired some sparse projectiles at the "Bloodthirsty Wolf". Doug Parra was unmoved and ordered to continue loading the gunpowder.
"Fire!" The three guns fired another round of salvos!
The fierce sea breeze blew away the gunpowder smoke. Zhao Chang raised the telescope and found that this bombardment seemed to have achieved good results.
The stern of the enemy ship was hit by two 24-pound shells. The luxuriously decorated windows on the captain's room were shattered, and it was unknown how many casualties there were inside.
In addition, a cannon on the opponent's deck was hit, and the cannon fell from the broken sports car and rolled a long distance. Some sailors who failed to dodge were crushed by the heavy cannon. The bloody scene was horrible.
"Switch to heavy solid bullets!" Zhao Chang ordered. He was ready to completely destroy the watertight compartment of the Dutch ship.
But many times things are always unexpected, because the next moment the opponent suddenly lowered the main sail and raised a white flag on the mast.
The Dutch surrendered!
"Come closer!" Zhao Chang thought for a moment and decided to accept this trophy. His own navigation school still lacked a lot of teachers. I hope these Dutch people can have some real skills.
"Victory!" The sailors cheered enthusiastically.
Although they bullied a supply ship with poor firepower, it was also a victory.
Soon, two platoons (60 people) of the army rowed a famous boat towards the opponent's ship.
Wang Qi climbed up the deck of the Dutch ship with great effort along the rope ladder. A dozen Dutch sailors gathered on the deck and watched the conquerors' arrival anxiously.
They could not resist because the enemy's guns were still facing here.
"Stay there quietly and don't try to resist." Wang Qi took the rifle from his back and said casually after loading it.
Soon, the other 59 army soldiers boarded the ship one after another.
After searching the Spaniards, they tied them up and threw them into the bottom cabin, and then sent several armed soldiers to guard them.
Zhao Chang rushed over from the "Bloodthirsty Wolf" with 10 students from the Navigation School. The next Dutch supply ship will be under their control.
"Ha! We've made a fortune!" Harley Valdez exclaimed as he looked at the warehouse filled with muskets, spears, daggers, breastplates, muskets, gunpowder, lead bullets and cannonballs. "I hope the Dutch have more than one supply ship, otherwise they'll be in big trouble."
The Dutch are now fighting fiercely with the Spanish on the sea, and the supplies on the ship must be scarce. If they rob this time, some people will probably go hungry.
"Gather the supplies and personnel, and sink him. We have a mission, so hurry up!" Zhao Chang ordered on the deck.
"Understood, Captain!" The Spanish mate agreed loudly, climbed up the deck, took a few glances, and said, "What a pity, if it weren't for the mission, I would definitely take you back."
Half an hour later, the "Bloodthirsty Wolf" disappeared on the sea level in the distance.
The surging waves swept away several floating corpses, leaving only a pile of foam and broken wood on the sea, as if nothing had happened here.
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