Chapter 152 The sound of cannons in Malacca

Once a person leaves his or her familiar environment, his or her temperament often changes greatly.

Especially when sailing on the sea, the scenes of the sea and the sky are all the same, which tests people's willpower even more.

Therefore, Yun Zhao gave Han Xiufen great authority, including the privilege of crossing almost all important documents in Lantian County.

This allows her to be a pirate at sea, but also constantly participate in the construction of Lantian County spiritually.

Perhaps, this is a sense of belonging.

When his native, black spies brought on targets that could continue to rob.

Han Xiufen once again took the people on the boat.

This time she was about to go out in full force because her opponent was a fleet of four armed merchant ships and three cargo ships, which was the ship of the Dutch East India United Company.

The destination of this fleet is Taiwan.

From the Zheng pirate Han Xiufen learned that the Spaniards occupied the north of Taiwan, which posed a huge threat to the Dutch who occupied the southern part of Taiwan and monopolized the Ming Dynasty and traded in Japan.

At the same time, Han Xiufen also learned from Leonie that a group of Dutch merchants decided to be independent from Spanish rule in pursuit of maximization of interests, and the war between them has been going on for more than 70 years.

By now, the Dutch have formed a de facto independence, called the United Province of the Netherlands.

This is the result that Cohen, the eldest director of the Dutch East India United Company, is Leonie's father, dreamed of.

They believed that as long as we continue to attack the power of Spain's maritime power, the Netherlands would eventually force the Spanish Emperor Philip IV to recognize the fact that Dutch independence.

Just as the Portuguese became independent from Spain, they merchants needed to control their own destiny.

Han Xiufen also knew that three Dutch armed merchant ships were taken away by Han Lingshan, which led to an imbalance in power between the Dutch and the Spaniards. This caravan was to send supplies to the Dutch in Taiwan.

Han Xiufen did not need to report to Yun Zhao when robbing the Dutch. She could make a decision in favor of Lantian County based on her own judgment.

This may also be a trap!

Since there is no way to make some commonly used military traps on land on the vast sea, military traps for combat at sea are often simpler and more crude.

The most likely trap is - disguise!

When you think you are facing an ordinary armed merchant ship, when you get closer, you may find that you may be facing a warship.

The four armed merchant ships are equipped with three ordinary merchant ships, which is a very common operation at sea.

So, Han Xiufen wanted to go and have a look.

When Han Xiufen's flagship Lantian started anchoring, the other ten warships in the bay of Paradise Island also started anchoring and sailing.

Every time I go out to sea, no one knows whether I can come back alive.

Therefore, the sailors on the boat all turned their attention to Paradise Island. Although this island is not big, it is the sustenance of their souls.

Leaving Paradise Island and bypassing the reef area that protected the island, the fleet finally sailed and headed towards the Strait of Malacca like arrows.

It is very beneficial to the battle at this time.

After sailing at sea for a day and a night, Han Xiufen summoned all the captains to his flagship.

"This time I should look at Bud's methods."

On Han Xiufen's flagship, the captains of eleven ships gathered in front of Han Xiufen.

Captain Bud, who was named by her, was a black man, and his skin seemed to have a layer of black oil, as silky as black satin.

After listening to Han Xiufen's instructions, he grinned and showed his white teeth, saying, "Since I am the first to fight, then, according to our practice, I will have the right to prioritize the selection of spoils?"

After saying that, he looked at Zhang Chuanli and Liu Mingliang.

According to the previous rules, the warships led by these two people are usually the first to be on, so the spoils are naturally preferred. This time, the boss always comes to justice once.

Captain Leonie originally wanted to compete with Bud for the starting position, but she had already stood up. Suddenly, she found that Zhang Chuanli and Liu Mingliang stood there with expressionless faces and did not move, so her steps stopped.

He also threw a charming look at Bud and said, "If there are gems, I hope Captain Bud can leave it to me. After all, women always lack a piece of precious jewelry."

Bud laughed and said, "Okay, I will pull the gem necklace from the necks of those ladies to give it to the beautiful Captain Leonie, but I want it."

Han Xiufen smiled and said, "In this way, you lead three black fish boats and go first. We will follow you. If you encounter a trap, don't fight, leave quickly."

Bud laughed and said, "I have twenty eighteen-pound cannons!"

After saying that, he greeted the three familiar black captains and left the Lantian flagship and returned to his warship in a small boat.

Han Xiufen listened to the cheers coming and going on the sea and said to the other captains: "If Bad is entangled, we will rush over to help Bad capture the merchant ship. If it is a trap, we will rush over all the way and don't look back."

After hearing this, the other captains laughed one by one, because the captains of the remaining eight ships, except Leonie, were all yellow-skinned.

After the fleet entered the Strait of Malacca, the ship speed slowed down. Although their warships were on the wind, they had to rise straight up against the undercurrent of the Strait of Malacca.

Zhang Chuanli frowned and said to Han Xiufen: "We are not superior."

Han Xiufen said: "It's right not to have an advantage. It seems that the enemy in front of us has set up a trap, and Bard may be in trouble."

"The undercurrent is very fast, and it is difficult for our muzzles to aim at the enemy."

Han Xiufen said: "So, we only have two fleets passing by this opportunity. I want you to have all the firepower at this time."

"I won't jump to the gang fight this time?"

Leoni felt a little regretful about the order issued by Han Xiufen.

"If you don't jump to the gang to fight, I don't think the enemy will give us such a chance."

"Since we are not sure, why don't we leave?"

Han Xiufen said lightly: "Particular wars must be considered for the overall situation."

“Where is the big picture?”

"Lantian! Take care of everyone!"

Han Xiufen ended the conversation concisely. Regardless of whether Leonie understood or not, she probably couldn't understand it. Until now, Leonie still thinks they are a group of happy independent pirates.

Everyone left the flagship and returned to their ship. Soon, the fleet turned into a column as Han Xiufen's instructions. All the artillery on the port side of the fleet had been prepared, and some of the artillery on the right were pushed over and placed on the empty artillery on the port side.

They believed in Han Xiufen's judgment and only left themselves the preparation for a firefight.

The ship began to tilt slightly to the left, and all the artillery had been loaded, waiting to encounter the Dutch East India fleet.

In the Strait of Malacca, which is 500 nautical miles long, it is not easy to encounter a fleet by chance.

In the wide strait, Han Xiufen's twelve warships seemed extremely small.

However, since their fleet entered the Strait of Malacca, there were no merchant ships on the sea, and even many fishing boats. The red flag on Han Xiufen's ship was a devilish existence for the merchant ships in this sea area.

In the past, Han Xiufen was still very interested in going to various small ports to find these fat sheep. This time, her combat goal was very clear and she let go of those poor fat sheep.

After running in the strait for three days, I still haven't met the legendary fleet.

Han Xiufen's face became very ugly. She felt that she had really been fooled this time, not only by those Dutch fleets, but also by those natives.

It's too quiet in the strait.

The boat was about to leave the Strait of Malacca, and she didn't even see many fishing boats.

This is very abnormal.

"go back!"

With Han Xiufen's order, the fleet drew a long arc on the sea, turned the bow of the ship, and began to walk back. This time, Han Xiufen's combat target had changed. She believed that those damn local kings should be the combat targets this time.

So Captain Bud, who could not find the fleet, began to search every bay along the way where he could hide large ships, and at the same time destroyed the new homes that the natives had just settled.

From the captured native captives, Bad finally knew why he was lost. The fleet is now hiding in the mouth of the Malacca River.

The brave Bad rushed straight to the mouth of the Malacca River, and Han Xiufen led the rest of the ships to follow them in a distance or near manner.

Two days later, when the fleet arrived at the mouth of the Malacca River, Bad's ships were hit by fierce artillery fire from the river bank before they even entered the mudflat.

He hurriedly retreated from the mouth of the Malacca River, but found seven warships directly in front of him, with the flag of the Dutch East India Company flying at the top.

Seeing the fleet approaching quickly, Bud hurriedly turned around and moved closer to Han Xiufen's fleet.

He could see that he was not facing ordinary armed merchant ships, but real European warships!

Among them, the most conspicuous one is the four Karak sailboats with high sterns, which are a type of sailboat-type military ship with three masts, with very powerful artillery attack power.

Faced with such old warships, Bard did not think that the four armed merchant ships he led were converted from merchant ships that could be dealt with independently.

Han Xiufen also saw these four classical warships in the telescope and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as the battleship that came was not a battleship carrying more than 80 to 100 artillery guns like a Dutch, Han Xiufen thought he could fight.

You should know that the real European warships at this time had exceeded the imagination of the Ming people.

Those carrying more than 80 artillery pieces are first- and second-level battleships, usually with three decks and all three layers of artillery pieces.

The bottom layer is a heavy gun, the middle layer is a medium gun, and the upper layer is a light gun.

This battleship that houses thirty-two-pound guns of sixteen people, once fired, a shell is enough to destroy a merchant ship.

When Bud saw the battle flag coming from the flagship, he couldn't help but roar, and his opponent's sailor said: "Snatch the wind, grab the wind, we're going to start a war!"
Chapter completed!