Chapter 339 Take the lead

Wang Tom determined that the ship had bad intentions and decisively issued the order to open fire. However, his intention was to intercept the ship at sea and find out its identity and purpose, not to directly attack the opponent. However, this close proximity

The shell that grazed the side of the ship seemed to have an effect. Seeing that they could not escape the pursuit, the opponent finally chose to lower the sails and slow down.

"Go around the bow of the ship in front, open the gun windows, and prepare the first and second decks for battle! Ship No. 2 and No. 3 are approaching from the left and right sides, blocking its steering!"

Seeing that the opponent's ship slowed down, Wang Tom did not take it lightly, but ordered the personnel on the ship to immediately enter a state of combat readiness. In this era of East Asian maritime battles, artillery battles have not become the mainstream, and boarding battles are "exploration".

"No. 1" is a situation that really needs to be prepared for. Although there is no suspense at all with three large ships sandwiching such a small ship, Wang Tom still adopts a cautious attitude. He does not want to be involved in the first combat operation under his command after the establishment of the navy.

There were casualties.

Tom Wang handed the steering wheel to the first mate, picked up the HK416 himself, walked quickly to the side of the ship, and began to preview the target. The driving platform of the "Discovery" was higher than the deck of the ship being pursued.

Nearly three meters, once approaching, you can have a clear view of the situation on the opponent's deck from a condescending position.

"Discovery" went around the other side's bow from the side. Ship No. 2 and Ship No. 3 approached from both sides, one from the left and the other from the right. The three ships opened the gun windows together, revealing the dark gun barrels. There is no need to be special at this distance.

Aiming basically means hitting where. If the people on the ship dare to make mistakes, the multiple cannons aimed at it can punch a bunch of transparent holes in the ship in an instant.

"Shout!" Wang Tom ordered.

A crew member raised a metal microphone and shouted loudly towards the blocked ship: "People on the ship, listen, you have been surrounded. To ensure your safety, please raise your hands and surrender immediately, and do not try to take any measures."

Resistance measures must be taken, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences!”

Due to the temporary assignment of tasks, the No. 2 and No. 3 ships have not completed the artillery configuration. There are only two cannons on both sides of the ship. However, the combat personnel on the ship have been fully equipped. Although there are not enough artillery, they can be used temporarily.

Serve as a musketeer.

Perhaps the previous display of firepower had a certain deterrent effect. As the three warships slowly approached, the intercepted ship did not show any resistance. After the No. 2 and No. 3 ships approached,

They hooked the side of the opponent's ship with a bamboo pole and slowly pulled it closer. The sailors, armed with guns and ammunition, began to climb over the side of the ship and board the ship from both sides in squad units.

There were only seven or eight crew members on the deck of this ship. Under the threat of bayonets and guns, they were quickly gathered into a small position on the bow of the ship - this position was just opposite the side gun window of the "Discovery".

You can even see through the gun window that the menacing figures in the cabin are adjusting the gun positions to target their sailors.

"Who is the captain? Come out and answer the question!" the sailor squad leader who took the lead shouted loudly.

Several crew members who had begun to tremble looked at me and me, but in the end no one spoke.

"Okay, don't tell me, right? Check the cabin!"

The sailors were divided into two teams, one team entered the cabin at the rear of the ship, and the other team was on the deck preparing to open the cargo hold. But at this moment, something suddenly changed.

The two sailors had just opened the cargo hold cover on the deck, and two bows and arrows flew out from inside. One arrow missed, and the other hit one of the sailors in the shoulder. The injured sailor suffered from pain after

He screamed and fell over backwards. Upon seeing this, other people immediately gathered around and pointed their guns at the cargo hatch. However, no one dared to shoot without permission before getting the officer's order. Someone dragged the injured sailor aside and replaced him.

He checked for injuries.

Tom Wang also witnessed this situation on the "Discovery". He cursed secretly, then grabbed the iron microphone and ordered to the sailors on the ship: "If you shout again, if you don't surrender, shoot immediately!"

He was extremely careful, but unexpectedly he got off to a bad start. One of his men was injured as soon as he got on the boat. This made Wang Tom's patience quickly disappear. No matter who was hiding in the cabin and resisting, Wang Tom could guarantee that he would

The good luck in this life has come to an end.

"Listen, people in the cabin, surrender immediately, or you will bear the consequences!" The sailor squad leader took the lead in shouting, but what he responded to was two more bows and arrows shot from the dark cargo hold and a burst of inarticulate curses. However,

With the lesson learned just now, the sailors on the deck carefully avoided the angle, so both arrows missed the target and flew a certain distance in the air before falling and falling into the sea.

"Fire!" The sailor squad leader was also angry and immediately issued the order.

Seven or eight muskets were extended to the hatch from different angles, without aiming, they pulled the triggers and fired blindly into the cabin. After the shooting was completed, the second group of musketeers came up and shot inside in the same way.

.Amidst the crackling gunfire, there seemed to be a few shouts coming from the cabin. However, the angry sailors did not pay attention to this detail. After loading, they fired two more rounds before stopping under the command of the officer.

Already.

In order to ensure safety, the sailors escorted two captive crew members over and put them in front, then lit an oil lamp and went down to the cargo hold. The sailors found three men lying in a pool of blood. It seemed that their luck was really bad.

They were unable to avoid the previous rounds of musket fire. One of them had died of vital injuries, but the other two still had the strength to speak. The sailors asked the prisoners to carry all these people to the deck, and passed by the prisoners

They identified and confirmed that these three people were the people in charge on the ship.

As for their identity, it happened to be in line with Wang Tom's intuition - this group of people was indeed the group of pirates on the Dangan Islands in the east. After confirming their identity, Wang Tom immediately ordered a return voyage, because this place was only a few kilometers away from the Dangan Islands.

There are only more than ten nautical miles. Although his own strength is not bad, Wang Tom does not want to fight an inexplicable naval battle at this juncture.

The sailors locked the prisoners into the cargo hold again, and then assigned several sailors to drive the ship and return to Dawanshan Island with the fleet. As for the two injured pirate leaders, Tom Wang was not so kind as to give them to them.

They treated their wounds, and it was true that no one on the ship could complete the surgical operation independently. Wang Tom could only have people tie their wounds tightly with cloth strips, trying his best to prevent them from dying on the way due to excessive blood loss.

Despite this, after arriving at Wanshan Port, the medical team who rushed to the pier after receiving the news regretfully announced that one of them was no longer breathing. The remaining wounded person was only shot in the arm, with no vital injuries.

It won't be a life-threatening situation for a while.

However, Wang Tom obviously didn't care about the injuries of these pirates. He kicked the pirate leader aside and asked someone to help the sailor who was injured during the operation. Fortunately, the arrow injury suffered by the sailor was only a superficial wound. In Victory Port

The trained naturalized doctor cut the wound with a knife, took out the arrowhead, and then disinfected and bandaged the wound.

"So these pirates took the initiative to invade the market?" Chen Yixin asked after listening to Wang Tom's brief statement.

"It should be clear when we go back and interrogate the pirate leader." Wang Tom said fiercely: "I haven't touched them yet, but they came to the door! It seems that this time I can't wait for the approval of the base camp.

Action needs to be taken!”

During the previous battle in Lijiazhuang, Xiao Liang had mentioned to Wang Tom that he would take advantage of the remaining strength of his land and sea forces to wipe out the pirates on the Dangan Islands east of Dawanshan Island. But this

After the combat plan was reported back to the base camp, there has been no definite reply. According to the original arrangement, the two companies setting off from Victory Port this time would return to Victory Port after resting for a week on Dawanshan Island. Unexpectedly, they were here

At this juncture, the pirates on the Dangan Islands took the initiative to appear.

Before they had time to interrogate the prisoners, the sailors cleaning up the pirate ship made a new discovery in the cabin - there were actually many products sold in Victory Port in the cargo hold! This included seven or eight boxes of glass tableware and more than 20 sets of glass stationery.

, dozens of small round glass mirrors with an inch diameter, about one thousand kilograms of Haihan refined salt, as well as a small amount of matches and soap, etc. All Haihan products that can be purchased on the market are more or less in the cabin.

Something was discovered. In addition, a lot of swords and bows were also found, a few rusty muskets, and even a small Franco machine cannon, but a large piece of the muzzle had been chipped.

It seems that even the pirates themselves don't dare to use this dangerous firearm.

"Are these pirates or merchants?" Chen Yixin was a little dumbfounded by this situation.

"In this era, there is often no clear dividing line between maritime merchants and pirates." Wang Tom explained to him: "Li Dan, Yan Siqi, the maritime merchant, including Xu Xinsu, who we are dealing with now, are actually more or less pirates.

The navy under Xu Xinsu are basically all pirates who have been recruited. To the government or opponents of comparable strength, they are merchants, but if there is an opportunity to rob others, they will turn into pirates. "

"You dare to take advantage of us when selling our goods? Is this considered a lower-level distributor trying to trick the manufacturer?" Li Dou, who came after hearing the news, said angrily.

"They may not know who is occupying this island." Wang Tom shook his head and said: "Most probably they just discovered that there were traces of people here, and prepared to get closer to inquire about the situation. Unexpectedly, we discovered them early."

"Then from what you say, do you plan to use violence against them?" Li Dou asked.

Wang Tom glared and said: "We have already taken action, what else are we not prepared for? Two of their leaders died, and all the ship and cargo people were detained by us. Do you think that even if you let them go now, this matter can still be solved?"

?”

"I don't think there are people with such a good temper in the world." Li Dou responded seriously.

"If you want to blame, we can only blame us for being too close. If we don't clear each other out, no one will be able to sleep well in the future!" Although the prisoners have not yet been interrogated, Wang Tom has obviously made his own decision about the situation.

.

Then the radio station stationed on the island telegraphed what happened today back to Victory Port, and the crossing officers headed by Wang Tom interrogated the prisoners separately - the focus was no longer on why the ship appeared in Dawanshan

The area near the island is the pirate strength and defense arrangements on the Dangan Islands.

That night, Wang Tom organized a situation summary meeting to summarize all the intelligence information obtained during the trial. According to the prisoners' accounts, the total number of pirates on the Dangan Islands was about three hundred, but in fact

Only two-thirds of them were able to participate in the sea battle, and the rest were the elderly, weak, women, and children's family members. This group of pirates had a total of eight ships, including the one captured today, and there were also

There are more than ten small fishing boats.

As for their livelihood, as Wang Tom said, half of them rely on robbing merchant ships and civilians' belongings at sea, and half of them rely on making profits from various smuggling trades. After capturing the ship, they found various kinds of sea goods.

They purchased Chinese goods from Guangzhou a few days ago. The reason why they wandered around Dawanshan Island was because when they were purchasing supplies in Guangzhou, they accidentally heard about the recently popular "Qiong Lianfa" brand.

The government registered a business inn, and the location of this inn was Dawanshan Island.

The distance between Dawanshan Island and the Dangan Islands where this group of pirates live is only more than 30 nautical miles. The distance can be said to be very close. Whether it is for defense or other purposes, the pirates have to touch Dawanshan Island.

The situation was suitable. So on the way back from Guangzhou, the ship decided to turn to Dawanshan Island after leaving the Pearl River Estuary to take a look at the situation. However, it never thought that its whereabouts would be exposed early and was captured by the people on the island.

The garrison took notice. Later, the "good guy" Wang Tom led a fleet to chase the ship for more than ten nautical miles and intercepted the ship at sea.

Several leaders on the ship were unsure about the origins of the group of people chasing them, but after the other party showed off their artillery, they unanimously concluded that they were being attacked by gangsters, because ordinary merchant ships would not be equipped with so many artillery pieces on board.

The three leaders decided to hide in the cabin to attack their opponent. If they were lucky, they might kill the opponent's leader directly, and then there might be a chance for a comeback. Of course, later facts proved that this was all an unrealistic delusion.

In the face of the sharp Haihan firearms, all resistance measures are in vain.

After figuring out the ins and outs of this group of people, Wang Tom sought the opinions of the officers present and whether further military action needed to be taken as soon as possible - the result was obvious. Whether it was for safety reasons or for the sake of accumulating military merit, no officer was interested in the next step.

expressed opposition to the military operation. Although the base camp has not yet made a final decision, Wang Tom and others can’t wait to start planning an attack on the Dangan Islands.

The Dangan Islands are located in the eastern part of the Wanshan Islands and are composed of a string of small islands in the sea. The location where this group of pirates live is on the easternmost Dangan Island and the largest Dangan Island. This island has a long and narrow terrain and a similar shape.

It is named after the pole. The geology is granite structure, and the highest point on the island is more than 300 meters above sea level. Due to the rugged rocks on the island shore, there is only one pier at the east end of the island for ships to dock.

As for the defense facilities on the island, they are mediocre. Due to limited human and financial resources, it is impossible for this group of pirates to build large-scale coastal defenses at the port stronghold like the Crossing Group. There is only a stone and wood wall on the shore as a defense.

Means. For a navy equipped with artillery, this kind of defensive strength can only be regarded as better than nothing. At best, it can only consume a little more ammunition for the attacking troops.
To be continued...