Chapter 986 1075 Search

Chapter 986 1075 Search

A strong wind was blowing on the sea, rolling up large waves and rushing towards the coastline.

A fleet of more than 30 warships was heading south, and the hulls were breaking through the waves. You could vaguely see algae such as water plants growing on the side of the ship near the waterline.

Large black spots appeared around the hull, which also showed that these ships were old ships. Such a scene would only appear after being immersed in the sea for a long time.

The fleet was still mixed. Although there were several Fuzhou ships, they were all small, and the largest Fuzhou ship could only be barely considered a medium-sized Fuzhou ship.

On the ship's tower, a large "Ming" flag fluttered in the wind, showing the identity of this fleet.

"Sir, the front should be Haimen County, and around it is the mouth of the Yangtze River. There is an island called Chongming Island, where a guard of a thousand households is stationed. Do we still want to continue to go south?"

On the ship's tower, a general in a helmet and armor said to the military officer in front of him wearing the armor of a deputy general.

The words of the general behind him were naturally a reminder to the one in front that they had reached the edge of the defense zone of the Denglai Navy. If they continued to move south, they would enter the territory of the Nanhai Navy.

The Denglai Navy was originally only responsible for defending Laizhou Bay, but the Ming Dynasty had no other navy on the northern coast, and only the Shandong Garrison was equipped with some warships, so all the sea ships were mobilized to form the Denglai Navy.

The defense range of the Denglai Navy was naturally greatly expanded.

It can be said that except for the territory assigned to the Nanhai Navy, the rest of the Ming Sea was under the responsibility of the Denglai Navy.

"Of course we have to continue to move south. Although the official document of the Ministry of War did not specify where we should go, it also said that we should take a look at the water fort of the Nanhai Navy and Yuegang."

The general in front said directly.

"But, that is the territory of the South China Sea Navy. Are we just going to go there directly?"

The general officer wearing guerrilla armor behind him reminded him again, "Last time we encountered the South China Sea Navy off the coast of Dengzhou, our ship... This ship was already embarrassing enough."

"So what? We are just following military orders. After all, we are all the Ming Navy."

The lieutenant general replied expressionlessly.

Soon, the fleet turned its course and headed east, bypassing a small peninsula that protruded into the sea in Haimen County, and the estuary of the Yangtze River gradually appeared in front of the fleet.

This fleet was the Denglai Navy commanded by Dengzhou Lieutenant General Xu Qiaoan. A month ago, the Ministry of War ordered the navy to patrol the south of the sea on the grounds of preparing for the Japanese invasion.

Xu Qiaoan divided the navy into two, leaving more than 20 ships to patrol the Shandong coast, and led more than 30 warships to patrol the south of the sea.

If the Ming Dynasty wants to form a navy in the northern waters in the future, it will definitely be the Denglai Navy as the main force. As for whether it will be called the East China Sea Navy or the North China Sea Navy, it is hard to say.

However, since the Ming Dynasty is going to form two navies in the south and the north, communication between the navies is inevitable.

Last time in Tianjin, Yu Dayou told Wei Guangde about the situation of the Denglai Navy in his eyes.

The equipment and the morale of the officers and soldiers are not good, and the commander of the navy looks sloppy.

However, since it is a navy to defend the capital, Yu Dayou still proposed that the strength of the Denglai Navy should be strengthened.

Not only do they want to use force in the South China Sea, but they also have to prepare to deal with the threat of the Toungoo Dynasty in Yunnan. At this juncture, Wei Guangde will naturally not let the Ministry of War provide more help to the Denglai Navy.

Silver is still very tight and cannot be spent indiscriminately.

Wei Guangde is very clear that at least in the next hundred years, the northern coast of the Ming Dynasty should not encounter major threats.

In fact, for many years to come, the main maritime threat to the Ming Dynasty, or China, will still come from the South China Sea.

Therefore, even if the court really wants to invest silver to strengthen the navy, Wei Guangde will also give priority to the South China Sea navy that he can control.

Wei Guangde was not very interested in the Denglai Navy, and Yu Dayou also felt it at the time. Thinking of the old ships that he had that were useless, Yu Dayou proposed to transfer them to the Denglai Navy for use.

Although they were all old ships, they were mainly small and could not withstand wind and waves.

Such ships naturally had no value in the Nanhai Navy, which had a large number of Fu ships, but compared with the warships of the Denglai Navy, they seemed to be not much different, and even looked newer and better armed.

This time, Wei Guangde proposed to let the Denglai Navy go south when he discussed with Tan Lun.

Although he didn't know where Lin Feng was going, Wei Guangde had made preparations.

Once the Nanhai Navy crossed the sea to expedition to Luzon, it would inevitably leave a sea defense vacuum in the southeastern waters.

Last time, when Yu Dayou led his team north, he encountered Japanese pirates invading Zhejiang and Fujian, so it was an option to prevent trouble before it happened and transfer the Denglai Navy to the south.

After all, Japanese pirates are not common in the northern waters. Except for the most rampant Japanese pirates in the Jiajing period, there were Japanese pirates in Shandong and Huai'an Prefecture in Nanzhili. It is still very rare for Japanese pirates to appear at other times.

As for whether the South China Sea Navy can leave part of the navy in the southeast, that is natural.

Those ships of the South China Sea Navy that are not suitable for ocean voyages can only stay in the country.

However, the main warships must go with Yu Dayou.

Although the ships of the Denglai Navy are old, there are still some medium-sized Fu ships, which can also be regarded as large ships on the sea.

Early the next morning, the fleet approached Chongming Island, and soon a small boat docked at the dock.

After contacting the island's defense thousand households, Xu Qiaoan received the order left by the Navy Admiral Yu Dayou, asking the Denglai Navy to go to Zhejiang first, then to the North Port and New Port of Dongfan Island, and finally to patrol near Yuegang, Fujian.

The entire patrol route has been arranged clearly. Xu Qiaoan saw the order sent by Yu Dayou on the boat and immediately ordered the fleet to continue to go south to Zhejiang.

The navy has prepared sufficient supplies for going out to sea, so there is no need to go to Taicang Zhenhaiwei for supplies.

It will only take a few days, and the supplies on the ship can also support it.

The fleet did not stay in Chongming Island and soon set sail again.

"Sir, why do you think the Ministry of War wants us to go south?"

Chen Youji behind Xu Qiaoan said hesitantly. In fact, this question has troubled him for several days.

"How do I know? The official document only allows us to go south and obey the orders of Admiral Yu. As for why we have to come, it doesn't say it."

Reaching out to the railing of the ship, Xu Qiaoan said helplessly: 'Maybe if I see Admiral Yu, I can ask him in person. ’

Just when the Denglai Navy was discussing their order to go south, Yu Dayou had already led the South China Sea Navy into the Fujian-Guangdong waters, and also received news from Guangdong and Guangxi that no trace of Lin Feng’s pirate group was found along the coast to return to the Ming Dynasty.

“There is no trace of Lin Feng in Dongfan Island, Penghu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. Where will he go?”

Yu Dayou stood on the deck of a ship, looking at the distant horizon, talking to himself.

Behind Yu Dayou, the deputy general Deng Zilong, who had just led the fleet to meet the main force of the South China Sea Navy, stepped forward and whispered: ‘Sir, will Lin Feng still be stranded on Luzon Island?

I heard that although Luzon is an island, it is much larger than Dongfan Island.

Dongfan is hundreds of miles from north to south, and Luzon is several times that of Dongfan, which means it is thousands of miles away from north to south.

As long as Lin Feng chooses to stay away from Manila, it should not be difficult to find a place to stay. ’

Hearing this, Yu Dayou nodded, which was considered to be an approval of Deng Zilong’s guess.

The Lin Feng Pirate Group did not return to the Ming Dynasty. In fact, there were two places to go, or two major directions.

One was to stay in Luzon and use the huge area of ​​Luzon Island to call for a place to settle down.

The second was Wanli Shitang, which is what we call XSQD in later generations.

Because ancient China had advanced navigation technology, it was discovered very early that XSQD, Dongsha Islands and NSQD existed in the South China Sea.

However, people or the government at that time did not name them as they did in later generations, but generally named them "Shitang" or "Changsha".

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, because of the huge maritime trade business of the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of Song ships traveled to and from the South China Sea, so for convenience, they ordered the islands in the South China Sea.

Unlike later generations, the official in the Southern Song Dynasty regarded XSQD, Zhongsha Islands and Dongsha Islands as one, and did not split them up, so the official generally called it "Qianli Changsha".

Among them, there is a special Ming Dynasty for the archipelago in the center of Qianli Changsha, namely the Zhongsha Islands, which is Shixing Shitang.

Because NSQD is larger in scope, it was called "Wanli Shitang" or "Wanli Changsha" in the Song Dynasty.

Such names were also inherited by the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

Because the slightly larger islands and reefs in the South China Sea are mainly concentrated in XSQD and NSQD, both the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty paid more attention to these two places.

The Ming Dynasty government generally used Wanli Shitang to represent XSQD, while Wanli Changsha was aimed at NSQD.

Relatively speaking, because it was closer to the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou instinctively thought that if pirates wanted to seek a place to settle, Wanli Shitang would naturally be the best choice.

Moreover, Yu Dayou also heard from the old boatman that there is fresh water on some islands in the South China Sea, which means that people can live there.

Of course, there are not many such large islands.

Before, Yu Dayou was guessing Lin Feng's final choice. Now that Deng Zilong has made such a judgment, Yu Dayou will naturally take action.

"Send two fleets, one to Luzon Island, and the other to Wanli Shitang to search. Once you find Lin Feng's whereabouts, report immediately."

Yu Dayou ordered.

"Shitang?"

Deng Zilong was stunned when he heard Yu Dayou's order. He only thought that Lin Feng might stay on Luzon Island, and never thought that he could run to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

After all, Lin Feng's pirate group has a large number of people, several thousand people. In Deng Zilong's opinion, it is almost impossible to live there.

Of course, a short rest is still possible, but with the local environmental conditions, long-term residence is absolutely impossible.

"Yes, especially Yingwu Island and Shami Reef, etc. I heard that there is fresh water on them, which can be used for the fleet to rest."

While speaking, Yu Dayou turned around and said to Deng Zilong: 'You go down and discuss this matter with Chen Lin. You will each have a team and go to the two places to search. ’

Yu Dayou had already made arrangements, Deng Zilong immediately clasped his fists and agreed, then went down the ship's tower and boarded a small boat to go to another Fuzhou ship behind to discuss the matter with Chen Lin.

While still waiting on the deck for the small boat to approach, Yu Dayou stood on the side of the ship's tower and shouted to Deng Zilong on the deck: "You each take two gunboats, pay attention to safety."

"Yes, sir."

Deng Zilong agreed loudly, and after the small boat approached, he quickly jumped down the railing and jumped onto the small boat.

Soon, a small boat, under the rowing of the sailors, quickly sailed towards a huge sealed boat behind.

The South China Sea Navy under Yu Dayou's management was still very efficient. On that day, this fleet, which had been anchored in the southeastern waters of Chaozhou Prefecture for several days, split into two small fleets of about ten ships, heading southeast and southwest respectively.

At this time, in the north of Dongfan Island, outside the Ming army's newly built Beigang Water Village, a fleet of more than thirty warships was slowly approaching.

"This is Dongfan Island, Xiaoliuqiu."

Xu Qiaoan stood on his medium-sized fortune boat and looked at the huge water village with a look of disbelief.

The water village is huge, but the docks are mostly empty, with only a few boats moored here and there.

The largest one among them is a medium-sized lucky boat.

Although it was the same as his ship, it was obviously new.

Moreover, on the tall turret of this medium-sized fortune ship, you can still see the long gun barrel protruding from the turret.

As for the two gun windows on each side of the ship, Xu Qiaoan was not surprised at all. The last time he met the Nanhai Navy in Shandong waters, he already knew from Yu Dayou that there was an artillery gun inside.

Although at that time, not many medium-sized ships of the Nanhai Navy had gun windows.

As for the others, some were Haicang ships and some were bird ships, both of which were familiar to Xu Qiaoan.

If there is any difference from his Denglai naval warship, it is new.

Most of the warships of the Nanhai Navy are obviously new ships launched in the past ten years, not the warships under my own hands. The youngest ones are more than 20 years old.

As for the many other small wooden boats, Xu Qiaoan ignored them. It would be strange if there were no such small wooden boats in the water village.

However, a strange-looking boat at the very edge of the pier, with many small wooden boats moored around it, still caught Xu Qiaoan's attention. The style of this boat was so new that he had never seen it before.

Approaching the water village, several small wooden boats were drawn out from inside, with Navy officers and soldiers waving flags on them, directing the Denglai Navy warships to dock.

When all the ships docked at the pier and the gangplank was set up, Xu Qiaoan couldn't wait to get off the ship.

When he stepped onto the pier, he did not greet the officers and soldiers here, but walked quickly towards the place where there were countless boats.

Of course, his footsteps did not stop in front of those small boats, but stopped when he came to a warship further away.

After carefully studying the boat in front of him for a long time, Xu Qiaoan asked the Beigang guerrilla who was following him in confusion: "Did you enlarge the dragon boat to make this boat?" What is it used for? ’

"Master Xu, this boat is not a dragon boat. It is called a centipede boat. It is a type of boat brought by the Yi people from Southeast Asia.

You see, there is a mast on it to hang the sail. "

"I know, I mean what's the use of this ship?"

Of course Xu Qiaoan noticed that the boat had masts and was larger and longer than the Dragon Boat Festival. It was obviously prepared for sea voyages.

But this ship, when it comes to transporting cargo, doesn't have much carrying capacity.

It seems a bit too thin for use in fighting.

"This ship is now mainly used for communication. It hangs sails when there is wind and rows when there is no wind. It is very fast and can send messages as quickly as possible."

The guard smiled and said: "There are boats like this in all Nanhai Navy's water villages. They are used to deliver letters and run errands."