Chapter 339 Take the lead
Wang Tom determined that the ship had bad intentions and decisively gave the order to open fire. However, his intention was to intercept the ship at sea and find out its identity and purpose, not to attack the opponent directly. However, the cannonball that passed by the side of the ship seemed to have an effect. Seeing that they could not escape the pursuit, the other party 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 the maritime battles in East Asia in this era, artillery battles have not become the mainstream. Board battles are the situation that the Discovery really needs to be prepared for. Although there was no suspense at all with such a small ship sandwiched between three large ships, Wang Tom still adopted a cautious attitude. He did not want to suffer casualties in the first combat operation under his command after the establishment of the navy.
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" is nearly three meters higher than the deck of the ship being pursued. After approaching, you can have an unobstructed view of 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 specifically aim at this distance, it basically just means hitting where you want. 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 at your own risk!”
Due to the temporary assignment of tasks, ships No. 2 and No. 3 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. Act 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 Boat No. 2 and Boat No. 3 got close, they hooked the sides of each other's boats with bamboo pole hooks and slowly pulled them closer. The sailors, armed with live 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 say something!" the leader of the sailor squad leader 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, sudden changes occurred.
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 screamed in pain and fell backwards. Seeing this, the others immediately gathered around and pointed their guns at the cargo hatch. However, no one dared to shoot without permission from an officer. Someone dragged the injured sailor aside and checked his 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!"
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Although he was extremely careful, he didn't expect that he still 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 is hiding in the cabin and resisting, Tom Wang can guarantee that his 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 received in response was two more bows and arrows fired from the dark cargo hold and a burst of inarticulate curses. However, based on the lesson learned just now, the sailors on the deck carefully avoided the angle, so both arrows missed the target, flying 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, a few shouts seemed to come 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.
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 they were really unlucky and had not been able to avoid the rounds of musket fire just now. One of them had died from a vital wound, but the other two still had the strength to speak. The sailors asked the prisoners to carry all these people to the deck. After identification by the prisoners, they determined that these three people were the people in charge of the ship.
As for their identities, it just matched Wang Tom's intuition - these people were indeed the group of pirates on the Dangan Islands to the east. After confirming his identity, Wang Tom immediately ordered a return voyage, because this place was only more than ten nautical miles away from Dangan Islands. Although his own strength was not bad, Wang Tom did 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 treat their injuries, and indeed no one on the ship could complete the surgical operation independently. Wang Tom could only have people tie their wounds 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 dock after receiving the news regretfully announced that one of them had no breathing. The remaining wounded man was only shot in the arm, with no critical injuries, and his life was not in danger for a while.
However, Wang Tom obviously didn't care about the injuries of these pirates. He kicked the pirate leader aside and had people help the sailors who were injured during the operation. Fortunately, the arrow wound suffered by the sailor was only a superficial wound. The naturalized civilian doctor who had received training in Victory Port used a knife to cut the wound, took out the arrow, 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. We have to take action!" 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 attack the Dangan Islands east of Dawanshan Island. The pirates were wiped out. However, after this combat plan was reported to the base camp, it has not yet received a positive reply. According to the original arrangement, the two companies departing from Victory Port this time were to return to Victory Port after a week's rest on Dawanshan Island. Unexpectedly, at this juncture, the pirates on Dangan Islands took the initiative to jump out and attack them. exists.
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 includes seven or eight boxes of glass tableware, more than 20 sets of glass stationery, dozens of one-inch diameter glass round mirrors, about a 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 can be found in the cabin to a greater or lesser extent. 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 seemed that even the pirates I don't dare to use this firearm with obvious hidden dangers anymore.
"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 and Yan Siqi, the maritime merchants, including Xu Xinsu, whom we are dealing with now, are actually more or less pirates. The navy under Xu Xinsu are basically pirates who accept the offer. To the government or opponents of comparable strength, they are merchants, but if there is a chance to rob others, they will turn into pirates. "< br>
"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: "80% of them 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 this matter can be solved if we let them go now?" ”
"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 been interrogated yet, 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 waters near the island, but the pirate strength and defense arrangements on the Dangan Islands.
That night, Wang Tom organized a situation summary meeting to summarize various 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 only two-thirds were actually able to participate in combat at sea, and the rest were the elderly, weak, women, and children's family members. This group of pirates has a total of eight ships, including the one captured today, as well as more than ten small fishing boats.
As for their livelihood, as Wang Tom said, half relies on robbing merchant ships and civilians' belongings at sea, and half relies on making profits from various smuggling trades. The various Haihan commodities found on the captured ship were purchased by them 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 that the recently popular "Qiong Lianfa" had registered a business store with the government, and the location of this business store was It is 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. situation. 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 the garrison on the island would notice it. Later, the "good guy" Wang Tom led the fleet to chase the ship for more than ten nautical miles and stopped 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 and 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 Haihan's 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 action. Although the base camp has not yet made a final decision, Wang Tom and others can't wait to start planning an attack on Dangan Islands.
The Dangan Islands are located in the eastern part of the Wanshan Islands and consist of a string of small islands in the sea. The location where this group of pirates live is on Dangan Island, the easternmost end of the Dangan Islands and the largest area. This island is named after its long and narrow terrain, which is shaped like a pole. Its geology is a granite structure. The highest point on the island is more than 300 meters above sea level. Due to the rugged rocks on the island's 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 shore 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.
Considering that the local environment was relatively unfamiliar, the officers set the time to launch the operation in the morning when formulating the plan. This is also done to try to resolve the battle during the day and avoid possible sneak attacks and counterattacks after nightfall.
The next morning, the base camp sent the final decision of the executive committee - in principle, they agreed to the proactive attack plan proposed by Wang Tom. After confirming the combat plan, they could control the timing and intensity of the attack.
The officers were very excited about the efficient reply from the Executive Committee. This battle was almost equivalent to adding glory to their personal qualifications, and it was a good opportunity to gain experience points. Also excited are the military academy trainees. Although most of them belong to the army, this does not hinder their enthusiasm for participating in military operations.
The battle that took place in Lijiazhuang a few days ago ended too quickly for them - it took them five full days of boat ride to reach their destination, and they entered the battlefield with complicated emotions. As a result, the actual battle on the battlefield It's not even five minutes, it's almost like a joke. In particular, berserkers like Takahashi Minami, whose greatest preference is close combat, are actually quite critical of Lijiazhuang's combat method, which focuses on firearms. Although muskets and artillery are good things, they are not a good thing for a warrior. Should one be proud of ending an opponent's life face to face?
What's more, Lijiazhuang's opponents were still so weak. Takahashi Nan believed that under the circumstances, the militiamen should be released to engage in hand-to-hand combat with their opponents, so that these soldiers could feel the pleasure of killing their opponents with cold weapons. Of course, after he put forward this opinion, he was severely criticized by Wang Tom - when soldiers perform tasks, they only ask about the results, not the process. Can you complete combat tasks on time and in quantity with cold weapons?
However, this time he was going to destroy the pirates' lair. Takahashi Minami believed that it would be impossible to avoid the situation of close combat. Even if the artillery on the warship can achieve an overwhelming advantage, destroying the pirates on the island still requires infantry landing, and the terrain on the island is not flat, making it difficult for the musketeers to move on the battlefield in a combat formation. At this time, it is often necessary to rely on people with outstanding individual capabilities to give full play to their specialties.
Zheng Ting from Annan also believes that this is a good opportunity to restore his image. He suffered a loss at the hands of Takahashi Nan in the previous "discussion", but this time he can let the Japanese dwarf take a good look at the performance of Annan's soldiers in the battle. True strength.
(End of chapter)