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The roar of artillery fire around them calmed down, and the tides in the vast Indian Ocean were still surging for thousands of years. The monsoon blowing from the distant Antarctic swept across the vast ocean, but it could not blow through the thick night.
Warships were cutting through the waves in the night, and the Qin soldiers on the warships were busy preparing ammunition and cleaning the gun barrels, because everyone knew that this was only a temporary calm and the battle could start again at any time.
This was a naval battle that was by no means an easy one. It was a major battle that would determine who would become the overlord of the Indian Ocean, Qin or the Netherlands, and would also affect who would become the future overlord of the world's oceans.
If Vernado loses, not only will he have to withdraw from the Indian Ocean completely, but he may also never recover from it, and the glory of the Sea Coachman will be eclipsed.
If Ke Chenshu was defeated, the sharpest sword of the Qin Dynasty would be broken, and a temporary withdrawal from the Indian Ocean would be inevitable. The voices in the Nanjing court opposing the vigorous development of the navy would be louder than the waves of the vast Indian Ocean.
The emperor will be in a difficult position, and the enthusiasm of the people to send their children to join the army will also be severely dampened. History has repeatedly proved that the victory or defeat of certain wars, although not necessarily leading to a change of dynasty, will often affect a country's fortune and direction.
The night wind blew on the sails, making crackling sounds. On the top deck, "searchlights" were scanning the nearby sea area. The lookout on the mast had his eyes wide open, looking at the ocean vigilantly.
It was already three o'clock in the night and the soldiers were already tired and hungry. The people from the kitchen team had steamed baskets of white steamed buns and brought them to the deck. Each soldier got two, and many of them were leaning against the side of the ship eating them with big mouthfuls.
Liu Zhuzi swallowed too quickly and choked. He quickly grabbed the kettle beside him and took a gulp of water to "wash" the steamed bun stuck in his throat down, but he kept burping.
Lin Ting, the sailor on the opposite side, laughed and said, "Old Liu, why are you so anxious? It's pitch black here, and the wind and waves are strong. Even if the enemy appears again, it will not be your turn to get involved. Hehe!"
Liu Zhuzi is thin, but he is a tough guy with a strong personality and never gives in. Of course, he is not the only one who is thin. The situation of naval aviation is quite special. The people selected are usually thinner, so as to reduce the weight and increase the lift of the glider.
When Liu Zhuzi was stabbed by Lin Ting, it was like being stabbed in the buttocks with an awl. He immediately jumped up, but he did not go to find Lin Ting. Instead, he said fiercely: "I will go to find the deputy admiral. You wait."
"Stop! Zhuzi, what do you want to do? Do you think the deputy admiral is not busy enough?" Liu Zhuzi's captain Wan Qingliu shouted.
Liu Zhu was stopped and said unhappily, "Captain, we can't just waste time like this, can we? Everyone is fighting hard. We are the only ones who have nothing to do. Look at those guys, they are so arrogant. It makes me angry just looking at them! Captain, how about this, I'll bring the hang glider up and give it a try, believe me, it will definitely take off."
"Yes, yes, yes. Although both use rockets, using them on the deck and in the sky are two different things. Captain, why don't we give it a try?"
"Yeah, it's not like we haven't practiced night takeoffs and landings before. It's just that the wind is a little strong, so it may not be a problem."
"Captain, we are in the sky, we can hit the enemy's head if we want, and we can hit the enemy's butt if we want. How refreshing! If we stay on the deck and the enemy doesn't come up, we can only be hit by the shells, but we can't do anything to them. It's so frustrating!"
"That's right, damn it, I'd rather die in the sky than be blown to death on this deck!"
A group of naval aviation soldiers followed Liu Zhuzi's lead and started to cheer. They were undoubtedly the proudest group in the navy. They were always envious of others, but once they were in the air, they could do whatever they wanted to the enemy. It felt as good as drinking ice water in June.
But now, everyone can only remove the rockets from the glider and stay on the deck to be bombarded. Because the range of rockets is limited, when the enemy and our artillery battle, rockets often cannot reach such a long distance, and we can only watch helplessly.
Wan Qingliu's team of airmen consisted of fifty people. Eight of them died on the deck in the previous battle, but they did not have the opportunity to launch a few rockets. It was a very humiliating feeling.
Wan Qingliu himself was also feeling very uncomfortable. Seeing his soldiers so excited, he simply stood up and said, "Stop yelling. I'll go to the command cabin to check. You all stay here honestly. If anyone dares to mess around without orders, I'll skin him alive!"
"Captain, go quickly, go quickly!"
"I wish the captain success this time..."
At this moment, urgent drum sounds suddenly came from the distance ahead. Wan Qingliu and others were very clear about the meaning of various drum sounds in the Qin army. When they heard the drum sounds coming from the front, they couldn't help but look around in surprise.
"What happened?"
"There doesn't seem to be any enemy ships ahead, why did they suddenly stop moving forward?"
"Don't shout, there will be no one in front of you who will tell you to stop. Get ready for battle."
“Yes!”
At this time, the clipper battleship "Wuhu", which was at the front of more than 20 warships, was in chaos. The battleship had just hit a reef, and many people had fallen to the ground and had just gotten up.
Although the Qin warships were designed with meltwater tanks, if they suddenly hit a reef and broke their keels, the consequences would be very serious.
"Quickly check the bow and the damage to the cabin, hurry up!" Captain Zhou Xingmin strode out of the command cabin, shouting.
The entire battleship was constantly emitting strange crackling sounds, which was frightening to hear. The soldiers shouted, some rushed to the bow, and some rushed to the lower cabins.
As soon as the leading Wuhu discovered the news of the reef collision, the Qin warships behind it immediately became busy and adjusted their sails and slowed down to avoid further collisions.
On the treasure ship in the middle, an ominous premonition filled Ke Chenshu's heart. The Wuhu in front of them running aground on a reef was probably no accident. They came here with the Dutch warships. The enemy did not run aground on a reef, but the Wuhu did. Was this just a coincidence
The Qin army was unfamiliar with this sea area, and Ke Chenshu intuitively felt that he might have been led into a desperate situation by the enemy this time.
"Pass on my order. Zhoushan and Weishan will lead the exploration from both sides. Order all warships to enter combat status immediately!"
“Yes!”
Ke Chenshu's order had just been conveyed when lights appeared on the ocean to the east and west. There was no doubt that the sudden appearance of lights on the ocean at this moment must be enemy ships.
At that moment, the drums on all the Qin warships roared, and all the soldiers rushed to their battle posts. It was really a double whammy. After receiving Ke Chenshu's order to explore the waterway to the east, Zhoushan also received a grounding alarm.
Ke Chenshu was furious and punched the table. Staff officer Liu Qingshan and others looked very angry. There were reefs in the north and east, so what about the west? Moreover, the Zhoushan had just explored a little bit, and the alarm of the grounding was heard again. This was enough to show how dangerous this sea area was. This was clearly a dead end, a dead end that the Dutch had carefully chosen and took great pains to lure them to.
"Lao Ke, what should we do?" Ren Zhong asked solemnly.
Ke Chenshu said: "Don't panic, everyone. There are so many reefs here. Even if the Dutch are very familiar with this sea area, they will inevitably be hindered by the reefs if they rush over. There must be few channels for them to approach. All ships must not panic under my order."
At this moment, calming the morale of the army is undoubtedly the most important thing, but Ke Chenshu's analysis does not seem to be correct. At this moment, two miles away, Dutch warships with lights on are approaching rapidly, and it seems that they are not too affected by the reefs.
The night wind blew over the sea, the waves were rolling, and the enemy ships seemed to appear suddenly like ghost ships, and there were so many of them that it seemed that there were more than fifty ships. What was going on? Didn't Vernado only have more than fifty warships? How come there were suddenly dozens more? Could they be Mughal navy warships
Countless questions flashed through the minds of the Qin army, but these were destined to have no answers for the time being. The enemy fleet was approaching rapidly, and the lights were on. Amid the Qin army's roar, they first saw tongues of fire coming out of the enemy's side, followed by the roar of the Thunder Ship:
Boom! Boom boom boom...
Boom! Boom boom boom... ... ... (The novel "Ming Yang Tian Xia" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign "Add Friends" in the upper right corner, search for the public account "qdread" and follow it, hurry up!) (To be continued..)
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