Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 65: Strange Sailing Ship
Lin Fei's fleet consists of two warships, the Nuwa and Pangu. The Nuwa is the main ship, and the Pangu is loaded with a lot of food and fresh water and is used as a supply ship.
The fleet passed through the Bohol Sea between the Visayas Islands and Mindanao and headed towards Hele Island. After a day and a night of sailing, the two warships sailed out of the Bohol Sea and entered the Sulu Sea. The Sulu Islands where the Sulu Sultanate is located are located in this sea.
Lin Fei looked at the blue sea in front of him, and his heart was filled with sorrow, because he remembered the history of his own time. In the history of Chinese voyages to Southeast Asia, this Sulu Sea was a place that Chinese merchants often visited. They traded with the Sulu Sultanate and brought Chinese culture here, but these Chinese merchants were often robbed by Filipinos, who stole goods, killed crew members, burned merchant ships, and committed countless crimes.
After being robbed, these Chinese merchants were left with nowhere to go, because every dynasty in Chinese history regarded the vast and fertile land of Nanyang as a barren land, disdained it, and sneered at the Chinese merchants, not caring about their lives at all! It was a great pity that the Chinese dynasty did not take Nanyang as its own when it was at its most prosperous.
Lin Fei sighed at the thought. At this moment, Ma Chengfeng suddenly said loudly in the megaphone: "A target has been spotted at sea in the southwest direction! The number is one, the distance is about 15 kilometers, the target's speed and direction are unknown."
Lin Fei's mind moved, he looked at the sea chart, and thought to himself that they were still a long way from Hele Island, and this ship should not be a Spanish warship, so Lin Fei said through the megaphone: "Pay attention and report the situation of the target at sea at any time."
Ten minutes later, Ma Chengfeng sent a message: "The target is a sailboat, traveling at about one knot, heading due east."
When Lin Fei heard the report on the speed, he subconsciously looked up at the anemometer on the bow. The anemometer on the Nuwa ship was a windmill-like device that could rotate under the influence of the sea breeze. People could judge the speed of the wind based on the speed of rotation.
Lin Fei estimated the wind speed in his mind and found that it was not low and was blowing from the southeast. The sailboat should not be sailing at only one knot.
Thinking of this, Lin Fei picked up the megaphone and said, "Send a signal to the Pangu ship, asking him to approach the sailboat and scout the situation."
Ma Chengfeng then sent a light signal to the Pangu ship. The captain of the Pangu ship was named Bifang, an officer of the navigation department of the Zhiyuan ship. Because of his outstanding ability, Lin Fei appointed him as the captain of the Pangu ship. After receiving the signal from the Nuwa ship, Bifang immediately responded: "My ship will immediately go forward for reconnaissance!"
The Pangu ship then accelerated and headed towards the sailboat on the sea. The Pangu ship turned out to be a whaling ship. Whales swim very fast, generally around fifteen knots, and the fastest whales can even swim twenty-seven knots. Therefore, the Pangu ship's speed was very fast, with a maximum speed of twenty knots, while the Nuwa ship could only swim at fourteen knots.
The Pangu ship approached the target sailboat, and Lin Fei immediately ordered the Nuwa ship to slow down and wait for the Pangu ship to return. Half an hour later, Ma Chengfeng sent a message to Lin Fei: "Captain, the Pangu ship has approached the target ship, and it seems to have sent people on board."
Lin Fei's heart moved, and he said in surprise: "Aboard? Are you sure?"
Ma Chengfeng answered firmly: "I can be sure that I have seen the Pangu ship lower the boat."
Lin Fei frowned, thinking that if it wasn't an extremely important situation, Bifang would not give the order to board the ship casually. What was so special about that ship?
Lin Fei subconsciously reached out to the command desk in front of him. On the warships of Lin Fei's era, there was a radio communicator in front of the captain, which could be used to contact other ships by radio.
Of course Lin Fei caught nothing. Then he realized that in this era there were not even radio transceivers, so where could there be a communicator?
"I must get the radio transceiver out in the future!" Lin Fei thought secretly. At this moment, Ma Chengfeng sent another report: "Captain, the Pangu ship seems to have brought back someone from the target sailboat."
Lin Fei asked: "How did you figure that out?"
Ma Chengfeng replied: "I saw Bifang and his men put the people on the boat."
Lin Fei was even more puzzled. Who on earth did Bifang want to bring back? Lin Fei said, "Ma Chengfeng, use the light signal immediately to ask Bifang who he brought back."
Ma Chengfeng said loudly: "Captain, the distance is too far and the light signal cannot be used."
Lin Fei sighed and put down the megaphone. Ten minutes later, Ma Chengfeng reported: "Captain, the Pangu ship sent out a light signal to negotiate the boarding speed with our ship."
The agreed boarding speed meant that Bifang had to board the Nuwa ship, which made Lin Fei very curious, because it was very inconvenient for personnel to communicate when the warship was sailing on the sea. If you want to get from one ship to another, you can only lower a small boat, then let the small boat approach the warship, and then lower a rope ladder for people to climb up.
This process is somewhat dangerous because there are often swells on the sea. Swells are not as regular as ordinary waves. They are very sudden. They will appear suddenly and push the small boat to collide with the warship, causing damage to the boat or even casualties. Therefore, in the navy, people will not board from one ship to another unless it is something particularly important. It is really strange that Bifang asked to board the ship today.
Although Lin Fei thought this was strange, he still said, "When the ship reaches three knots, I will allow you to board."
Ma Chengfeng then used light signals to send out the message "boarding speed three knots". Lin Fei ordered the Nuwa ship to slow down and allow the Pangu ship's boat to board.
The Nuwa ship gradually slowed down, and its speed at this time seemed to be drifting in the water. The Pangu ship gradually approached the Nuwa ship, and when they were sailing at the same speed as the Nuwa ship, the Pangu ship lowered a small boat, and the small boat quickly approached the Nuwa ship. The sailors on the Nuwa ship threw down a cable, and the sailors on the small boat picked up the rope from the water and fixed it to the small boat. At this time, the Nuwa ship lowered the rope ladder, and Bifang climbed up first.
Lin Fei was waiting on the deck at this time. When he saw Bifang climbing up, he hurried over and wanted to ask about the situation of the sailboat. Unexpectedly, Bifang shouted on the deck: "Medical officer! Medical officer! Come here quickly!"
Lin Fei was startled and asked hurriedly: "Someone was injured? Who?"
At this time, several old men ran out from the ship's bow infirmary. They were all Chinese medicine doctors that Lin Fei had found from Yanhuang City and Chiyou City. They served as medical officers on the ship. They ran to Bifang and asked anxiously, "Is anyone injured? Where is he?"
Bifang pointed to the boat and said, "People can no longer climb the rope ladder by themselves. We can only tie the rope to the stretcher and then pull the people onto the boat."
Lin Fei thought that someone was injured on the ship, and wondered what the situation was with the ship, so he asked, "What kind of ship is that?"
Bi Fang said: "That ship is a Chinese merchant ship, and the people on board are all Chinese."
Lin Fei thought that there were many Chinese merchant ships in this area, so it was not surprising that the sailboat was a Chinese ship, so he asked: "Why is that ship so slow? Is there something wrong with the ship?"
Bifang's expression darkened, and he said, "It's not that the boat broke down, it's that everyone on the boat died except the one I brought back!"
Lin Fei exclaimed: " What? They are all dead! What's going on?"
Bi Fang shook his head and said, "We don't know the specifics, but we do know one thing, that is, the captain's men were killed. Their bodies were covered with knife wounds, and their deaths were very tragic."
Lin Fei was furious and asked, "Who did it?"
Bifang said: "Spanish!"
Lin Fei gritted his teeth and asked: "Spaniards? How do you know it's Spanish?"
Bifang pointed at the man who was being pulled up and said, "That man told me."
At this time, the person had been pulled onto the warship. Lin Fei rushed to the person in a few steps and was stunned when he saw the person, because the person turned out to be a girl, who looked about fifteen years old, with delicate features, but her eyes were closed, her face was pale, and there was no blood on her lips. Lin Fei knew she was injured as soon as he saw her appearance, and hurriedly shouted: "Medical officer, medical officer!"
The medical officers hurriedly gathered around the girl. One of them reached out and grabbed the girl's wrist, placed two fingers on her pulse, and after a moment, said in a panic, "The pulse is weak, and the blood is insufficient. This girl must have been injured and lost a lot of blood. Where is the wound?"
Bifang sighed and pointed at the girl's legs. A medical officer lifted the blanket covering the girl and saw that the girl's pants between her legs were stained with blood. Bifang said, "This girl is Xiaoyu. She was raped by the Spaniards. She has been bleeding there..."
Bifang gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and turned around. Lin Fei hurriedly asked the medical officer, "Can the person be saved?"
Several medical officers shook their heads and sighed, shaking their hands and saying, "We don't know women's medicine, we don't know how to save her..."
Lin Fei's heart tightened, thinking, what should I do? The only way to save her is to go back to Samar Island, but it will take a day and a night to go back. I wonder if this girl's physical condition can hold up?
Lin Fei was thinking, when he saw the girl's eyelids move slightly, her eyes slowly opened, and her hands were raised weakly, as if she wanted to grab something. Lin Fei hurriedly stretched out his hand, and the girl seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. She held Lin Fei's hand tightly, her lips moving as if she was saying something.
Lin Fei hurriedly called out: "Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu, what did you say?"
The girl mustered up her strength and said something. Lin Fei quickly leaned over her, put his ear close to her lips, and listened attentively. Only then did he understand what she said...
