Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 372 The Burning Gulf of Siam
Siam in June is extremely hot and humid, but people at sea can enjoy the rare coolness in the sea breeze.
On June 25th, at three o'clock in the morning local time, on the sea twenty miles south of Bangkok.
The weather was not bad that night: there were a few clouds, but not too many. The bright moonlight covered the entire sea, making visibility very good. There was a little wind on the sea, but not strong. There were some waves, but such gentle and rhythmic waves would only make those who were still in the boat feel like they were in the cradle where they slept in their childhood.
"Cough~Puh~" After spitting forcefully towards the sea, Sha Chu put away the things he had stretched out to the sea to complete the excretion, tied his belt, then sighed and picked up a boat lamp that had been placed at his feet.
Of course, this thing is not used for lighting, at least not for detecting the situation on the sea in the distance - it is actually a signal light used to transmit signals to other ships.
A wave suddenly rose higher, and the water splashed on the boat, suddenly splashing on Shachu. Shachu couldn't dodge in time, and a large area of his clothes was immediately wet.
"I'm so unlucky that I was picked to be on duty at night."
This year, he was 26 years old. In his early years, he and his family were fishermen in the Gulf of Siam. Since 1610, when the king began to build a navy, he, his father, and his elder brother were all conscripted into the army. It has been eight years since then.
The first few years of the eight years were great. No, they were just fantastic.
The military pay was very high, and the father and his two sons used it to buy a large piece of land in their hometown and built a big house. The navy was invincible, and never encountered a strong challenge in Johor, Chenla, or even Annan.
Over the years, in addition to the generous military pay issued by the king, the king also treated everyone very well in terms of spoils of war. Thinking of the women he had brought back from Zhenla and Johor, Shachu's mouth curled up unconsciously.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get many people on Hainan Island. All the young and beautiful women were taken by the officers, and the progress of collecting women of different races was delayed again.
But that's all. It's said that the ones I robbed on Hainan Island were not Han Chinese. Well, it would be great if I could fight to the Ming Dynasty again in the future. I must rob a Han Chinese woman then. It's said that Han Chinese women are all fair-skinned, well-educated, and fragrant...
But, speaking of robbing Han women. Hiss, this dream is a bit far-fetched. Humph, it's all because of the cowardly Spaniards and the brainless Japanese who only know how to act recklessly. We were defeated in the Ryukyu Sea, and our invincible General Zhanla suffered his first defeat in his life. Our fleet had to retreat to guard the mainland port, and I had to stay awake in the middle of the night, always keeping my eyes on the sea to guard against the sneak attack of the Ming fleet...
However, it would be great if the Ming people came! Then we will burn the Gulf of Siam, and then fight back again! This time, I, Uncle Shachu, must snatch a Han woman back!
Huh?
After daydreaming for a long time, Sha Chu suddenly felt that something seemed to be moving where the sea and the sky met.
He quickly grabbed the telescope that was used exclusively by the night duty soldiers and hung on his chest, and looked towards the direction where the sea and sky met.
With the help of moonlight, he clearly saw that there seemed to be some dark shadow, and this dark shadow was constantly approaching him.
"What is that? A ship? But, these ships are too big. No, there are too many of them. They are all connected in a string! It is said that Ming Dynasty only has about a hundred warships. How could there be warships covering the entire skyline?"
However, his doubts did not last long. After all, he had been a sailor for eight years. As the black shadow on the horizon approached quickly, Shachu had already distinguished it: it was really a ship! The layers of sails on the tall mast, what else could it be but a ship?
After thinking this through, his first reaction was to reach into his arms for a fire starter.
However, looking at the enemy fleet that was sweeping in like waves and densely covering the entire sea surface, Shachu's hands were shaking uncontrollably. When he took out the tinder, unscrewed the metal cover, and wanted to blow it to reignite the tinder, he could not see any flames rising.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Oh, my mother, please light up for me!"
There was no other way. Blowing a fire stick might seem simple, but it actually required some skills: blowing quickly and vigorously. Ru Shachu was so flustered that he couldn't even breathe. How could he blow it?
Fortunately, this guy was not that stupid. After trying several times to blow the fire but failed, he simply threw the tinderbox and the boat lantern aside. Then he quickly ran to the middle of the boat and struck a gong hanging there with a sense of mission.
The entire warship was awakened by the harsh sound of the gong, and the entire sea surface also became noisy because of the sound of the gong. After a while, 22 bright lights appeared one after another on the 20-kilometer-long sea surface close to the coast.
These were the only galleon-type sailing warships left by the Siamese. At this moment, all of them were on guard at the front line.
"Are you sure the fleet ahead is from the Ming people?"
"General, there is only moonlight at this time. We cannot observe the enemy's flag, so we cannot be completely sure where the enemy is from."
"No matter what, there are so many ships, probably no less than a thousand. The only country that can provide a fleet of this size is either Ming or Spain. And Spain will definitely not do such a thing at this time."
As a naval commander who had followed Raja Buddha for more than ten years, Chamla was quite capable. After quickly confirming that the enemy was coming, he immediately started shouting, "Send a signal to get all the flame ships in the three ports of Bangkok, Samutsakorn, and Samutsakhon to come out!"
Following Chamra's order, red flares were fired from 22 Siamese warships. As these flares illuminated the entire sea, the flags and ship types of the approaching Ming fleet were clearly visible to the Siamese.
"Hmph, hard-sailed ships, thousands of them. It's indeed the Ming transport fleet. They want to break through our defenses at night and force a direct landing in Bangkok."
After thinking he had fully confirmed the other side's intentions, Zhan La gave another order: "Our warships retreat, and the flame ships move forward. Keep firing flares to illuminate the target for the flame ships."
At this time, behind the Siamese fleet, Bangkok and other three ports were already brightly lit. Countless ships weighing only 20 to 30 tons rushed out of the ports.
It seemed that they had practiced this many times before, so after so many small boats rushed out, it only took about half an hour for them to be neatly lined up on the sea that was ten kilometers wide.
"wind direction?"
"Northwest wind, force three."
"Buddha bless you!" After clasping his hands together devoutly, Zhan La shouted, "Fire three red flares in a row, charge!"
"yes!"
"For the King!"
"For Siam!"
"charge!"
More than 2,000 trimaran sailboats took advantage of the wind and filled their sails, quickly increasing their speed to over 30 knots. Then, under the control of the fearless Siamese warriors on board, they rushed towards the approaching Ming fleet without hesitation.
"Humph, these are the orphans that the king has adopted over the past decade . Most of the king's most elite 6,000-man guards are here. Not to mention that there is still a chance of survival, even if they are doomed to die, as long as the king gives the order, they will execute it without a frown. Now, let me see how your heavy Fu ships with an average speed of only three knots can dodge!"
Soon, the trimaran in the front quickly approached the Ming Dynasty's Fuchuan fleet. When the two ships were only more than ten meters apart, the two sailors on the sailboat took out a fire starter, blew it, and threw it at the bow of the sailboat. Then they quickly jumped into the sea from the stern.
Then, the bow of the sailboat suddenly burst into flames, and the hull, relying on its huge inertia , slammed into the hull of a Fu ship in front of it.
The bow of the sailboat had a barb, and the moment it touched the Fuzhou ship, it penetrated a little bit into the hull of the Fuzhou ship, and then nailed it there. Afterwards, with the violent rise of flames and subsequent explosions, the sailboat finally succeeded in igniting the hull of the Fuzhou ship it hooked before it was completely burned!
As one sailboat succeeded, most of the sailboats that followed also achieved their goals. More than 2,000 sailboats, like moths to a flame, fearlessly crashed into their respective targets and quickly caught fire. There was even a crazy sailor who, because he arrived too late, directly controlled the sailboat under him and crashed into the fire.
The entire Gulf of Siam, over a ten-kilometer-long stretch of sea, was completely on fire.
