My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 370 Bumper Boats

At this time, the pirate fleet was getting closer and closer to the Ming fleet. When it was only about ten miles away, Lu Mingda gave orders loudly and asked his men to prepare to board the ship.

However, as the distance got closer, the pirates looked at the Ming Dynasty ships in amazement, and Lu Mingda was even more amazed.

Only then did they realize that the Ming Dynasty’s steam ironclad ships were huge fortresses on the sea!

The huge ship, the tall side, and the hull with a cold metallic luster are like giant armored beasts, which are intimidating.

In the past, when tracking the Ming fleet, we always hung at the stern of the ship from a long distance away, but we couldn't see it clearly.

Although I felt that the Ming Dynasty's ships were strange at the time and wondered why they had no sails, I even laughed with my subordinates and wondered if the Ming Dynasty was stupid. Did they use oars to row the boats to the sea?

Now that I'm closer, I realize that these ships are all made of steel!

There were also several huge chimneys on the ship, which were like pillars of the sky, emitting billowing black smoke from time to time. They had never seen such a sight before.

The pirates' worldview was once again overturned. They racked their brains, even though their heads ached, but they still couldn't figure out why a ship made of steel could float on the water, and why it was such a big ship!

The flagship that had just been sunk looked as ridiculous as a child's toy in front of these steel behemoths.

Lu Mingda was even more dumbfounded, facing such a huge vessel, and six of them at that. Although his side still had more than 30 speedboats, in front of the Ming army fleet, they were like a group of ignorant ants trying to trip up an elephant!
It was impossible to board the ship, unless all the pirates under his command could climb walls and fly over rooftops, but...

There was a gleam of ruthlessness in Lu Mingda's eyes. Although the Ming Dynasty's ships were much taller than their speedboats and boarding them would be a joke, there was still a solution.

In the past, when they were looting at sea, they had encountered large-tonnage merchant ships. When they could not rob by boarding, they used ropes and iron hooks to hook onto the side of the ship and then climb up!
Needless to say, Lu Mingda, the pirates had already prepared ropes and hooks, ready to use the ropes to climb up as soon as they approached the Ming ship.

They had climbed ships many times before, so practice makes perfect and they were very experienced. However, they had only climbed merchant ships in the past, but this time they were going to climb an armored gunboat.

In their view, climbing a wooden boat is climbing, and climbing an ironclad boat is climbing, there is no difference.

However, at this moment, the pirates were surprised to find that the Ming fleet actually began to change direction, with the bow facing their side, and then rushed over!

And the speed is getting faster and faster. From the pirates' perspective, it looks like towering and majestic mountains are crushing towards them!

What exactly does the Ming army want to do?
Lu Mingda’s eyes widened, almost bulging out. Seeing the Ming Dynasty ships getting closer and closer, he finally realized what was going to happen!

"Oh no! These Ming dogs are going to ram our boat!"

Lu Mingda shouted, "Quick, turn around!"

As he said this, he grabbed the tiller from the helmsman and began to operate it desperately.

They were facing ironclad warships. How could they possibly ram these steel behemoths?
However, the pirate fleet did not have instant communication tools such as radios. By the time the flag bearer had signaled to all ships, the Ming Dynasty ships had already arrived before them. They could even feel the waves pushed by these giant ships as they sailed!
Xu Da stood on the bridge, not even using his telescope, watching the pirate ships below turning around in panic, and couldn't help but sneer:

"You're thinking of turning around and running now? It's too late. Speed ​​up and crash into them!"

As the deafening whistles sounded, it seemed to announce the pirates' death, and also to herald the arrival of a new era for the Ming Navy in this vast sea! The pirates' ships fled in a hurry, but no matter how fast a sailing ship was, it was not as fast as a steamship, and there was no strong wind on the sea at that time, so the sailing ship could not run fast at all.

The Dingyuan ship took the lead and rammed the last pirate ship head-on, smashing it to pieces.

The pirates above fell into the water one after another, but before they could swim away, they were swallowed up by the waves created by the giant ship!

At the same time, the musketeers on the ship raised their semi-automatic rifles and aimed and shot at the pirates.

"Bang bang bang..."

Intensive gunfire soon rang out on the deck, and many pirates were shot. The soldiers of the Musket Battalion had seen the artillerymen demonstrate their prowess several times and could no longer hold back their excitement. When they saw the shooting distance, they raised their guns and fired without any orders.

At this time, Lu Mingda was in despair. He originally thought that he could rob the Ming fleet and make a fortune, but he did not expect that the result he got was that he was chased like a dog by the Ming fleet!
"Asshole! Damn Ming dog!"

Lu Mingda gritted his teeth and cursed fiercely. At this moment, they couldn't fight back, and they couldn't escape either. There were countless bullets shooting at them from behind.

Pirates keep falling around them. If this continues, they will be wiped out!

He really couldn't figure out what weapons the Ming Dynasty used. Why were the cannons and muskets completely different from what he had seen before?

As the Ming Dynasty's ships rushed into the pirate fleet with unstoppable force, the pirates no longer had any thoughts of resistance. Faced with the almost unshakable giant ships, they were filled with despair and only desired to survive.

Many people even began to regret their decision. Wouldn't it be better for them to just stay at home and work on the farm? Why did they have to do this risky business?

An hour later, the sea was filled with the remnants of wood from pirate ships. Many people clung to the wooden boards, watching in despair as the Ming army lowered their small boats to capture prisoners.

Although the Ming fleet won a great victory, more than ten ships still escaped. The pirate ships were small and flexible. Although they were not as fast as steamships, steamships were too large and difficult to turn around. In addition, there were too few of them, so it was not realistic to chase them.

However, Xu Da was quite satisfied with the result of the first naval battle. In one fell swoop, he destroyed more than 30 pirate ships, killed more than 2,000 enemies, and captured more than 30 people.

It’s not that the soldiers killed pirates, but after the collision with the pirate ship, many pirates fell into the water and were then rolled under the ship. Only God knows whether they are dead or alive.

When the battle was over, the Ming army soldiers lowered lifeboats from the ships and began to salvage the prisoners. There were not many living people left on the sea except for the pirates' corpses and ship debris.

However, Lu Mingda was also fished out. With the confessions of other captives, Xu Da and others soon learned his identity.

Therefore, Lu Mingda was the one who was specially called out.

There was no special interrogation room on the warship, but this did not pose a problem for the clever Ming army soldiers. It was not difficult to interrogate someone, and they prepared a full set of torture instruments in minutes.

There are all kinds of skewers, with hooks, thorns, points, and blades. If you are still not satisfied, the bamboo sticks can be replaced with steel sticks, and the fire can be burned red for you.

They have no extra sympathy for a bunch of cruel and brutal pirates!

(End of this chapter)