Chapter 703: The Burned Armed Merchant Ship of Qin State

Ship replenishment, this is the shortcoming of all ships. At the same time, the water thief also began to ponder another weakness. This weakness is the night battle, especially after the berth. And they chose the time when Qin was most vulnerable to injury. New Year's Eve. Because on this day, people in Qin will definitely drink a lot to celebrate the festival.

In fact, the Qin people did have some trouble berthing their ships. They need to moor in some deep water areas, and the deep water areas at this time are just a relative term. It is not a deep water zone in the current sense. Because Qin's ship is equipped with a steam engine of considerable weight. At the same time, a certain amount of space must be made available to provide enough coal for the steam engine, so their draft is a little deeper than that of wooden ships. But the Chu State's wharf does not have such a deep wharf for the Qin people to anchor. As a result, they had no choice but to moor at a far distance from the pier, which made them even thinner. I'm helpless. This invisibly formed a better time for the attack.

The Qin people's supply problem is the biggest source. Chu State did not provide coal for the ship operations of the Qin people. At this time, the captain had to change to another fuel, wood. But the calorific value of wood is still volume. All far exceed the estimated range of the ship. Although there is a psychological preparation. But this psychology is obviously not very sufficient. Because the place where coal was originally piled can provide less than one-third of the voyage of the original coal. And the speed of providing supplies is very slow. The location is far away, and people from Chu need to row a boat full of wood to transport it bit by bit. And this just gave the water thief a chance. A chance to board the ship as a cover.

They put on a lot of makeup, and then provided wood to the Qin people at a relatively cheap price. The amount of wood needed by the Qin people is quite large. Therefore, Qin people began to buy on a large scale, and the quantity was quite large. So water pirates began to enter the ships in batches. The people of Qin didn't know anything about it.

In this way, the water pirates completed their infiltration plan. On the night of New Year’s Eve, the people of Qin drank heavily to celebrate their holiday. They thought there was no one on board. At the same time, they also stepped up their guard. But the problem happened inside.

The water pirates are already lurking among the piles of firewood. As long as the time is right, they will act immediately. Short weapons are much easier to use than guns. But the premise is that they can't let the Qin people shoot in advance. This is what they do.

But the gunfire still sounded, and the warehouse couldn't put any excess wood, and the ship that piled a large amount of wood on the deck went into a raging fire the next day. Many Qin seamen were forced to stay in the small space and did not escape, and were burned alive. Only a handful of people escaped and told the truth about the matter.

"Those water pirates are probably hiding in the piles of firewood piled up on the deck at the beginning. They planned it a long time ago," said an escaped seaman. But there was a big wound on his face, and this wound was what he got when he escaped.

"Well, keep talking." A local officer of the Chu State Navy looked at these Qin State seamen blankly. They have long been ordered to fight the water pirates with all their strength. But these navy forces didn't have that much energy. And I don't want to manage. Mainly, some large local water thieves will give half of these water soldiers after they get the dirt. This is the official and bandit family. This approach is really harmful. Because this allowed the water pirates to continue to be rampant, and these naval officers and soldiers became the umbrella behind them and allowed them to continue to act arbitrarily. If these naval forces can play their due role, then such things will at least be suppressed. Rather than moving toward today's state of affairs.

However, the navy officers and soldiers ridiculed Qin's armed merchant ships. They were enemies before. Moreover, the Chu State lost a large number of ships, and the loss of these ships once put the Chu State navy in a state of depression. Seeing the water pirates taught these Qin merchants. They are naturally happy.

"They dressed up as those who sell wood. Then they got on the ship and took the opportunity to hide people in it. They attacked at night. It happened to be our holiday that day. So, we drank. They took advantage of our lack of preparation to launch a sneak attack." The crew said.

"This is normal. If you are prepared, do they dare to launch a sneak attack?" The navy officer said disdainfully.

"Okay. We all know the detailed process. We will solve those water thieves as soon as possible." After speaking, the navy left. They don't care about these Qin crew members. They are just routine.

This incident led to the complete burning of an armed merchant ship in Qin State. Because of the large amount of wood piled up on the ship. These timbers were finally set alight by water thief and burned. The water pirate's sneak attack was smooth at first, but in the end it alarmed a member of the Qin State crew who was going to the toilet. The crew immediately fired warning shots. Some of the crew members who had not fallen down immediately sobered up and started fighting. Those who didn't get up were touched their necks.

After the gunfire sounded. They immediately fought. But the space on board is small. It's easy to lose after the bullet is shot. Therefore, Qin's crew retreated steadily. The water pirates use a small space with many hidden objects to approach. The two sides were in a stalemate, and Qin's crew finally had to retreat into the cabin. But Chu's navy, who had been rescued in time after hearing the gunfire, did not move. Moreover, the most terrible thing is that they did not move and even ordered all ships in the port to be immobile. When a Chu ship is in distress, the passing ship must be rescued. This is the rule on the Chu ship. But now, this rule has been broken.

Ever since, the battle continued on the ship. But one side of the two sides has advanced weapons, and one side cannot resolve the battle in time. The most important thing is that water thief is a lot like hijacking Qin's goods, especially arms and arm yourself. In this way there is the capital to speak. But now they can't get into the cabin to take away the cargo and munitions.

Their time is very limited. If the navy does not move out at this time, then his head will be chopped off. Faced with such a thing. The water pirate made a difficult choice and immediately burned the ship. Then retreat. If you can't get it, then don't get it yourself.

In this way, when the water pirates retreated, a fire burned the entire ship, and then quickly evacuated. This is probably how things happened. When the fire ignited, only a small part of Qin's crew were able to leave. Others were pressed tightly under the cabin, and when they left, the water thief also sealed the cabin door. In this way, misfortune occurred. An armed merchant ship of Qin State was set ablaze in this way. Then it was burned.