Chapter 1672
No way to escape
Chapter 1672 No way to escape
After the Haihan army occupied Manila, most of the Spanish immigrants here would try to escape from the Haihan-controlled area in order to make a living.Some well-connected people will try various channels to find ships to go to sea and flee to other Spanish colonies in the South China Sea.During this period, some people wanted to fish in troubled waters, and it was not uncommon to hire a ship under the supervision of Haihan to escape. It's just that how these Spaniards could sneak out of the heavily guarded city, the headquarters must investigate. Just understand.
Of course, everyone quickly thought of another possibility. The Spaniards that Ran Tianlu saw on the pier did not go out from the city, but were waiting outside the city for Ran Hui to bring a boat to meet at the pier of Bashi River.
But Tom Wang was not in a hurry, and asked Ran Tianlu to get up first to answer.Although Ran Tianlu had made some omissions in his contact with the other party, it has not caused any major mistakes, and if it is discovered in time, it is not that there is no chance of recovery.Ran Tianlu was originally a member of the Ministry of Security, and he had made great contributions before, so it is not good for the military to blame him for such a small matter.Even if a cargo ship was hijacked by these people, the security deposit that Ran Hui put out was worth several ships, and there was no big loss.The only concern is the safety of the innocent crew members on board.
According to the personnel establishment registered with the Ministry of Shipping, this cargo ship belonging to Zhan's Shipping Company has a total of 14 crew members including the captain Meng Ge. If it really killed someone, the military must pay the shipping company some compensation.As for whether the ship will take the opportunity to escape, this question does not need to worry too much about Haihan's generals.
The headquarters quickly issued an order to dispatch a team of cavalry to follow Ran Tianlu to the bank of the Bashi River to seal up the warehouse and see if they could intercept the cargo ship in time.On the other hand, the navy also notified the armed warships docked at the port of Manila to prepare to dispatch immediately, and only waited for the news from the Pasig River to come back. If the ship had left the Pasig River, the navy would be dispatched to pursue it.The speed of the cargo ship was only about six or seven knots, so even if it ran for an hour or two first, it would still be overtaken by the navy. After all, Manila Bay is just an entrance and exit, so as long as it chases in that direction, it can't go wrong.
Ran Tianlu thanked Wang Tom for his magnanimity at the moment, knowing that whether he would be able to commit crimes and meritorious deeds would depend on whether he could catch this group of people, so he hurriedly led the team of cavalry out of the city.But when he could see the Bashi River outside the city, the boat that was docked on the bank had disappeared.
Ran Tianlu groaned secretly, he could only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor, so he asked the soldiers to quickly search the nearby warehouses to see if they could find anything.Soon the soldiers found several Han Chinese who had been tied up in one of the warehouses, and upon questioning, they were the crew members of the cargo ship.Ran Tianlu hurriedly inquired about the situation, only to find out that after he left, the Spaniards on the pier took advantage of the unpreparedness of the crew to subdue several of them, threatened their lives, and demanded that the crew on board surrender and hand over the identity of the cargo ship. Control.
After a brief negotiation between the two parties, the captain Meng Ge agreed to hand over the ship to the other party in exchange for the safety of the crew.But in the end, the group of people coerced eight people including Meng Ge onto the boat, and then pulled the anchor and sailed away.The remaining six crew members were tied up and thrown into the warehouse on the pier until Ran Tianlu brought someone to rescue them.
It was not that the Spaniards released six people out of kindness, but that the ship required at least eight sailors to operate it. The Spaniards were not familiar with the ship, and they were worried that these sailors could move freely on the ship. It was really difficult to keep an eye on them one by one, so they only took the minimum amount to take away eight people, so that they could leave by boat and control the situation on board more securely.As for why the remaining six crew members were not killed, it was also because Ran Hui said a few good words from it, allowing the Spaniards to leave some leeway, so as not to anger Haihan and massacre the local Spanish immigrants as revenge.
Probably when the Spaniards left, they didn't expect that Ran Tianlu had discovered their belongings, and thought that it would take at least one night for the crew to be found in the warehouse. At that time, they might have already quietly sailed out of Manila in the dark At that time, the possibility of the Haihan army intercepting them at sea will be very small.
As for where the ship will be hijacked, the six crew members have no idea.Ran Tianlu scratched his head in anxiety, but the officer with him was much calmer than him. He immediately sent a rider back to the city to report the news, and then comforted Ran Tianlu not to panic. The ship left the dock less than an hour ago, and it would definitely not escape the navy. After the pursuit, Ran Tianlu's hanging heart relaxed a little.
The mobility of the Haihan army is undoubtedly second to none in the Far East in this era. The news is sent back to the city by the cavalry, and then sent from the headquarters to the warships waiting in the port of Manila. It takes less than a cup of tea.
And the warship Wang Tom ordered to be dispatched to carry out the pursuit mission was the new warship "Black Shark" that stole the limelight in the Manila naval battle.It just happened to be such a coincidence that today it happened to be the Warrior's turn to be on duty. The ship had just completed its sea patrol and returned to the port. Before the sailors had set up the gangplank, the command came.Captain Wu Sen saw the content of the mission, and naturally he would not let go of such a "light" opportunity to perform meritorious service. Dang even ordered to quickly replenish the coal-fired fresh water, and all personnel on board were on standby, ready to sail again.As soon as the second order from the headquarters arrived, Wu Sen ordered to set off immediately. While Ran Tianlu was still anxious outside the north gate, the "Black Shark" had already left the coast slowly.
In addition to the two advanced naval guns on the "Black Shark", the steam propulsion system and sailing system on the ship are all the latest technological achievements of relevant departments, and their performance has improved compared with the previous Majestic-class warships , especially the time required to increase the speed of navigation, has been greatly shortened compared to the past, especially useful when chasing enemy ships on the battlefield.As for chasing a civilian ship with full power at sea, this was the first time for both Wu Sen and the "Black Shark".
When sailing, Wu Mori had already arranged for people to climb up the mast and use binoculars to observe the sea situation. Although the performance of the "Black Shark" is excellent, it is now approaching dusk. If the target is not found before dark, it will be a little troublesome .
Wu Sen studied the charts of Manila Bay in a short gap before departure, and drew a straight line from the mouth of Pasig River to Corregidor Island at the exit of Manila Bay, with a voyage of about 20 nautical miles.If the other party wants to leave Manila Bay by boat in order to escape, and calculate the voyage and sea position based on the other party's departure for an hour first, then the "Black Shark" that is chasing at full speed in this direction should soon be able to find the other party's trace.
Sure enough, just as Wu Sen had speculated, about half an hour after leaving the port, the lookout on the mast had already spotted a sail shadow on the sea to the west, and the sailboat that would appear at this position during this time period was probably the only sailboat that had been spotted before. The cargo ship hijacked by the Spaniards is gone.
After chasing a little closer, the "Zhan" flag hanging on the top of the mast of the ship can be seen from the binoculars, which is the cargo ship belonging to Zhan's Shipping Company.Wu Sen stopped hesitating immediately and ordered to prepare for battle. The order he received before departure was to intercept the ship at all costs. However, the second order from the headquarters stated that there were still eight sailors on board. Han crew, let him be a little more careful when he acts, and don't be too reckless.
Wu Sen's understanding of "at all costs" means that the cargo ship can be sunk directly if necessary, but since there are still Haihan citizens on board, and the higher-ups have greeted them, they probably have to restrain themselves a little.Of course, it would be best if the other party was willing to surrender, but judging by the way the ship adjusted its course and sped up its escape, it probably wouldn't voluntarily surrender.
Calculating the speed, it is not difficult for Wu Mori to come to the conclusion that the ship will not be able to reach the waters of Corregidor Island before dark, and it is impossible to escape the pursuit of the "Black Shark".In fact, it took less than an hour from the discovery of the ship to the closing of the distance between the two ships to one nautical mile.
When the distance between the two ships was reduced to about 200 meters, the sky had begun to darken. Seeing that the other party had no intention of stopping the ship and surrendering, Wu Sen naturally didn't bother to wear it down slowly, so he ordered to chase to a position parallel to the cargo ship, and then fired. The part where the tail rudder is located.
The naval combat capability of the "Black Shark" has been fully verified before, and it is natural to deal with a cargo ship at close range at this time.Wu Sen didn't need to use binoculars, he could already see the chaos on the deck of the ship. It was obvious that the Spaniards were unprepared to be caught up by the Haihan battleship, and the muskets in their hands wanted to deal with it. The tin cans of the "Black Shark" are just tickling.
As the naval guns of the "Black Shark" fired successively, the stern of the cargo ship immediately exploded, and immediately began to flood and capsize.Seeing the stern of the ship slowly sinking into the sea, the people on board knew that it was impossible to escape, so they could only throw wooden boards, wooden boxes, wooden barrels and other floating objects into the sea, and then jumped into the sea to escape.
The "Black Shark" slowed down, slowly approached the sinking area of the cargo ship, and used bamboo poles to pull the survivors on the sea to the side of the ship one by one, and let them climb onto the deck along the ladder lowered by the side of the ship.
None of the eight crew members died, including the captain Meng Ge, only one person was slightly injured in the battle just now, and he only needed to be bandaged to be fine.The group who robbed the ship were not so lucky. After counting and checking, two people were missing. Presumably, they were thrown into the sea by the bombardment of the stern just now, and sank together with the cargo ship.
Ran Hui, the mixed-race businessman who tricked Ran Tianlu, was lucky. He was not injured when he was pulled onto the boat, but was a little frightened, kneeling on the deck and shaking all over.The man was dragged to the captain's room, and after being identified by Meng Ge, Wu Sen ordered someone to take him down, handcuffed his hands and feet, and took him into custody alone.This robbery of the ship was all done by him. Of course, he was the one who committed the most crimes. After returning to the port, he will be handed over to the headquarters, and the generals will decide his life or death.
That Ran Hui probably also knew her situation, after a moment of silence, she suddenly shouted: "The villain is willing to take the crime and do meritorious service, and I hope General Haihan will give him a chance!"
Wu Sen sneered and said, "Why do you commit crimes and make meritorious deeds?"
Ran Hui gritted his teeth and said, "The villain knows the whereabouts of the Spanish governor. If the general can free the villain, the villain will tell the secret to the general."
Wu Sen replied calmly: "You have already fallen into my hands, what qualifications do you have to negotiate? I will reward you with torture, or you will recruit everything!"
Ran Hui said: "The villain will definitely be recruited when he is punished, but if the delay is too long and the enemy chieftain takes the opportunity to escape, then the general will also lose the credit for his success?"
"You have a clever mouth, no wonder you were tricked into getting a ship!" Wu Sen would be lying if he said he was not moved by Ran Hui's conditions, but he just allowed him to be free, Wu Sen He didn't have such a great authority, and he was also worried that this guy was playing tricks. If he followed suit, wouldn't he let this guy succeed twice in one day.
"You tell what you know first. If you really caught that person, I will intercede for you and at least keep your life safe!" Wu Sen decided to hold back and couldn't agree.
But Ran Hui was afraid that Wu Sen would go back on his word, so he immediately confirmed it again, until Wu Sen impatiently slapped his chest and swore, then he said: "The villain believes in the general, and I hope the general will not forget it after he catches him." This promise..."
"If you don't say it again, don't say it!" If it weren't for the seriousness of the matter, Wu Sen wanted to kick this guy out.
Then Ran Hui returned to the topic: "Among the dozen or so Spaniards tied up outside, there is a fat man with brown hair, wearing gray clothes and black pants, and his head is a little bald. That man is Governor Aragones!"
Wu Sen stood up abruptly, kicked Ran Hui over, and then went out of the cabin to look for the person he mentioned on the deck.Sure enough, among the dozen or so captives caught from the sea, there was one whose appearance was exactly as described by Ran Hui. He knelt down and questioned him a few times, but the man just shook his head, as if he didn't understand what he said Chinese.
And when they set off just now, they were in a hurry, and the "Black Shark" didn't bring a translator, so they stared wide-eyed and couldn't confirm the identity of this person at all.But looking at this man who is white and fat, he looks like he is used to being pampered. Wu Sen squeezed the man's palm again, and he didn't touch the calluses. Obviously, he is not a manual laborer at ordinary times, but it is really very likely that he is. The escaped Philippine governor.
But Wu Sen is such a character, he had a plan at the moment, he kicked the fat man, he immediately screamed in pain, and the other prisoners at the side immediately looked at this side, Wu Sen saw that the first thing these people looked at was this The fat man was not himself, and there was a lot of concern on his face, and he was already a little more certain about his identity in his heart.
(End of this chapter)
After the Haihan army occupied Manila, most of the Spanish immigrants here would try to escape from the Haihan-controlled area in order to make a living.Some well-connected people will try various channels to find ships to go to sea and flee to other Spanish colonies in the South China Sea.During this period, some people wanted to fish in troubled waters, and it was not uncommon to hire a ship under the supervision of Haihan to escape. It's just that how these Spaniards could sneak out of the heavily guarded city, the headquarters must investigate. Just understand.
Of course, everyone quickly thought of another possibility. The Spaniards that Ran Tianlu saw on the pier did not go out from the city, but were waiting outside the city for Ran Hui to bring a boat to meet at the pier of Bashi River.
But Tom Wang was not in a hurry, and asked Ran Tianlu to get up first to answer.Although Ran Tianlu had made some omissions in his contact with the other party, it has not caused any major mistakes, and if it is discovered in time, it is not that there is no chance of recovery.Ran Tianlu was originally a member of the Ministry of Security, and he had made great contributions before, so it is not good for the military to blame him for such a small matter.Even if a cargo ship was hijacked by these people, the security deposit that Ran Hui put out was worth several ships, and there was no big loss.The only concern is the safety of the innocent crew members on board.
According to the personnel establishment registered with the Ministry of Shipping, this cargo ship belonging to Zhan's Shipping Company has a total of 14 crew members including the captain Meng Ge. If it really killed someone, the military must pay the shipping company some compensation.As for whether the ship will take the opportunity to escape, this question does not need to worry too much about Haihan's generals.
The headquarters quickly issued an order to dispatch a team of cavalry to follow Ran Tianlu to the bank of the Bashi River to seal up the warehouse and see if they could intercept the cargo ship in time.On the other hand, the navy also notified the armed warships docked at the port of Manila to prepare to dispatch immediately, and only waited for the news from the Pasig River to come back. If the ship had left the Pasig River, the navy would be dispatched to pursue it.The speed of the cargo ship was only about six or seven knots, so even if it ran for an hour or two first, it would still be overtaken by the navy. After all, Manila Bay is just an entrance and exit, so as long as it chases in that direction, it can't go wrong.
Ran Tianlu thanked Wang Tom for his magnanimity at the moment, knowing that whether he would be able to commit crimes and meritorious deeds would depend on whether he could catch this group of people, so he hurriedly led the team of cavalry out of the city.But when he could see the Bashi River outside the city, the boat that was docked on the bank had disappeared.
Ran Tianlu groaned secretly, he could only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor, so he asked the soldiers to quickly search the nearby warehouses to see if they could find anything.Soon the soldiers found several Han Chinese who had been tied up in one of the warehouses, and upon questioning, they were the crew members of the cargo ship.Ran Tianlu hurriedly inquired about the situation, only to find out that after he left, the Spaniards on the pier took advantage of the unpreparedness of the crew to subdue several of them, threatened their lives, and demanded that the crew on board surrender and hand over the identity of the cargo ship. Control.
After a brief negotiation between the two parties, the captain Meng Ge agreed to hand over the ship to the other party in exchange for the safety of the crew.But in the end, the group of people coerced eight people including Meng Ge onto the boat, and then pulled the anchor and sailed away.The remaining six crew members were tied up and thrown into the warehouse on the pier until Ran Tianlu brought someone to rescue them.
It was not that the Spaniards released six people out of kindness, but that the ship required at least eight sailors to operate it. The Spaniards were not familiar with the ship, and they were worried that these sailors could move freely on the ship. It was really difficult to keep an eye on them one by one, so they only took the minimum amount to take away eight people, so that they could leave by boat and control the situation on board more securely.As for why the remaining six crew members were not killed, it was also because Ran Hui said a few good words from it, allowing the Spaniards to leave some leeway, so as not to anger Haihan and massacre the local Spanish immigrants as revenge.
Probably when the Spaniards left, they didn't expect that Ran Tianlu had discovered their belongings, and thought that it would take at least one night for the crew to be found in the warehouse. At that time, they might have already quietly sailed out of Manila in the dark At that time, the possibility of the Haihan army intercepting them at sea will be very small.
As for where the ship will be hijacked, the six crew members have no idea.Ran Tianlu scratched his head in anxiety, but the officer with him was much calmer than him. He immediately sent a rider back to the city to report the news, and then comforted Ran Tianlu not to panic. The ship left the dock less than an hour ago, and it would definitely not escape the navy. After the pursuit, Ran Tianlu's hanging heart relaxed a little.
The mobility of the Haihan army is undoubtedly second to none in the Far East in this era. The news is sent back to the city by the cavalry, and then sent from the headquarters to the warships waiting in the port of Manila. It takes less than a cup of tea.
And the warship Wang Tom ordered to be dispatched to carry out the pursuit mission was the new warship "Black Shark" that stole the limelight in the Manila naval battle.It just happened to be such a coincidence that today it happened to be the Warrior's turn to be on duty. The ship had just completed its sea patrol and returned to the port. Before the sailors had set up the gangplank, the command came.Captain Wu Sen saw the content of the mission, and naturally he would not let go of such a "light" opportunity to perform meritorious service. Dang even ordered to quickly replenish the coal-fired fresh water, and all personnel on board were on standby, ready to sail again.As soon as the second order from the headquarters arrived, Wu Sen ordered to set off immediately. While Ran Tianlu was still anxious outside the north gate, the "Black Shark" had already left the coast slowly.
In addition to the two advanced naval guns on the "Black Shark", the steam propulsion system and sailing system on the ship are all the latest technological achievements of relevant departments, and their performance has improved compared with the previous Majestic-class warships , especially the time required to increase the speed of navigation, has been greatly shortened compared to the past, especially useful when chasing enemy ships on the battlefield.As for chasing a civilian ship with full power at sea, this was the first time for both Wu Sen and the "Black Shark".
When sailing, Wu Mori had already arranged for people to climb up the mast and use binoculars to observe the sea situation. Although the performance of the "Black Shark" is excellent, it is now approaching dusk. If the target is not found before dark, it will be a little troublesome .
Wu Sen studied the charts of Manila Bay in a short gap before departure, and drew a straight line from the mouth of Pasig River to Corregidor Island at the exit of Manila Bay, with a voyage of about 20 nautical miles.If the other party wants to leave Manila Bay by boat in order to escape, and calculate the voyage and sea position based on the other party's departure for an hour first, then the "Black Shark" that is chasing at full speed in this direction should soon be able to find the other party's trace.
Sure enough, just as Wu Sen had speculated, about half an hour after leaving the port, the lookout on the mast had already spotted a sail shadow on the sea to the west, and the sailboat that would appear at this position during this time period was probably the only sailboat that had been spotted before. The cargo ship hijacked by the Spaniards is gone.
After chasing a little closer, the "Zhan" flag hanging on the top of the mast of the ship can be seen from the binoculars, which is the cargo ship belonging to Zhan's Shipping Company.Wu Sen stopped hesitating immediately and ordered to prepare for battle. The order he received before departure was to intercept the ship at all costs. However, the second order from the headquarters stated that there were still eight sailors on board. Han crew, let him be a little more careful when he acts, and don't be too reckless.
Wu Sen's understanding of "at all costs" means that the cargo ship can be sunk directly if necessary, but since there are still Haihan citizens on board, and the higher-ups have greeted them, they probably have to restrain themselves a little.Of course, it would be best if the other party was willing to surrender, but judging by the way the ship adjusted its course and sped up its escape, it probably wouldn't voluntarily surrender.
Calculating the speed, it is not difficult for Wu Mori to come to the conclusion that the ship will not be able to reach the waters of Corregidor Island before dark, and it is impossible to escape the pursuit of the "Black Shark".In fact, it took less than an hour from the discovery of the ship to the closing of the distance between the two ships to one nautical mile.
When the distance between the two ships was reduced to about 200 meters, the sky had begun to darken. Seeing that the other party had no intention of stopping the ship and surrendering, Wu Sen naturally didn't bother to wear it down slowly, so he ordered to chase to a position parallel to the cargo ship, and then fired. The part where the tail rudder is located.
The naval combat capability of the "Black Shark" has been fully verified before, and it is natural to deal with a cargo ship at close range at this time.Wu Sen didn't need to use binoculars, he could already see the chaos on the deck of the ship. It was obvious that the Spaniards were unprepared to be caught up by the Haihan battleship, and the muskets in their hands wanted to deal with it. The tin cans of the "Black Shark" are just tickling.
As the naval guns of the "Black Shark" fired successively, the stern of the cargo ship immediately exploded, and immediately began to flood and capsize.Seeing the stern of the ship slowly sinking into the sea, the people on board knew that it was impossible to escape, so they could only throw wooden boards, wooden boxes, wooden barrels and other floating objects into the sea, and then jumped into the sea to escape.
The "Black Shark" slowed down, slowly approached the sinking area of the cargo ship, and used bamboo poles to pull the survivors on the sea to the side of the ship one by one, and let them climb onto the deck along the ladder lowered by the side of the ship.
None of the eight crew members died, including the captain Meng Ge, only one person was slightly injured in the battle just now, and he only needed to be bandaged to be fine.The group who robbed the ship were not so lucky. After counting and checking, two people were missing. Presumably, they were thrown into the sea by the bombardment of the stern just now, and sank together with the cargo ship.
Ran Hui, the mixed-race businessman who tricked Ran Tianlu, was lucky. He was not injured when he was pulled onto the boat, but was a little frightened, kneeling on the deck and shaking all over.The man was dragged to the captain's room, and after being identified by Meng Ge, Wu Sen ordered someone to take him down, handcuffed his hands and feet, and took him into custody alone.This robbery of the ship was all done by him. Of course, he was the one who committed the most crimes. After returning to the port, he will be handed over to the headquarters, and the generals will decide his life or death.
That Ran Hui probably also knew her situation, after a moment of silence, she suddenly shouted: "The villain is willing to take the crime and do meritorious service, and I hope General Haihan will give him a chance!"
Wu Sen sneered and said, "Why do you commit crimes and make meritorious deeds?"
Ran Hui gritted his teeth and said, "The villain knows the whereabouts of the Spanish governor. If the general can free the villain, the villain will tell the secret to the general."
Wu Sen replied calmly: "You have already fallen into my hands, what qualifications do you have to negotiate? I will reward you with torture, or you will recruit everything!"
Ran Hui said: "The villain will definitely be recruited when he is punished, but if the delay is too long and the enemy chieftain takes the opportunity to escape, then the general will also lose the credit for his success?"
"You have a clever mouth, no wonder you were tricked into getting a ship!" Wu Sen would be lying if he said he was not moved by Ran Hui's conditions, but he just allowed him to be free, Wu Sen He didn't have such a great authority, and he was also worried that this guy was playing tricks. If he followed suit, wouldn't he let this guy succeed twice in one day.
"You tell what you know first. If you really caught that person, I will intercede for you and at least keep your life safe!" Wu Sen decided to hold back and couldn't agree.
But Ran Hui was afraid that Wu Sen would go back on his word, so he immediately confirmed it again, until Wu Sen impatiently slapped his chest and swore, then he said: "The villain believes in the general, and I hope the general will not forget it after he catches him." This promise..."
"If you don't say it again, don't say it!" If it weren't for the seriousness of the matter, Wu Sen wanted to kick this guy out.
Then Ran Hui returned to the topic: "Among the dozen or so Spaniards tied up outside, there is a fat man with brown hair, wearing gray clothes and black pants, and his head is a little bald. That man is Governor Aragones!"
Wu Sen stood up abruptly, kicked Ran Hui over, and then went out of the cabin to look for the person he mentioned on the deck.Sure enough, among the dozen or so captives caught from the sea, there was one whose appearance was exactly as described by Ran Hui. He knelt down and questioned him a few times, but the man just shook his head, as if he didn't understand what he said Chinese.
And when they set off just now, they were in a hurry, and the "Black Shark" didn't bring a translator, so they stared wide-eyed and couldn't confirm the identity of this person at all.But looking at this man who is white and fat, he looks like he is used to being pampered. Wu Sen squeezed the man's palm again, and he didn't touch the calluses. Obviously, he is not a manual laborer at ordinary times, but it is really very likely that he is. The escaped Philippine governor.
But Wu Sen is such a character, he had a plan at the moment, he kicked the fat man, he immediately screamed in pain, and the other prisoners at the side immediately looked at this side, Wu Sen saw that the first thing these people looked at was this The fat man was not himself, and there was a lot of concern on his face, and he was already a little more certain about his identity in his heart.
(End of this chapter)