Chapter 1116 I Want to Join You
Zhang Tuohai read the nautical chart carefully several times and memorized the detailed information on it. In this way, even if it was taken away or damaged, he could rely on his memory to go to where he wanted to go.
After memorizing the information on the nautical chart, Zhang Tuohai began to plan his itinerary.
He had seized the nautical chart and alerted the Targaryen family. Once they discovered him, they would certainly send people to hunt him down. If he followed the route on the nautical chart, he would surely be caught up by the other side's speedboats. He only had so many people, and this would be disadvantageous to him.
Therefore, he had to choose a route that would be unexpected for the other party.
"If I were a member of the Targaryen family and found that the sea chart was stolen, I would think that the thief would definitely choose the fastest route to escape from the Targaryen family's sphere of influence, and the fastest route would be... here!"
Zhang Tuohai's finger fell on a flight path.
This route is straight, avoiding most of the supply points and docking islands, and heading straight for Red Stone Island, the boundary between the Xia Sea and this sea area (Thunder Sea).
You can enter the Xia Sea by crossing the Red Stone Island.
If he were a member of the Targaryen family, he would definitely send a team of clippers to reach Redstone Island first, guard this only way, and then wait for the opportunity.
After analyzing the Targaryen family's thinking, Zhang Tuohai began to design his own route.
The Targaryen family thought they would be able to escape quickly, but they chose to do the opposite and choose the longest route, sailing along the coastline. This way they could replenish resources and recruit men along the way, and also attack those players who had newly established territories, thus weakening the power of this world that was encircling them, killing two birds with one stone.
If the Targaryens are willing to wait on Redstone Island, then let them wait.
If they don't see me for a long time, they will definitely worry that I have entered the Xia Sea in advance, and then they will send a squadron to the Xia Sea to pursue me.
When that time comes, I will arrive suddenly and it will be easy to deal with the Targaryen family . I will leisurely pass through Redstone Island and head to the Sea of Shaya.
After planning on the nautical chart for a while, Zhang Tuohai finalized the plan.
The rudder turned sharply to the right and the boat headed towards the coastline.
Half an hour after Zhang Tuohai turned, a fleet of clippers passed by where Zhang Tuohai had passed and sailed forward rapidly. These clippers had low and slender hulls, hanging six sails, and they did not use the triangular sails commonly seen in this era, but huge cross sails.
This type of ship is fast but has a relatively low load capacity, making it suitable for transporting light but valuable items.
These ships all flew the flags of House Targaryen and sped towards the Redstone Island.
Zhang Tuohai had no idea that the Targaryen family had sent out a fleet to chase him so quickly. At this moment, he was staring at the coastline with a brass telescope.
The outline of a village appeared on the distant coastline, but there were faint lights of fire in the village.
"Another trap to trick me?"
Zhang Tuohai guessed instinctively, but he immediately rejected this guess.
It is impossible that everyone would be like the foolish son of the Targaryen family, who pretended that the ship was on fire in order to deceive himself.
In other words, I am kind-hearted and would go to put out the fire. Would those pirates do the same?
Besides, that silly son even knew how to use smoke signals. This thing produces a lot of black smoke and spreads far away. How much fuel would it take to light a bonfire on the shore?
Not over it?
Zhang Tuohai guessed that something must have gone wrong in the village on the shore.
"Let's go over and take a look." Zhang Tuohai drove the boat towards the shore.
The boat slowly approached the shore, and Zhang Tuohai finally saw the situation in the village through the telescope.
It turned out that a group of horse bandits had rushed into the village. They were riding their horses and galloping through the village. Each of them was holding a scimitar or a spear in his hand, and their weapons were stained with blood.
A few brutal ones even cut off the villagers' heads and hung them on horses' necks to show off their bravery.
One bandit even chased a little boy on horseback, then stabbed the boy's back with a sharp spear, lifted the boy into the air, and laughed while shaking the spear.
They were not looting for money, they were just enjoying the thrill of killing.
"First mate, prepare for the bombardment!" Zhang Tuohai said as he put away the telescope.
"yes!"
The first mate immediately went to convey the order.
A dozen sailors entered the gun position, stuffed the propellant into the barrel, loaded it with grapeshot, and then adjusted the pads and calibrated the shooting angle.
"Fire!"
Zhang Tuohai shouted.
Boom boom boom!
A stream of gunpowder smoke spewed out from the muzzle, and a large number of grapeshot was fired at the bandits.
Grapeshot is just a bunch of small steel balls fixed with a net bag, and it is fired like a large shotgun. Although its range is not as far as solid bullets and shrapnel shells, it has great lethality against low-armor units at close range. A round of volleys can even directly defeat an infantry platoon.
A large number of grapeshot hit the area near the coast, turning several horse bandits who were hit there into sieves along with their horses.
"Keep reloading," Zhang Tuohai shouted, "The one who shoots the most accurately and the fastest will be rewarded with a piece of bacon and a glass of rum!"
Hearing that there was wine to drink, the pirates' hands became three times faster. They all wished they could transform into six-armed snake demons, stuffing the shells in swiftly and adjusting the height of the wooden blocks.
"Fire!"
Boom!
Another round of grapeshot volleys came, this time hitting the village directly. An earth wall was turned into a sieve and collapsed to the ground with a loud bang. The bandits hiding behind the wall were also smashed into pieces.
Even an elite infantry platoon could be defeated by grapeshot, let alone those unorganized and undisciplined horse bandits?
Seeing the intensive artillery fire, the bandits thought they were surrounded by the regular army.
They turned their horses around and prepared to run away.
However, at this time, the third round of grapeshot arrived.
The dense barrage of bullets turned the horse bandits into sieves. Only a few horses were lucky enough to escape and fled into the woods in panic.
"Go ashore and clean up the battlefield." Zhang Tuohai uttered a devil's roar.
A dozen pirates drew their scimitars and muskets and rushed into the village roaring.
There were still some bandits who had luckily survived and were lying on the ground groaning in the village. The pirates quickly killed them with their swords and helped them to get rid of their pain. They also searched their belongings and took away their belongings as rewards.
Soon dozens of bandits were looted and their bodies thrown into the burning house, waiting to turn into ashes to avoid becoming a breeding ground for the plague.
The property and food in the village that had lost their owners naturally became the pirates' labor costs.
The pirates even took the carcasses of the horses. They picked up large chunks of meat, shaved the hair and cleaned them, preparing to take them back to the ship and pickle them as food reserves.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Zhang Tuohai was about to lead the team away when suddenly a disheveled little child emerged from the haystack at the entrance of the village and ran towards the group of people.
"I, I want to join you!" said the little kid.
