The sky was gloomy, and thick lead clouds seemed to be about to be pressed down from the sky. The wind gradually became stronger. One wave after another, one seabird flew by low altitude, rushing past the stirring waves, flying in several circles around the towering mast, spreading its wings to the distance with shrill sounds.

Pan Motang stood at the bow of the boat, reached out to take a hand in the air, and leaned into his nose and smelled it. He seemed to smell something, and his face became more and more serious.

"Send the order, all warships sail near the coast." Pan Motang said in a deep voice.

"Boss, has the weather changed?" A bearded general beside him wiped the water droplets from his beard and asked in a low voice.

Pan Motang nodded: "Yuan Ming, the storm this time is probably not small. Judging from the sky, I am afraid that it will come in at most one to two hours, so that all the big ships will live outside and the small ships will be in the middle, maintaining a safe distance."

"Abide by the order!" Tang Yuanming.

With the flying flags and horns on the mast, the entire fleet began to change its formation, slowly turning from the original two columns to diamonds. Large and medium-sized ships were located on the outside, and small warships were located in the middle, slowly approaching the coastline.

The wind gradually became stronger, and all the warships fell sails. Even large warships like Dingyuan were no longer as stable as before but were bumpy.

"How far is it from Zhoushan?" Pan Motang asked as the sailors busy fixing the things that were easily moved on the boat.

Tang Yuanming took out a pamper skin drawing from his arms, looked up and observed it carefully, and said, "General Pan, at our current speed, it will take about two hours. It seems that this storm cannot be avoided. But don't worry, everyone is a veteran, and it is not something that has been dealt with by the storm."

"I'm afraid this time is a bit dangerous." Pan Motang shook his head: "Tell everyone that you must be careful. All the soldiers enter the cabin, and those who must stay to control the ships will fix themselves with ropes."

"Understood!"

The storm came as scheduled.

First, the strong wind stirred up the turbid waves in the sky, and then the heavy rain poured down. In the face of the power of nature, humans seemed extremely small and helpless. Even large warships like Dingyuan Fuyuan were like toy ships at this moment, sometimes being lifted up by huge waves, sometimes sinking to the bottom of the valley with the sea water. Above the head, the sea water and rain were poured down together, and they couldn't tell each other.

On the high scattered head, the signal soldiers tied themselves tightly to the mast. At this moment, no military signs or flags no longer play any role. The only thing that can be connected with each other is the glass lamp installed on the scattered head. The glass lamp is installed in a wooden box. There are round holes on the four side walls of the wooden box, and glass of different colors is embedded in the holes. Outside the holes, hinges are installed, which can be opened and half-closed. The Tang Army Navy uses the changes in the light to enable the ships to connect with each other.

This special glass lamp makes full use of specially ground glass and exquisite design to enhance the light, which greatly enhances the means of contacting each other under harsh conditions and greatly increases their survival ability.

The three large warships of Dingyuan, Fuyuan and Zhenyuan each led a squadron. At this moment, they all formed three groups fighting against the wind and waves, led by these three large warships.

Although Pan Motang had one hand less than others, he seemed to be on the deck. As the warships rose and fell, the people also rose and fell. They stood firmly on the ship with the iron hook on their right hand hooked the ship's side. The eyes were dead in front of them, and the mouth was constantly giving orders. The sailors behind him passed the orders to the messengers on the mast, and the messengers used the light to send orders to the various warships.

The Tang army naval fleet was fighting the wind and waves with difficulty.

During the storm, occasionally screams came, but Pan Motang's expression had not changed at all. I don't know how many times he has seen such a thing in his life. In such storm, while completing tasks, everyone can only rely on themselves to protect themselves. No one can help you, and if you are not careful, it will become a delicacy for fish and shrimp in the sea.

It has to be said that this kind of warship built specifically for combat is much stronger than ordinary merchant ships in terms of structure, and its ability to survive in fighting wind and waves is also stronger. Pan Motang is very clear that if he still brought the warships transformed from merchant ships when he was a pirate, he would probably suffer heavy losses when encountering such wind and waves.

On the sea, pirates are most afraid of not officers and soldiers, because they can still escape if they can't beat them. Generally speaking, pirates are much more familiar with the sea than officers and soldiers, but when they encounter such weather, they can only sigh of bad luck.

Time seems to pass very slowly, as if every second is as long as a year.

Time seemed to pass quickly again, as if in the blink of an eye, the storm disappeared without a trace, the sea returned to calm, the lead clouds on their heads had dissipated at some point, and the sun emerged from behind the clouds and spread the warmth again on the earth.

Pan Motang let out a long sigh, feeling sore all over his body. He wanted to sit on the deck with his butt, spread his legs and sleep well. But when he saw the sailors who had collapsed on the deck, he forced himself to stand upright.

Tang Yuanming staggered over. When the storm was at the height of the storm, he went to the helm himself. At this time, he was exhausted, and a bag of the boss bulged on his forehead, as if he had a horn.

"It doesn't matter?" Pan Motang asked.

"It's okay, I accidentally hit the rudder." Tang Yuanming laughed. "Let's go back and apply some lard, rub it, and the swelling will almost disappear tomorrow."

"Let the brothers get up and change into wet clothes. Let the soldiers immediately make a few pots of ginger soup to warm up the brothers." Pan Motang said: "Send orders to other warships to break down on the spot, so that everyone can rest and set sail. At the same time, let them report their respective casualties and ask if there are any ships that have lost or been injured?"

"Okay!" Tang Yuanming said.

It is much more tiring to fight Fenglang like this than to fight a naval battle. The key is that many battles that happened after they formed the army were all over the place, and they pressed their heads against the enemy with an overwhelming advantage. This time, God pressed them on the sea to rub against each other. Not to mention counterattacking, it was difficult to even protect themselves.

Just look at the usual thrillers who look like little lambs now, and you will know how tired they are.

Ruan Er, who was above the devil, had a bruised nose and swollen face at this moment. He stayed in this small devil, and had to pass orders from time to time. Although he tied himself up, his head would occasionally hit the four walls. When he touched several big bags on his head, Ruan Er hissed and whimpered.

Hearing Tang Yuanming's shouting below, Ruan Er untied the rope on his body, stood up, pulled out two small red and blue flags from his waist, and waved them hard. The glass lamp had been calmed down and after the sky was dawn, he turned off the lamp oil here, which was precious.

After giving the order farther away, he habitually pulled out the monocular telescope at his waist. This thing was even more expensive. In the entire Dingyuan, except General Pan Motang, he was the only one who was matched with. If Tang Yuanming wanted to borrow it for a while, he had to say good things to him.

Turning around and observing the entire fleet.

It seems that the situation of the two squadrons of Zhenyuan and Fuyuan is much worse than that of theirs, because Ruan Er saw some floating objects on the sea surface, and it seemed that the other two fleets had ships sunk. In addition, their fleet had veterans like General Pan to command, and the leaders of the other two fleets had much worse experience.

This made him feel a little sad. I don’t know how many brothers have returned to the sea. I believe that if he doesn’t need much, he will know the answer.

Half turned around, he looked elsewhere.

The scenery after the heavy rain always has a different flavor.

The shadowy mountains in the distance seem very clear in the telescope. There is a rainbow in one end in the boundless sky, and the other end is on the highest mountain range. Countless birds are spreading their wings and passing by the rainbow door.

Slowly turning the direction, countless seabirds appeared in their eyes. During the storm, they didn't know where they were hiding, but now they flew out in groups and flew towards their fleet. Ruan Er liked these seabirds very much. Sometimes during the long sailing process on the sea, these seabirds were his best companions. They were not afraid of people. They often stopped at the edge of the fool and looked at each other with Ruan Er.

The seabird stayed on the mast, stayed on the edge of his divine dou, and their crisp screams came from his ears, and Ruan Er felt refreshed.

Turning his body again, his body suddenly stiffened, his body, which was originally leaning softly against the wall, was straightened up suddenly, leaning forward, one eye subconsciously closed tighter, while the other opened wider.

A ship appeared in the telescope.

No, it is not one, it is a lot of ships. They are scattered on the sea surface in the distance. If you look at it with your naked eyes, now they are either just casual black dots or can't see clearly, because in his telescope, the ships are only the size of a palm, but from his experience, they know that these are some large sea boats.

At this moment, there were only one possibility that so many ships suddenly appeared, and that was a fleet of large size like them.

That was the target they wanted to attack on this trip.

Lingnan Navy.
Chapter completed!