After only a day of repairs, the four large whaling ships left Tianguang Port and headed for the Seagull Archipelago, which was several dozen li away. The four large whaling ships were all of the same model and tonnage. However, after a long period of trekking on the sea, the four whaling ships had some slight differences in strength, but the differences weren't very big. Naturally, Li An took the best whaling ship.
Generally, fishermen liked to use large fishing nets to catch a large amount of fish. However, for whaling, using fishing nets was not very effective. Whales were too large, so fishing nets might not be able to catch them. The better method was to use heavy crossbows and ropes. That is, a rope was tied to the tail of the heavy crossbow. After the crossbow was shot, the long rope would fly along with the crossbow. After the crossbow shot into the whale's body, the long rope would be able to hold the whale, making it difficult for the whale to escape. Although the whale would struggle and pull the whaling ship around, the whaling ship was not smaller than the whale, so it would not be able to pull the ship for long. When the whale was exhausted, it would naturally be able to be caught, either by putting it into the net or by tying it to the deck. Of course, this also depended on how big the whale was. If the deck of the whaling ship could not fit the whale, then the whale could only be tied to one side of the ship and pulled back to the harbor first.
In order to be able to hunt whales with higher efficiency, every time they went out to sea, there would be at least two whaling ships cooperating with each other. This was also for the sake of safety. In case of danger, they could help each other. In addition, in order to increase the chance of hitting the whale, every whaling ship was equipped with multiple heavy crossbows.
The left and right sides of the ship, as well as the bow and stern, were all equipped with heavy crossbows?
Take the whaling ship that Ang Lee took as an example. There was a heavy crossbow on both the front and back decks.
And there were three heavy crossbows on both sides of the ship.
The entire whaling ship was equipped with eight heavy crossbows. So many heavy crossbows?
This could guarantee a higher chance of hitting the target.
The whaling ship was surrounded by heavy crossbows, so that they could shoot as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
There was no need to adjust the ship's direction.
This was to avoid missing the opportunity to hunt whales.
These heavy crossbows were all specially made, completely different from the heavy crossbows used by the military and hunters. They were all very large and had many barbs.
Could they guarantee that the crossbow would shoot into the whale's body?
The crossbow could not be pulled out of the whale's body. Even when the whale struggled, it would feel very painful, thus increasing the whale's burden of struggling and exhausting its strength as soon as possible.
Standing on the deck of the whaling ship?
Ang could see a large number of seabirds occasionally flying in the sky.
Most of the seabirds were white, and the number of white gulls was undoubtedly the largest.
This meant that the Seagull Archipelago was not far away..
As long as there were seabirds?
This meant that there was at least land or an island not too far away..
After all, seabirds had limited physical strength. They could not be too far away from their nests. The seabirds' range of activity was usually maintained near their nests. This way, they could return to their nests in time and would not tire themselves to death in the vast sea.
The sea breeze was very comfortable. At the same time, one could smell a faint salty fishy smell. This was also a sign that they were close to the archipelago. In the environment of the deep sea, this kind of fishy smell was very rare. Only the coastal waters and the islands would have a stronger fishy smell. The environment in these areas was more complicated. Most of the marine life lived near the islands and the coastal waters. The more marine life there was, the more waste there would be. Naturally, there would be more strange smells.
Looking up, they could already see the islands in the distance. Although these islands were very small, as long as they were close, they would be easily discovered. In the boundless ocean, an island suddenly appeared, this was very conspicuous, and also very easy to be discovered.
"The Seagull Archipelago is just ahead! I remember that when we opened the Maritime Silk Road, we passed by this archipelago. We did not get close to the Seagull Archipelago. This time, we can go over and admire it. "
Ang Lee looked at the Seagull Archipelago in the distance and said.
At this moment, there were at least a few dozen ships that could be seen with the naked eye within a few dozen miles. If one used binoculars, they would be able to see hundreds of ships. There were many fishing and merchant ships, which was enough to show how busy this place was.
The fishing resources near the archipelago were far superior to the coastal waters, and there were more precious fish resources there. Therefore, many fishermen were very willing to go to the Seagull Archipelago to fish. For large fishing boats, they might be worried about encountering pirates, but for small fishing villages, there was no such worry. Pirates also had moral integrity. Generally, they would not gain much from robbing small fishing villages. Some small fish were not even worth mentioning in the eyes of these pirates. What they wanted was real gold and silver, not the fish caught in the sea. Many pirates were fishermen themselves. If they were greedy, they could go to the sea to fish. There was no need for them to become pirates. They were just greedy and wanted to gain more wealth. However, it was impossible to obtain more wealth by fishing. Only by robbing could they quickly accumulate a huge amount of wealth.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li. The Seagull Archipelago is right in front of us. The fishing resources on the Seagull Archipelago are extremely rich. There are all kinds of good things, especially krill that whales like to eat. Therefore, there are often traces of whales nearby. There are even more small sharks. Sometimes, if we're unlucky and don't catch any whales, we'll still kill some sharks when we encounter one.
Otherwise, we won't be wasting our time, "Chen Fugui said with a smile.
"Well, very good. Everyone, pay attention. Pick up the binoculars and observe carefully. See where the whales are. This time, we have to kill at least one whale on this trip."
Ang Lee said loudly.
Hearing this, everyone naturally did not dare to be negligent. They picked up the binoculars and began to observe.
Ang Lee and his guards were naturally equipped. Among the supporting equipment of the whaling ship itself, there were high-powered binoculars. This was a necessary equipment for any high-class ship. However, hand-held binoculars were rarely shipped. This was to prevent too many people from obtaining them and reduce the advantage of the Tang dynasty's army. The fixed binoculars on the ship were difficult to dismantle. They were very large, so naturally, there was no need to worry about them being deliberately collected.
Although Chen Fugui said that whales often appeared near the Seagull Archipelago, it did not mean that there were so many whales here that they could be encountered at any time. After all, whales were large marine creatures. Their huge bodies required many small creatures to feed them. Naturally, their numbers were relatively limited. It was not to the extent that they could be found everywhere.
Ang Lee and his subordinates, as well as Chen Fugui's subordinates, were busy in the sea for half an hour, but they did not find any whales. Ang Lee could not help but feel a little annoyed.
However, they did not find any whales. Instead, they encountered a group of sharks that were hunting. This made Ang Lee feel a little better. Finally, they could have some gains. As for the whales, they could slowly search for them. Eventually, they would find them.
What were sharks? Some people thought that sharks were one of the most ferocious fish in the ocean. However, the whale shark, which was the largest among sharks, ate small marine creatures as food, similar to baleen whales. Due to the similarity of their food, after a long period of biological evolution, they looked very similar to baleen whales. This was called convergent evolution, so the whale shark's name was natural.
Of course, the whale shark was the largest existing shark and also the largest existing fish. The larger whale was not a fish, but a mammal. The most ferocious shark in the ocean was the great white shark. Their powerful jaws could tear apart almost any prey. They lived at the top of the marine life chain. Once their dorsal fin was cut off, the shark would lose its balance and sink to the bottom of the sea to starve to death.
The world was so big that there were about three to four hundred species of sharks. More than thirty species would take the initiative to attack people, seven species might injure people, and many were dangerous because of their size and habits. Sharks had extremely strong survivability. They were known as the sea hunters and were a very terrifying existence in the ocean.
The shark's body was hard, muscular, and spindle-shaped to varying degrees. The snout part varied from species to species. Some were pointed, such as the gray mackerel shark and the great white shark. Some were large and round, such as the tiger-striped shark and the broad tiger-striped shark. The head was flat, and the tail was vertical upward, roughly in the shape of a crescent. Most species' upper caudal fin was much larger than the lower part.
Most sharks fed on fish and other marine animals. Sharks fed on injured marine mammals, fish, and carrion. Excluding the weaker members of the animals, sharks would also eat the garbage and other wastes thrown from ships. However, eating these was very bad for the shark's body. In serious cases, it would cause the shark to fall sick. In addition, some sharks would also hunt various marine mammals, fish, turtles, crabs, and other animals. Some sharks could not eat for months. The great white shark was one of them. The great white shark would only eat once every one or two months.
The great white shark was a predator that was good at camouflage. Due to its large body, it was not as agile as other sharks. However, the great white shark was an excellent hunter because it could always catch people off guard. Its upper body was very dark, and its lower body was very bright. They could use this protective color to quietly approach their prey. When it attacked from below, because its color was similar to the deep sea, it would not be discovered until it attacked. It rarely attacked from above, but when it attacked from above, its white underside and the bright sky reflected by the sea merged into one.
In addition, sharks were called mermen, shark sharks, and sand fish in ancient times. They were huge creatures in the sea, so they were called sea wolves. They generally liked to hunt other fish in groups and would not act alone. The nostrils of sharks were located in front of the ventral mouth of the head. Some had a snout and nasal groove connected between the nostrils and the mouth corners. The folds of the olfactory sac increased the contact area with the outside environment.
The group of sharks in front of Ang Lee was obviously the most terrifying great white shark. There were more than a dozen sharks in this group. It was not a very large group of sharks. Perhaps these sharks were just a part of the group. After all, Ang Lee saw very clearly that this group of sharks were all large adult great white sharks. There was not a single juvenile little white shark. How could a group only have adult great white sharks and not juvenile little white sharks? This was very unreasonable. Perhaps this was just a part of the group that went out to look for food. The rest of the sharks were active elsewhere and might come over later.
"Assistant Minister Li, we did not encounter any whales. What do you think of this group of sharks?"
Chen Fugui looked at Ang Lee and asked.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Since we have encountered them, there is no need to be polite. Take them all. Don't leave a single shark behind. Hahaha!"
After getting Ang Lee's approval, Chen Fugui immediately ordered the four whaling ships under his command to spread out and attack. They surrounded the group of sharks that were hunting for food. They were ready to take all the sharks in one go and not leave a single one behind.
Obviously, Chen Fugui's group often did this kind of thing, so they cooperated with each other very skillfully. Soon, a hunting operation targeting a group of sharks began smoothly. The four whaling ships surrounded more than a dozen adult sharks in a short time. Then, each whaling ship could use at least five heavy crossbows to shoot arrows, so they could shoot twenty heavy crossbows at once.
Because the hit rate could not be 100%, even though twenty crossbows were shot, only five great white sharks were hit. This hit rate was actually very good. However, the sharks that were hit struggled violently, and blood kept flowing out of their wounds. As the shark's blood flowed into the sea, more than a dozen sharks suddenly went crazy. The sharks that were not hit actually followed the smell of blood to find the injured sharks that were hit, and then directly launched a fatal attack. A civil war between shark groups immediately started. If these sharks were allowed to attack each other, after these sharks bit each other, there would be nothing left. Therefore, Chen Fugui's subordinates quickly took action and immediately pulled these killed sharks onto the deck. At the same time, the heavy crossbows that were not hit were also immediately taken back. Then, a new round of shooting started and gained a good harvest again. It did not take long for all the sharks to be hunted down. However, after these sharks killed each other, more than half of these sharks were already mutilated when they were pulled onto the deck. The most miserable shark had half of its body bitten off by its own kind. It was probably eaten by its own kind.
However, the shark's flesh itself was not valuable. The most precious part of a shark was undoubtedly the shark's fin. Other than the shark's fin, the remaining parts were almost worthless. No one was willing to eat shark meat with bad meat. People only loved shark fins.
This was the only part of the shark that tasted delicious. The reason why shark meat was not very delicious was that sharks did not have a urinary system, which meant that there was no feces. The excrement in the shark's body was transported to the outside of the body through the chicken and skin. Therefore, the shark meat accumulated too much uric acid, and the taste could be imagined.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
