Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms

General Discussion on Sea Defense, Part IV

Once the vessels have drawn close to one another, the use of fire jars huoguanoriginal: "火罐" — ceramic incendiary grenades. and spray tubes pentongoriginal: "噴筒" — manual fire-spraying weapons. must cease entirely.

• When the braves bingyongoriginal: "兵勇" — literally "soldiers and braves," referring to regular imperial troops and locally recruited militia. board the vessel and encounter barbarians original: "yiren" 夷人 — a term used in the 19th century to refer to Westerners, particularly the British during the Opium Wars., they should immediately use their swords to take their heads. These should be left behind to be tallied later; one must not be in a hurry to present severed heads for reward, as this distracts from and slows down more vital tasks. Aside from killing the barbarians, the most essential components of the ship are the steering wheel cables, the rigging, the sails, the mast stays, and the bowsprit cables original: "bitoulan" 鼻頭纜 — literally "nose-head cables," referring to the lines securing the bowsprit at the front of the ship.. If one can successfully cut through all of these cables, the ship is already in our possession. Why then worry that the silver, currency, and cargo will not also be ours? Furthermore, once a barbarian ship is captured, all the silver and goods on board shall be distributed equally among those who boarded, and additional heavy rewards will be granted. Under no circumstances is anyone permitted to begin looting cargo before the enemy is neutralized, as this slows down the work of killing the rebels. Violators shall be punished according to military law.

• When our ships launch a diagonal attack against the bow or stern of a barbarian ship, the approach is generally calculated by dividing the target into four corners. At each corner...