The South China Sea was extremely hot in September, and all the people in the fleet went crazy with heat.
It was too stuffy in the cabin, like a big steamer, and their bodies were always wet and sticky.
Of course, there is a lot of fresh wind blowing on the deck.
However, the sun is hot during the day and the shaded area is limited.
It cannot accommodate all the people on the ship.
It can only get a little cooler at night.
Therefore, many sailors go to sleep on the deck at night.
Of course, So I have to pray that it doesn’t rain.
In short, life here is torture.
Li Hu has led the fleet to wander around the southern tip of the Babuyan Islands for two and a half months.
Such boring days have made people irritated.
They can only see seabirds and sea water every day, and the day to go back is far away.
Everyone They are all insisting.
If there is a glimmer of light in the days here, the only good news is that two Spanish 200-ton merchant ships were plundered across the Pacific trade.
The two small ships did not have much oil and water, only tens of thousands of taels.
American silver and some gold coins.
But the sailors were somewhat tired of seeing the scenery, and this time they had some income.
Li Hu also kept cursing.
These damn Spaniards were procrastinating.
They could transport gold and silver across the ocean from America as slowly as a game.
No wonder they were beaten to pieces by the Dutch.
If Dominguez hears Li Hu's curse, he will jump back and yell.
Does he know the power of hurricanes in the Pacific?
If he doesn't know, he can go and do it himself.
Domingos led two 1,200-ton San Martin and San Francisco ships and eight 5-600-ton frigates and set out from the port of Acapulco in late June.
But we were halfway through our voyage across the Pacific Ocean.
A tropical hurricane blowing from the southwest blew the entire fleet northeast for six days and nights, leaving four escort ships missing at the same time.
Domingos still remembers the huge wave that rolled up the 1,200-ton San Martin and sent it to the top of the mountain.
When I fell from the top of the peak and fell into the bottom of the valley, I felt the weightlessness all over my body.
You must know that this situation lasted for more than two days.
There was no way to eat, and there was no way to start a fire.
Many people in the fleet began to collapse.
There were so many people sick and vomiting that there were almost no sailors left to drive Galen's ship.
Fear begins to spread like a disease.
Many people thought they could not return to their hometowns and would sink into the Pacific Ocean.
Domingos heard numerous complaints from the crew that the man who named the Pacific Ocean should be hanged because he had deceived God and his pious people, the Spaniards.
After the hurricane, everyone prayed for a new life.
Dominguez's fleet was busy repairing the ships for a week.
Afterwards, he waited and searched for other frigates that had lost news in the nearby waters.
Thanks to the Virgin Mary, three more dilapidated frigates finally joined them, after replacing masts, sails, and renovating cabins.
Finally, the three frigates were rescued and the fleet was back on the road.
As for the last frigate that had been lost, Domingos could only say sorry.
Because the water and food in the fleet could not support their continued search.
Dominguez led a fleet of nine ships to finally approach the Philippine Islands in early September.
The sailors on the ship were in high spirits and were about to end this devilish trip.
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They were glad that they were one of the ones who escaped.
After all, dozens of sailors in the fleet had died, and a frigate was missing.
However, they were happy a little early.
Also at the east entrance of the Babuyan Strait, two soft sailing ships of a ship type that had never been seen before met them and left.
Dominguez ordered the fleet to be on alert.
Since the fleet led by poor Abelardo disappeared two years ago, the annual fleet trip across the Pacific has been strengthened since last year.
After all, it is still possible if a hurricane causes a few ships to disappear, but the disappearance of the entire fleet would be too much.
This is unusual, and it cannot be ruled out that it is the work of the Dutch or even the Portuguese.
All the sailor gunners of the seven frigates were mobilized.
Although the San Martin and the San Francisco only had a dozen cannons, they were both heavy artillery, and the entire ship was on alert.
When the fleet entered the Babuyan Strait for more than 20 miles, an alarm sounded from the observation deck.
A large number of ships were approaching, yes, a large number, which made the entire fleet nervous.
When the two sides approached within a few miles, Dominguez discovered that the other party was Portuguese.
The flags flying on the boats were all Portuguese flags, and the boats were of the same shape.
Several short communication ships from the other side approached the fleet, and a Portuguese man shouted that the Portuguese nobles of the fleet wanted to meet with the leader of the Spanish fleet to discuss matters.
Dominguez was eager to return home at this time and had no intention of stopping the ship.
Moreover, the Portuguese were a suspected member.
They may not be strong enough, but they were able to get close to and even board Spanish warships through the special relationship between the two countries.
Dominguez ordered someone to interrupt the Portuguese's shouting rudely, and answered in a very domineering manner.
For a small neighboring country that is subordinate to the Spanish, Domingos, as a Spanish Viscount, has always had a sense of superiority.
After refusing, several Portuguese communication ships suddenly dispersed and moved closer to the San Martin and San Francisco, while the fleet on the opposite side continued to move closer to the fleet.
Seeing this, Domingos suddenly figured out many questions.
"Damn the Portuguese, God will punish you thieves and liars."
Dominguez cursed and prepared the fleet for war.
Captain Lucas and Boatswain Angulo of the San Martin are commanding the San Martin to get rid of the two approaching clipper ships.
However, the San Martin is like a heavy elephant, and the clipper ships are like jumping deer. , quickly approached the stern of the ship.
The frigates on the side could only watch the opponent approach.
If they bombarded, the accuracy of the front-loaded smoothbore cannon would be that they would also bombard the San Martin.
So the Flying Shark briskly approached the stern of the St.
Martin, stared at the black powder bag on the rudder, lit the match and left.
After a moment, there was a bang, the hull of the St.
Martin was stunned, and the rudder was damaged.
At the same time, the San Francisco was also severely damaged by gunpowder.
The problem was that the rudder was affected, but it could still be used, but water began to seep from the rear of the bottom compartment.
What's more serious is that now the two giant ships can only lower their sails and slow down.
Otherwise, the San Martin might run straight onto the beach and run aground.
At this time, the fleets heading toward each other were less than three miles apart, and Li Hu ordered the cannon to be fired.
Li Hu's flagship Li Jing fired first, and the other nine warships also fired one after another, all with one-third of the 36-pound and 48-pound cannons on the side.
The Tiago cannon had not yet reached the range.
The scattered shelling made the Spaniards feel relieved.
After all, the opponent has ten warships of the same tonnage as our own frigates.
But in terms of firepower and accuracy, they are no match.
More than ten seconds after Li Hu's fleet opened fire, the two Spanish warships at the front of the fleet opened fire.
Immediately, amidst the roar of forty heavy cannons on the sides, the smoke temporarily obscured the warships, and the projectiles roared towards the enemy ships on the opposite side.
Shanxiong Signal and Xue Rengui were hit by several 18-pound naval guns respectively.
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The planks on the deck and sides were shattered and dust rose.
Fortunately, he didn't enter the cabin.
The two ships continued to move forward.
Being the first few battleships in the long snake formation was the most disadvantaged.
They had to withstand the bombardment of more than half of the opponent's fleet.
The appearance of the two ships was definitely a bit miserable.
The sail was mostly damaged.
The stern mainmast of the Shanxiong signal was damaged, and the Xue Rengui's lower deck was penetrated by a twenty-four-pounder.
One was on the baggage deck, with food flying and the water tank broken.
The other was on the gun deck, where a thirty-six-pounder was destroyed.
Cannon.
Three gunners were wounded.
On the single male signal, one sailor died and another was injured.
After withstanding the opponent's continuous bombardment, the two ships finally got closer to less than a mile.
The twenty Tiago cannons on the sides of the two ships roared, and nearly half of the projectiles hit the two Spanish warships on the opposite side. , shattered into the opponent's side, one wreaked havoc in the San Diego's cargo hold, and two penetrated the gun deck.
The power of the thirty-six-pound Tiago cannon's projectiles directly destroyed three eighteen-pound cannons, causing the death and injury of eight Spanish gunners.
Blood and flesh were scattered everywhere, and the screams were ear-piercing, making the deck a hell on earth.
The San Diego's artillery was silent for a while.
Come down.
The St.
Andre was hit by a projectile that broke through the gun deck, but what was even more unfortunate was that it was a 48-pound Tiago cannon projectile that destroyed two 24-pounder cannons and scattered pieces of wood.
More than 40 gunners were killed or wounded, and the wounded were rolling and wailing with wood splinters sticking out of their bodies.
The St.
Andre had only sporadic counterattacks left.
The two sides were sailing towards each other and bombarding each other.
The San Martin and the San Francisco had lowered their sails and fell at the back to become spectators.
One had a slight water leakage and the other had a more serious one.
The sailors were busy preventing more sea water from entering.
Bottom warehouse.
When the two sides connected head to tail, the artillery roared continuously and became two adjacent lines of fire.
Smoke and flashes surrounded the fleet, and both sides continued to leave traces on each other.
Under the command of Commander Wang Qiang, Qian Er lit the match rope, covered his ears with his hands, and kept banging.
He saw two new large holes in the cracked side of the ship on the opposite side, and the power of the 48-pounder gun was fully displayed.
At the same time, the ship's hull was stunned, and two holes were punched out by the opponent's twenty-four-pounder cannon.
A projectile penetrated the gun deck, and the flying wood splinters injured three gunners, and then sank into the wall panel on the other side.
On board, there were screams on the deck, but they were all flesh wounds, so he was very lucky.
Qian Erjiu had experienced it.
He scolded his men to load the artillery and waited for Wang Qiang's order.
After a while, the dull sound of the artillery sounded, and the projectiles were fired again, hitting the next enemy ship, bringing death and fear to them.
After a round of convergence, the two sides began to fight again.
One side was looking for the treasure ship, so of course it had to get rid of the frigate first.
The treasure ship guarded by the other side was crawling there, and of course it could not be evacuated.
So we started all over again.
The battleships on both sides were damaged, but the Spanish battleships were much more miserable.
Each ship had four or five big holes, the sails and masts were damaged, and the artillery decks were almost fatally hit.
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More than half of the artillery or gunners were Damaged, the ability to strike is greatly reduced.
More than 90% of the artillery of Zhao Lie's fleet is normal, but the appearance is relatively dilapidated.
As spectators, the San Martin and San Francisco could only continue to watch the majestic naval battle from the best seats.
After all, they were the ones doing it now.
Gan was in a hurry and couldn't help.
He only had a huge hull and a huge cannon, so he could only watch his own side fall into a disadvantage.
"Sir, the enemy has a huge cannon that we don't know about, and we may not be able to withstand it," Captain Lucas said.
Dominguez, who was silently observing the battle situation with a telescope, did not say anything.
He was not a newbie on the battlefield.
Of course he knew that his side was destroyed by the opponent's heavy artillery, but now he could only hope for a miracle to happen, what else could he expect
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