The flagships hoisted their flags for battle, and there was a tumult on the decks of the ships, and the sailors and non-commissioned officers stood up and came to the side of the ship in a few steps.The officers in charge of each ship came to the helm tower one after another, covered the sun with their hands, and looked in the direction indicated by the flagship, and there were indeed a group of black spots on the sea in the distance, but they couldn't see it very really."
Take the clairvoyant mirror!"
On each battleship, while observing the enemy ships, the pipe bands commanded the sailors and helmsmen: "Swing the rudder, adjust the sails, and lean on." ”Zheng Chenggong stood on the flagship Weiyuan, continued to observe, and the opposite fleet also found the Ming fleet, which was divided into two groups, one continued to sail northeast, and the other was more than ten warships, which adjusted the direction in an attempt to intercept the Ming fleet approaching.Zheng Chenggong put down the clairvoyant mirror, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, "It seems that the regent's plan has not succeeded, and Wu Sangui's attention has not been attracted to the Western Regions." ”The fleet in front should be the warships transporting troops from the Zhou State to the east, as well as the escort fleet.I don't know how, Zheng Chenggong saw that Zhao Ming's strategy didn't work, and he was a little happy in his heart.The generals on the side also smiled: "The regent is also a human being, so he will also miscalculate."
Besides, Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou have suffered the losses of the regent, how can they be fooled again and again!
”For Yanping Fan, Zhao Ming's feelings are undoubtedly complicated.After all, it was because their faction was defeated that they withdrew from the arena for hegemony in China and were forced to go overseas for development.At this time, the fleet adjusted its course, and the sailors changed the direction of the sails in order to better borrow the wind, and the sail locks on the deck of each warship were very troublesome to adjust, and the ships were suddenly noisy, and the sailors were busy.In a short time, the ships of the Ming army adjusted their orientation, and the fifteen warships and more than a dozen warships on the opposite side were diagonally parallel, and the two fleets continued to narrow the distance like a "figure of eight."
Since defeating the Dutch and Spaniards, the Ming Dynasty has gained maritime supremacy in the East China Sea and the South Seas, and no new power has dared to challenge the Ming Dynasty's maritime supremacy in East Asia.This has a problem, that is, the Ming Dynasty has not fought a sea war for many years, and many Western powers are almost at war with each other for hegemony.Their experience in naval warfare was actually redundant with the Ming Dynasty sailors.Zheng Chenggong fought with the Dutch in the South Seas, and he felt the gap between the Yanping Naval Division and the Dutch Navy.At this time, as the distance was pulled, Zheng Chenggong also became serious, not watching with a clairvoyant mirror, and issuing an order to adjust the direction.At this time, with the two fleets, Xunyou pulled the distance, and the figure of the opposite fleet was gradually clear.These ships were of tonnage, with a displacement of between seven or eight hundred and a thousand tons, and were about the size of the Ming fleet, with a slender hull, three to four masts, and a slash mast in the bow, which stretched out diagonally forward, and hung white soft sails."
Yingyi, Fayi, Dutch!"
Zheng Chenggong saw clearly the flags hanging on the main mast of these ships, and his face was shocked."
These Xiyi are actually all working for Wu Sangui!"
Yang Geng, the general, was also surprised.In the process of fighting the Dutch in Nanyang, Zheng Chenggong gradually gained some understanding of the situation in the Western Zhuyi.The Dutch warships were already strong at sea, but they were defeated by the Yingyi, a Western European power that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Yingyi.Zheng Chenggong turned his head sharply and shouted to the generals on the deck: "The ship orders all ships, the side guns are ready, once it enters the firing range, the ships will gather fire and hit his flagship!"
”The deck was busy, and the non-commissioned officers excitedly reloaded, opened the gun window, and then struggled to push the gun into the gun position.For a while, I saw the gunboats on the side of each gunboat, and the guns of one door stretched out of the ship's side, and the scene was particularly shocking.When the Ming army began to move, the enemy ships on the opposite side also opened their cannon windows, revealing the black hole of the cannon muzzle, and prepared to engage without fear.Half an hour later, the distance between the two fleets was less than four miles, and they were within range of the artillery, but neither side fired a cannon.At this time, the artillery accuracy was not high, and coupled with the movement of ships on both sides, it was difficult for the artillery to hit each other.In the era of front-loading smoothbore guns, the general artillery had a firing range of six miles, but the actual firing range was only half, and there was basically no accuracy if it hit more than two miles.However, because of the firing range, the gunners and sailors on the side of the Ming army were nervous, the gunners held torches, stood by the guns, waiting for the order to shell, and the sailors adjusted the sails so that the side guns could be aimed at the enemy ships.At this time, the distance of the fleet was shortened to two miles, and Zheng Chenggong finally waved his hand and shouted, "Open the gun!"
”The flag was hoisted, the ship's whistle sounded, and the gunners immediately lowered the torch to the fire door.There was a loud "boom", the cannon body retreated suddenly, and the deck trembled."
Boom, boom!"
Immediately afterwards, the broadside guns, opened fire in turn, and one after the other retreated into the gun window.In an instant, the side of the Ming fleet rose up with clouds of white smoke, like clouds floating on the sea.Fifteen Ming warships, in turn, fired a salvo, nearly 500 shells, whistling towards the enemy fleet two miles away.The shells were close to the surface of the sea, flying at great speed, and some of them burrowed into the water before they could get close to the enemy fleet, splashing into the sky.A column of water, around the enemy fleet, rose into the sky, and an enemy ship was hit by a cannonball, which exploded on the ship, and suddenly thick black smoke rose.At this time, the hit rate of naval artillery was extremely low, and even in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle hundreds of years later, the huge cannons of the steam ironclad battleships hit less than 20%.If a front-loading smoothbore gun fires, a hundred shots may not be able to hit, but if the sideboard guns on the third deck of the battleship fire a salvo, they will shoot a row of guns on the land, and dozens of shells will be thrown out at the same time to achieve a range attack, and they will always be hit by so many shots.Seeing that the enemy ship was hit, there was a burst of cheers on the Ming battleship, but Zheng Chenggong shouted urgently: "Quick, reload quickly, shoot again!"
”The Ming army's broadside guns were empty, and it was the turn of the enemy ships to counterattack.Before the Ming army reloaded, the Ming fleet could only be bombarded by the enemy like a target, and had no ability to fight back.Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to train more than usual to see who is of higher quality and can shoot more artillery.At this time, the gunners of the Ming army were skillfully loading, and the enemy fleet on the opposite side suddenly "boomed", and a cloud of white smoke erupted from the side of the ship, followed by the enemy ships, firing in turn, and the naval guns fired a salvo.On the flagship of the Weiyuan, Zheng Chenggong only felt the sea tremble, and saw countless black cannonballs, shooting towards the fleet with a sharp roar.One after another, the shells fell into the water, and the "boom" brought up a splash to the sky.Hundreds of shells, the roaring naval battle, Zheng Chenggong experienced it for the first time, and deep down, he felt extremely shocked.The warships of the Ming army were hit by enemy shells one after another, and the smoke of gunpowder on the ships and the screams of the non-commissioned officers made the naval non-commissioned officers a little flustered."
Quick!
Load!
Fight back!
”A roar came to mind on the ship.The soldiers on the deck were awakened, turned their heads to look at the source of the sound, and saw Zheng Chenggong's figure standing on the helm tower, motionless."
Reload!"
Seeing this, the officer was encouraged, and immediately roared loudly.()