The port of Brunei is approximately located at 3o north latitude and 111o east longitude on the chart. It has been operated and plundered by the Portuguese for many years. It mainly produces cardamom and sugar gum. It is a very important port on Portugal's largest island in the Spice Islands. Ports and trade nodes.
However, it is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Malay Governor-General Dorate Lopez de Preila. It has been hung with the flags of the Ming Dynasty and the Li family. The Portuguese officials and some colonial officials in the port were originally Most of the prisoners were expelled and replaced by businessmen and locals from the Li family, plus descendants of the Ming Dynasty, who jointly managed and guarded it.
And this port city (town) closest to Malacca naturally became the primary target of attack by the Malay Governor Preila and his huge fleet.
But fortunately, the preparation and departure of such a large fleet composed of warships and armed merchant ships from Malacca must not be hidden from anyone, so Brunei received the news early, and Brunei immediately sent people He took a speedboat to report the situation to the Li family fleet, which was still in Port Delnate and was preparing to go south to sweep the Spicy Islands.
So, on this day, the five giant ships of the Li family's pioneering fleet, which urgently led the fleet back and resupplied once in Brunei, finally arrived in the Nanyang waters east of Brunei, on the spice route at 20 north latitude and east longitude. In the open sea around 108o, we encountered a large fleet led by the Malay Governor Preila.
Of course, it cannot be said that he encountered him, but that he was found from a distance by the lookouts of the Li family fleet.
That’s right, just looking for it!
Anne Hastur, the Grand Admiral of the Li family's fleet, came here specifically to find the fleet of those aggressive bad guys who wanted to steal her territory! Moreover, she only brought the five super battleships under her command. As for the other ships, she did not bring any of them at all, including the first-class battleship that she expropriated for free. .
She just planned to fight against Preyla's super large fleet alone with only five main battleships!
"Report!"
"Grand Admiral! Discover the fleet of the Malay Governor Preila!"
"Due west!"
"distance……"
"About a hundred miles!"
"Everything you can see from here is sail shadows and flags. The exact number of enemy ships is currently unknown!"
At this time, in the gondola on the high main mast, a lookout with a telescope shouted directly and loudly at someone on the command platform on the deck below who was boringly feeding the fish and seagulls with bread crumbs. shouted the little girl.
"A hundred miles?"
(???.???)????
"Did they finally show up?"
?(????)?
Anne picked up her monocular telescope. She knew that the one hundred miles the other party mentioned was about twenty to thirty nautical miles, which was the farthest distance that could be seen at sea.
When sailing at sea, the length of the visual distance depends entirely on the altitude, the curvature of the earth, and the climate conditions. Theoretically, the maximum visual distance is about 25 nautical miles, but in fact, due to eye height and refraction effects, and here in the South China Sea, It is close to the equator, so under the current excellent climate conditions, the longest distance can generally reach thirty nautical miles, which is about a hundred miles from the Ming Dynasty.
"ah!"
!(;?o?)o
"But I don't seem to have seen anything..."
(?￣?￣)
After giving it a try, Anne soon gave up.
Because at her height, her sight was definitely not as good as that of the lookout on the main mast, which was dozens of meters high. Therefore, all she could see was the same color as the sky and the sea. Apart from the blue sky, white clouds and the sea level, she could see nothing. did not see.
"I do not have either……"
Song Yifeng also nervously picked up another telescope and looked westward for a while, and then she quickly said as frustrated as Annie.
"Two admirals!"
"The enemy is still a hundred miles away. If we don't change our course, with the current crosswind, the relative speed between us and them will add up to a speed of about ten knots. It will take at least an hour and a half to arrive. Will be within shelling range.”
"At that time, as long as our fleet mainly keeps a distance, pays attention to the course and wind direction, and takes advantage of our ship speed, bombardment accuracy and bombardment distance, no matter how many enemy ships there are, we will not be afraid!"
At this time, the first mate next to him spoke proudly.
He knew that in this era, the maximum shelling distance of Western cannons and heavy long-barreled cannons running on the sea was about four hundred yards, but in actual battles, they had to be at least within two hundred yards, which was seventy yards. Only about ten feet or even closer can we enter the combat range and ensure the accuracy and lethality of artillery fire.
In other words, the enemy's effective combat distance is about two hundred yards (seventy feet), but it is also possible to take advantage of the large number of ships to start attacking their Li family's fleet from four hundred yards (one hundred and fifty feet) away. To launch a bombardment, they must control the distance between each other and try their best to destroy the enemy ships outside the range of the enemy ships. They also need to pay attention to the course to ensure that they are not surrounded by enemy ships.
Although the five battleships of their Li family fleet are of steel structure, the keel is just a steel structure, and other parts are still made of wooden boards. They will definitely not be able to prevent the enemy from approaching and bombarding them. Once the enemy is close to the area below the waterline, And use artillery to penetrate them, they will only sink faster than ordinary wooden ships!
"There's still another hour and a half?"
=????(???*)
"..."
(?~?)
Annie picked up the telescope and looked at it again, but unfortunately, she still saw nothing. In the distance due west, there were still only blue sky, white clouds and calm sea.
"So slow!"
ε=(′ο｀*)))Alas!
"Then go and ask the sailor artillerymen to prepare in advance. The enemy must have seen us now. We'd better take a nap first and get up again when the bombardment is about to start."
(?￣? ￣?) Hehe!
Waiting like a fool here for an hour and a half, which is a full three hours, Anne would definitely not do such a stupid thing, so she threw the telescope in her hand into the first mate's arms, She was ready to give up.
"That's it!"
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A certain troubled little girl left her command podium and ran towards her largest captain's cabin on the deck below.
"yes!"
"Yes!!"
The first mate saluted, but he didn't take those enemies seriously, and he didn't care that the enemy was in front of him, but his first admiral had to go back and take a nap.
"Second Admiral!"
"It's still early, you can go back and rest for an hour!"
The first mate saw that the sailors and artillerymen were now cleaning the barrels of the guns, fetching water from the sea, and carrying the shells and powder barrels in an orderly manner, preparing for the next battle. The morale was very high, and then later After getting ready, there was still a lot of time to eat, drink and rest together, so there was really nothing for him to worry about and keep an eye on now.
"I can't sleep..."
"I heard that the Malay Governor Preyla is said to have prepared more than sixty warships. We only have five here. How can you let me sleep?"
"The opponent is not the armored ships and small sampans that come to the island to fight with each other, but dozens of warships..."
"Although it may be a little smaller than ours, the number is still much larger."
Song Yifeng was really worried, because now their opponents were not the Japanese pirates who only swarmed up the island's house because they only had a few cannons and the range was pitifully short, but now their enemies were the Westerners who had strong ships and powerful guns. It is very likely that the number of cannons is definitely no less than that of their five ships!
When they attacked the Japanese kingdom and pacified the Laidao family, they had ten ships, but now there are only five ships left here, while the enemy has dozens of ships, and they are all warships. Compared with the original The big and small broken boats that came to Laidao's house were completely different. How could she not be worried?
"No!"
"They will not have more than ten warships, and the others are all armed merchant ships, so there is no need to worry at all!"
the first mate said proudly.
Although there is no clear distinction between armed merchant ships and warships in this era, and the performance difference between ships is also very small, as long as the ship is equipped with cannons and the gun door is opened, it is not bad to be called a warship, but , in order to take care of the mood of the second admiral in front of him, the first mate still comforted him with such gentle words.
"Is that so?"
"But I always feel a little scared..."
As she said that, Song Yifeng picked up the monocular in her hand and looked towards the end of the sea level. Then to her surprise, she could faintly see a little bit of the mast.
"one two three……"
"Seventeen, eighteen..."
"ah!"
"I can count the flags on the top of the masts of a dozen ships now!"
Looking at it, Song Yifeng couldn't help but exclaimed and started to worry.
Looking from a distance now, she could see more than a dozen ships. After an hour or two, she might see how many ships would appear in her sight.
"..."
The first mate also raised his eyes and looked due west where the fleet was moving, but he could not see anything without a telescope.
"It's still early, Miss Song, why don't you go take a rest?"
"rest assured!"
"When the battle is about to begin, I will definitely send someone to inform you and the Grand Admiral."
The first mate was a little impatient. He didn't want the second admiral in front of him to sigh here and affect his morale.
In this regard, in his opinion, their great admiral did it better?
Their great admiral's attitude of being careless and arrogant (heartless), never taking any enemy seriously, and even knowing that the enemy's fleet is coming, is still ready to attack head-on, is the most powerful thing. Motivating morale.
"All right……"
"There's no need for you to call me, I'll keep track of the time myself."
Sighing, seeing that there was indeed nothing going on here, and seeing that she really couldn't be of much help, Song Yifeng had no choice but to go down the spiral staircase, preparing to go to their common room like Annie. Stay quiet for a while in the largest captain's room.
…
Three hours later, sixty-seven large and small warships led by the Portuguese Malay Governor Doalate Lopez de Preila finally appeared a kilometer away from the Li family's pitiful fleet of five warships. outside.
At this time, the fleet on the Malay Governor's side was divided into the main fleet consisting of fifty-four battleships at the front, followed about a nautical mile behind by thirteen ships led by Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy. A squadron of battleships.
They were so majestic, with their sails covering the sky and the sun. The sailors on the ship were gearing up one by one and pounced ferociously towards the five ships in front of the Li family fleet, which although they looked really big, were somewhat lonely.
"strangeness……"
"The distance is at least a thousand yards away. Why did the Li fleet change course and prepare for bombardment?"
At this time, Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy, who was following behind, saw through his telescope that the Li family fleet directly raised all the sails at a relatively far distance and completed the turn using the crosswind.
What he saw was that the opponent made a big arc. Those beautiful hulls neatly drew a big circle on the sea following the flagship in front of them, and then maintained the same course and angle as their fleet. Sailing to the northeast, they opened the cannon doors facing them one by one and pushed out the cannons inside.
"Are you really planning to fire from a thousand yards away?"
"No……"
"That's at least eleven hundred yards left!"
"What's the use of that kind of shelling?"
Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy was a little confused. Although the enemy ship took advantage of the situation and changed its course at a distance to go in the same direction as them, forcing them to pursue and then unable to use their numerical advantage to outflank, he did not understand that the opponent What's the use of shelling at a distance of more than a thousand yards?
In his opinion, it takes at least three hundred yards of shelling to ensure the shooting accuracy, and about one hundred yards to ensure the absolute lethality of the shelling!
"strangeness!"
"Isn't it said that these Li family fleets are actually the navy of the Ming Dynasty in disguise?"
"But……."
"Why is their Royal Navy so good?"
Hedram, who was following the rear of the fleet and was at least 3,000 yards away from the enemy ship, unable to catch up or hit him, did not order the sailors to enter combat positions. He just continued to follow while paying close attention with binoculars. Follow every move of the enemy ship.
"!!"
"Really, did you open fire?!"
Suddenly, in the telescope, Hedram saw that the Li family's fleet actually used that small angle to open fire on the fleet in front of them.
"Who are they directing? This is just a joke..."
However, as the enemy ship's gun ports protruded from the muzzles of fire and black smoke, Hedram soon discovered that along with the roaring sound of the cannons, the sharp whistling of the cannonballs also quickly came, and immediately after, his eyes widened, and he was frightened back before he even finished speaking.
It is said that each ship of the Li family fleet has two hundred and forty-eight heavy cannon rapid-fire cannons?
Therefore, he certainly knew that the opponent had a full 120 cannons on each side. He also knew that the opponent could fire a full 600 shells in one salvo. However, the opponent was more than a thousand yards away. In his opinion, it would be good if more than a dozen of them could hit the decks of several ships headed by the general and make a few craters, but that would be a complete waste of ammunition!
But no idea...
"!!"
boom! boom! boom!
boom! boom!
At this time, he actually saw that rounds of heavy solid artillery shells or expensive explosive shells were directly densely and accurately smashed down in the front line of the Malay Governor Preila's main fleet, except for three About two-thirds of it hit the sea water and made high splashes, while the rest was accurately pierced into the decks or sides of the ships, creating large holes one by one, or even the entire Explode?
At this moment, at the front of the fleet in front, whistling cannonballs rained down one after another. At the least, wooden spikes were flying, and people were turned upside down. At worst, the masts and sails were broken, and flames flashed. What's more, some ships The ship didn't know whether it was due to the detonation of the gunpowder barrel or the exploding bombs, but bursts of fire exploded on the deck and cabin, and soon the entire ship was instantly enveloped in thick smoke and fire.
"not good!"
"quick!"
"Send the order!"
"Don't worry about those ten armed merchant ships. Let our battleship speed up with full sail and rush forward. We must intercept them!!"
Seeing this, I saw that the Malay Governor Preila's fleet lost two ships under a round of enemy bombardment. After damaging several ships, I discovered that the accuracy of the naval guns carried by the enemy ships was beyond imagination. Hedram immediately exclaimed, and then hurriedly ordered the three second-level battleships under his command to break away from the ten slow-moving armed merchant ships behind him, and speed up directly through the waves with full sail, intending to use the power of the three battleships under his command. , worked hard to intercept the Li family fleet.
He must do that, otherwise, if this continues, everything will be lost!
At this time, Portugal's Malay Governor-General Doalate Lopez de Preila apparently also saw the seriousness of the problem like Hedram.
Therefore, the battleships they led quickly accelerated and gradually separated from the pursuing fleet. They went directly from the other direction, preparing to cooperate with Hedram to rush up to intercept and flank the five ships that seemed to want to fight. Use ultra-long-range advanced cannons to destroy their hateful Ming ships.
boom! boom! boom!
boom! boom!
However, the Li family fleet did not pay attention to the battleships that had left the fleet. Instead, after the reloading was completed, it launched a second round of bombardment against Preila's fleet, directly injuring them again. Several ships, one of which was directly submerged in the flames and lying on the sea, seemed to be completely scrapped.
"Help~!!"
"quick!"
"jump down!!"
"The Juneflower's mast is broken, let them be responsible for rescuing people, and other ships continue to move forward!"
"keep going!"
"Quick! We must close the distance!!"
"Leave them alone!"
Hedram's ships were obviously much faster than those armed merchant ships. Therefore, after the Li family's fleet completed the second round of bombardment, they finally caught up with the large fleet and directly attacked those few ships because of the sails. Either the hull of the ship was damaged, or it was simply sailing past the ship that burst into flames and exploded.
Looking at the miserable sailing ships and the screaming and howling burning men who were jumping out of the burning armed merchant ship, the sailors on the three second-level battleships couldn't help but flash a flash of light on their faces. A look of uncertainty and fear.
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