After more than an hour of chasing and artillery battle (one-sided), at this time, nearly half of the armed merchant ships in Preila's fleet had been sunk or damaged by the Li fleet, and they began to stay in twos and threes or fall behind. On the sea, the sailors were busy carrying out emergency repairs or rescuing the crew members who fell into the water because the hull was burned, blown up or sank.
Later, after half of the ships were sunk and damaged by the Li family fleet's "kite" bombardment from a distance, the armed merchant fleet, which currently had only a little more than half left, had to subconsciously slow down their respective ships. Speed up and try to stay farther away from the five devil-like ships of the Li family to avoid those terrible cannonballs from falling on their heads.
Because during this more than an hour of naval battle (being beaten), they had already discovered in despair that with their large and medium-sized two-masted triangular sails and North Sea three-masted square sail merchant ships, they would definitely not be able to catch up with that ship. Five giant battleships with slender lines and many masts and sails!
Even if you continue to chase forcefully, will it just increase casualties?
Therefore, they began to slow down and pretended to continue chasing behind them. They gradually distanced themselves and spread out. They no longer maintained a tight formation, but watched as the seven ships in front of them had already caught up. , the battleship has been caught up to a distance of about 700 or 800 yards.
So, the current situation becomes:
Five second-class three-masted North Sea battleships led by Malay Governor Preila and two second-class battleships led by Swedish Navy Admiral Hedram headed towards the Li family in two different directions. The fleet attacked and was about to catch up and get into a suitable bombardment distance.
According to the performance of the cannons of the seven battleships, as long as they enter 600 yards, they can fire back. Although the hit rate and power of the cannonballs cannot be guaranteed, they can at least get rid of the situation where they were passively beaten but unable to fight back.
Once it is close to four hundred yards, the shells of the seven battleships will definitely damage the five huge battleships of the Li family and cause considerable damage!
And when we get closer to two hundred yards, it will be the final moment of victory!
At that time, once the Li family fleet is dragged down by the seven battleships of their own, the remaining thirty or so armed merchant ships behind them can swarm up and completely encircle the enemy ship by taking advantage of the large number of people on board. Whether it's a siege, artillery attack or gang-hopping, they are absolutely sure to win easily!
Yes, that’s what they thought. Whether it was the Malay Governor Preila, the Swedish Navy Admiral Hedram, or the captains of the armed merchant ships behind them, they all thought so in a tacit understanding. Yes, after all, that was the only chance they had left to win.
"Eh?"
|˛˙꒳˙)?
When the enemy's captains or governors unanimously hoped that a certain battle plan would succeed, on the flagship of the Li family fleet, a certain bad little girl Admiral also discovered some boring plots of the enemy.
"Look!"
ꉂ(๑¯͒ꇴ¯͒)
"The large fleet behind them seems to have slowed down. Now only those seven warships dare to catch up!"
o(´▽｀)o
What Anne saw with her telescope, behind on the left, more than 800 yards away, were the two poor second-class battleships. The commander above seemed to be the one she had robbed in Ji'adin. The white-haired weird uncle of a first-tier battleship?
A little closer to the right and behind, maybe only more than 700 yards away, were five other battleships. As for the commanders above, she said she didn't recognize any of them!
"Annie..."
"They are getting closer and closer, and there are a lot of artillery on them. What should we do?"
Song Yifeng also saw it through the telescope.
At this time, the warships that were chasing after them from the large fleet began to open their own gun doors and launch those dark artillery. If the distance was not enough, and the three parties were now heading northeast to take advantage of the crosswind, If they had no way to turn, they were afraid that the other side would probably use the side cannon to blast towards them.
"Admiral!"
"It looks like they want to flank us. Do they need to speed up?"
Of course the first officer standing behind Annie and Song Yifeng also understood the enemy's conspiracy, so he asked directly.
Just now, because they needed to keep a distance and bombard the large fleet of armed merchant ships, they did not turn the sail to an optimal sailing angle. The current speed of the ship was not the fastest, but if necessary, they could still Continuing to accelerate, the warships chasing behind them could only watch in despair as the distance between them grew farther and farther.
Anyway, the first mate felt that they could accelerate farther away first, then turn around and fire a volley at the opponent, and then continue to accelerate and turn to fire. In this way, within a few rounds, they would definitely be able to injure or injure the opponent. Sink the few enemy ships that want to rush up to intercept and bombard them.
"Well……"
(๑վ‸վ๑)
"No need to bother!"
|ू•ૅω•́)ᵎᵎ
"Let's turn directly to the southeast, use the cannon on the starboard side to knock out the five warships first, then go back and deal with the other two ships, and finally the group of armed merchant ships at the end!"
↜(ψ｀▽′)o
After just thinking about it for less than two seconds, Annie quickly made up her mind.
"ah?"
"But, Grand Admiral, if that happens, the enemy ships will also have the opportunity to fire on us!"
The first mate seemed a little hesitant, because after a moment's calculation in his mind, he realized that if they didn't first distance themselves and speed up before turning, after they completed the first round of bombardment, they would definitely enter the enemy's path while sailing southeast. At that time, two to three hundred shells may hit their Li family's fleet at a distance of about 400 to 500 yards!
Although he didn't know the accuracy of the enemy's bombardment, in his opinion, they had a small number of ships and a big target. It would be very, very disadvantageous and stupid to simply compete with the enemy. It would be better to continue to rely on them like they just did. Catching the enemy from afar at high speed, destroying the enemy's vitality bit by bit until the enemy collapses!
"Don't worry, they have no chance!"
(•‾̑⌣‾̑•)✧˖°
"Because this time, I have to personally direct the bombardment!"
₍₍٩(ᐛ)۶₎₎♪
After saying that, after giving the order, little Annie left the command post with a cheer, ran directly to the gun emplacement on the uppermost deck, and then began to yell at the artillerymen, asking them to adjust the muzzle height according to her order.
"..."
"Send the Admiral's order!"
"Turn! Southeast!"
"Full speed ahead!!"
It was definitely risky to turn and bombard before the distance was established. However, the first mate couldn't care less at the moment and could only bite the bullet and issue the order given by Anne.
However, he also took the opportunity to issue an order to advance at full speed. Even if they were bombarded by an enemy ship later, they could quickly and dexterously get rid of the enemy ship by using a speed much faster than the enemy.
"The whole ship obeys the order!"
"Turn southeast and prepare for bombardment!"
"Turn southeast and prepare for bombardment!!"
The order was conveyed layer by layer, and then, with the flag hoisted, under the guidance of the flagship 'Xiang Feihu', the five warships changed from crosswind to tailwind, and then rowed smoothly on the sea. A long white arc was drawn out, and at the same time, their starboard muzzle gradually aimed towards the five enemy ships on the right that wanted to flank them.
"Raise the muzzles twice together!"
٩(ˊ〇ˋ*)و
"I wonder how many times it is?"
(*¯ㅿ¯*;)
"Just raise it a little bit, and a little bit more, yes, that's it, keep it up and be ready to listen to other people's commands!"
o(*｀ー´)o
"Over there!"
☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ
"Move your muzzle a little to the right, just a little... Okay! Just don't move like this!"
ε٩(๑⌓̈๑)۶з
Behind the line of artillery on the deck, a certain bad little girl, the Admiral, left her post without permission and ran directly to the position of the gunnery commander on this floor, and directed the gunners to operate.
After she finished adjusting, she grabbed the gunnery commander's flag, stood directly on a powder keg, and began to wait for the enemy ships to appear on their side bombardment line.
"preparation……"
!(;ﾟoﾟ)o
"Fire!!"
o(*｀ー´)o
Anne calculated the amount of advance, including the speed, angle, wind direction and speed of the five enemy ships. Finally, after reaching a certain point, she gave the order boldly. At the same time, those ships that had already been burning red The gunners who had prepared iron sticks stabbed the guys in their hands into the medicine nest.
boom! boom!
boom! boom! boom!
The deafening rumble of artillery fire sounded. After bursts of black smoke, flames and sparks, the shells followed a black trajectory and blasted towards the enemy's ships one after another.
"!!"
"this……"
At this time, on the command podium, the first mate who was still hesitant and Song Yifeng, who had been worried, were shocked to see that those artillery shells, except for the gunners on the two levels below, were firing a little scattered and inaccurately. The shells of nearly fifty cannons on the top deck were accurately aimed at the five enemy ships?
Soon, they also saw that under the cover of artillery shells, clouds of fire, thick smoke, and faint screams came from the enemy's ships.
The leading ship suffered the most shells. A huge hole was made directly on the waterline of the bow on the right side of the ship. Then the speed slowed down, and the main mast of the other ship was simply blown off. .
But, this is not the end.
Because the remaining four ships following their flagship also began to fire one after another, causing the first round of six hundred shells to continuously bombard the enemy ship one after another, completely covering the enemy ship in the overwhelming shells. In the rain.
"..."
At this time, Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy, who was originally chasing on the left side of the Li family fleet, of course saw through the telescope the disaster that Preila's battle fleet was suffering, and saw dense shells surrounding the friendly fleet. There were sprays of water or simply bursts of fire and flying wood debris on the deck or hull.
"this!"
"The distance should be less than seven hundred yards. At this distance, their shelling seems to have become more accurate and powerful..."
"It's over!"
"There is absolutely no chance of winning..."
"Is that the true strength of the Ming Empire's navy? Even if their empire is about to fall, their navy can still crush us Westerners?"
Hedram sighed sadly, and began to think of the legendary Zheng family fleet of the Ming Dynasty (Zheng He) in his mind.
It is said that as early as more than two hundred years ago, before Westerners began to conduct large-scale voyages, the Zheng family of the Ming Empire organized more than a thousand large and small ships and tens of thousands of people to conduct a mighty voyage. A long voyage and sailed all the way to the east coast of Africa?
But now, more than two hundred years have passed, and the Ming Dynasty's fleet is still so strong...
No, even stronger!
Hedram saw with his own eyes that Preila's battle fleet was almost destroyed after just one round of bombardment. The flagship flagship among them had already begun to take in water and tilt. It was obviously hopeless. , and the four battleships behind also suffered heavy losses and were in chaos. One of them even directly hoisted a white flag, and then began to flee against the wind to the north, dragging fire and smoke.
Therefore, it seems that there is really no need to continue this battle.
"Order!"
"Turn around, let's retreat!"
Since there was no hope of victory, he had no choice but to close his eyes in pain, and then he hesitated and had to give the order to retreat to his first mate.
As for the Portuguese Malay Governor Preila who was in danger and the large fleet organized by Preila behind him, he could not take care of it for the time being.
boom! boom!
boom! boom! boom!
When Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy ordered their two battleships to turn around and prepare to escape, Governor Preila's battle fleet was still under heavy bombardment from the enemy, and the shells, smoke and fire were all gone. The four ships below were shrouded inside.
…
Half a day later.
The largest naval battle that has ever occurred in the Southeast Asia, which took place in the waters between Brunei and Malacca at 3º north latitude and 111º east longitude, lasted for more than four hours and then gradually came to an end.
As for the victor, it was obviously not the sixty-seven ships led by the Portuguese Malay Governor Doalate Lopez de Preila, which consisted of a small number of battleships and a large number of large and medium-sized North Sea three-masted square sails and multi-masted triangles. The fleet was a mixture of armed merchant ships converted from sailing ships, but it was the Li family's super battleship fleet with only five pitiful battleships!
What's more, what's frightening is that the Li family's fleet actually won the final victory in the great sea battle unscathed and with an absolutely crushing attitude?
In short, after the Li family's fleet sank more than ten ships and damaged more than thirty ships, the rest simply fled in a hurry, while those whose hulls were damaged, tilted, leaked, or had their masts broken If the sails of the ship were burned and they really couldn't escape, they would have to hoist the white flag and declare unconditional surrender after the Li family's fleet came back to catch up.
In this battle, the last statistics of the Li family fleet were that they had sunk 18 enemy ships (including five battleships and 13 armed merchant ships), captured 22 ships (including two battleships), and the rest Twenty-seven ships fled without a trace, but our own side was not damaged at all. Only a few sailors were burned on their hands and arms by the hot gun barrels. An epic victory!
Admiral Hedram of the Swedish Navy did not run away. The two almost intact second-level battleships that were captured belonged to him. After discovering that their speed could not match the Li family fleet that was pursuing them at full speed, they only He was able to surrender without a fight and delivered the entire battle fleet into the hands of the Li family.
Before dusk fell, after capturing all the people and ships that could be captured, it was discovered that there were too few ships to pursue the enemy's Li fleet, so they had no choice but to escort those who had been captured, not far or near, and several The ship, which was twice their size, returned to Brunei Port leisurely.
…
But when the war broke out here in Nanyang, Li Huamei's Li family's main fleet, which consisted of three large blessing ships and four or five medium-sized blessing ships, slowly left the dock of Basra port after completing supplies. Head out along the Channel and prepare to head to Africa.
"Admiral!"
"The Woodin Chamber of Commerce invited us to fight against Nagopur. This is a great opportunity to open up the situation. Are we really going to leave like this?"
Standing in front of the bow of the ship, looking at the giant Arab ships docked in the harbor in the distance, James Ludwig asked reluctantly.
"..."
"James, there's nothing we can do about it!"
"We only have these few ships, and Woodin himself does not have much advantage. It is not a good idea to rashly intervene in the dispute between them and consume our strength."
"Anyway, let's go to Africa first!"
As she pondered, looking at the giant ships belonging to the Wooding family in the dock, Li Huamei seemed to be slightly tempted, but in the end she made up her mind with regret and shook her head. This was just like the Abraham Yi Wen she had rejected before. ·What she had in mind when she invited Wooding, and the strength of the Wooding family's fleet was by no means a reason for her to stay and participate.
That Nagopur is a big businessman who rules and dominates the Indian Ocean area. He is also a local lord with land advantages. In addition, he has some connections with the Dutch and Portuguese, so it is best for her not to get involved easily. , was used as a gunman.
"All right!"
"But Africa is also difficult. It has been carved up by European countries a long time ago. We can't gain a foothold there. And if you don't want to do hard trade, Admiral, our goods won't be sold at a good price there."
James Ludwig still felt a little regretful, but he couldn't persuade the admiral Li Huamei too much.
"It doesn't matter!"
"Even if there is no chance, let's just think of it as expanding our routes. It's always a good idea to go for a walk!"
Smiling softly and tucking her hair around her ears, Li Huamei did not take James' concerns to heart, because she also knew that Africa was a wild land with almost no civilized countries, and those Kunlun Slave is basically useless, and she won't stay there for too long.
"When we get to Europe, we can buy a few more big ships and go to the New World!"
"If we continue to do business and sail like this, by the time we return to the Ming Dynasty, there may be more than a dozen or even twenty medium-sized and large-scale ships. By then, it won't be a big deal to eliminate the islanders and the Japanese pirates. question."
"With the ship and the elimination of Laidao, with our home field advantage in East Asia, the Dutch and Portuguese will definitely not be able to compete with us!"
"At that time, we will have the capital to negotiate with them and demand market share in Nanyang!"
Facing the warm sea breeze of the Persian Gulf, Li Huamei confidently spoke out her grand plan.
The Ming court and those officials were ignorant and restricted, targeted and suppressed their Li family at every turn, not wanting her Li family to develop and grow. But now, she had broken out of the cage that restricted her and started traveling around the world.
At the current rate, it could be a year and a half at the fastest, or three or four years at the slowest, when she returns to the Ming Dynasty, those people will find that they can't restrain her no matter what!
"The admiral is wise!"
"Then do it!"
"Seconded!"
"Then hurry up and set off, I can't wait!"
"Set off!"
Seeing Li Huamei's high-spirited, fighting and heroic appearance, followers such as Yang Xien, Charles Huisen, James Ludwig, Xingjiu Shiraki, and Yi'an Dukov all cheered loudly. stand up.
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(*^▽^*)♫Please vote for me♪
