The Countess of Scarborough has been sailing close to the high point. It slowly sailed into the bay along with the tide. At the same time, it continued to fire cannon fire. Those white light beams always illuminated the ship. The Orientals on the shore obviously put their ship behind them. As the main target of attack, cannonballs kept flying towards him. Fortunately, the enemy did not have heavy cannons. The strong oak hull of the Spanish galleon withstood the bombardment of most of the cannonballs, and only a few of the cannonballs penetrated the ship's planks. However, the shells killed many sailors. The deck was littered with bodies with severed hands, legs, and heads missing, and blood flowed from the gutters on the deck. Aragones couldn't stand it anymore: if the fight continued like this, he might have to go back to Manila if he didn't replenish Chinese sailors on the spot.
"This devil's beam of light!" Aragones saw the sound of the curse, "Haven't you succeeded yet?" He asked Lisya again. Her usually calm face was a little twitchy. In addition to the Spanish artillery fire, Liu Xiang invested a lot of money this time. The people who landed on the ground were all old bandits, many of them were desperadoes and deserters from the navy. Based on her experience, the Countess of Scarborough's firepower is unparalleled on the coast of China. Although it may not be able to kill Liu Xiang in a naval battle as he boasted, suppressing the firepower along the coast is still not a problem. , and with the cooperation of this group of capable pirates, seizing the ship was a sure thing—unexpectedly, the carefully planned plan was not much better than Zhu Cailao's end.
Suddenly there was a distinctive sharp whistling sound in the air. The two of them were startled. A pointed bullet penetrated the side of the gun solidly. Wood chips, blood and body parts flew out from the gap, and screams filled their ears.
"fire!"
Following Bai Yu's command, another 7omm pointed bullet roared out of the muzzle. The four 7omm rifled cannons on the two fishing boats that had been modified stared at the Countess of Scarborough and fired in turn. The power of pointed armor-piercing bullets is several times that of round bullets, and no matter how thick an oak board is, it cannot stop them.
The Countess of Scarborough finally couldn't withstand it. This sudden shell destroyed almost an entire side of the bulwark of the Spanish galleon. 9 of the 16 cannons were completely unable to fire, and more than half of the gunners below the deck were killed or injured.
"Send the firework signal and retreat." Aragones finally gave the order to retreat. Although the tide has not yet begun to ebb, it will not be easy to withdraw from the harbor, but if we do not retreat now, I am afraid we will never be able to withdraw again. Let's leave the alliance with Liu Xiang to meet the devil for the time being. Aragones, who lost his ship and had his entire family enslaved on it, was penniless. What awaited him was the wrath of the Governor of Manila and the prison prepared for him by his creditors.
"Captain, we still have a few rowboats that haven't returned yet—"
"Never mind those filthy natives, turn the wheel!"
"There aren't enough sailors in the rowing boats."
"Get all the people who can move to row!" Aragones became furious, "Go quickly!"
Dozens of sailors slid onto the rowing boats along the cables. Driven by the oars, the Spanish galleon turned the rudder with difficulty and began to retreat. Aragones ordered the cannons that could fire to continue firing, firstly to suppress the enemy to some extent, and secondly to consume more ammunition - the lighter the ship when escaping, the better.
"Devil!" He gritted his teeth and said to the huge ship shadow in the depths of the harbor, feeling a huge chill in his heart.
Lisya stood beside him. She had wanted to stop Aragones' retreat. Once he ran away, the cannons on Gang Leader Liu's five brigs could no longer suppress the enemy. Buried here. But now was not the time to show loyalty, so she pocketed the hood of her cloak and retreated down the ship's deck inconspicuously.
The retreat of the Spanish caused the pirates in the harbor to completely lose their fighting spirit. Two of the five brigs had been sunk by artillery in the harbor during the battle. The other three saw the Spanish fleeing and followed suit. A ship suddenly exploded while escaping, sending fireworks into the sky. The pirates on the shore were immediately in disarray. Many of them dropped their weapons and rushed towards the rowboats and sampans on the beach. At one time, fierce fighting broke out next to the few sampans, and many people were killed. The small boats crowded with escapees were already difficult to control in the chaos and turbulence. When the cross-country military rifles that pursued them to the sea continued to fire, some small boats capsized, and the sea was full of floating and struggling human heads. Seeing that the situation was not good, some of the remaining people fled into the nearby mangroves to survive.
As the people from all walks of life were gradually integrated, the communication and command became smoother. A platoon of emergency reinforcements from Bairen City also arrived. Xi Yazhou led the soldiers all the way to Bo Pu. He was in a state of confusion and did not know what the port was like. On the road, I heard the sound of gunfire and saw the searchlights dancing wildly, which was very scary. I'm afraid that the people traveling through it have already suffered heavy casualties.
When I arrived at the camp, I saw that the surroundings were in a mess. When I saw Wu De, I realized that there were currently twenty or thirty people injured, most of them minor injuries, and there were many casualties among native laborers and soldiers.
Because the sky was still dark, the enemy and we were engaged in another melee just now. After arriving, all the troops were stationed at various intersections and key points to guard against the enemy's escape or a second attack. They waited until the sky cleared before making a decision. Li Haiping suggested moving the fishing boat, chasing it out of the harbor, and sinking or simply capturing the foreign ship. However, everyone felt that the current situation was unclear, so they stayed on the defensive for the time being.
While discussing the next step of action, cleaning the battlefield and treating the wounded, they suddenly heard a noise, followed by the sound of cannons, gunshots and shouts. After more than ten minutes, the sound stopped completely, and occasionally one or two shots were heard. Scream.
It turned out that the pirates who had gathered in the mangroves saw that the situation was not good and tried to rush out and escape. As a result, they were massacred by the surrounding marines and artillery that were waiting for them. They were all killed, and the injured were also given a bayonet.
After an hour of fierce fighting, the fire in Bobu Harbor gradually extinguished. Only a brig that exploded with gunpowder was still burning and floating on the water, with various wreckage and corpses floating on the water. More than half of the approximately 400 Chinese and foreign pirates who boarded 6 will never see the sun again tomorrow. Wounded people were everywhere, and wails and screams arose one after another. The medical team and nurses from the health school who were transferred from Bairen City were extremely busy.
While Wu De sent people to put out the fire, he also mobilized migrant workers and necessary materials from Bairen City to clean up the battlefield. I personally went to an isolation and quarantine camp, which housed hundreds of men, women, and children who had migrated from Baitu. In the fierce battle just now, some shells were hit here, part of the building was destroyed, and more than ten people were injured or killed. There was panic in the camp. Wu De comforted everyone, telling them that pirates were attacking and had been repulsed, and asked the stretcher team to carry out the wounded for treatment.
After the sky dimmed, people from all walks of life began to clear the surrounding area on a large scale. However, there were not many living people left, and less than fifty people were captured. Those who were seriously injured did not bother the traversers to fight their consciences, and the New Army soldiers stabbed each one one by one. Everything was taken care of, and only those who could walk to the dressing room on their own could survive.
The members of the executive committee were patrolling the beach under the protection of the navy. After a fierce battle all night, everyone felt that they had survived a catastrophe, and many of them looked pale. Generally speaking, there was much less vomiting than after the first repulse of the siege in the county. It seems that everyone has gradually become accustomed to the bloody scenes. It is the soldiers of the New Army, although most of them are fighting for the first time, and they are not familiar with the bloody scenes. Just like turning a blind eye - people in this time and space have seen too many scenes of death and have long been used to it.
As he walked, Ma Qianzhu chatted with others and encouraged everyone's morale. In his opinion, such an intense battle is just the beginning, and there will be more severe tests waiting for them in the future.
"Commissioner Ma, the battle statistics are out." The work of the Planning Commission has always been known for its precision, efficiency and ruthlessness.
Ma Qianzhu looked through it and said to everyone: "We suffered serious losses in this battle."
Everyone fell down.
"Don't look so funny." Ma Qianzhu patted the folder in his hand angrily, "If you think the hundreds of iron knives, several matchlock guns, and a dozen leaky sampans that were seized are worth the Can we beat the 1900 bullets, 214 shells and hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder we consumed?" He finally added, "20 New Army soldiers died, 15 workers, and 10 people were seriously injured and disabled."
The final number of casualties is indeed a bit shocking. The New Army soldiers are the seeds of the future army that they have carefully trained. It is really heartbreaking to lose them like this. The workers can at least speak a few Mandarin and have adapted to the way of working here. A basic level of trust has been established.
"These plagued pirates!" Li Haiping felt extremely distressed because of the heavy losses suffered by the navy in the battle.
"You insist on training your own sailors. Are you not training enough? You still have to rely on to fight the war on the ground -"
Before Wei Aiwen finished speaking, he saw the navy glaring at him angrily, as if they wanted to eat him alive.
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Xi Yazhou quickly interjected: "What are these useless things doing now? Let's review the battle carefully, fix the loopholes, and see what to do in the future."
"The navy must be expanded to at least two companies," Li Haiping immediately proposed. "Bopu's defense tasks are too heavy, the duty points are too scattered, and the forts have to be managed."
Ma Qianzhu stopped Wei Aiwen, who was about to speak again, and said: "The vacancies in the navy must be filled immediately, and the issue of military expansion must be considered comprehensively. Let's talk about the fortification of Bopu first."
Bopu's defense was still weak, with a small number of forts and insufficient heavy artillery. The Lingao beacon tower showed its great value in the battle. Not only did it monitor the entire battlefield from a high position, it could report battlefield trends anytime and anywhere. The searchlights also played an excellent role in lighting the battlefield. In comparison, the effect of the 12-pounder gun appears to be much limited. The artillery team believed that the cannons on the fort should be larger than 24 pounds. Several heavy cannons cast by the traversers were limited to hoisting capabilities and could not be transported to the beacon tower. Instead, they were erected on temporary forts next to the trestle. Facts have proved that this The defense level of this hastily built fort was too poor, and there was not enough infantry cover. It was quickly captured by the enemy during the battle, and more than a dozen sailors were all killed, causing the largest casualties in this battle.
The 12-pounder mountain howitzer once again demonstrates its great value. The mobility that can be dragged by three or four people makes it the most reliable area-killing weapon for time travellers. Lin Shenhe pointed out that if 1 or 2 mountain grenades could be equipped next to the two temporary artillery forts, the artillery forts might not be captured so quickly.
Li Di, Bai Yu and other gunners also pointed out that there were too few types of artillery shells, solid shells had limited damage to enemy ships, and shotgun shells could only exert their lethality very close to the enemy.
"If there are no grenades, at least there must be incendiary bombs, and oh, by the way, chain bombs."
"Well, if we have chain bombs, we can knock off the mast of the Spanish galleon this time - it can't escape!"
"It's not hard for me to remember the original incendiary bomb, right? It's just a red-hot iron ball. It would be nice to have this, at least it can set the ship on fire."
"In addition to cannons, the port itself must have some other fortification measures." Li Haiping suggested, "Can we build some mines? I know it is a bit difficult to make contact mines. How about making sight mines? This is not technically difficult, right?"
"It's not small." Lin Shenhe shook his head, "The mine must be detonated by an electric gun - it's easy to say that we can use electric beads instead. We have enough in stock, but the required wires are too many. Relatively speaking, It’s better to hit the mines. Let’s focus on tackling them.”
After discussion, it was decided to build two more three-story forts with masonry and cement structures next to the trestle. The tall body of the Fengcheng Ship can also play a role similar to the Bopu beacon in the port. The executive committee decided to add 1 to 2 rotatable heavy guns on it. Then consider setting up some blocking devices at the entrance to the harbor.
