The tension was increasing exponentially. Mond on the Switch had already locked the firing director firmly on the leading European ship, waiting for the order to fire from the bridge. 【Read full text】
The distance narrowed to 2,500 meters. Mond heard a low roar in front and looked up. The first shot had been fired in Lichun, and the flag for engaging the enemy on the starboard side was raised. He yelled "Grenade shot!"
The cannonballs that had been ready to go out fired like thunder, and the warships behind opened fire one after another. Black smoke and colorful water columns suddenly rose from Zheng Lian's fleet, and the battle began.
The Zheng family's warships immediately fired back, and the Hongyi cannons on each ship fired regardless of range. The red shells rolled in the air, trailing black smoke trails, and flew towards the first team. Most of them fell into the sea without getting close, and only a few flew near the fleet, but they were too far away from the battleship, and the splash did not even wet the deck of the first team's battleship.
"Not enough work." Le Lin stood on the bridge of the wind-riding ship, holding the binoculars of the U.S. Navy on her chest, wearing a high-quality replica of the U.S. Navy's white summer dress, looking at the enemy shells that landed far away, Shaking his head, he was full of ambition, recalling the scene of patrolling on a fishing boat, he couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.
Ruan Xiaowu, the gunner on the Lichun, was nervously leaning on the sight on the bow angle plate, aiming at the water column splashed when the first shell fell, holding the Zhong stopwatch hanging on his chest as big as an alarm clock with one hand. , measure the distance - after three months of study, he was just promoted to this position. Although he is no longer the captain, being the department head of such a big black ship is much better than the captain of a spy boat. Everyone in the navy knows that an officer and sergeant who can now be selected to work on a steam black ship, even if All ordinary sailors have a bright future.
Since optical rangefinders are quite high-tech, there may not be a usable product for a while. Therefore, the artillery rangefinder is a steering wheel system installed on the warship: an angle disk with a sight is installed on each bow and stern. Use the sight to align the target, and then calculate the warship and target based on the difference between the different angles displayed on the bow and stern. the distance between.
The gunnery officer adds a certain distance to this reading, fires the first round, then fires a second round based on the reading, and finally fires a third round based on a distance minus the reading. The three rounds have the same range interval and similar time, so the trajectory can be quickly corrected according to the impact point.
Although this ranging method is backward, the data error is large. But compared to the common level where this space-time ranging base relies on estimation, it is already Zenith star technology.
"2350 meters!" he shouted. Then the firing command post began to calculate the firing elements and adjust the elevation angle of the artillery. At the same time, the firing parameters are communicated to each ship through light signals.
The four gunboats followed the Lichun and opened fire one after another. Almost all the shells flew towards the European-style ship at the head of Zheng Lian's fleet. This three-masted ship with a displacement of 700 tons was almost immediately submerged by the water column. Suddenly, there was a flash of fire in the water, and a grenade hit the hull of the ship, tearing apart the hard ship plank like a piece of paper. The fragments of the ship's hull flew in all directions, cutting off the skin of the seven or eight sailors on the deck. The head and arms were immediately on fire.
Next. The first team's artillery fire became more and more accurate. The ship was hit twice by artillery shells in just 4 minutes after the first shell hit. The mast and sail cables were all destroyed, and the entire ship was engulfed in fire. It collapsed on the sea and became a huge torch.
Zheng Lian knew in an instant that he would never be able to defeat his opponent in the artillery battle. He roared and ordered the fire attack ship to light up and charge. However, the next fatal blow came at this time. A grenade exploded on the several-inch-thick oak shell of the flagship. Suddenly a huge hole was torn open, and a huge shell panel was lifted into the air. Then it hit the deck hard, killing several sailors on the spot. The gunpowder in the open gunpowder cans on the gun deck was ignited and exploded. The 80 sailors who were loading and firing on the gun deck were killed almost instantly. Fire shot out from the grating on the deck.
"Quickly, turn the helm!" Zheng Lian shouted from the poop. This shell had completely woken him up: What's the point of winning or losing now? Escape is the most important thing!
However, it was not easy to escape under the fire of the first team. Although the shells fired slowly and the number of hits was limited, the 75mm shells hit the hull and deck one after another, sending fragments flying across the ship and blazing fire. The helmsman turned the rudder desperately, and the battleship suddenly turned 180 degrees to the port side. The wind blew more air into the sideways deck of the ship, and incandescent tongues of flame spread everywhere. The open cans of gunpowder on the deck began to explode one after another.
Seeing that death in an explosion was inevitable, Zheng Lian ignored the towering poop tower and jumped into the sea from the poop tower. The moment he jumped, flames rushed into the ammunition depot, and bright red flames rose on the deck. Then there was a low explosion, and charred fragments flew in the air. Then a violent explosion occurred throughout the ship, and the deck was torn apart. It cracked and turned upwards, the mast twisted inward and fell, the canvas was instantly swallowed by the fire snake, and the sky-high fireworks shrouded the thousand-ton ship, and the black smoke lingered for a long time.
The fire and explosion of the flagship caused all other warships to lose their will to fight. The three-masted gunboats and other Fuchuan Guangzhou ships turned around in an attempt to escape, but they came with the wind and the current. It was very difficult to change direction at this moment. Compared with the first team that relied entirely on steam engines to operate, it was equivalent to being in the enemy's position. Dance naked before. Each ship seized the opportunity to shorten the distance while firing fiercely.
The engines were spinning wildly, the boilers were making terrible roars, the white waves stirred up by the bow were cut and crushed by the hull, the blue and white morning star flag was shaking straight on the mast, and the artillery on each battleship was firing at the highest speed. Fire quickly and use this short advantageous position to pour the most ammunition into the enemy. The shells trailed red trails and fell towards Zheng Lian's fleet. From time to time, they set off a black-red flame. Hot fragments flew in the air and the 75mm grenade exerted terrible power on the wooden ship. It could withstand solid cannons. The several-inch-thick hardwood hull became vulnerable to the grenade attack, torn and burned like pieces of paper. Although many shells failed to explode due to fuze problems, the larger muzzle velocity of the cone-shaped shells fired from the rifled guns also allowed the shells to easily penetrate the bow and hull of the ship, causing certain damage.
Dense smoke after the artillery launch occasionally enveloped the deck, and the sea breeze blew away the smoke one after another. The lookout post continuously reported the hit status to the bridge.
The battle has actually turned into a one-sided shooting show. The Zheng family fleet has lost its combat effectiveness after five main battleships were severely damaged and sunk. The remaining ships are just trying to escape. However, they ignored naval warfare tactics and turned in front of the enemy, making themselves the best targets. The gunners tried their best to show their gunnery skills. One after another, ships were hit, caught fire, and sank.
It was observed that more than 14 ships had been hit, 10 of which had caught fire, and 5 others had disappeared from the sea: they may have sunk or withdrawn from the battle.
More than 20 fire attack ships that had entered the battlefield lit up together in the chaos and began to attack. The fire attack ships went smoothly, which was very advantageous. However, their position was the farthest from the first team. When they launched the attack in a hurry, they were still almost 3,000 meters away. , even though they were advancing at a speed of 6 knots, they were still easily avoided by the first team.
"Fuck you!" A leader saw the Kun thief's boat running so fast against the wind. He couldn't believe his eyes. What kind of fight was there? Not to mention chasing my own boat, now it's hard to even turn, so there's no way it's going to collide with her.
Once avoided, chasing the steam battleships of the first team sailing against the wind and current is simply an impossible task for the fire attack ships that rely on wind power to gain sprinting power.
Under the strong sea breeze, not only did the sailors have difficulty controlling the steering of the ship, but it also blew the already ignited fire bigger and bigger. The hot air made it difficult for the sailors to survive, so they had to abandon the ship. The fireships, which were burning out of control, were drifting aimlessly under the force of the wind.
At 10:40, Mingqiu ordered the first team to cease fire and start turning. Some of the ships of the Zheng family's fleet were paralyzed on the water and burning, and some of them sank to the bottom of the water. Except for a few Fuzhou and Guangzhou ships that fell behind and saw the opportunity quickly, Zheng Lian's fleet had already ten ships. There is no one left.
The subsequent fire attack ships did not know the battle situation ahead. When they entered the battlefield one after another, they only saw black smoke rising into the sky. The sea was full of burning wreckage. The dense smoke after the artillery was fired made the sea dark. The sailors of the fire attack ship were at a loss - they had received orders in advance to launch according to the flag signal of the flagship, but now the flagship could not be found, and the enemy could not be seen clearly.
While he was hesitating, a gust of sea breeze blew away part of the gunpowder smoke covering the sea. The sailors on the fire attack ship suddenly saw a terrifying scene. Several of their largest warships were burning on the sea, and Zheng Lian's flagship had burned to the waterline. In the distance, five black ships puffing out black smoke were making a huge turn, and the waves were rolling, like giant sea beasts that were gaining momentum, ready to rush over and kill them.
There was no need for much hesitation. The moment a shell whizzed over and fell into the water, all the ships turned around and fled in all directions: the sailors went to the fire attack ships to fight as sailors in order to eat food, get paid, and get high rewards. Silver didn’t come here to die in vain.
