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.
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 the optical rangefinder is quite high-tech, there will be no usable products for a while. Therefore, the artillery rangefinder is installed on the battleship. It is a steering wheel system: an angle plate with a sight is installed on each bow and stern of the ship. The sight is aimed at the target, and then the distance between the battleship and the target is calculated based on the difference between the different angles displayed at the bow and stern.
The gunnery officer adds a certain distance to this reading and fires the first shot. Then fire the second round based on the reading, and finally fire the third round based on the reading minus a certain distance. 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 and has large data errors, it is already Zenith Star technology compared to the common level where space-time ranging is basically based on estimation.
"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, and almost all the shells flew towards the European-style ship leading the Zheng Lian 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 130 grenade hit the hull, tearing apart the hard ship plank like a piece of paper. , fragments of the ship's hull flew in all directions, cutting off the heads and arms of seven or eight sailors on the deck, and the fire broke out immediately.
Next, the first team's artillery fire became more and more accurate. The ship was hit twice by 130 shells in just 4 minutes after the first shell hit. The mast and sail cables were all destroyed, and the whole ship was caught in fire, paralyzing on the sea and becoming 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 130mm grenade exploded on the several-inch-thick oak shell of the flagship. A huge hole was immediately torn open, and a huge shell plate was lifted into the air, and then hit the deck heavily, 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 has completely woken him up: there is no talking about victory or defeat now, escaping with your life is the most important thing!
However, it was not easy to escape under the fire of the first team. Although the 130 shells fired slowly and had a limited number of hits, the 75 shells hit the hull and deck one after another, sending fragments flying across the ship and blazing fire. The helmsman turned the tiller as hard as he could. The battleship suddenly turned 180 degrees to port. The wind blew more air into the sideways deck of the ship, and incandescent tongues of flame spread in all directions. 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, and scorching fragments flew in the air.
The 130 and 75 grenade exerted terrible power on the wooden ship. It could withstand the solid cannon, but the several-inch-thick hardwood hull became vulnerable to the attack of the grenade, and was torn and burned like a piece 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 started to attack in the chaos. The fire attack ships had a smooth sailing, 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. The largest warships of the family 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 too much hesitation. The moment a 130mm 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 and get paid. You don't come here to die in vain if you are rewarded with silver. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come. Your support is my biggest motivation...) Please come to watch the first release without ads.
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