On the Aegean Sea, Admiral Abaza Muhammad of the Ottoman Empire held a telescope and looked at the battle taking place on the sea. One-third of the shells fired in the first round hit directly. This hit rate was already very ideal. Venice The navy has good combat effectiveness, and it is very rare to achieve such a high hit rate.
This requires the best artillery in Venice and the best gunners. Obviously this is the main fleet of the Navy of the Venetian City-State Republic.
However, the Ottoman Navy Admiral Abaza Muhammad did not know that in this bombardment, Venice did not use artillery, but the fire dragon water purchased from the Ming Dynasty.
In Catherine's view, even with the best naval guns and the best soldiers in Venice, it is impossible to reach 600-700 meters and hit one-third of the first shot. You must know that if it really has this strength, the navy of the Venetian City-State Republic will It can completely dominate the Mediterranean.
"Get ready for the second round of strikes!"
With one-third or about a dozen medium-sized Ottoman Empire warships being hit, these Venetian naval generals still wanted to take advantage of his illness to kill him, and prepared to send these dozen Ottoman Empire warships to the bottom of the sea.
"Stop firing!"
"Why?"
Chet, Lieutenant Commander of the Navy of the Republic of Venice City-State, looked at Catherine in confusion and asked.
Catherine smiled faintly: "No need! To destroy a medium-sized battleship, one shell is enough. What's more, these medium-sized battleships have one or two less, and three or four more. There is no need to waste it!"
All the naval admirals expressed doubts about Catherine's words. It was not an easy task to sink a warship in an era without high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs. A solid lead ball weighing several kilograms would have a heavy impact on a ship of hundreds or thousands of tons. The warships seemed to be really small. The two fleets often fought against each other for a long time, and everyone's deck was full of bones and bones. The sails were bent, and only a dozen or a few warships were actually sunk.
Although the Ottoman Empire's navy mostly has medium-sized warships with medium guns, and there is also an armed merchant ship with a displacement of up to 1,500 tons. If you want to sink such a big ship, are two artillery shells enough?
Catherine did not explain too much. At this time, the explanation of language did not make the facts more convincing.
The killing method of the Fire Dragon Water Release is different from that of ordinary solid artillery shells of this era. The explosive part of the Fire Dragon Water Release shell is almost exactly the same as that of Ning Haijun's blooming artillery shell. It uses nitrocellulose as the explosive gunpowder. Of course, due to the problem of delayed fuze, it will not be as explosive as Like the grenades of later generations, they explode on contact.
The cannonballs that crashed into the Ottoman warships began to explode one after another. Just as Catherine finished speaking, the Ottoman warships exploded one after another. The exploding fireworks soon blew the medium-sized warships into pieces.
This was not over yet. The armed merchant ship that was hit among them also emitted thick smoke, and soon it formed a black column of smoke rising into the sky. Fire surged from the bottom of the armed merchant ship, climbed to the deck, and rigged. The ship's sails became the best fire starters, and the entire merchant ship was blown to pieces with pieces of wood flying everywhere, and large balls of fire were thrown everywhere.
The flames swept across the deck and climbed to the top of the mast. The huge sail turned into a torch. The high flames could be clearly seen from more than ten kilometers away!
The Ottomans looked at this scene and were dumbfounded.
The Venetians looked at this scene, dumbfounded.
It would be reasonable for them to say that those medium-sized warships were blown into pieces and sunk. After all, in previous wars, the losses of the Ottoman Empire have always been heavy. But the problem is, this is a 1,500-ton ship. An armed merchant ship, such a big ship was destroyed!
Abaza Muhammad, the admiral of the Ottoman Empire's navy, had cold sweat on his forehead. He took a breath of cold air and murmured: "What's going on? Who can tell me what's going on?"
It's a pity that no one answered Abaza's question. They were all frightened by such a fierce fire and such a violent explosion. It was so scary!
Major Chet, who had been rude to Catherine, saluted Catherine with a military salute: "Catherine, you have given the city-state the weapon we dreamed of possessing, which is great!"
"Did you forget something?"
"Yes, we should hurry up to acquire what the Duke of the East needs, and set off as soon as the collection is completed! Not only must we bring those goods, but we must also bring enough gold coins. We must purchase more ships before other countries react. Cannons and cannonballs, the future of the city-state depends on them!"
"No, what I want to say is that we are at war!"
Catherine pointed at the large Ottoman Empire fleet in Wuyang Wuyang and said: "Isn't what we should do most is to send these sons of bitches to the bottom of the sea?"
"Yeah!"
The naval generals of the Venetian City-State Republic immediately returned to their fighting positions and began to direct the soldiers to load the Fire Dragon Water. The Fire Dragon Water was essentially a rocket shell. The loading speed was very fast, faster than the loading of artillery, and the rate of fire was also faster.
Not long after, smoke billowed from the Venetian strike fleet again, fire dragons rose into the sky, and hundreds of fire dragons flew towards the Ottoman Empire fleet with their teeth and claws.
Due to the closer distance and greater confidence in the Fire Dragon Water Release, the shooting effect this time was better. Nearly half of the Fire Dragon Water Release hit the target, and at least twenty or thirty Ottoman Empire warships were beaten into pieces. Brilliant fireworks.
The second round of shooting had just ended. The Venetian naval strike fleet started the third round, and then the fourth round. Although the naval officers of the Ottoman Empire performed very bravely, the problem is the gap in strength. It is difficult to use courage to fight. make up.
What's more, Venice was originally the giant of the Mediterranean. Together with Genoa and other city-states, it monopolized the maritime trade of the entire Mediterranean. At that time, there were more Venetian warships than dogs. But now, after experiencing a protracted war, Venice has no military power. Still, financial resources have shrunk significantly, and the Navy's rate of building new ships is far from keeping up with the rate of consumption.
The Ottoman Empire's navy became more and more powerful. However, before they had time to gain a suppressive advantage, the Venetians invented naval guns with a longer range and greater power.
Thick smoke billowed on the sea, and the sea was covered with dark clouds. From time to time, explosions were heard, and thunder shook the air slightly, which was very scary.
The sea water has been slightly reddened by blood. Countless corpses and broken wood are floating on the sea surface. More people are shouting wildly on the warship that is burning with raging fire and is tilting rapidly, or holding on to everything they can to float. Things jumped into the sea and swam desperately to the beach. Even though they were so far away, their cries could still be vaguely heard.
Abaza Muhammad, the admiral of the Ottoman Empire's navy, looked at the tragedy on the sea with a monocular telescope. He said nothing. His burly body was like an iceberg, but the veins on the back of his hands were exposed, and his teeth were chattering.
The Ottoman Empire's navy suffered heavy losses. In just over an hour of fighting, nearly a hundred warships were lost. This could no longer be called a battle. It was simply a one-sided massacre. The Ottoman Empire's navy was overwhelmed by the Venetian navy.
Unlike the Ning Navy, the Venetian Navy has too much combat experience. They are more flexible, like sharks smelling blood, biting at the Ottoman Empire's Mediterranean main fleet from time to time.
"retreat!"
Although Abaza Muhammad was reluctant, he still issued the order. As the Ottoman navy retreated, the naval battle finally came to an end.
Of course, the Venetian Navy did not pursue it. The main reason was that the Fire Dragon Water they loaded this time had been exhausted. The Venetian Navy used 2,600 Fire Dragon Water to sink 117 Ottoman Imperial Navy warships, including Sixty-three small and medium-sized warships, twenty-eight warships over one thousand tons, and thirty-six armed merchant ships.
Although the Venetian Navy had more victories than the Ottoman Navy in naval battles, it had to pay a heavy price if it wanted to annihilate more than a hundred Ottoman Navy ships. However, the zero-lethality method to achieve such results gave Venice a great deal of hope. Big inspiration.
The Venetian naval commander was almost annoyed to death by the naval admirals below.
"Your Excellency, Commander, we should select the fastest warships, the most skilled sailors, and the strongest hulls to equip these cannons. Each warship is equipped with twelve cannons. No, even if it is equipped with only eight cannons, it can be greatly improved. The attack power of the battleships has increased! I have the most excellent battleships under my command, so we should be given priority in equipping them!"
"Why should I give you priority in equipment? My fleet has fewer excellent warships than yours?"
"What's mine, what's mine, it's all mine! Whoever dares to rob me, not even my friends will do it!"
"It sounds like we really like being friends with you..."
The Venetian admirals immediately started a fierce fight, and they were all at each other's throats, almost fighting.
Soldiers are like this. The more lethal the weapons, the more they like them. This disease originates from the violence factor in human bone marrow. There is no cure. Only a 20,000-volt high-voltage electric shock can cure it.
Seeing the generals quarreling with each other, Catherine couldn't help but let out a low sigh. She really wanted to tell the generals that these fire dragons, which they thought were very powerful and extraordinary, were actually just second-rate goods. The most powerful cannons with the longest range of fire in the world were in the East. Although the caliber of such cannons was not The fire water in their hands shoots quickly, but it is more than twice as far as the fire dragon water.
Ning Haijun's naval guns can hit enemy ships with extremely high accuracy at a distance of 1,890 meters. What's even more frightening is that one shot can blow the enemy's warships to pieces.
As the overlord of Southeast Asia, both the Spanish and the Dutch could only look kindly and respectful when they saw Zheng Zhilong. But the problem was that Zheng Zhilong, who could sweep the Ottoman Empire in Europe, could not fight back against the naval guns of the Ning Navy. Power.
The four-inch naval gun and the five-inch naval gun in Cheng Shijie's hands were the real killer weapons. Of course, seeing the generals so happy, Catherine did not throw cold water on them.
The chief engineer of Venice, Nicolundo, who is beside Francesco Elizzo, the new doge of Venice, said: "We should not rely on buying from the East, we should find ways to imitate..."
"How long will it take you to copy it?"
Francesco Elizzo sighed and said: "Although I don't understand the technology, this kind of artillery has changed the previous firing method. It can be said that it is completely different from the artillery we have used for hundreds of years. If you want to imitate it, Then we need to study it from scratch, but the problem is that we in Venice don’t have that much time, and what we in Venice lack most is time!”
Catherine said: "As long as we can buy enough fine horses, we can buy Fire Dragon Izuku from His Excellency the Duke!"
"Time, still time!"
Francesco Elizzo thought for a while and said: "As businessmen, we should know that since the Duke in the East will sell us this new type of naval gun, in order to maximize profits, he will definitely sell it to others. Maybe our rivals, the Ottomans, have already had representatives from the Duke of the East!”
Catherine hesitated and said, "I guess not?"
"Nothing is impossible. We cannot put the national destiny of Venice on the whim of the Duke of the East!"
"so……"
"so!"
Francesco Elizzo looked at Catherine and said: "Miss Contarini, you must rush back to the Ming Dynasty as quickly as possible and purchase more naval guns before other countries get the news. Can you repel the Ottomans?" The invasion depends entirely on it!"
Catherine sighed and said, "I'll do my best."
“It’s not about trying your best, it’s about doing it for sure!”
Francesco Elizzo said: "As the governor, I will sign a special order to use the reserve gold coins. Or you can bring enough gold coins, spices, and the books and talents requested by the governor in a few days." Let’s set off. As for the horses and other goods, can we organize another fleet to send them there?”
Catherine frowned: "So urgent?"
"The Ottomans are unwilling to give us any chance to breathe, not even for a day!"
Thinking of the huge threat from the Ottomans, Catherine also felt a sense of powerlessness. She gritted her teeth and said, "Okay, I will set off in a week!"
…
Liaodong, Jinzhou Beicheng Athletic Town.
After fierce competition, more than 100 horses went through the knockout rounds and finally the top 16 were determined. These top 16 also competed to advance to the quarterfinals.
Before the game started, Cheng Jialong shouted: "Come on, come on, there is still one stick of incense time to close the game. The most popular one at the moment is Dark Cloud No. 13, one to one, and the least popular one is Rhubarb No. 7, which beats Rhubarb one to one." Twenty-nine, place your bets and bet to see who can win the first place! Bet on the number 19, you will get 3 for one, you will be 5 for the number 3, and you will get 6 for the number 1, Jinghong! "
Zhu Weiti looked at Cheng Jialong who was jumping up and down in the crowd, frowned slightly and said: "My lord, you don't care. How unbecoming is it for the eldest son of Duke Hai to set up a gambling bureau in public in public!"
Cheng Shijie smiled lightly and said: "What's the point of horse racing if you don't bet on horses!"
Zhu Weiti sighed and said: "He will be in the future...don't forget...you must... all the time..."
Queen Zhou gave Zhu Weiti a wink, and Zhu Weiti leaned towards Queen Zhou.
"Queen, am I wrong?"
"I don't know if you are wrong, but..."
Zhu Weiti looked in the direction of Queen Zhou's gesture.
I saw Yang Yuniang and Jin Qiaoer each holding a small box, which contained shining gold ingots.
Yang Yuniang smiled and said: "Jia Long!"
"Aunt Yang, Aunt Jin!"
"Can we take custody?"
"Okay, the more the merrier!"
"I bet on number seven, rhubarb!"
Yang Yunniang placed the small box directly on the No. 7 rhubarb.
Cheng Jialong was slightly surprised: "Aunt Yang, don't bet on number seven, there is no chance of winning on number seven!"
"This is a house located in Nanyuan. You are not young anymore. It's time to have your own house. Let this be the house given to you by your aunt!"
Hearing Yang Yuniang say this, Cheng Jialong was too embarrassed to refuse.
"I'll also bet on rhubarb number seven!"
Jin Qiaoer pointed at the identical sisters beside her and said: "Aunt Yang gave it to the house. Aunt Jin, I will give you two maids. Even though they are Koreans, they are Korean nobles and can speak Chinese. You should have a few by your side." It’s a maid!”
Yang Yuniang and Jin Qiaoer watched Cheng Jialong accept the bet and smiled at each other. (End of chapter)
