With a "boom", the bottom of the mortar boat on which Major General Barbossa was riding had landed on the soft sand of Kinmen Beach.
Before the mortar boat could stop, the Spanish veterans full of soldiers on it had already jumped out with shouts. Barbossa, the rear admiral, also jumped down with the others - in this era, only the Ming Dynasty had a "shameless navy" in the world. In Europe, the boundaries between the navy and the army were not clear. Some famous navy generals He is also a famous general on land!
Moreover, the navies of all Western countries are good at hand-to-hand combat. Only the late-comer Ming Navy does not like to engage in hand-to-hand combat and gang warfare. It is only good at bombarding the opponent's warships and merchant ships with incredibly destructive explosive shells...
"God bless Spain! God bless us!"
Barbossa heard the cheers of God's blessing in his ears, and he himself joined the others in shouting, and waded forward together.
The people who jumped off the ship with him were all veterans. Although they had not fought much landing battles, everyone knew what to do at this time?
They did not form a team, nor did they stop. Instead, they shouldered their muskets and spears, drew their swords, and marched forward through the water that was almost up to their waists. They had to get ahead of the Chinese infantry and cavalry from the Golden Gate Fortress. Before rushing out, a modified Spanish phalanx was formed on the Kinmen Beach to cover the mortar boats that successfully washed up the beach.
These mortar boats are washed on the beach by the rising tide. Once the tide goes down, they rest directly on the beach. Without the army to protect them, the defenders of the Golden Gate Fortress could capture them very easily.
"boom!"
Barbossa then heard a thunderous noise, and Barbossa knew that this was the mortar gun boat behind him firing!
He quickly stretched his neck and looked forward. After a while, he saw a huge fireball suddenly rising into the sky, and then there was another roar... With the help of the rising fireball, Barbossa finally saw the Golden Gate Fortress clearly. Outline.
This is a huge bastion. The outer wall seems to be gray-white. I wonder if it was repaired with granite? If so, it's really strong enough.
However, no matter how strong the fortress is, it cannot withstand the approaching bombardment of 15 36-pound mortars!
The shells fired by these mortars are basically unable to destroy the fortress, and they will greatly interfere with the firepower of the fortress's forts, which is enough to cover the French, Dutch, and Spanish fleets as they rush into the Golden Gate Strait.
"Boom!" Two more roars came from behind Major General Barbossa, and the 36-pound mortar was still firing... Two giant shells were blasted into the air by the mortar, and then in the air Drawing a perfect trajectory, it suddenly landed near the Golden Gate Fortress. One of the shells exploded and turned into a giant fireball.
Although the fortress was not hit, the Spanish soldiers who had rushed to the beach still let out bursts of cheers!
Because everyone knows that hitting the target is only a matter of time. After all, with such a boss in a fortress, and not knowing how to hide, how can he survive being bombarded?
But there are cannons on the Kinmen Fortress, and these cannons are not just for free! Some of them quickly aimed their guns at the mortar boats that had run aground and began firing nail-head shells. But it is night now, and the targets of these mortar boats are not big, so it is still a bit difficult to hit them.
The artillery shells from both sides came and went and quickly became a mess. Most of the artillery shells fired from the Golden Gate Fortress fell into the sea or the beach, and no sound was even heard. The shells fired from the mortar boats landed around the fortress one after another, and one or two even hit the fortress. Most of these shells turned into huge fireballs.
So if you look from a distance, you will find that the Golden Gate Fortress has been shrouded in fire.
"Finally victory!" Tourville stood on the stern deck of the Lorraine, putting down the telescope in his hand, with tears in his eyes.
The uneasiness that was still hanging over his heart just now has completely dissipated... He turned back and said to the fleet commander, Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, now we can rush into the Golden Gate Strait. Yes. Tonight, God is on France’s side!”
Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne nodded: "Let the firefleet go in first, and the other ships will follow the firefleet... towards the Golden Gate Strait!
God bless France, God bless the Sun King! "
Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne's first trump card was the mortar boats, and his second trump card was the twenty-five arson boats.
They have two tasks. One is to attract the firepower of the Golden Gate Fortress. Of course, shelling warships must pursue sinking. Injuring ten ships is not as good as sinking one!
Therefore, if the defenders on the Kinmen Fort hit several warships trying to rush into the strait, they would definitely concentrate their firepower and continue bombarding them in order to sink them in one fell swoop!
As long as a few "fire ships" become live targets for attracting ammunition, then the main force of the combined fleet can rush into Kinmen Bay.
In order to make the fireship look more like a battleship, Abraham Duquesne also spent a lot of money and requisitioned 25 medium-tonnage armed merchant ships.
After entering Kinmen Bay, the fire ships that have not been set on fire will look for the fleets of the Ming Dynasty and the United States of New Zealand, and then launch a wave of fire ship attacks!
For the fleet at anchor, the fire ship tactic is very effective.
So tonight's surprise attack has been successful!
The question now is how many results have been achieved?
…
The defenders of the Golden Gate Fortress were obviously well prepared.
Although they were surprised by the mortar fleet commanded by Barbossa and bombarded continuously by 15 large-caliber mortars, when the fleet of 25 arson ships began to attack the strait, they were still bombarded immediately. boom!
The 12-pound bronze long cannon was fired. For wooden-hulled battleships, the power of 12-pound or 12-pound nail-headed shells was enough.
Therefore, every naval power in the world has chosen this level of artillery as their main gun type. But some are long cannons and some are short cannons. The former has a longer effective range, while the latter has a shorter effective range.
Those placed on the Kinmen Fortress to bombard the sea are long cannons with a longer range, 18 in total.
If it were daytime, these 18 cannons would be enough to turn any enemy battleship trying to pass through the strait into a floating torch!
Even at night when visibility was poor, the 18 cannons capable of firing 12 pounds of nail-head explosive shells were not easy to mess with. They quickly turned the seven or eight "battleships" that rushed into the strait into fire ships!
The deadweight tonnage of these "warships" is actually not very large. They are just old-fashioned galenic ships with a carrying capacity of three to four hundred tons. They are all relics of the "galleon trade" era. They are very dilapidated and can no longer travel across the ocean.
However, their bows and sterns were very tall and full of sails, and there were many flammable debris piled on the decks. Therefore, after being hit by explosive shells, the intensity of the fire was astonishing, and it also gave the defenders on the Golden Gate Fortress the illusion that they had caught a "big fish"!
All the firepower was concentrated on the seven or eight "battleships" that had been set alight, shooting desperately.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, dozens of other coalition warships and fireships all rushed into the Kinmen Strait. Tonight was a night battle and a port raid, so there was no need to set up any formations. We basically maintained the formation of fire ships in front and warships behind, and just charged eastward.
The "Lorraine" sailed by Lieutenant General Duquesne and Tourville has passed through the entrance of the Golden Gate Strait without any damage!
The two French naval commanders stood on the stern deck of the battleship, holding their breath and staring straight ahead, their hearts twitching again.
What they fear most now is that Kinmen Harbor is empty!
If the Chinese fleet goes out, the subsequent coalition landing fleet will be in danger.
"Boom boom..."
Suddenly, a ball of muzzle flash flashed in front, and then there was a continuous roar!
"They are Chinese battleships. There are at least...seven to eight of them. They should be the old battleships parked at the Kinmen Naval Pier!" Tourville let out a sigh and said to the commander beside him, "China Will, they are all here!"
That's right! They are all there, all of them!
