February 22nd, early morning.
In the South China Sea, a huge fleet is rapidly heading south along the coastline of the Guangnan General Mansion territory.
2 Guangfu-class third-rate sailing battleships with 72 guns, 2 Quanzhoufu-class third-rate sailing battleships with 64 guns, 8 Nanchangfu-class fourth-rate sailing battleships with 50 guns, 8 52-gun sailing battleships Songjiangfu-class fourth-class sailing battleships with large guns, 8 Ningbofu-class fourth-class sailing battleships with 54 cannons, 12 Xiangshan County-class fifth-class frigates with 32 cannons, and 12 Baoshan County-class sixth-class frigates with 20 cannons Waiting for the gunboats, 10 Crab-type patrol gunboats.
There were a total of 62 ships, and their sails embroidered with golden sun and moon patterns almost covered the sky. Such a spectacular sight made the sailors on the deck extremely excited. In addition to the more than 70 battleships, armed Galen ships and crab boats that have arrived in Da Nang Bay (including the ship in Hoi Ninh Town), the total number of warships, armed merchant ships and gunboats of the Ming Dynasty that are about to go into battle has exceeded 130 !
These battleships, frigates, gunboats, gunboats and armed merchant ships are just some of the results of the efforts of the four major shipyards of the Ming Dynasty in recent years. Now the total number of ships waiting for completion in the dry docks, slipways and outfitting docks of the four major shipyards alone is already more than 130!
This is the power of the world's largest handicraft industry powerhouse with a population of nearly 100 million to increase its dumpling production capacity!
None of the Netherlands, England, Spain, and Portugal have more than 10 million people. The four countries together only have 18-9 million people, which is not as large as Japan, which has always been regarded as the smallest country by the Ming Dynasty.
With such a small population, they actually want to challenge the Great Tomorrow. This is not seeking death, but what is seeking death?
Many officers and soldiers of the Nanyang Fleet are beginning to look forward to the decisive battle coming soon. They must let these Western devils who don't know the heights of the sky know what the Celestial Kingdom is!
On the back deck of the Nanyang Fleet flagship Guangfu, Chen Shangchuan and Cotentin were equally eager to fight! So much so that the two of them couldn't stay still in the command cabin. They all got on the stern deck of the ship, each with a telescope, and kept looking at the west coastline.
They were looking for the firelight and black smoke from the beacon tower along the Guangnan coast!
When Cotentin left Huining, Yu Qilin made an appointment with him. Once the Spanish Armada stormed into Da Nang, Da Nang would light the beacon fire on the beacon tower. When the Nanyang Fleet saw it, they had to hurry up. Rushed to the outskirts of Da Nang to find fighter planes.
Having said that, the speed of a sailboat is limited after all. Even if the wind is smooth, it is usually only eight or nine knots, which is only dozens of miles per hour. If the Nanyang Fleet is too far away from Da Nang, they may not have arrived yet by the time the Spanish Armada returns from the battle!
If the distance is too close, it may be discovered by the Spanish Armada warships patrolling the periphery.
Therefore, the Nanyang Fleet could only make a compromise and wandered for two days in the waters three to four hundred miles away from Da Nang. When the northeast wind started last night, it quickly raised its sails and sailed south. If the Spanish Armada wanted to attack Da Nang, it had to There is an easterly or northeasterly wind!
But now the Nanyang Fleet has been sailing for half a night, and the sky is already getting a little brighter. Why can't we see the fire on the beacon tower? Could it be that the Spanish reconnaissance ship had discovered the ambushing Nanyang Fleet and escaped?
This is such a pity. The current Spanish Armada has joined the combined fleet of the main ships of the Dutch and English naval forces! If we can really cripple them, the impact will not be limited to the East, but the entire world!
As for the Kingdom of Spain, it is possible that because the Pacific sea power has completely fallen into the hands of the Ming Dynasty, it may face a catastrophic situation on the battlefield of New Spain! The collapse of New Spain will inevitably lead to a complete financial collapse of the Kingdom of Spain!
The Kingdom of Spain, which had lost the wealth of the New World, had no financial resources to hire German mercenaries. This meant that the Kingdom of Spain had to kneel down and beg for mercy from the Kingdom of France. King Louis XIV of France himself even became the heir to the Spanish throne. Both France and Spain may become a unified country!
If this were to happen, France and Louis XIV would simply win!
Cotentin became a little impatient when he thought that crippling the Spanish Armada might allow France and Louis XIV to win!
At this time, Cotentin suddenly heard a Cantonese accent shouting: "The beacon tower is lit!"
Cotentin followed the sound and saw Chen Shangchuan raising his arm to the southwest with an excited look on his face. He quickly followed that arm and raised his telescope to the southwest to take a look.
really! In the dimness in the distance, there is a faint line of black smoke rising straight into the sky! After a while, another line of black smoke appeared on the coastline closer to the Guangfu. Subsequently, the third and fourth lines of black smoke appeared on the coastline of Guangnan General Land!
That's right, the beacon fire has been lit, and it must have started over in Da Nang!
Cotentin quickly put away the telescope, and then said excitedly to Chen Shangchuan beside him: "Chen Jun, the opportunity has come!"
Chen Shangchuan also looked eager.
This is an opportunity to achieve meritorious service and become a public official! Although he is a veteran in the anti-Qing and Fuming camp, because he only has hard work and no merit, his title is just that of a marquis. Now that the troubled times are coming to an end, the opportunities for meritorious service will become less and less in the future. It would be difficult for him to get a higher title!
So this time he learned that there was an opportunity to make great achievements in Da Nang, so he set off with the Nanyang Fleet without saying a word. However, he is still self-aware and knows that he cannot command the decisive battle of the sailing battleship, so he is very happy to bring people on board Cotentin to help - he is satisfied as long as he can be the Duke of the country, and does not care who helps him command.
Anyway, he is the admiral of the fleet. As long as the fleet is victorious, even if he doesn't say a word, the credit will still be great.
"Combatants, are you sure?" Chen Shangchuan asked, looking at Cotentan.
"Yes!" Cotentin nodded seriously.
"Okay!" Chen Shangchuan said, "Then you come and help me command and give orders in my name. Let's fight! If we win, we each get half the credit. If we don't win, it's mine!"
"Don't worry, we will definitely win!" Cotentin said with a smile, "No naval fleet named the Spanish Armada has ever been defeated in history!"
"Breakthrough, finally breakthrough"
When the sky was completely bright, aboard the first-class battleship "Our Lady of Concepcion", Spanish Admiral Zabala finally put down his telescope and showed a smile that only a winner can have on his face.
The assault formation composed of twenty arson boats, twenty fourth-level ships and eleven gunboats he sent went through nearly two hours of fire attack and bombardment. After the ship's masts were damaged to varying degrees, the masts of the three gunboats were all broken, and the sails of the two gunboats were severely damaged, the Ming Navy's first "ship wall" was finally torn apart!
Several extremely brave Dutch fourth-class warships rammed into the "ship wall" that had been ignited by fire ships and arson bombs. They bravely took the lead and began to pounce on the second "ship wall" of the Ming army.
The other mobile fourth-level battleships and gunboats in the assault formation also rushed in through the torn hole. Among the first detachment, other warships except the flagship "Our Lady of Concepcion" also raised their sails and rushed towards the second "ship wall" of the Ming army like a tide.
Konstantin Nobel, the naval commander of the Dutch East India Company, also put down his telescope and shook his head slightly: "The defensive capabilities of the Ming army's 'ship wall' are stronger than imagined. There are many artillery pieces, and they are all over 12 pounds. Artillery skills They are also quite sophisticated, and they also specialize in picking up sails and masts to fight off the arson ship. A total of seventeen ships have their masts and sails damaged. They must be repaired urgently after the battle, otherwise it is very likely that even Batavia will be destroyed. I can’t go back. Your Excellency, it seems that the losses in this battle will not be too small!”
Admiral Zabala smiled slightly: "It's worth it! Now is the critical moment of the New Spain War. The Aztec Republic is attacking the Mexica Valley. Once the Mexica Valley is captured, then the entire New Spain may be Sweeped by the Republican Revolution! This will deal a devastating blow to the Kingdom of Spain!
So now we must fight for control of the Pacific Ocean at all costs."
While he was talking to Constantin Nobel, the chaotic formations of warships and gunboats from Spain, the Netherlands, and England had already rushed to the vicinity of the second "ship wall" of the Ming army. The second "ship wall" of the Ming army was a straight line centered on the Liaodong and extending in the northeast and southwest directions. All warships faced the enemy on the starboard side. At the same time, the artillery on the port side was unloaded and ambushed to the south. Near the river mouth, it is hidden in a grassland on the shore.
When the Spanish, Dutch, and English warships rushed up, their bows were facing the flanks of the Ming army's "ship wall", which meant that they gave the Ming army's "ship wall" a comfortable T-shaped position.
The gunners on these Ming warships who occupied the T-shaped position and formed the "ship wall" were all reloading and firing like crazy at this time. The shells rained down on the hull of the three countries of Spain, the Netherlands, and England that were facing the enemy. Ships, the main weapons fired this time are chain bombs! It was the kind of two small iron balls tied by an iron chain. After the gas released by the gunpowder burst out of the barrel, they flew in circles towards the sails and masts of the ships of Spain, the Netherlands, and England!
Targets as big as sails and masts are not far away now. Of course, they can hit them with their eyes closed. For a while, the ships rushing at the front were filled with frightening "clicks" and "hisses" one after another. "There was a sound, either the mast of the ship was broken, or a big hole was made in the sail.
However, the momentum of these ships from Spain, the Netherlands, and England is huge. Even if their masts are broken, they have already used their huge inertia to rush towards the Ming army's "ship wall"!
The Ming army's naval guns were still firing non-stop, targeting sails and masts. They seemed determined to keep these Western invaders in Da Nang.
Tall masts kept falling, huge sails were torn apart, and some chain bullets swept across the decks of battleships or gunboats. This scene was extremely bloody! The chain bullets rotated and swept over the human body, and one wrong move could cut the human body in the middle. The decks of several fourth-class ships from the Netherlands and England rushing ahead were a mess of blood and flesh, and the screams could be heard from heaven to earth. It was really unbearable to witness. ah!
But the price paid on this Western battleship seems to be worth it! Because they had anchored at sea and were connected end to end with ropes, the Ming warships forming a ship wall were unable to maneuver at all, so they had no choice but to hold on and get hit!
With loud "crack" sounds, the "ship wall" began to be hit. The bows of the fourth-class ships of the Netherlands, England, and Spain collided with the ship wall one after another. Under the huge impact, the officers and soldiers on the Ming army's "ship wall" lost their stability and fell to the deck one after another.
More and more Dutch, English, and Spanish ships rushed up, and soon they were mixed up with the Ming warships that formed the ship wall!
The gang-hopping battle began immediately, and the naval battle soon turned into a "ship attack" and hand-to-hand combat. Bullets flew across the sky, grenades exploded and hit the decks of the ships on both sides. Short-barreled artillery designed to fire shotguns also fired one after another, as if there was no pause.
On the sea, all kinds of shouts and roars were mixed together, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami. A large number of "deck infantry" from Spain, the Netherlands, and England armed with flintlock guns and various cold weapons continued to swarm the Ming army's ships.
It was a decisive battle between "tall" sailing battleships, and it was a meat-and-potatoes battle!
Seeing the ships of both sides colliding with each other on the sea, Zhu Qipao, who was standing on the fortress at the mouth of the Khan River, wished he could go into battle and kill people with his sword!
However, Yu Qilin was calm and composed, as if everything was as expected. I saw him turning around and giving an order to a gunnery officer who got off the Liaodong: "Fire the artillery and fire the arson bombs!"
"yes!"
The gunnery officer raised a red flag and waved it vigorously.
On the coast below the bastion, in the tall grass, at various hidden gun emplacements, there are more than a hundred 18-pound and 28-pound cannons moved from battleships (there are dozens more cannons on the Chashan Peninsula opposite). They spit out fire almost at the same time!
What these cannons fired were hot arson bombs - solid iron balls were heated very hot, then padded with a wooden board, stuffed into the barrel, and then blasted against the Spanish, Dutch, and English warships huddled on the sea. !
These artillery placed on the shore are not far from the warships huddled on the sea, and the accuracy of the shore artillery is not comparable to that of naval guns.
Therefore, after several rounds of salvos, there were already two fourth-level battleships from the Netherlands and England on the sea with red fire.
Admiral Zabala saw this scene from a distance, and the telescope in his hand was almost shocked!
"Arson bombs!" Admiral Zabala said in disbelief, "They actually ignored the fact that the warships on both sides were huddled together... How could anyone use arson bombs in this situation?
Does the Chinese admiral want to burn all the ships on the sea indiscriminately?
But there is also a first-class battleship among them! "
This is indeed unimaginable! The Spanish have been struggling for more than ten years to build a first-class battleship!
The built first-class battleships are treated like treasures, and usually they are not willing to use them.
And the Chinese don't seem to cherish their first-class battleships...it doesn't seem to matter if they are burned!
What kind of national strength is this? How could the Kingdom of Spain defeat such an enemy?
“Admiral,” the naval commander of the Dutch East India Company on the side reminded painfully, “I think they really don’t care about first-class battleships!
They have a total of 40 large dry docks...much more than the number of large dry docks in the whole of Europe! They are so rich! "
"Then, what should we do?" Admiral Sabala didn't know what to think.
When he joined the Spanish Navy, the Kingdom of Spain had already gone bankrupt several times. Therefore, the funds allocated to the navy are all collected and collected. I never dare to imagine the good things that can be achieved by casually building first-, second-, and third-level battleships...
And now, he actually encountered such an enemy with "money power"!
"I don't know..." This was the first time Constantin Nobel encountered such tactics. "They just deliberately hit our sails and masts, and they calculated that we would get involved with their ship walls... After all, it's cheaper to capture a battleship than to sink one!
Obviously, they deliberately want to use their fleet and our fleet to die together..."
This isn't a war, it's just a waste of money!
Admiral Zabala was a little desperate... The Kingdom of Spain owed so much debt, and it was all foreign debt!
How is it possible to defeat an enemy who is not afraid of burning money?
Just as he watched his own and his opponent's warships fall into raging fire one by one, he was helpless. More bad news has come!
"Admiral...Rocket! The second team fired a rocket for help!"
Hearing the shouts of his staff, Admiral Sabala turned back and looked at the eastern sky. Sure enough, there were balls of fire caused by rockets!
(End of chapter)
