In less than an hour since the two sides officially started fighting, the "Java" was struggling and found it difficult to continue fighting.
Regarding this matter, not only Putmans did not expect it, but also other captains in the fleet did not expect it.
The port side of the heavily damaged "Java" was already burning, and the rising flames made it difficult for the sailors to get close.
After two small-scale explosion accidents, everyone also realized that putting out fires is an extremely dangerous thing.
If he didn't jump into the sea to escape, he might have to feed the fish with this battleship.
Fortunately, the commander responded in time and asked everyone to abandon the ship immediately. Otherwise, the ship would not be saved and people would suffer heavy casualties.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the port side of this huge warship was submerged in the water after losing control.
What shocked the entire main fleet even more was the assault team led by Putmans himself.
It seemed that its book strength was extremely strong, but its offensive came to an abrupt end almost in the blink of an eye.
First, the "Good Luck" was directly sunk, and then the "Java" was forced to give up and sank rapidly.
The "Tuna" had been severely damaged before, and the "Mendy" at the end of the team was chased and beaten fiercely by the opponent.
Since the main mast of the "Sumatra" was broken, the warship's speed dropped sharply and it was almost classified as a definite loss.
If this naval battle cannot be won, then this warship will definitely not be able to escape unless the battle sequence is launched first and the battlefield is evacuated before the winner is determined by the two sides.
The only one in the team that is in relatively good condition is the "Courageous", which has already used cables to pick up Putmans from the water.
"Your Excellency Commander, judging from the current situation, if our fleet wants to win, I am afraid it will have to pay a huge price!"
Van Leal, the captain of the "Brave", expressed concern about the prospects of this naval battle, mainly because the opponent was equipped with a very sharp weapon.
In front of this weapon, one's own warships are no match for it.
If the eight "returning ships" transporting soldiers were hit, or even severely damaged or sunk, it would mean that the one thousand soldiers on board would die.
This is a loss that the fleet absolutely cannot bear. Once this happens, it means that not only will it be impossible to rescue the majority of the defenders, but it will also have to rely on a thousand soldiers and several warships.
"We have destroyed nearly a hundred enemy ships, and now is the most critical moment. We must not choose to back down because of any difficulties, otherwise all our efforts will be wasted."
Turning around and running away would be tantamount to handing victory over to others. The previous losses were real and could not be made up for through other means.
The only way to force Zheng Yiguan to make concessions and rescue Bolger is this. If it fails, it will lead to a series of negative consequences.
This is something Putmans cannot accept. The best solution is to defeat the enemy in person, and all difficulties will be solved.
As long as the warships transporting soldiers are not damaged, even if twenty warships are exchanged for Zheng Yiguan's two hundred warships, it will be worthwhile to win this naval battle.
Judging from the current situation, this is a completely acceptable result.
Before setting off for rescue, the Council also authorized Putmans to do so.
It is obvious that people will die in land battles and ships will sink in naval battles.
Whoever thinks that naming the East India Company can win, then let him lead the team.
"Give me the order to change the channel. The ship will retreat backwards and let the speedboats protect the troop carriers!"
He refused to give in, but Putmans also didn't want to be fished out of the sea again. It would be too embarrassing.
The "Brave" was hit by a "Fire Demon" and hit by dozens of shells. With its strong hull, it seemed that it could still hold on for a long time.
But this is just speculation. If you continue to fight with the opponent on the front line, you may be sunk by the pirate warship at any time.
As the "Brave" retreated, the other three ships in the assault team, namely the "Mendy", the "Tuna", and the "Sumatra" were abandoned.
They also wanted to retreat, but the damage to the ship's hull was too severe and they could no longer retreat. They could only fight until the last moment, and then all the crew abandoned the ship and escaped, that's all.
Five of the six large warships were lost. Compared with the last time the "Hector" faced the siege of forty or fifty Zheng Army warships, it was able to calmly break out of the siege. The contrast is really huge.
Even so, Putmans' determination to defeat the enemy has not changed, let alone cannot be changed.
Assuming that the officials were really invaded by Zheng Yiguan's army, then three months have passed.
Once the support fleet turns back from here, the time to go north again to relieve the defenders will be greatly delayed.
It is difficult to explain whether the defenders will continue to hold on. Neither Putmans nor the fleet can give up their rescue because of the enemy's obstruction.
Now that the assault team is no longer available, the second stage is to send out smaller but more flexible speedboats to charge.
Using more than 20 speedboats to launch the second round of offensive, Putmans did not believe that Zheng Yiguan's fleet could still withstand it.
At present, the squadrons on the left and right wings have circled back to Zheng Yiguan's side and rear, and the situation is changing greatly.
As long as this momentum can be maintained, I believe that the enemy's defense line will completely collapse before long.
"Fourth Master! The big Hongyi ship slipped away, and the small ship came to kill us!"
"Just let him come over! You can save yourself the trouble!"
Anti-ship missiles and arson ships were used to repel Hongyi's first wave of attacks. Zheng Zhifeng's fleet would then face the opponent's second wave of attacks.
It seems that there are more than twice as many small boats as there were big boats just now, but that’s good, the arson boat that was launched earlier is worried that it can’t find its target!
More than half of the bird ships have been converted into arson ships. These bird ships are far from the opponents of the Hongyi warships.
Even if five ships were to fight one, it would be difficult to achieve results. It would be more appropriate to turn into an arson ship that Hong Yi was afraid of.
Due to the charge in small team mode, the three or four speedboats rushing ahead were unable to dodge the numerous arson boats and were already set on fire.
Prior to this, the speedboats had used artillery to destroy no less than ten arson ships, but the number of them was too great, making it difficult for us to defend ourselves.
Only when the speedboat is at an extremely close distance and the speedboat cannot avoid it, the sailor controlling the arson boat will jump into the sea to escape. This is what the Dutch sailors and gunners hate the most.
Therefore, once an enemy is discovered jumping into the sea, they will shoot with muskets at all costs until the opponent is killed.
This move made Zheng Jun extremely angry. They wanted to spare Hong Yi who was struggling in the sea and salvage it after the war.
Now it seems that there is no need for this at all. Hongyi believes in Shenzi, so let him go see Shenzi immediately!
"Catch the thief! Hongyi is coming!"
"Are you afraid? Come hit us! Brothers, prepare to kill Hongyi!"
When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins!
What's more, turning around and running away without the coach's permission is a taboo for Zheng Jun.
Besides, the escape route was against the wind, and Hongyi's warships sailed faster against the wind than their own warships.
If you're getting beaten while running, how about running a ball? Might as well fight to the death here!
There were about eighty people on this black-tailed boat. Except for the gunner, everyone else picked up swords, spears, and blunderbuss, intending to win the battle through hand-to-hand combat.
Even though it was inferior to Hongyi in terms of firepower, Zheng Jun was determined not to lose to the opponent in terms of courage.
Whenever Hong Yi dares to collide, as long as the battleship is not directly hit and sunk, the Hong Yi on the opposite side will definitely be beaten up!
When the speedboat "Sternberg" saw the Zheng Jun warship coming from the opposite side, it didn't want to dodge at all and rushed straight towards it, so it stopped evading and headed towards it.
In this way, the two warships collided directly. The bow of the ship was completely damaged after the impact. The huge impact caused the crew members of both sides to fall to the ground, but they quickly got up and prepared for the final fight.
"The fourth master has an order. One Hongyi has two hundred taels of silver. No matter life or death, give it to me!"
"Kill Hongyi!"
"Don't worry! Throw the grenade out first and let Hongyi have a big meal!"
"okay!"
Grenade is a good item, especially in close combat. If Hongyi is not wearing armor, he will be killed and injured. If he rushes over, he will get twice the result with half the effort.
At this time, the bows of the two ships were still touching each other, becoming a bridge for the sailors to rush to the opposite side.
The Dutch soldiers were also prepared for hand-to-hand combat, and muskets and iron swords were distributed to everyone.
But more than a dozen sailors just rushed to the bow of the ship, intending to fight from here to the other side.
A bunch of unknown objects flew over, followed by a series of violent explosions.
After that, wailing sounds broke out one after another, and most of the sailors were blown to the ground.
Many people suffered multiple injuries and continued to receive treatment, but they had already lost their combat effectiveness on the spot.
The remaining sailors didn't know what was going on, so they had to stop where they were and planned to observe for a while before attacking.
In this way, Zheng Jun easily occupied the bow of the ship and took advantage of the terrain.
Seeing that there were many Hongyi on the opposite side, Zheng Jun was not in a hurry to rush over.
Since there are still a lot of grenades that have not been thrown out, it is just a good opportunity to give Hongyi an enlightenment!
"Boom boom boom boom..."
The Dutch soldiers did not expect that this group of pirates also had a throwing and explosive weapon in their hands. After losing their troops again, they had to retreat to the stern to fight stubbornly.
The deck was full of wounded soldiers who were still wailing, but none of them belonged to Zheng Jun. For these broken soldiers, no sympathy or pity was needed to help them relieve their pain immediately.
The length of the speedboat was not large, and the strong Zheng Army soldiers could throw grenades from near the bow to the position where Hong Yi was stubbornly resisting.
For the unarmored Dutch soldiers, the pirates on the opposite side were driving them to death without giving them any other options.
After a few shots were fired and found to have no effect and could not change the situation of the battle, the remaining people chose to jump into the sea to escape. This was much better than being blown up by pirates with unknown weapons.
The gunners in the lower deck realized that the pirates were occupying their heads and the situation was not good, so they also jumped into the sea, otherwise they would not be able to stop the pirates' top-down attack.
Now it was the Dutch's turn to be shot in the sea, and the Zheng army not only had blunderbuss, but also bows and arrows, and could even use Hongyi's cannons to kill them!
Use the Hongyi cannon to defeat the Hongyi...
Is there anything more exciting than this?
Didn't it mean that Hongyi could equal ten to one?
How could he be defeated so quickly?
Now is the time for you to reap the consequences!
The soldiers of Zheng Army were not polite at all to Hongyi who fell into the water.
How did he kill his brother just now, and now he will be treated equally!
Anyway, the dead will float on the water. As long as they are not blasted into pieces, no one will be missing from the battle!
Except for a few of the Hongyi who jumped into the sea, most of them were quickly harvested by Zheng Jun.
Since both ships have been damaged and temporarily unable to sail, they can only be used as fixed gun moss.
Fortunately, the Hongyi cannon is still intact, and its operating principle is the same as that of our own cannon. It can be used to bombard other Hongyi warships.
After being equipped with anti-ship missiles and grenades, the Dutch warships were no match for the Zheng Zhifeng fleet in close combat.
The only way to win is to keep a certain distance from the other party before meeting, but most speedboats are not prepared for this.
The Zheng Jun warships took advantage of the favorable wind, with the arsonist ship as the first, followed by the other warships, and rushed directly towards the Dutch warship.
Of the twenty-two Dutch speedboats that attacked, five were set on fire by arsonists and three were severely damaged in the exchange of fire.
After the collision, as many as six warships were directly captured by the Zheng army, turned into gun moss, and began to attack the surrounding Dutch warships.
These three types of losses accounted for more than half of the entire speedboat force, which greatly compromised Putmans's expectation of defeating Zheng Yiguan.
At the same time, the Dajian fleet that circled back from the left wing also encountered stubborn resistance from the Zheng army.
Especially after the close battle, Colonel Baker lost three battleships one after another.
It was forced to give up the plan of close combat, lead the fleet out of the chaotic waters, and try to keep the distance from the enemy ships as much as possible.
Five battleships of the squadron led by Deputy Commander Major Luc Mullen were sunk or severely damaged, but there were still fifteen battleships that could conduct formation operations, and at least thirty enemy ships were sunk.
But this was in exchange for the huge losses of the middle fleet, and as the war became stalemate, the center commanded by Putmans was already a little unable to withstand it.
Originally, the middle fleet consisted of forty-one warships, but Zheng Yiguan's fleet was also very powerful, causing Putmans to lose up to twenty-one warships, just over half of the original number.
Only the five speedboats responsible for protecting the troop transports and the eight returning ships have not yet participated in the battlefield melee, otherwise these thirteen warships would have suffered losses.
For the entire support fleet, this was an unprecedented fierce battle. The pirates' combat effectiveness was much higher than imagined and they were well prepared.
"Order the entire squadron to turn around, temporarily retreat, distance yourself from the enemy ships, and use both wings of the fleet to attack the enemy!"
As a last resort, in order to protect the safety of the troop transport, Putmans could only choose the strategy of retreat in order to advance.
"Are you going to run away now?"
Zheng Zhifeng and his men had long been prepared to die together, but it was obvious that Hongyi on the opposite side did not intend to do the same.
On the battlefield, who is more afraid of death? In the face of a crisis, whoever has to run away first, otherwise he will really die!
"Fourth Master! Both wings of our unit have been captured by Hongyi, and the situation is critical now!"
Hongyi was crippled in the middle, and Zheng Jun suffered serious losses on both wings.
No one is much better than anyone else, it just depends on who can grit their teeth and hold on.
One thing is certain, that is, Zheng Zhifeng can bear the loss of the entire fleet, but his old enemy on the opposite side cannot.
If he really did this, the first person to fall into despair would probably be Berg, who was huddled in the Castle of Geranze...
Waiting for reinforcements to rescue you?
Then just wait patiently!
Maybe three months!
Maybe three years!
Maybe forever!
Even if we can't starve you to death, we will still smoke you to death!
