Compared with the largest warship of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia, Tiger Flag's largest galenic warship in Port Stupid is not small at all.
The hull has three floors. The top floor is for gunners, and the middle and lower floors are for cannons. It is equipped with more than fifty guns, including ten thirty-six-pound cannons and twenty-five twenty-four-pound cannons. The others were all eighteen-pounders.
The thirty-six-pounder gun is already the largest caliber gun cast by Tiger Flag.
There is also a forty-two-pound gun, which is under development and has not yet been equipped on its own warships.
Even so, the thirty-six-pounder cannon is already considered a top-caliber cannon in today's naval battles, and its firepower is only stronger than that of the red-haired barbarian warships.
Five Galen ships set off from the port one after another. In addition to the Galen ships, five sand ships also left the port together.
In addition to these large ships, there were also chain boats, mother-child boats, Haicang boats, lucky boats, and various sailing boats. Almost all of them left the port and sailed in the direction of the Hong Maoyi fleet.
These ships have almost wiped out Tiger Flag's wealth in Bengang, and they are also the ships that Zheng Tie has built over the years.
"Commander, we found traces of the Red Maoyi fleet on the sailboat in front." A lookout on the ship conveyed the news to Zheng Tie.
Zheng Tie stood on the side of the ship, holding a monocular in his hand and looking at the sea ahead.
The lookout was at a high place and could see the Red Mao Yi fleet in the distance, but because he was on the deck, he was temporarily unable to see the Red Mao Yi fleet still in the distance through the monocular.
However, the enemy's fleet could not be seen, which did not delay his command.
Just listen to him say: "Keep the formation and allow the sailboats serving as outposts to move freely."
The sailboat was small and fast and was not suitable for moving with the fleet. Therefore, he gave the sailboat as a sentinel ship the freedom to move on its own.
As the fleets on both sides got closer and closer, they finally met in the same sea area.
At this time, their tiger-shaped sailboat had already fought against the red-haired barbarian fleet.
"Get the order, move across the ship, open the walls, and bombard the enemy ships on the opposite side." Zheng Tie ordered loudly.
The flag bearer on the main ship waved flags on the watchtower.
The other ships received the order and began to form a formation according to the order, and the muzzles of the cannons leaked from the hull.
boom! boom! boom!
The cannons were fired one after another, and solid bullets flew out from the muzzles.
At the same time, the Red Maoyi fleet did almost the same thing. They also used the cannons on the ships to bombard the Galen ships and sand ships on the side of the Tiger Flag.
There are three-foot waves on the sea even when there is no wind.
The bombardment between warships is far less accurate than the bombardment on land. It can be said that in today's naval battles, a large part of luck depends on which side of the gun hits the other side's ship first, or hits the other side's ship fatally. The place.
Otherwise, the ships on both sides will watch the cannons flying out one by one. Many of them will not hit the opponent's hull and will only fall into the water, but some cannons will still be able to hit the opponent.
Even so, with huge hulls like Galen ships and sand ships, as long as they miss their vital points and take a few shots, there won't be much damage at all. At most, the sailors on the ship will be hit by the cannons and killed on the spot.
The large ships of both sides bombarded the sea, and the sailboats of the Tiger Flag side shuttled in the gaps in front of the formations of both sides.
These sailing ships were also equipped with cannons.
But because of their fast speed, they often fire a cannon and then leave immediately. It is difficult for the cannons on the Red Mao Yi ships to hit these sailing ships.
Even if you are lucky enough to be hit by a cannon and the sailboat is blown up, as long as the sailors on the sailboat do not die on the spot, they will be rescued immediately by other surrounding ships.
"Don't worry about those damn small boats, hit their big ships, especially the biggest ship, which should be their main ship. Concentrate all the artillery fire on their main ship." A commander on the Red Mao Yi ship said, Pointing at the largest Galen ship on the Tiger Flag side, he shouted loudly.
"Damn, why do they have so many cannons, and they are all of such large caliber."
However, the only one he can command is his own ship. The other ships cannot hear his orders at all and can only attack their targets according to the commander on his own ship.
The Red Maoyi fleet came with seven warships, six of which were armed merchant ships. There was only one warship from Batavia, which was also the largest of the seven ships.
All those armed merchant ships were equipped with many cannons. Except for one armed merchant ship with more than 20 cannons, the other armed merchant ships had more than a dozen cannons.
Many of these guns were eighteen-pounders.
Don't think that the eighteen-pounder cannon is small. No matter it is the Ming Dynasty Navy or the Li Dan Group, no one has such a large caliber ship gun. Therefore, these red-haired armed merchant ships are walking on the sea, as long as they are not intercepted by a large number of ships. With the dozen or so eighteen guns carried on board, it would be difficult to encounter an opponent.
Unfortunately, they encountered a warship carrying the tiger flag.
Unlike other Han forces at sea, the Tiger Banner has been continuously developing firearms. It can be said that after these years of development, it has not only digested the cannon-making technology obtained from the Folangji people, but also started to build on this basis. Innovation.
Nowadays, the tiger flag on firearms is no worse than that of Europeans.
The ships on both sides were bombarded continuously, and each side suffered hits and damage. However, the ships on both sides did not break away from the battle order and could still fight.
The big ships on the Tiger Flag side were shelling, and some small boats began to approach the Hong Maoyi ships.
Soon, the sound of gunfire rang out from the boats on both sides.
The big ships used cannons to fire at each other in the distance. Some Haicang ships and Fu ships under the Tiger Flag could already see the sailors on the other side's ships because they were close to the enemy's ships.
"Damn it, why are they using flintlock guns!" A sailor on the Red Mao Yi ship yelled.
They all use matchlock guns. Once water wets the matchlock, they can only stop shooting. They need to cut off the wet matchlock before they can continue to use it.
But the flint-haired muskets on the Tiger Flag side avoided this situation.
Although it is not as useful as on land, it is much better than the red-haired sailors.
"Hook, hook." Someone shouted loudly on the side of the Tiger Flag.
Several grappling hooks were thrown to the side of the red-haired ship, and then the rope was pulled to pull the two ships together.
After he received the news of the incoming Hong Maoyi fleet, he sent someone to pass the news to Zheng Tie, and arranged for the ships in the port to prepare to leave the harbor to meet the enemy.
The soldiers on the island immediately boarded the warship that was about to go to sea for combat.
"Judge Li Jun, Staff Officer Yan, as agreed before, you stay in the port, I will go out with the fleet, and my family will depend on you." Zheng Tie, who rushed over, only had time to explain a few words to Yan Weixin and Li Zhao before boarding the Boarded the largest Galen ship docked in the port.
