The George Monk fleet was unprepared for the arrival of the Imperial fleet.
As the top maritime power of this era, the Netherlands has invested all their energy.
When he discovered that the imperial fleet was approaching menacingly, it was too late for George Monk to give orders.
Without giving the British fleet a chance to adjust, the Imperial fleet began to bombard them indiscriminately with ferocious artillery fire.
The first wave of salvos fired over and destroyed many battleships on the spot.
The lethality of the conical shells is undoubtedly reflected. As long as it hits, it will basically cause structural damage.
Even if it is penetrated, it can still cause damage to other warships.
The British warships on the periphery showed super high quality. They spontaneously acted as a defense and launched a counterattack without waiting for George Monk's order.
However, what the Imperial Fleet did made them vomit blood.
The position where the imperial fleet fired its guns was five hundred meters away, and was not within their range at all.
The British had no choice but to open fire.
As can be imagined, most of the shells flew to nowhere.
Even if the limited shells hit the imperial warship, because the distance was too far, the potential energy was almost consumed, which was just scratching an itch.
In such a confrontation, Kong Zhiguang discovered something keenly.
"Lower the muzzle and shoot at the enemy below the waterline."
The bronze cannons of the Imperial Navy were still solid shells, and their destructive power was very limited. In many cases, big holes were made in British warships, but this did not affect their actions and counterattacks.
Kong Zhiguang also discovered that the attack distance of 500 meters resulted in a huge waste of kinetic energy of the artillery shells.
Many times the shells penetrated one side of the British battleship and then flew out the other side.
Although there is still a chance of damaging other warships in this situation, the destructive power is even more unbearable.
Rather than doing this, it would be better to deal a fatal blow to the current warship.
If you want to use solid shells to cause fatal damage to a battleship, there is no doubt that you must attack the area below the waterline.
It is impossible to achieve this with a ball cannonball.
Once the spherical shape touches the water, the huge resistance will cause the cannonball to completely lose its kinetic energy, making it almost impossible to penetrate the thick and strong hull.
But the Empire uses conical cannonballs, which are very fluid-dynamic. It can effectively reduce air resistance and naturally also reduce water resistance.
Coupled with the excessive kinetic energy of the cannonball within a distance of 500 meters, it was enough to break through the water flow and penetrate the bottom tank of the British battleship.
On the sea, as long as the cabin is flooded, it will be difficult for the gods to save it.
Each artillery position received the order and carried it out one after another.
After the second round of shelling, although the hit rate was lower, the killing effect increased sharply.
If it is hit by a cannonball, a large hole of more than one meter will be opened below the waterline.
With the technology and conditions of this era, it is completely impossible to block such a big hole.
Not long after, several British warships began to list due to water ingress. The people on the boat were also desperate and began to flee.
George Munch was so anxious that he tried to rush to the front and set an example.
This is the best thing a commander can do in times of chaos.
Only by letting more people see where the flagship is and follow the commander's footsteps can the situation of the war be turned around.
"Commander, the enemy's flagship has been discovered."
George Munch was not brave, but if he stood out on the battlefield, he would inevitably be targeted by his opponents.
As soon as his flagship rushed out, it was discovered by lookouts.
Kong Zhiguang quickly looked through the telescope.
Six hundred meters away, an obviously huge warship was rushing towards them, intending to provide cover for an injured warship that was on fire.
To shoot a man, shoot a horse first; to capture a thief, capture the king first.
Kong Zhiguang immediately shouted the order without thinking.
"Order all gun positions to aim at the enemy's flagship and not stop until it is sunk."
Even if other British warships posed a threat, they could not achieve as great a result as killing the commander-in-chief.
The seven imperial warships immediately took action, and hundreds of artillery pieces adjusted their parameters, all aimed at George Monk's flagship.
George Munch didn't know he was in danger yet, but he was still conducting his duties conscientiously.
"Quickly seize the position, enter the firing range, and order other ships to follow our footsteps."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt that the world in front of him went dark, and then an earth-shaking loud noise reached his ears.
George Munch looked up in shock and was dumbfounded when he saw hundreds of artillery shells already in front of him.
No matter how low the hit rate was, his flagship still suffered disaster in the face of such covering fire.
No one knows how many shells hit the battleship.
In short, from top to bottom, almost every corner of the battleship was swept away.
The tall mast was broken on the spot and hit the sea heavily.
The huge sail was out of control and was blown away by the sea wind like white clouds.
The sturdy bow made of bronze was smashed into scrap metal, and the collision angle that used to be enough to smash the enemy into pieces no longer existed.
There was no intact part of the side of the entire ship, and almost all the guns were overturned. Surrounded by shells, the fragile human bodies were no more than paper walls.
The command podium was even missing, and the graceful, smart and capable generals on it all disappeared in the gunfire.
Several large holes were opened below the waterline of the battleship, and seawater surged in, causing the entire battleship to tilt on the spot.
What happened to the flagship frightened all the British.
They couldn't believe what they saw.
George Monk's flagship is Britain's top battleship. It has played a role in anchoring the sea in many naval battles and is even known as the unsinkable castle.
As a result, today, we just met the imperial fleet, and it was completely destroyed after a round of bombardment.
Compared with the sinking of the battleship, the death of George Monk was the biggest blow to the British.
The British fleet along this route quickly lost command and became even more chaotic. Some people even developed fear and did not dare to face the imperial fleet, and just wanted to escape quickly.
On the Imperial Fleet side, killing the enemy commander did not cause much of a stir.
After so many years of fighting, have you killed many enemy generals?
Kong Zhiguang remained calm, commanding the fleet to slowly leave the combat position while continuing to project firepower.
The plight of the British fleet was not diminished by the separation of the Imperial fleet.
Behind them, the bloody Dutch came back.
Previously besieged by the British fleet, the Dutch suffered heavy losses and relied on the imperial fleet to rescue them.
But as a famous general, Marton Tropp quickly seized the opportunity of the British fleet being hit hard. After quickly reorganizing the formation on the periphery, he decided to give the British fleet the final blow.
Behind the Imperial fleet, Robert Blake had just rounded the field of fire and would be able to see the shadow of the Imperial fleet.
