Marton Tropp still doesn’t know what George Munch’s death means.
In the original history, he died at the hands of George Monk at the Battle of Gabbard Sands seven years later.
That battle also represented the decline of Dutch maritime hegemony.
Now history has changed.
Marton Tropp is still alive and kicking and directing the battle, but George Munch has been buried at sea.
But Marton Tropp didn't know yet that the British commander had died in battle.
All he saw was that the British fleet was in chaos and was in danger under the heavy blow of the Imperial fleet.
With such a good opportunity, how could you not beat up the drowned dog?
So after leaving the battlefield, Tropp quickly commanded the fleet to complete the formation, and then circled back from the other side.
At this time, he has discovered the benefits of the imperial fleet's linear array. At least it will not be entangled by the enemy and can greatly reduce losses.
Although you will definitely not be able to learn the essence of it now, there is still no problem in copying the cat and bullying the British fleet in chaos.
The Dutch fleet formed an awkward formation on the other side of the British fleet, rowing and bombarding.
Of course, in order to ensure the hit rate, the distance between the Dutch warships and the British warships was only less than two hundred meters.
The British fleet did not wait for each other to be killed, and fought back equally hard.
The appearance of both sides is more in line with the peak situation of the sailing battleship era.
When Robert Blake came around, the Imperial battleship had already gone far and was circling, looking for an opportunity to rejoin the battlefield.
On the wide sea surface, the performance of the third-level battleship was fully unleashed, and its speed was extremely fast.
The British battleships were not as fast as the third-tier battleships and could not catch up;
Although the boat was faster, the wind and waves in the outer sea were violent, so they did not dare to pursue it at full speed. Otherwise, it might be overturned by a storm.
As a result, the imperial fleet completely became a spectator on the battlefield.
"Turn all around and deal with the Dutch first."
If I can't beat the Chinese, I can't beat you, the Dutch?
Robert Blake got angry and decided to take it out on the Dutch.
This immediately put the Dutch in trouble.
They were having fun bullying the British fleet, but Black's main force arrived and outflanked them from the outside, quickly breaking the Dutch fleet's formation.
The two sides turned into a melee again, regardless of each other.
Far away, the imperial fleet was very leisurely.
Seeing that the British fleet was not pursuing them, the seven battleships drew an arc on the sea, constantly adjusting their course, looking for a good opportunity to enter the battlefield.
Kong Zhiguang did not dare to let the Dutch fight the British fleet alone. Once the Dutch were defeated, they would be powerless.
But on board his flagship, both Prince Charles and De Ruyter admired the tactics of the Imperial Navy.
Prince Charlie is even more happy that the royal family seems to be able to get rid of Parliament's naval blockade and receive external support.
If the royal army also had such powerful warships and artillery, would it still be difficult to defeat the parliamentary army?
At this moment, he made up his mind to convince his father to purchase advanced warships and weapons from the empire.
In order to defeat the parliamentary army, it doesn't matter no matter how high the price is.
The imperial fleet finally circled back and once again moved into an attack position.
This time Kong Zhiguang targeted the Black fleet.
Weakening whoever is stronger, and finally completely attacking the British fleet, is the goal of the Imperial Navy.
Of course, it is unrealistic for the British Navy to be devastated by just this one naval battle.
At this time, the British warships participating in the war were less than half of the total number.
But as long as this battle is won, the British fleet will definitely be damaged.
The most important thing is that this battle can increase the confidence of the allies, making them more confident and bold in launching operations against the British Parliamentary Army.
Seeing the Imperial fleet staring eagerly, Black was helpless.
He could only mobilize a large number of warships to leave the formation and head towards the imperial fleet.
If they don't do this and let the Imperial fleet attack unscrupulously on the periphery, they will all be sunk sooner or later.
After fighting for so long, Blake was also summing up.
While he personally led his own formation to attack the Imperial Fleet, he ordered several other squadrons to spread out in all directions to outflank the Imperial Fleet.
The Imperial fleet is fast, but its numbers are too small.
Blake decided not to compete with the Imperial warships for speed, but for quantity.
He spread out hundreds of warships on the sea and occupied the entire sea surface. How could the imperial fleet come and go freely?
His idea was good, but Kong Zhiguang almost laughed out loud when he saw it.
"Everyone, have you thought about the Battle of Salhu?"
When the other officers heard this, they laughed out loud.
Robert Blake committed a taboo on the battlefield, which was blindly dividing his troops.
It seems that each small fleet can fill the sea surface, leaving no room for the Imperial fleet to cruise back and forth. But the consequence of this is that the number of each small fleet is extremely limited.
As long as you seize the opportunity, in one-on-one combat, these small British fleets are no match for the Imperial fleet.
"Order each ship to conduct a round of artillery fire on the enemy's main force. The fleet continues sailing toward the southeast."
After observation, Kong Zhiguang discovered that the British fleet encircled from the southeast only had three large ships and eleven small ships.
Such a small number is not enough for a round of artillery fire from the Imperial fleet.
Moreover, the small fleet was far away from friendly forces and could not wait for support.
Robert Blake's main force was hit first, losing three battleships.
But he didn't care, this was what he expected.
The British fleet also launched a limited counterattack, but to his regret, even if a shell hit the Imperial warship, the damage was still minimal.
Seeing the Imperial fleet passing by, Black sneered.
This time he has laid a dragnet. How can the imperial fleet still run around so arrogantly?
His eyes were fixed on the imperial fleet, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that the imperial fleet was heading to the southeast. There was already a squadron blocking it there.
"Inform all squadrons to quickly reinforce and seize the opportunity to fight."
However, just when the British fleet first began to mobilize, the Imperial fleet had already encountered the British squadron.
This time the imperial fleet did not take any tricks, but pounced directly.
By the time the British discovered something was wrong, it was already too late.
The imperial fleet rushed within 300 meters, allowing the British cannonballs to keep hitting their own ships, just to increase accuracy.
Hundreds of artillery pieces each search for a target and then rapidly tilt their ammunition.
In just one stick of incense, the smoke cleared from the sea, but the British squadron completely disappeared.
Blake, who was chasing after him, shuddered as he watched the friendly troops disappear out of thin air.
"General, the Chinese fleet is heading towards the Third Squadron."
The lookout's horrified screams brought him back to his senses, only to see that the other squadron actually fled without a fight, not daring to stand in front of the Imperial fleet.
The morale of the British began to be shattered.
