So, Cromwell immediately issued an order: "A warship like the Ming Dynasty has too few cannons, so we cannot let it fire from a long distance. All warships immediately surround it, get close and sink it!"
It turned out that he observed that this kind of warship with powerful artillery was not the ordinary kind with many cannons on both sides of the warship, but the cannons at the bow, and the number of cannons was very small. Even the cannons at the stern In total, there won't be more than twenty doors.
Therefore, Cromwell immediately thought of a way to deal with it, and with his superior strength, he rushed closer and attacked!
This "weakness" of the Ming Dynasty battleship was also noticed by the famous Swedish general Carl Gustav Wrangel and the Dutch fleet commander Anthony. As expected of a famous general, he issued military orders similar to those of Cromwell.
Suddenly, under the leadership of the warships of several countries, they saw densely packed warships on the sea, like sharks smelling blood, rushing towards the Ming warships.
"Okay, let's fight like this!" Da Kongdai and others on the shore saw it from a distance and immediately praised it.
Giving full play to the advantage of military strength is what a general should do.
Since there are few Ming warships and insufficient troops, we must seize this "weakness" of the Ming fleet and hit them hard.
"Not good!" The Portuguese King Theodosio's face changed drastically and he said in a voiceless voice.
He had just seen several Spanish warships explode and burst into flames. Like Cromwell, he quickly realized that maybe the Ming army had invented a new weapon. Just when he was happy, he saw warships from various European countries all attacking like crazy. In the past, it was difficult for two fists to defeat four hands. No matter how powerful the new weapons were, they couldn't withstand too many enemy ships, right?
For a moment, Theodosio didn't know how worried he was.
"Boom boom boom..."
On the sea, cannons roared.
The warships from various countries were also firing their guns while rushing over. Even if they couldn't hit, they could disrupt the morale of the Ming soldiers.
The Ming warships are also firing. There is no doubt that both the accuracy and the rate of fire are much better than the cannons of warships from various European countries.
Moreover, every time a cannon was fired, several warships from various European countries exploded and caught fire.
Under the onslaught of warships from various European countries, the Ming warships seemed to be aware of the crisis. Instead of fighting, they retreated and fired while keeping a distance.
"Boom boom boom..."
The roar of cannons on the sea became the only sound near Little Nanjing. Everyone is watching the ongoing naval battle.
The only difference is that the Portuguese and Ming merchants here in Little Nanjing are all nervous and worried. Most of the soldiers in various European countries have the mentality of relaxing and watching the show.
However, as time passed, the mentality of both parties slowly changed.
Theodosio and other Portuguese people slowly became excited and loudly shared their new discoveries with their companions.
"Look, it seems that the Ming warships have more power. Did you see that, especially those warships without paddle wheels, they have always kept their distance and have not been overtaken by enemy ships? They also seem to be more flexible!"
"Yes, those enemy ships, those at the front, all caught fire and exploded! Haha, you deserve it!"
"..."
As for the soldiers from various European countries, including General Kongdai and other generals, none of them spoke, and there were no smiles on their faces.
If the fight continues like this, even if the fleets of European countries can win, they will definitely suffer heavy losses!
This understanding was naturally discovered by Cromwell, Carl Gustav Wrangel and others. They were all capable people and immediately dispatched warships and began to encircle them on a large scale, without giving the Ming warships any more space to fly their kites.
All of their faces were livid.
Because most of the warships hit by Ming Dynasty artillery exploded and caught fire. This kind of powerful artillery, or cannonballs, is really the devil's weapon, the terminator of naval battles. If it weren't for the fact that the number of Ming warships was too small, or that the warships of so many European countries were gathered this time, it would be There's no way to fight it.
Of the nearly 600 warships, not a single one was left to deal with the Portuguese warships rushing out of Lisbon port. They all went to encircle and suppress the Ming fleet.
However, as time goes by, every time a warship explodes and catches fire, you can't just watch your country's warship sink, right? Battleships must be sent out to rescue.
As a result, the number of warships participating in the war slowly decreased.
When there were only about half of them left, and there were still more than two hundred warships participating in the war, warships from various European countries finally surrounded the Ming fleet.
"This time, let's see how you run away!" Cromwell said angrily.
At the same time, he also issued a military order. If he could engage the Ming warships in a broadside battle, he would do so and capture the Ming warships. If you can't, sink it and don't let the Ming warships fall into the hands of other countries.
That's right, he coveted the artillery on the Ming Dynasty's warships.
So it was with Cromwell, and so it was with Carl Gustav Wrangel.
Whoever masters this new type of artillery from the Ming Dynasty will be invincible in this European sea!
However, the continuation of the war once again exceeded their expectations.
Although fleets from various countries surrounded the Ming fleet and began to attack, and artillery began to threaten the Ming warships, they discovered another incredible fact.
I saw that their iron bullets finally hit the Ming warship, but they were unable to cause any damage to the Ming warship. At most, it was just a pit!
"What's going on? Could it be that the Ming warships were really made of iron instead of just covered with a layer of iron?"
At this moment, everyone including Cromwell and others who had observed it well were dumbfounded.
Subsequent facts proved that their guess was not wrong.
The fleets of both sides were close, and more warships of the European combined fleet were bombarded to pieces. There were also many iron bombs and chain bombs from European warships that hit the Ming warships. However, they only caused some minor damage to the Ming warships at most, and were unable to damage the Ming warships at all. Battleships inflict fatal damage.
There is no doubt that there is only one conclusion that can explain this situation, and that is that the Ming warships are armored warships made entirely of iron!
And such warships are at least the dozen or so warships at the front.
Arranged in a row, firing cannons and charging wildly, these Ming warships were like the real kings of the sea, sharks, running rampant among the "schools" of European countries, devouring one European warship after another.
On this battlefield, all the warships were busy fighting, and there were no warships to take care of the warships that exploded and caught fire. Suddenly, there were warships on fire and about to sink everywhere. A lot of dumplings had already fallen on the sea, one by one. Europeans are shouting "Help".
There were even a few unlucky European battleships whose ammunition depots were hit by Ming artillery, or their ammunition depots were ignited by explosions and fires. From time to time, there would be an earth-shattering explosion, and those warships would instantly disintegrate.
"Boom boom boom..."
The roar of artillery is the only main theme here. There is still a much weaker sound, that is, "dumplings" shouting "help" one by one.
After the battle had been going on for an hour, the Ming Dynasty's armored warships, which were "severely wounded", were still charging wildly. Warships from various European countries were unable to cause substantial damage to this armored warship, and no power system could be found to destroy it.
On the contrary, on the sea, there are warships from various European countries that are about to sink or are sinking. The sea is full of people, and the blood even attracts a large group of sharks.
At this time, although there were still more than 200 warships from various European countries, it was obvious that they were all cowed.
The Dutch fleet, which suffered heavy losses, even raised the white flag and surrendered. Then, they were busy saving their accomplices who fell into the water. There is no way, there are only so many people in the Netherlands, and they cannot bear such heavy casualties.
Warships from other countries also lost their previous momentum. A discerning person can tell at a glance that the combined fleets of European countries will be defeated in this naval battle.
At this time, the Ming fleet also began to change its style of play. The armored warships were divided into several teams. Regardless of other warships, they looked at the flagships of various countries and launched an attack.
"The Ming Dynasty is victorious!" Theodosio on the shore first recovered from the stunned shock and cheered ecstatically.
When the people next to him heard his shout, they immediately came to their senses and cheered loudly.
After a while, everyone in Little Nanjing, whether they saw the naval battle or not, all cheered in unison following the rhythm.
"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"
"..."
This cry has traveled westward from the Central Plains and now echoes over Europe.
The invincible military power of the Ming Dynasty was engraved in the bones of every Portuguese in the small city of Nanjing.
Those who had completely opposite sentiments to them were, of course, the generals from various European countries such as Da Kongdai.
Of course they could see that the combined fleet might not be able to hold on for long before it would completely collapse.
Naval battle, lost!
Absolutely no one could have imagined this beforehand!
"No, we will never lose!" Da Kongdai stared at the domineering Ming warships on the sea. He suddenly turned his head and said to the other generals in a decisive tone, "We still have a chance, we must win this battle." A fight!”
Another famous French general, Turenne, immediately came to his senses, understood Grand Condé's idea, nodded immediately, and said resolutely: "Yes, we still have a chance. We must not lose this battle!"
They have assembled so many navies and armies from various European countries to attack Portugal. If they fall short like this, the consequences of failure are definitely not something they can bear.
No matter what the cost, we must win this battle. Otherwise, the sky in Europe would be red!
Thinking like this, Grand Condé, Turenne and others turned their horses around one by one and rushed back to their military camp like crazy.
Not long after, more than 200,000 troops from various European countries began to gather and swarmed towards Lisbon.
Obviously, they decided to use their military superiority to capture Lisbon and turn defeat into victory, regardless of the cost, before the naval battle could be decided.
