Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 655 Thousand Island Sea Battle ([-])

Under the order of Zheng Wenxian, the fleet of the North Navy lined up obliquely at a 30-degree angle from southwest to northeast, with the port side facing south, and opened fire when it was 2 nautical miles away from the Dutch fleet. Where the fleet passed by, white water columns exploded, and the sea surface seemed to be boiling.

The rules of engagement for sailing ships in the [-]th century were to fire and wash the deck at a distance of one chain, that is, a distance of one-tenth of a nautical mile; and the "ultra-long" distance of the Northern Navy was not suitable for the Dutch at all, so This caused chaos on board the ships.

Rear Admiral Kabien immediately ordered someone to display a semaphore, ordering the fleet to sail northwestward with full sail at a vertical angle of nearly [-] degrees.In this way, the cross-section of the fleet exposed to bombardment is greatly reduced.

Suddenly, a loud sound like a sledgehammer falling on an anvil startled the officers and soldiers on the "William IV".After the shell on the opposite side reached the anchor claw of the bow anchor, it turned it over for nearly a circle, and then fell into the sea; and the shell also deflected because of this, and it was 20 meters away from the bow. A column of water exploded.

"How can their guns fire so fast?"

The Dutch were stunned, from officers to sailors.In fact, from the time when the Beihai Navy fired the first shot to now, some caring people have already counted the number of shells fired by the other party at least dozens of rounds in just such a short time.

The "African" had to withdraw from the battle because of a large hole in the cabin and a serious water leak.But the captain had to turn the ship around, facing the enemy with its tail, and ordered the carpenter to rescue it immediately.

On the deck of the "William IV", the bosun and the mates kept looking up to check the sails, so as to find damaged sails or cables in time.From the top of the mast the loud roar of the lookout never stops.Cabion stood in deep thought at the bow, the clerk and adjutant not far to his left, and the cadets on the upper quarterdeck.

When shells whizzed by in the distance, or hit the fleet hard with a loud explosion, he remained motionless.He even frowned when a shell flew more than ten feet above his head and landed on the sea off the starboard side, blasting a column of water.

Lord Peter Melville van Carnby, a Dutch admiral of Scottish descent, is best known for his role at the Battle of Cape St Mary during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.Although the "Castor" commanded by Cabion with only 32 guns was defeated by the British "Flora", he successfully ensured that the escorted merchant fleet arrived in Spain.

What puzzled Kabien was that every time the enemy's flower bomb hits one's own ship and explodes, the smoke that rises is not ordinary white smoke, but streaks of gray-black smoke that imply fire. The power is extremely frightening.

In fact, regardless of the small caliber of the North Navy's 75mm shells, because they are filled with high explosives, the damage caused is far more serious than those 24-pound or 32-pound shells.The main reason is that except for the Northern Navy, the gunpowder used by all other countries is "low explosive."

The so-called "low explosive" refers to the contact reaction of black powder at the particle level, that is, thermal reaction.Because this year is all granular gunpowder, the heat is transferred through the particles to cause a chemical reaction, generating a large amount of gas, and then the gas expands to release the pressure.Therefore, when the flower bomb explodes, all it emits is white smoke generated by thermal reaction.

And "high explosive" is different.It is the combination of fuel and oxidizer on a molecular level.Because of this, the closer the contact distance, the faster the reaction speed.However, the explosion of high explosives is not through thermal reaction, but depends on shock waves to trigger chemical reactions, which can basically reach a speed of 6000-9000 meters per second, and then the energy generated will continue to trigger shock waves, and the cycle goes on and on.That's why high explosives need a detonator, which is detonated by a shock wave; and if it is ignited directly with an open flame, it is an ordinary combustible substance, with a little harmful gas at most.

For Cabion, though, the bewildering thought was fleeting.Right now, his main concern is how many warships he needs to lose in order to defeat his opponent.

"We're about to catch up with them, sir." The adjutant's voice was not loud, but Kabien could hear the urgency and joy in the other's voice.

"Signal! Order all ships to open their battle sails!"

"Yes, sir! Spread the battle sails!"

At this time, on the various gunboats of the Beihai Navy, the gunners kept issuing orders, and the gunners carried out the orders one after another angrily, and violently bombarded the opponent's hull at the fastest speed; The shells in the boxes are sent from the ammunition depot to each gun position like an assembly line.Except for the captain, junior officers and non-commissioned officers ran around, helping here, talking there, and dealing with signs of confusion at any time.

At this point in the battle, Zheng Wenxian had already determined the combat principles for this battle, and communicated them to the commanders of the ships through walkie-talkies.That is to use the entire fleet to focus on attacking the outermost frigates and armed merchant ships of the Dutch fleet like skinning, weakening the number of enemy troops, and then use one's own rapid maneuvering to destroy the enemy's flagship at close range with a one-time saturated artillery attack. , forcing the remaining ships to surrender.

After working in Beihai Township Navy for so many years, Zheng Wenxian has long understood that there is nothing in the world that can fire faster than 75mm guns, so as long as you keep your distance from your opponents and ensure your shooting accuracy, it will be useless for anyone to come.

"Commander, the Dutchman's ship is about to enter the distance of one nautical mile!"

"I saw it!" Zheng Wenxian put down the binoculars and said to the adjutant beside him: "Notify all ships to form a single column and follow the flagship to the southwest! Keep the port side gun firing!"

Half an hour later, when the Dutch fleet faced the artillery fire of the North Navy and lost two frigates and two armed merchant ships, when it finally sailed to a distance of one nautical mile from the seven Siamese ships, all the Dutchmen were shocked. The dumbfounded thing happened.

I saw that the Siamese boats with lowered sails seemed to be pushed by an invisible giant hand, drawing water lines on the sea surface, and moving towards the southwest, and the speed was not slow.Although the Dutch fleet has always been in an upwind position and the speed of the ship is very fast, the seven Siamese ships have always kept a distance of one nautical mile from them, which has also kept the gunners on each ship in a staring state.

What the hell!Major General Kabien was so depressed that he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.The helmsmen and sailors on the ships of the fleet were immediately ordered to panic again, and hurriedly adjusted their course.

Cabion has worked in the navy for decades, and has fought naval battles with the British and French, but he has never seen such an opponent.He knew that the big iron ships of the Beihai Navy did not need sails, but what happened to the wooden ships in front of him? !
With sails versus without sails, the latter runs faster than the former.Who are you going to ask for reason?
At this time, on the returning ship "Amsterdam", which was at the forefront of the Dutch fleet, several gunners who were operating the bow gun used winches and crowbars to push the 12-pound bronze long-barreled gun with the muzzle up. It was raised by five degrees, and with a bang, amidst the dazzling flames and choking gunpowder smoke, an iron ball whizzed out, but only flew more than 900 meters, smashing a large water column.

The Northern Navy Fleet on the opposite side kept firing, and the shots became more and more disciplined. One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven took just over half a minute, and a total of seven rounds of artillery were fired from the seven ships.Seventy shells fell, causing the mainmast platforms of most of the ships in the Dutch fleet to be blown to pieces.

The explosion sent countless sawdust fragments, and the large ignited planks were thrown into the air by the shock wave, and then fell on the deck, post and hammock, the rigging of the fore-sail yard was blown apart, the sail There are countless holes in the sheet, and the uninjured sailors either ran back and forth with fire buckets to put out the fire everywhere, or carried the wounded to the lower cabin to the doctor.

At this time, the Dutchmen on each ship were going crazy. They could no longer bear the situation where they could only be beaten passively but were unable to fight back. In order to increase the speed of the ship, they were constantly throwing boxes, cages, and planks into the sea on the deck. .A cage containing several ducks fell into the water, and the ducks kept flopping about because of the weight of the cage; a terrified cat stood on a floating wooden box, screaming uneasily.

Finally, on the returning ship "Albraserdan" with 74 guns, the main topmast was hit by two shells one after another. The ropes fell like a shower of hail, and the living people on the deck didn't even have time to shout, and ran around with their heads in their arms.

On another ship named "Zuderburg", the upper rear deck has long been turned into a piece of rotten wood, and the crimson blood flowed from above to the deck scupper hole under the fragment of the poop staircase.The hammock net frame was broken into broken iron bars, four gun barrels rolled down from the gun mounts were overturned beside the main beam, and a large hole was punched in the safety net on the upper rear deck to prevent the broken wood chips from falling down. Pieces of sail gear accumulated inside were strewn all over the place.The whole boat became crooked, and it seemed that if the waves were any bigger, they would smash it to pieces.

The mizzen topmast of the "Prince Frederick" was knocked out, and a fire was burning in the middle of the "Dephase Signal". Floating aimlessly on the sea.
Zheng Wenxian's waiting time finally arrived.He ordered the ships under his command to suspend firing, and then followed him, slanting into the Dutch fleet from west to northeast at a thirty-degree angle.

It was a miracle that the mast of the "William IV" was not injured until now, but the side panels and decks of the ship were blown up enough, and there were so many wounded that it was almost empty.

He saw through the binoculars that his opponent adjusted his direction and rushed towards his dilapidated fleet, so he said to the adjutant beside him: "Go below and prepare everyone who can fight. Spread all sails, all ! and the mizzen-topsail."

Ten minutes later, on the messy main deck of the "William IV", everyone has been divided into two parts. One group ran out from the lower deck to gather at the bow, and the other group was already making preparations amidships.The head of the purser was pale, the face of the armorer was covered with black smoke, the cook was holding a large kitchen knife, and the rest of the people were also copying all kinds of weapons, even the barber and his assistant on the ship followed up.

In the lower gun deck, the gun crews of all squads are ready.At this moment, they felt that as long as they let themselves fight one round, it would be fine to just shoot one round.

However, Zheng Wenxian would definitely not give the Dutch this chance. When his ship was half a nautical mile away from the "William IV", the helmsman made a sharp turn to the left, and the entire hull instantly tilted to the left. The gun windows on the lower deck on the right side of the ship have all been opened, and the muzzles of ten black holes have been stretched out, followed by clusters of bright flames spraying out.

"It's over!"

The Dutch gunners on the two gun decks stopped breathing, and their minds were empty and their eyes widened due to boundless fear.And Kabien, who was standing at the bow, also sighed insignificantly.

In an instant, clusters of bright fireballs erupted from the entire port side of the Wilhelm IV, and the half-meter-thick double-layer oak hull shattered into countless pieces.In the following ten seconds, ten artillery crews fired five salvos one after another on Zheng Wenxian's seemingly ordinary Siamese boat.

The black smoke dissipated, and several large holes were punched in the entire left hull of the "William IV", causing numerous casualties on the third deck.The same scene also happened on the "Delft", "Prince Frederick", "Gertrude", and "Williamstad and Botserar".

Frightened out of their wits, several armed merchant ships and frigates turned around and ran away.However, three ships were separated from the fleet of the Beihai Navy. With the powerful roar of the diesel engine, the other party saw that they could not escape, and soon lowered their flags and surrendered.After that, there was no sound of gunfire on the sea, but from time to time, there would be a burst of intensive gunfire on the captured ships.

At 11 a.m., Zhao Xin, who was at the frontline headquarters, received a telegram from Zheng Wenxian:
"Command: Thanks to King Zhao's attention, Wen Xian commanded the fleet to defeat the Dutch fleet in one fell swoop in the Thousand Islands at 7:32 am this morning. Fortunately, they did not disgrace. Seven frigates with two masts were sunk in this battle. Equipped with 74 cannons; sunk a three-masted battleship with a total of [-] cannons; five two-masted armed merchant ships, each with fifty cannons. Captured two three-masted battleships, returned five large ships, and four frigates The ships named 'William IV' and 'Prince Frederick' were seriously damaged and needed to be towed back to Bacheng Shipyard Island for repairs.

Countless enemy troops were killed in this battle, and the exact number is still being counted. Another 1135 enemy troops were captured, including the enemy commander, Major General Carnby, and several captains.

Due to the difference in the number of ships and artillery on both sides, I ordered the fleet to take long-range bombardment to weaken the enemy's strength, and won the victory through a one-time saturation attack at close range.After several hand-to-hand battles after boarding the ship, many enemy soldiers who were stubbornly resisting were killed, and the national flag and military flag on the enemy's flagship were captured.

After this battle, when they boarded the ship to suppress the enemy, some enemy soldiers lit gunpowder barrels and attacked them, causing two serious injuries and four minor injuries.Another two people were injured in their feet while carrying shells during the shelling, resulting in fractures.Due to the limited medical conditions on board and the large number of wounded enemy soldiers, I now request to be sent back to Bacheng for treatment and detention immediately.In addition, a lot of shells were consumed in the battle, so I asked to go back to Bacheng for supplies.Zheng Wenxian, the commander of the First Squadron of the Northern Navy going south. "

(End of this chapter)