Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 184 Melee

"Sister-in-law, I don't seem to have seen Zhang Daniu's ship?" Shibi was also looking at the remaining vanguard fleet and the warships led out by Zheng Zhilong's men with a monocular at this time.

Zhang Daniu was a die-hard confidant of Shi Bi, and was almost raised by the latter as his son. This man had just reached his twilight years and was at the peak of his strength. This time he also volunteered to go on a mission to lure the enemy with Xu Letian and the others.

Shi Bi originally didn't want him to take the risk, but Zhang Daniu didn't discuss it with him in advance, and he couldn't stop him since he had already said it.

"You are the fleet commander. We have lost two ships. Xu Letian and the others have also lost three ships. Is it appropriate to just ask Zhang Daniu? Besides, is now the time to care about the safety of individual people?" Although Lin Hai lowered his voice, His tone was cold, and he was obviously unhappy with Shi Bi asking about Zhang Daniu at this time.

The Dingyuan is less than five miles away from the nearest enemy ship. The two sides are heading towards each other and will soon engage in battle. Lin Hai roughly counted the number of enemy ships. There were about sixty enemy ships that were led out. Because of their different speeds and maneuverability, they were roughly divided into three clusters.

These three clusters are all some distance from each other, but the ships within the clusters are arranged relatively densely. In the East, where boarding battles are the main focus, this is natural.

The closest cluster has the largest number of ships. There are about forty ships, and the tonnage is basically around 200 tons. It is similar to the tonnage of the vanguard fleet led by Xu Letian. It is the fastest and most maneuverable among the enemy forces. The sexiest batch of ships.

Zheng Zhilong's men must have smaller and more flexible ships than this, but none of them were able to catch them. Lin Hai speculated that it might be because the Taiwan Strait in winter is not suitable for small boats to sail, and it is even less suitable for fighting.

What's more, small boats suffer a lot when engaging in boarding battles. The low bulwarks make it difficult to attack from above, and collisions are another disadvantage. In the naval battles in the East, large ships mainly used plowing tactics against small ships.

Due to the wind direction, the vanguard fleet led by Xu Letian and the enemy's first group were both sailing in the wind. The two sides had similar ship-handling skills, and they were all lucky ships. The tonnage of the ships was also in the same range, so they were very tight. .

However, due to the lack of heavy artillery on the ship, they only occasionally fired at each other, and mainly used blunderbuss and bows and arrows to fight. The vanguard fleet led by Xu Letian has the upper hand, so it can also use paper tube rockets such as the Divine Fire Flying Crow and the Fire Dragon Water. However, these rockets are completely inaccurate and have no range, and they cannot cause much trouble to the enemy ships. .

Behind the first cluster are more than ten Fu ships of about 500 tons. These ships are worse than the ships in the first cluster in terms of speed and maneuverability. They are also worse than the old lock ships of the same tonnage of Huiyou Company. It's worse.

This is because the Chinese sailboat has a large hull water resistance and a slow speed. Slow speed will lead to low rudder efficiency, and this effect is particularly obvious. Because the rudder effect is proportional to the dynamic pressure at the rudder surface, if the ocean current speed is not considered, the dynamic pressure value is proportional to the square of the ship's speed.

This is another reason why there is an upwind advantage in naval battles. The upwind direction often means tailwind or side wind, while the downwind direction often means traveling into the wind. Slow boat speed means slow turning, so the downwind side can generally only passively meet the enemy, without the right to choose to continue fighting or retreat.

The five ships with a displacement of about 800 tons fell at the end. The tonnage of these ships was roughly the same as the Bowang, and they could barely sail close to the wind. This was mainly due to the angle at which the longitudinal sails could rotate. larger.

Even if the Fu Ship is as big as the mission ship Lin Hai robbed, it still has the ability to travel against the wind. This is mainly due to the fact that Fuchuan is a pointed-bottomed boat. In addition, the hull is not as slender as a sand boat, and its maneuverability is better than that of a sand boat.

Later scholars made a model of the Ryukyu sealing ship and sent it to a wind tunnel to blow the wind. They concluded that it can still sail when the angle with the wind direction is greater than 60 degrees. The range of the wind angle is equivalent to that of the Western-style square sailing ship of this era, but It is worse than the full-sail ship with stay sails in later generations.

Of course, this is only theoretical. A Chinese sailboat of this size must be driven by a hard sail weighing two thousand kilograms. It is quite difficult to turn the sail surface. In fact, when Jiajing Fengzhou had a headwind, it was towed by hundreds of small boats. walking situation.

"The number of ships chased by the enemy is not that many." Shibi heard Lin Hai's dissatisfaction and quickly changed the topic to the enemy's fleet.

"That's fine. As long as the weather doesn't change suddenly, we are sure to win." Lin Hai is not greedy for more. This is his and Zheng Zhilong's first sea battle. If they can win steadily, it is not a loss.

But the fleet on the opposite side didn't seem to think so. Gulei Peninsula was not far from the southern entrance of Dongshan Bay. As soon as Huiyou Company's fleet came out, both parties had actually visually confirmed it.

Faced with the Huiyou Company fleet that suddenly appeared from behind the Gulei Peninsula and spread out like a giant net, a few of the enemy ships that were chased out chose to change their course and turn around, but most of them still maintained a relatively dense formation and continued to move towards Head north.

Obviously they don't think that they are at a disadvantage. After all, in terms of the number of ships, they still have more ships. What's more, the opponent's formation is so loose that they can easily pass through the middle and gain the upper hand.

In the naval battles in the East, the upper hand advantage has another meaning, because there are many incendiary firearms used at close range on the ship, which can only be used upwind, otherwise you will only be burned.

"It seems that Zheng Zhilong's men are not as cautious as their boss. These pirates are so damn stubborn that they are not afraid of death." Lin Hai sighed silently in his heart. He thought that the enemy troops in front of him were just reckless, but in fact most of them were reckless. People are just ignorant.

The Dingyuan sailed in the most easterly position. Seeing that the enemy did not make any adjustments, Miguel began to adjust its course. The Dingyuan's rudder turned to the right and headed south-west.

At almost the same time, the Bowang was also turning, shifting its course slightly eastward. The subsequent warships also began to adjust their course accordingly, and the giant net set up by Huiyou Company was slowly tightening, gradually changing from a semicircle to a U-shape.

Although the shape is not very regular, it can be roughly seen as two columns two miles apart, plus a crescent shape.

Except for the Dingyuan in the two columns, the other nineteen ships are all old lock ships equipped with broadside guns. The remaining ten ships forming a meniscus are composed of Fu Ship, Guang Ship and Calais. The ship was equipped with 8-pounder or 6-pounder guns only at the bow and stern.

The Dingyuan and Bowang did not open fire immediately after the first group of enemy fleets entered the firing range. Instead, they continued to drive south, trying to make the first group of enemy fleets rush into the U-shaped encirclement.

The subsequent fleets also remained silent, because the pre-war instructions clearly stipulated that no firing was allowed at this distance.

But not long after the enemy fleet began to enter the encirclement, the Yiyang, which was following the Bowang, opened fire first. This was an old lock ship nearly ten feet long and with a tonnage of about 9 tons. There are seven 8-pounders on each side, and an -pounder on the bow and stern. The Yiyang's course when it opened fire was south-east. This ship probably wanted to take the lead on the battlefield, so it began to shrink inward very early. After roughly entering the distance that allowed it to fire, it fired the Huiyou Company's First shot.

The bow gun of the Yiyang was the first to fire. There was a bang, and an iron shell weighing about seven kilograms flew towards a two-masted ship of the enemy's first group, but in the end it missed and the shell fell into the Falling into the sea, there was a splash of water.

The distance of two hundred and fifty steps is still a bit far away for a ship that has been rocking, and aiming is very difficult. The Western European navy's requirement for firing distance is generally within one hundred and fifty steps.

The reason why Lin Hai did not make such a provision in his pre-war training was mainly because he wanted to avoid giving the enemy a chance to engage in a boarding battle. This was a higher priority than the artillery hit rate of his own warships.

After this shot was fired, seven enemy ships of about 200 tons began to rush westward and began to fire back with bow guns, while the remaining ships continued northward.

Obviously, Zheng Zhilong's warships are all fighting independently. They don't even have the simplest flag language. Apart from the Tianfei flag, there are only the recognition flags of the leaders on the ship, and they don't exist at all during the war. All ships are free to move under any command.

The Yiyang was hit by an enemy artillery shell, which was a 3-pound copper-fired gun. The shell hit the hardwood ship deck supported by dense ribs but did not penetrate it, so there were no casualties. .

The Yiyang immediately adjusted its course to allow more artillery on the port side to enter the firing window. Seven 9-pound guns were pushed out of the gun port, and then started one after another.

Almost at the same time, the Anyuan and Laoting, which followed closely behind, also opened fire. These two ships were about the same size as the Yiyang, and each had seven 9-pounders or 8-pounders on each side.

The roaring sound of artillery was loud, and gunpowder smoke filled the battlefield. Twenty-one iron bullets weighing seven or eight kilograms flew towards the first group of enemy troops. All the enemy ships rushing towards the west were hit without exception. Luck The good ones were hit by only one shot, while the unlucky ones were hit by two or three shots.

The hull of a Chinese sailing ship is too thin. Regardless of whether it is made of tropical hardwood or pine and fir wood, it will be like dregs in front of an 8-pounder or 9-pounder cannon. Countless bamboo and wood fragments are flying on the ship, bringing up clouds of blood mist.

Some unlucky ones were directly hit by cannonballs and turned into a pile of minced meat and stumps. Suddenly, the voices of crying fathers and mothers could be heard on these boats.

This time, it was like poking a hornet's nest. The enemy's warships from the three groups began to chaos. Some wanted to turn around and run back, some were still moving forward, and some rushed to both sides trying to fight with Huiyou Company. The battleship docked.

Because their formation was relatively tight, and ships in the sailing era needed a larger radius to turn, many ships collided with each other, and the scene suddenly became a mess.

The most chaotic one was the first cluster, which had the largest number of ships and was directly hit. The latter two clusters were slightly better.

Among them, the third cluster only had five ships. Two ships chose to continue moving forward, while the other three sailed toward the open sea. The steering of these ships was not very sharp, and the turning radius was too large. They had to maneuver toward the open sea first. Although they The ultimate goal is to return to Dongshan Bay.

"What a bunch of rabble." Lin Hai was stunned as he watched the Dingyuan. He was used to seeing the orderly naval battle scenes in later movies, but the chaotic scene in front of him simply refreshed his understanding.

But after thinking about it, this is actually normal. After all, before the advent of the battle line era, even the Western European navy had no discipline at all. Many times, when a certain ship has harvested enough loot, the captain will choose to leave the battlefield early and sail directly back to his home port.

At this time, almost all the warships of Huiyou Company began to fire, and the vanguard fleet led by Xu Letian also began to turn around and fight back. Nearly a hundred artillery pieces began to roar, and various solid bombs, chain bombs, and grape bombs were poured into the enemy warships everywhere. It's all filled with smoke and shining fire.

The chaotic first group of enemy troops was quickly crippled, and all the surrounding ships lost their ability to move, becoming living coffins that floated up and down with the wind and waves. The ships to the north were blown southward by the north wind, and the ships behind them that could still be controlled were forced to get out of the way.

The control system of a Chinese-style sailboat is very fragile. Whether the sail surface, rigging or rudder surface is hit, it is likely to lose controllability, and even grapeshot can cause sufficient damage to it.

This is a type of bullet that is larger than shotgun. Of course, the number that can be fired each time is not as many as shotgun. Because the small bullets bundled in a net bag are shaped like a bunch of grapes, they are called grapeshot.

Shotguns are used to hit people, grapeshot is used to damage sails and rudders, and solid bullets are used to damage the hull. This is also a good firepower configuration when fighting Chinese sailing ships.

The enemy's second group was much better than the first group. They suffered fewer shells, mainly from the bow guns of the Dingyuan and Bowang. However, seeing how badly the first cluster was beaten, the second cluster, which was originally better in order, became even more chaotic.

The Dingyuan and the Bowang began to rush towards the second cluster, each followed by two or three old lock ships of about 500 tons. At this time, the Huiyou Company's fleet had no overall command, and each ship was free to operate.

Some captains saw that the first cluster was already waiting for death, so they chose to attack the second cluster. Some captains were adjusting their course and trying to continue hitting the first cluster with the broadside cannon on the other side of the ship.

Compared to the first cluster, which was surrounded and bloody, the battlefield of the second cluster seemed more chaotic, with enemy ships running in all directions. The warships on Huiyou Company's side are also fighting in their own way. Some are fighting against enemy ships, while others are chasing the fleeing enemy ships.

The Dingyuan and Bowang's broadside guns had not fired before. The Bowang fired a broadside salvo at this time. The eight 12-pound guns instantly smashed a -ton three-masted Fuzhou ship opposite. .

　Thanks to Saibei Sheepherd for the reward of 500 taels!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)