Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1266 The Striking Fleet: Great Victory

"Find out the channel, attack carefully, try to avoid the firepower of the coastal defense fort, God will bless us." Cai Anguo ordered.

The sea breeze is blowing and the water waves are calm. On the sailing gunship "Big Red Squid" overseas in Mozambique Island, Navy Lieutenant Cai Anguo has just received an order from Li Yi. His messenger came here in a small transportation boat. Departed to pass orders to the next ship.

The flagship of the Second Fleet was the "Free Trade", followed by the "Sea Great Wall", "Fubo Wanli", and "Control Dongfang"... Immediately behind the battleship were six sail escort gunboats, a Fast cruiser, three auxiliary ships did not participate in the battle. The "Big Red Squid" was ranked ninth, and all the warships on the east coast lined up in a line, from the northeast of Mozambique Island, along the north and ocean currents, straight into the bay.

And what is the scene in the bay at this time?In short, chaos!There were more than two hundred small arsonist boats raging like bonfires in the moorings of the Portuguese fleet. Many ships were glued to the arsonist boats, and the entire side of the ship was soaked in the flames. There was a painful groan, and the planks of some ships broke and burned, falling into a huge crisis.

The Portuguese sailors who had just awakened from a dream walked around on the deck, lifting the anchor, moving the water tank, moving the water tank, and putting out the fire. In short, it was a mess.If there are enemies attacking at this time, one can imagine how much combat power they can exert.Not to mention that in order to prevent the spreading fire from burning through the bilge, some impatient captains have already ordered to throw gunpowder barrels into the sea. Without the gunpowder necessary to fight the enemy, the cannons on the ship have become large fire sticks, and it is no wonder what will happen.

The ship with the largest tonnage anchored in the anchorage of Mozambique Island—probably the largest ship in the entire battle—the 1100-ton "Todos Santos" has pulled up its bow and stern anchors at this time, and the sailors are also very excited. Quickly raised some sails, intending to leave the harbor immediately and withdraw to the open sea.At the same time, they also sent a large number of traffic boats to contact other ships, asking them to extinguish the fire as soon as possible, and then break out to the outside together, leaving this chaotic waters first, because their instincts told them that the harbor might no longer be safe.

However, I don't know if it was because of luck. Although the "Todos Santos" was not harmed by the arsonist ship, the interior of the "Todos Santos" caught fire in the panic, and the fire was so large that it was difficult to control for a while.As for the reason, it is said that when the people on the east coast used the arsonist ship to raid, the catering manager of the ship was holding a candle and carrying a keg to make wine in the bilge, so that each sailor could have a share in the morning.At that time, he inserted the candle stick in the gap of the bucket, and tried to pull out the candle stick after drinking, but he used a little force because it was inserted too firmly. The brandy in the lid was inside, so the barrel immediately burst into flames, and then quickly spread to the surroundings.

To make matters worse, the first burning wine barrel burst open due to the high temperature, and the overflowing brandy ignited the coal pile of the blacksmith not far away, which further fueled the fire, so that the food The administrator rushed out of the hold in panic and asked the captain to send someone to put out the fire immediately.

But this time the captain has no time to ignore him, because after the arson ship incident, the island of Mozambique issued another warning, saying that warships from the east coast invaded the port at night, and he has been directing the officers and soldiers to adjust their course and contact the entire fleet.When he finally had time to listen to what the catering manager asked him for, too many things had been burned in the fire in the hold—the wine barrels stacked three or four stories high in the hold had all caught fire, and the blacksmith The other side of the coal pile has also been completely burned.

Seeing this, the captain went crazy and ordered to put out the fire. The sailors also realized the seriousness of the problem, and rushed in with leather buckets filled with seawater, and poured them on the burning wine barrels and coal piles.However, due to the lack of necessary experience and knowledge, these fire-fighting sailors soon encountered bad luck. After the burning coal pile was watered, it emitted a foul-smelling "sulphur gas". The sailor slowly became a little suffocated and almost fainted.Most of them couldn't hold on any longer, and rushed to the hatch to take a breath of fresh air. The chaos on the scene was beyond words.

The people on the east coast will not let go of the chaos of the enemy!The battleship "Free Trade" which took the lead opened fire first, and dozens of artillery pieces on its port side opened fire next time under the command of the officer. Beautiful orange sparks bloomed in the night sky, and countless shells fell on the passing Portuguese ships. On board, the Portuguese, who were fighting the fire on the deck, cried for their father and mother, and had nowhere to hide.

The "Free Trade" was followed by the "Great Wall of the Sea". This time they replaced the grape bombs and explosive bombs, focusing on killing the Portuguese crew members exposed on the deck.The effect of this move was almost immediate. The crew who were hoisting the sails, pulling the ropes, fighting the fire, and lifting the anchor were killed in a large area. Occasionally, a few people seemed powerless to fire back, and they couldn't do much harm to the people on the east coast.

After the seven battleships passed in front of the chaotic Portuguese ships one by one, they made a smart turn in the harbor, planning to give them a second round of shelling later.Following them are seven sail warships. Unlike battleships, they have steam power and can repeatedly attack enemy ships. They only have one chance to sail with sails. After the battle, they can only sail out of the bay and go to the open sea The wind and ocean currents there are very unfavorable. If you want to return to Xinhua Port, you have to detour from the east coast of Xinhua Island (navigating with the help of southeast wind), let alone return to the battlefield.

Therefore, they lowered most of their sails at this moment, sailing forward almost at the anchorage of the Portuguese at a low speed of two knots, while carefully circumventing some of the Portuguese ships that were on fire, while using their side artillery ground shot.The artillery shells are also mainly anti-personnel grape shells and explosive shells, supplemented by some chain shells that hit the sail surface and mast. In short, the purpose is to kill and injure the enemy's crew and destroy their sailing ability, making them a turtle in the urn, so that they can come back again later. The formation of battleships named "massacre" one by one.

Under the order of the captain, Lieutenant Cai Anguo, the "Big Red Squid", which ranked second in the frigate, concentrated all its firepower on the "Todos Santos" closest to them. The 400-ton gunboat in front of the 1100-ton giant ship is like a child and an adult, but the adult will have a "stomach pain like twisting" and is in a hurry to escape. He doesn't want to pay attention to a child who is stabbing him with a bamboo pole. After a few counterattacks, he adjusted the yard and planned to escape to the open sea.

Naturally, the "Big Red Squid" couldn't let them get what they wanted. They immediately sailed out of the formation, approached the starboard side of the "Todos Santos", and then poured all the shells over.They were so brave that regardless of their own casualties, the gunners approached and fired at enemy ships with superior numbers of artillery and superior caliber. The scene was extremely chaotic for a while, and casualties began to increase sharply, but at this time no one care.

After shooting each other for 10 minutes, bad luck came to the "Todos Santos" again, because the growing fire had approached the powder keg storage area, and the situation was extremely critical!At this time, the Portuguese crew members on the battleship were not in the mood to continue fighting, and some people even rejected the idea of ​​sailing away. Lieutenant Cai Anguo noticed sharply that some Portuguese crew members were lowering the oars from the deck. The long sampan seemed to be trying to escape back to the shore.However, quite a few crew members did not give up. Under the command of the officer, they frantically rushed into the gunpowder storage area, moved out one by one gunpowder barrels and threw them into the sea; Of course, there were also people pouring water from the hatch, but all this seemed to be of no avail, and the fire did not seem to be under control at all!

Finally, the Portuguese gave up when the fire spread to the oil tank, because pouring more water at this time would not help but only fueled the fire, so they evacuated decisively.However, before evacuating, they seemed to have forgotten to inform the comrades behind who were still bravely carrying the gunpowder barrels. With their efforts, more than 50 barrels of gunpowder had been moved from another hatch to the deck and thrown into the sea. What is frustrating is that there are still more than [-] barrels of gunpowder in the bilge...

At around four o'clock in the morning, a deafening explosion came from the bilge of the "Todos Santos".The sailor who is putting out the fire with the leather barrel, the sailor who is trying to carry the gunpowder barrel, the sailor who is sweating profusely and sailing, the sailor who is firing at the people on the east coast with red eyes, escaping into the small boat placed on the sea The sailors, together with the ships they had sailed for many years, were all smashed to pieces at this moment—countless ship parts, human limbs, and broken ship boards were blown into the sky, and then fell into the sea like meteors. The scene was appalling, but still impressive after so many years.

The "Big Red Squid", which was closest to the "Todos Santos", was also affected to a certain extent. A large amount of debris was hit by the air waves, and many sailors standing on the deck without shelter suddenly screamed In one piece, even Lieutenant Cai Anguo, who was standing on the stern tower commanding, was wounded by several pieces of wood.But at this moment, he didn't seem to be aware of being injured at all, because everyone saw him dancing and shouting excitedly: "The enemy's flagship 'Todos Santos' exploded and sank! The explosion sank, haha!"

The explosion and sinking of the "Todos Santos" dealt a huge psychological blow to the Portuguese.Because this giant ship with a displacement of more than 1100 tons is almost impossible to be sunk in their opinion, and it is also a common psychological pillar for everyone, but now it has sunk because of the explosion of ammunition, so can this battle continue?No one can answer!

After the sailing fleet of the people from the east coast passed by one by one, except for the fast cruiser "Jingwu" which ran a little bit and caused a lot of water in the bilge, they all sailed out of the bay smoothly and gathered in the open sea to wait.At this time, after the fire attack and a round of fierce close-range bombardment, there were only a dozen or so Portuguese ships standing on the sea, and most of them were in poor condition.

"There should have been ships burning and sinking during the fire attack before. At least I saw two ships, and then the ammunition depot of the 'Todos Santos' was killed. That is to say, they have sunk at least three ships, and the other ships The personnel were seriously injured, the canvas and cables were mostly damaged, and the hull was also severely damaged (caused by both shells and arsonist ships). At this time, it is basically the end." The "freedom" that came back again On the second deck of the stern building of the battleship "Commerce", the commander of the Second Fleet and Lieutenant Colonel Guo Zili said to his subordinates optimistically: "Keep working harder and send them to see God completely, so that their death will be changed." Become the military medal on our chest. Gentlemen, work hard!"

"Boom! Boom!" The scream of death came again, and the hot shells carried powerful kinetic energy to kill the enemy's ship. Portuguese sailors were constantly killed and injured by bullets, and screams could be heard everywhere.Of course, many of them were bloody, manipulating naval guns and shooting at the ships of the people on the east coast with precise shooting skills, causing certain casualties to the sailors.But so what?It's just a dying counterattack before dying!

With a loud bang, another Portuguese naval warship overturned and sank.Several large holes were punched in its side, and the sea water poured in wildly. Although the sailors tried their best to bail out the water and try to seal the holes, all of them were in vain under the threat of artillery fire from the people on the east coast. .In just over two hours, it turned over and overturned on the sea like a drunkard who was full, and detained hundreds of Portuguese crew members upside down in the water, and sank to the bottom of the sea together with it. , the scene was extremely tragic.

There was another muffled sound of "rumbling", and a ship that was ignited by artillery fire, like the previous "Todos Santos", was cut into two pieces from the middle, and then slowly sank into the sea.Some Portuguese sailors who were lucky enough not to be killed on the spot were also blown away by the blast and fell on the sea like raindrops. Some of them sank directly to the bottom of the sea in a coma, while others floated on the sea and mourned. Crying for help, but no one paid any attention to them this time—the people on the east coast still remember the compatriots who were burned to death on the stake!

When the battle progressed to the sunrise, the Portuguese coastal defense fort, which had been shooting wildly all night, immediately found its target and hit the warships of the people on the east coast fiercely, trying to drive them away from the bay behind them.But isn't it too late by now?Iberians, open your eyes and take a good look, what is left on the anchorage where more than 20 ships were moored?Some broken planks, barrels, and corpses?

Of course, it may be harsh to say this, and it is not accurate, so let us take a careful look at what happened in the battle last night!First of all, the 20 ships anchored by the Portuguese in the bay were ignited and sank four in the first two waves of arsonist attacks. In addition, many ships were severely burned, with serious losses in personnel and materials, and of course more important It was they who lost mobility and combat effectiveness, which also set the tone for their downfall.

Secondly, a large number of arson boats caused great confusion among the Portuguese, which not only disrupted the formation of their ships, but also caused their crews to fall into a panic from top to bottom, so that later the people on the east coast Under the repeated shelling of the battleship formation, they failed to fight back or escape effectively, and eventually became "artificial fishing grounds" on the seabed-during this link, the Portuguese lost as many as nine ships, including the famous Flagship "Todos Santos".

In the end, the "Todos Santos" sank due to the explosion of the gunpowder magazine, which dealt a heavy psychological blow to the Portuguese.Many Portuguese captains had no intention of fighting, and did not dare to continue to stay in the port of Mozambique, which did not give them a sense of security, so they ran away one after another.Some of them succeeded, while others were intercepted by the people on the east coast and beaten into the bottom of the sea-in this link, the Portuguese lost another four ships, that is to say, they only managed to escape with three ships. day of birth.

After all the calculations, the Portuguese lost seventeen ships that night, including the "Todos Santos" with a displacement of more than 1100 tons.As their opponent, the East Coast Fleet commanded by Minister of the Navy Li Yi had only one "Super Brave" class fast cruiser, which unfortunately hit a rock and sank due to darkness. It is a pity to say the loss.

And if you count the damage of both sides a while ago, the Portuguese squadron lost a total of 23 ships, and another four ships were seriously injured and overhauled in the port of Mozambique. The loss of the ship.Back then, when a large fleet of 27 ships sailed into the Indian Ocean, the Second Fleet of the people on the east coast ran wild, many ports were blocked, and seven or eight merchant ships were sunk or captured. Extremely tragic.But I didn't expect how long it would take. After the people from the east bank mobilized elite warships to come for reinforcements, the offensive and defensive momentum quickly reversed. Their thirty ships ended up being wiped out [-]% of the tragic end, which is extremely embarrassing.

In this battle, the people on the east bank lost five warships (including the refitted armed merchant ships) in total, including the losses of the Second Fleet, all of which were ships of the Second Fleet, which made Guo Zili extremely distressed—— Now, this lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the Second Fleet has only the battleship "Free Trade" under his command. He almost became a bare-bones commander. Thinking about it, he is quite helpless. After all, it is bad luck. ah!

Closer to home, after the coastal defense forts on Mozambique Island showed their power after dawn, the people on the east coast wisely chose to avoid them. Some ships in better condition turned to head into the bay, and then cruised outside the range of the coastal defense heavy artillery.Staying with them are four assembled naval gunboats. These ships will form a small blockade fleet to completely isolate the island of Mozambique from the nearby mainland, and let the drinking water on the land-mainly Fresh fresh water - can't be sent to the island, look at how those Portuguese boil it!

As for the other ships whose hulls were seriously damaged in the battle last night, they lowered their sails, then turned on their steam power, and headed for Xinhua Harbor in the north at a horrible low speed of 1-2 knots against the ocean current. Go back and make repairs for the battle at sea that may ensue.

After doing all this, there are still two "August [-]th" class battleships and three auxiliary ships off the coast of Mozambique Island. Under the leadership of Li Yi, they are slowly cruising outside the range of the enemy's coastal defense fort. Keep an eye on their possible moves without slowing down, while doing a good job of blocking.So far, the entire Mozambique island has been roughly blocked and isolated by the people on the east coast, and the Portuguese on the island seem to have become entangled turtles, and their destruction has become a matter of time. The best base in the Indian Ocean" will almost fall into the hands of the people on the east coast in the near future. The days of the Portuguese showing off their power on the coast of East Africa seem to be gone forever!

At noon on the same day (December 12), the sailors monitoring the enemy reported that four Portuguese ships waiting for repairs on the island of Mozambique were on fire. Get these boats.Thinking about it, this will is really firm enough, but it is useless. Mozambique Island, a small land with an area of ​​only about one square kilometer, can't last for a few days—if the people on the east coast can block it effectively.

Today's historical combat power list, I worked hard, and I was ranked 4th in the morning, but the opponent behind me made efforts, and the chrysanthemum was repeatedly exploded.Up to now, I don't have any hope of winning the top six, but I don't want to be squeezed out of the top ten, so I will add another chapter this time, hoping not to be blown up.

(End of this chapter)