Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 23 The Million Franc War ([-])

The soaring water column splashed on the side of the ship.

Julien d'Eblol stared blankly at the scene: "Damn it! Are they 24-pound guns? They can hit this far! They actually have 24-pound guns!"

"No! Young man!" Adrian Flores, the captain of the "Resolution", said solemnly, "This is an 18-pound gun! But the barrel is very long, and it has a much longer range than our 18-pound naval gun. .Come closer and fire with the bow guns."

As the distance between the two sides continued to approach, another gun on the fort joined the shelling action.The opponent's shooting was surprisingly accurate. In just 2 minutes, the midship of the "Determination" was hit by a shell.The 18-pound solid iron ball pierced through the thick side planks and fell below the deck without causing any injuries.

The two 12-pound guns on the bow of the "Resolution" also began to return fire, but the undulating wind and waves on the sea made the shooting seem inaccurate.Both shells fell far into the sea, to the shame of Julien, who was watching the battle.

He was very surprised why he felt this strange feeling of shame. Maybe it was because the two out-of-target shells made the Tatans on the opposite side laugh at them.Julien shook his head, and continued to watch the battle intently. Flores is a trustworthy old captain, and there is nothing he needs to do here.

While daydreaming, the "Resolution" was shot again.The iron projectile with powerful kinetic energy penetrated the sailors' rest room of the forecastle. Fortunately, the sailors were all fighting on the deck at this time, causing no casualties.

The distance between the two sides continued to narrow, and the number of artillery fired from the Tartan fort increased to four.God bless!Julien prayed silently that the ship would not be hit.

However, it is clear that God has gone out to handle errands today, and the Tatans, who have become more and more accurate, have been hit one after another.Two solid iron bullets hit the bow of the ship again, one of which grazed the two sailors who were carrying the projectiles next to the cannon in the bow; .

Julien looked terrified, but Captain Flores turned a blind eye and ordered the ship to continue approaching.After all, the bow of the ship is now facing the fort, and most of the artillery on the ship cannot fire.

……

Lu Ming held up the binoculars to observe the enemy ships ahead.Dozens of artillery shells have been fired from the fort, but it is a pity that there are very few hits.Of course, the opponent's accuracy seemed to be even worse, and the counterattack shells fell into the sea without exception.

"Battery No. 5 and No. 6 join the firing!" Lu Ming ordered suddenly, the opponent's ship had already started to turn around, and he knew it was the opponent's intention to shoot with broadside gunfire.

Except for the No. 7 and No. 8 artillery positions that could not be added to the shooting due to the angle factor, the remaining 6 artillery pieces on the fort were all put into the shelling.The almost straight trajectory maximized the power of the artillery, and the enemy ship was shot many times, causing panic on the deck.

At the same time, the counterattack artillery shells from the enemy ship landed on the small island for the first time, and the two solid iron balls bounced twice on the ground, splashing a cloud of dust, and then exhausted their kinetic energy and stopped still.This reminded the gunners on the fort that they were not without danger.Of course, the gunners responded with more intense fire.

The barrels of the two 18-pound steel guns were overheated due to continuous firing and began to cool down.Rippers clean the gun bore with a damp cloth soaked in water, and also to extinguish any open flames that may exist in the gun bore.In addition, the cannonball handlers also began to pour water on the cannon barrel to dissipate heat, hoping that the cannon can recover its combat power as soon as possible.

The 10 guns on the side of the enemy ship fired successively, and a large cloud of smoke rose on the sea.Some shells crossed the sea and scattered around the fort.Chen Tumu, who was standing at the No. 3 gun position to supervise the battle, suddenly felt a vibration under his feet. It was a shell hitting the protective wall of the No. 3 gun position.

The parapet was made of masonry, one meter thick, very strong, and some sandbags were piled up outside the parapet as a buffer. The ferocious shot just now only broke a sandbag.

The 3-pound copper cannon in No. 18 gun position roared and fired back.The whizzing shells hit a cannon on the deck of the enemy ship like a god, and the shells penetrated the bodies of the two men and hit the cannon carriage, completely breaking the cannon carriage apart.

……

"Damn!" Captain Adrian Flores cursed fiercely, not sure whether he was calling the Tartans or Sean Raffarin who sent him to die, "Don't drop anchor, turn the rudder, retreat !"

The corners of Julien's mouth twitched a few times, but he said nothing.He also noticed that the artillery on the deck of the "Resolution" was unable to form a direct attack on the Tartans' turret due to the insufficient depression angle. Unable to form an effective kill.Moreover, the wind and waves on the open sea are not small, which seriously affects the shooting accuracy and speed of naval guns.

"We have already tested the firepower of the Tatans." Captain Flores said, "I think their gunners' training level is very average, but the fort is built extremely strong, and the performance of the artillery is also very good. And they also have Two turrets are not working, and the distance between these three turrets is not far away. Once our entire fleet moves in, it will be vulnerable to the other two turrets. It is time for the Army to solve the problem."

The "Resolution", which turned and left, fired a salvo at the end, but it was a pity that there was still no result. Instead, its own hull was hit twice again, which was extremely miserable.

Julien quickly returned to the "St. Christopher" in a traffic boat.Sean Raffarin witnessed the whole process of the battle just now, and he also deeply agrees with Captain Flores' opinion.

"Follow the flag and head due north. Get the Army boys ready for landing," Sean Raffarin ordered.

Therefore, after merging the "Resolution" that had withdrawn hastily, the entire fleet drew a great circle and sailed northward, preparing to be forced to carry out landing operations.

……

"Why did they all run away?" Wang Qinian, who was watching the battle on Yunsheng No. [-], couldn't believe his eyes, holding up his binoculars and said, "It can't be because our cannons are too powerful that they left?"

"It doesn't look like it's going to leave." Wang Tiehui was also looking through the binoculars. "Could it be that these bastards can't get a bargain here, and they want to land ashore where the fort is out of reach?"

Wang Qinian thought for a while and said, "Don't tell me, it's probably really possible."

"Commissioner Wang, has the Executive Committee authorized you to use Yunsheng No. [-]?" Wang Tiehammer asked suddenly.

As soon as Wang Qinian heard this, he knew what this kid wanted to do. "The authorization is authorized, but it can only be started in a state of emergency. For the time being, don't think about it. The executive committee of this ship is reserved for everyone's life, and the fuel is limited. If it is for chasing the enemy I don’t think it will be easy for the executive committee to get through.”

News of the enemy's attack quickly spread throughout the city, accompanied by the rumble of gunfire from the port.Not only the cross-travelers were a little worried, but the European immigrants in the city were also a little restless.

The First Battalion of the Newly-built Army had assembled at the barracks in the city long ago. Peng Zhicheng, Army Commissioner and Commander of the First Battalion, had completed simple pre-war mobilization. Currently, the entire army was quietly waiting for the order to attack.

In addition, several passers-by who can ride horses brought weapons and binoculars, rode several Andalusian horses sent by Kinkola reluctantly, galloped out from the north gate, and followed the direction of the enemy fleet. follow.

Xu Yu is considered one of the few talents who can ride horses among the people who travel through. He is currently leading this temporary reconnaissance team, with a total of 4 people and only 4 horses.Their task is to follow the enemy's fleet, and immediately ride back to the city to report if there is any situation.

The speed of the fleet was not fast on the sea, so Xu Yu rode his horse to catch up with a high ground, raised his binoculars and began to observe.The other party was sailing along the coastline, and he didn't seem to mind being found out about his whereabouts, and from time to time, a traffic boat was lowered, carrying liaison personnel to shuttle between the ships.

After a while, at a place about two kilometers away from the city, Xu Yu and the other four found that the enemy fleet had stopped and dropped anchor.This is important news, Xu Yu immediately assigned a person to rush back to report, while he and the other two continued to stay here to monitor.

Soon it became clear that the enemy was about to land!The largest of the four ships, together with a pot-bellied vessel, let down many of the smaller boats, and a great number of sailors or soldiers armed with muskets and in full dress began to board these vessels.

Oh my God!This is not a pirate, it is obviously an army.Xu Yu was secretly startled, he didn't dare to neglect, and sent another person back to report.

At this time, some boats were full of people and began to row towards the shore.When these people saw the passers-by on horseback watching them on the bank, they yelled and cursed rudely, and some even gestured towards them with guns to embolden themselves.

As the first batch of enemies landed, Xu Yu and the two rationally kept a certain distance from them, but they were still watching from a distance.More and more enemies landed, and they even organized a small team to expel Xu Yu and his wife.

In desperation, the two had no choice but to ride away and start monitoring with binoculars.

The chaos of the landing lasted a full two hours.The two people who rushed back to report the news rushed back again. Two hours later, the landing was declared over, and no one on the big boat continued to climb onto the small boat.The personnel who had already landed had assembled at the landing site, then rearranged their formation, and drove towards this direction aggressively.

Xu Yu counted the number of people on the other side, about 350-380 people.They also sent one person back to report the news, and the remaining three kept a distance from each other until they arrived at the position preset by the passing crowd.

(End of this chapter)