Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 53 Chase Battle ([-])

It was completely dark.

Wang Qinian sat in the underground bunker of Fort No. [-] at the port and looked at the documents. The light from the candles was a little dim, but he still read with gusto.This is a new shipbuilding plan proposed by a European shipbuilder to the Ministry of the Navy. In the plan, he proposed a design idea for a new type of battle line gunship, which impressed Wang Qinian.

"Well, it seems that the shipyard can give him some resources and see what he can come up with." Wang Qinian looked at the document and said to himself.Maybe it was because he had been sitting for a long time, but Wang Qinian stood up and was about to stretch when he heard the faint rumble of cannons on the sea in the distance, which almost made him shiver in shock.

"Where is the cannon shooting?" Wang Qinian climbed up the fort for the first time, and asked Li Yi, the person in charge of the main fort.Li Yi pointed to the flames that flashed from time to time on the distant sea, and said: "There is a cannon on the sea. It should be the Spanish ship who started fighting with someone, but it's a pity that I can't see clearly at night."

Wang Qinian observed the faint fire on the sea for a while, frowned and said: "It seems that a ship is bombarding several Spanish ships. This ship is not small, and the deck of the ship is also high. Look at the flames at the muzzle. The caliber of this gun is not small, and the rate of fire is not slow, and the guns seem to be installed at both ends of the ship. This...could it be..."

Speaking of this, Wang Qinian couldn't help but look at Li Yi: "Is this Yunsheng No. [-]?"

They were right.In the naval battle five days ago, Yunsheng No. [-] got rid of the Spanish main fleet by relying on a higher speed, and then took advantage of the dark night to head east and then turn north, secretly heading back.

On the night of May 5, after five days of voyage, Yunsheng-15 arrived at the sea off Dayu River.At this time, several small-tonnage warships of the Spaniard de la Plata fleet were still moored in the open sea, carrying out the task of blocking the crossing crowd.Since the only two warships in the crossing congregation had gone out to sea to fight guerrillas, and those tugboats and barges had also driven into Dayu Hanoi to hide, so the Spaniards seemed to be very relaxed, and the four ships anchored at the calm sea. on the sea.

How could Xiao Bailang, Wang Tiehammer and others give up such an opportunity that came to their door? Yunsheng No. 8 approached the outermost enemy ship under the cover of night, and the eight side guns fired in turn. The enemy ship was ravaged inside and out.The first is the luxuriously decorated poop officer's cabin and the captain's cabin, then the four-wheeled guns parked on the deck, and then the sailor's lounge on the forecastle...

Fierce artillery fire completely smashed the superstructure of the ship, the sailors who suffered heavy casualties were rolling and mourning, the officers stumbled into the captain's room to look for their officers, and the loaded army and trainee sailors were shooting at random with matchlock guns. It's a mess.After pouring dozens of projectiles, Yunsheng No. 24 finally used two [-]-pound heavy-duty iron bullets to break two large holes in its waterline deck. Under the horrified eyes of the Spanish sailors, it turned around and looked for the next target. .

The remaining three Spanish ships had anchored by this time, and the sailors were hurriedly hoisting their sails for the maneuver.However, their movements were still a little slow. After Yunsheng 4 finished handling the outermost ship, it turned the rudder to the left and bared its fangs towards a Spanish ship in front of the left.The Spanish officers left the card table and wine table in the bilge, and rushed to the deck to command operations.Several 6-pound and [-]-pound guns that were prepared first fired a few shells in the direction of the fire in the night. It was hard to see clearly in the night, and it was unknown whether they hit or not.

However, the counterattack of Yunsheng No. 8 came soon.Yunsheng No. 8, which was turning, fired a salvo of four bow guns at the target ahead. After the turn was completed, the eight starboard guns also fired the first round of salvo tonight.Reflected by the long tail flame of the gun muzzle, 500 iron projectiles flew over a short distance of more than [-] meters and plunged into the enemy's wooden deck. They did a lot of secondary damage.

The Spaniards knew that there was no retreat at this time, and the officers kicked the asses of the soldiers who were lying on the deck to avoid the artillery fire, and loudly ordered them to return to the gun positions and return fire towards the enemy.

Their efforts have achieved certain results. A large number of small-caliber iron projectiles hit the iron hull of Yunsheng No. [-], making a dull sound. Wang Tiehammer knew that Yunsheng No. [-] had been hit by a lot of bullets without looking at it. .However, he was not worried about these small-caliber iron bullets at all. The shells fired by these short-barreled cannons could knock off a layer of paint on the hull of Yunsheng No. [-], and at most make some dents. No harm at all.

The eight artillery groups on the starboard side of Yunsheng No. 8 have entered the state of free fire at this time. The two sides fired at each other at a distance of several hundred meters, and the scene was extremely spectacular.It's a pity that the heroic behavior of these Spanish naval officers did not have much impact on the battle situation. After all, the gap between the 6-pounder, 8-pounder, 18-pounder, and 24-pounder was too great to rely on manpower make up.Their only victory was that an 8-pound luck shell hit a 12-pounder battery on Yunsheng No. 10, causing three gunner casualties.But their good luck ended there. Ten minutes later, the Spanish ship with a large hole in the waterline began to roll slowly. Desperate sailors jumped into the icy water, scrambling for some small boats or broken planks. , calling loudly to the companions on the other two ships for rescue.

But reality was destined to disappoint them. The remaining two Spanish warships had already hoisted their sails and fled for a distance in two directions.One of them was too far away to be seen, and the remaining one was only a vague shadow.Wang Tiehammer on Yunsheng No. 10 did not dare to hesitate, and followed the Spanish ship that could still be vaguely seen.Yunsheng No. 15, which soared to a speed of 24 knots, rushed to the front of this small Spanish offshore warship after only a few minutes of chasing.The Spaniards knew they couldn't escape, so they didn't run away at all, and fired at Yunsheng No. [-] with the small-caliber artillery on the ship.This unequal artillery battle lasted [-] minutes, and Yunsheng [-] once again used two [-]-pound shells as a finishing touch, sending the Spanish ship, which was fighting to the last moment, into the bottom of the South Atlantic Ocean.

Wang Tiehammer took the Yunsheng No. [-] around the nearby waters again, but found no trace of the last remaining Spanish ship, so he returned to the port after rescuing some Spanish sailors who fell into the water.The commander of Fort No. [-] on the alluvial island outside the port yelled at the sea with a simple iron horn, and after confirming that it was Yunsheng No. [-], he let it enter the port.

Wang Qinian and others, who had witnessed the entire raid on the fort, rushed to the pier to greet them immediately. Li Yi patted Wang Tiechui's shoulder excitedly, and kept shouting "I'm grass! I'm grass".This time, Yunsheng No. [-] went out to sea for more than a month, but he didn't expect to come back so soon, and put on such a good show at the door of the house, which made the blood of the navy people present burst into excitement.

"How is the situation of the 'Eagle of the East Coast'?" Only Wang Qinian, a member of the Navy, remained calm at this time. He grabbed the arms of Xiao Bailang and Wang Tiehui and said, "Let's go, go back to the Admiralty first, what's the matter?" Let’s talk about the situation later.”

Yunsheng No. [-] had anchored in the port at this time, and several injured gunners on board were sent to the hospital for treatment immediately, and the rest of the crew also went ashore temporarily to rest on the pier.The Charuya laborers on the pier were carrying shells, gunpowder and daily necessities to the ship under the command of the passers-by. The Yunsheng No. [-] could not berth for too long when it came back this time, and these logistics supplies must be properly arranged as soon as possible. .

"Old Xiao, is the 'Eagle of the East Coast' okay?" Wang Qinian asked as soon as he entered the Navy Department. The cost of traveling through the navy is small, but he can't afford any losses.

Wang Tiehammer glanced at Xiao Bailang, and then said: "On the afternoon of May 5th, we encountered the main Spanish fleet off the Strait of Magellan. At that time, the 'Eagle of the East Coast' immediately left the battlefield and retreated to the southwest sea area. The attention of the Spaniards has been on the Yunsheng No. 10, and they did not see the Spaniards send a ship to search southwest until dark. The "Eagle of the East Coast" should have escaped smoothly, and they will go around again at night. If you go back to the Falklands, the Spaniards won’t be able to find them even if they are more skilled.”

"Well, that's good." Wang Qinian heaved a sigh of relief, and there was a smile on his face: "Every ounce of our navy's strength is precious. Well, what are your plans next? Go out and serve as a break-through fleet ?”

"Yeah." Wang Tiehammer nodded without hesitation: "Thanks to the modification of the sails we made for Yunsheng No. 90, we can spend most of the time without oil. We have been at sea for more than a month, and up to now we have only consumed About [-] tons of diesel oil. Since this is the case, let’s continue to attack. Staying at home as a fleet can only be a dead end. It is far less troublesome than the sea route that threatens the Spaniards outside. Without further ado, Hurry up to get the supplies onto the ship tonight, and set off early tomorrow morning. By the way, can you add some more manpower to us, preferably trained army soldiers. I heard that some Spanish towns are still very prosperous, we don’t know Would you mind going ashore and acting as a pirate."

"We need to apply to the Executive Committee for consultation on this tomorrow. Let's see what that charcoal head Peng Zhicheng has to say." Wang Qinian said, "What is your next goal?"

"It will take seven or eight days for the Spanish main fleet to return. Since I have this time, I would like to visit Buenos Aires." Xiao Bailang said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)