Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 456 The Burning Ocean
Although the weapons and equipment of the English Navy are inferior to those of the Qing Navy, the English Navy is well-trained and rich in combat experience. It is definitely the first in the world in this era, and this is exactly what the Qing Navy lacks the most. Yes, it’s not that the Qing Navy didn’t train hard, and it wasn’t that the Qing Navy’s training methods were not advanced. In fact, the Qing Navy’s training intensity and hard work were by no means lower than that of the English Navy, and the training methods were also varied. It is a pity that the Qing Navy in the Pacific Ocean really can't find a target that can be used in actual combat. Without actual combat, it is impossible to find the shortcomings in the training, and naturally there is no way to talk about improvement. A navy without actual combat experience will always be just A strong army on paper, unfortunately, this is the status quo of the Qing Navy.

Although the adjustment of the English fleet was concealed, it could not be concealed from Qiao Hailong's eyes. Unfortunately, Qiao Hailong had no choice but to adjust the course while the English fleet dared to fire, so that the entire battle line moved forward smoothly. Its ability is guaranteed, and the Qing fleet cannot make the same move on it. The reason is very simple: at this time, the Qing army has formed a battle line and exerted its own artillery advantages. Once Qiao Hailong orders to adjust the channel, pull Due to the limited ability of the sailors of the Qing Fleet due to the distance from the English fleet, the overall translation cannot be guaranteed. As a result, the entire battle line will inevitably be chaotic. The Qing Navy will be defeated without a fight!

In fact, the arrogant English fleet made not one mistake, but two—in addition to the obvious mistake of the distance between the fleets, another mistake was to take the same direction as the Qing army instead of the opposite direction. In this way, the advantage of the large number of ships in the English fleet will not be able to be used. The only thing that can compete with the Qing fleet is the warships in the middle. The warships at both ends are all idle, but this is not the Nadal Navy. The admiral didn't realize it, but Admiral Nadal thought that with the combat capability of the English navy, he could completely defeat the Qing army with the same combat power. It is only used to prevent the Qing army from escaping from the downwind line - if the reverse direction is used, the English fleet can certainly take advantage of the large number of ships, but once the two battle lines are staggered, the Qing army fleet may take the opportunity to go downwind. In this way, the hope of achieving the complete annihilation of the Qing fleet may fail.

War is not a child's play, and mistakes must be punished. From the beginning of the war to the present, the two sides have fired three times each. The English fleet has suffered a lot. A second-tier warship was severely damaged and caught fire, and had to withdraw from the battle. line, and the rest of the ships also suffered varying degrees of damage. On the other hand, the Qing fleet did not suffer much loss except for the death or injury of more than [-] soldiers. The result of the first confrontation was that the Qing army took advantage of it, but With the adjustment of the battle line of the British army in place, the advantages of the British army's well-trained forces began to play a role, and the casualties of the Qing army rose sharply. Although no battleship has yet to withdraw from the battlefield due to injuries, it is an indisputable fact that it has gradually lost ground.

Yes, the overall training level of the Qing army is not as good as that of the British army, but it does not mean that the generals of the Qing army are idiots. In fact, most of the officers of the Qing fleet are outstanding graduates from the Naval Academy. Battlefield analysis Ability is not bad.Qiao Hailong saw the England fleet's attempt at a glance, and calmly issued a combat order: "Order: 'Weiwu' lowers its side sails halfway to slow down, 'Weiyi' speeds up with full sail, and moves closer to our ship. The firepower of the three ships covers the enemy. For the flagship, half solid ammunition and half explosive ammunition, in order to severely damage or even sink the enemy's flagship in a short period of time! The ships in the rear line are adjusted according to the speed of the ships in front, and the ships in the front line remain unchanged."

Qiao Hailong's order is a bit risky. If one is not careful, the battle line that has already been formed will inevitably be broken, which will cause the entire fleet to be disrupted. The balance of victory will have a huge impact, and this is one of the few possible chances for victory for the Qing fleet at a disadvantage.

Qiao Hailong's order was quickly conveyed, and the Qing army fleet began to adjust the battle line while busy with bombardment. Although the adjustment was not large, it was only due to the lack of ability of the Qing army sailors that the entire operation It seemed a little slow, but at this time the English fleet had already completed the adjustments, reducing the distance between the two fleets to within 200 meters. Without the help of binoculars, the two sides could already see clearly the ships on the other side across the not-too-wide ocean. Every move was made, and the changes of the Qing army naturally couldn't hide from Admiral Nadal's observation.

"Oh, cunning yellow-skinned monkey." Admiral Nadal is an old navy who has fought old battles. Naturally, the intention of the Qing army's change of formation cannot deceive him. After laughing and cursing, Admiral Nadal issued a loud order The combat order was issued: "Order: 'Mayflower' and 'Dancing Girl' approach me, and the three ships 'Kirishima', 'Victory', and 'Saber' are assembled to attack the second ship behind the enemy line with all their strength." ;The three ships 'Rose', 'Scotland', and 'Celtic' assembled to attack the second ship on the enemy's front line, and must severely damage the enemy ship and break the enemy's battle line."

At this moment, the artillery battle between the two sides has reached a fever pitch. Nearly [-] cannons from both sides are constantly roaring, and the shells are raining down on each other. Rolling, the burning ship is burning fiercely, flowering bombs, chain bombs, and cannonballs fly around, constantly exploding on the decks of each ship, and the flying shrapnel and cannonballs sweep down many soldiers on both sides. The calmness of the English soldiers caused the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty to inevitably panic. Although Qiao Hailong issued the combat order first, and the adjustment of the Qing fleet was also the first, but the first to complete the adjustment was the British fleet that came later.

When the three large warships of the Qing army approached together and tried to sink the "Great Britain" by relying on their superiority in firepower, the "Mayflower" and "Dancing Girl" had already approached the "Great Britain". In England, a first-class battleship and two second-class battleships have a total of 130 artillery pieces, and a total of more than 320 cannons can be used for attack; three Qingwei ships have a total of 150 four cannons, which can be used for attack. There are a total of [-] four guns. Although it has the upper hand in terms of the number and quality of artillery, it is not enough to form an absolute advantage. It is basically impossible to sink the "Great Britain" in a short time.At the same time, due to the adjustment of the Qing army, the British army seized the vacancy, and three warships attacked the "Yanwu" and "Yanlong" on both sides of the three Weizi ships. In some local battlefields, the British army occupied an overwhelming advantage, constantly bombarding the two Yanzihao ships, trying to sink or severely damage the two Yanzihao ships, thereby isolating the three Weizihao ships separately, and disrupting the Qing army. At the same time as the battle line, the three prestige ships were encircled and wiped out.

Danger!The situation is extremely dangerous!Although Qiao Hailong couldn't penetrate the thick black smoke to observe the situation of "Yanlong" and "Yanwu" on both sides, he could judge from the density of shells roaring at "Yanlong" and "Yanwu". The reason for our own predicament is to stay in the same formation. With the strength of the Qing army, we were still defeated in the end, but it took a little longer. However, there is still a ray of hope in changing the formation. It is a pity that the sailors are not capable. He was able to seize the opportunity, but was seized by the English fleet, putting himself in an extreme crisis.

regret?At this moment, Qiao Hailong has no time to regret, and there is only one way in front of him - no need to worry about the battle line anymore, the three prestige ships will go up and take advantage of the vacancy exposed by the adjustment of the English fleet , Before the "Yanlong" and "Yanwu" are sunk, try to destroy the enemy's flagship, so as to gain a chance for your own fleet!
Qiao Hailong made a decisive decision and said in a loud voice: "Order: 'Yanlong' and 'Yanwu' will persevere with all their strength, and the rest of the ships on the rear line will approach the 'Yanlong' with all their strength. After circling the distance, rush into the British battle line in a single formation, be sure to cut off the English fleet in the middle, so as to form a melee situation. Tell the ships: death battle will never retreat, see you on the hero monument!"

With the wave of the signal flag in the hands of the messenger of the "Vielong", Qiao Hailong's order was quickly conveyed to the ships, and the Qing fleet immediately moved into action, and shouts of "deadly battle will never retreat" echoed in all ships at the same time. Even the roar of shells and explosions could not suppress the roar of the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. The already shattered Qing army battle line was immediately divided into four parts-two rear lines. Three large warships, five medium-sized warships, and three small warships that were originally used as supply ships moved closer to the "Yanwu" that was being violently attacked. Although the battle line was a bit chaotic, it was still well maintained. This part of the Qing army Although the fleet is passive, it will not be defeated for a while; the three large warships, five medium-sized warships, and three small warships on the front line began to turn around, disregarding the increasingly fierce artillery fire of the English fleet, and slowly separated from the original battleship. They lined up and fled to the distance, even ignoring the "Yanlong" which was being attacked by three second-tier battleships of the English fleet; As the distance between the battle line and England approached, three warships from each side fought in full swing, and hundreds of cannons fired at almost the fastest speed. Both sides were under tremendous pressure, and the number of casualties continued to increase. It’s just that no one can do anything about it for a while; the most dangerous of the Qing fleet is the "Yanlong". Since the front fleet began to withdraw, the rest of the frontline ships in England did not receive orders and did not respond to the escaped Qing fleet. Instead, they gathered a first-class battleship and three second-class battleships to encircle and suppress the "Yanlong". The "Yanlong", which was shot in many places, was already on fire. The officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties. It was damaged a lot, but it never retreated, and it just blocked the attack of the four battleships in England.

"Admiral, look quickly, the yellow-skinned monkey is about to escape!" The departure of the Qing army's front-line fleet was immediately spotted by the lookout post on the "Great Britain".

"Oh?" Admiral Nadal withdrew his gaze from the frontal battlefield, raised the binoculars, and checked the Qing frontline fleet in the distance. The Dragon turned thirty degrees and was leaving the battlefield.At this time, England's rear fleet was in fierce battle with the Qing army's rear fleet, and it was unable to defeat the "Yanwu" for a while, while the English frontline fleet was about to win because it concentrated four ships to attack the "Yanlong". At this time, if you abandon the "Yanlong" and let all the front-line fleets pursue the Qing army's front-line fleet, they will be able to catch up. But in this way, the battle line of the English fleet itself will inevitably be chaotic. , once the three prestige ships desperately rush through the English battle line, a melee will be inevitable. In this way, the situation where the British army is well-trained and the number of ships is superior will inevitably be broken. With the current situation of the Qing army In terms of the crazy fighting posture, the losses of the British army must not be too small.If you ignore the frontline fleet of the Qing army, after the British army sank the "Yanlong", they could have hit six to seven warships to fight against the three Weizi ships of the Qing Dynasty. It's difficult, as long as these three prestige ships are sunk, it will be a matter of time before the destruction of the Qing army's rear fleet.

"Don't worry about those fleeing fleets, they can't run away, tell the frontline fleets, attack the enemy ship that is on fire with all your strength, and be sure to sink the ship in the shortest time! Create opportunities for our fleet to encircle and destroy the Qing fleet." Admiral Nadal After thinking for a while, he gave the order.

The three Qing battleships "Weilong", "Weiwu" and "Weiyi" are getting closer and closer. At this moment, the distance from the British battle line is only more than [-] meters. The cannons of both sides are coming and going fiercely. The ground roared, and the primary combat target of both sides was the other's flagship. In this battle, which was almost a bayonet on the cannon, neither the "Great Dragon" nor the "Great Britain" got any cheap, and the mast broke. Casualties and artillery losses are common occurrences. Both warships were on fire and smoke was billowing, but no one was willing to back down. The fierce battle was in full swing. At the same time, the besieged "Yanlong" was at the end critical moment...

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(End of this chapter)