Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 479 Bloody Battle ([-])

On the fourth day of May in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the night before the Dragon Boat Festival was always very gloomy. Even when the morning sun was about to rise, the fog on the Java Sea was still surprisingly thick. The many warships of the Second Squadron of the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty had to stop their progress in the waters of Tanjung Pandan Island. They could only hope that the sun would rise earlier and dispel the nasty fog.

Xiao Sanlang got up very early today. In fact, he has never really fallen asleep since last night. He just lay on the bed for a while. The depressed Xiao Sanlang walked up and down on the large front deck of the flagship "Weihai", All his thoughts are thinking about how to win the upcoming battle.As the vice-admiral commander of the Second Squadron, Xiao Sanlang felt that his luck was really bad. Among the commanders of the three major squadrons of the First Fleet, he was the only one who had not fought a naval battle in a serious manner. It made Xiao Sanlang feel very humiliated—although Xiao Sanlang was able to become the commander of the squadron of the First Fleet, the No. [-] main force of the Qing Dynasty, entirely due to his own true ability, but he did not have the corresponding military exploits as his confidence. In the entire First Fleet, the Second Squadron has gained a not-so-good reputation—the cover fleet!
Covering the fleet?Fuck cover fleet!Lao Tzu is an upright main fleet!When Xiao Sanlang thought of the annoying nickname of the Second Squadron, his heart felt as if he had been cut by a knife. He waved his fist resentfully, raised his head full of resentment, and stared at the The thick fog, I wish I could blow away the fog in front of me, so I could go to Batavia immediately and wipe out the Dutch, so as to buy time to return to the main battlefield to participate in the battle that was destined to be fierce and extraordinary.

Chen Ri finally poked his head lazily from the sea level, and swiped golden lightsabers to cut off layer after layer of thick fog on the sea surface. The fog gradually thinned, and Xiao Sanlang anxiously The mood also relaxed accordingly, took a deep breath, did a chest expansion exercise, and was about to let the signalman issue an order to prepare to sail, when he suddenly heard the lookout post coming from the tall mast of the "Weihai" A loud exclamation: "My lord, the Dutch fleet is found in the northwest, forty degrees, four nautical miles!"

"What?" Xiao Sanlang immediately jumped up as if cold water had poured his head on his head, he quickly took out a binoculars from his pocket, held it up in front of his eyes, and looked towards the northwest direction - the fog had thinned by now. Through the faint fog, the Dutch fleet can already be seen turning around. It is obvious that they have just discovered the position of the Qing army fleet. At this time, the Qing army's large and small warships are all docked together, let alone the battle formation and setting sail. , Most of the officers and soldiers of the Qing army had just woken up from sleep at this time, and they hadn't eaten breakfast, let alone prepared for battle. The situation was critical!
This Dutch fleet is composed of two first-class battleships, five second-class battleships, four third-class battleships, and four cruisers, which is consistent with the total number of Batavia Dutch fleet known by the Qing fleet in advance. Sanlang only took one look to understand that this fleet was the Dutch Batavia fleet that he wanted to annihilate. Seeing that the Dutch fleet was making the most of time to adjust its course and formation, Xiao Sanlang's heart suddenly tightened Got up, and ordered with a sullen face: "Blow the horn, order the whole army to enter the combat state immediately, order the four ships 'Yanming', 'Yanhe', 'Shengwei', and 'Shenglong' to set sail immediately, and go forward to attack the Netherlands first. Let us buy time for the adjustment of the main force of our fleet!"

The sound of the horn is an order. Regardless of what they were doing, all the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty immediately took action when they heard the whistling of the war horn. The "Yanhe" and the small battleships "Shengwei" and "Shenglong" that existed as floating sentries immediately set up their sails and divided into two routes to meet the Dutch fleet.

At the right time, the wind was west-south, which was not a favorable wind for the attacking warship of the Qing Dynasty or the Dutch fleet that was adjusting its course. The two sides were not in a straight line. The Dutch fleet was turning its bow at this time, preparing to seize the upper hand. , while the four warships of the Qing Dynasty drew an arc along the southwest and inserted towards the flank of the Dutch fleet, trying to disrupt the formation of the Dutch fleet. The bows of the four Qing warships faced the Dutch army. On the side of the fleet, in this state, the warships of the Dutch army can use their broadside guns to attack with all their strength, while the four ships of the Qing army can only fire a few front guns. Of course, when sailing at full speed, the front guns Power and accuracy are almost negligible.

The commander of the Dutch fleet is Admiral Lites Leiming, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch Far East Fleet. The plan for the Dutch fleet's battle was drawn up by him. There must be a time when the sea is full of fog and fog to go out to attack the Qing fleet—according to Admiral Lei Ming’s presumption, the Qing army will inevitably advance along the inherent route. In this way, judging from the speed of the Qing army, the Qing army can park at night The camp must also be around the route, which is extremely beneficial for the Dutch fleet, which is familiar with the Java Sea, to sail at night and find the Qing fleet for a surprise attack. Therefore, Admiral Lei Ming didn't even wait for the two second-tier battleships in Batakan, The squadron of three cruisers came to rendezvous and hurriedly led their troops to set off, but before leaving, they sent a liaison merchant ship to the Batakan squadron to issue an order to sail westward to meet in the waters of Tanjung Pandan Island.

Although the dense fog brought convenience to the Dutch army who was familiar with the route and approached the Qing fleet in a concealed manner, it also affected the speed of the Dutch army. It is difficult to maintain a high speed, and it is even more difficult to accurately find the camp of the Qing army. Therefore, despite the efforts of the Dutch fleet, it was only after the clouds cleared and the fog cleared. Discovered the huge lineup of the Qing fleet.

At this moment, the Dutch fleet is turning around, and the coordination between the ships has just begun. In terms of the ability of the Dutch sailors, they cannot compare with the English navy at all. Even compared with the Qing army, there is a big gap. The four death-defying warships of the Qing Dynasty rushed into the queue, but the Dutch fleet's chaos is inevitable. Even if all the four Qing warships are finally wiped out, the Dutch army's first opportunity to fight will be lost. By then, it will not be the Dutch army. The fleet went to attack the Qing army, but the Qing army launched a pursuit battle in the Java Sea against the Dutch fleet.

Although Admiral Lei Ming has not participated in the war for many years, he is a general who has come out of the flames of war after all. He still has the ability to grasp the situation of the battle. There is no way not to deal with it seriously-the Dutch army does not have many warships at the moment. If they divide their forces to meet the four death-defying ships, at least three warships must be sent to entangle the opponent. It is difficult to say whether the military fleet can deal a fatal blow to the main fleet of the Qing army. If the entire army stops attacking the main fleet of the Qing army and destroys these four death-defying ships first, once the main fleet of the Qing army has a chance to breathe It is difficult to say whether the Dutch fleet can win the battle if it is lined up.

On the battlefield, time is life, and time is the key to victory. At this juncture when the fighter is fleeting, Admiral Lei Ming hesitated for a while. Adjusting the formation, I secretly lamented the peace syndrome brought about by the Dutch fleet after many years of non-combat—in such a short period of time, the four death-defying ships of the Qing army had rushed to a distance of more than 800 meters from the Dutch fleet. However, the Dutch army has never been able to complete the queue adjustment. At this moment, if the Dutch fleet does not respond, it is afraid that the fate of being disrupted will be in sight.

Admiral Lei Ming, who was extremely disappointed with the capabilities of his own soldiers, let out a sigh of relief, and ordered loudly: "Order: The entire fleet concentrates its firepower, and must sink these four enemy ships as soon as possible, and prepare to fire!"

The "Yanming" was sprinting at the forefront of the Daqing Death Fleet. The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Xiaotian, was originally the first officer of the "Yansheng" under the First Squadron. The "Yansheng" was sunk in that sea battle, and the captain also sank into the sea with the ship. Only a few dozen officers and soldiers were rescued. Lu Xiaotian was one of the lucky ones. He became the captain, and was transferred to the Second Squadron when the First Fleet was reorganized, and became the captain of the "Yanming". He was one of the few captains in the Second Squadron with actual combat experience. This time under Xiao Sanlang's order to attack the Dutch fleet, Lu Xiaotian came here with the spirit of mortal danger. He only wanted to delay the time for the Dutch army to adjust its course, and other things were not in his consideration.Seeing that the speed of the Dutch army had slowed down, and the guns of the ships were pointing at their own fleet, Lu Xiaotian immediately understood the plan of the Dutch army, which was to destroy the death fleet of the Qing Dynasty with all their strength first, and then attack The main fleet of the Qing Dynasty is still being adjusted.

what to do?Lu Xiaotian is very aware of the anti-strike capabilities of the four small boats on his side. If he just rushed over like this, before he could insert himself into the formation of the Dutch fleet, he was afraid that not only the "Yanming" would be sunk, but the other ships would also be sunk. The three ships are not much better. At that time, the Dutch fleet without obstacles will be able to approach the main fleet of the Qing army with a single acceleration. It only takes a few rounds of artillery coverage to bring heavy losses to the main fleet of the Qing army; If the Dutch army swaggered towards the main fleet of the Qing army without rushing, even if Lu Xiaotian had ten heads, it would not be enough to cut them off.

"Fuck, fight!" Lu Xiaotian roared angrily: "Command, the mainmast is half-sailed, the left rudder is full, all follow-up warships will catch up with this ship, and fight with the red-haired ghost!" Xiaotian's order was issued, and the huge hull of the "Yanming" drew a circular arc on the sea surface. The huge torsion made the hull tremble suddenly, and all the officers and soldiers on board were shaking from side to side, and there was a moment of confusion. Afterwards, the course of the "Yanming" changed, and it moved parallel to each other at a distance of more than 230 meters from the Dutch army. The three ships of the Qing army followed suit and made such difficult moves, forcing the original straight sprint course. The officers and soldiers of the Dutch army were stunned by this series of changes, and they even forgot to fire the cannon.

Admiral Lei Ming was the first to react, he had no time to lament the well-trained Qing army, and shouted loudly: "Fire the cannon! Fire the cannon!" Following the roar of Admiral Lei Ming, facing "Yanming" The Dutch flagship "Rotterdam" opened fire first, followed by the "Dutchman". The two first-class battleships were each equipped with 110 artillery pieces, with a total of 53 artillery pieces on each side. It was the "Yanming", and more than a hundred shells bombarded the "Yanming" like raindrops in an instant, but most of them fell into the empty space, instead of rubbing the hull of the "Yanming" and flying far away. The sea surface at the place fell on the surroundings of the "Yanming", splashing thick water columns, but more than ten shells hit the "Yanming", and hit the "Yanming" on the side of the "Yanming". A string of bullet holes killed and wounded a dozen gunners of the Qing army who were preparing for battle intensely. Another shell broke a sidesail mast of the "Yanming", and the "Yanming" was hit by more than ten bullets. "The number was seriously injured immediately.

Following the firing of the two first-class battleships of the Dutch army, the remaining ships in the Dutch army sequence that were close to the warships of the Qing army also fired one after another. For a while, the guns roared, the smoke billowed, and the water column was everywhere on the sea.At this moment, the four warships of the Qing army had just completed their turn and had not had time to prepare for the shelling. Unluckily, the "Shengwei", which was originally a small battleship, was hit by six bombs in a row. Not to mention the fire on board, a bullet hit the waterline was even more fatal. "The speed of the ship slowed down, and the hull also tilted up. The officers and soldiers full of the ship were either busy fighting the fire or plugging the leak.

Lu Xiaotian didn't have the time to care about the life and death of the "Shengwei", so he ordered loudly: "Fire! Fire!" At this time, the two first-class battleships of the Dutch army had just finished shooting and were busy loading their artillery, while the ready-made ships The three Qing warships unceremoniously started a counterattack. All the Qing warships were targeting the "Rotterdam", although at this time only the 28 guns on the side of the "Yanming" could face the "Rotterdam". The other two ships fired obliquely, but after this series of shelling, nearly twenty shells hit the huge hull of the "Rotterdam", causing chaos on the "Rotterdam"...

(End of this chapter)