Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 494
Xiao Sanlang was in a very bad mood. He originally thought that by virtue of his achievements in annihilating the Dutch Far East Fleet, he would be able to make a good living in the upcoming naval battle, but he didn't expect that it would end up on his own head. It was another business of interspersed with sap, which really made Xiao Sanlang depressed to death. Therefore, as soon as he left the main fleet, Xiao Sanlang threw the command to He Haitao, the chief of staff, and went back to the cabin to sulking, but he The sulking didn't last long before he was interrupted by He Haitao who broke into the cabin: "Commander, the English fleet, the English fleet is found ahead!"

"What?" Xiao Sanlang got up suddenly, without bothering to ask in detail, he rushed out of the cabin quickly, strode to the front deck, and took out the binoculars from his pocket while running.

"Eight nautical miles ahead, the enemy fleet was found, with 42 targets: eight first-tier battleships, 21 second-tier battleships, and the rest were five third-tier battleships, five cruisers, and two supply ships. The enemy fleet was full of flames and smoke. Diffuse, I suspect that our fleet is attacking the enemy fleet." The lookout post on the "Weihai" saw Xiao Sanlang rushing to the front deck, and immediately reported loudly at the top of his voice.Due to the sea level, the "Weihai" at this time was still unable to see the main group of the Qing Fleet a few nautical miles behind the English Fleet, and could only make a report based on the chaos in the English Fleet.

"Commander, there seems to be something wrong with the English fleet. This kind of chaos seems to be an internal strife. Could it be that the British have messed with themselves?" He Haitao, who was standing next to Xiao Sanlang, found that the fire and smoke in the English fleet seemed to be coming from the fleet. The person who came out of the center didn't seem to be under external attack, so he couldn't help but said suspiciously.

Due to the distance, Xiao Sanlang couldn't see through the binoculars the "Great Dragon" that was in the bloody battle in the English fleet. The strength of the Second Squadron was far inferior to that of England's main fleet. Without knowing the location of its own main fleet, a difficult problem was in front of it-to fight or not to fight?

It is very simple not to fight. At this time, the distance between the two sides is still seven or eight nautical miles. As long as the second squadron turns around, it can avoid the English fleet. A head is not enough to cut off.war?With such a small amount of troops to fight against the English fleet, it is not necessary to think about it. If the main fleet fails to arrive in time, the end of the entire army may not be far away. Even if Xiao Sanlang is not afraid of death, However, the reputation of the Second Squadron cannot be ruined. If the title of "General of the Defeated Army" is added to the hat of the "covering" fleet, Xiao Sanlang will not be able to forgive himself even if he dies.

Xiao Sanlang paced back and forth anxiously on the front deck, with complicated moods, and was still unable to make up his mind. He Haitao, who was standing aside, naturally understood Xiao Sanlang's difficulties, and said with a sigh of relief: "Commander, strike! First Squadron Wasn't the Black Island naval battle also a victory for the weak against the strong, we can't always wear the shabby hat of 'covering the fleet'?"

He Haitao's words were like a handful of salt sprinkled on Xiao Sanlang's wound. Thinking of his former colleague Qiao Hailong who is now an admiral and heard that he might take over the post of Minister of the Navy, Xiao Sanlang's dark face twitched suddenly He got up, gritted his teeth viciously, and ordered loudly: "Order: The whole army will rush forward and prepare to seize the upper line." Following Xiao Sanlang's order, more than ten warships of the Second Squadron immediately began to change direction, along the oblique The line rushed towards the upperwind line of the English fleet's flanks, preparing to seize the upper hand, and the ship was traveling at a high speed, but within a quarter of an hour, the distance between the English fleet and the English fleet that was still in chaos had been shortened to three nautical miles. At this time, "Weihai" The lookout post on the mast of the HMS suddenly shouted: "Main fleet, our main fleet has arrived, four nautical miles behind the English fleet!"

What?Xiao Sanlang suddenly became anxious—his order just now was to seize the upwind line, and he had already moved out of the way, and it was too late to seize the downwind line again to prevent the English fleet from escaping. With an angry face, he immediately shouted: "Order: Turn to thirty degrees, full sail and full speed, and charge into the British fleet!"

The battleship "Great Dragon" was already in flames at this time. After rampaging in the English fleet for a quarter of an hour, the "Grand Dragon", which was hit with [-] or [-] bombs in a row, had lost its sailing ability. The sails were completely damaged, the rudder cabin was damaged, the huge hull was full of huge holes, the three gun decks were all damaged, the fire and smoke filled the cabin, the artillery could no longer fire, and the ship had already started to fire due to serious water leakage. Leaning to the left, sinking is inevitable, only two hundred officers and soldiers are left on the ship, Liu Ninghai, who is surrounded by seriously injured sailors, stands under the main mast that has been broken into several pieces, glaring at those who are constantly heading towards the "Vielong". The English fleet fired artillery, but no one tried to abandon the ship and escape.

Lieutenant General Liu Ninghai, who had lost too much blood, looked pale as paper at this time, looked around at the officers and soldiers with scars, raised his hand with difficulty, and said in a trembling voice: "Abandon ship, brothers, we have completed the task , Now I order everyone to abandon the ship." The officers and soldiers of the "Vailong" who had always shed blood but not tears suddenly burst into tears, and carried Liu Ninghai to the few remaining lifeboats with tears in their eyes.

On the front deck of the "New Wales", Admiral Nadal silently watched the sinking Qing warship not far away, suddenly raised his hand and saluted a standard military salute, and ordered loudly: "Command: No Regardless of that battleship, the whole army has it, advance with full sail, and immediately rush back to Shanmaxi." Following the order, the British army, which was still firing at the "Veyron" in an instant, The battleship gave up the opportunity to sink the "Veyron", accelerated its assault forward, and tried to take advantage of the opportunity of the Second Squadron to give up the channel and rush towards Dan Maxi.

"Grandma, damn Xiao Sanlang, if you let the British guy go like this, I'll take his skin off!" Liu Yaoyi, who was rushing to the front deck of the "Wesun" at the forefront of the Qing fleet, saw the dynamics of the battlefield. , he guessed all the actions of Xiao Sanlang at that time, seeing that the waterway was empty at this time, Liu Yao suddenly cursed angrily.

Yun Yu's face was also ashen, holding a binoculars in his hand, silently watching every move of the Second Squadron in the distance, he wanted to hack Xiao Sanlang to death with a knife, but he was the commander after all, at this time But it's hard to say anything, I can only wait for a miracle to happen.

The reason why miracles are miracles is that they are rare, but no matter how rare they are, there will always be—the wind direction suddenly changed!The original southeast wind direction suddenly changed, and the airflow fluctuated, sometimes east wind, sometimes west wind, which caused all the warships that were sailing at full speed to get into trouble, and both the Qing fleet and the English fleet inevitably fell into chaos. among.To put it bluntly, it is actually very simple: near the equator every year in mid-May is the time when the monsoon changes direction, but no one on both sides of the war thought it would happen at this time.

The warplane appeared!Although the Second Squadron of the Qing Dynasty was also affected by the change in wind direction, for them who originally sailed in crosswinds, the impact was not too great. Perhaps it was because they were worried about the consequences of letting the English fleet go. With a super-level sailing ability, the entire fleet stabbed obliquely like a sharp sword to the front of the chaotic English fleet, blocking the British army's retreat to Shanmaxi. At this time, the battle between the two sides The distance between them is less than half a nautical mile, and a big battle is inevitable!
Admiral Nadal looked at the Second Squadron of the Qing Dynasty, which had begun to adjust the battle line not far ahead, calculated the distance between them in his mind, and heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that there was no hope of catching up with the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty. Breaking through the interception of the second fleet of the Qing Dynasty before, once they get entangled, when the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty arrives, under the front and back attack, the destruction of the England Far East Fleet may be inevitable. The main force of the Qing fleet issued a combat order with a gloomy face: "Turn to the northwest and prepare for battle."

The northwest direction is the upwind line, and it is not the tactic that the disadvantaged English fleet should choose. However, at this time, the bow of the Second Squadron of the Qing Dynasty, which is in the front, is facing southeast, even if the English fleet tries its best to adjust its course. However, if the Second Squadron of the Qing Dynasty wanted to snatch it by force, it would either directly hit the guns of the Second Squadron, or a big melee would ensue, and it would be wiped out by the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty coming from behind. In this case, it is better to simply grab the upper hand and fight to the death with the Qing fleet.

"Good job!" Yunyu saw the series of beautiful tactical actions of the Second Squadron, no matter how calm he was, he couldn't help but shouted "Hello", laughed and ordered: "The order: the whole army has Now, sail to the southeast, occupy the leeward line, prepare for battle, order Xiao to turn the bow, stand by, and prepare to launch the final attack with the main force! Order the first squadron Chen Chengwen to line up behind the main force, at a [-]-degree angle , parallel to the Second Squadron, waiting for the king's order."

The adjustments of the fleets of both sides were very quick, but after a little more than a quarter of an hour, the formations of both sides had already been set up: the 42 warships of the English fleet on the upwind line were in a single column, and all the warships had lowered half their sails, and slowly moved forward. Driving, there are three first-class warships including the flagship "New Wales" in the middle, and the rest of the ships are distributed on both sides of the flagship, and the distance between the warships is about 20 meters; Formed a strange array - at the forefront were 48 large and small warships also in a single column, also sailing with half sails, among which the flagship "Wei Sheng" and three other large warships were in the center, and the rest were separated on the left and right. The distance between each ship is also about 20 meters, taking the opposite course to England, while the other two squadrons, each composed of more than ten warships, are about 500 meters behind the fleet, at a distance of nine to the main force. At a ten-degree angle, it was as if they were here to watch the battle instead of participating in the battle. The distance between the main fleets of the two sides was more than 400 meters, and they did not immediately start fighting with each other.

Admiral Nadal couldn't see the mystery of the Qing army's formation. Once the two sides started to exchange fire, since the ships were traveling in opposite directions, it was impossible for the two squadrons of the Qing army to intervene. Admiral Nadal was puzzled by the waste of troops, but at this time the battle was imminent, Admiral Nadal did not think too much, looking sternly at the battle line of the Qing army that was making final adjustments not far away, He ordered in a loud voice: "Warriors of Great England, the last moment to test your courage has come, show your skills and let the yellow-skinned monkeys see who is the real master of the sea. For the sake of Great England and Her Majesty, I ordered: start attacking, lean in, and hit hard!" As Admiral Nadal's order was transmitted to each ship, the entire battle line of the English fleet immediately began to move forward, pressing towards the Qing army's battle line.

Seeing that the English fleet started to make tactical moves, Yunyu sneered, gritted his teeth, and said loudly: "All the soldiers are here, take a good look at the sinking 'Great Dragon', don't forget the It was the brothers of the "Vielong" who won the opportunity for a decisive battle for everyone. Ask yourself: If you can't wipe out the British, are you worthy of those dead brothers? Are you worthy of the cultivation of the Holy One? The king ordered: The attack begins!"

"Never retreat in a deadly battle! Never retreat in a deadly battle!" As Yunyu's order was conveyed to all the ships on the battle line, the orderly sound of battle horns rang out from all the ships, and the sound waves went straight into the sky, accompanied by the battle horns With the sound of the sound, the battle line of the Qing army also began to move forward, and the distance between the two slowly moving battle lines shortened rapidly.

300 meters, 280 meters, 250 meters, following the order of Yunyu, the flagship of the Qing fleet "Weisheng" took the lead in firing the first shot of the largest naval battle in the history of the Far East. In an instant, 48 ships of the Qing army Thousands of artillery pieces on the battleship opened fire one by one. Amidst the rumbling sound of the cannons, thousands of shells roared and smashed towards the English fleet, which was still trying to close the distance between the two sides. The battle finally began!

(End of this chapter)