open sea

Chapter 746 Pack up
"What happened to this port, it was blocked so easily."

The siege of the port was easier than Chen Mu imagined. He subconsciously imagined the defense of Acapulco as a port like the Baigu Fortress, and he might even add another bastion on land.

But in fact it didn't.

Except for a few forts in Acapulco that are repaired like that, the entire port has no bright spots in terms of defense or architecture.

The family fleet of Chen Mu's headquarters easily blocked the coast of the port at night, and the defenders on the shore did not attack the fleet that surrounded the sea several miles away, which greatly boosted Chen Mu's confidence.

He ordered: "Order the Juniper Fleet to send two fleets to approach the port one after another to test the shooting range of the shore artillery. The captains of each fleet keep an eye on the shore and record the location of the shore artillery."

It is especially difficult to send orders at sea at night. The military flag is no longer useful. Only lights and drums can convey orders, but the drums are difficult to hear during the battle, and the lights can only convey a few simple orders.

The most reliable method of sending orders at this time is the communication boat. Although it is slow, it can accurately inform the various ministries of complex military orders.

Standing on the stern tower of the Great Wall with his helmet on, Chen Mu frowned and looked at the low houses and uneven terrain in the dark port in the distance, but he was thinking about things that had nothing to do with this battle— -intelligence.

Until now, he has no knowledge of the number of troops stationed in Acapulco, the situation of shore artillery, and the terrain.

It made him feel like a blind man, with the fog of war in his eyes, no idea where his husky-like cousin had gone, and no intelligence to send back about New Spain.

Not to mention Fu Yuan, the guerrilla general knew that Acapulco had the official road to Mexico City, and he didn't know anything else.

Regardless of whether the generals in the North and the South have attended the martial arts hall, they are all middle- and lower-level officers in the final analysis, and they only have two wins on the New Spain issue-win this and win that.

This is especially true for the graduates of the Lecture Hall.

Thinking this way is not because Chen Mu thinks he is superior to others, it is precisely because he is on the same level as others that he feels the most embarrassing.

As Chen Mu's most important general, Deng Zilong is a representative figure among the military officers in the north and south, but he can't jump out of this box. General Deng's strategy is much more refined than others.

'Take this, the enemy will be here, kill it. '

Chen Mu has always felt that the national war should not be such an idea, but there is no way.

They don't know how to fight national wars, and everyone doesn't know how to fight. They can only fight wars of partial annihilation.

The fire from the cannons on the shore lit up the dark port in an instant, and the sound was deafening. Chen Mu heard the flag officer beside him reporting loudly: "Commander, six forts!"

There are quite a few cannons, the shore cannons have a large caliber, and the shells are extremely heavy, which can be seen from the random splashes that are higher than the ship's side when they fall into the water.

You can also see the type of artillery.

The coastal defense of the Spaniards used artillery, stone-shooting guns and mortars.

As early as when he intercepted the Spanish galleon for the first time, there was a bronze stone-shooting cannon that fired 45 catties of stone bullets in the battle. It was very powerful, but he despised this kind of cannon.

Although the power is great, but the ballistic curve is not easy to aim, the gunpowder consumes a lot, and the shells are difficult to load... Chen Mu can count a lot of shortcomings.

But when you meet on the battlefield, this gun is much more terrifying than any new artillery in this era.

Although it is not accurate, this kind of weapon does not exist for accurate shooting. It depends entirely on whether the ship being hit can catch it accurately.

As long as the connection is correct, the [-]-material warship will sink if it is hit by a single shot, and no matter how lucky you are, it will not save the unlucky warship if you open two holes.

Thirty to fifty kilograms of stone bullets fell into the sea densely, and the impact of the shells seemed to be missed, but the force was enough to scare the sailors on the ship into a cold sweat.

Chen Mu raised his hand, and the battle drum on the stern tower of the Great Wall on the Sea was sounded, and the long suona sounded first on the deck of the two Liujia battleships under Fu Yuan, who were arrayed on the left wing. Blast out, making a cloud of gunpowder smoke in the sea.

Only the suona that can be blown from the [-]th to the seventh day can accurately convey orders between ships.

The shells dragged their invisible tails in the dark night and bombarded the places where the port villages could not be seen clearly, four or five miles away, and they didn't even plan to kill the coastal artillery with the first burst of fire.

The shells had already fallen, and the two small fleets in the vanguard also began to bombard the shore with their cannons, but except for the two fleets, the rest of the fleets were all three miles away from the coastline and bombarded the fort with their cannons.

In battle, they have never suffered a disadvantage.

It's just that the recruits are bombarded several miles away at night, and the fleeting targets have greatly hindered the accuracy. Almost no shell can accurately hit any fort.

Because of the design of the gun carriage on the deck for close-range ship artillery battles, the artillery can't be turned left and right, and can only be adjusted at a very small angle up and down. Not to mention the night, it is difficult to shoot like this even in the daytime. hit.

But after a short pause, Chen Mu still saw a blockhouse collapsed in his binoculars.

The cannonball was blasted from a position not more than one mile north of the port. The flag army saw the flames over there, and shouted excitedly on the deck: "Commander, it's General Lin!"

The navy's desire to fight is very strong, and the reason is not difficult to imagine. Even if a good old man is thrown on any ship of any country in this era, as long as he is not a captain or a nobleman with a prominent background, a few months of life at sea can make him Indulged into a grumpy old man.

What's more, what about the Banner Army who practiced hard to kill?
Like Lin Manjue, with a legendary experience, a well-known reputation, and a weather-beaten face-there is no doubt that every Banner Army wants to be that kind of person.

"General Lin's appearance on the battlefield can really boost the fighting spirit of the Banner Army."

Deng Zilong nodded slowly beside Chen Mu. When he said this, his eyes showed undisguised envy, and he said to Chen Mu: "After landing, let me lead an army and let me attack Mexico City."

The sound of cannons on the sea was loud, and a large number of ships and shells from Lin Manjue's troops on the shore rained down on the port, but within a short while, two forts collapsed again.

The fort that collapsed for a while was naturally silent, and the remaining two forts also gradually fell silent, as if they were afraid that firing shells into the sea would reveal their position.

In a blink of an eye, there was only the last fort left, and a few stone bombs were blasted into the sea at intervals, steadfast and fearless.

But obviously, they can't last long.

Chen Mu was silent for a long time, and then he recovered from Deng Zilong's jump in thinking about attacking Mexico City, and said: "To attack Mexico City, of course you can lead the soldiers, but before that, I still need you to be the captain of the fleet."

"Westerners are better than me, and they are better at land battles than sea battles. Let's try our best to get rid of their reinforcements from Peru at sea."

(End of this chapter)