Take the arsenal to Da Ming

Chapter 171 Battle Line

The distance between the fleets of the two sides quickly narrowed, and their respective scout ships communicated the scouting information to their own captains as soon as possible.

"Report, the Navy of the New Army changed its course and headed due east."

Zheng Zhilong frowned. He didn't know what Ye Dacheng was doing. The distance between the two sides was less than ten miles, and they could vaguely see the other side's fleet. They didn't approach the distance to fight, but suddenly changed course.

It would be understandable if they wanted to seize the windward position, but if they sailed eastward, they would be at the downwind position instead.

Such an abnormality made Zheng Zhilong puzzled for a while, but without hesitation, he immediately ordered: "Change the course and approach them."

He was not afraid that Ye Dacheng could set any traps for him, the weather was fine today, and there was no problem with the wind and waves. In this vast sea, he did not believe that Ye Dacheng could set any traps for him to fall into.

After changing the course, the fleets of both sides continued to approach, and the closest distance was shortened to within eight miles, but it was already difficult for Zheng Zhilong to get closer, because the two sides were in a tandem pursuit.

In terms of speed, Zheng Zhilong's Zheng Jun navy did not have the advantage, so naturally he could not catch up. Zheng Zhilong ordered to stop the pursuit angrily.

"What does Ye Dacheng want to do? Want to lure me away from Jinmen?"

"Return..."

Immediately, under Zheng Zhilong's order, Zheng Jun's navy began to change course.

However, before going far, the scout ship came to report: "My lord, the navy of the new army has also turned around and is chasing us."

Zheng Zhilong frowned, not knowing what Ye Dacheng's intentions were, he said solemnly: "Continue to monitor, and continue to return."

The two sides sailed for about five miles one after the other. The navy of the new army has been chasing the navy of the Zheng army, but the distance is still about eight miles. It seems that they are not chasing, but tracking.

"Turn the course..." Zheng Zhilong gave another order, and the whole team changed the course one after another, and then set up their formation as soon as possible, ready to wait for the new army's navy to approach.

However, the navy of the new army also stopped slowly, and did not take the opportunity to approach the distance.

Seeing this, Zheng Zhilong was very angry, but he didn't show it. He just sneered slightly and said, "Are you trying to hold me back? Could it be that Tangning has other plans?"

"Go back to the Golden Gate."

Zheng Jun sailed back again. Zheng Zhilong was not going to play this kind of cat-and-mouse game with Ye Dacheng anymore. After returning to the waters of Liuluo Bay, he was not afraid that Ye Dacheng would not chase him, unless Tangning didn't want to advance further into the hinterland of Fujian.

Sure enough, as Zheng Zhilong expected, not long after his navy moved, the new army's navy followed up. Zheng Zhilong only ordered people to closely monitor him, and did not order to turn to deal with it.

"My lord, the navy of the new army keeps getting closer to us, and it's less than six miles away..."

"It's within five miles..."

Zheng Zhilong frowned, pondered for a while, but remained unmoved.

"It's within four miles."

Finally, Zheng Zhilong couldn't take it anymore, and ordered: "Turn to the challenge."

There was no way, he knew that the artillery of the new army had a long range, and the accuracy within two miles was already very good. If he couldn't wait for the new army fleet to approach within three miles before turning around, it would be too late.

However, as soon as the Zheng Jun Navy completed its turn, the Xin Army Navy also quickly began to turn around.

Zheng Zhilong ordered a full-speed pursuit, and the navy of the new army also withdrew immediately.

After chasing for a long time, the distance between the two sides was once close to less than three miles, but it was already a little difficult to get closer.

"Damn it." Zheng Zhilong knew that he was being tricked. The New Army navy took the initiative to limit the speed before, so it should be faster now.

Being teased like this, Zheng Zhilong was naturally very angry in his heart, but he did not lose his mind, so he ordered to turn around and go back to Jinmen again.

After a while, the new army navy continued to chase.

Zheng Zhilong seemed to have expected it, and immediately ordered the fleet to be divided into three teams. The distance between the two teams was about two miles, and he himself was in the middle team and continued to sail at full speed.

The two teams, one left and one right, slowed down a little. In this case, the entire Zheng Jun fleet would form a U-shaped pocket.

If Ye Dacheng continued to chase with this course, he would dive into this pocket and be surrounded by Zheng Jun's navy on three sides.

Obviously, Ye Dacheng was not that stupid, he immediately adjusted his course and instead chased after the leftmost fleet.

After chasing for a certain distance, he suddenly accelerated to full speed and continued to close the distance, forcing the captain of the fleet to order to change course to fight.

"Zuo full rudder..." Ye Dacheng ordered in a deep voice.

Immediately, the entire fleet turned ninety degrees, and then circled an arc to the opponent's right side. Even though the opponent also adjusted its course, Ye Dacheng remained unmoved.

The reason for this is that Ye Dacheng wanted to adjust his own battle formation in this way, turning the formation into a battle pattern of battle lines.

The warships followed one after another like a queue, and it didn't take long for them to form a long line.

Under the leadership of the first ship, continue to narrow the distance with the opponent.

The fleet that Zheng Zhilong was in had already known what was happening here, so he immediately led the fleet to come to support, and at the same time, he ordered the fleet on the right to come over to join.

But this time, Ye Dacheng didn't close the distance to two miles, but at about three miles, he immediately ordered to open fire.

Because the ship is bigger and more stable, the effective range is naturally longer, and the opponent's fleet is very large, which will also increase the hit rate.

"fire……"

"Boom boom boom..." The ship equipped with German cannons immediately aimed at the target and opened fire.

Of course, only the German cannon fired, and the accuracy of the red cannon at this distance was too poor.

On nearly twenty super-large battleships, the flames flashed rapidly, and shells shot out quickly, rushing towards the enemy formation in the distance.

"Boom boom boom..."

The cannonball that hit the target exploded rapidly, emitting waves of raging flames.

The mast fell, the sails burned, and clouds of smoke rolled up. The crew either ran away in panic or struggled to fight the fire on the deck.

Some shells missed the intended target, but even the smallest 37mm anti-tank gun had a maximum range of more than eight miles.

So, even if it misses the closest target it was aiming at, the shell will continue to fly forward.

It is not uncommon to encounter other unlucky targets on the flight route of the range, after all, Zheng Jun's navy is so huge.

For a while, even the fleet led by Zheng Zhilong, who came from behind, was shot from time to time.

"Full speed ahead……"

Regardless of Zheng Zhilong's disregard, he shouted and ordered, because only when he got close to a certain distance, the artillery of Zheng Jun's navy could guarantee a certain accuracy.

Otherwise, too many shells will be wasted, and the desired effect will not be achieved.

Zheng Zhilong saw the long linear formation of the new army's navy. He had never seen this kind of tactic, but he quickly saw the advantages and disadvantages of this tactic.

The advantage is naturally that the firepower can be fully utilized, but the disadvantage is also obvious. Once the enemy rushes close, the entire fleet is likely to be cut into pieces.

Since the shortcomings of the new army's naval formation are so obvious, Zheng Zhilong naturally has to find a way to catch them.

He was going to press up as fast as he could, using the black tiger's heart-throwing tactic like he did against the Dutch, and went straight to the middle.

Dismembering the formation of the new army's navy, and then relying on its huge numerical advantage to carry out the siege, will surely win the final victory.

(End of this chapter)