I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 480 Double Bay Battle (5)

   Now let's go back to the wider sea.

Of course, a fleet of thirty-five Calais ships could not sail in an elongated line. Generally speaking, unarmed merchant ships were arranged in two or three columns, with armed merchant ships interspersed with escorts on either side of them, which is why At the beginning, the mixed fleet of the British needed to cut them separately - at first, the Dutchman Van Basten, like the pirate Gott and Cunningham, did not notice any problems, he let himself The flagship "William the Silent" hoisted a yellow flag to show that it was going as planned.

He watched the "Charles I" chasing the two armed merchant ships, and the other two ironclads began to circle the merchant fleet, like wolves rounding sheep together, and the armed merchant ships continued to fire, but no What damage could be done to the ironclad, his eyes reluctantly wrapped around the black-gray ironclad for a while before he had to move away.

At this time, the unarmed merchant ships and the armed merchant ships were already separated by a long distance, large enough for the Dutch fleet to cut in. When the British and French forces went to war with the Netherlands, the "Seven Provinces" and Le The light faded with the passing of General Itt, and after the defeat, the ships of the Dutch fleet were partly divided between the French and the British, and partly by the Dutch government-in-exile, but only a small part.

   The ships driven by the Dutch fleet today were rebuilt by merchant ships that were on voyages and did not return to the port.

However, this is not a problem for Van Basten. Although the Dutch are called sea coachmen and even defeated Spain, the former maritime hegemon, they did not rely solely on the number and tonnage of ships—the former The flagship "Seven Provinces" of the undefeated general Reuter was nothing but a third-tier battleship, with double decks and eighty guns. They always relied on their own courage, wisdom and rich sailing experience.

Although the ships of the Dutch are not as good as those of the British or the French, the precious legacy left by Reuter is suitable for today's situation, and it can also make the Dutch raise their proud heads in front of the British - the Dutch ship The ship's small tonnage and low center of gravity are destined to be more agile at sea than those large three-deck ships. After the merchant ships lose power due to artillery and impact, they will swarm up, and there has been no such thing in fifty years. Changed tactics, jumping to melee after getting close to the merchant ship - if it is just fighting, the generals may send arson boats to reduce losses, but since they are here for wealth... this method is naturally not advisable.

   "A merchant ship has entered the Bay of St Malo," his chief mate reported, "Captain Gott has caught up."

   "Let him go." Van Basten said: "Keep an eye on our ship, and don't let Gott's men approach."

"These Frenchmen are lucky to meet us!" said the first mate. Once the battle was over, Van Basten not only did not allow his crew to bully and abuse the sailors and merchants, he would also give them to the poor sailors who could not pay the ransom. A few small sampans, let them row away by themselves, of course, if they are unfortunate enough to encounter a shark or a storm, they are also unlucky.

  Got's subordinates are to let these people "walk the springboard".

Cunningham and the British ironclads are obviously not what Van Basten is qualified to care about, and Goth is what Van Bast is unwilling to care about. He once again paid attention to the situation of the armed merchant ships and the ironclad ships. Some armed merchant ships Running away, some still swimming outside, as if trying to break through the blockade of the ironclads and rush into the merchant fleet, Van Basten ordered the use of arson boats - these arson boats were not fakes that Gott made when he was trapped in the bay of Saint-Malo. cargo, but a type of real combat ship.

There are also two kinds of Dutch arson boats. One is loaded with dry firewood and grease, like the substitute made by Gott. There is a small door leading to the secret passage of the cabin, and a sampan is tied to the waterline. After hanging the enemy ship, the sailors board the sampan to get out of the dangerous area, and the last sailor to leave the arson ship is responsible for lighting the fire.

The other one is more dangerous. Instead of wood, barrels of gunpowder are loaded on it. There is no doubt that they are more powerful. While sailing in the middle of the... A random cannonball that lands on the boat, even just a piece of burning sail or a shard of a mast, will send the boat and its people to **** with it.

However, Van Basten's ideas fit wonderfully with the pirate Gott at that time. He only drove the first one, and let it ignite in advance, rushing towards the armed merchant ships trying to approach them, only to drive them away instead of They sank—he remembered why they had come, and the warrant Cunningham had promised them.

Only three kings today have the power to build iron armoured fleets for themselves and their countries, Louis XIV of France, Charles II of England, and Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, besides them, the others The country can only build one or two ironclad ships as the king's royal ships or flagships. If the Dutch still own the Netherlands, it may still be possible, but now they only have one in the extremely cold New Netherlands and Caribbean islands. The lingering government-in-exile.

Of course, such a government could not have obtained such a large amount of black iron and coal, and had nowhere to smelt and assemble it. Their only way was to hold the only wealth and buy ironclad ships from the British or Austrians.

There were also objections in the government-in-exile that they didn't need an ironclad right now that couldn't be used to change the situation, instead they should turn their attention from the sea to the land, where the French king was too busy in the war of succession to take care of the colonies At the time, the Netherlands was rebuilt in America on the basis of the New Netherland.

   But they must have never seen ironclad ships sailing and fighting at sea.

It was a shock that could not be described in words. Anyone with blood in their chest would be desperate to get such a ship, even if the Netherlands did not have a three-deck first-class battleship until the eve of its demise. . But it's not just Van Basten, many Dutch people are imagining that if the Netherlands could have as many giant warships as Britain and France in that battle that decided the fate of the Netherlands, then how would things go? Will it be the exact opposite?

   Van Basten, who was immersed in his memories, was suddenly awakened by a burst of cheers.

The closest Dutch ship to him, the "Reuter", yes, it was named in honor of the great Dutch general. It was an Indian ship and was originally an armed merchant ship. , after being converted into a battleship, it not only changed its name but also added 20 guns, that is to say, a large barque with 50 guns, according to the Dutch shipbuilding style, the stern is perpendicular to the water, and the windows around the The shield is a curved copper plate, or a thin layer of armor.

  The head of the ship is the statue of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. The Dutch are used to not coloring this statue, but because it is newly made, it is still a piece of golden oak, and it looks very beautiful.

The crew of the "Reuit" could not wait to jump on the gangplank - although the end of the narrow gangplank was nailed into the deck of the merchant ship, there was still a considerable difference in height between the two ships, as well as the undulations caused by the waves. Shaking and trembling, the opposing crew were desperately trying to pull out the nails and push the springboard into the sea—but no amount of danger could resist the lure of wealth.

The goods on board are destined to be sent to London or New Netherland, but all the private property of the merchant sailors belongs to the victors - this is also an asset not to be underestimated, after all sailors call their ships their homes. Carry everything of value with you and not store it somewhere where it might be seen stolen - and don't think sailors are poor, there are sailors' private cabins on merchant ships too, full of their smuggled goods. good stuff.

As soon as the merchant sailors saw that the crew of the "Leuite" had already jumped on the springboard and rushed towards them, they panicked and hurriedly got into the cabin and closed the cabin door tightly, but everyone knew that This is not even a trapped beast, once the Dutch have control of the ship, they still have to crawl out of the cabin obediently.

   "Be careful!" cried a former privateer crewman. Privateer was a polite name. He was also a pirate. Their arrival was unobstructed, which made him wary.

   "Are they all under the cabin?" cried another crew member.

"Lock them up," shouted a man beside him. "When we've removed the cargo, let them sink here with the ship!" As soon as the words fell, he and his companions burst into laughter. Laughing, he pulled out the dagger, cut off the rope that fixed the cowhide, opened the cowhide, and below was the neatly stacked wine barrels, which made him subconsciously "hey".

   There is no sailor who does not like wine, any wine. Rum, wine, beer... As long as it is wine, they like it, but to put wine barrels on the deck, it is not something that a normal seaman would do - although the owner of the cargo ship has always been greedy and can carry more cargo It will carry some more, but sailing on the sea, the waves are rough, and the ship is bumpy even when the weather is calm, so even if you want to carry cargo on the deck, it is light and easy to fix such as wool, but …liquor?

   In the event of a storm, the cask that was freed from its restraints was about the same as a cannonball.

"Maybe it's paint," said one of the crew members. He subconsciously inserted a knife into the wine barrel. When he pulled it out, he was a little cautious, as if he was ready to receive the wine, but he shook his head and handed it over. It doesn't feel right - like it's stuck on something hard and irregular, a nut, or even a more valuable spice? When he thought of this, his heart jumped wildly.

   Holding the knife, he stood on tiptoe, ready to lift the lid from the barrel.

   Just then, the explosion happened.

Unlike the roar of artillery or the deflagration of arson boats, the explosion from their side can even be called small, even negligible compared to the former two, but this is exactly what the designers expected - small and intense. explode.

There is not much gunpowder hidden in the wine barrel. It may only be a forearm-length and a thick tube, but outside the gunpowder, there are countless small stones, iron pieces and broken glass. In an instant, they are sprayed out like a torrential rain, through the decaying barrels, their power is not inferior to the bullets of the musket - these special "bullets" easily penetrate the flesh and blood, and send a living person turned into a crimson sieve.

The lucky people died on the spot, the unfortunate people were sprayed with more or less half their body, a face or an arm, or a leg, depending on where they were standing when the explosion The sharp weapons of the sword either penetrated the weaker parts such as the cheeks, or were deeply embedded in the thick flesh. They not only brought harm, but also brought fear and pain.

One couldn't even hear the explosions coming from the merchant ship while the guns were roaring all around, but Van Basten had been watching each merchant ship in turn with his binoculars, and he might have noticed it in a few minutes. Arrived at the wrong, after quickly focusing, he immediately saw a **** crew member, the latter couldn't see Van Basten, and Van Basten couldn't hear him, but the man was indeed yelling :"Help!"

Van Basten's heart was immediately seized, and his back was cold. He moved the telescope quickly and searched for other people, while loudly ordering the people around him to call the first mate. When the first mate came, he gave the telescope to him. He, at the same time, ordered the soldiers to raise a white flag, and whenever they saw this flag, the Dutch ships knew that it was for them to retreat quickly.

   But when Van Basten took over the telescope again and waited anxiously for the results, the results were depressing. Although he immediately made judgments and decisions as soon as he found out that he was wrong, most of the Dutch crew had already jumped on the deck of the merchant ship and believed that the battle was settled, and the other side was just fish on the chopping board, at their mercy - only a few people , they've all done things on privateers and knew it wouldn't be that easy - but the previous success had paralyzed most of the crew, and after they had been shot dead by a small burst of small projectiles, the sailors who had gone into hiding, no, It should be said that the soldiers also appeared. Their weapons were far superior to the Dutch, with a long range and great power, and they could even penetrate the partitions of the cabin to cause damage.

   Just when the white flag was flying high, there were already several ships in different positions. These so-called unarmed merchant ships were like lambs with their fangs open and swallowed several Dutch ships in one bite.

   (end of this chapter)