Xinshun 1730

Chapter 702
"Once the Dutch fleet is found, the fleet will be divided into two. A squadron of 12 cruisers will seize the leeward direction and prevent the Dutch from escaping."

"The rest of the main fleet will go straight into the center of the Dutch fleet, and give full play to the power of the salvo of naval guns on both sides to divide the Dutch fleet."

"The scout ship has been identified, and the Dutch fleet is in Cirebon."

"This battle is about whether the Nanyang issue can be resolved as soon as possible. Raising troops for a thousand days and using troops for a while, counting, it is more than a thousand days? I captured Bering and others and started preparing for the navy. Four thousand days have passed."

"The navy didn't fight at all in the battle against Japan, so what can we do with them?"

"Whether the navy can fight or not, the Dutch are the touchstone."

After all, he took out the precision pocket watch that had been retimed on Bangka Island, and said: "It is nine o'clock in the morning. It is about 40 miles away from the Cirebon ocean. I see, prepare to send a signal and start preparing for battle. "

After that, he asked Li Yan beside him.Nominally, Li Yan is the commander of the navy, and Liu Yu is the chief of staff for the Nanyang operations in the capacity of deputy envoy of the Privy Council.

It's just that everyone knows that he is the commander-in-chief, including Li Yan.But the rules that should be there are set by him himself, so of course he must abide by them.

Whether to prepare for war and whether to go to war are all ordered by the prince Li Yan, the governor of the navy.

Even if everyone knows that this is a form, the form is very important.

The emperor did not put Liu Yu in charge because "the navy belongs to the Liu family, and the army cannot fight unless it is in command".It is because this battle is so important, and after the battle is over, the strategic layout of Nanyang is the most important thing, and no mistakes can be tolerated, so Liu Yu is called to take charge.

Li Yan is also very well-behaved, knowing that it is Liu Yu's dream to go to Nanyang, and this battle should also be Liu Yu's last battle on the front line.

He was neither worried that Liu Yu would take the lead, nor worried that Liu Yu would overshadow him. He clearly knew in his heart that he was here to gain prestige this time.

Liu Yu also gave him face, and did not command directly with arrogance, and the specific order was still waiting for him to give it as if he took off his pants and farted.

So he said: "Just do as Jinghou said. Raise the flag of preparation for war, and all departments are ready! Officers take their positions."

After the order was issued, the flag bearer quickly raised the banner to prepare for battle.

On the deck of the Tianyuan, there were bursts of sharp whistles immediately.

The drowsy sailors quickly broke away from the previous chaos. Even those who were shitting on the bow didn't care if it was over or not, they quickly scraped it with tiles and ran towards the deck.

In the kitchen, after hearing the whistle, the chef put out the fire, poured the water from the wooden bucket into the stove, put his hand in for a full minute, and took it out after making sure that there was no possibility of re-ignition. .

The sailors quickly packed up all the messy personal belongings, including the changed clothes, etc., and threw them all into the cargo hold on the lowest floor, so as to clear a passage that could be passed at any time.

The hammock is tied up as early as getting up, and tying the hammock is the first thing sailors do every day.

The moment the whistle for war preparation sounded, the sailor in charge of packing up the hammock, under the leadership of the captain, tied the bundled hammock to the fence on the side of the ship.

It seems that this is useless, but in fact this is the experience that the Europeans exchanged blood for: to prevent the deck from being swept by rotary guns and grape shells after contacting the enemy.These soft, bundled hammocks can effectively block the lead bullets and shotguns on the opposite side.

Why not just make it as protective as a building ship, because the cannon will smash the plank.Solid bullets killed at most one or two people, but if they smashed the wooden boards and stuck them on people, more than a dozen people could be reimbursed at once.

Several thick ropes were pulled from under the mast to the side of the ship, connected together, and covered the deck, like grape trellises with fallen leaves, like spider webs.

This is to prevent the falling of the mast caused by shelling and directly killing people. These thick ropes can stop those broken and falling masts and sails.

A mastshooter with a rifled gun, barefoot, climbed up to the mast.Once you meet the enemy, you have to shoot the officers on the opposite deck from the mast. Whether you can snip them or not depends on your ability.

The gunpowder hand carried a huge sheep felt blanket and blocked it on the gate of the gunpowder store.Use the bucket next to it to pour water on the wool felt to prevent accidents in the gunpowder magazine.

Next to the gate of the gunpowder store, there are four huge wooden barrels filled with water.There is a pile of small buckets hanging next to it, in case of accidents, they can put out the fire at any time.

On the deck, which had just been scrubbed, it was once again filthy.

The sailors carried wooden barrels filled with sand and sprinkled the sand on the deck, especially where it was easy to bleed, and the corner passage between the key powder magazine and the gun storehouse.To prevent fighting, the ground is covered with blood, slippery and untenable.

The boat's dinghy was also lowered to sea, attached by cables to a hook at the stern, rather than remaining on board.Once the fleet is defeated and sunk, these small boats are still needed to save lives.

The gunners were checking the hitch pulleys to make sure the fuzzies were ready for use.Thirteen or fourteen-year-old trainee sailors, holding bags of gunpowder, make sure they can keep up with the gunner's rate of fire once the battle starts.

It is impossible for gunpowder to be piled directly next to the artillery.

Iron bullets of various colors cannot be piled up next to the artillery, and they need to be delivered from behind.This is a physical effort. Although the shells are not too heavy, the key is the Dashun Navy's flintlock cable technology and high training gunpowder input, which makes the rate of fire too fast, which leads to the need to run to carry the shells.

For each gun position, there will always be two more people.One is to prevent gunners from being killed or injured, which is normal in close-range firefights; the other is that in these days, it is really difficult to sink a battleship.

Dashun has explosive bombs with wooden supports, but they dare not and cannot use them on ships.This thing accidentally blew up, and the gunner on the first deck was reimbursed.

Relying on solid bullets to sink their opponents, the Dutch and the Spaniards fought fiercely in Luzon all afternoon, but the result was that both sides ran out of ammunition and went home separately.

Therefore, boarding battles must be considered at any time. If you capture a ship, you will have 20.00% of the price of the captured ship as a reward, which is not a small income.

Of course, it is also necessary to consider that the enemy will board the ship. If the gunners who are spared can win the shelling and are still alive, they will board the ship to fight.

Their weapons are very unique, and they are also very suitable for fighting on board.There are no spears or swords, but short guns, axes, daggers, and maces.

After countless training sessions, this kind of preparation still takes nearly an hour.

But at this time, the boat was not running fast, and it was only within sight for an hour.

After the preparations were completed, the observer on the mast sent a signal, saw the Dutch warship in the telescope, and recognized the huge VOC logo on it.

Dashun's fleet was divided into two.

Half of the faster cruisers did not seize the windward direction, but went around to the leeward direction to intercept the fleeing Dutchman at any time.

The main force of the battleships, together with the remaining cruisers, lined up in line according to Liu Yu's order, but they were not prepared to grab the T prefix.

The reason why the battleship is called the battle line is because the artillery on the side string is considered, which is the same as the queuing and shooting in land warfare.

Theoretically, to maximize the firepower output, we must grab the T-shaped horizontal head, so as to maximize the advantages of side string artillery.

However, Liu Yu's order was for the main fleet to give up grabbing the T-shaped head, but to form a line with the flagship in front, and go straight into the Dutch fleet.

This also means that the main fleet will be bombarded by the T-shaped horizontal heads lined up by the Dutch, and the fleet has no way to fight back during the impact: the cannons are all on the sidestring, and the frontal assault can only be beaten, and it cannot be used at all. Superior firepower.

However, Liu Yu also had his own considerations.

If it was really a cat-and-mouse battle, the Dutch would probably choose to run away. When they went around in circles to grab the windward horizontal line, the Dutch would run away if they saw the situation was not going well... Although the 74-gun battleship of French origin, It is the perfect balance of firepower, protection and mobility, but the maneuverability is not as fast as those small boats.

And if you don't grab the T-shaped head and go straight in with the wind, the Dutch will only have one chance.

If he didn't make a quick decision and run away immediately, the Dutchman would have been caught.

Once the formation is deployed, it will be too late to readjust.

If it is successful, the Dutch fleet can be divided directly, and after a salvo at close range, the ships will be interspersed and wiped out.

At that time, the letter T will become a cross, and the cannons on both sides of the Dashun Navy will be able to shoot.

That is to say, instead of being beaten by the Dutch in the early stage, and then double-beating the Dutch in the later stage, this is basically the same idea as fighting on land, enduring random shots from the opposite side and walking within 50 meters of a wave of salvos.

Tactics are not static, and the use of them is wonderful.

The Dutch had few ships, and their guns were useless. Liu Yu reckoned that even if the Dutch lined up and fired at him for an hour, it would be of no use.

Similarly, if the T-shaped head is grabbed, the speed of the fleet will not be able to stop the Dutch from escaping, and this style of play will not have a decisive effect.

It's often just an afternoon of banging each other, and then going home separately.When you are approaching, you have to go around in circles; if you go around in circles, it is impossible for people to wait in place.

Liu Yu is sure that the training of the Dashun Navy is qualified and strict.However, the traditions at sea are still a bit poor. Of course, they are not afraid of facing each other, but they should still be inferior to the Dutch in terms of sail control, running, chasing, and turning.

At that time, most of the time will be spent in circles, and the anti-bombing effect will not be very great. If you want to get close to the horizontal formation, you have to worry about the Dutch running away.

Therefore, this very weird tactic, under the shackles of this kind of force comparison and strategic purpose, became the first time the navy confronted the European navy this time.

The Tianyuan was in front, and the fleet was lined up, ready to shoot against the sidestring salvo of the Dutch, cutting into the center of the Dutch warship, and directly cutting it into two parts.

At about 10:30, the Dutch fleet off Cirebon also spotted Dashun's fleet.

After hearing the observer's report, the fleet commander took a telescope and looked in the direction indicated by the observer.

The weather is fine, the sky is clear, there is no fog or cloud, the blurred figure of the warship gradually becomes clear in the telescope, and the blue flag of the Dashun Navy flying high on the mast is particularly eye-catching.

Years of career at sea gave the Dutch fleet commander a keen sense of combat.

When the company's Southeast Asian fleet was assembled, why did Dashun's navy appear in this place?
Certainly not to see the scenery, or to fish.

The Dutch did too much undeclared war, so he exclaimed, "Prepare for war! Prepare for war!"

"Shameless Chinese, fight without declaring war."

(End of this chapter)