Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1483 Beiyang Expedition ([-])
It is true that the "Left Wing Light Cavalry" fired first. Because of its "high speed" characteristics, this high-speed scout ship is equipped with cannons except for a small amount of close-in anti-light guns to guard against pirates. long heavy artillery.

Jinghua's ship-borne light artillery is only the naval version of the army artillery. It is very difficult to modify and the cost is easy to control. Therefore, the effort is mainly spent on the long and heavy artillery that is highly pragmatic and emphasized repeatedly.

This makes Jinghua's long-heavy cannons unique in this era. After all, European military equipment is far from entering the era of "changing with each passing day." , everyone is crossing the river by feeling the stones.

In fact, sixteenth-century European artillery was even more complex than ships.Whether it is a heavy main battle artillery, which is muzzle-loading and aimed at destroying ships, or a small breech-loading artillery, which is aimed at killing people, it can be divided into three main types.

The first type is the Porter gun, which is extremely stubby in shape, similar to the Perey gun, and can be regarded as the predecessor of the mortar, which was originally just the name of some of the gun types.

The second category is the cannon, a family of thick, medium-range guns, chief among which is the half-cannon, a crouching monster with a nine-foot barrel and six-inch bore for direct fire 9-pound solid bullet with a range of about 6 yards, the ancestor of the eighteenth-century mortar.

Finally, there is the family of long-range guns, the ancestors of the long-range artillery of the eighteenth century.

In theory, a long cannon could fire an 18-pound shell—half the weight of a semi-long cannon—effectively flat out to 700 yards, or up to 2 miles or so if fired at will.

Thus, a "long gun's range" between ships meant that the two ships were a little less than 2 miles apart, and a "half gun's range" meant that the two ships were about 350 yards apart.

One mile is about 1.6 kilometers, and a little less than two miles can be regarded as 3 kilometers. This is the best theoretical range of excellent long and heavy artillery in Europe at this time.

However, just as the "maximum theoretical speed" of a ship sometimes differs greatly from the best speed it can actually run, there is also a big gap between the theoretical range of this long and heavy gun and the range of actual combat performance.

In fact, even though these guns are collectively called long heavy guns and semi-long heavy guns, since it is difficult for European man-made guns to be standardized in this era, each gun is quite different in bore, muzzle caliber, weight and performance. .

And because the variety of weights and measures in various regions of Europe in the sixteenth century reached an incredible degree, and most interested later researchers were indifferent to these surprises, the final data had to be corrected again and again.

So there will be some embarrassment when looking at the materials in later generations. For example, a ballistics expert may mention that a certain long and heavy gun of such a specification fired a 9-pound shell to a position 2500 steps away.

However, he does not have a precise understanding of the 1 step and 1 pound here, which country implemented the 1 step and 1 pound in which era, and the distance and weight they represent are equal to those of later generations.

As for the foreigner's statements transcribed by his pen (most experts all rely on mutual copying), he also does not know whether the values ​​​​used by the other party are the same as those used by himself or are completely different.

Therefore, in the field of military history in later generations, the information about European artillery in the age of the Armada that the general public has can almost be said as follows: all of them are only relatively accurate.

Jinghua had obtained the parameters of many Portuguese and Spanish artillery through various means before, and even obtained some real objects for research and benchmarking.What is particularly interesting is that whether it is the Portuguese or the Spaniards, they are equipped with a variety of artillery, not only from different artillery factories, but even from different countries.

When Gao Wushi sent back the first report of Jinghua Artillery Factory to redo it, he said something like this: "Your factory gave me the parameters of more than 70 kinds of artillery. How much time do I have to compare and analyze one by one? Choose two or three guns that you think are the best among the types, go to benchmark and strive to surpass, and then report again.”

After the re-report, Jinghua Artillery Factory also attached a statement, thinking that the difference between land artillery and naval artillery in the future is likely to become larger and larger. It is recommended that Gao Pragmatic approve their re-planning, and completely separate the design and operation of land artillery and naval artillery. Manufacture, of course, also need to rearrange the code, etc.

This plan has been approved in a highly pragmatic manner, but it may take some time before it is implemented.Right now, the "Left Wing Hussar" is still loaded with the No. [-] gun, but because the two high-speed reconnaissance ships have not been launched, they are using the latest model of the No. [-] gun carrier version.

The main features of this model are long range, high precision and better reliability.But limited to the technical level of the times, the premise of achieving these advantages is to reduce the weight of the bomb—in other words, the power has dropped a little.

At this time, the largest heavy artillery shell in Europe is usually 32 pounds (about 14.5 kilograms, 29 kilograms. As mentioned above, the mass weights and measures in this book have been converted according to the current customary city kilogram), but because the opponents that Daming faced before almost did not even have guns. No, the requirements for giant cannons are relatively small, so Jinghua's largest standard No. 28 shell weighs only [-] catties.

The shell weight of the No. 20 gun is divided into two types: land and sea. The No. 24 land gun shell weighs 24 catties, and the No. 20 naval gun shell weighs [-] catties. The naval guns of the two high-speed reconnaissance ships of the "Ranger" class have undergone technical adjustments, so they cannot use the [-]-pound ship-borne No. [-] artillery shells, and they have been changed to use the [-]-pound land artillery No. [-] artillery shells.

Originally, the most suitable bomb weight was about 22 catties, but considering that there were only two ships of this class, and they were still in the experimental stage, it was uncertain whether they would continue to be built in the future, so I made a "comfort" and took the land gun The shells were just about right.

Of course, this refers to solid projectiles. In actual naval combat, it is sometimes necessary to launch special projectiles such as chain bombs (chain bombs are used to destroy the sails, cables, etc. of the opponent's ships).

This special cannonball uses a chain to connect two small cannonballs smaller than the caliber of the gun bore. After firing, one cannonball will drag the other cannonball and fly away in a centrifugal swing, so it will be pulled on the sail. Make a big hole, or tear up the rigging, and if you are lucky, you can even tear off the mast and paralyze the enemy ship.

This kind of artillery shell is mainly used to limit the mobility of enemy ships. The principle is similar to that of stick bombs.In addition, the chain bomb has another important function, which is cutting.

The fast-rotating chain bullets can easily slice through enemies (mainly sailors on board), making it a terrifying weapon.However, because its role is more reflected in the damage to the mast and canvas, and the hit rate is not as good as that of the grape bomb, it is rarely mentioned.

As for the grape shells, this special shell uses a net bag to bundle the shotgun into a bunch, which looks like a bunch of grapes in shape, so it has this name.However, the range of grape bullets is not as good as that of solid bullets. Its main advantage is that it can knock down dozens of enemy soldiers in an instant with one shot fired at close range, which is equivalent to disintegrating an infantry squadron (European standard).

As for naval battles, obviously this kind of shells that can knock down large numbers of enemy officers and sailors but have insufficient range are basically used for close combat. The string jump helps to protect yourself from AOE group injuries during the war.

The shells fired by the "Left Wing Light Cavalry" are not special shells, but ordinary 20-jin heavy land artillery solid shells.

20 pounds is not light, but the solid iron means that it is actually not big - not as big as a person's head.A projectile of this size hit a 1200-ton sailing giant ship. What is remarkable is that it punched a small hole, and its destructive power is actually limited. (Note: By the way, the 1200 ton wooden galleys were much larger in volume than the modern 1200 ton iron ships.)
At this time, the "Left Wing Hussar" was still about three and a half miles away from the Spanish treasure ship fleet, but it had only reached the theoretical maximum range of its long and heavy guns, so the shells it fired could only be said to be used for calibration.

The results of the school firing were not very good. Even the shell closest to the enemy flagship "San Antonio" fell nearly a mile away.However, this result shocked many people on the "San Antonio" into a cold sweat.

The deputy commander and flagship captain of the fleet, Echevari, was taken aback, and said in surprise: "This is at least a dozen long and heavy guns, and judging from the sound of the guns, these long and heavy guns are all of the same caliber-this means that the opponent is a professional navy. warship!"

Commander Silva was also taken aback, rolled his eyes, and frowned: "But what they hang is not the Ming Dynasty's 'Sun and Moon Fire' flag, but the Jinghua Company's Shujian flag."

As for the "Sun and Moon Fire" flag of the Ming Dynasty that Silva mentioned, this needs to be explained.

In the first year of Longqing, that is, in 1567 A.D., Emperor Mu Zong Longqing announced the lifting of the sea ban under Gao Gong's suggestion. This was the official opening of the sea after many years of sea ban by the Ming Dynasty.Immediately afterwards, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty went to sea legally, and they saw a national flag hanging on the prow of the merchant ships of foreigners. Since the Ming Dynasty did not design a formal national flag, the maritime merchants designed a "national flag" by themselves.

"Ming" is composed of the sun and the moon, so the national flag they designed is also the same, with the sun on the left and the moon on the right. The sun and the moon are closely connected to form a "Ming" character.And because the Ming Dynasty favored the virtue of fire (probably because the emperor's surname was Zhu, and Zhu was as red as fire, so the Ming Dynasty claimed to have the virtue of fire), most of the clothing was mainly red, so a circle was designed outside the sun and the moon. Red flames rising in all directions.

The background color of the flag is blue, which represents the sky, and the whole flag means "the sun and the moon are immortal, shining forever."

Originally, this flag was only used by private maritime merchants in the original history, but in this life, because of high pragmatism, after knowing this situation, although he did not rashly ask the emperor to set a "flag" for Ming Dynasty (the more symbolic something In this era, it is more likely to cause controversy, and such things as setting the national flag in a highly pragmatic way need a suitable opportunity), but the above mentioned this matter, and asked the emperor to approve the use of the maritime merchants on the grounds that the maritime merchants did this. It is a manifestation of "sincerely respecting the imperial court" and is worthy of recognition.

This flag can indeed be seen at a glance as the meaning of "the sun and the moon are immortal, shining forever". Of course, the emperor didn't think there was any problem, so Yubi Zhu approved it.In this way, the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty had a unified flag with official permission to hang. Although this flag is not a national flag in theory, it is undoubtedly the national flag in the eyes of foreigners.

However, most other maritime merchants do not have other flags to hang, so this "Sun Moon Fire" flag is very conspicuous, and this flag is hung almost everywhere on the ship.However, when they entered the Jinghua private port or traveled with the Jinghua fleet, they had to hang calligraphy flags of different sizes on the front mast, bow, stern, and the top of the bridge signal pole in accordance with Jinghua's requirements.

And Jinghua has long had "brand awareness" because of its high pragmatism, and has been flying the book sword flag for many years.Therefore, after the "Fire of the Sun and Moon" flag was designated as the "quasi-national flag" that Daming maritime merchants "could fly", Jinghua only added an internal regulation, "hanging two flags of 'Sun and Moon' on the left and right sides of the cab." Fire'flag, to show the origin of identity".

This position is naturally not particularly eye-catching for the entire ship, so other ships usually only see Jinghua's very own characteristic book and sword flag from a distance.

Of course, Echevari also saw the most obvious book and sword flags. He pondered for a moment and asked worriedly: "Could it be that the Ming Kingdom has also started issuing private plunder certificates?"

This question was obviously due to England's pirate anxiety syndrome, but Commander Silva showed his calmness at this time, shook his head decisively and said: "This is impossible. As far as I know, although Jinghua Company is not the royal family of the Ming Dynasty Emperor trading company, but it is actually in a similar monopoly position.

Since it has such a monopoly position, it must exist as a defender of the system just like Castile, and it will never be a challenger or destroyer like England.In my opinion, in the Far East, especially in the South China Sea, I can understand whoever is a privateer, but Jinghua Company cannot be a pirate. "

Echevari slapped the window sill angrily, and said: "I understand this too, but how do you explain the current situation? Jinghua Company's warships—I'm sure it's not an armed merchant ship—came to attack us and Castile Sub-Kingdom Navy!

Your Excellency, you know, this is an act of war.Who authorized the Jinghua Company to wage war with us? Is it the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?But why did the emperor of the Ming Dynasty launch a war against us?Our two countries are thousands of miles apart. Although the Ming Dynasty has a lot of vassal states, they are all around itself. So what conflicts of interest do they have with us, so that they have to be resolved by war?I've never heard of their desire for an overseas colony in Egypt..."

Echevari was still analyzing and questioning angrily, but Silva suddenly changed his face and blurted out a word: "Damn it!"

"What's the matter, Commander?" Echevari came from a small noble family. Ever since he was ordered to become Silva's deputy, he had rarely seen the commander from a large noble family become angry, so this was a bit of a surprise. stunned.

Silva stared fiercely at the "Left Wing Hussar" which was turning, and gritted his teeth: "The Philippine colony may be in danger."

Echevari gasped and said in shock, "Is the Ming Dynasty going to seize the colonies?"

"I don't know." Silva doesn't have time to analyze things like the overall situation of the country now. He just analyzes according to the thinking of a naval soldier: "Look at that warship, its speed is faster than the ships of the same level I know. Hurry up. I suspect that this battleship is just an advance scout ship of the Ming Dynasty Navy, and it has only one ship, so it will definitely not be our opponent.

The reason why it dared to shoot at us must be relying on something... I mean, not far behind it, I am afraid that there is a large fleet of the Ming Dynasty Navy and it is heading towards us. "

Echevari swallowed subconsciously, and asked: "Then what should we do? Should we ignore it and go to Manila to inform His Excellency Governor Santiago de Villa to prepare for the battle?"

Silva did not answer immediately, but stared at the "Left Wing Ranger" for a while, and then said: "This ship uses hard sails, it is a typical Chinese ship, but the shape of the bow is a bit strange. , I don't know how it was built..."

"Your Excellency, our current focus..."

"Don't interrupt me, sir." Silva said seriously: "I am explaining the situation to you—my deputy and flagship captain. What I want to say is that, for whatever reason, it can be seen now that The ship is going faster than us."

"Well, as I wish, Your Excellency, but it just means we can't catch him. May I take it that you have agreed that we should abandon her at once and go to Manila?"

Silva narrowed his eyes slightly, and said: "We will turn around immediately and make a posture to rush to Manila, but we should take a diagonal course... As long as the enemy ship turns around and chases after it, we will immediately turn around at a suitable distance , attack and destroy it before it has time to turn around and escape!"
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Thank you book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "Cao Mianzi" and "Shan Qi Zhao Bi Xin" for their monthly support, thank you!
(End of this chapter)