Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 609 Against the Combined Fleet
It turned out that the fleet Shi Lang discovered was the fleet of England and Portugal.

The mission of the warships of these two countries is to attack Huangming Island.

Shi Lang didn't know their destination. After all, Daming hadn't had any confrontation with Portugal yet, so he asked Zheng Chenggong for instructions.

According to Zheng Chenggong's information, it was the combined fleet of Spain and the Netherlands that came to attack Luzon, and he didn't know that the Portuguese fleet was also included.

The British warship did not fly the national flag, Shi Lang didn't know it.

"Shi Lang, which country's flag do they fly, and how many warships are there?"

Shi Lang raised his binoculars and took a closer look:

"Captain, the three warships did not fly the flag of any country, but the other two warships flew the Portuguese flag, and the four armed merchant ships all flew the Portuguese flag."

Hearing that the opponent only had five warships and four armed merchant ships, Zheng Chenggong said:

"Shi Lang, we are now facing a hundred warships from the joint fleet of Spain and the Netherlands. Don't take the initiative to provoke warships from other countries for the time being. Just nine ships cannot pose a major threat to any islands in Ming Dynasty that have troops stationed there. Ignore them. Develop good tactics and execute."

"Yes"

Now that the fortifications of the islands in the South China Sea have been built, Zheng Chenggong is not worried about the safety of other islands. His first priority is the upcoming combined fleet.

Even though Daming was an ironclad warship, Zheng Chenggong did not dare to be careless in the face of more than 100 joint warships, and ordered Shi Lang to let go of the Portuguese warships that did not cause trouble.

Just after finishing talking with Shi Lang, there was a report from the observation post:

"Captain, the combined fleet is already close to two nautical miles away from our fleet."

"Got it, keep watching."

After finishing the call with the observation post, Zheng Chenggong immediately issued an order:

"The governor, Zheng Chenggong, pay attention to all warships, quickly prepare for the battle formation, and prepare to face the coming Hong Maofan."

"Yes"

The 15 Ming warships immediately began to turn their rudders, and soon lined up horizontally on the sea surface, the shells were loaded, and the black holes of the muzzles protruded from the gun ports.

At this time, the observation post of the Xihe Combined Fleet also found that the warships of the Ming Army had entered a combat state. Where did they have such advanced communication equipment as the Ming Army, they rushed to the command cabin to report:
"Report to the colonel, two nautical miles ahead, more than a dozen warships of the Ming army have entered a combat state."

Spanish commander Garcelo was taken aback at the time:
"Oh, it seems that the Ming army has already received the news of the arrival of our joint fleet, and they are already waiting here.

"Pass my order, twenty Spanish warships and twenty Dutch warships advance quickly and line up at a position 800 meters away from the Ming army.

"Yes"

Under the command of the Spanish colonel, the United Fleet quickly formed a fan-shaped formation and quickly took over the Deming Fleet. They wanted to rely on the number of the United Fleet to launch a fierce attack on the Deming warship.

The two colonels of the United Fleet also stepped onto the deck, and raised their binoculars to look at the Daming Fleet. When they saw the giant iron-clad ship of the Ming Dynasty, their hearts jumped wildly.

"Such a large battleship, where are their sails?"

This was the first time they saw an iron-clad battleship. Of course, in the eyes of the Spanish colonel, the Ming battleship was just armor, that is, the outer layer of the battleship was covered with iron plates.

But Colonel Netherland knew that Da Ming was a real giant iron-clad ship that didn't use sails at all, which was why he was willing to exchange command power for warships of the Ming army.

Cruy turned back and whispered to the adjutant beside him:
"Send a signal to the left-wing Netherlands warships to get them as close as possible to the Ming warships. It is best to directly fight the Ming army. We must capture two Ming warships. Remember, as long as we can capture two Ming warships , it doesn't matter to the Netherlands whether or not this battle is won."

"Yes"

The target of the United Fleet's attack this time was Luzon, which was a Spanish colony, not Batavia. Colonel Netherlands knew which was important.

Before the battle started, Colonel Netherlands had already started to get distracted. If the Spaniards knew about it, Garcelo would probably faint with anger.

At that time, although the range of naval guns could reach about three kilometers, the real effective range was only about one kilometer, otherwise it would be difficult to hit the opponent's warship.

Therefore, during naval battles, the West will dock warships at a distance of about 800 meters to bombard them, and the same is true for the United Fleet today.

The forty warships of the United Fleet began to adjust their sails and steering when they were one nautical mile away from the Daming warship.

But as soon as their battleship turned halfway, the naval guns on the Daming iron-clad battleship began to spew out anger.

"Rumble..."

"Rumble..."

Eight of the fifteen ironclad warships of the Ming Dynasty began to bombard the warships of the United Fleet violently, and more than 400 solid bullets flew towards the warships of the United Fleet rapidly.

"Boom bang bang..."

Many shells landed on the sea surface around the warships of the United Fleet, picking up huge water columns, and of course some shells bombarded the battleships.

The warships of the United Fleet were bombarded with sawdust, many warships were bombarded with big holes, and the sailors on the deck who adjusted the sails were crushed and killed by solid bullets.

Many naval guns on the second and third decks were smashed, and the gunners also suffered heavy casualties in a round of bombardment by the Ming army.

But before the United Fleet counterattacked, the eight battleships began to turn their rudders after the launch, and the guns on the other seven battleships began to roar.

"Rumble..."

"Boom bang bang..."

Hundreds of shells struck again, and the battleships in the front were almost destroyed by siege hornets. Western warships generally did not have airtight cabins, and the cabins began to flood.

The two colonels of the United Fleet were taken aback. They never thought that the Ming army's artillery fire was so fierce, and its effective range was farther than theirs.

The Spanish commander of the United Fleet hastily issued an order:

"Quick, shoot me back quickly."

"Rumble..."

"Rumble..."

After all, the United Fleet had more than 100 warships participating in the battle. Immediately after the warship turned its rudder, it began to bombard the Ming warship.

Immediately, the naval guns of the two sides clashed fiercely, and many shells even collided accidentally in the air, but most of the shells fell into the sea water, splashing continuous huge water columns.

In a round of bombardment, two battleships of the United Fleet were sunk, and the battleship of the Ming Dynasty was hit by hundreds of artillery shells from the United Fleet, making continuous loud noises, but it was not serious.

There is no way, after all, there is too much difference in numbers. Fortunately, Daming is all iron-clad warships, otherwise they would have been besieged and sunk soon.

Zheng Chenggong sat firmly in the command cabin of the Dayu. Although the opponent had obvious advantages, he was not nervous at all. Instead, he kept using the binoculars to observe the opponent's battleship.

Zheng Chenggong soon discovered that the opponent's warship was too powerful, and the bombardment of the Ming army's warship was too scattered, making it difficult to sink the opponent's warship, so he immediately issued an order:
"I am Zheng Chenggong. The captains of the warships of the Ming Dynasty obeyed the order. The three warships concentrated their firepower on one of the opponent's warships and sank them as quickly as possible."

"Yes"

Let the captains of the fifteen warships communicate, and immediately follow Zheng Chenggong's order to choose a target to bombard:
"Rumble..."

"Boom bang bang..."

(End of this chapter)