Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1617 Hunting Treasure Ship

There is a hint of haze in the Caribbean Sea in the early morning, and the island of Barbados, located in the east of the Caribbean Sea, is surrounded by sea fog on the sea.

After two days in the English colony, the crew of the circumnavigation fleet had 400 of them intending to take part in the expedition, including 100 or so naval cadets.

Zheng Chenggong checked his bags, held a musket in his hand, and boarded the armed merchant ship "Zheng He" with other naval students.Ling'er was entrusted by him to take care of Sir Modyford, Governor of Barbados.

All the cadets were apprehensive about the battle.They learn the latest naval warfare and management techniques in the naval lecture hall, but they have not experienced real combat, and they are still in the probationary period.This time, it was going to be a real battle, the kind that would kill people.

"Don't be nervous, boys. Everyone is equal in the sea. Solid bullets won't tell who is an officer and who is a sailor." Zheng Zhihu sent several official naval officers to command a group of navies on the "Zheng He" students.

Naval cadets are novice officers who would have served in the four major fleets as naval reserve officers after their probationary period.This battle is also a psychological grind for them, they may be the first batch of students who will participate in naval battles during the internship period.

The naval cadets worked together skillfully to stow the anchor and pull the rigging, ready to join forces with the Royal Squadron of England.

"I heard that a group of young people among them are students of the Naval Academy, and it is not the first batch. Should we also establish a Naval Academy in England to train suitable talents? So far, our naval officers have only never had sailing experience. They are selected from the captains and nobles, and some are dispatched from the army, they are far behind professional naval officers." Black noticed that most of the Zheng He crew members were young people under the age of 20.

"Being able to wear a unified naval uniform is enough to explain a lot of things. Our crew and sailors don't have uniform uniforms yet." Sir Pennington said.

After the two fleets joined forces, there were 17 warships and 20 transport ships. They left Barbados and took the lead in attacking the Spanish island of Haiti.

Less than 100 years after the island of Haiti was discovered by Columbus, the indigenous people on the island were almost extinct due to war, disease and slavery, especially smallpox brought by Europeans.It became a Spanish colony.

The goal of the Royal Fleet is to capture the city of Santo Domingo on the island, cut off the route for the Spaniards to transport gold and silver, and replace the Spaniards here.

The fleet encountered two Spanish galleons off the island of Haiti.

"That must be the treasure ship coming out of Santo Domingo, stop them!"

Sir Pennington, like a hunter who saw his prey, ordered his warships to attack quickly. The 14 warships swelled their sails, rushed out like a pack of wild wolves, and quickly approached the two Spanish treasure ships.

The Spanish treasure ships were loaded with gold, silver, sugar, and minerals they plundered from South America, Central America, and the West Indies, each of which was priceless!
If it weren't for these treasure ships that continued to transfuse blood for Spain, it would not have been able to fight Ottomans, England, the Netherlands, France and other countries one after another, becoming the first maritime hegemony.

Now the wealth is in front of them!As long as they can capture two treasure ships, they can get a lot of wealth, which is what all Caribbean pirates dream of!
"Let's join the hunt too!"

Zheng Chenggong and other naval students were equally excited when they saw the legendary treasure ship. They didn't care about whether they could actually intercept the treasure ship, but cared more about the excitement of participating in the interception of the treasure ship itself.

Three expedition ships also participated in the interception of the treasure ship.

"Pirates! No, there can't be so many pirates!"

The Spanish sailors on the two Spanish treasure ships discovered the enemy at sea almost at the same time. The opponent did not fly any flag of the kingdom, and it was obviously a naval fleet deliberately pretending to be a pirate.

The Spanish treasure ship immediately turned around and headed back to Haiti.

The treasure ship was loaded with cargo, but the large hull was not so flexible. Some brisk English warships were slowly approaching at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Full speed pursuit!" Zheng He, where Zheng Chenggong and the others were on, was also riding the wind and waves, hunting treasure ships in the sea. Because of the intense pursuit, the sailors let go of their hands and feet and increased the speed of the ship to the fastest.

"fire!"

The bow gunnery reloaded their guns, and as they got closer to the treasure ship, they lit the gun fuses and plugged their ears.The spherical cannonball flew out with a bang and landed on the rough sea, creating dangers!
A poor Spanish treasure ship was hit by several shells, killing several sailors.

A warship commanded by Black caught up with one of the treasure ships that was slightly behind from the side, and he specially recruited several skilled gunners.

"Load chain ammunition to immobilize it!" Black ordered to the gunner.

After intense loading, several cannons roared, and the rotating chain shells were shot out, tearing the canvas of the nearby treasure ship!

Not just canvas, the double-headed high-speed rotating shells are a nightmare for ropes and sailors at close range. A sailor can't dodge in time, and is torn apart by the oncoming chain bombs!
The canvas that was used to advance at full speed was destroyed, and the slow treasure ship was slower at this time, and was overtaken by more hunters. The hunters chased up from both sides, and they continued to bombard the treasure ship to force it surrender.

The Zheng He, driven by Zheng Chenggong and other naval students, also rushed to the front with its good performance. They tried to aim their artillery at the treasure ship for the first time and bombarded it.

The gunners among the naval cadets seemed to be more intense than before, and they finally realized that real combat was far from training.

The artillery roared one after another, and the shells smashed into the treasure ship opposite!
The Zheng He trembled slightly due to the firing of the artillery. Zheng Chenggong saw several of his own shells hit the hull of the treasure ship, and the sound of the artillery continued to roar in his ears, and the warships in England not far away were also firing. .

This is the first time for him to personally experience the battle at sea, although the enemy is just a treasure ship with little ability to resist.

If the captain of the treasure ship knew that they were not only attacked by the Royal Navy, but also treated as training objects for Chinese navy trainees, they would definitely feel angry and ashamed.

The treasure ship whose canvas was destroyed by Blake's chain bullets was completely reduced to the bullying target of all the hunters. Soon after, it was unable to move on the sea, and the white flag was hoisted. Passed a catastrophe.

(End of this chapter)