Opening game, American Tycoon

Chapter 397 The Boiling Parana River (Second update, please subscribe)
On the morning of February 1870, 2, the wind on the Parana River, the second largest river in South America, was blowing in my ears mixed with autumn moisture.

On the river nearly five kilometers wide, the two fleets were like two long snakes, heading towards each other.

Standing on the command tower of the "Fearless" gunboat, Du Guofeng looked calm. After giving the order to face the battle, the "Fearless" led twelve gunboats of the same level from the second dispatch team to head upstream.

The "Fearless" gunboat has a displacement of only 97.52 tons, a full load of only 155 tons, a length of 38 meters, a width of 4.04 meters, and a draft of 2.4 meters.The maximum speed is 21.7 knots, the endurance is 500 nautical miles, and the coal load is 15 tons.The crew on the boat is only 30 people. This small high-speed gunboat is actually designed according to the torpedo boat plan. Because of the relationship of confidentiality, in addition to the fixed bow launch tube, the rear deck is equipped with double torpedo launch tubes. It is not installed. It is said to be a gunboat, but in fact it only has four 20mm Gatling machine guns on the side of the ship.To provide cover for the Army units, two additional mortars were improvised.

Twelve gunboats, with a total tonnage of less than 6300 tons, rushed towards the Brazilian fleet with a total tonnage of more than 462 tons. The difference in strength between the two sides was more than five times. [-] officers and soldiers,
Facing the autumn sun, the "Fearless" opened the way ahead, and the other "Flying" followed closely behind.

Standing vigilant up and down, the gunners operated the Gatling cannon, with resolute expressions and firm eyes.

Behind them is the fleet that is landing, and in front of them is a huge fleet ten times larger than their own. Once a war starts, the sky will surely be dyed red by the flames of war.The ship was moving very slowly at this time.The sailors waited silently.

At [-]:[-] a.m., the silence on the Paraná River was broken with a cannon shot from the "Excellence" coastal defense ship.

"The Brazilians are firing!"

Although the shells were fired towards the land, at this moment, the heart that was in his throat fell down instead. Du Guofeng yelled almost at the moment he saw the gun smoke.

"Full speed ahead!"

The gunboats that were originally sailing slowly began to speed up immediately. Amid the roar of steam engines, they were like sharp arrows on the water, happily sailing towards the Brazilian fleet.

"They're so fast!"

Surprised, Admiral Inacio shouted loudly from the command tower.

"Gentlemen, answer their courage with our cannon!"

The speed of [-] knots is not only amazing in this era, but also brings another effect.The Brazilian gunners found it difficult to aim at it, although it was not easy, they fired at the gunboat approaching at high speed.

With the firing of the "Amazon", the naval battle began.

When the distance between the two sides was a full 2.5 kilometers, the Brazilian fleet opened fire first, and the deafening sound of the guns echoed on the Paraná River. In twelve days, like sharp arrows, they dragged white waves towards the huge fleet. From time to time, white jets of water exploded around the speedboat.

When the water column with a height of more than ten meters exploded, the water splash would always fall on the sailors, but all they did was wipe the river water.I didn't feel the slightest threat at all.

"Notice!"

Li Tao, who was drenched all over, roared loudly, the streamer behind his navy cap was fluttering, and his eyes were fixed on the enemy ship through the aiming ring.

"One armor-piercing shell, two explosive shells, adjust the magazine!"

When the ammunition hand adjusted the shells in the magazine, the Brazilian fleet was still firing, but because their shells were timed fuzes, the shells often sank to the bottom of the river before they exploded. The originally clear river became muddy.

"Sir, their gunboats are too fast, and our cannons can't hit them at all!"

Relying on the rate of fire of one round per minute, it is almost impossible to intercept these high-speed gunboats. Inacio, who once defeated the Paraguayan Navy on this big river, directly ordered.

"Use shrapnel, sail at full speed, and carry out collision operations!"

Just like defeating the Paraguayans on the Paraná River five years ago, Inacio chose to ram again. His conceit was not only because of the small tonnage of the enemy ship, but more importantly, the "Amazon" used an iron keel as a The core of a wooden hull is extremely strong compared to a wooden keel.

When the Brazilian fleet accelerated and tried to use ramming tactics to sink these small boats, their gunners were not idle, and directly replaced the explosive shells with shrapnel shells. Shotgun shells are the best choice against high speed small targets.

The roaring shells exploded one after another in mid-air. In the smoke of several explosions, like a goddess scattering flowers, thousands of shells roared and flew forward. The shells sprayed the river surface like raindrops. , while the shells hit the water surface, metal crashes sounded from the gunboat one after another. At the same time as the shells hit the hull, some sailors were directly pierced by the shells, and the deck was filled with bright red for a while.

"Medical soldiers, medical soldiers..."

Medics marched across the deck amidst shouts, treating wounded sailors.

Although there was a shot that almost flew close to the scalp, Du Guofeng still stood motionless on the command tower.

In naval battles, for commanders, they must overcome the fear of death before they can calmly command warships to fight.

"One round of shelling every minute..."

For the iron-hulled "dreadnought boat", except for some casualties, the threat of shotgun is almost negligible. What is the biggest threat?
Gatling gun!
There are also Gatling guns on the Brazilian warships. It may be made in the United States, or it may be made in Nanhua. Who knows?
Gatling guns may not sink a dreadnought, but they can certainly wash decks!"Bloodwash" the sailors on the deck.

Moreover, the Gatling machine guns on those big ships are condescending, and it is easy to use them to wash the deck.

But... the range of the gun must be farther than that of the machine gun!
When the distance was a full [-] meters, Du Guofeng, who was in the lead, raised his lips slightly, with a cruel sneer on his face.

"Concentrate firepower and aim at the "Amazon"!"

The gunners who had been waiting for a long time, with the help of the shoulder butt, aimed at the "Amazon" frigate charging head-on, and shook the handle.

Amid the rapid sound of cannonballs, steel cannonballs whizzed out of the gun barrels and flew towards the enemy ship [-] meters away with a nearly straight trajectory.

Although the distance is very long, using a Gatling machine gun to attack a large target like the "Amazon" frigate, which is 57 meters long and [-] meters wide, does not even require much aiming.

Amid the rapid sound of cannonballs, a burst of dense shells hit the bow of the "Amazon" one after another. The moment the shells hit the bow, balls of debris exploded from the [-]-centimeter-thick stern.

But in the blink of an eye, the bow of the ship, which had been hit by hundreds of shots, became riddled with holes, and the bow girder in front of the bow was directly broken in successive explosions.

Some roaring shells passed through the broken bow, brushed against the deck and hit the mast, railing, and even the rigging. Pieces of flesh and blood were torn apart.

Some shells hit the waterline impartially, which was the deadliest blow to a warship.

Although the projectile weight of the 20mm high-explosive bomb is only 130 grams, and the charge is only 10 grams. After the shell is ejected from the chamber, it will explode as soon as it touches any target. It is made of tropical hardwood, but when the 20mm shell hits the wooden ship plank, it is very effective when the shell shatters. Immediately poured into the bow.

Although those holes look small, they can't stand much.But in the blink of an eye, hundreds of holes were opened in the bow of the "Amazon".

When the explosion sounded like raindrops on the ship, it really startled the Brazilian sailors.

"They actually have cannons!"

Not only has a gun, but also has a very fast rate of fire!
Are there guns on their boats?
or a gun?
"Damn it, the South Chinese actually violated the international public law and made small shells..."

Admiral Inacio, who was stunned by this round of intensive artillery fire from the Nanhua gunboat, is still as calm as before. After all, his bow has been beaten to pieces now.

Obviously the advantage is mine.

How did you become such a ghost?
It must be because of their weapons!

For this reason, he even accused Nanhua of violating international public law-in December 1868, the great powers signed an agreement in St. Petersburg, Russia, stipulating that the use of explosive projectiles weighing less than 12 grams was prohibited.

However, to accuse Nanhua of violating public international law now is simply nonsense - Nanhua is not a signatory country at all.There is no need to abide by the so-called international law at all.

Just a face-to-face effort, the bow of the "Amazon" frigate, which was rushing aggressively and at high speed before, was smashed into pieces.

Although the power of the small shells can only blast holes the size of a bowl on the ship's plank.However, the river water is constantly pouring into the cabin. Under the explosion of the shells and the impact of the water flow, the densely packed small holes turned into big holes. The head was already sinking a little bit.

The high-speed impact "dreadnought boat" did not stop shooting, with his left shoulder against the shoulder rest, Li Tao, who kept shaking the handle with his right hand, adjusted the shooting direction with the movement of the target. , like a battering ram, hit the deck of the "Amazon" frigate. Although the sailors of the Brazilian damage control team tried their best to rescue the warship, the armor-piercing projectiles that penetrated the ship's deck caused a stir among the sailors. A bloody storm...

(End of this chapter)