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Chapter 1019 The Rules of War

"Your Majesty, a Spanish sailing ship is raising its sails, and the lookout said there seems to be no signs of activity on the other two ships." About half an hour later, the navigator finally got more accurate information.

"Ignore those two ships for now, catch up and prepare for battle!" Hong Tao gave the combat order without hesitation.

It is not easy for a wooden sailboat to sink completely in the sea unless it is seriously damaged or encounters extreme weather. There is no need to look at the two ships that have lost power first. The right thing to do is to intercept the ship that is trying to escape first, and then rescue No. 114 in time.

There was no way the Spanish galleon could escape from the Qin-class warships at full speed, not to mention that they were injured and even had incomplete sails. The 2-kilometer distance was leveled in less than half an hour, and after three rounds of artillery fire, the enemy had no choice but to drop their sails and surrender.

The situation was more serious than expected. The 114 was indeed captured, but the process was tragic. Most of the 71 crew members on board, including the captain, died in the battle, and only 7 of them were slightly injured and captured by the Spanish as prisoners of war.

No. 114 followed Yan Bushi and chased the Spanish fleet westward. After nightfall, in order to avoid being discovered by the enemy, a blackout was implemented on the ship, including navigation lights.

After sailing in the dark for about four hours, the lookout suddenly sounded the alarm. Almost at the same time, several flames appeared on the port side, followed by the sound of cannon fire. At some point, a sailboat appeared a hundred meters away and spotted No. 114 in advance.

Due to the close distance, the first round of shelling opened two holes in the hull of No. 114. Captain Li Battery did not panic. He asked the boatswain to send people to plug the leak while commanding the deck gun to fire back.

The reloading speed of the rear-loading guns was such that even without the first strike, they could still crush the front-loading guns. In less than five rounds of bombardment, the sailing ship on the port side was hit so hard that it could not fight back, and it could not run away because its foremast was broken.

But Li Dandian and all the crew members did not expect that there was more than one enemy ship. Just when they were preparing to launch two more rounds of artillery fire to completely disable the enemy ship's ability to move, the lookout suddenly sounded the alarm again and let out a heart-wrenching cry, saying that an enemy ship was approaching on the starboard side!
In fact, no matter how hard the sailors and gunners tried, it was too late. The enemy ship on the starboard side did not fire at all, but took the opportunity to approach. When the gunners ran from the port side to the starboard side to load shells, the enemy's stern tower, which was as high as a hill, had to look up.

After only one round of bombardment, dozens of grappling hooks were entangled on the deck, rigging and mast, and a boarding battle was imminent. At this time, Li had no choice but to let the gunners and sailors who were exposed to the enemy's range return to the cabin to get weapons, try to repel the enemy with muskets, and then find a way to escape.

At this time we have to blame Hong Tao or the Naval General Staff. Since the establishment of the navy, everyone from officers to sailors has basically never received serious training in boarding combat. At most, they have practiced shooting with the Marine Guards.

The gap between the two sides became apparent as soon as they engaged each other. Even though the sailors' weapons were more advanced, with greater firing speed and power, they lacked combat experience. They were busy fighting the enemy on the starboard side, but ignored the enemy ship on the port side that was not easy to move.

The price of making a mistake on the battlefield is failure. When the enemy also approached the port side, the situation immediately deteriorated. The sailors of No. 114, who were not in a numerical advantage, were attacked from both sides. In addition to muskets, the Spanish also used small-caliber deck guns.

Eventually the battle moved from the deck into the cabin, by which time Li Battery and several officers had been killed. Although the sailors, who were not good at close combat, were still trying to resist, they were quickly defeated by the more professional Spanish army.

"Go to No. 114 and transfer all the wounded, collect the identity tags of those who died in the battle, and then blow up the ship." After briefly questioning several Spanish officers, Hong Tao gave the follow-up orders in a light tone.

This is the fate of the navy, living as a seaman and dying as a sea ghost. The warships could not carry a large number of corpses, and there was no time to hold a sea burial ceremony for them. Being buried in the sea with the warships was a blessing in disguise. "Your Majesty, what about them? We can't let these guys go, they killed our people!" The officers did not object to this order, but they hoped that the emperor would go a step further.

"What do you plan to do with them?" Hong Tao habitually did not draw a conclusion, but started asking questions.

"…Put them on No. 114 and let them be buried with you!"

The navigator's eyes were red from crying. He and Li Dendi had served on the same ship and had a good personal relationship. He became a little angry when he learned that his old superior had been killed by the deck gun and half of his body had been blown off, and died in a very tragic way.

"Do you all agree?" Hong Tao turned his head half a circle and glanced at every officer.

"..." No one answered, but it was obvious from their eyes and expressions that they all agreed with the navigator's proposal.

"Remember this. Wu Yutai failed to distinguish between public and private affairs, killed prisoners without authorization, and violated military discipline. I suggest that you be demoted one level and be retained with caution. You are soldiers, not pirates or butchers. This is a war, not a vendetta, and certainly not a personal grudge.

I have interrogated the Spanish officers on those two ships, and I have also questioned the surviving crew members on the 114th ship. The Spanish did not torture and kill the prisoners of war. Are you not more human than them?
If you have any objections to my handling of the matter, you can submit written materials to the Naval Staff Headquarters after returning to the base. Otherwise, just execute the order now.

Commander Yan is chasing the enemy fleet dozens of kilometers away. We don't have that much time to waste. If we want to avenge our comrades, we should hurry up and try to sink more enemy ships."

Hong Tao still remembered the name of the navigator, which he had given him, but now he wished he could take the name back. This was a failure of education. They actually wanted to take revenge on private interests and turn the war into a way to vent their anger. This was a serious failure.

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He didn't even bother to ask the captives and survivors about the whole story, and he wanted to blow up hundreds of people. This was too cruel. Soldiers can be cruel, but not cruel. Indiscriminate cruelty is no different from beasts.

The 114 incident was a complete accident and bad luck. The two Spanish warships did not intend to ambush anyone, they were just left behind and could not find the Spanish fleet that was also sailing in the dark, so they had to return to the New World together along the westward route.

As they walked, they suddenly found a strange ship, which was so close that they almost collided with it. They had tried hard all day but still couldn't get close to the Ming Navy warship. Now it was really easy to get it, so the battle happened.

Although it was the 114 that failed in the end, in terms of personnel losses, the two Spanish galleons were the losers. There were more than 300 crew members in total, and after two hours of fierce fighting, only more than 2 were left uninjured, and more than 90 were slightly injured. The rest were either dead or seriously injured, and it was difficult to save them in the sea.

(End of this chapter)