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Chapter 571 Battle of Manila Bay 2
"Captain, the hull of the Santa Lafite was shot, and the foremast of the Gordon was broken!"

There is a saying in later generations that ideals are full, reality is skinny, and plans cannot keep up with changes. Captain Steer's plan was very good, and it was indeed in line with the actual situation. But as soon as the two fleets got close, the other side opened fire early due to their lack of martial ethics, and with great luck, they accurately hit the two ships, causing the plan to go awry.

"Order them to keep up while repairing. Good luck will not always favor one party. We have a good wind..."

Captain Steer was also an officer who had participated in many naval battles. Of course, he was also an army officer like most of the Spanish fleet commanders. In the face of sudden disasters, he is not too panicked. He still stubbornly believes that accidental factors cannot affect the situation of the war, and in the end, hard power must be used to solve the problem.

"Boom..." But before the order could be finished, it was interrupted by a violent vibration.

"Captain, the bow of the ship was shot, the girder was broken, and three sailors were injured!" Soon a crew member came to report the situation. There were several blood stains on his white shirt, and he looked very embarrassed.

"Cut the forward girder rigging, abandon the fore jib, and the course remains unchanged!" Due to the obstruction of the sail gear, he could not see clearly the situation of the bow of the ship from the poop, but Captain Steer did not hesitate or panic. New orders were issued decisively.

This minor injury is insignificant for a Spanish galleon with a displacement of more than 500 tons. In a downwind condition, losing a few bow jibs will not cause any loss of speed. As long as the direction can be maintained, the other side can fire at most two more rounds, and the two fleets will enter the effective range.

Within a few dozen meters, the Philippine's two-layer artillery will fully demonstrate its density advantage, and those black sailing ships will be unable to avoid it. They chose a very foolish course, too close to the northern tip of Corregidor, and lost any room to maneuver southward.

"Boom, boom, boom..." But in the blink of an eye, there was another short blast like a drum, and the black sailboat began the third round of bombardment.

This round did not hit the Philippines, but the Santa Lafe on the starboard side suffered a devastating disaster. The bow pillar was actually broken by a cannonball, and a large hole opened at the waterline, and tons of seawater surged in. If the sails are not lowered and the ship is stopped at this time, the cabin will be filled with sea water before long.

"What the hell! Leave the Santa Lafite alone, let it lower its sails and save itself, while the rest of the ships charge at full speed!"

Even though the more than 100 Spanish soldiers carried on the Santa Lafe were desperately needed, Captain Sterr had to give up temporarily. Although he didn't say anything at this time, his heart began to beat a drum, and he regretted choosing to fight.

On the surface, these black sailing ships look very similar to the square-sailed warships from various European countries, but there are quite a few differences underneath. Their hulls are slimmer and longer, and this type of ship has many advantages, such as fast speed, flexible steering, and strong seaworthiness. But the shortcomings are also obvious. The cabin space is small and the load capacity is small.

Youdao has a lot of bad points and ten fans. It is precisely because of this shortcoming that it almost covers up all the advantages. As a main ocean-going battleship, speed, flexibility, and seaworthiness are important, but the prerequisite is greater load capacity and space.

Whether it is the naval battle mode of the Spanish Armada or the British naval battle mode, these two points are inseparable. If you want a warship to have powerful firepower, you need to equip it with more artillery pieces; if you want to equip it with more artillery pieces, you need enough space and load capacity; if you want to have enough space and load capacity, you need to reduce the aspect ratio of the hull.

The Black Sailboat did the opposite. Not only did it not reduce the number of artillery, it also built a full-length artillery deck, equipped with at least more than 20 long guns. The method used almost made Captain Sterl laugh out loud the moment the gun doors were opened. Stupid Orientals, what's the use of having more such thin barrels! The 6-pound or 8-pound cannons were swivel guns on Spanish galleons. They were usually equipped on the deck and used shotguns to kill people on the opponent's deck at close range. They basically did not cause much damage to the hull and sail rigging.

However, these thin tubes actually started shooting at a very long distance of about 300 meters, and achieved a hit effect in the second round. This is not too surprising, their reloading speed is even more incredible, almost twice as fast as Spanish gunners.

Only the breech-loading artillery used by the Portuguese could achieve this reloading speed. However, the firing range and destructive power of this breech-loading artillery were insufficient. It was unheard of to have both firing speed and firing range.

"Captain, the enemy seems to be turning around downwind..." After three rounds of shelling, the sea became temporarily quiet, but was soon broken by the shouts of the mast lookout.

"This is impossible! Right rudder is 10 degrees, right rudder immediately!" After hearing this, Captain Steer ran to the starboard in a few steps, leaned out and looked forward. After confirming that the lookout was not mistaken, he immediately made the corresponding action. Countermeasures, but his tone and expression already revealed his inner anxiety and uneasiness.

It was so weird. The black sailboat actually made a U-turn on the north side of the island, and only lowered one-third of its sails, without losing too much speed. This method of driving a ship is strictly prohibited among all Spanish, British, French, and Dutch captains. They would rather risk the enemy's artillery fire than choose to run aground or run aground, even if there is only a 30% chance.

Captain Steer now somewhat understands why the black sailboat reduced the horizontal sail and increased the fore-and-aft sail. With the slender ship shape, part of the top speed was sacrificed, and the turning radius could be greatly reduced.

On the battlefield, is it more important to have a top speed of 2 knots or a turning radius of meters or less? There was no need for Captain Steer to think about it silently based on experience, the answer came quickly with the shells.

The five black sailboats all drew a semicircle along the north side of Corregidor Island. While completing a 5-degree U-turn, all the gun ports on the right side were also opened. The hull had just stabilized, and the fourth round of shelling came again. here we go.

There is another fleet 5 nautical miles west of the battlefield that is slowly sailing eastward with one-third of its main sail. It is led by five identical black sailing ships, followed by a large number of cargo ships with gray sails.

This was the main attack fleet and landing fleet commanded by Huang Nanping. They set off from Da Nang two days ago and prepared to join the blockade fleet that arrived two days in advance. Unexpectedly, they witnessed a true sea battle.

"The blockade formation completed a U-turn, heading 250, salvo to starboard..." With the heart-rending shouts of the mast lookout, the battle situation as far away as 5 nautical miles away was broadcast to the deck in real time.

"Old Shark's move was so beautiful, it was completely beyond the opponent's expectation. It's a pity that this large sailing ship is a waste in their hands. I really don't know how the Spanish can dominate the ocean for so many years and build such a big sailing ship." A great ship, but the tactics are so rigid!”

Several naval staff officers gathered around Huang Nanping, who were staring at the chart attentively, listening to the lookout's shouts, and thinking about the battle ahead. Hearing that the blockade formation had completed its U-turn, a staff officer raised his head and breathed a sigh of relief, and began a post-war analysis, as if all five Spanish sailing ships had sunk.

(End of this chapter)