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Chapter 572 Battle of Manila Bay 3
"Sha Baihu commanded several ships when he was a pirate with my father. I have been here more than once. I am not embarrassed today!" Huang Nanping is not interested in how the Spaniards dominate the ocean, and is more concerned about every move of the blockade fleet commander. .

The man known as Old Shark was already a member of the Marine Guards at this time. He was a pirate and was over fifty years old. If he can succeed in this battle, go back and be promoted to a thousand households, and then retire to the second line with glory, he can be considered as having an account to these old subordinates.

"Didn't His Majesty say that Spain does not have a pure navy, and the top commanders on their galleons are all from the army. Although they are fighting on the sea, they use the tactics of the army, mainly relying on close combat. .

It's not that they are stupid, but that they are limited by the casting technology of naval guns. The front-mounted smoothbore gun has a low rate of fire, low hit rate, and low chamber pressure. In this case, it is more efficient to wait for an opportunity to pick up the ship and start a hand-to-hand combat. "

The task of answering the staff's questions fell on the deputy chief of staff. Although they were both from the Kato Division and became staff officers, their understanding and acceptance abilities were very different.

Hong Tao has taught this knowledge a long time ago, but it was not included in the navy textbooks. As a result, some people remembered and understood it, while others may have remembered it but were unable to learn and apply it.

"If you ask me, I should have come here a long time ago to take over the Spaniards and the Dutch in Batavia. These places have been Chinese vassals since ancient times. How can we let the Spanish people occupy them in vain?"

The young staff officer understood what was going on and stopped worrying about the differences in naval battle methods. Instead, he began to let himself go and think about the goal of the next naval battle. Although it is not his turn to make the final decision in this kind of matter, the Naval Staff has the right to make suggestions. As long as there are more people who want it, they can skip the naval governor and directly propose plans to the emperor.

"We are considering the gains and losses of one city and one land, and it is only on the sea. Your Majesty has to make a comprehensive plan, and you cannot rule a land just by fighting. Whether to send troops or not, how many officials are sent, how to face the resistance of the locals, You have to think it over clearly.

At present, there are still some people in the DPRK who are opposed to the New Deal, and they even regard the Navy as a thorn in their side. We can't help His Majesty, but we can reduce the trouble. Do your job well, strive for victory in every battle, and minimize losses is the right path, don't aim too high! "

Seeing that the young staff officer's imagination won the resonance of several staff members, and they all nodded in agreement, Huang Nanping had to stand up and be a bad guy. As a senior admiral of the Navy, he has experienced ups and downs, and his ability to understand many things is better than that of young staff officers who have not yet experienced the ups and downs of life.

The current situation of the Navy is partly due to the good leadership of Governor Yuan, but the key is the strong support from higher levels. How much resistance the emperor encountered in the court for this reason can be roughly understood by thinking about it without seeing it with your own eyes.

What needs to be done at this time is not to rush to expand territory and make achievements, but to try to develop steadily according to the emperor's rhythm. As long as we can continue to promote the New Deal, the situation will definitely become more and more favorable. By then, there will be many battles to fight, and we won’t be able to fight even if we don’t want to.

"What the commander said is absolutely true. Governor Yuan and His Majesty have also emphasized many times that if you are not afraid of slowness, you are afraid of stopping. Now the Ming Dynasty is not only facing Spain and the Netherlands, but also Mongolia in the north, the Jurchens in Liaodong, North Korea and Japan. Take it lightly.”

Regarding these two different opinions, the deputy chief of staff made a clear stance and firmly supported Huang Nanping. He took a more comprehensive view, not only calculating the power struggle in the court, but also looking at possible opponents on land and in the East.

It may sound alarmist, but if you think about it carefully, there are indeed troubles everywhere around the Ming Dynasty. Even if they are not strong enemies, they are unstable factors. The situation is very complicated and cannot be solved by a few naval fleets. "The blockade fleet turned north, two enemy ships lost power, one took on water and tilted, and the remaining two turned east!" A group of officers on the deck were discussing enthusiastically, and the two lookouts on the mast were not idle either.

A man held a large telescope, facing the rays of light of the morning glow, and carefully observed the battlefield situation with tears in his eyes. One of them tilted his ears and listened carefully to his companion's description. He then raised his copper trumpet and raised his voice to compete with the waves and sea breeze in decibels, trying to transmit every word clearly.

"Okay, it's our turn. First mate, raise the battle flag, and the ships enter the bay from the south side of the island in a single column. Notify the cargo ships at the shipping office to follow the main fleet, but do not enter the bay and wait for the next order. "

Only half an hour had passed since the first round of shelling. Three enemy ships were seriously injured, but our own side was unscathed except for the consumption of shells. The intensity of the battle was only slightly higher than that of suppressing bandits at sea.

Huang Nanping was very disappointed with this, mainly because he could not verify many parameters of the Qin-class battleship, and the gold content of this battle was reduced by more than half. The following clean-up work should be done by the blockade fleet itself. The remaining two Spanish sailing ships will most likely be unable to escape.

From now on is the highlight of the attack on Manila Port. Whether the strange move can work will determine the success or failure of this operation. No matter how beautifully the previous battle was fought, if the landing casualties were too great, it would still be a waste of effort, and the entire responsibility lies with the commander.

At this time, the Philippines had become a hell on earth. The sail ropes and beams broken by cannonballs were hanging in mid-air. Almost every piece of canvas had large and small holes, and the heavy ship sides also appeared. In several gaps, wounded sailors and soldiers lay everywhere.

In just eleven rounds of shelling, this large sailing ship with a displacement of more than 500 tons lost most of its power and dozens of lives. The luck of the other four ships was even worse. Their ship planks could not withstand the bombardment of enemy shells at all. If they were hit more than 4 meters away, sawdust would fly everywhere and holes would open.

Moreover, it is already difficult to escape back to the river mouth at this moment. The square-sailed warship is most afraid of turning at a large angle against the wind, and its speed is as slow as a piece of seaweed floating in the waves.

However, those enemy ships with black sails can move freely in headwinds, crosswinds and turbulent winds. They are always hanging a hundred meters away, avoiding the effective shooting range of Spanish naval guns, and spraying deadly missiles at the target all the time. iron ball.

"Scribe, please take note of my order, lower the sails and line up on the deck!"

Captain Steer was really not a coward. When the artillery fire was the most intensive, he saw the messenger around him being cut in two by the shells, but he did not shrink into the cabin to escape. Even though his body was scratched and scratched by debris in many places, he still braved the hail of bullets and stubbornly commanded the Philippines to get closer to the opponent.

It's a pity that some things cannot be changed by human power. Seeing that a Spanish sailboat tilted due to serious water intrusion, and two black sailboats circled to the east to block the Philippine's path, I had to take off my sword and choose surrender. His own honor seems less important than the lives of hundreds of Spanish soldiers.

(End of this chapter)