The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 156: One move can be used all over the world.

The two fleets were approaching each other, each preparing for battle, like two warriors stepping onto the duel field, facing their inevitable fate.

From the telescope, Feng Guohui could see the busy soldiers on the deck of the Dutch sailing fleet. They had completely torn off the gun jackets and made all preparations for the naval artillery battle.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly, and he was ready to give the enemy another hard blow this time.

If you put it aside, there is actually no secret.

Still following the successful experience in the Semarang naval battle, the Nanyang Navy fleet mainly focused on attacking the enemy's effective forces. The armored strike fleet and subsequent sail mobile fleet were all prepared with special bombs.

The main purpose of the first round of special ammunition, grape bombs and chain bombs, was to damage the enemy's sails, whether tearing them apart, splitting them, or igniting them, which greatly restricted the maneuverability of the Dutch fleet.

On this basis, kill as many enemy troops as possible.

The second, third, and fourth rounds of bombardment will mainly use red-hot cannonballs and shotgun shells. While beating the enemy ships hard, they will also kill as many active members of the Dutch fleet as possible.

Since the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, sailing fleets have experienced countless decisive battles on the sea, and sinking enemy ships has always been an extremely difficult task.

This is also the reason why there are more and more main sailing battleships in the world's major maritime powers. Britain has more than 100 main battleships that have reached the sailing battleship level, and the longest one can be traced back to the mid-17th century.

on the poop

Three British Royal Navy captains were holding red wine with calm expressions. The tall, aquiline-nosed Colonel Mark Madison looked like he was watching the fun and ordered his subordinates; "It seems that the battle is about to begin. Let our battleships Get closer and you can’t miss the wonderful details.”

Feng Guohui continued to adopt the successful experience of the Semarang naval battle and basically gave up the cast iron ball shells that were highly destructive to enemy ship hulls, and instead used special shells with high destructive power.

Taking all things into consideration

The 48-pound or 60-pound ship-borne heavy artillery mounted on the bottom bombardment deck of the large sailing battleship is capable of penetrating the nearly one-foot-thick side wooden armor in close range bombardment, causing heavy damage to the enemy.

The armored sailing cargo ship transformed into a sailing battleship. Its anti-strike ability was especially superior to that of a genuine sailing battleship, making it almost invincible.

The two British sailing battleships, one behind the other, were like stalking hungry wolves, lingering about ten kilometers away from the battlefield, observing the naval showdown in the Strait of Malacca at close range.

This is because the bronze cannons in the early Age of Discovery and the improved steel hoop cannons in modern times also used black powder, and their power has not been qualitatively improved. Facing the heavy sides of warships, all they can do is to increase the destructiveness as much as possible.

The 32-pound, 28-pound and other medium-caliber naval guns mounted on small and medium-sized sailing battleships can only cause a considerable degree of damage despite their best efforts, and cannot penetrate the thick deck.

Among the artillery shells of this era, red-hot cast iron cannonballs were the most damaging, followed by ordinary cast iron cannonballs, and then stone round cannonballs.

The shorter Colonel Watkins looked reserved. He picked up the red wine glass in his hand and took a sip before saying;

On the British second-class sailing battleship "Enfield" at the front, dozens of Royal Navy officers and reserve officers have gathered on the side of the ship, all looking into the distance with attention.

"Judging from the maneuvering movements of this Eastern fleet, they appear crude and unruly. They are simply a group of uneducated barbarians performing difficult maneuvers.

After a naval battle, hundreds of shells fired at each other can often only cause serious damage to the sail warship, but it is even more difficult to sink it.

"Yes, sir." The young naval lieutenant immediately went to convey the order.

It is almost impossible for a lead ball to penetrate the side of a ship made of iron armor and thick wooden boards under today's technological conditions.

on this sunny morning
Two sail fleets heading towards each other came towards each other, with war flags flying high, and the war was about to break out.

Not far from the strait

After the war, carpenters repaired the damaged ship's side plates, which were more than a foot thick, and replaced the sails and other damaged parts, so that the severely damaged sail warship could regain its vitality and continue to be active on rough seas.

The focus was to destroy sails and cables, kill and injure a large number of Dutch soldiers, and destroy the enemy's will to resist.

Amazingly, they were able to form a neat battle line.

It may be much less enjoyable to watch, but in actual combat, the effect may not be that bad. I am very interested to see if these Orientals can last until the end? "

"Oh...it seems that Colonel Watkins is not optimistic about this Eastern Fleet."

"Elegant naval battles cannot be accomplished overnight. First, officers and soldiers must have noble aesthetics. Secondly, they must have the elegance of a gentleman and the persistence of a knight to defend his own honor, rather than a group of pirates gathering together to fire wildly at the enemy. "

"It mainly depends on the results. Don't forget Colonel Watkins. When the Roman legions faced the barbarians in the Black Forest, they suffered heavy losses repeatedly."

"I agree with Colonel Campbell's point of view. Those overly flashy naval regulations, the neat Chinese artillery maneuvers, and the complicated ship maneuvering regulations are actually of little use in increasing combat effectiveness."

"Mark, you don't like the Dutch?"

"Indeed, the timing chosen by these Easterners is very fatal. Think about it, when a person who has traveled thousands of miles sees the smoke at the end, and is extremely exhausted physically and mentally, he has to face a life and death battle at this time. God! Think about it! Just thinking about it sends shivers down your spine.”

"It's true, oh...the battle ahead has begun." As Colonel Atkins exclaimed, everyone turned their attention to the maritime battlefield not far away.

The first and second places in the Nanyang Navy's armored strike formation were two steamships. The third place was the ironclad "Weiyuan" where Feng Guohui was located, and the one behind it was the "Weiwu". Seven iron-clad ships, including the "Weisheng", "Dignity", "Weifeng", "Weiguang", "Weihai" and "Wei Meng", were lined up in a row.

The battle lines happened to be running in opposite directions to the opponent's Royal Netherlands Navy Expeditionary Fleet. Both sides were in a column with the word "one", which looked like an "="" heading towards each other.

Regardless of their tonnage, the ironclad ships of the Nanyang Navy all have a bombardment deck, which is mainly equipped with 32-pound naval guns, and another third is equipped with 48-pound naval guns.

When facing the enemy with its broadside, it can fire 122 rounds of artillery shells in each round. On average, each warship has 12 broadside cannons, and the firepower is quite dense and explosive.

The steel hoop guns equipped by the Nanyang Army are all self-produced, which is a reflection of the strong military capabilities of the steel industry. The so-called steel hoop gun is a steel cylinder poured with high-quality molten steel, plus two steel hoops, one in front and one in the back, to prevent too much black powder from being added to cause the chamber to explode and injure itself.

The steel hoop gun has many advantages over the old bronze gun. First, it is light in weight and easy to mass-produce. Second, it is low in cost and highly reliable. Third, it can withstand the high chamber pressure of adding more black powder.

The shelling range is long and powerful.

When the two steamships rushing in the front met with the Dutch sailing warships, the warships on both sides were about 2 chains apart, and naval gunfire immediately broke out.

The rumbling sound of artillery tore through the calmness of the Malacca Strait, and large swaths of gray-black gunpowder smoke rose into the sky, bringing a terrifying atmosphere of war to this peaceful strait.

The two sailing fleets advanced one after another, more and more warships were crossing each other, and the dense gunfire rumbled, and soon it resounded throughout the world.

Feng Guohui stood in the command building protected by a steel frame and experienced the scene of naval gunfire from the era of sail battleships from a first-hand perspective. He felt the strong vibration of the roaring shells hitting the iron armor, and the entire hull trembled. move.

The feeling of life and death in the face of gunfire brought a huge shock.

on deck
The naval officers and soldiers were in a selfless battle at this moment. After the long and sharp whistle sounded, the officers and soldiers who had been engaged in rounds of violent shelling were able to breathe for a few minutes and raise their eyes to check the life and death of their comrades around them.

After they were busy cleaning the barrel of the cannon, loading black powder and cannonballs, and making all preparations before firing, they shouted loudly;
"Fort No. 6 needs to replenish shells and gunpowder. Hurry up and move faster."

"There are two casualties in Battery No. 3, please urgently supplement."

"Fort No. 7 was hit by enemy shells, the gun mount was damaged, and three people were killed or injured. We request an emergency exchange of spare guns and three additional manpower."

"Gunner Commander, No. 9, No. 10, and No. 11 Batteries require additional ammunition..."

In just a few minutes, backup personnel quickly stepped forward to carry away the dead and injured officers and soldiers, and brought seawater to wash away the blood on the deck. Then the soldiers arrived at each gun position carrying heavy bags of gunpowder and shells, and replenished the corresponding manpower.

in the midst of busyness
The sailing ironclad "Weiyuan" was getting closer and closer to the "Saka Grealish", which ranked third in the Royal Netherlands Navy's sailing battle line, and the naval officer at the bow of the ship blew a rapid and close whistle.

Draw the attention of all personnel to immediately enter the preparatory state of "prepare for shelling".

All reserve personnel on the deck quickly evacuated. After the officers and soldiers transporting ammunition put down the heavy ammunition bags in their hands, some of them had no time to evacuate. They squatted close to the thick armored side and covered their ears tightly with both hands.

The soldiers on the gun emplacement had made all preparations before the bombardment, holding torches in their hands and ready to light the fuses at any time.

The sailing ironclad "Weiyuan" sailed straight forward along the battle line in front, and soon crossed paths with the "Saka Grealish", which was ranked third in the Royal Netherlands Fleet. After the two sides crossed at the bow, The intensive rumbling sound of artillery burst out, and large clouds of gray-black gunpowder smoke rose into the air.

The violent bombardment began again, and every soldier on the gun position was repeating the bombardment monotonously, trying to fire as many shells as possible during the time when the two ships met and staggered, inflicting fatal wounds on the enemy ships.

If you examine carefully, you will find that the cannons fired by the Royal Dutch Expeditionary Fleet are dull and powerful. With each salvo, the number of cannons can be clearly counted.

This shows that the shells they fired were mainly cast iron shells that damaged enemy ships.

On the other hand, the gunfire fired by the Nanyang Navy was dull and unclear, like a hoarse old man coughing, but it was creepy.

Because this shows that the artillery shells fired by the Nanyang Navy are all special types of shells, especially grape shot, shotgun shells, and chain shells. The only solid shells fired are the first round of red-hot cast iron shells.

When Vice Admiral Bergkamp van Holstein, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Netherlands Navy Fleet, discovered this, the entire Royal Netherlands Expeditionary Fleet was already mired in a bloody battle and suffered heavy losses.

In each round of staggered bombardment, the Dutch expeditionary fleet fired round cast-iron solid bullets. The upper and lower shelling decks were arranged on the side of the "Saka Grealish", with a total of 26 artillery pieces. It was the main sail for decisive battles at sea. One of the battleships.

One round of shelling can only fire 26 shells.

On the other hand, the sailing ironclad "Weiyuan" has only 15 cannons arranged on one side of the deck surface. Each round of bombardment can shoot out thousands of deadly grape iron eggs, triangular iron blocks and irregular cutting parts, whizzing by. A hail of bullets swept across the deck.

They made large and small gaps in the sails, cut off the cables, and beat the exposed Dutch officers and soldiers until they were covered in blood, causing extremely heavy casualties.

Once inside the gun port, almost all the Dutch officers and soldiers who were nervously manning the gun were spared. The whizzing rain of steel bullets was extremely lethal. Even the officers commanding the operations behind them and the soldiers passing by would be affected and covered with blood. He fell to the ground bloody.

Judging from the effects of shelling
The Royal Netherlands Expeditionary Fleet smashed out various large and small dense craters on the sides of the two steam-armored steamships at the head and the sail-armored warship that followed them, like pockmarks.

But the actual effect is not great. It can neither damage steam power nor kill very few enemy personnel.

On the other hand, the effect of the Nanyang Navy's use of special bombs was much more obvious. On the first few large sailing warships that had been involved in a tough artillery battle, the decks were already a bloody mess, with dead and wounded everywhere.

Today's battleship bombardments are only one-third staggered, and the casualties of the Royal Netherlands Navy's expeditionary fleet have reached a mind-numbing level.

This round of exchange can be said to be a huge loss.

Unfortunately, Lieutenant General Bergkamp van Holstein discovered this too late, and there was nothing he could do to save it.

Due to the backward communication methods in this era, the flagship "Bellingham" located at the front of the battle line and in the state of naval gunfire cannot allow the sailors to convey messages backward through semaphores and change tactics.

The Royal Netherlands Navy fleet reserves very few special ammunition. More than 80% of them are round cast iron shells, and it is too late to replace them temporarily.

The ones moved to the artillery positions were all these round cast iron shells, so they could only shoot what was available.

At this moment, Lieutenant General Bergkamp van Holstein, who knew that he had fallen into the trap, had red eyes, and shouted an order like an enraged lion; "Raise the decisive battle flag, we will fight these despicable Easterners to the end. ”

If you are not prepared enough, you can only make do with people's heads.

Lieutenant General Bergkamp van Holstein was prepared to withstand this round of sail battle line bombardment, and then adjust the artillery tactics when fighting again in the next round.

The idea is good, but is it really too late?
(End of this chapter)