The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 157 Victory or defeat is decided
Feng Guohui stood in the armored command building. After the artillery bombardment started, he hid near the corners of the armored armor. All he heard was the rumbling sound of artillery and the thick gray-black gunpowder smoke.

The battle scene on the front line was very tragic. The large amounts of gray-black gunpowder smoke generated by the bombardment, like large clouds of haze, completely covered the hulls of the opponent and Party B.

During the concentrated fire attack, only flashes of fire could be seen blooming in the gray-black smoke, the huge hull vaguely appeared, and then the cannonballs hit like heavy hammers.

The same is true for friendly artillery fire. When artillery fires wildly at enemy ships in the smoke, it is difficult to see the target. Rounds of dense rain of bullets cover the target. The core is to increase the probability of hitting.

The more artillery fire output, the greater the probability of hitting the target.

This is a typical era of weak offense and strong defense, a naval duel between sailing fleets, and sailing warships that receive special attention often hit hundreds of cannonballs in a naval battle.

As long as the battleship's keel is not damaged and the damage to the main mast is controllable, it doesn't matter no matter how serious the shelling damage is to other parts, it can just be towed back to the port to replace the ship's planks.

After a while, resurrect with full health.

After the two ships crossed each other, the long and sharp whistle sounded again, and the shelling stopped abruptly. During this period, the officers and soldiers who fired two to three rounds of artillery fire sat down tiredly.

On a straight-line battle line

"I'm thinking now, can a 60-pound heavy naval gun penetrate the side of such an armored ship?"

"Indeed, you see...it started again."

The observing British Royal Navy officers clearly saw that behind the ten armored strike formations in front, a mobile strike formation composed of seven genuine sail warships had steadily caught up with the forward formation.

"Oh, God, what do I see?"

This is the second time that the iron-clad steamships and sailing cargo ships have appeared in today's world naval battles. Their powerful defensive capabilities shocked the British Royal Navy officers, who could not calm down for a long time.

After this round of battles, the iron-clad sailing warship Weiyuan will take about 4 to 5 minutes before it can continue to fight the next Dutch sailing warship, but the most difficult battle has already passed.

This extended the Nanyang Navy's battle line to 17 battleships. The addition of these new forces made the British Royal Navy officers feel anxious for their European colleagues.

"Perhaps... we should pay due attention to this Eastern force developed on Java Island. Being able to cover the hull with iron armor requires considerable industrial manufacturing capabilities."

"What the hell! How could those Orientals with pigtails come up with such an idea?"

Unexpectedly, the Nanyang Navy directly deployed a lineup of ten armored warships. With its super anti-strike ability, it withstood the artillery fire of the Royal Netherlands Navy Expeditionary Fleet. Instead, it caused heavy damage to it and killed a large number of naval vessels. and artillery officers and soldiers.

"Now I can confirm that those Orientals on Java Island covered the sailing cargo ships with iron armor, and they actually reached the same defense level as the sailing warships. This is simply incredible."

"Gentlemen, such a powerful fleet that does not belong to a Western country also poses a challenge to the British Royal Navy's maritime hegemony. What do you think?"

Sail battleships from all over the world will arrange their main battleships at the front of the battle line, and the same is true for the Royal Netherlands Expeditionary Fleet. Three three-level sail battleships with double-decker bombardment decks are ranked first, third and fourth respectively.

From afar
The two sailing fleets were facing each other in a straight line, and the front ends of the sailing warships were intertwined and another fierce bombardment broke out, pouring gunfire fiercely on each other, causing maximum damage to the enemy as much as possible.

"It seems so. Putting a full-body armor on a peasant can basically reach the combat level of a knight. Even if it doesn't reach it, it's still 60 to 70 percent better."

Experienced Royal Navy officers knew that

The 12 sail warships of the Royal Netherlands Navy were lined up in a battle line. The opponent's Nanyang Navy warships had to go through 12 rounds of mutual bombardment from beginning to end before they could complete a battle mission of battle line bombardment.

"I'm afraid it won't be easy. A 60-pound heavy naval gun can penetrate armor or ship plating alone. If the two are combined, the difficulty will inevitably increase greatly."

"And these Easterners are quite insidious. The officers and soldiers of the Royal Netherlands Navy fleet suffered far more casualties than their opponents under the attack of grape bombs. This is not a good sign."

Its purpose is to use its more violent and stronger firepower to severely damage the enemy at the beginning of the battle.

The sailing warships of the Royal Netherlands Navy are about 700 to 800 yards apart from the front and the stern, and the armored strike formation warships of the Nanyang Navy Fleet are about 500 yards apart from the front and back. All of them are spread out in a straight formation.

The farther back the battle line goes against the bombardment, the stronger the will to fight must be if you want to withstand the bombardment, otherwise it will be difficult to survive.

After being bombarded by the ten armored strike formations in front, the combat effectiveness of the Dutch sailing warships, which suffered heavy casualties, was extremely weakened, less than one-third or even one-quarter of what it was before the war started.

The addition of these seven cutting-edge sail warships may be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

As for the battle line, after the bombardment, turn around and do it again.

Haha... stop talking nonsense.

Each Dutch warship experienced concentrated fire bombardment from 17 Nanyang Navy warships. During the staggered period, it experienced almost three to four rounds of artillery fire. In total, it experienced more than 50 rounds of rapid artillery fire.

How many people can be left amid more than 50 rounds of dense bullets?

Generally speaking

The party with the upper hand realized that the situation of the decisive battle at sea was tilted towards their own side, so they decided to change the direction of the entire fleet and pursue the weaker party in order to achieve greater results.

Captain Mark Madison and Captain Watkins of the British Royal Navy could almost see that the Nanyang Navy's bombardment was mainly based on special ammunition, almost endless shotguns and grapeshot, focusing on killing Dutch combatants.

The effect was quite remarkable. Halfway through the rendezvous and docking of the warships, the Dutch sailing warship, which had experienced more than twenty rounds of bombardment, was riddled with casualties and the entire deck was dyed red.

The intensity of the Dutch bombardment dropped rapidly, and it was obvious that the huge casualties had caused irreparable serious damage to the combat effectiveness. This must have been premeditated, otherwise how could there be so many special bombs used?
Take a look at the sails on the Dutch warships. Almost every sail has dozens or hundreds of holes, large and small.

Nowadays, sailing warships are sailing at low speeds, and the sails are not fully loaded with sea breeze.

If traveling at high speed

A sail filled with sea wind will bear greater force, and these damaged sails will soon tear apart, which is a huge hidden danger.

The so-called bystander is clear.

Seeing this, there were basically many British naval officers standing on the side of the ship, knowing that the Dutch expedition fleet might not be able to escape this disaster.

These Eastern fleets were too damaged. They used so many special bombs to cover them wildly, which severely damaged the effective strength of the Dutch expeditionary fleet and made it difficult to recover in a short time.

The artillery was without gunners and a large number of sailors were lost in sailing. How could we continue to fight this battle?
The two sailing fleets in the fierce battle were heading towards each other and had completely overlapped. Looking from above, they could see the "=" on the sea, and the rumbling sound of cannons was still heard.

clearly observable

The artillery fire of the Dutch expeditionary fleet was much weaker, but the artillery fire of the Eastern fleet was still fierce. The tireless bombardment spread deadly wind and rain of steel and set off a large cloud of blood mist in the Dutch fleet.

The battle line of the Dutch expeditionary fleet, which was deliberately and unprepared and suffered serious casualties, has become skewed.

This is not a good sign.

This shows that the Helan Expedition Sail Battleship can no longer control its speed and course due to the loss of a large number of manpower, which is a precursor to complete collapse.

When the seven-ship sail strike fleet led by the "Zhenhai" was organized into the battle line, they continued to use full firepower. The Dutch expeditionary fleet, which had been beaten and half disabled, could no longer bear it.

The Dutch third-tier sailing battleship "Bellingham", which ranked first on the battle line, adjusted its sails and took the initiative to widen the distance from the opponent. Was she preparing to escape?
"Oh, my god, what did I see? The Dutch lost the courage to continue fighting, and they fled. God! This is a shame for the Dutch navy." Captain Watkins of the British Navy shouted in surprise.

Others had seen this scene a long time ago, with expressions of surprise and disbelief on their faces.

The navy of any kingdom in Europe is basically dominated by aristocratic officers, who advocate honor, courage and chivalry without fear of sacrifice.

In a fair decisive battle at sea, being routed by the enemy will be regarded as an act of dishonor and shame, which is more embarrassing than death.

Colonel Mark Madison looked at the Nanyang Navy fleet that was getting more and more aggressive, and his face couldn't help but twitch, and he felt quite sad that the rabbit was dead and the fox was dead.

He never imagined that those Easterners who smoked opium and had pigtails would actually defeat the Dutch in a decisive battle at sea.

this means

The maritime power of the Nanyang Army has reached the third-rate level in Europe. It is no longer the indigenous cannon fodder that people look down upon. It has capital worthy of attention.

So he said with a reserved look;
“It looks like, it’s really amazing, they’re doing pretty well.

Sadly, the Dutch fell together with the Spanish and Portuguese.

According to my understanding, I am afraid that the last bit of naval power of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is in front of me. I did not expect that it would be buried in the Strait of Malacca.

I am afraid that from now on, in the Far East and Nanyang areas, the British Empire will have a partner worthy of serious consideration, and that is the Nanyang Army.

In the report of our Royal Navy Observation Group, it is necessary to submit relevant opinions to the Governor-General in India. A more appropriate way is to visit the Surabaya Port.

I hope we can see something interesting there. "

"That's a good suggestion, Colonel Mark. I second it."

"Second, if you want to get a correct conclusion, you should go and see it on the spot."

"Yes, seconded."

These British Royal Navy officers and soldiers are all from the British Royal Navy's Third Sail Battle Fleet in East India.

This is the most powerful maritime fleet in the entire Indian Ocean and the Pacific region, with a total of 17 sailing battleships of level three or above and 56 other sailing battleships.

The British standard first-class sailing battleship has more than 110 guns and three artillery decks, and the second-class sailing battleship has more than 82 guns, which can be said to be full of military virtue.

The most powerful sailing battleship of the Royal Netherlands Navy can only be regarded as an entry-level third-level sailing battleship among the British sailing battleship fleet. It has a low number of artillery and a low combat effectiveness.

The British Royal Navy is the only overlord-level existence in the world. It has no rivals across the seven seas for more than 160 years. Its scalp-numbingly powerful fleet cannot even entertain the thought of confrontation.

The French Navy, which ranks second in the world's ocean-going fleet, is a follower of the British Royal Navy. The current French Emperor Napoleon III lived in London for a long time during his exile.

France's current foreign policy is to follow the footsteps of Britain and expand colonies around the world, so the British and French coalition forces in this era were very frequent.

Not only did it appear in the unprecedentedly cruel Crimean War, but it also appeared frequently in the Far East, Indochina, the Middle East and North Africa. It completely lost the domineering and cool color of the European masters in the Napoleonic era.

It is precisely because of this core of foreign policy that France has returned to the center of the world stage.

(End of this chapter)