Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1247 Naval Battle ([-])

At this time, the first battle group used Lichun as the leading ship—it had the fastest speed, the highest mast, and the largest effective observation range.With the help of the "high power" observation telescope provided by the optical factory, the navy has an unparalleled advantage in "search".

At 7:50, Lichun received the following telegram: "The enemy fleet has set out from Xiamen Island. The main force is three three-masted gunboats and two European-style sailboats, 14 other sailboats, and 90 to 100 fireboats. Forward Heading towards Kinmen Island."

The telegram was sent by the scouts of the special investigation team ambushing on Xiamen Island. Ming Qiu saw the telegram and realized that the enemy's "decisive battle" fleet was approaching him. The fire attack ship was Zheng Zhilong's last trump card. This time he attacked the opponent. It must have come with the idea of ​​fighting to the death.

He looked at the current current and wind direction, the enemy is coming with the wind and the current, and the speed may be as high as 5-6 knots. Based on this calculation, they will encounter them in less than two hours.

The enemy can easily find them - the billowing black smoke from the chimney is enough to become the most prominent mark. The enemy will come prepared and will definitely try their best to intercept the first team at sea and carry out a "decisive battle".

At [-]:[-] o'clock, the rapid preparation drums sounded.The sailors, who had relaxed a bit, became tense again.Everyone began to perform pre-battle preparations again: clearing the battle positions and checking the gun bores.Each cannon began to slowly turn and pitch.The gunners imagined the enemy appearing on the horizon and began to simulate the drill.The sailors huddled below deck were ordered to rest—they had no room to lie down and sleep, so they closed their eyes one by one to doze off.They know that after an exciting early morning, they may not be able to lie down until the next morning.

At 9:17, Qingdian emitted an unusually thick black smoke column due to the overheating of its turbines, which attracted the attention of sailors on Zhenglian's flagship mast in the northwest.

Zheng Lian was originally looking for a fighter - the longer the sea voyage, the more unfavorable it is for him. It is quite difficult for a large number of sailing ships to sail in formation. Although it is in an inland sea like Xiamen Bay, the Zheng family has more Experience in formation sailing, but more than 100 old fire attack ships are required to maintain a stable course and speed for a long time, and it is really difficult to cooperate with the cover fleet.

Now that the sailor spotted the plume of smoke, he realized that the Australian fleet was in sight.Zheng Lian visually measured the wind direction and tide, both of which were favorable to his own side, and his confidence was greatly increased. He immediately ordered the helmsman to turn the tiller and drive towards the direction of the smoke column.

At 9:19, the lookout on the Lichun reported: "100 enemy ships, 2.5 nautical miles west-northwest, approaching."

The news of the enemy contact was notified to the four following gunboats through semaphore and light signals.

The Beginning of Spring kept sailing and continued to move forward, all the artillery was pointed in the direction of the enemy ship's attack.Ming Qiu wasn't worried about the Zheng family's 19 warships at all—they were all delivering food, the only ones that threatened were those fire boats.Once hit by a fire ship, the consequences would be unimaginable-Zheng Zhilong used fire attack ship tactics many times, and used this to severely damage Dutch warships, and has successful actual combat experience.It must be treated with caution.

In order to target the tactics of fire attacking ships that are common in the South China Sea, Lichun and the other four gunboats each installed a 5-barrel Hatchkiss manual rotary cannon as a supplement to the typewriter. Ships have a strong killing effect.It is a sharp weapon to deal with the "ship sea" tactics such as attacking ships with fire.

Of course, even without these, the Senate Navy is not afraid of fire attack ships-the British had neither typewriters nor Hatches in 1840, and they destroyed the Qing Dynasty with only rowboats and steam paddle ships. All fire attacks.The Senate's emphasis on this is nothing more than a reaction under the dual thinking of "valuing" and "crushing".

Since the first battleship only had five warships, Ming Qiu no longer made any complicated tactical arrangements. He ordered to send out a signal: "Follow me!" Then he boosted the pressure of the boiler and sailed towards the enemy fleet at a speed of 12 knots.

At 9:30, the lookout sailors climbing on the top of the mast of Zheng Lian's ship found a large smoke column on the southeast sea level.After a few moments of fire he began to make out the towering mast, the fore mainmast of the Beginning of Spring.The distance between the two sides is 5500 meters.

The whining of the conch rang out one by one on the deck of Zheng Lian's fleet. Zheng Lian was on the stern tower paying attention to the fire attack fleet on the right side of his fleet. More than 100 fire attack ships formed a column several nautical miles long. , looks very spectacular, but the long voyage has made their queue very long.He was a little anxious. In this case, it would be difficult for the fire attack ship to play the role of swarming, and it would be easy to be avoided or even sunk by the enemy ship.

"Lower the middle sail, let the fire attack ships catch up!" Zheng Lian issued an order.

Ming Qiu has been observing the enemy's movements with the binoculars. He noticed that Zheng Lian's fleet began to lower its sails. He realized that the enemy was waiting for the fire attack ships to catch up—the fire attack ships were of different sizes and shapes, and their speeds were different. It is impossible to coordinate and unanimously, and it will inevitably cause some to be fast and some to be slow.In order to ensure that the fire attack ships can form an overwhelming numerical advantage in a short period of time, the enemy must slow down and wait for the lagging ships to catch up.

This is the time for each to break through.He ordered: "15 degrees left rudder. Full speed forward!"

"15 degrees—left——" the helmsman repeated his order with a prolonged tone. At this time, the engine room bell rang, and a large amount of black smoke spewed out from the chimney of Lichun.The rumble of machinery and the roar of boilers below deck shook the deck.

The four gunboats following Lichun adjusted their course one after another, trying to seize the T position.

Li Huamei was standing at her post on the deck, eating dry food for breakfast. In addition to the hard navy rice cakes, each person also had a cup of black tea with sugar, which was refreshing and quick to replenish calories.During the shelling operation in the early hours of the morning, Li Huamei felt that she did not do much. She just stood on the sentry post to watch for any abnormalities, waiting for orders all the time.Although she didn't get an order from the beginning to the end, she had already consumed a lot of calories in the intense excitement and nervousness, so that the hard and tasteless navy rations became delicious.

Suddenly a whistle sounded on the deck: "Ready for battle!"

Li Huamei quickly stuffed the remaining biscuits into her mouth in two mouthfuls, and drank the tea in one gulp.Standing up and staring into the distance, the Zheng family's fleet has already come out?
If it was said that when they fought the Zheng family just now, they were caught off guard, and the victory was unavoidable, then this time the two sides can be considered to have set up a dignified formation and fought face to face.Li Huamei knew that if the Zheng family dared to come out to fight when the main force was wiped out, they would definitely use their usual trump card - attacking the boat with fire.

In terms of the power and range of the cannon, the Zheng family's fleet is by no means an opponent, but the fireboat is their only bargaining chip to turn defeat into victory.Li Huamei was very curious, and wanted to see how the Australians would deal with this sea of ​​fire attacking ships—you know, even the Dutch were also very frightened by this.

As he spoke, he lifted up the binoculars he bought from the Dutchman, and slowly pulled the lens barrel. The sea level was as smooth as a mirror, and the Australian battleship began to reveal a blurred shadow: a big guy!The mast was so tall that it sprayed black smoke. Behind it, four black warships lined up in a column and cut the waves to this side.A ship is as tall as a mountain, as immobile as the earth, and the black smoke is billowing like a raging fire.Zheng Lian's hand shook involuntarily.He knew that it was too late to wait for the fire attack ship to arrive, so he could only fight immediately and drag the enemy down first, and shouted:
"Light the match!"

Lighting the match was the order to break out of battle, and as the word was passed, the gunners took off their jackets, lit the match, and opened the powder pot.All of them held their breath and waited for the leader to order to fire.

At this time, Zheng Lian's battleships lined up in three teams. Two European-style "splint ships" and three three-masted gunboats sailed in a column. Farther to the north is the fire attacking fleet that is out of formation and stretches several nautical miles from head to tail.

At this time, the First Squadron was heading south to west of the main column of Zheng Lian's fleet, forming a slanted T-head with Zheng Lian's fleet.Although the formation is not perfect, it is enough for the first team to use the side firepower.

The fleets of the two sides began to draw closer, with a distance of 4500 meters, and the gunners of the first battle team were gearing up.The sailors pushed the loading rod, one by one grenade was loaded into the barrel from the muzzle, the artillery began to rotate, and the barrel was raised, ready to fire at any time.

The warships of the two sides are getting closer and closer to each other, and the two largest sea forces in the entire East Asian waters are about to fight to the death. The Senate wants to rule the sea, and the Zheng family wants to monopolize trade. The two sides refuse to give in.The body of the battleship was heaving and bumping in the waves, gradually closing the distance, heavy and slow.

Li Ziping was shooting at the command tower at this time - he was not at ease with the gunnery of the Guihua people's naval officers, so he came to supervise in person.Explain every link of firing: "Be bold and careful! Don't panic!" He lit his cigar while speaking, staring at the Zheng family battleship approaching in the distance.

The distance between the two sides is 2800 meters, which is almost the limit shooting distance of several 24-pound copper cannons on Zheng Lian's flagship.Zheng Lian knew that although the cannon could reach such a distance, it only made a noise at this distance. Zheng Lian was not an uninformed pirate. He often came into contact with European sailors and ships. The guns were fired only after approaching a distance of one or two hundred feet.So he has been slow to give the order to fire

But Mingqiu is ready to make full use of his advantages.Although the hit rate at this distance is not high, their rifled guns and primitive fire control technology give them a considerable advantage.

(End of this chapter)