Kowloon wins

Chapter 1116 The Boiling Ocean ([-])

"Turn around, don't let that enemy ship escape!"

Seeing that his main fleet had arrived, Su Ke's spirit immediately lifted, and then he saw that the two British battleships that were chasing after him had turned around and turned around, while the damaged "Victory" was still on the ocean. Struggling and turning around, Dang even had fun, he didn't want to miss such a great opportunity to make his first military exploits, nothing else, "Shunfeng" was just a cruiser, not the main battleship, it seemed that in the decisive battle of the main force, the cruiser had no You are not qualified to stand sideways in the battle line, you can only stand aside and watch the main forces of the two armies fight. At most, when you are chasing, you can use your speed advantage to harass the opponent. Possibly, as for now, the "Victory" is a soft persimmon right in front of you, and it's just because of this idea that Su Ke didn't plan to join up with the main force of his side, but brazenly ordered to turn around. Attack on the "Victory"

"Captain, the Qing people are back!"

In the previous fierce battle, both "Rose" and "Victory" suffered a lot of damage. When it comes to the number of soldiers killed in battle, "Rose" actually suffered more damage, and the damage to the hull was also heavier. Fortunately, the "Rose" was damaged at the beginning of the battle, so it ran a little slower. Although it was hit by a lot of shells, it was not too much damage. Although a mast was broken, But it was barely able to drive, and it was worthwhile that when the "Hundred-eyed Giant" retreated, the "Rose" also fled back, but the "Victory" was obviously not so lucky, not only a mast was blown off, There was also a problem with the stern rudder, even though all the sailors were already working hard to repair it, but the damage was too heavy, and it was difficult to control the hull for a while, so they could only turn around helplessly on the ocean. The lookout post on the mast was still dedicated to its duty, and the "Shunfeng" had just turned around, and he had already roared and issued an alarm.

Hearing the alarm from the lookout post, Lieutenant Colonel John Jones, the captain of the "Victory", turned pale immediately. He quickly picked up the binoculars hanging from his waist, and looked in the direction of the "Shunfeng", his pupils were even He just shrank, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley, and there was nothing else, because he knew very well that the killing of "Shunfeng" declared that "Victory" had lost the possibility of escaping, even if he could stop "Shunfeng". There is absolutely no time to repair the ship, and it is even more impossible to avoid the shelling of the main fleet of the Qing Dynasty. Unless it surrenders, the sinking of the "Victory" is already the inevitable result.

"Warriors of Great Britain, the time has come to test us. For the sake of the king and honor, hold on to the hull and fight to the death!"

Lieutenant Colonel John Jones is not from a famous family, but a veteran naval officer who has really made his way from the grassroots. He has repeatedly made military exploits, but unfortunately there is no one in the court. He was dispatched to India a few years ago, separated from the main force of the British Navy, and was regarded as marginalized, but this did not affect his courage. Seeing that there was no possibility of escape, Lieutenant Colonel John Jones He didn't intend to surrender, but raised his arms and shouted a declaration to fight to the end.

"Fight to the end, fight to the end!"

The officers and soldiers of the Great Britain Navy have always been proud. Even in the face of the desperate situation of death, they were never discouraged at all. They roared at the top of their voices. Not only did they roar, but they also acted extremely quickly, and soon they were fixed to death. The stern rudder was facing the galloping "Shunfeng" with its relatively intact port side. The nine cannons on the gun deck were in place one by one, and the bow guns on the front deck were also ready to fire, waiting to meet with "Shunfeng". No." It's a final battle of life and death.

"Turn the rudder to the right, go around the stern of the enemy ship, and give me a blast!"

Lieutenant Colonel John Jones was looking forward to a knightly battle with the "Shunfeng", but Su Ke had no such plan. Seeing that the "Victory" had locked the tail rudder, she had completely lost her maneuverability Since he didn't want to play a face-to-face confrontation with his opponent, he gave the general order with a wave of his hand.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Although the "Shunfeng" was damaged in many places in the previous battle, it did not affect its maneuverability. Su Ke gave an order, and the sailors did not dare to neglect it. The "Victory" cruised at a distance of less than 100 meters, and headed towards the stern of the "Victory" with its almost intact starboard side, but it was bombarded vigorously, and the pity for the stern of the "Victory" No guns were set up, and there was no way to fight back at all. Even though the British officers and soldiers on board cursed angrily, they did not damage the "Shunfeng" at all. It was only three salvos. The stern of the ship was blown into countless fragments floating on the sea surface, and the "Victory", which lost its balance, was flooded with water, and the stern gradually sank, but the bow was raised high and swayed a few times on the sea surface. Then it sank, and dozens of living British officers and soldiers fell into the sea like dumplings. Most of them were dragged into the seabed by the sinking vortex of the "Victory", and a small part were struggling and swimming in the sea water.

"Withdraw from the battlefield!"

After the "Victory" was sunk smoothly, all the officers and soldiers on the ship couldn't help cheering, but although Su Ke was also beaming with joy, she didn't forget the business. Seeing her main fleet approaching the battlefield, she couldn't help but Dare to stay where they are any longer, and hastily issued an order, commanding his officers and soldiers to withdraw to the west, and join forces with the other seven cruisers that had withdrawn from the main fleet in advance, and waited for orders outside the battlefield.

"Order: Each squadron is based on the Chinese fleet, and is arranged in a battle line. The first, second, third, and fourth squadrons are on the left, and the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth squadrons are on the right. They are 1000 and [-] meters away from the enemy. The distance is lined up in a column, there must be no mistakes!"

At the last three moments, Wang Yanxia led the main fleet to the battlefield, but did not rush forward, but just wandered outside the battlefield. After carefully observing the formation of the United Fleet through the telescope, Wang Yanxia finally made up his mind. He was determined to fight decisively, but when he waved his hand, he gave the first order in a low voice.

Naval battles in this era are all lined up and bombarded. Both parties have two choices. One is to seize the upper line, which is convenient for attack and maneuver; But it can effectively prevent the enemy from escaping. On the European battlefield, the British Navy has always focused on preventing the enemy from escaping, and habitually chooses the downwind line array. An enemy that cannot be defeated. In fact, since the rise of the British Navy 70 years ago, it has never been defeated on the Atlantic battlefield. For troops, the tactical choices they can make are still arrayed in the downwind line.

Among the 23 battleships of the British Navy, three cruisers (including the already damaged "Rose") retreated to the back of the battlefield, and the remaining [-] battleships lined up, with the first-class battleship "Brave" as the core. Two second-class battleships are the left and right wing brackets, and the remaining ten third-class battleships and seven brigantine medium-sized battleships are arranged on the left and right, while Spain has ten battleships (two second-class battleships, three third-class battleships, and five medium-sized battleships) Listed on the left flank of the Great Britain Fleet, next to it are a French third-rate battleship and two medium-sized battleships; Class warships, composed of four medium-sized warships. (One of Portugal's six battleships was a cruiser and was not in the line of battle.)
The shapes and related configurations of the second-tier battleships of each country in the joint fleet are different. For example, the second-tier battleships of Great Britain are equipped with 98 guns of various types, while the second-tier battleships of Spain are equipped with 75 guns of various types. , As for the third-tier battleships, the firepower equipment of various countries is roughly the same. They are all about 78 pieces of various types of artillery, with 72 more and 1000 less. The performance of the artillery used by each country is also different. The quality of the artillery is the highest, regardless of the range, rate of fire, or the power of the shells, it is much stronger than that of the other four countries. Basically hovering around 100 meters.

The main force of the Bohai Fleet of the Qing Dynasty involved a total of 76 warships. In addition to the eight cruisers waiting to move outside the battlefield, a total of 68 ships entered the battle line, of which the flagship was "Zhenyang" and there were three medium-sized ships. The battleships are used as cover. As for the eight squadrons, each has eight large and medium-sized warships, and the configuration is roughly the same. They are all composed of three large battleships with the prefix "Town" and five medium-sized battleships. The warships of the Qing Dynasty are uniform. The large battleships with the prefix "Zhen" have three gun decks and 82 guns of various types, while the medium-sized warships have two gun decks and 42 guns of various types.

The bottom layer of each battleship is all heavy artillery, with an effective range of 800 meters. They all use a cartridge-type breech feeding method, with an average rate of fire of one round every two and a half minutes, a caliber of 25, and a conical shell. Shaped explosive bombs are extremely powerful. Because they are cast with the latest tungsten steel in the Qing Dynasty, the gun body is strong and much lighter than the traditional cast iron guns. The middle and upper layers of the battleships with the prefix "town" are medium Artillery, but the types of shells are different. Most of the middle artillery shells are solid armor-piercing shells, supplemented by some explosive shells. The main attack targets are the gun decks of the opponent's warships, while the upper artillery targets are the deck personnel of the opponent. Most of the shells used are flower shells, and some cannonballs are also used.

To sum up, the Qing army has an obvious advantage in the number of warships, but the number of artillery pieces on both sides is roughly the same. Although the Qing army is superior, it is not a decisive factor in terms of the overall situation. As for the warships of the two sides Judging from the tactical maneuvers of the two sides, even if the training level of the Qing army is not as good as that of the British navy, it is not too far behind. At least it is better than France, and it is basically on par with Portugal and other countries. On the same level, since the United Fleet gave up the upper hand, the difference in the level of sailing between the two sides is not too obvious. The United Fleet is strong because of its rich combat experience, while the Qing side has nothing to do. Controversial military advantages, whether such advantages can make up for the gap in combat experience between the two sides, you have to fight to know...

(End of this chapter)