New Shun 1730

His mind was rapidly thinking about the current situation. This was the first time that Li Han decided the outcome of a naval battle, and his heart was still nervous after all.

In his mind, he quickly sorted out what he had learned over the years, some common sense that Liu Yu'er had mentioned, and his own understanding of the navy.

His official position is that of governor of the navy and military affairs. He is a commander, not a general.

To be a commander, one must have a view of the overall situation, know the court's strategy, and know the purpose of naval battles.

Just like when Japan was conquered, is the navy useful? You can't see it on the battlefield, because the only results of the naval fleet are a few Kanshu ships from the Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties era. It's okay to cross the Tsushima Strait to North Korea, but the navy is embarrassed to say that it is its own victory.

But in that war, the strategic nature of the navy could not be replaced.

Corresponding to this voyage to Southeast Asia, what is the purpose of the navy?

Is it the transport team that transports the Marines safely to Ceylon, Malacca, and Ambon?

Is it a mobile fort to help the Marines bombard the Dutch's coastal defense fort?

Or...a real, ocean-going strategic navy? Firmly controlling the sea, the Dutch have absolutely no ability to harass them in Southeast Asia or even east of India?

This is key and directly related to the choice of tactics.

On the Privy Council's side, from the time they sent people to the Batavia Sugar Factory, to the instigation of an uprising of slave workers in the sugar factory to force the Dutch to immigrate to Ceylon, and finally the final step of besieging Cirebon and forcing the Dutch troops in Southeast Asia to gather, what was the purpose? ?

Isn't it because the sea is so vast that once the Dutch fleet slips away, they have been operating here for more than a hundred years, and the sea charts and sea conditions are far more familiar than here in Dashun, so there is nowhere to catch them?

Therefore, the key is the Dutch fleet in front of us.

If your ship sinks, you can rebuild it. Only by keeping the Dutch fleet, or dragging it back to Lingdingyang for repairs and joining the Dashun Navy, or sending them to the bottom of the sea, can the navy complete its mission.

After clarifying this key point, Li Han's thoughts suddenly opened up. He no longer used a tentative tone, but raised his one eye to look at Liu Yu firmly, and said confidently: "Enemy. If you move, I will move too. But don’t bite his tail, that would be like being manipulated by him.”

"We must take advantage of the Dutch's turn and use the most taboo T-shaped vertical pole to penetrate directly into the Dutch fleet."

“It went from us being mobilized by the Dutch to us being mobilized by the Dutch.”

"Dutch people have two choices."

"Or, they are worried that we will insert into the middle of their fleet and separate them. Then they will have to change their formation to deal with our tactics. Once the formation changes, chaos will occur."

"Either they feel that they are in a horizontal formation and we are in a column. We can't hit them, but they can hit us, so they choose to bombard our lead ship."

"If they choose the latter, of course we are at risk. The lead ship may be attacked by a salvo of fire from the Dutch, or even completely lose its combat effectiveness. But even if the lead ship is sunk, as long as we can complete the division of the Dutch fleet, victory will belong to us. ”

Liu Yu neither nodded nor shook his head, and said with a smile: "Then please give the order, Your Highness."

After speaking, he raised his telescope and ignored the messengers around him. The officer in charge of delivering the order was stunned for a moment, and turned the small notebook that was waiting to record the order towards Li Huan's position.

Li Han took a long breath, feeling extremely happy and arrogant. However, he did not issue rough and vague orders recklessly. Instead, he got the battlefield situation information from the naval staff around him.

The enemy ship's speed was about six knots at this time. Once it turns, it is no longer completely tailwind, and according to estimates, it will drop to four knots.

The wind direction is still northwest, and the speed of Dashun fleet is now about six knots.

The distance between the two sides has also been estimated. If you want to achieve the effect of penetrating directly into the center of the Dutch fleet, the turning angle is the key.

After all, the geometry and word problems learned over the years have not been in vain. The navy is a service that needs a mathematical foundation more than the artillery.

In addition to the need for professional mathematical knowledge, and because Liu Yu could not obtain a British navigational clock, he pinned his hopes of Dashun Navy's ocean-going supremacy on the Academy of Sciences team led by Euler. In the battle of longitude, Britain was the engineering school and defeated the science school; while Dashun could not produce a navigational clock, so it could only be the science school and defeated the engineering school. Although you can look up tables in the future, a lot of mathematical knowledge must be mastered.

Li Han sat on the chair and quickly made a diagram on the white paper using a square ruler and compass. Then he pulled out the translated trigonometric function table brought back from Europe by Dashun and started to look up the table.

Throughout the whole process, Liu Yu didn't say a word, just looked at the Dutch fleet in the distance silently.

Li Huan made some calculations and ordered: "The fleet is divided into two. The Tianyuan and the follow-up fleet will turn 75 degrees north by east; Chen Qinghai will lead the cruiser behind and turn 60 degrees north by east."

"Full sail, attack the Dutch fleet in column. Divide and encircle."

Although Dashun has gradually risen in recent years, after all, the navy is from Europe, and some things that are incompatible with Dashun's habits, such as north by east instead of east by north, have become one of the symbols of naval terminology.

This is a very clear command. Simple trigonometric function problems can be guaranteed to be accurate. In battles at sea, vague orders cannot be used.

Just when the messenger was about to pass on the news and prepare to ask the messenger to hoist the flag, Li Huan said: "Wait a minute."

He stopped the messenger and asked Liu Yu, "What do you think of Marquis Jing? Is it possible?"

Liu Yu smiled and said: "Your Highness's calculation of trigonometric functions is pretty good. For today's battle, I still have to thank some Xu Guangqi from the previous dynasty. I think it will work."

Seeing that Liu Yu also supported it, Li Han said: "That's it, let's execute it!"

The messenger repeated the order again, and the messenger on the mast quickly hoisted the flag.

The fleet did not turn south to bite the Dutch's tail, but turned north, taking advantage of the moment when the Dutch were turning and about to slow down, and attacked with all their strength.

The Tianyuan took the lead and charged towards the middle of the Dutch fleet. According to its speed, when it rushed in front of the Dutch fleet, it should be near the rear.

Chen Qinghai was behind, commanding the cruiser to separate from the fleet at a larger angle than the one in front.

The fleet, which was originally one column, turned into two columns after a slight turn and adjustment, and moved towards the Dutch fleet.

…………

The Dutch fleet looked at the strange behavior of the Dashun fleet and were amazed.

"Are these Chinese people crazy? They are charging this way, and the cannons on the side strings cannot shoot at all. Isn't this a living target?"

He had never thought that he would not even grab the T-letter that was bound to be snatched in a naval battle. Dashun's fleet on the opposite side took the initiative to send it over.

"Gunners, prepare! Once the enemy ship approaches within the bombardment range, all ships will attack the enemy's lead ship. Speed ​​and course, and turn according to the established plan!"

At about a quarter past two in the afternoon, the Tianyuan was close to the shooting range of the Dutch fleet. The following fleet was still in column mode, like a sharp knife, thrusting towards the Dutch fleet.

At the same time, the Dutch gunners had lit torches and were waiting for the order to bombard. All the artillery on the left side of the fleet were aimed at the Tianyuan.

boom……

The left cannons of more than a dozen armed merchant ships and auxiliary ships resounded like continuous thunder on the open sea. There was no echo from the mountains, but the cannons could not be fired at the same time, and firing at the same time might tear the sides of their own ships to pieces.

The power looked terrifying, and a cloud of smoke rose over the Dutch fleet.

However, the effect is far from satisfactory.

There are no large warships. The Dutch ships only have 9-pounders and 12-pounders. If they hit the oak hull of the Tianyuan, they can make a hole in it, but that's about it.

In these days and months, you cannot attack below the waterline. It is too difficult to sink a warship.

The Tianyuan continued to move forward despite the Dutch artillery, and did not stop. But it had no chance of counterattack at this time. The hull was hit by several shots, but the hull was still intact.

The appropriate angle and the not-so-suitable wind direction allowed the Tianyuan to still maintain a speed of nearly five knots, and the distance between it and the Dutch warship continued to shrink.

The Dutch's rate of fire was not very fast, nor was it very accurate. An excellent naval gunner can only be fed by countless gunpowder. In order to save money, the East India Company recruited many Javanese or Chinese as crew members because it was cheap.

Theoretically, Chinese products are the most cost-effective.

However, the number of Chinese is not very large because of what happened in Luzon that year. During the previous dynasty, Chinese sailors rioted, killed the Spanish governor of the Philippines, hijacked the ship and ran away. Since then, there have been no European ships with all Chinese sailors in Southeast Asia, even if they are extremely cost-effective.

The East India Company wanted to save even this little money, and it was even more reluctant to use too much gunpowder to feed the gunners. It looked like it was filled with smoke and the sound of cannons was thunderous, but in fact, only a few of the shots hit the Tianyuan.

Although the wind direction was not very suitable and it was not an absolute tailwind, the experienced boatswains on Dashun's side had been practicing for more than ten years, and they still allowed the Tianyuan to maintain a speed of nearly five knots and rush towards the Dutch fleet.

To the north of the Tianyuan, the cruiser led by Chen Qinghai, who was sent out to penetrate the head of the Dutch fleet, had already penetrated into the front of the Dutch fleet and cut it open.

The Tianyuan was also very close to the Dutch fleet. The captain shouted orders loudly. The sailors on the deck squatted on the deck, holding on to the hammock tied to the side of the ship with one hand. They knew that the ship was about to shake violently. .

The rotary cannon on the bow was also filled with grapeshot, waiting to hit the deck of the Dutch warship at the wrong moment.

The minion shooters on the mast had also begun to target the people on the deck of the Dutch warship, especially the captain who was commanding on the deck. At least a dozen muskets were aimed at his chest.

In the gun warehouse, the loaded gunner calmly waited for the moment when the Tianyuan penetrated the Dutch fleet.

The speed of five knots was not fast, but the time left for them to fire the guns was very short. At the moment of misalignment, they had to ensure that the guns hit the stern of the Dutchman on the left or the bow of the Dutchman on the right.

The thirteen or fourteen-year-old trainee sailor responsible for carrying gunpowder participated in the battle for the first time. He nervously held the gunpowder bag or iron bullet and made sure to deliver the gunpowder at any time. These children had already started retching. At such a young age, they had just seen an extremely bloody scene.

During the assault, a shell hit the gun compartment. An unlucky gunner's leg was directly smashed by a cannonball, and the shattered oak ship plank tore open his stomach with huge inertia.

The old sailors who were stirring the rice in a pot, after confirming that he would definitely not survive, one person picked up the legs and two others picked up the remaining body, and threw it behind them, shouting to the 12 or 13-year-old child of the trainee sailor behind. We, drag this broken body behind.

This is a stipulation in the Code of Conduct. This is already merciful enough, because if the formations are firing at each other, they will not even be able to transport them back. Instead, they will be thrown directly from the muzzle into the sea after it is determined that they will not survive. Because the gun warehouse was so small, nothing was allowed to block the delivery of gunpowder and shells during the battle.

A thirteen-year-old child had just had his arm penetrated by sawdust. There was no severe pain when it penetrated instantly, but numbness and no feeling. The child looked at the huge sawdust on his arm and his hand that was completely uncontrollable, and cried out.

He knew that he was finished.

What awaited him was the amputation of his leg by the military doctor in the wardroom.

There is no anesthesia or disinfectant. Whether you can get infected or not depends on luck. This penetrating injury shattered the bone and left no other option than amputation.

In front of him, an old gunner with a broken leg and a wooden prosthetic limb saw the crying child. He smiled without sympathy and knocked on his wooden leg. He said jokingly: "What a shame, it's okay to break off your hand. That's fine." I'm receiving a subsidy. I've broken my leg, but I still have to stay here. It's hard to say whether he can survive until he gets his pension. I suspect the ship's doctor was originally a butcher. Damn, he can't do anything other than amputation. It's okay. Whale Marquis has already prepared a lot of good wood and is waiting for him. We are disabled, and we will install a mahogany one for you when the time comes..."

While joking about life and death without caring about other people's feelings, he grabbed a piece of sawdust and threw it at the frightened waiting trainee sailors nearby and shouted: "What are you doing standing there stupidly? Take his place and get ready to get gunpowder!" "

The petrified trainee sailor vomited out the rice that had turned into a paste for lunch, picked out the pieces of meat stuck to his face, and ran to the back to get the gunpowder packet.

But some of the old gunners who were selected from the hungry people were much calmer. The scene they had seen back then was not a battlefield, but the disaster in which the whole village was wiped out looked even worse. The sound of cannons is much more pleasant than the sound of those bulging corpses exploding.

They were extremely calm and didn't care at all about the casualties just now. Even if he knew that if he died, the fate would be similar, but it didn't matter.

Or chewing his own sailor pipe.

Or he took out a lot of pendants from his neck, including Buddha statues consecrated by monks, amulets from the Mazu Temple, Xu Zhenjun’s amulets for peace on the sea, and crosses from the Western Instructors’ Church in Weihai, and rubbed them one by one, thinking about them. Who should be in charge of Cirebon? I was thinking that if I might have to fight with some people in the future, should I ask the Hui people to ask them to find the imam’s little father and ask them if they could consecrate or get an amulet? The gods each have their own business, so don’t go to the wrong temple.

The gunner commander's shout came again, and the gunners grabbed the flintlock cables, waiting for the moment they passed by to pull the hair.

"Thirty feet!"

"Twenty feet!"

"Ten feet!"

The first side string gun near the bow of the ship fired the fusillade leaf spring at the moment the Tianyuan passed through the middle of the Dutch fleet.

boom……

The hull shook violently, and the heavy 30-pound short copper cannon was pushed backwards by the huge recoil, and was pulled by the rope hooked on the side of the ship. The pulley hook on the hook on the side of the ship made a squeaking sound. sound.