Chapter 1322
Chapter 1322
Chapter 1322
If Pinto and Louis had previously hoped that the encounter with the Haihan Fleet here was just a coincidence, then the other party's quick reaction after the encounter had already indicated to the Spanish commander that this possibility was shattered.The Haihan Fleet obviously came prepared, and made a gesture of fighting against the enemy from the moment they showed up, which made the two commanders completely put away their luck.Previously, the Haihan people sent so many fast sailing boats to control and search at sea, and their own fleet was probably waiting for them to show up.
Before the two sides engaged in battle, the Haihan Fleet had inadvertently revealed its superiority in ship mobility.It was obvious that the time between the two sides turning turned was only a moment apart, but the Haihan Fleet had already seized the positional advantage abruptly.Although Louis' Manila fleet reacted quickly, it was only halfway through the turn that they realized that the Haihan people had consciously controlled their own course, and they still maintained a relatively large angle to cut in front of the Manila fleet.As a result, the side of the Haihan warship was still firmly aligned with the direction of the Spanish warship's bow, and the parallel advance that Louis had expected would not occur.
Although the Spanish warships are also equipped with artillery at the bow, the number cannot be compared with that on the side due to the limited space. In such a large-scale naval battle, the firepower output of the bow cannon can only be better than nothing. .And the most terrible thing is that our own fleet is in a single-column formation. Under such a fast turning situation, the distance is widened, and it is impossible to form a firepower network of the battle line. The shooting angles of the ships at the forefront of the fleet are at an obvious disadvantage , is very likely to withstand a round of intensive artillery fire from the Haihan fleet.
It's just that it's too late to adjust the overall direction of the fleet again, and the Haihan fleet is just in the upper hand at this time, and it is more convenient to adjust the direction than the Spanish fleet.Louis gritted his teeth and decided to rush this wave.He wants to bet on whether there will be holes in the opponent's fleet formation during the battle. If the distance between the ships is too large, the Manila fleet can also forcefully cut in from the middle to separate them.At that time, the advantage of the Spanish fleet with more ships can be brought into play by fighting more and less locally.
Of course, in this way, the ships at the forefront of the fleet may inevitably become victims of attracting enemy firepower, but Louis is also a decisive person who knows that the outcome of this battle may affect the overall situation of the two countries. Without hesitating too much, Dang even issued a new combat order.
Tao Donglai didn't have as many problems as the Spanish commanders faced. He had full confidence in the performance of his own warships. Go back to Sanya Port and be a port guard.
The Haihan Fleet took the lead in firing the first shot at the opposite Spanish warship at a distance of about 300 meters. Although the tentative shell fell into the water about 30 meters away from the target, it was a series of shots immediately. The sound sounded, and several shells were fired from the side of the Haihan battleship, flying towards the Spanish fleet's pioneer "Juan" at the forefront.
The "Juan" belonging to the Manila Fleet is a three-masted galenic ship with a displacement of about [-] tons and is equipped with more than [-] cannons of various calibers.In fact, this ship belongs to the private property of the fleet commander Juan Luis. It is usually engaged in maritime trade in various parts of Southeast Asia, but it will also be temporarily recruited to join the armed fleet to perform military tasks during wartime.This kind of thing is very common in the Far East colonies of Western countries. For example, the maritime armed forces of Portugal and the Netherlands in the South China Sea basically belong to different businessmen and nobles, and they are only kneaded together during wartime.Such a fleet is more than enough to deal with the indigenous armed forces in the South China Sea, but it will inevitably be a bit powerless to face a professional army like the Haihan Navy.
The "Juan" can be regarded as a relatively large ship in the South China Sea. In addition, the firepower of the equipment on the ship is not weak, and it has always been only used to bully others. Commander Louis has a lot of trust in the capabilities of his ship and crew. That's why it was appointed as the pilot ship of the fleet.When encountering ordinary opponents, the firepower of the "Juan" is enough to tear a gap in the enemy's front.If one-on-one at sea, the Haihan Navy's smaller "Explorer-class" warships may not necessarily have a clear advantage.
But it is a pity that the current situation of the "Juan" is not ideal. When the opponent's broadside guns are pouring shells, the angle between the "Juan" and the ship is too large, and the side guns on the ship are still unable to enter the battle. , only the bow guns responded symbolically.Of course, the bow gun with an effective range of only a hundred meters did not take advantage of this round, and the shells fired fell into the sea without any suspense.
The shells flying over from the enemy ship were not so polite. One of the shells pierced through the side of the deck, tearing the three sailors into a pile of pieces impartially, and scattered flesh and blood all over the deck.Although the sailors on the ship have relatively rich combat experience, such a scene will inevitably affect their fighting will.
And this is just the beginning, there may not even be a half-minute pause in the middle, and the second Haihan battleship that entered the firing position also began to fire shells at the "Juan".Although the sailors on the ship had heard about the power of the Haihan Navy before they set off, most of them still believed that its level should be on the same level as that of the Daming Navy. Only then did the crew realize that the rumored news was not fabricated, and the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Navy was not weaker than its own fleet.
After trying their best to adjust the course to be parallel with the opponent's fleet, the "Juan" was finally able to launch a counterattack, but the crew desperately found that Haihan's side controlled the engagement distance extremely accurately, and the opponent's route happened to be in their own At the edge of the range of the naval gun, the shells fired almost without exception fell into the sea.However, our own side is within the range of the opponent's naval guns, and from time to time, a few shells will fall over the sailboat and fall into the sea behind.
With the tonnage of the "Juan", as long as it is not directly hit by the ammunition stored on the ship, it is unlikely to be sunk by solid shells at least for a while, at best, the hull will be punched with some transparent holes.Therefore, although they were temporarily at a disadvantage, the sailors and crew on the ship were not completely confused, and they still followed the command to resist step by step.
However, when Haihan's flagship "VIA" entered the shooting position, this delicate balance was finally broken.The shells fired from the "VIA" are not only traditional solid shells, but also incendiary shells that shocked the Spanish sailors.This kind of shell will explode after hitting the "Juan", and at the same time produce a large flame.For the already passive "Juan", this is tantamount to making matters worse.
And Louis, who was supervising the battle on the "San Diego", also noticed that something was wrong. The speed of the Haihan battleship was much faster than expected. The visible range has increased a lot, concentrated firepower and used broadside guns to attack the first ship of the fleet, the "Juan" in turn.
Although he is currently at a disadvantage, Louis can be sure that the speed of his own fleet is not slow at all. The current speed is at least about eight knots, but the Haihan fleet left his fleet behind with a single turn. Louis visually inspected the other The speed is at least around [-] or [-] knots, how is this possible?
Louis couldn't help thinking of another rumor about the Haihan Navy that he had heard before. It is said that some Haihan warships are equipped with extremely mysterious propulsion devices, which can provide a third force besides human wind power to drive ships to sail quickly.However, the manufacturing technology of this device is a high-level secret that is artificially blocked in Haihan, so there is no further detailed information.Louis was skeptical about this lack of empirical information, and did not take it into consideration when formulating the battle plan, but judging from the current situation, this rumor may be true.The chimney-like things on those Haihan warships kept emitting black smoke, and this feature was consistent with the rumored sailing ships equipped with mysterious propulsion devices.
"Why do Haihan people have so many tricks!" Louis could only feel deeply helpless about such a performance gap. This is probably not a gap in shipbuilding technology, but an obvious technical generation gap with Haihan in a larger scope. .Embodied in naval battles, it is completely controlled by the enemy, and it is difficult to create opportunities for counterattacks.
After the "Juan" suffered a round of shelling from the "VIA", there were already many fires on the ship, and the captain had to order the crew to temporarily give up counterattacks and seize the time to deal with the fire on the ship.Otherwise, it is very likely that before the opponent can fire and sink the "Juan", the ship will burn to pieces by itself.
As soon as the speed of the "Juan" slowed down, the Haihan fleet saw its flaws. The next two ships got closer to the "Juan" and fired multiple chain bombs at its deck.Although the principle of this kind of shell is simple, the power of melee combat is not small. The shell fired is a genuine deck harvester, and all objects including the mast on its forward route will be cut into two by it. The effect of intensive firing Even more terrifying.
Unfortunately, one of the masts of the "Juan" was hit by a chain bullet, and it was cut in two together with two unlucky sailors.The broken mast quickly tipped over to the side of the ship, and fell into the sea with a lot of sails. The crew of the "Juan" had to cut the rope between this mast and the other masts quickly to avoid being involved.At this time, the hull of the "Juan" had tilted slightly, many fires broke out on the ship, and one-third of its sails were lost. It can be said that it basically does not have the ability to continue fighting.
However, the "Juan" still caused zero damage to the opponent during the engagement period, and none of the shells hit any ship in the Haihan Fleet.Seeing the move of the "Juan" retreating from the line of fire, Louis' face was very gloomy. Not only did he feel sorry for his own ship, but more importantly, he suddenly discovered that the naval warfare tactics he had mastered seemed to be useless in front of the Haihan people. come out.
In terms of maneuverability, the Haihan warships have the upper hand; in terms of speed and speed-up capabilities, the Haihan warships still have the upper hand; in terms of artillery range and firepower output, Louis still does not see any advantage for his own side.The biggest and most obvious advantage of the Spanish fleet before the war was the large number of ships, but after the fight, it was found that this advantage could not be used at all. As soon as the two sides fought, the American fleet was left behind, and then the Haihan fleet speeded up and concentrated firepower to attack the Manila fleet. This made the tactics of the two Spanish commanders to use their advantages to fight more and fight less before the war all in vain, and there is no way to reverse the situation at present.
"It's really a difficult opponent!" Although Louis was slightly disappointed with the performance of his own fleet, the setback of the "Juan" was not enough to wear down his will to fight.The Haihan fleet does have a set of unique tactics suitable for them, but Louis believes that this does not mean that there will be no chance for the Spanish fleet to perform in this battle.
Seeing that the long battle line drawn by the Haihan Fleet on the sea has almost completely passed the front of the Manila Fleet, if you continue to advance at this time, you can only hang behind the opponent's ass.Louis simply ordered to stop the pursuit, first gathered the formation, and protected the "Juan" to complete the ship's damage control rescue.
Although the "Juan" was bruised and bruised, but due to luck, it really did not suffer a fatal blow.After dealing with the broken mast and the fire on board, the dilapidated sailing ship can barely continue sailing.However, the number of casualties on the ship may not be calculated for a while, and we need to wait for the remaining personnel to be checked one by one before we can know how many people were lost in the artillery battle just now.But in any case, the "Juan" is no longer suitable for combat missions in the next voyage, and it also used blood lessons to remind other captains of the fleet of the risk of rushing to the forefront when confronting the Haihan fleet is quite large.
The two Spanish fleets slowly moved closer to each other at sea, but the Haihan fleet, which took advantage of the first round of confrontation, was not in a hurry to kill a carbine.After severely damaging the "Juan", Tao Donglai ordered the fleet to wait and see the opponent's reaction from a distance first, and not to rush back to the battlefield to fight the opponent again.
For Haihan Navy, this battle has sufficient home advantage, and now that the opponent's whereabouts have been completely exposed, there is no need to rush to attack it.Tao Donglai is very clear about the purpose of his opponent's trip, so he is not worried that his opponent will retreat immediately after suffering a loss. As long as he is patient, he is sure that his opponent will continue to show his flaws.
(End of this chapter)
If Pinto and Louis had previously hoped that the encounter with the Haihan Fleet here was just a coincidence, then the other party's quick reaction after the encounter had already indicated to the Spanish commander that this possibility was shattered.The Haihan Fleet obviously came prepared, and made a gesture of fighting against the enemy from the moment they showed up, which made the two commanders completely put away their luck.Previously, the Haihan people sent so many fast sailing boats to control and search at sea, and their own fleet was probably waiting for them to show up.
Before the two sides engaged in battle, the Haihan Fleet had inadvertently revealed its superiority in ship mobility.It was obvious that the time between the two sides turning turned was only a moment apart, but the Haihan Fleet had already seized the positional advantage abruptly.Although Louis' Manila fleet reacted quickly, it was only halfway through the turn that they realized that the Haihan people had consciously controlled their own course, and they still maintained a relatively large angle to cut in front of the Manila fleet.As a result, the side of the Haihan warship was still firmly aligned with the direction of the Spanish warship's bow, and the parallel advance that Louis had expected would not occur.
Although the Spanish warships are also equipped with artillery at the bow, the number cannot be compared with that on the side due to the limited space. In such a large-scale naval battle, the firepower output of the bow cannon can only be better than nothing. .And the most terrible thing is that our own fleet is in a single-column formation. Under such a fast turning situation, the distance is widened, and it is impossible to form a firepower network of the battle line. The shooting angles of the ships at the forefront of the fleet are at an obvious disadvantage , is very likely to withstand a round of intensive artillery fire from the Haihan fleet.
It's just that it's too late to adjust the overall direction of the fleet again, and the Haihan fleet is just in the upper hand at this time, and it is more convenient to adjust the direction than the Spanish fleet.Louis gritted his teeth and decided to rush this wave.He wants to bet on whether there will be holes in the opponent's fleet formation during the battle. If the distance between the ships is too large, the Manila fleet can also forcefully cut in from the middle to separate them.At that time, the advantage of the Spanish fleet with more ships can be brought into play by fighting more and less locally.
Of course, in this way, the ships at the forefront of the fleet may inevitably become victims of attracting enemy firepower, but Louis is also a decisive person who knows that the outcome of this battle may affect the overall situation of the two countries. Without hesitating too much, Dang even issued a new combat order.
Tao Donglai didn't have as many problems as the Spanish commanders faced. He had full confidence in the performance of his own warships. Go back to Sanya Port and be a port guard.
The Haihan Fleet took the lead in firing the first shot at the opposite Spanish warship at a distance of about 300 meters. Although the tentative shell fell into the water about 30 meters away from the target, it was a series of shots immediately. The sound sounded, and several shells were fired from the side of the Haihan battleship, flying towards the Spanish fleet's pioneer "Juan" at the forefront.
The "Juan" belonging to the Manila Fleet is a three-masted galenic ship with a displacement of about [-] tons and is equipped with more than [-] cannons of various calibers.In fact, this ship belongs to the private property of the fleet commander Juan Luis. It is usually engaged in maritime trade in various parts of Southeast Asia, but it will also be temporarily recruited to join the armed fleet to perform military tasks during wartime.This kind of thing is very common in the Far East colonies of Western countries. For example, the maritime armed forces of Portugal and the Netherlands in the South China Sea basically belong to different businessmen and nobles, and they are only kneaded together during wartime.Such a fleet is more than enough to deal with the indigenous armed forces in the South China Sea, but it will inevitably be a bit powerless to face a professional army like the Haihan Navy.
The "Juan" can be regarded as a relatively large ship in the South China Sea. In addition, the firepower of the equipment on the ship is not weak, and it has always been only used to bully others. Commander Louis has a lot of trust in the capabilities of his ship and crew. That's why it was appointed as the pilot ship of the fleet.When encountering ordinary opponents, the firepower of the "Juan" is enough to tear a gap in the enemy's front.If one-on-one at sea, the Haihan Navy's smaller "Explorer-class" warships may not necessarily have a clear advantage.
But it is a pity that the current situation of the "Juan" is not ideal. When the opponent's broadside guns are pouring shells, the angle between the "Juan" and the ship is too large, and the side guns on the ship are still unable to enter the battle. , only the bow guns responded symbolically.Of course, the bow gun with an effective range of only a hundred meters did not take advantage of this round, and the shells fired fell into the sea without any suspense.
The shells flying over from the enemy ship were not so polite. One of the shells pierced through the side of the deck, tearing the three sailors into a pile of pieces impartially, and scattered flesh and blood all over the deck.Although the sailors on the ship have relatively rich combat experience, such a scene will inevitably affect their fighting will.
And this is just the beginning, there may not even be a half-minute pause in the middle, and the second Haihan battleship that entered the firing position also began to fire shells at the "Juan".Although the sailors on the ship had heard about the power of the Haihan Navy before they set off, most of them still believed that its level should be on the same level as that of the Daming Navy. Only then did the crew realize that the rumored news was not fabricated, and the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Navy was not weaker than its own fleet.
After trying their best to adjust the course to be parallel with the opponent's fleet, the "Juan" was finally able to launch a counterattack, but the crew desperately found that Haihan's side controlled the engagement distance extremely accurately, and the opponent's route happened to be in their own At the edge of the range of the naval gun, the shells fired almost without exception fell into the sea.However, our own side is within the range of the opponent's naval guns, and from time to time, a few shells will fall over the sailboat and fall into the sea behind.
With the tonnage of the "Juan", as long as it is not directly hit by the ammunition stored on the ship, it is unlikely to be sunk by solid shells at least for a while, at best, the hull will be punched with some transparent holes.Therefore, although they were temporarily at a disadvantage, the sailors and crew on the ship were not completely confused, and they still followed the command to resist step by step.
However, when Haihan's flagship "VIA" entered the shooting position, this delicate balance was finally broken.The shells fired from the "VIA" are not only traditional solid shells, but also incendiary shells that shocked the Spanish sailors.This kind of shell will explode after hitting the "Juan", and at the same time produce a large flame.For the already passive "Juan", this is tantamount to making matters worse.
And Louis, who was supervising the battle on the "San Diego", also noticed that something was wrong. The speed of the Haihan battleship was much faster than expected. The visible range has increased a lot, concentrated firepower and used broadside guns to attack the first ship of the fleet, the "Juan" in turn.
Although he is currently at a disadvantage, Louis can be sure that the speed of his own fleet is not slow at all. The current speed is at least about eight knots, but the Haihan fleet left his fleet behind with a single turn. Louis visually inspected the other The speed is at least around [-] or [-] knots, how is this possible?
Louis couldn't help thinking of another rumor about the Haihan Navy that he had heard before. It is said that some Haihan warships are equipped with extremely mysterious propulsion devices, which can provide a third force besides human wind power to drive ships to sail quickly.However, the manufacturing technology of this device is a high-level secret that is artificially blocked in Haihan, so there is no further detailed information.Louis was skeptical about this lack of empirical information, and did not take it into consideration when formulating the battle plan, but judging from the current situation, this rumor may be true.The chimney-like things on those Haihan warships kept emitting black smoke, and this feature was consistent with the rumored sailing ships equipped with mysterious propulsion devices.
"Why do Haihan people have so many tricks!" Louis could only feel deeply helpless about such a performance gap. This is probably not a gap in shipbuilding technology, but an obvious technical generation gap with Haihan in a larger scope. .Embodied in naval battles, it is completely controlled by the enemy, and it is difficult to create opportunities for counterattacks.
After the "Juan" suffered a round of shelling from the "VIA", there were already many fires on the ship, and the captain had to order the crew to temporarily give up counterattacks and seize the time to deal with the fire on the ship.Otherwise, it is very likely that before the opponent can fire and sink the "Juan", the ship will burn to pieces by itself.
As soon as the speed of the "Juan" slowed down, the Haihan fleet saw its flaws. The next two ships got closer to the "Juan" and fired multiple chain bombs at its deck.Although the principle of this kind of shell is simple, the power of melee combat is not small. The shell fired is a genuine deck harvester, and all objects including the mast on its forward route will be cut into two by it. The effect of intensive firing Even more terrifying.
Unfortunately, one of the masts of the "Juan" was hit by a chain bullet, and it was cut in two together with two unlucky sailors.The broken mast quickly tipped over to the side of the ship, and fell into the sea with a lot of sails. The crew of the "Juan" had to cut the rope between this mast and the other masts quickly to avoid being involved.At this time, the hull of the "Juan" had tilted slightly, many fires broke out on the ship, and one-third of its sails were lost. It can be said that it basically does not have the ability to continue fighting.
However, the "Juan" still caused zero damage to the opponent during the engagement period, and none of the shells hit any ship in the Haihan Fleet.Seeing the move of the "Juan" retreating from the line of fire, Louis' face was very gloomy. Not only did he feel sorry for his own ship, but more importantly, he suddenly discovered that the naval warfare tactics he had mastered seemed to be useless in front of the Haihan people. come out.
In terms of maneuverability, the Haihan warships have the upper hand; in terms of speed and speed-up capabilities, the Haihan warships still have the upper hand; in terms of artillery range and firepower output, Louis still does not see any advantage for his own side.The biggest and most obvious advantage of the Spanish fleet before the war was the large number of ships, but after the fight, it was found that this advantage could not be used at all. As soon as the two sides fought, the American fleet was left behind, and then the Haihan fleet speeded up and concentrated firepower to attack the Manila fleet. This made the tactics of the two Spanish commanders to use their advantages to fight more and fight less before the war all in vain, and there is no way to reverse the situation at present.
"It's really a difficult opponent!" Although Louis was slightly disappointed with the performance of his own fleet, the setback of the "Juan" was not enough to wear down his will to fight.The Haihan fleet does have a set of unique tactics suitable for them, but Louis believes that this does not mean that there will be no chance for the Spanish fleet to perform in this battle.
Seeing that the long battle line drawn by the Haihan Fleet on the sea has almost completely passed the front of the Manila Fleet, if you continue to advance at this time, you can only hang behind the opponent's ass.Louis simply ordered to stop the pursuit, first gathered the formation, and protected the "Juan" to complete the ship's damage control rescue.
Although the "Juan" was bruised and bruised, but due to luck, it really did not suffer a fatal blow.After dealing with the broken mast and the fire on board, the dilapidated sailing ship can barely continue sailing.However, the number of casualties on the ship may not be calculated for a while, and we need to wait for the remaining personnel to be checked one by one before we can know how many people were lost in the artillery battle just now.But in any case, the "Juan" is no longer suitable for combat missions in the next voyage, and it also used blood lessons to remind other captains of the fleet of the risk of rushing to the forefront when confronting the Haihan fleet is quite large.
The two Spanish fleets slowly moved closer to each other at sea, but the Haihan fleet, which took advantage of the first round of confrontation, was not in a hurry to kill a carbine.After severely damaging the "Juan", Tao Donglai ordered the fleet to wait and see the opponent's reaction from a distance first, and not to rush back to the battlefield to fight the opponent again.
For Haihan Navy, this battle has sufficient home advantage, and now that the opponent's whereabouts have been completely exposed, there is no need to rush to attack it.Tao Donglai is very clear about the purpose of his opponent's trip, so he is not worried that his opponent will retreat immediately after suffering a loss. As long as he is patient, he is sure that his opponent will continue to show his flaws.
(End of this chapter)