Chapter 1326
2 Difficult Situation
Chapter 1326 Dilemma
If the intelligence sent back to Manila could be more accurate, or accompanied by more realistic drawings, perhaps the officers would have a more intuitive understanding of the coastal fortifications on the coast of Sanya, and would have considered it more when formulating combat plans. Be thoughtful.At least it won't be like the current situation, just rushing to the port with a dull head, and as a result, the fleet will be completely exposed to Haihan's muzzle.If there were only five, six, seven or eight cannons, then Pinto would recognize it with his nose, and it would be enough to rush through this section of the sea under the bombardment. How many coastal defense batteries are deployed on this section of the coast.
And why the Haihan fleet voluntarily gave up the channel to Victory Harbor before engaging in the battle, this answer has also been clearly revealed.Obviously, the Haihan people have full confidence in the coastal defenses of the port, so they deliberately let the Spanish fleet go there, and handed them over to the coastal defense guns with a range and power far superior to naval guns.But now Pinto didn't even need to look back, he could have guessed that the Haihan fleet must have already formed a formation in the open sea, waiting for an opportunity to copy his ass.
It was too late for Pinto to adjust the current tactics, because at this time the forts closest to his fleet had already launched an attack, and several artillery shells flew from the coast a mile away with the whistling sound of piercing the air. Under the watchful eyes of the pale-faced crew members, they hit around the "Martin" which was at the forefront.One of the shells hit the hull, and after hitting the hull from the port side, the momentum remained undiminished. After penetrating the entire hull, a large hole was created near the waterline on the starboard side, and sea water poured into the cabin from this hole almost instantly.
Although each ship has special damage control measures, the pierced hole is probably the size of an adult's arms, and it will take a lot of effort to block it again.Moreover, this ship is within the firepower range of multiple coastal defense guns, and it will definitely not work if you expect to get through after one shot. Next, the firepower of nearby coastal defense guns will definitely be concentrated on this ship, and it will be as fast as possible. Great damage to it.
As Pinto expected, after making adjustments, the second round of shelling from the shore defense batteries soon fell on the head of the "Martin" again. The 48-pound solid shells sink heavily, and after hitting the hull, they will tear apart all obstacles on the way forward. The seemingly thick ship planks are as soft as tofu in the face of such heavy shells, and they are completely unable to give the crew Bring safe shelter.But this time the luck of the "Martin" has been exhausted, the hull was shot one after another, and almost every shell made a transparent hole in the hull, and its power was even far greater than that of the ironclad ship that harassed the American fleet before. Pinto was also terrified when he saw it, knowing that this last checkpoint outside the Victory Harbor might not be so easy to pass, and maybe this errand would stop here.
As the fleet gradually entered the sea covered by coastal defense guns, the coastal defense guns on the east and west sides launched successively, forming a crossfire attack on the Spanish fleet at a huge angle.Compared with the density of artillery fire here, the Spaniards realized that the previous confrontation with the Haihan fleet was really just a drizzle. Haihan's heavy artillery positions poured shells at the Spanish fleet without hesitation, but in an instant, several ships located on the periphery of the fleet The ship was hit hard.
In order to avoid the shooting of coastal defense guns, the Spanish warships subconsciously shrunk their formation to the middle, hoping to reduce the chance of being shot.However, the effect of this is extremely limited. The entrance channel from the open sea to Victory Port is a gradually narrowing terrain. After being huddled together, the targets are more concentrated, and the firepower on the shore can conduct concentrated fire strikes more conveniently.
Both Pinto and Louis were experienced commanders, so they naturally realized that the fleet formation was inappropriate. However, this change was not an order they gave, but a natural reaction of the captains of the ships seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. choices made below.The most sensible choice at the moment is not to gather the fleet together, but to disperse the formation as much as possible in order to disperse the attack of shore firepower.
But in the midst of the chaos, the orders given by Pinto and Louis were simply difficult to carry out, because these orders first had to disperse the outer ships to make room for them, and they were the ones that were most damaged at the moment. Will you be willing to actively shorten the distance between yourself and the deadly fort?This dispersal of the formation is undoubtedly forcing the surrounding ships to act as targets to attract firepower. Naturally, there will be some people who will obey their orders and will not carry out their orders.
Even if someone is willing to sacrifice himself to save the fleet, it is often difficult to operate successfully, because these warships are often damaged to varying degrees under artillery fire, and their navigation performance will be significantly affected. The basic operations of changing the speed will also become powerless.After a little delay, a new round of artillery strikes arrived again.
During the short voyage of the Spanish fleet from entering the fire range of the coastal defense turret to the entrance of Victory Port, dozens of large and small coastal defense guns located on both sides of the channel have fired hundreds of shells at the Spanish fleet. So far, there have been no ships that have begun to sink, but there have indeed been several ships that have severely tilted their hulls due to water ingress or deflected masts.If this state continues, nearly half of the ships will be left outside the port by shore fire artillery before the large troops rush into Shengli Port.
Whether to rush into the port regardless of everything, or to rein in the precipice and turn back quickly, these two choices are now placed in front of the commander, but the decision is not so easy to make.After rushing into the port, no one knows whether the Haihan people have other defensive measures in the port. After seeing Haihan's many methods, it seems not surprising that there is still a naval ambush hidden in Victory Port.However, if the Haihan people did not deploy heavy troops in the port, then landing and attacking Fort Victory may give the fleet hope of a comeback.
But if he gave up the last few steps and turned around and evacuated from this place, he would first have to face the Haihan fleet that was already biting up behind him.At this time, there are already a lot of damaged ships in the Spanish fleet, and less than half of the sailing ships that can maintain full combat effectiveness may be less than half. When the fleet completes the U-turn, this number may drop to less than one-third. There is no numerical advantage to speak of.The Haihan people didn't have to fight desperately at all. As long as they fought hard and prevented the Spanish fleet from withdrawing from the battlefield calmly, many warships would gradually lose their combat effectiveness due to their own damage.At that time, those who will be able to retreat completely from the battlefield will probably be very few.
At this stage, Pinto and Louis actually did not have much expectation for the outcome of defeating the Haihan fleet and capturing Victory Port.This cross-sea sneak attack finally turned into a frontal confrontation, and the process was completely different from what they expected before they set off. A large part of this was caused by insufficient intelligence, which had a great impact on Haihan's naval strength and port defense deployment. Without a clear understanding, the pre-war preparations were extremely insufficient, and the response to the battle was very passive, so that they fell into the current embarrassing situation.
Of course, if the Manila authorities can accurately detect Haihan's military strength before the war, then maybe they will reconsider whether to carry out such a fantasy-like attack.At least from the perspective of parties like Pinto and Luis, there is indeed a relatively obvious strength gap between the Spanish fleet and its opponents, and it is extremely unwise to fight across the sea. If they are given a chance to choose again, perhaps this The dudes would prudently advise Governor Aragones of Manila to call off this rash move.
But there is no regret medicine for them now. If they don't make a decision immediately, the survival of the entire fleet will be at great risk.Louis's flagship "San Diego" took the lead in signaling the flag to retreat, and he decided to give up and continue to take risks, because even if the Victory Harbor rushed in, there might be more powerful traps waiting for their arrival, and when they arrived If you want to withdraw from time to time, you have to bear the intensive shooting of the coastal defense turrets. The Spanish fleet cannot withstand two such blows in a row. At present, it is best to preserve its strength as much as possible-these warships are not only for the survival of Manila. The armed forces, and at the same time, the responsibility to guard the American colonies, if they are all folded in this place, the negative impact on the Spanish Empire will be too great.
Louis hoped that he could at least take most of the warships with him and leave here. After returning, he could barely explain to the Governor. At least the fleet fought a battle at the gate of the Haihan people before retreating. Such a result It can't be said that it is afraid of war or weak in command.As for fear of war, it really wasn't the main reason for his choice.
Seeing that the Manila Fleet had raised its flag and decided to retreat, Pinto heaved a long sigh, knowing that nothing could be done.Although he had the idea of fighting to the death with the Haihan people, he also knew that even if he could defeat his opponent, it would probably be a miserable victory, and his side had no idea of the deployment of the Haihan people's troops.At least in the waters not far from Sanya, there is another Haihan fleet that may rush back to join the battle at any time.So Pinto also reluctantly issued an order, and the whole army turned around and sailed away from the sea off Sanya.
"The Spaniard woke up early! If we go further in, I'm afraid not even a boat can get away!"
At this time, Liu Shang heard the comments of the Annan military officer who commented on Haihan tactics before, but this time he was not so surprised.He also had a panoramic view of the battle between the two armies just now, and he could naturally see that Haihan took the complete initiative in the battle.The Spanish fleet charged towards Victory Harbor under heavy artillery fire, which was tantamount to committing suicide. Although there was no naval ambush in the harbor, army artillery positions were deployed at various port docks.Even if the Spanish fleet rushed to the shore, it would be difficult to change the situation of being beaten unilaterally. As for the possibility of landing at Victory Port, Liu Shang felt that they had no chance of realizing it.
And the coastal defense forts outside the harbor have also left a deep impression on Liu Shang in the current battle. There are dozens of warships in the Spanish fleet. It's all in disarray.The situation of the battle also attracted bursts of applause from the audience. Seeing many people blushing and excited, Liu Shang also realized that the Haihan people's arrangement of people watching the battle had indeed received excellent results.
Of course, this approach is based on Haihan's absolute confidence in his own force, and it is definitely impossible for other players to follow suit.After seeing the sharpness of Sanya's coastal fortifications with his own eyes, Liu Shang also completely dispelled the idea of "leading the Ming army into the island to suppress the bandits".The navy of the Ming army has not fought a battle for many years, and lacks actual combat experience from top to bottom, and the warship is very old. I am afraid that it will take a few lucky boats to match the Spanish ship, and the combat capability is obviously not enough. under the Spanish fleet.If they crossed the sea to attack Sanya, they would probably end up worse than the Spaniards. It is no wonder that when Haihan blocked the Qiantang River in Zhejiang for several days, the local navy dared not come forward to fight.Presumably the Zhejiang government at that time also saw the strength of the Haihan Navy, and was unwilling to confront it head-on at all.
While Liu Shang was thinking wildly, the battle at sea never stopped, and the two sides continued to fight fiercely.The Spanish fleet faced the firepower on the shore and completed a U-turn at sea with great difficulty. During this period, several Spanish sailing ships lost the ability to continue fighting due to severe damage. Into the cabin, began to capsize slowly in the sea.
For such a situation, the two Spanish fleets did not dare to stop to rescue their companions, because it meant that they would probably have to eat several more rounds of shells, and at that time, more people might be dragged into the water, so the two commanders The officer still resolutely ordered the fleet to rush south, first to get rid of the terrible fire artillery attack on the shore.
Of course, if they want to leave the battlefield, they have to pass the level of the Haihan Fleet.At this time, the Spanish fleet has completely lost the prestige it had when it came, and most of the crew have no intention of fighting, and just want to leave the sea area controlled by Haihan as soon as possible.Therefore, for the head-on interception of the Haihan fleet, most of the Spanish warships did not choose to fight, but detoured as much as possible.Regarding the enemy's shelling, the Spanish warships' counterattacks were also very few and out of scale.On the contrary, the "Warrior" in iron armor came out again, and shot the Spanish sailing ships that were already damaged to a certain extent at close range.
(End of this chapter)
If the intelligence sent back to Manila could be more accurate, or accompanied by more realistic drawings, perhaps the officers would have a more intuitive understanding of the coastal fortifications on the coast of Sanya, and would have considered it more when formulating combat plans. Be thoughtful.At least it won't be like the current situation, just rushing to the port with a dull head, and as a result, the fleet will be completely exposed to Haihan's muzzle.If there were only five, six, seven or eight cannons, then Pinto would recognize it with his nose, and it would be enough to rush through this section of the sea under the bombardment. How many coastal defense batteries are deployed on this section of the coast.
And why the Haihan fleet voluntarily gave up the channel to Victory Harbor before engaging in the battle, this answer has also been clearly revealed.Obviously, the Haihan people have full confidence in the coastal defenses of the port, so they deliberately let the Spanish fleet go there, and handed them over to the coastal defense guns with a range and power far superior to naval guns.But now Pinto didn't even need to look back, he could have guessed that the Haihan fleet must have already formed a formation in the open sea, waiting for an opportunity to copy his ass.
It was too late for Pinto to adjust the current tactics, because at this time the forts closest to his fleet had already launched an attack, and several artillery shells flew from the coast a mile away with the whistling sound of piercing the air. Under the watchful eyes of the pale-faced crew members, they hit around the "Martin" which was at the forefront.One of the shells hit the hull, and after hitting the hull from the port side, the momentum remained undiminished. After penetrating the entire hull, a large hole was created near the waterline on the starboard side, and sea water poured into the cabin from this hole almost instantly.
Although each ship has special damage control measures, the pierced hole is probably the size of an adult's arms, and it will take a lot of effort to block it again.Moreover, this ship is within the firepower range of multiple coastal defense guns, and it will definitely not work if you expect to get through after one shot. Next, the firepower of nearby coastal defense guns will definitely be concentrated on this ship, and it will be as fast as possible. Great damage to it.
As Pinto expected, after making adjustments, the second round of shelling from the shore defense batteries soon fell on the head of the "Martin" again. The 48-pound solid shells sink heavily, and after hitting the hull, they will tear apart all obstacles on the way forward. The seemingly thick ship planks are as soft as tofu in the face of such heavy shells, and they are completely unable to give the crew Bring safe shelter.But this time the luck of the "Martin" has been exhausted, the hull was shot one after another, and almost every shell made a transparent hole in the hull, and its power was even far greater than that of the ironclad ship that harassed the American fleet before. Pinto was also terrified when he saw it, knowing that this last checkpoint outside the Victory Harbor might not be so easy to pass, and maybe this errand would stop here.
As the fleet gradually entered the sea covered by coastal defense guns, the coastal defense guns on the east and west sides launched successively, forming a crossfire attack on the Spanish fleet at a huge angle.Compared with the density of artillery fire here, the Spaniards realized that the previous confrontation with the Haihan fleet was really just a drizzle. Haihan's heavy artillery positions poured shells at the Spanish fleet without hesitation, but in an instant, several ships located on the periphery of the fleet The ship was hit hard.
In order to avoid the shooting of coastal defense guns, the Spanish warships subconsciously shrunk their formation to the middle, hoping to reduce the chance of being shot.However, the effect of this is extremely limited. The entrance channel from the open sea to Victory Port is a gradually narrowing terrain. After being huddled together, the targets are more concentrated, and the firepower on the shore can conduct concentrated fire strikes more conveniently.
Both Pinto and Louis were experienced commanders, so they naturally realized that the fleet formation was inappropriate. However, this change was not an order they gave, but a natural reaction of the captains of the ships seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. choices made below.The most sensible choice at the moment is not to gather the fleet together, but to disperse the formation as much as possible in order to disperse the attack of shore firepower.
But in the midst of the chaos, the orders given by Pinto and Louis were simply difficult to carry out, because these orders first had to disperse the outer ships to make room for them, and they were the ones that were most damaged at the moment. Will you be willing to actively shorten the distance between yourself and the deadly fort?This dispersal of the formation is undoubtedly forcing the surrounding ships to act as targets to attract firepower. Naturally, there will be some people who will obey their orders and will not carry out their orders.
Even if someone is willing to sacrifice himself to save the fleet, it is often difficult to operate successfully, because these warships are often damaged to varying degrees under artillery fire, and their navigation performance will be significantly affected. The basic operations of changing the speed will also become powerless.After a little delay, a new round of artillery strikes arrived again.
During the short voyage of the Spanish fleet from entering the fire range of the coastal defense turret to the entrance of Victory Port, dozens of large and small coastal defense guns located on both sides of the channel have fired hundreds of shells at the Spanish fleet. So far, there have been no ships that have begun to sink, but there have indeed been several ships that have severely tilted their hulls due to water ingress or deflected masts.If this state continues, nearly half of the ships will be left outside the port by shore fire artillery before the large troops rush into Shengli Port.
Whether to rush into the port regardless of everything, or to rein in the precipice and turn back quickly, these two choices are now placed in front of the commander, but the decision is not so easy to make.After rushing into the port, no one knows whether the Haihan people have other defensive measures in the port. After seeing Haihan's many methods, it seems not surprising that there is still a naval ambush hidden in Victory Port.However, if the Haihan people did not deploy heavy troops in the port, then landing and attacking Fort Victory may give the fleet hope of a comeback.
But if he gave up the last few steps and turned around and evacuated from this place, he would first have to face the Haihan fleet that was already biting up behind him.At this time, there are already a lot of damaged ships in the Spanish fleet, and less than half of the sailing ships that can maintain full combat effectiveness may be less than half. When the fleet completes the U-turn, this number may drop to less than one-third. There is no numerical advantage to speak of.The Haihan people didn't have to fight desperately at all. As long as they fought hard and prevented the Spanish fleet from withdrawing from the battlefield calmly, many warships would gradually lose their combat effectiveness due to their own damage.At that time, those who will be able to retreat completely from the battlefield will probably be very few.
At this stage, Pinto and Louis actually did not have much expectation for the outcome of defeating the Haihan fleet and capturing Victory Port.This cross-sea sneak attack finally turned into a frontal confrontation, and the process was completely different from what they expected before they set off. A large part of this was caused by insufficient intelligence, which had a great impact on Haihan's naval strength and port defense deployment. Without a clear understanding, the pre-war preparations were extremely insufficient, and the response to the battle was very passive, so that they fell into the current embarrassing situation.
Of course, if the Manila authorities can accurately detect Haihan's military strength before the war, then maybe they will reconsider whether to carry out such a fantasy-like attack.At least from the perspective of parties like Pinto and Luis, there is indeed a relatively obvious strength gap between the Spanish fleet and its opponents, and it is extremely unwise to fight across the sea. If they are given a chance to choose again, perhaps this The dudes would prudently advise Governor Aragones of Manila to call off this rash move.
But there is no regret medicine for them now. If they don't make a decision immediately, the survival of the entire fleet will be at great risk.Louis's flagship "San Diego" took the lead in signaling the flag to retreat, and he decided to give up and continue to take risks, because even if the Victory Harbor rushed in, there might be more powerful traps waiting for their arrival, and when they arrived If you want to withdraw from time to time, you have to bear the intensive shooting of the coastal defense turrets. The Spanish fleet cannot withstand two such blows in a row. At present, it is best to preserve its strength as much as possible-these warships are not only for the survival of Manila. The armed forces, and at the same time, the responsibility to guard the American colonies, if they are all folded in this place, the negative impact on the Spanish Empire will be too great.
Louis hoped that he could at least take most of the warships with him and leave here. After returning, he could barely explain to the Governor. At least the fleet fought a battle at the gate of the Haihan people before retreating. Such a result It can't be said that it is afraid of war or weak in command.As for fear of war, it really wasn't the main reason for his choice.
Seeing that the Manila Fleet had raised its flag and decided to retreat, Pinto heaved a long sigh, knowing that nothing could be done.Although he had the idea of fighting to the death with the Haihan people, he also knew that even if he could defeat his opponent, it would probably be a miserable victory, and his side had no idea of the deployment of the Haihan people's troops.At least in the waters not far from Sanya, there is another Haihan fleet that may rush back to join the battle at any time.So Pinto also reluctantly issued an order, and the whole army turned around and sailed away from the sea off Sanya.
"The Spaniard woke up early! If we go further in, I'm afraid not even a boat can get away!"
At this time, Liu Shang heard the comments of the Annan military officer who commented on Haihan tactics before, but this time he was not so surprised.He also had a panoramic view of the battle between the two armies just now, and he could naturally see that Haihan took the complete initiative in the battle.The Spanish fleet charged towards Victory Harbor under heavy artillery fire, which was tantamount to committing suicide. Although there was no naval ambush in the harbor, army artillery positions were deployed at various port docks.Even if the Spanish fleet rushed to the shore, it would be difficult to change the situation of being beaten unilaterally. As for the possibility of landing at Victory Port, Liu Shang felt that they had no chance of realizing it.
And the coastal defense forts outside the harbor have also left a deep impression on Liu Shang in the current battle. There are dozens of warships in the Spanish fleet. It's all in disarray.The situation of the battle also attracted bursts of applause from the audience. Seeing many people blushing and excited, Liu Shang also realized that the Haihan people's arrangement of people watching the battle had indeed received excellent results.
Of course, this approach is based on Haihan's absolute confidence in his own force, and it is definitely impossible for other players to follow suit.After seeing the sharpness of Sanya's coastal fortifications with his own eyes, Liu Shang also completely dispelled the idea of "leading the Ming army into the island to suppress the bandits".The navy of the Ming army has not fought a battle for many years, and lacks actual combat experience from top to bottom, and the warship is very old. I am afraid that it will take a few lucky boats to match the Spanish ship, and the combat capability is obviously not enough. under the Spanish fleet.If they crossed the sea to attack Sanya, they would probably end up worse than the Spaniards. It is no wonder that when Haihan blocked the Qiantang River in Zhejiang for several days, the local navy dared not come forward to fight.Presumably the Zhejiang government at that time also saw the strength of the Haihan Navy, and was unwilling to confront it head-on at all.
While Liu Shang was thinking wildly, the battle at sea never stopped, and the two sides continued to fight fiercely.The Spanish fleet faced the firepower on the shore and completed a U-turn at sea with great difficulty. During this period, several Spanish sailing ships lost the ability to continue fighting due to severe damage. Into the cabin, began to capsize slowly in the sea.
For such a situation, the two Spanish fleets did not dare to stop to rescue their companions, because it meant that they would probably have to eat several more rounds of shells, and at that time, more people might be dragged into the water, so the two commanders The officer still resolutely ordered the fleet to rush south, first to get rid of the terrible fire artillery attack on the shore.
Of course, if they want to leave the battlefield, they have to pass the level of the Haihan Fleet.At this time, the Spanish fleet has completely lost the prestige it had when it came, and most of the crew have no intention of fighting, and just want to leave the sea area controlled by Haihan as soon as possible.Therefore, for the head-on interception of the Haihan fleet, most of the Spanish warships did not choose to fight, but detoured as much as possible.Regarding the enemy's shelling, the Spanish warships' counterattacks were also very few and out of scale.On the contrary, the "Warrior" in iron armor came out again, and shot the Spanish sailing ships that were already damaged to a certain extent at close range.
(End of this chapter)