Chapter 1639
Chapter 1639
Chapter 1639
The sudden shelling immediately made the sailors on the "Martin" into a mess. These sailors were not professional soldiers, and their combat training was also very limited. Most people are completely zero.When the violent vibration of the hull after being hit was heard from the deck below, almost everyone panicked in an instant, and the training they had received before the battle was all forgotten in this instant.
"Don't mess up! All return to their positions! Gunner, load the artillery, aim at the enemy ship, and prepare to counterattack! Adjust the course and avoid that ship!"
The only person on board who remained calm was probably the officer on board, loudly directing the sailors to return to their proper positions.He knew that if no one on board stood up to command at this time, then the opponent would slowly destroy it like a target. The "Martin" entered Subic Bay single-handedly. It was already quite far away from the city of Manila. There was no need to expect rescue from here. The only person who could save them now was himself.Try to get rid of the volley from the front and rush out of Subic Bay, maybe there is still a glimmer of life.
However, this was only a unilateral idea of the Spaniards. Before they could complete the adjustments to the "Martin", the second shelling from the opposite side followed.However, the Spaniard's good luck continued this time. The second shell passed near the stern of the "Martin", hit the empty space, and splashed a wave on the sea.
"Fire back immediately! Don't let these damn Haihan people go!"
"Aim for me! Both guns are aimed at their tail rudders!"
Seeing the two ships pass by each other on the sea less than [-] meters apart, the commanders on the ships are ordering to fire and bombard each other, lest they miss the best time to attack each other.However, the firepower of these two ships, on the surface, seems to be about the same. The black Haihan battleship only has two naval guns, one front and one rear, and they have already aimed at the Spanish sailing ship at this time.On the "Martin" there are only a few small-caliber artillery temporarily deployed on the deck. To be honest, even if a gun of this caliber is concentrated at a distance of [-] meters, it may be difficult to cause any major damage to the opponent.
This round of "Martin" was the first to fire, and the two artillery shells aimed at the black battleship fired successively. The two shells flew straight over and hit its side firmly.But before the cheers on the "Martin" could be heard, the sailors were stunned by what they saw—the two shells failed to penetrate the side of the black battleship, but seemed to hit the Like an iron plate, there were two clear metal crashes, and then it was thrown into the sea.
Iron ship?At this moment, almost everyone thought of the legend of Haihan building a large iron ship. This mysterious shipbuilding technique is still one of Haihan's means of deterring foreign countries, but it is said that Haihan's large iron ship has long been in the harbor of Sanya. Rooted in the sea, he will no longer sail on the sea, so what is going on with this strange ship in front of him?Moreover, it is said that Haihan's large iron ships have no masts and sails, but the ship in front of him is clearly a three-masted sailing ship. Could this be some new weapon made by Haihan?
The Spaniards guessed right. The ship that appeared at the mouth of the bay to snipe at them was the "Warrior" class prototype ship that was still being used as a test model by the Haihan Navy and set foot on the actual battlefield for the first time.The existence of this ship is only known to some close allies and allies who participated in the Danzhou military exercise in 1635, and it is regarded as a military secret to the outside world.
The person in charge of commanding this battleship is Major Wu Mori of the Sanya Fleet of the Haihan Navy.Military generals from South Vietnam are not uncommon in the Haihan Army, and Wu Sen is one of the best. The Ministry of National Defense can rest assured that this significant warship will be entrusted to him to command and execute the first combat mission. Trust and respect him.
For this eastward expedition to Manila, the navy insisted on taking this warship, and even adjusted the departure time for it. Of course, Wu Sen also understood how important this new warship was to the Haihan Navy.If there is no outstanding performance on the battlefield, then the Navy may lack sufficient confidence to apply to the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee for military expenditures to build this type of warship afterwards.
In order to facilitate the command of the fleet, this warship, which had not had time to be officially named at the time of the expedition, was temporarily named "Black Shark".After arriving in Subic Bay, the "Black Shark" and the officers and soldiers on board did not get much rest time, so they went into pre-war training again.When the Spanish galleon broke into Subic Bay, the "Black Shark" was patrolling the waters northwest of the bay, and just missed the opportunity to meet it.
However, the "Black Shark" was equipped with a radio station, so it received the warning message at the first time, and immediately turned its bow and rushed back to Subic Bay, just in time to bump into the "Martin" rushing out in a panic at the bay mouth channel. .Wu Sen was naturally not polite when he saw this, and immediately commanded the "Black Shark" to meet the opponent.
The main weapon of the "Black Shark" is two rotatable naval guns on the front and rear of the hull. The performance advantages are naturally far superior to the current mainstream naval guns, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the firepower output point is greatly reduced. There is a higher requirement for the lethal effect of naval gun shooting.The best time to bombard the enemy ships was when they passed each other, but the relative speed of the two ships was at least twelve knots, so there was probably only one or two rounds of shooting opportunities.If you miss it and turn around to catch up, it will inevitably take more time.
What Wu Mori wanted was a one-hit kill effect, so he ordered both naval guns to be aimed at the target's stern near the waterline, trying to destroy its rudder and make it lose its steering ability during sailing.As for the opponent's bombardment, Wu Sen didn't pay attention at all. The "Black Shark" was covered with iron armor, and ordinary naval guns could only scratch his own battleship at this distance.
The gunners on the "Black Shark" did not disappoint Takemori. In the next round of shelling, the two shells fired by the front and rear naval guns both accurately hit the waterline of the stern of the "Martin". Two large holes visible to the naked eye.After the two ships passed by each other, the rear gun of the "Black Shark" added an additional shot, hitting the poop at the stern of the ship.
Of course, although the "Martin" was hit with several shots, it did not immediately lose power. The ship still stumbled and continued to rush towards the mouth of the bay. Wu Sen quickly ordered to turn around and continue the pursuit.
The two shells that hit the waterline at the stern had their due effect, and the seawater immediately poured into the hull from the damage.Although the sailors on the ship reacted quickly and immediately dealt with the damage to the stern of the ship, the damaged rudder could no longer be saved, and the "Martin" rushed straight to Grande Island in the middle of the channel.Despite the best efforts of the Spanish crew to change course, the ship eventually ran aground on the sandy shore of the island's north coast.
Finding that he had been surrounded by several enemy battleships that were chasing up and could not escape, the "Martin" finally did not continue to resist, but chose to surrender to save his life.Haihan sent personnel to count the Spanish sailing ship, and found that the brief exchange of fire just now also caused five casualties on the "Martin", and more than 30 surviving crew members were all captured.
The officer on board the ship was quite tough. When he handed over the command knife to Wu Sen, he still said toughly: "You have made a big mistake, and you will regret it if you go to war with the Spanish Empire!"
"What did he say?" Wu Sen naturally couldn't understand Spanish, so he turned around and asked the interpreter assigned to him by the Portuguese.
After listening to the translation, Wu Sen couldn't help laughing and said: "It's been a few years since the war started, and you still tell me this... Take me away!"
If we count from 1633 when Haihan attacked the Spanish stronghold in Taipei, the history of war between the two countries has actually come to the fourth year.During the period, they fought several times, both openly and secretly, and the loser was basically the Spanish side. Especially in the head-to-head battle record, Haihan had an absolute advantage.The Spanish officer's verbal threats, to Wu Sen's ears, naturally deserved to be regarded as a joke that wasn't funny.
However, Wu Sen was once captured by the Haihan Army when he served in South Vietnam, so he empathized with him, and he did not intend to humiliate the Spanish captives, but just let them be taken away.Of course, whether these captives will be redeemed by Spain with money in the future, or sent to a certain plantation as a coolie, that is not something he needs to worry about.
The damage to the stern of the "Martin" was more serious than it looked on the outside. The large amount of seawater pouring into the hull made the whole ship lose its balance before it ran aground. Back to Manila Bay.After Haihan's inspection, he felt that the repairs were of little significance, so he only cleared out the few supplies on the ship, and the ship was left on the shore of the island.
As for the captured crew members, of course they had to be escorted back to the command post for a good interrogation in order to understand the Spaniard's countermeasures.Although the Haihan army has full confidence in defeating the Spaniards, the principle of knowing yourself and the enemy is always right. The more intelligence you have on the enemy, the more initiative you can take in the battle on the battlefield.
At sunset on this day, the "Martin", which was out on a maritime reconnaissance mission, did not return to Corregidor Island at the mouth of Manila Bay to moor as usual, and the news was only delivered to the ship located [-] nautical miles away the next day. outside the Cavite Naval Base.
Cavite is located on a peninsula on the south coast of Manila Bay, about [-] kilometers away from Manila City.After the Spaniards occupied Manila Bay in the last century, a shipyard was built here and it was used as the residence of the Manila Fleet.It is worth mentioning that many merchants and immigrants from the Ming Dynasty settled in this place, which is even comparable to the Han Chinese population near Manila.
From a military point of view, Cavite is equivalent to a peripheral defense point of Manila City. If Haihan wants to attack Manila City, he must first seize control of Cavite.Although the mission of the Manila Fleet was to meet the Haihans in naval battles, Juan still managed to organize a group of people in Cavite to strengthen the fortifications on land.It is definitely too late to build a large coastal defense battery, but it is relatively simple to build some temporary artillery positions with soil.
The more than 20 cannons that Juan received from the arsenal in Manila were all deployed at the port docks here. Although they are not as stable as the coastal defense forts in Manila Port, Juan believes that they can at least give the Haihan people an opportunity to attack Krabi. Cause some trouble when you land.The Haihan people fought across the sea, and it was difficult to replenish their troops in time. The impact of casualties and casualties on the overall combat power was much more serious than that of the Spanish side.Juan believed that as long as he could cause a certain amount of damage to the Haihan army, it would be enough to make him give up his plan to attack Manila.
Of course, this goal is easy to say, but not easy to do.Juan knew that there was a gap in strength between him and his opponent, so when formulating tactics, he almost always focused on defense, trying to hold back the Haihan army's offensive as much as possible, and prevent it from approaching Manila City so quickly.
Usually, it is normal for ships going out on patrol to delay for a day and a half, but Juan has made strict requirements on the recent patrol arrangements, so when the news that the "Martin" did not return all night reached Juan, it immediately aroused his attention. alertness.The weather near Manila Bay has been calm for the past two days, and it is unlikely that the "Martin" was delayed due to weather conditions, so they did not return to Hong Kong on time, perhaps because they encountered an accident caused by some unnatural factors.For example, encountered the Haihan fleet at sea.
"Send two more ships to search the sea patrolled by the 'Martin'. If any abnormalities are found, immediately withdraw the report and do not act without authorization!"
Although Juan's sense of uneasiness was already very strong, he still tried to remain calm and deal with the disappearance of the "Martin" in a conventional way.The Haihan fleet has not yet appeared, so he can't mess up his own position before fighting.It's just that he never imagined that the "Martin", which is known for its fast speed in the Manila fleet, was quickly dealt with as soon as it met the enemy. Although it detected the enemy's situation, there was no way to send the news back.
A day later, the observation post on Corregidor Island reported the appearance of a sailboat flying the Haihan flag on the open sea, and this time the alarm was really sounded.After receiving the news, Juan immediately got all the combat ships of the Manila Fleet ready to leave the port to face the battle. Now that Haihan's ship has arrived outside Manila Bay, the next step is to fight hard.As for the "Martin" that still has no news, Juan has already tacitly agreed that it will not come back.
"The two islands in front, the big island in the north is Corregidor Island, and the small island in the south is Carvalho Island. After passing these two islands, you will enter Manila Bay."
While the Spaniards were preparing for battle, Haihan's fleet had already assembled at sea and arrived at the entrance to Manila Bay.As one of the guides of this operation, the Portuguese Simao is introducing the geographical situation ahead to the Haihan generals.
(End of this chapter)
The sudden shelling immediately made the sailors on the "Martin" into a mess. These sailors were not professional soldiers, and their combat training was also very limited. Most people are completely zero.When the violent vibration of the hull after being hit was heard from the deck below, almost everyone panicked in an instant, and the training they had received before the battle was all forgotten in this instant.
"Don't mess up! All return to their positions! Gunner, load the artillery, aim at the enemy ship, and prepare to counterattack! Adjust the course and avoid that ship!"
The only person on board who remained calm was probably the officer on board, loudly directing the sailors to return to their proper positions.He knew that if no one on board stood up to command at this time, then the opponent would slowly destroy it like a target. The "Martin" entered Subic Bay single-handedly. It was already quite far away from the city of Manila. There was no need to expect rescue from here. The only person who could save them now was himself.Try to get rid of the volley from the front and rush out of Subic Bay, maybe there is still a glimmer of life.
However, this was only a unilateral idea of the Spaniards. Before they could complete the adjustments to the "Martin", the second shelling from the opposite side followed.However, the Spaniard's good luck continued this time. The second shell passed near the stern of the "Martin", hit the empty space, and splashed a wave on the sea.
"Fire back immediately! Don't let these damn Haihan people go!"
"Aim for me! Both guns are aimed at their tail rudders!"
Seeing the two ships pass by each other on the sea less than [-] meters apart, the commanders on the ships are ordering to fire and bombard each other, lest they miss the best time to attack each other.However, the firepower of these two ships, on the surface, seems to be about the same. The black Haihan battleship only has two naval guns, one front and one rear, and they have already aimed at the Spanish sailing ship at this time.On the "Martin" there are only a few small-caliber artillery temporarily deployed on the deck. To be honest, even if a gun of this caliber is concentrated at a distance of [-] meters, it may be difficult to cause any major damage to the opponent.
This round of "Martin" was the first to fire, and the two artillery shells aimed at the black battleship fired successively. The two shells flew straight over and hit its side firmly.But before the cheers on the "Martin" could be heard, the sailors were stunned by what they saw—the two shells failed to penetrate the side of the black battleship, but seemed to hit the Like an iron plate, there were two clear metal crashes, and then it was thrown into the sea.
Iron ship?At this moment, almost everyone thought of the legend of Haihan building a large iron ship. This mysterious shipbuilding technique is still one of Haihan's means of deterring foreign countries, but it is said that Haihan's large iron ship has long been in the harbor of Sanya. Rooted in the sea, he will no longer sail on the sea, so what is going on with this strange ship in front of him?Moreover, it is said that Haihan's large iron ships have no masts and sails, but the ship in front of him is clearly a three-masted sailing ship. Could this be some new weapon made by Haihan?
The Spaniards guessed right. The ship that appeared at the mouth of the bay to snipe at them was the "Warrior" class prototype ship that was still being used as a test model by the Haihan Navy and set foot on the actual battlefield for the first time.The existence of this ship is only known to some close allies and allies who participated in the Danzhou military exercise in 1635, and it is regarded as a military secret to the outside world.
The person in charge of commanding this battleship is Major Wu Mori of the Sanya Fleet of the Haihan Navy.Military generals from South Vietnam are not uncommon in the Haihan Army, and Wu Sen is one of the best. The Ministry of National Defense can rest assured that this significant warship will be entrusted to him to command and execute the first combat mission. Trust and respect him.
For this eastward expedition to Manila, the navy insisted on taking this warship, and even adjusted the departure time for it. Of course, Wu Sen also understood how important this new warship was to the Haihan Navy.If there is no outstanding performance on the battlefield, then the Navy may lack sufficient confidence to apply to the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee for military expenditures to build this type of warship afterwards.
In order to facilitate the command of the fleet, this warship, which had not had time to be officially named at the time of the expedition, was temporarily named "Black Shark".After arriving in Subic Bay, the "Black Shark" and the officers and soldiers on board did not get much rest time, so they went into pre-war training again.When the Spanish galleon broke into Subic Bay, the "Black Shark" was patrolling the waters northwest of the bay, and just missed the opportunity to meet it.
However, the "Black Shark" was equipped with a radio station, so it received the warning message at the first time, and immediately turned its bow and rushed back to Subic Bay, just in time to bump into the "Martin" rushing out in a panic at the bay mouth channel. .Wu Sen was naturally not polite when he saw this, and immediately commanded the "Black Shark" to meet the opponent.
The main weapon of the "Black Shark" is two rotatable naval guns on the front and rear of the hull. The performance advantages are naturally far superior to the current mainstream naval guns, but the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the firepower output point is greatly reduced. There is a higher requirement for the lethal effect of naval gun shooting.The best time to bombard the enemy ships was when they passed each other, but the relative speed of the two ships was at least twelve knots, so there was probably only one or two rounds of shooting opportunities.If you miss it and turn around to catch up, it will inevitably take more time.
What Wu Mori wanted was a one-hit kill effect, so he ordered both naval guns to be aimed at the target's stern near the waterline, trying to destroy its rudder and make it lose its steering ability during sailing.As for the opponent's bombardment, Wu Sen didn't pay attention at all. The "Black Shark" was covered with iron armor, and ordinary naval guns could only scratch his own battleship at this distance.
The gunners on the "Black Shark" did not disappoint Takemori. In the next round of shelling, the two shells fired by the front and rear naval guns both accurately hit the waterline of the stern of the "Martin". Two large holes visible to the naked eye.After the two ships passed by each other, the rear gun of the "Black Shark" added an additional shot, hitting the poop at the stern of the ship.
Of course, although the "Martin" was hit with several shots, it did not immediately lose power. The ship still stumbled and continued to rush towards the mouth of the bay. Wu Sen quickly ordered to turn around and continue the pursuit.
The two shells that hit the waterline at the stern had their due effect, and the seawater immediately poured into the hull from the damage.Although the sailors on the ship reacted quickly and immediately dealt with the damage to the stern of the ship, the damaged rudder could no longer be saved, and the "Martin" rushed straight to Grande Island in the middle of the channel.Despite the best efforts of the Spanish crew to change course, the ship eventually ran aground on the sandy shore of the island's north coast.
Finding that he had been surrounded by several enemy battleships that were chasing up and could not escape, the "Martin" finally did not continue to resist, but chose to surrender to save his life.Haihan sent personnel to count the Spanish sailing ship, and found that the brief exchange of fire just now also caused five casualties on the "Martin", and more than 30 surviving crew members were all captured.
The officer on board the ship was quite tough. When he handed over the command knife to Wu Sen, he still said toughly: "You have made a big mistake, and you will regret it if you go to war with the Spanish Empire!"
"What did he say?" Wu Sen naturally couldn't understand Spanish, so he turned around and asked the interpreter assigned to him by the Portuguese.
After listening to the translation, Wu Sen couldn't help laughing and said: "It's been a few years since the war started, and you still tell me this... Take me away!"
If we count from 1633 when Haihan attacked the Spanish stronghold in Taipei, the history of war between the two countries has actually come to the fourth year.During the period, they fought several times, both openly and secretly, and the loser was basically the Spanish side. Especially in the head-to-head battle record, Haihan had an absolute advantage.The Spanish officer's verbal threats, to Wu Sen's ears, naturally deserved to be regarded as a joke that wasn't funny.
However, Wu Sen was once captured by the Haihan Army when he served in South Vietnam, so he empathized with him, and he did not intend to humiliate the Spanish captives, but just let them be taken away.Of course, whether these captives will be redeemed by Spain with money in the future, or sent to a certain plantation as a coolie, that is not something he needs to worry about.
The damage to the stern of the "Martin" was more serious than it looked on the outside. The large amount of seawater pouring into the hull made the whole ship lose its balance before it ran aground. Back to Manila Bay.After Haihan's inspection, he felt that the repairs were of little significance, so he only cleared out the few supplies on the ship, and the ship was left on the shore of the island.
As for the captured crew members, of course they had to be escorted back to the command post for a good interrogation in order to understand the Spaniard's countermeasures.Although the Haihan army has full confidence in defeating the Spaniards, the principle of knowing yourself and the enemy is always right. The more intelligence you have on the enemy, the more initiative you can take in the battle on the battlefield.
At sunset on this day, the "Martin", which was out on a maritime reconnaissance mission, did not return to Corregidor Island at the mouth of Manila Bay to moor as usual, and the news was only delivered to the ship located [-] nautical miles away the next day. outside the Cavite Naval Base.
Cavite is located on a peninsula on the south coast of Manila Bay, about [-] kilometers away from Manila City.After the Spaniards occupied Manila Bay in the last century, a shipyard was built here and it was used as the residence of the Manila Fleet.It is worth mentioning that many merchants and immigrants from the Ming Dynasty settled in this place, which is even comparable to the Han Chinese population near Manila.
From a military point of view, Cavite is equivalent to a peripheral defense point of Manila City. If Haihan wants to attack Manila City, he must first seize control of Cavite.Although the mission of the Manila Fleet was to meet the Haihans in naval battles, Juan still managed to organize a group of people in Cavite to strengthen the fortifications on land.It is definitely too late to build a large coastal defense battery, but it is relatively simple to build some temporary artillery positions with soil.
The more than 20 cannons that Juan received from the arsenal in Manila were all deployed at the port docks here. Although they are not as stable as the coastal defense forts in Manila Port, Juan believes that they can at least give the Haihan people an opportunity to attack Krabi. Cause some trouble when you land.The Haihan people fought across the sea, and it was difficult to replenish their troops in time. The impact of casualties and casualties on the overall combat power was much more serious than that of the Spanish side.Juan believed that as long as he could cause a certain amount of damage to the Haihan army, it would be enough to make him give up his plan to attack Manila.
Of course, this goal is easy to say, but not easy to do.Juan knew that there was a gap in strength between him and his opponent, so when formulating tactics, he almost always focused on defense, trying to hold back the Haihan army's offensive as much as possible, and prevent it from approaching Manila City so quickly.
Usually, it is normal for ships going out on patrol to delay for a day and a half, but Juan has made strict requirements on the recent patrol arrangements, so when the news that the "Martin" did not return all night reached Juan, it immediately aroused his attention. alertness.The weather near Manila Bay has been calm for the past two days, and it is unlikely that the "Martin" was delayed due to weather conditions, so they did not return to Hong Kong on time, perhaps because they encountered an accident caused by some unnatural factors.For example, encountered the Haihan fleet at sea.
"Send two more ships to search the sea patrolled by the 'Martin'. If any abnormalities are found, immediately withdraw the report and do not act without authorization!"
Although Juan's sense of uneasiness was already very strong, he still tried to remain calm and deal with the disappearance of the "Martin" in a conventional way.The Haihan fleet has not yet appeared, so he can't mess up his own position before fighting.It's just that he never imagined that the "Martin", which is known for its fast speed in the Manila fleet, was quickly dealt with as soon as it met the enemy. Although it detected the enemy's situation, there was no way to send the news back.
A day later, the observation post on Corregidor Island reported the appearance of a sailboat flying the Haihan flag on the open sea, and this time the alarm was really sounded.After receiving the news, Juan immediately got all the combat ships of the Manila Fleet ready to leave the port to face the battle. Now that Haihan's ship has arrived outside Manila Bay, the next step is to fight hard.As for the "Martin" that still has no news, Juan has already tacitly agreed that it will not come back.
"The two islands in front, the big island in the north is Corregidor Island, and the small island in the south is Carvalho Island. After passing these two islands, you will enter Manila Bay."
While the Spaniards were preparing for battle, Haihan's fleet had already assembled at sea and arrived at the entrance to Manila Bay.As one of the guides of this operation, the Portuguese Simao is introducing the geographical situation ahead to the Haihan generals.
(End of this chapter)