The sound of artillery boomed on the Yellow Sea, and the shells landed on the side of the target ship, bubbled and disappeared. After the overwhelming artillery fire passed, Li Xiao saw the intact target ship.

"Why are you rolling your eyes? The boys did a great job. You quietly made several holes in the hull. It's not bad to have gotten to this point in such a short time." The old fisherman kicked Chen, who had a strange expression.

tiger.

"But... the shells didn't explode, didn't you see?" Chen Laohu had a look of resentment on his face. He originally wanted to show his face in front of the commander, but now his butt was exposed. According to his assumption, the current target ship should be

A pile of splinters drifting with the tide.

"You're a prodigal son, you can't live a good life. The shells are filled with sand. They'll explode like nothing." The old fisherman seemed very angry and slapped Chen Laohu again. He and old Chen Fu had a life-long friendship.

There is no difference between a tiger and his children and grandchildren.

"Sand?" It was Li Xiao who was shocked this time. This scene was very familiar, a scene from the Beiyang Navy. Could it be that someone in his own army embezzled military funds and used sand to pass off as gunpowder? This is a big deal, and we need to ask clearly.

"Commander! These are training shells, used for daily training. So the shells are filled with equal weight of sand. The training shells do not need to explode, so what are they loaded without sand? The weight is the same, cannons

The medicine was made by the children with so much hard work, it’s not worth wasting it here.”

"...!" Li Xiao was speechless. According to the economic standards, there is no problem for Mr. Yu to do this. Gunpowder also has a cost, and the same amount of sand has almost no cost. Mr. Yu is right, it is for training.

The thing doesn't need to explode. I just don't know whether the shells filled with sand by the Beiyang Navy are training shells or real shells.

"This kind of small boat cannot be sunk even if it is hit with one shot. As long as it explodes nearby, the waves set off can overturn it. It is good for the boys to achieve this result after training for such a short period of time." The old fisherman nodded,

I am satisfied with these gunners under Chen Laohu.

With the praise from Mr. Yu, Li Xiao finally felt confident. After all, his two ships were facing at least seventy warships from the other side. Although the ships on the opposite side were already smaller than Zhenyuan and Dingyuan.

The generation difference.

But Li Xiao is afraid that the generation difference is not enough to make up for the huge quantitative gap!

The fleet of two ships added water and coal at Huangdao Pier, then headed south into the rough East China Sea.

The weather has been very good recently, and there is not much wind on the sea. An observation balloon is raised on the Zhenyuan every day. For fear that the hot air balloon will be blown away by the wind, the fetter rope will fall more than 300 meters. The soldiers on the hot air balloon are wearing furs and holding

He kept observing the distance with his telescope. The advantage of height allowed Li Xiao to discover the enemy earlier. Although Li Xiao knew that such discovery was actually of little use, Li Xiao still persisted.

When facing an enemy in battle, it would be good to have an extra hour or two to prepare.

Heading south along the coastline, we soon came to the Zhoushan waters. This was the place where Li Xiu and the English fleet met. Now there is nothing else on the sea except turbulent waves.

After noon, news suddenly came from the lookout post above. Many warships were docked at the Zhujiajian Pier ahead.

Li Xiao felt his eyelids twitching. No wonder the main force of the English fleet was missing. It turned out that it was docked here. This damn thing has plans to stay there permanently. With such a group of people living on Zhoushan Island, there will still be people along the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang in the future.

Have a good life?

Who doesn’t know that the so-called Royal Navy is basically a group of pirates? It is better to hope for world peace and human unity than to expect them to be influenced by the Bodhisattva of Mount Putuo to put down their butcher knife.

Without Zhu Jiajian's sea map, Li Xiao could only make calculations in his head. Suddenly, Li Xiao made up his mind.

"Zhenyuan, Dingyuan move forward at full speed, and the hot air balloon pulls back."

"No!" Chen Laohu agreed and led his men out of Jianqiao.

Ten strong men struggled to push the grab plate, and the fetters were reduced inch by inch. The hot air balloon in the sky was slowly recovered, and the bells of "dang" and "dang" rang out on the two ships, and the deck immediately became busy.

The gunners quickly occupied the fort, and the people in charge of the ammunition were nervously checking, fearing that some training bombs would be brought up by mistake. The two forward main guns were already loading and ready to be fired at any time.

The rear deck is even more chaotic. Two rows of double-mounted twenty-four guns need to load forty-eight rockets. The loaders have a very heavy task!

Almost at the same time, Zhujiajian Pier was also busy. The British lookout post also discovered Zhenyuan and Dingyuan. The thick smoke coming out of the chimney shot straight into the sky, and there was no way to hide it even if you wanted to. The sharp whistle sounded.

The sound echoed through the entire Zhujiajian Pier, and groups of people were as panicked as ants.

"Mr. George, what's wrong?" Wu Sangui rushed out of the yard while getting dressed.

"Two strange ships came to the sea. They seemed to be on fire and were emitting thick smoke. They were too far away and the flags could not be seen." George opened his arms and two Indian servants began to dress him in a double-breasted navy uniform.

"Two boats on fire?" Wu Sangui looked into the distance and could vaguely see the smoke column in the sky.

This is the bad thing about naval battles. You can spot each other at a long distance. This gives both sides equal and sufficient preparation time. Before George gave the order, the two English warships swimming in the sea off Zhujiajian sailed towards each other.

come over.

In the telescope, the English battleships became clearer and clearer. In the eyes of the same two English ships, the figures of the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships also became clearer. The two captains took a breath at the same time. They had never dreamed of this.

Such a big ship. Did it encounter the legendary Noah's Ark? But there is only one legendary Noah's Ark. Here... there are clearly two equally large ships.

Sweat immediately broke out on their foreheads, because they clearly saw that both ships had no sails. The black smoke did not seem to be caused by fire, but was sprayed out from the tall chimneys.

What kind of ship is this? Two senior captains of the Royal Navy couldn't explain it!

"Turn the helm, turn around!" The mission of the warning ship is to be on guard. Although the two ships in front of them did not see the muzzles on the side strings, their huge bodies were full of coercion. They decided to retreat, and now they should report to Fleet Commander George

Lord reported instead of rushing forward and starting a fight with these two strange ships.

Maneuvering a sailboat is very troublesome, requiring not only turning the rudder but also the cooperation of a series of sails. When their ship completed the turn in a semicircle on the sea, the two giant ships in the telescope had already grown a lot larger.

"Oh! Damn it, what kind of ship is so fast? They don't have sails!" the first mate put down the telescope and exclaimed.

"Damn, how could they be so fast?" The captain was also shocked.

"Hang the sails full, move forward at full speed, move forward at full speed." A roaring command came from the Jian Bridge.

At this time, a cruel smile appeared on the corner of Li Xiao's mouth. If you dare to attack my brother, I will take back some interest first and exploit the unlucky two of you.

"What is the maximum range of the front main gun?"

"Six thousand three hundred meters!" Zhao Shizhen, who knows artillery best, stood up.

"Measure the distance!" Li Xiao calmly ordered.

"Seven thousand meters!"

"Go ahead at full speed." The bows of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan suddenly accelerated, plunged into the sea, and then jumped out with the smashed sea water. The ship as high as a mountain increased its speed in an instant.

"Oh God! What kind of ship is this? How could they run so fast without sails?" The captains of the two English warships were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped to the ground.

"Across the hull, fast! Across the hull!" At this moment, the two of them understood at the same time that they were all scumbags in trying to speed up, and there was no way they could beat these two strange and huge warships. They were full of chivalry spirit and could only It can cross the hull of the ship and blast it with numerous cannons on the side strings. Even if it is killed, it will still be a fight to the death.

Just when they were nervously adjusting the hull and preparing to fight to the death, Li Xiao issued the order again: "Measure the range!"

"Four thousand eight hundred meters!"

"The front main gun fires!" According to normal theory, the closer the distance, the easier it is to hit.

There was a huge roar on the front deck of the battleship, and Chen Laohu clenched the telescope in his hand tightly. The gunner of the front main gun had only fired more than thirty rounds so far. He was really unsure whether he could hit the target with the first shot. .

The cannonball hit the English warship with a sharp roar, and fell into the sea less than ten meters away from the English warship. Through the telescope, Chen Laohu saw a huge water column rising into the sky. Looking at the water column, he was more surprised than the Dingyuan. All are high.

"Idiot! Load it, load it quickly, you missed it." Chen Laohu shouted while pulling his neck, and the gunners on the front deck were busy loading. The shells of the front main gun were too heavy, and the two shirtless men The strong man was pushing it on a trolley, while the other two guys were applying oil to the cannonballs. This would make the cannonballs slippery and save some effort during loading.

There was a smile on Li Xiao's lips. Chen Laohu didn't understand how terrifying it was to have a near-missile. When the shell exploded in the air, the surrounding air would expand rapidly to generate a shock wave. The impact of this shock wave would have an impact on objects or the human body. Cause damage or injury. If explosives of the same quality and performance explode in seawater, the impact force produced will be eight hundred times that of air.

Warships of this era were not made of steel, so Li Xiao wanted to know how hard the wood in the underwater part of the warship could be.

The draft of the sailboat is not deep, only four or five meters in total. But this is already very fatal!

The moment they saw the water column rising into the sky, the two captains breathed a sigh of relief. Listening to the whistling sound of the cannonballs, their souls were almost scared away. Before their souls could come back, a burst of battleships appeared at their feet. Shaking violently.

The ship's planks below the waterline were not even dented, and were directly washed into pieces of wood by the high-pressure seawater. The crew members in the bottom cabin did not even have a chance to scream, and were swallowed up by the spray of seawater.

The power of the near-missile bomb was so great that it directly created a large hole with a diameter of six meters on one side of the ship. Seawater poured in crazily, and the ship's hull poured rapidly. Even the captain in the captain's cabin could feel the bottom of the ship. Shen.

"Launch the boat, abandon ship! Abandon ship!" the captain and first mate shouted frantically. They both knew that the ship had no salvage value.

Chen Laohu was also dumbfounded. He clearly saw that the cannonball missed. But why did the opponent's ship have a big hole!

"Speed ​​forward and ignore them. These two ships will sink on their own!" Li Xiao did not order additional attacks. The shells were also very expensive, so there was no need to waste them on the battleships that were about to sink.

The two warships were moving forward at full speed. When the huge warship passed the English escape boat, the huge waves raised by the warship directly capsized the escape boat, and all the people on board fell into the cold water.

Everyone on the Zhujiajian Pier saw this scene in the open sea. George could hardly believe his eyes. The other party killed two warships with just one shot? What kind of ship is this? What kind of cannon is this? Is it so powerful?

"It's Li Xiao. It must be Li Xiao who is here. Order all the warships out immediately, otherwise we will all die here." Wu Sangui reacted the fastest. Li Xiao must have brought such a big ship with people. In Wu Sangui's eyes, Li Xiao

He wouldn't be surprised even if the owl pulled the moon down, let alone two ships as big as mountains.

"All ships, raise sails and leave the harbor." Although he disagreed with Wu Sangui's words, George felt that he had one hundred and three warships in his hands. Even if an ant grinds an elephant, it can kill these two huge warships. Li Xiao

He is also a human being, and his warship is also made of wood, so he doesn't believe it can't be sunk.

More than a hundred battleships were scared away by two battleships, which would seriously damage the honor of the Royal Navy. In the future, if people know, how can George still hang out in the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy is indeed well-trained. Although things happened in a hurry, they still raised the sails in a very orderly manner. The warships began to leave the port one after another and headed to the open sea, facing the unknown enemy like knights.

Li Xiao led Zhenyuan and Dingyuan forward at full speed, pressing towards Zhujiajian Pier like a mountain. When they were more than 8,000 meters away from Zhujiajian Pier, Li Xiao suddenly gave a loud order: "Turn the helm."

The strong helmsman used all his strength to turn the helm, and the warship floated hundreds of meters on the sea before completing the turn. All the English warships were stunned. They had made plans to sacrifice themselves like knights, but their opponents turned around and seemed to be fleeing.

.What kind of path is this?

"Rear deck, launch the rocket launcher!" Anyway, the rocket launcher is a very uncertain thing. Taking advantage of the fact that the warships in the harbor are so densely packed now, you can kill a lot of them even if you give it a chance.

After a perfect U-turn, the rocket launcher on the rear deck was aimed at the Zhujiajian Pier. Li Xiao's ignition command was given, and rows of rockets spewed thick smoke and flames from their tails. Each light point rushed towards the dock with tail flames.

The sky then roared and crashed down.
Chapter completed!