Mikutaro's last consciousness was that he was knocked into the air, overlooking the battle situation on the sea.
More than a dozen warships flying red leaf flags were rushing into the loose formation of the Awaji Marines. The iron gunners on the battleships were condescendingly shooting at the Awaji Marines on the small boats. He had never seen such a fast ship, nor had he ever seen it before.
Passed so many iron gunners.
·
The size of the cruiser of the Momiji Fleet is about the same as that of the Awaji Navy's Anzabune, while the size of the destroyer is about the same as that of a Kanbune. Among the vanguards chasing the front of the Awaji Navy, the largest is only a medium-sized Kanbune.
Even the smallest ship of the Momiji Fleet is bigger than him. The captains of the Momiji Fleet relied on the hard hull to go rampant, knocking over and cracking many small morning boats of the Awaji Navy, and the Kanji ships were unable to avoid them. They were the vanguard of the Awaji Navy.
It fell into chaos instantly.
For the sake of speed, these small ships left behind all the Anzha ships and large Kanfune ships, so there was no force in the team that could compete with the Red Leaf Army. Most of the middle and high-level commanders were also on the Anzha ships.
The low-level leaders on the ship were unable to cope with such a chaotic situation, and soon fell into the dilemma of fighting on their own.
In a small ship versus a large ship, if there is no effective command to take advantage of the numerical advantage, there is no chance of victory. Soon, more and more ships were unwilling to fight due to excessive casualties of sailors and soldiers, and they withdrew from the battlefield in all directions.
Some people simply raised their hands and surrendered. However, the Hongye Fleet had no intention of capturing the ships and chasing the escaped ships. Instead, they focused on attacking the ships that were still resisting. It seemed that they wanted to completely defeat the main force of the Awaji Navy before they arrived.
These boats.
However, the second half of the Kanbune and the small morning boats did not allow the Momiji Fleet to succeed. After realizing that the situation was not good, they immediately evacuated backwards and merged with the hurriedly arriving Anzha ships, large Kanbun ships, and arson ships. However, in
There had been nearly forty small morning ships before this, and the Kansai ships were beaten by the Red Leaf Fleet and temporarily lost their combat capabilities.
·
"This naval battle is so simple?" Koyama Masama watched the enemy ships in front of him disintegrate like water, and excitedly patted the side of the ship and shouted, "It is a completely overwhelming victory! From this point of view, the Awaji Navy
There’s nothing to be afraid of!”
"It's still early, recruit." Gencho Abe looked at the young boy who was scared a moment ago, but now he was dancing excitedly, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "We relied on the timing of the surprise attack and the fact that the enemy was not familiar with our fleet.
Only intelligence superiority can bring them such chaos. Once the Awaji navy regroups, it will surely be a hard battle."
Before Abe Motonaga finished speaking, the main force of the Awaji navy in the distance had slowly begun to adjust. With the Anzha ship as the central core, the Kanbune ships were scattered on the two wings and rear. The retreating Kanbune ships and Kohayabune ships were
He slowly turned around in the main formation and on the flanks, adjusted his formation, and pressed up again with the fleet.
"Sir, please give me the order." Abe Motocho quickly walked to the captain's cabin where Yasuki Itami was and asked him for instructions.
"Open fire and focus on the Anzai ship located west of the center." Itami Yasukichi fiddled with the telescope in his hand, observing the flag of the Awaji Navy. After determining the location of the flagship, he issued an order to Abe Gengaga. Flagship of the Momiji Fleet
The flag immediately waved and conveyed the order to the other two cruisers. The three cruisers slowly adjusted their sails and oars, and aimed their guns at the slowly approaching Anzhai ship, and then continued
Fired at it.
However, this huge houseboat is obviously not as fragile as a small morning boat. After the cannonball hits the side of the ship with a "bang", it will be bounced off the side of the ship, leaving a dent in the impact and then falling into the sea water aside, and other
Those crooked shells made huge splashes one after another. The ship's six-pounder gun was not powerful enough to penetrate the hard and thick side of the Anzha ship, and the three-pounder gun on the side naturally had no chance. So Yasuki Itami gave up.
Instead of continuing to bombard the hull of the Anzha ship with naval guns, they aimed at the cabins and sails on the deck of the Anzha ship. However, the shooting angle of the naval guns was difficult to adjust, and due to the high winds and rough waves, only two
The cannonball hit the wooden house and collapsed a corner of the wooden house, while the sail only penetrated a hole, which was harmless.
After these rounds of cannons, the Awaji Navy fleet has approached a sufficient distance. This time, they listed a standard formation and will not give the Hongye fleet a chance to rush into the formation. The ships of the two armies are on the sea
The upper rows spread out and began to use long-range weapons to duel. In order to fully utilize his own firepower advantage, Itami Yasukichi rotated all the ships 9o degrees before the shooting began, facing the enemy ship with their broadsides.
Different from the all-purpose iron cannons on the Hongye Fleet, the Awaji Navy's attack methods were diverse. There were bows and arrows, iron cannons, and javelins. Under the rain of bullets, soldiers on both sides were constantly being injured and killed, and some people fell down from time to time.
The baking bombs thrown by the Awaji Navy caused a lot of trouble to the Momiji Fleet. Every time the baking bombs exploded, they often caused fires and considerable casualties on the deck in a small area, causing the sailors of the Momiji Fleet to suffer a lot.
Had to be busy putting out fires.
However, compared to the baking bombs, the broadsides of the three cruisers of the Momiji Fleet were obviously more terrifying. At such a close distance, the close fire of the three-pounders would cause huge damage to the ships of the Awaji Navy.
Even the sturdy side of the Anzha ship was gradually being cracked and broken. Sometimes as the waves rose and fell, the shells from the broadside guns would hit the deck directly, causing blood sprays to explode among the people on the deck.
Several or even dozens of lives were taken away in an instant.
In such a war of attrition, the firepower superiority of the Momiji fleet gradually emerged. Gradually, the Awaji navy could no longer withstand such pressure. People on each ship appeared hiding behind the side of the ship with their heads in their hands and refused to get up to fight back. Morale also deteriorated.
The more depressed.
However, before the Red Leaf Fleet had time to be happy, it immediately encountered trouble. As the battle progressed, the numerical advantage of the Awaji Navy also came into play. Light small morning boats and seki ships continued to rush to the side of the Red Leaf Fleet ships, trying to pass
Attach hooks and ropes to the ships of the Momiji Fleet, then jump on board the ships of the Momiji Fleet to fight hand-to-hand. Although most of the operations failed under the powerful iron cannon firepower of the Momiji Fleet, there was still a lot of Awaji water.
The soldiers of the Red Leaf Fleet rushed onto the ships of the Momiji Fleet and launched a fierce fight. These charges also distracted the attention of the iron gunners of the Momiji Fleet, causing their suppression of the Awaji Navy to gradually decrease. Small morning ships and Kanbune ships continued to attack
He detoured behind the Red Leaf Fleet and jumped to help fight from the other side.
What made the situation even worse was the dispatch of the arson boats of the Awaji Navy. These arson boats carefully blended into the fleet of the Awaji Navy, and it was not until they rushed out of the ship formation that they ignited the flammable materials at the front and headed towards the Momiji Fleet.
Collided over. Most of the captains and sailors of the Red Leaf Fleet were new recruits. They had never seen such a formation before. In the previous charge, they did not encounter any resistance. And in the duel battle, the ones who played a role were basically
The iron cannon veterans, sailors and captains were not under any pressure. However, when they saw the arson boats dispatched, they became a little confused. They hurriedly tried to adjust their direction and position to avoid these arson boats, and at the same time tried to let the iron gunners shoot the people on board.
However, the shortcomings of Hongye Fleet's lack of small boats were fully exposed at this moment. They could not use ships to block these small boats, so they could only control large ships to avoid these small boats. However, these inexperienced captains and sailors did not operate properly, and many times they were in danger.
The two destroyers were even hit by multiple arson ships. Fires broke out on the sides of the ships, and the sailors hurriedly began to put out the fires.
Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Itami Yasukichi decisively ordered a retreat. The Momiji Fleet raised its sails and immediately flew away from the battlefield in an inverted "eight" pattern again, breaking away from contact with the Awaji Navy. Relying on its fast sailing, the Momiji Fleet easily
The Awaji navy's pursuit was thrown off. With the lessons learned from the past, the Awaji navy did not dare to break away from the pursuit, but slowly followed behind the Anzhai ship.
During the retreat, the two burning destroyers were gradually unable to control the fire. The captains of the two ships had no choice but to order their men to escape. Everyone grabbed easy-to-float objects and planks and jumped into the sea, trying to move towards the friendly ship.
The Awaji navy simply did not pursue them very closely, giving the Momiji fleet a chance to rescue the friendly forces.
When it got dark, the remaining thirteen ships of the Momiji Fleet finally sailed back to Urado Port. But even later, the Awaji Navy, which lit up lights, completely blocked Urado Port in the distance.
·
"How's it going, Kangqing?" As soon as Idan Kangqing got off the ship, Yu Qiuping, who was still waiting, hurriedly greeted him. He had already counted the fleet when it entered the port, and there were two destroyers missing.
"I'm very sorry, Your Highness. I'm defeated. Please punish me." Yasukyo Itami bowed deeply towards Yu Qiuping, "I have lost my troops and generals, and I have disappointed Your Highness."
"You only have fifteen ships. It's normal to lose to the Awaji Navy." Yu Qiuping didn't take it seriously to Itami Yasukiyo's plea, and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Your Highness, we have sunk at least two of their Anzha ships, five or six Kansai ships, and more than a dozen small morning ships!" Gennaro Abe yelled in a low voice with some disapproval after seeing Itami Yasukiyo directly asking for forgiveness.
He said, "It can't be considered a defeat no matter how you say it! It's just that we withdrew from the battlefield."
"Is the exchange ratio such a good one?" Yu Qiuping was surprised when he heard this. He himself did not expect that Western mast sailing ships could perform so well despite such a huge disparity in numbers.
"That's just the enemy underestimating the enemy and not being familiar with our tactics." Yasuki Itami shook his head, but the look on his eyebrows was quite excited, and there was no trace of frustration after the defeat. "But your highness does not need to be relieved, I am not discouraged.
, on the contrary, I am full of confidence. We could have fought better here, because there were too many new sailors and inexperienced captains, so we were in such a mess. When the men are familiar with naval warfare, many complex techniques and tactics can be used
, there won’t be another failure.”
"Your Highness, please wait and see. In less than five years, the Seto Inland Sea will be dominated by the Red Leaf Fleet."
Chapter completed!