"The enemy was discovered. The enemy's formation is a wider cone formation." Koyama Masama observed the enemy's formation with a telescope and asked for instructions from Yasuki Itami, "Please give me your order."
"Follow the original plan." Itami Yasukichi ordered decisively. Regarding the wider cone formation commonly used by the Awaji navy, that is, with the Anzha ship as the core, surrounded by Kanbune and small morning ships, the Momiji fleet has already practiced
Been there countless times.
"Yes." After Masama Oyama accepted the order, the red flag on the flagship immediately began to wave and command other ships. The warships of the Hongye Fleet sailed out of the Akashi Strait in a column from west to east. Among them, the one at the front
The one is the battleship Kawachi Maru. Behind him are 6 cruisers. Behind them are 20 destroyers.
"The route tilts thirty degrees to the right." Itami Yasukichi ordered the helmsman and flagman while constantly looking at the Awaji naval force that was gradually approaching from the south. "We have to move closer to them to allow the battleship to
The six-pounder broadsides came into range."
"What kind of weird formation is this?" Suga Tatsucho was confused by the formation of the Red Leaf Fleet. The bows of their ships were pointing to the east - there was an empty sea area over there. "Are you trying to escape?
Why not face us southward?"
Suga's question did not last long, and a roar from the north answered his question.
"Fire!" Abe Motoshin gave the order, and the Kawachi Maru's right side gun facing south opened fire in sequence. The muzzle in the gun window burst out with flames, and the shells shot out quickly. Immediately afterwards, a huge recoil force came out.
The artillery was pushed backwards. The eight artillerymen on both sides of the artillery used all their strength to drag the ropes tied to the artillery cart before pulling the artillery to slow down and slowly stop on the deck. Then, they immediately started loading
Work.
After the first gun fired, the second gun also fired at the Awaji Navy in the south. The recoil was still astonishing. Several artillerymen tried their best to hold back the rolling gun carriage.
"Fortunately, they fired in sequence. If these five guns were fired at the same time, the recoil might not have overturned the ship." Abe Yuan looked at the shaking hull and the stumbling sailors above with genuine fear, "Speed ​​up the reloading.
!”
After the fifth gun finished firing, the loading work of the first gun was completed. The sailors shouted the slogan, pulled the gun carriage back by the rope, and stuffed it into the gun window again, "Fire!"
The continuous rapid sound of artillery woke up the Awaji Marines from the shock of seeing the monster-like giant ship. One by one, they stared blankly at the side of the monster that was glowing with fire, and it fired the dark cannonballs at them!
"Sir! Squat down!" A guard next to Suga Tatsunaga reacted very quickly and found that a cannonball fired by the Kawachi Maru came straight towards the deck of the Anzha ship they were walking in front of. He immediately pressed his
Sir, he suddenly fell down on the deck. The next moment, the howling wind above his head almost deafened his ears. Then, a violent impact, the sound of wood shattering and screams came from behind. Suda twisted his head.
Craning his neck and looking back, he saw that the plank house of the Anzhai ship had been hit exactly, and one corner of the plank house was shattered. The violent collision caused a large vibration of the hull, and many soldiers who were unable to hold on suddenly slipped and fell on the
land.
Before he could adjust, the port side of the ship suffered another severe blow. The wooden armor of the house ship was simply reinforced to prevent it from being directly penetrated, but the violent shaking still left the deck in a mess. What happened next
The shells did not hit the target, but the huge splash they caused when they fell into the water caused a nearby ship to sway and almost capsize. A small ship nearby did not have such good luck. It was hit by a cannonball.
The splash of water beside him overturned him, and the ashigaru above him fell into the water in panic, asking for help from the friendly forces beside him.
The Kawachi Maru did not give the Awaji Navy a chance to breathe, and the second round of bombardment struck again. This time, the Kawachi Maru moved from the left front of the Awaji Navy to the front, and its five guns also greeted the flagship walking in front.
came. A rain of shells hit the side and sides of the Anzha ship, causing Suga to suffer unspeakably.
"Sir, we can't hit them! It's too far! Do you want to retreat?" Saburo Yuki was ten meters away from Suga at this moment, but the Anzha ship was shaking constantly under continuous shelling, and the deck was full of sawdust.
and dead bodies, Yuki Saburo couldn't get close to him at all, so he had no choice but to shout at Suga Tatsucho.
"We can't retreat, go forward! The current is flowing downstream, and we can't turn around at all!" Tatsucho Suga shouted towards Yuki Saburo, "Everyone, go forward together! Zhang Manfan! Charge up!"
However, as soon as Suga Tatsunaga finished speaking, as if in response to him, he saw several black shadows flying in the sky. Four of the black shadows were shot out and fell into the water, causing a huge splash. But
The only black shadow that hit directly broke the mizzen mast of the Anzha ship! The sailor who was watching above was wailing and was slapped on the deck. Blood suddenly poured out, and the sails on the mast were messed up.
"What is this big gun shooting at? How can it be possible to break the mast with one shot? How can you have such good luck?" Captain Suga looked at the fallen mizzen mast in disbelief, and then slowly revealed his head against the side of the ship.
Heading in the direction of Kawachi Maru, I saw a flash of fire, and another black shadow was launched. When the black shadow reached its highest altitude, Suga saw his true face clearly - two small cannonballs, tied in the middle.
He was wearing an iron chain. Unbeknownst to Mr. Suga, it was the secret weapon of the Yuqiu family's military industry department - the chain bullet. This time, the chain bullet failed to hit the front mast directly, but hit the sail. The chain bullet rolled over the handle.
Half of the sail was torn off and fell heavily on the deck.
The flagship of the Anzha ship, which had lost more than half of its sails, suddenly turned around like a blindfolded person. The sailors rowed hard, but they could not control the movement of such a huge hull. Seeing that the ship was about to be forced to exit
It's a battlefield.
"The effect of the chain bomb is very good." Yasuki Itami looked at the Anzha ship being beaten in the distance and was dizzy, "I'm afraid this Anzha ship won't be able to move for a long time."
"But this chain bomb is very expensive." Xiaoshan Masazhen muttered at the side, "It takes several days for the skilled workers of the Military Industry Department to get one. Sir, we should save some."
"Good steel is used on the blade." Itami Yasukiyo nodded, "Change the bomb and continue to bombard them with solid bullets!"
·
"Come forward, just as we defeated them last time, we will do it this time! A boarding battle!" At this time, Suga Tatsucho had been forced to abandon his proud flagship and move to another ship.
Above. The humiliation of being forced to change ships made him red-eyed, and he desperately urged his troops to rush forward.
The Awaji Navy maintained their formation and moved forward along the river, and the distance between the two sides quickly narrowed. Soon, the three-pound broadside guns on the six cruisers also opened fire. The shells came like raindrops towards the Awaji Navy, and from time to time
A small morning ship and a seki ship were sunk and capsized by artillery. The array of one battleship and six cruisers floated over the head of the Awaji navy like a raining cloud, and headed straight to the east.
.The destroyers and small boats did not follow them eastward, but slowly formed an array in the northern waters.
"Left full rudder! Turn around!" Itami Yasukiyo, who sailed to the east of the sea area with 7 ships, ordered the fleet to turn around. They immediately completed the U-turn slowly on the sea area through the current, from east to west again from the Awaji Navy's
Passing sideways in front of them, they changed sides and used the broadside cannon on the left to bombard the Awaji navy. This time, the distance between the two sides was very close, and both iron cannons and bows and arrows began to shoot.
The Awaji naval force desperately used bows, arrows, iron cannons, and calcined bombs to attack the large ships of the Momiji Fleet, while the Momiji Fleet responded with all iron cannons. The Momiji Fleet in front of them were all large ships such as battleships and cruisers.
, the iron gunners shot at the Awaji Navy from a high position, and the powerful firepower made it impossible for the Awaji Navy to lift its head. And at such a distance, the gun window that flickered with fire from time to time became a nightmare for the Awaji Navy. The three men who were so close at hand
A few shots from the pounder cannon are enough to directly sink a seki ship, and the six-pounder cannon can even break the armor of an house ship.
The Awaji Navy's baking bombs could still cause fires on the ships of the Momiji Fleet. However, the auxiliary soldiers of the Momiji Army, who had been trained in a targeted manner, used prepared buckets and sand to extinguish the fire and quickly controlled the fire.
"Arson ship! Arson ship!" Seeing that his subordinates suffered heavy casualties in the face of the exaggerated firepower of the Red Leaf Fleet, Suda personally waved the flag as if he was going crazy and ordered the arson ship to attack. The arson ships hidden in the fleet immediately flew quickly
While the Awaji Navy ships approaching the Momiji Fleet tried to secure the ships of the Momiji Fleet with hooks and ropes, they launched a gang-hopping operation.
"Don't let them get close! Get rid of them quickly! Head west!" Itami Yasukiyo immediately issued a new order. Upon hearing the order, the ships of the Red Leaf Fleet immediately filled up their sails and left sideways to the west without any hesitation.
Make more entanglements. The ships of the Awaji Navy could not catch up with the speed of the Momiji Fleet, so they had to watch the Momiji Fleet walk up to them, slap themselves in the face, and then leave gracefully. Only three arson ships hit the target, but the flames
However, they were extinguished in time by Hongye Fleet.
"Did you go around to the west because of your fast running speed?" Suga took a long look at the red leaf fleet heading away, "Let's continue going north! Rush to their Kanbune and small morning boats! I see you
I can’t come back to save you!”
The sekishipe mentioned by Sugata Naga are actually the destroyers and small boats of the Momiji Fleet. They are forming up in the north and are ready. After the battleships and cruisers sailed away from the center of the sea, the destroyers of the Momiji Fleet came face to face with the Awaji Navy.
After discovering that the Awaji Navy was showing signs of charging towards them, the destroyers also raised their sails and rushed towards the Awaji Navy!
"Good guys, I didn't come to you, but you still came to your door?" Suga Tatsu was furious when he saw this, and ordered all his troops to press forward. What greeted him was a salvo of bow guns from 20 destroyers!
Chapter completed!