The first time the signal flare was raised from the shore, they had already started to continue sailing, but they did not sail directly to the mouth of Tamsui River. They just shortened the distance and stopped again.
When the signal flare was raised for the second time, they still kept sailing at a low speed and continued to close the distance to the mouth of the Tamsui River. Even the upper deck of their ship could clearly see several Dutch warships through the telescope, but they could not
No attack was launched.
Time passed like this as they sailed slowly. It was not until the third time that they saw a signal flare rising from the shore and lighting a bonfire that the two of them began to give orders and use signal lights to signal all ships in the fleet.
, start taking action.
The first ones to pull up the sails and accelerate towards the Dutch fleet were naturally a few flying boats. At this time, their ships had already made all preparations for battle, and every cannon had been loaded and pushed to the
At the gun port, you only need to make slight adjustments after approaching the enemy ship before firing.
There were also several ferocious ships that also began to speed up. These ships were like hedgehogs, covered with large iron nails with barbs. Any ship that collided with them would be hooked by them.
It's difficult to live in and get out.
These ships followed the "Fei Zi" clipper and rushed towards the Dutch fleet in the darkness. The other ships slowly surrounded the four Dutch warships from the north and south.
Sea Wolf used more than 60 ships of various types this time, including thirty or forty large brigs, including several heavily modified large ships, and even two captured Spanish warships. In addition, there were
There are as many as twelve flying boats. It can be said that they are all the best of the sea wolves, and there is no reservation.
Although these ships are not all the Sea Wolf warships, not even one-third, they can be said to be the elite of the Sea Wolf warships. This time, they were used by Yu Xiaotian to deal with the Dutch warships.
, it can be said that a lot of money has been spent.
In terms of numbers, ten to one, if you can't take down these Dutch ships, then how can the Sea Wolf survive in the future?
So for the Sea Wolf, this time they were all-in, and without any reservations, the fleet accelerated towards several Dutch warships from both the north and the south.
Among the already slack Dutch fleet, a lookout on the top of the mast dozed off. He secretly took out a small jug with rum in it. He raised his neck and took a sip. Now after all,
It's winter, and it's very hard to lie on the top of the mast and blow the sea breeze. Although they have been rotated once in the middle of the night, they will still be blown through by the icy sea breeze soon after they get on the mast, and it is difficult to control the production.
A feeling of coldness.
So these lookouts secretly prepared a little more rum on their bodies, and took a sip when it was cold, which finally gave them a boost. After the lookout took a sip of wine, he put the flask back into his pocket and felt a little better.
, habitually looking towards the seaside.
Suddenly his eyes began to widen. He seemed to see several black figures on the sea under the cover of night, heading towards them. These black figures had no lights at all. If it weren't for the fact that the background sky was slightly different from the sea at this time.
, it is almost impossible to see their existence, and even the lookout himself cannot believe his eyes.
So he quickly rubbed his eyes hard and looked carefully at the sea. This time he finally saw clearly that several ships were indeed approaching them quickly, and they had already sailed several hundred meters within their fleet.
Outside, we will rush to their fleet soon.
"Enemy attack!" He suddenly let out a shrill scream, then turned around, grabbed an alarm bell hanging on the watch, and started banging it with all his strength.
"Dang..." The piercing alarm bells suddenly rang across the entire sea. The drowsy sailors in the fleet immediately alerted themselves, quickly tightened their bodies, and began to look around.
.
"An unidentified ship has appeared on the starboard side, prepare quickly!" The lookout man was lying on the top of the mast, shouting at the top of his lungs to the sailors below, while continuing to ring the alarm bell.
The sailors hurriedly swarmed to the starboard side and looked towards the dark sea. Then with the faint light in the sky, they finally saw these dark figures approaching quickly on the sea, although they were vaguely invisible.
Clear, but it is certain that they are indeed some ships.
So all the Dutch who were awake suddenly felt nervous, because those ships were too close to them and had completely sailed within the shooting range. They were only two to three hundred meters away from them at most, so they
They all rushed to the various gun positions on the ship's deck, desperately trying to uncover the canvas covering the cannons, and prepared to start fighting.
But it was still too late at this time. The ships rushing towards them did not give them enough time to prepare. They started firing almost immediately. A flash of fire flashed along the side of the ship, and then the rumbling sound of cannons was heard.
At the same time as the sound of cannons sounded, cannonballs roared and hit their ship.
What's more wicked is that these sneak attackers did not use solid bullets, but directly used grape bullets, and also mixed with a lot of chain bullets. Although these shells are not strong in attacking the hull, they have the ability to kill people and the surface of the ship.
The destructive ability of masts, rigging and sails is excellent.
As a result, the Dutch warship on the far right suddenly seemed to be hit by a hailstorm. The cannonballs swept across their deck. The sailors who had just been busy on the deck felt like they were being cut.
A piece of them was cut down, and each one of them died horribly. As long as the grape bullets touched them, they would be in trouble. Either their hands and feet were torn off on the spot, or their heads were blown to pieces on the spot. Some people were even cut in half or hit by artillery shells.
Teared into two pieces.
What was even more frightening was that almost instantly, a group of chain bombs swept across their deck. The main target of these chain bombs was not to kill people, but to go straight to the masts and sail ropes on the ship. The most common ones on Western-style warships were all kinds of missiles.
Various sail ropes control all the sails on the ship, and they are as dense as a forest. Although the chain bomb may not be enough to cut off the mast at once, it is very effective against these sail ropes.
After the chain shells left the barrel, they immediately separated from the middle. The two semicircular shells were connected by an iron chain more than one meter long, whistling in the air. Whatever blocked them along the way, they would be struck like a sickle.
Normally, the sail ropes could not stop them from moving forward at all, and they were immediately cut off a lot. After the tight sail ropes were cut, they started to be whipped like whips.
Some people were unlucky. Although they were not hit by the cannonballs, they were accidentally hit by the cut sail ropes. The thick sail ropes were definitely not light. As long as they caught people, they could be whipped out immediately. Some people
He was even whipped and flew off the deck, screaming and falling into the icy sea.
Not to mention the sails on their ship, which were torn to pieces by cannonballs, began to lose the ability to provide power to the ship.
What's even more frightening is that although these clippers don't have very strong firepower, they are very fast. They fire at extremely fast speeds while continuing to approach the Dutch warship. Just when the distance between the two sides has narrowed to more than a hundred meters, from
Clusters of flames began roaring on their ship, and hundreds of rockets made a heart-shaking roar, flying towards the Dutch warship like clumps of fire rain.
These rockets are the swarm rockets that are rarely used by the Sea Wolf. Although these swarm rockets are not usually favored by Yu Xiaotian during naval battles and were not used much in the past, they still captured and manufactured a batch of them.
Such a swarm of rockets was also thrown into the battle this time.
But Sea Wolf's swarm of rockets are made with added materials. There is not only an actuating rocket on the arrow shaft, but also a cartridge in front of these rockets, but the nozzle is located in the front. As long as the accelerating rocket burns out,
, will ignite the cartridge at the front end. If the rocket hits the target at this time, the nozzle in front of the cartridge will emit a ball of flame.
This is actually an enhanced version of the incendiary rocket, specially used for arson. The wooden boat itself has a lot of combustibles. Whether it is the cable, the wooden boat itself, or even the sails on the boat, they are all things that can be ignited. As long as the rocket
When nailed to the target, the front end will emit flames. The burning temperature of gunpowder is very high, and it can often ignite things that are blocking them in front.
So the two Dutch ships became their targets, and the rockets rained down on their ships. Although the accuracy of this swarm was really poor, there must always be some of the hundreds of rockets.
It fell on the enemy ship, so as soon as they opened fire, the two Dutch ships immediately burst into flames. Although the flames were not large, they could not hold up much!
The rockets nailed wherever they touched. For a moment, the two Dutch ships seemed to be blooming, and suddenly they became bright and colorful. The Dutch were so startled that they hurriedly tried to put out the fires.
Until this time, the Dutch were not ready to fire back. Their gun doors had not been opened at this time. The gunners and sailors in the cabin were still in a daze, and they could not figure out their status for a while. They only knew that
They were beaten, and shells fell from time to time on the hull, making the inside of their cabin make a thumping sound like a drum.
The Feizihao clippers that were launched first were not willing to fight. After a fierce beating, they fired two or three rounds of shelling, emptying the swarm of rockets on the ship, and immediately began to leave the battlefield and sail into the darkness. At this time, some
Only the Dutch saw the one-way lanterns behind these Sea Wolf ships.
It was only then that Waite hurriedly ran from the cabin to the deck. With the help of a servant, he stumbled up the poop and quickly looked towards the sea.