Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Nine Dragons Are Drought, People Are Chaos
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The Ming warships turned their sails and moved forward. The iron hook chains were cut off one by one with an axe, and the two ships separated.
When the smoke dissipated, Wu Liuqi raised his head and glared at the enemy ship. His leg was injured by shrapnel and blood was flowing down. There were dead bodies and wounded people lying on the deck, and groans and screams filled his ears.
A row of Ming army sailors rose from the edge of the warship's deck, stretching out black gun barrels. At an order, the gunshots rang out like exploding beans.
Several lead bullets shot bloody flowers on Wu Liuqi's body, but he remained unyielding, his eyes wide open with anger, and he seemed to be yelling curses, but his moans were unclear. Blood kept pouring out of his mouth, and he reluctantly moved forward.
Taking a step forward, the strong body collapsed.
The close-range artillery bombardment caused the ship to suffer a fatal blow, capsized and sank. Although Wu Liuqi was the commander-in-chief, he was no different from ordinary Qing soldiers and was tragically buried at the bottom of the sea.
Death is fair to everyone, and you will not be rewarded with dignity because of your high position. Not to mention Wu Liuqi, even the British naval god Nelson was killed by an unknown French soldier in a naval battle.
Kill the gun.
There were constant gunshots on the deck of the "Hailong", and the shouts of killing were loud. After successively smashing the attempts of several Qing warships to engage in board battle, a Qing warship finally came up and locked it with an iron chain.
The bowsprit of the "Sea Dragon" was forced onto the deck.
"Fire!" Duan Zhiying roared and pulled the trigger. White smoke burst out in front of him and beside him. He saw the brave Qing army officer opposite him stopped as if he had been hit by a heavy punch. His body swayed and he collapsed.
Go down.
More Ming sailors rushed out of the cabin. Under the command of Li Wangshan, they fired at the Qing soldiers on the deck, and then rushed forward with bayonets in the rising white smoke. There were shouts of killing and screams. The bayonets penetrated the flesh.
The thud of the gun and the roar of the artillery below the deck fully demonstrated the cruelty of the battle.
The "Hailong" shook away from the enemy ship, its portholes were damaged, its main mast was broken, and it could only sail on its mizzen mast. Duan Zhiying commanded the damaged warship to turn hard, retreating to his own front while continuing to
Guns and artillery fired, and the battle continued.
The assault detachment pushed forward tenaciously, compressing the space outside the port. As the clearing ships that rushed out of the port suffered heavy losses, those who subsequently left the port formed a refueling tactic. Instead of forming a numerical advantage, they fought fewer and fewer ships.
Three bright warships suddenly passed through the gap in the battle line, rushing into the battle zone like an unstoppable tiger, firing volleys of guns and rampaging. Seeing that the number of enemy ships was greatly reduced, Yang Yandi transferred the three warships from the mobile detachment.
Rescue two of our own warships that were surrounded.
The fierce attack made the Qing warships on the verge of collapse dare not resist, and the siege on the "Hailong" and "Sea Lion" was quickly broken up. The three warships towed, protecting the two friendly ships and sailing downwind. Back to
Behind the battle line. At this time, the two warships that rushed into the battle had suffered considerable damage, and there were also heavy casualties. The decks were full of flesh and blood, corpses and wounded people, but the military flag was nailed to the only remaining mast, still
Flying in the hunt.
The battle had lasted for more than two hours. The more than ten Qing ships outside the port had no intention of fighting anymore. After receiving the order to retreat, they turned around and returned to the port.
The person who issued the order to retreat was Xu Long, who had been promoted from Nanyang Vice-General to Chaozhou Commander-in-Chief. He was now the highest-ranking Qing officer in the port. He saw clearly that as the space outside the port continued to shrink, our own ships leaving the port to fight
It is difficult to form a numerical advantage, but the open ships have a huge advantage in size and firepower, so forced combat can only result in constant losses.
Xu Long hoped that the Ming warships could pursue the victory and fall into the natural trap he expected. In the narrow harbor, the Ming warships would be unable to maneuver due to their large and bulky bodies, while the Qing warships could exert their full potential.
With the advantages of small size, fast speed, strong maneuverability and shallow draft, it carried out siege on Ming army ships.
However, the Ming fleet did not rush to pursue the retreating enemy ships as they expected. Instead, they adjusted their formation, slowly pressed forward, and firmly blocked the port.
Xu Long felt disappointed, but not desperate. He looked up at the sky and observed the wind direction again. He narrowed his eyes slightly, sent out his own soldiers, and invited the generals from various ministries to come to the meeting.
………………
The sound of artillery finally stopped, but the diffuse smoke and the thick smell of gunpowder still hung over the battlefield. Blood stained the sea surface red, and some ships were still burning.
After a great battle, the Ming army suffered more than 500 casualties, and the Qing army suffered several times more casualties. Thirty-one Qing ships were sunk and eight were captured. The number of casualties is hard to estimate. The Ming army seriously injured two ships.
, six ships were slightly damaged, none of them sank, and they still have combat effectiveness.
More importantly, the assault detachment achieved the best result through heroic fighting. The original plan had a backup plan, that is, the assault detachment could not achieve the surprise effect and the operation to close the port failed. They had to fight and leave to clear the country.
The warships were led to the open sea and joined forces with the main fleet to attack. If the Qing army did not pursue, they would patrol around the port and wait for the main fleet to arrive before the decisive battle.
Comparing these three results, the first one is naturally the best. Whether it is an open sea siege or a decisive battle, there may not be a 100% guarantee of victory. Only the first one, sealing the enemy ships in the harbor, can ensure victory.
Although they have reached the first step of success, Yang Yandi and others still dare not take it lightly.
In the era of wooden sailing ships, that is, before the emergence of ironclads, fire ships were sent to float down the wind to the enemy ships, igniting the enemy ships, causing them to burn or lose their combat effectiveness. This was called a fire attack. Although this method of warfare is ancient, it can be regarded as a
A feasible (but not necessarily the most effective) tactic and widely used.
However, no tactics are guaranteed to be effective, and the same is true for fire attacks. Fire ships float with the wind. If the wind direction is wrong or the enemy warships can avoid it, the danger of fire attacks can be easily eliminated.
After giving the order, the Ming fleet immediately began to prepare. At this time, the wind direction was favorable for the Qing army to launch a fire attack, but the Qing army needed to make some arrangements, such as mobilizing fire ships, readjusting the order and number of ships in the harbor, etc.
, seizing the time to take precautions is undoubtedly very important to ensure the victory. It is foolish to hope that the wind direction will change soon.
The prisoners of the Qing army were concentrated in the cabins of the severely damaged "Hailong" and "Sea Lion". The two warships slowly sailed away, and under the protection of the "Haiying", they left the battlefield to rest. The eight captured ships
The Qing warships and the small sampans put down on each warship formed two fire defense lines.
Then, eight light warships were arranged in the middle of the two fire lines, responsible for blocking enemy ships leaving the port, and their maneuverability could flexibly avoid the fire ships that slipped through the net; the heavy warships were divided into two, one in the second line
Behind the fire defense line, it can both strengthen the blockade and reinforce the light warships in front; the other one consists of six warships and is deployed on the flank of the defense line, that is, on the side of the land on the right side of the port. They can attack according to the opportunity, wedge
Between the enemy ships entering and leaving the port, fire left and right to attack the enemy and block the port.
The Ming army's deployment has been completed, and the sky has darkened. Although they are well prepared, eating and resting are still essential, but the sentries and surveillance ships will have to work harder.
Time passed quietly, and the Qing army's fire attack still did not appear. The Ming army generals were suspicious and guessed, wondering what the Qing army was doing.
As the saying goes: when there are dragons and drought, there is chaos among people. Yang Yandi and others did not expect that the Qing navy in the harbor was responding to this saying, and its actions were suspiciously slow.
Although the Qing Army's Guangdong Navy has more than 400 ships in total, there are less than 300 that can handle naval battles. In addition, Jieshi Suli made excuses to delay, and each battalion stayed behind to guard the garrison. The number of ships assembled in the harbor was only
One hundred and eighty-three ships. Well, there should only be about one hundred and thirty ships that can fight now.
And this is not the most important thing. The key is that these ships belong to various water camps. Although Xu Long has the highest official position, with the title of Commander-in-Chief and Commander, and the navy under him is also the most combat-effective, in fact, he lacks the title of Commander-in-Chief.
.
The Superintendent of the Navy is in charge of the Navy Camp, Sihui Camp, and Xinhui Camp; the Huizhou Vice Admiral is in charge of the Xiangshan Left and Right Camps, the Shunde Left and Right Camps, the Dapeng Left and Right Camps, and the Chixi Left and Right Camps.
Battalion, Qingyuan Youying, Guanghai Zhaiying, Yongjing Camp, etc.; there are also "local troops" Nan'ao Town Youying (the left camp belongs to Fujian), Chenghaixie, Haimen Camp, Dahao Camp, Jieshi Town Biao 3rd Battalion, Pingding
Haiying, Guishan City Shouying, Chaozhou Town Biaosanying, Raoping Town Biaosanying, Huanggang Xiezuo and Youying, Gaolian Town govern Yangjiangying, Dianbaiying, Jiezhouying, Dongshanying, etc.
Enough and enough chaos! Because of this, although Xu Long’s fire attack tactics were recognized by everyone, there were endless arguments about the details. Which ship should be transferred from which ship should be changed into a fire ship? What if the fire ship tactics
Success, the order in which the ministries should leave the port to break out of the encirclement; after the breakout, should they continue to fight with the Ming fleet, or should they gather somewhere and then attempt to counterattack...
It involves the decline of the strength of the troops, or even life and death; and they are worried that if they break out first, they will suffer a heavy blow, and if they break out later, they will not get the support of the friendly forces who are out of danger... The generals of each department have different thoughts and ideas. Especially.
Many officers came from pirates and only had their own plans. Sometimes they were stubborn and sometimes changed their original intentions, which made Xu Long feel helpless and resentful in his heart.
Idiots, a bunch of idiots, don't you know that the wind direction on the sea is changeable, and the opportunity for fire attack is very rare? They argue and fight, and when the wind direction changes, they will still attack with fire!
Xu Long didn't know how many times he got up and went to the cabin door to watch the flag and check the wind direction. Everyone was still holding on to their own opinions, competing to get fatter and thinner, and even blushed and slapped the table and glared. The anger in his heart was getting higher and higher.
Gao, I really can't hold it down anymore.
"That's enough!" A roar rang out in the cabin, suppressing the endless quarrel. Xu Long strode back to the desk, clapped his palms hard, stared at the generals who were looking at each other in astonishment, and said through gritted teeth
: "When I go out on a fire ship, I'll take care of all the work you don't want to do. How about it? How about it? Are you still making a fucking fuss?"