On the morning of February 27, 1870, the river wind on the Paraná River, the second largest river in South America, mixed with the autumn moisture, blew in my ears.
On the river nearly five kilometers wide, the two fleets were like two long snakes, heading toward each other.
Standing on the control tower of the gunboat "Fearless", Du Guofeng looked calm. After giving the order to fight, the "Fearless" led twelve gunboats of the same class from the second dispatch team and sailed upstream.
The "Dreadnought-class" gunboat has a displacement of only 97.52 tons, a full load of only 155 tons, a length of 38 meters, a width of 4.04 meters, and a draft of 2.4 meters. It has a maximum speed of 21.7 knots, an endurance of 500 nautical miles, and a coal load of 15 tons. The crew on board is only
There are 30 people. This compact high-speed gunboat is actually designed according to the torpedo boat plan. Due to confidentiality reasons, in addition to the fixed launch tube on the bow, the twin torpedo launch tubes are not installed on the rear deck.
It was a gunboat, but it actually only had four 20mm Gatling guns on the side of the ship. In order to provide cover for the army troops, two mortars were temporarily installed.
Twelve gunboats, with a total tonnage of less than 1,200 tons, rushed towards the Brazilian fleet with a total tonnage of more than 6,300 tons. The strength gap between the two sides was more than five times. As for the personnel, there were only one "Amazon".
462 officers and soldiers,
Facing the autumn sunshine, the "Fearless" opened the way ahead, and the other "Flying" followed closely behind, and the fleet
On alert up and down, the gunners operated Gatling cannons with determined expressions and resolute eyes.
Behind them is the landing fleet, and in front of them is a huge fleet that is ten times their size. Once the war starts, the flames of war will inevitably dye the sky red. At this time, the ship is moving very slowly. The sailors are waiting in silence.
With.
At 9:12 in the morning, with the sound of a cannon fired by the coastal defense ship "Excellence", the silence on the Paraná River was broken.
"The Brazilians are firing!"
Although the shells were hitting the landing, at this moment, the heart that was originally raised in his throat dropped instead. Almost as soon as he saw the smoke, Du Guofeng yelled.
"Full speed ahead!"
The gunboats, which were originally sailing slowly, then began to accelerate. Amidst the roar of the steam engines, they were like sharp arrows on the water, sailing towards the Brazilian fleet in joy.
"They are so fast!"
Surprised, General Inacio stood on the command tower and shouted loudly.
"Gentlemen, respond with our cannon as a show of courage!"
The speed of twenty knots was not only amazing in this era, but also brought another effect. The Brazilian gunners found that it was not easy to aim at it. Although it was not easy, they still headed towards the gunboat approaching at high speed.
The cannon was fired.
With the firing of the "Amazon", the naval battle began.
When the distance between the two sides was fully 2.5 kilometers, the Brazilian fleet opened fire first. The deafening sound of the artillery echoed on the Paraná River. Twelve like sharp arrows dragged white waves towards the huge fleet.
White water jets exploded from time to time around the speedboat.
When a water column of more than ten meters high explodes, the water splash will always fall on the sailors, but all they do is wipe away the river water. They do not feel any threat at all.
"Notice!"
Li Tao, who was soaked all over, roared, the streamer on the back of his navy cap fluttering, and his eyes stared at the enemy ship through the aiming ring.
"One armor-piercing round, two explosive rounds, adjust the magazine!"
While the ammunition hand was adjusting the shells in the magazine, the Brazilian fleet was still firing. However, because their shells had timed fuses, the shells often only exploded when they sank to the bottom of the river. The explosions turned over the river mud, leaving
The originally clear river surface became turbid.
"Sir, their gunboats are too fast and our cannons can't hit them accurately!"
With a firing rate of one round per minute, it is almost impossible to intercept these high-speed gunboats. Inacio, who once defeated the Paraguayan Navy on this river, gave the direct order.
"Use shrapnel, sail at full speed, and carry out ramming operations!"
Just like defeating the Paraguayans on the Paraná River five years ago, Inacio once again chose to ram. His conceit was not only because of the small tonnage of the enemy ship, but more importantly because the "Amazon" used an iron keel as a
The core of the wooden hull hull is extremely strong compared to the wooden keel.
When the Brazilian fleet accelerated and tried to use ramming tactics to sink these small boats, their gunners were not idle, and directly replaced the explosive shells with shrapnel shells. For the extremely slow firing rate of the artillery, shrapnel shells and
Shotguns are the best choice for dealing with small targets at high speeds.
The roaring artillery shells exploded one after another in mid-air. In the smoke of several explosions, like a goddess scattering flowers, thousands of cannonballs whizzed towards the front, and the cannonballs sprayed water on the river like raindrops.
, while the shotguns hit the water, the sound of metal collisions was heard one after another on the gunboat. When the shotguns hit the hull, some sailors were directly penetrated by the shotguns. For a while, the deck was filled with bright red.
"Medical soldier, medical soldier..."
Medics were shouting and walking across the deck, treating injured sailors.
Although a shotgun blast almost hit his scalp, Du Guofeng still stood motionless on the command tower.
In naval battles, commanders must overcome the fear of death before they can calmly command warships in combat.
"One shelling per minute..."
For iron-hulled "dreadnought boats", apart from some casualties, the threat from shotguns is almost negligible. What is the biggest threat?
Gatling gun!
Brazilian warships also have Gatling guns. They may be made in the United States or South China. Who knows?
The Gatling gun may not be able to sink the dreadnought, but it can definitely wash the deck! It will "bloodbath" all the sailors on the deck.
Moreover, the Gatling guns on those big ships are located high up, making them perfect for washing decks.
But...the range of a cannon is definitely longer than that of a machine gun!
With a full 800 meters to go, Du Guofeng, who was leading the way, raised his lips slightly and revealed a cruel sneer on his face.
"Concentrate your firepower and aim at the Amazon!"
The gunners, who had been waiting for a long time, used the help of the shoulder stock to aim at the "Amazon" frigate that was charging ahead and shook the handle.
Amidst the rapid gunfire, the steel cannonballs roared out of the barrel and flew towards the enemy ship eight hundred meters away in a nearly straight trajectory.
Although the distance is very long, using a Gatling machine gun to attack a large target like the "Amazon" frigate, which is 57 meters long and ten meters wide, does not even require aiming.
Amidst the rapid sound of artillery, a dense burst of artillery shells hit the bow of the "Amazon" one after another. The moment the shells hit the bow, clouds of debris exploded out of the twenty centimeter-thick side plates.
But in just the blink of an eye, the bow of the ship, which had been hit by hundreds of shots, became riddled with holes. The bow girder in front of the ship's bow was directly broken in the successive explosions.
Some roaring shells passed through the broken bow of the ship, passed along the deck and hit the mast, handrails and even rigging. When they exploded, the flying shrapnel immediately set off a bloody storm on the deck. The whistling fragments were on the deck and in the cabin.
Pieces of flesh and blood were torn into pieces.
Some shells hit the waterline without any bias. For a warship, this was the most fatal blow.
Although the weight of the 20mm high-explosive projectile is only 130 grams, and the charge is only 10 grams, after the projectile is ejected from the chamber, it will explode immediately if it touches any target, even though the hull of the "Amazon" is made of more than 20 centimeters thick
It is made of tropical hardwood, but it is very effective when the 20mm cannonball hits the wooden ship plank and the soundboard shatters. When the cannonball drilled into the plank explodes, holes the size of a bowl are opened on the ship's side, and the river water
Immediately poured into the bow of the ship.
Although the holes may not look big, they are not huge. However, in the blink of an eye, hundreds of holes were drilled into the bow of the "Amazon".
When the explosions like raindrops exploded on the hull of the ship, the Brazilian sailors were really frightened.
"They actually have cannons!"
Not only does it have a cannon, but it shoots extremely fast!
What are the cannons on their ship?
Or a gun?
"Damn it, the South Chinese actually violated international public law and made small artillery shells..."
Admiral Inacio, who was stunned by this round of intensive artillery fire from the Nanhua gunboat, was still as calm as before. After all, the bow of his boat had been beaten to pieces.
It's obviously mine that has the advantage.
How did you become such a ghost?
It must be because of their weapons!
For this reason, he even accused Nanhua of violating international public law - in December 1868, the great powers signed an agreement in St. Petersburg, Russia, which prohibited the use of explosive projectiles weighing less than 400 grams.
However, now it is nonsense to accuse South China of violating public international law - South China is not a signatory at all. It does not need to abide by the so-called international law at all.
In just one face-to-face encounter, the bow of the frigate "Amazon" that had been charging at high speed was shattered into pieces.
Although the power of the small cannonballs could only blast holes as big as a bowl on the ship's deck, the river water was constantly pouring into the cabin. Under the explosion of the cannonballs and the impact of the water flow, the densely packed small holes turned into large holes.
, the "Amazon" frigate, which had a large amount of water on its bow, sank a little in just a few minutes.
The high-speed impact of the "dreadnought boat" did not stop shooting. With his left shoulder against the shoulder rest, Li Tao kept shaking the handle with his right hand while adjusting the shooting direction as the target moved. Amidst the deafening sound of gunfire, Li Tao fired one 20mm shell after another.
, hitting the deck of the "Amazon" frigate like a battering ram. Although the Brazilian damage control team sailors tried their best to rescue the warship, the armor-piercing shells that penetrated the ship's deck set off a firestorm among the sailors.