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Chapter 434 On the Battle of Manila

"Every ship is ready to launch torpedoes." The fleet advanced all the way to about one thousand meters from the Spanish fleet. Du Hang gave the order to launch torpedoes.

Just now, the fleet's main guns had fired shells at the Spanish fleet in the port.

Fortunately for Du Hang, Spain's response was much slower than he thought.

This is not in line with the basic qualities of a powerful navy.

Du Hang didn't know that the main officers of the Spanish fleet had attended the celebration dinner organized by the Governor of Luzon last night.

Many officers are still sleeping with beauties in their arms in a hungover state.

Without the command of the chief officer, the Spanish fleet would naturally not be able to respond quickly.

"Weigh anchor, Yang Fan, prepare to fight." On the dock, after the alarm bell sounded, the Spanish fleet also moved under the command of the temporary commander.

It's just that it's not easy for a battleship to move while it's parked.

It was the small warships that moved first.

"Aim and shoot at the protruding enemy cruiser." At the beginning, Du Hang's order was to shoot freely at the warships on the dock.

This is done to disrupt the enemy's mobilization and allow the opponent's fleet to stay in the port.

The Santa Maria frigate was the first to rush out of the port. This small frigate was only a supporting role in the entire Spanish fleet.

With a tonnage of more than 500 tons, it looks smaller than the Jianghe class, but precisely because of its small size, it can flexibly rush out of the port.

Two Jianghe-class frigates aimed their guns at it at the same time.

Unlike sail battleships, ironclad ships mainly rely on the main guns on the deck to fire.

The Santa Maria attempted to approach the First Fleet, cut across diagonally, and then fired with her broadsides.

"Boom..." Several shells exploded into huge splashes of water around the Santa Maria.

From a distance, the artillery caliber of the First Fleet did not seem to be large, but I did not expect it to be so powerful.

"Change to armor-piercing bullets!" Captain Liu Siyang ordered on board the Huaihe. The Renaissance Army's armor-piercing bullets are actually solid eggs, but they are no longer large round iron balls, but solid bullets with pointed tips.

If the wooden frigate on the opposite side takes one shot, it will definitely be a heartbreaking result.

On the Santa Maria, Captain Diego looked at the flying steel battleship opposite and couldn't help but feel a little lost.

He didn't understand why these enemy warships rushed straight to the dock. Did they fight against the battleships?

Although the battleships on the dock have not yet come out, many of the battleships' cannons already have shooting angles.

The strange thing is that although these enemy steam battleships are fast and made of steel, they have too few cannons.

It seems they only had eight guns on each ship.

The 500-ton Santa Maria has 14 guns on board.

With a "boom", Captain Diego felt his battleship vibrate violently. An armor-piercing bomb penetrated through the bow of the ship, leaving a huge hole in the bow.

He thought the shell was blocked by the cabin.

"Captain, it's bad, the bottom of the ship is leaking." A sailor reported.

Captain Diego went down to the cabin and discovered that the cannonball had penetrated the bottom compartment and left a huge hole in the bottom of the ship.

"Abandon the ship!" The hole was too big, and the captain could only give the order to abandon the ship.

At this time, the shore defense guns on the shore had also responded.

Artillery fired shells at the First Fleet one after another, although most of the shells failed to hit the warships of the First Fleet.

But there are more of them.

The artillery on some battleships in the port also began to fire.

The First Fleet is already about 1,500 meters away from the port.

If you can advance another 500 meters, you can launch the torpedo.

At this time, the eight First Fleet frigates on the sea were like heavy infantry charging in armor.

They didn't care about the incoming shells.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Several shells exploded around the USS Mexico battleship at the same time, and one shell even hit the deck, causing a large section of the sailors who were busy on the deck to fall down.

This once again slowed down the warship's departure from the port.

"Damn it, send someone to support the deck. Let the warship move quickly and teach these damn flies a lesson."

He believed that with the hundreds of artillery pieces on the Mexico, a single salvo could bring down such a small frigate.

In the eyes of Pablo, the captain of the USS Mexico, the steam battleships rushing across were nothing more than frigates.

Even if he has eight ships, he is not necessarily a match for one battleship.

"Plop...Plop" The Huaihe frigate at the front was the first to enter the range of the torpedoes. He turned around and exposed his side. Two torpedoes slid out from the long launch barrel on the side deck.

The torpedo's engines started simultaneously.

Two streaks of snow-white water suddenly appeared in the water.

This action did not even attract the attention of the Spaniards.

"Continue the bombardment!" the captain ordered after firing the torpedoes.

Although the number of Jianghe-class naval guns is small, they can fire in any direction.

Following the Huaihe, several other warships behind also fired their first wave of torpedoes.

A total of sixteen torpedoes slid out of sixteen snow-white water lines and quickly hit the dock in a fan shape.

Now the dock is densely packed with Spanish warships.

The guns of the First Fleet continued to fire.

At the same time, they were also bearing the baptism of Spanish cannonballs.

The originally brand-new battleship armor had some dents hit by Spanish cannonballs.

After these damaged armors are returned, they will have to go to the shipyard to be replaced.

Seeing his beloved ship being disfigured, Du Hang felt very unhappy.

However, he was also very pleased that his warships could really withstand the enemy's bombardment.

So far, no battleship has suffered major damage.

"There's something in the water!" a sailor on the USS Mexico shouted loudly, pointing to the distant sea.

Many people looked towards the sea and saw what seemed to be a shark spitting white bubbles in the water and rushing straight towards the Spanish fleet on the dock.

The speed of the thing in the water was so fast that it rushed to the front in an instant.

The Spanish navy officers and soldiers had never seen anything like it.

Although naval warfare weapons such as mines have long appeared, there are also ways to attack warships in the water.

But I have never seen anything like this that can move quickly through water on its own.

It's like putting a warhead on a fish.

"Boom..." A loud noise came from the bottom of the Mexico.

The sailors on the ship seemed to feel the battleship bounce up and then fall again.

Immediately, the three to four thousand ton battleship began to tilt, and then began to sink at an alarming speed.

No one thought that things in the water could be so powerful.

Not only the USS Mexico, but also the battleship USS Galicia, which was only a hundred meters away, was also concentrated.

In the first wave of attacks, only two of the sixteen torpedoes missed the target and sank at the dock when their energy was exhausted.

There were also two torpedoes that did not explode, perhaps because of malfunctions.

But twelve torpedoes still caused unbearable losses to the Spanish fleet.

A total of four battleships and three cruisers were sunk.

The sunken battleships made the dock even more chaotic. Because the sunken battleships were relatively outside, some even blocked the main waterway.

Early in the morning, the commander of the Spanish fleet was awakened from his sleep.

In fact, no one needed to shout. He had already heard the sound of shelling at sea from his residence in the port.

As a general who has led the military at sea for many years, Severa is very sensitive to the sound of shelling.

The first thing he thought of was a sneak attack by the Renaissance Army.

What if the Renaissance Navy that had just escaped with its tail between its legs came back to launch a surprise attack?

He was not very worried. As for the opponent's four main cruisers, they were no match for the Spanish fleet even in the case of a sneak attack.

The gap in strength between the two sides is too great.

"Send someone to wake up all the officers staying overnight on the shore. I want them all to return to their fighting positions within ten minutes." This was the first order given by Severa after he got up.

He himself put on the admiral's uniform under the service of his servants, and then took a carriage to the dock.

The carriage quickly drove to a three-story castle-like building on the dock. From the roof of this building, you can see the entire scene on the dock.

At this time, the battle had begun, and Severa had no way to return to the battleship to take command.

Moreover, he also felt that there was no need to personally direct the battle. The opponent's strength was not worthy of his own action.

After reaching the top of the building, Severa took the telescope handed over by the guard.

Nearby, the warships of the Spanish fleet were weighing anchor and sailing, preparing to leave the harbor to fight.

He moved the telescope into the distance, where eight warships were rushing towards the dock at an alarming speed.

These warships all look the same, with no masts, slender hulls, and the deck is very close to the water. Some of them look like fast cruisers, and their tonnage seems to be higher than that of frigates.

There are two large chimneys distributed in the middle of these warships, and the front and rear decks are smooth, each with two cannons.

Those artillery pieces were very strange. They actually had two barrels arranged side by side.

Moreover, these artillery pieces seem to be fixed on the deck. The rivets on the warships can be seen that these warships are covered with a thick layer of armor.

Many countries in Europe are already trying to cover warships with armor. There is nothing unusual about this.

However, Seravi could tell that the warships coming from the opposite side were not simply covered with armor. Their warships seemed to be made entirely of steel.

Another thing that shocked Seravi was the opponent's speed.

He felt that the speed of the ship seemed to have exceeded twenty knots. It was difficult for even the fastest clipper ships in the world to reach such a speed.

But now the eight steel battleships on the opposite side are charging at a speed of more than 20 knots.

Like light cavalry on the sea.

Finally, the battleship on the opposite side seemed to have entered the firing range, and their bow cannons began to fire.

The barrel of this kind of artillery is longer than the one Seravi knew.

Seravi has a certain understanding of artillery and knows that extending the barrel of an artillery can increase the range.

Seravi saw the explosive shells fired from the opposite side hitting the deck of his own warship, causing chaos among the sailors on the deck.

Seeing such a scene, Selavi felt slightly relieved. Such powerful artillery could not pose much threat to the battleship.

Battleship duels at sea often involve the firing of thousands of artillery pieces.

Even so, in the end it is difficult to determine the outcome of the war because of shelling.

Because they often fight for several hours without achieving any results.

Because battleships not only have strong firepower, but also generally have thick skin and thick flesh.

Even if a battleship bombards a battleship, it is very difficult to sink it.

Although the explosive shells fired by the enemy ships on the opposite side are not weak, they can only clear the deck.

At this time, several light warships had already rushed towards the enemy ships fearlessly.

Seravi hoped that these small warships could hold back eight enemy warships.

He knew that with the enemy's speed, there was no way his battleships could catch up with them.

If the opponent adopts a one-shot-and-run strategy, it will definitely cause a lot of trouble for the Spaniards.

However, these light warships were sunk before they could reach each other. The power of the opponent's armor-piercing projectiles seemed not weak.

Because of the use of smokeless gunpowder, the guns on the Jianghe-class frigates can fire heavier armor-piercing warheads.

The power of an armor-piercing projectile depends on the muzzle velocity of the warhead and the weight of the warhead.

At the same time, Seravi also noticed that the opponent's artillery was mounted on the deck. Although the number was small, their artillery was very flexible, and the muzzle could rotate almost 360 degrees.

Anyone who can design such a battleship must be a master of design with a broad imagination.

Selawi knows that a lot of technology needs to be used.

For example, how do they solve the problem of artillery recoil? The artillery in Spanish battleships are tied with heavy cables.

After each shot is fired, the artillery will bounce to the rear, and then the artillery will clean the barrel and reload the ammunition.

Then use the rope and the pulley on the rope to pull the artillery to its original position.

But no one could be seen near the opponent's artillery. Seravi knew that the opponent's people were hiding in the fortress-like turret behind the gun barrel.

It is certain that the opponent is using a breech-loaded cannon.

Selawi heard that the British were developing breech-loading cannons, but the results didn't seem to be very good.

The Navy is not interested in this kind of artillery with poor air sealing properties. Moreover, the breech-loading gun is not very convenient to use in the gun room of the battleship.

The opponent's warships were still charging forward, and the artillery on the Manila Port coastal defense artillery position on the shore also began to fire.

The accuracy of shooting is not good, not because the shore artillery is not good enough.

But the accuracy of current artillery is not satisfactory, and the opponent's warship target is relatively small and extremely fast, which also makes shooting difficult.

However, with such intensive shooting, some shells still hit the enemy warships.

At this time, a scene occurred that surprised Seravi. The cannonball was bounced off the enemy's warship.

It seems that the armor can indeed withstand artillery shells.

This conclusion was first experimented by the British. At that time, many people still scorned the practice of adding armor to the outside of battleships.

Now Selawi saw the real scene.

However, he still didn't understand why the opponent's warship continued to move forward.

The opponent has obviously entered the shooting range.

You can completely use artillery to shoot at the port from further away.

What's the point of getting closer and risking being hit by shore defense artillery?

At this time, the First Fleet gave him the answer.

He saw a long closed iron pipe on the side of the opposing warship, and then something slid into the water.

After taking something into the water, a large number of bubbles will appear, and then rush towards your battleship underwater at an extremely fast speed.

"What is this?" Seravi asked in his mind.

The answer will soon be revealed.

After a few thousand tons of battleships under his command were hit by this thing.

There was a violent explosion at the bottom of the ship.

Then the warship was gently lifted.

Some warships seemed to be broken directly into two pieces.

Just one of these things cost a battleship costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This should be a moving mine. Its power seems to exceed that of many mines.

In addition to shock, Selavi's biggest feeling at this time was distress.

Several battleships were wiped out at once. How could Seravi not feel distressed?

It seemed that the enemy was not ready to give up yet. They pretended to be around, and then exposed the other side of the battleship. Then something happened and the sixteen water lines quickly collided with the Spanish fleet in the port.

ps: I won’t say anything anymore. I stayed up half the night to write the manuscript. After asking for votes, I went to bed. Good morning!


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