A fleet of twenty warships has never been seen in the waters surrounding South Amelia.
If the other side had not only had two battleships, then the scale of this naval battle must be the largest in the history of South Amelia.
There are as many as 13 powerful naval warships in the combined fleet.
Otherwise, Enqadara would not have become the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet.
The huge combined fleet was like a big net, covering the Donghua Fleet.
On the "Fuyuan", Nie Dahua also discovered a small Buenos Clipper.
This is a flying shear ship equipped with auxiliary power and is very fast.
In order to pursue speed, there are no weapons and equipment on this ship.
There are such reconnaissance ships in various countries.
Nie Dahua could recognize him at a glance.
"Commander, it seems that the host is ready to open the door to welcome guests. You can see that the waiters have been sent out." Captain Liu Zhongyun said with a smile.
Everyone has long been aware of the possible interception.
The previous battle with Busi Navy had allowed Donghua Navy to find out the background of the navies of various countries in South Amelia.
Because there is a hostile relationship between Busi's navy and the navies of the independent Spanish countries.
The fact that they can maintain a balance between them shows that they are almost equal in terms of combat power.
According to Nie Dahua's judgment, the overall level of South Amelia's navy is similar to that of the Europa Navy at the beginning of this century.
The battleship is basically a pure sailing battleship. The artillery is still breech-loaded, and the shells are mainly solid bullets, and are also equipped with some exploding bullets imported from Europa.
The large-caliber naval guns on the battleships are very powerful and will cause damage to the Donghua Navy's hull.
However, they did not have specialized armor-piercing projectiles, and it was difficult for the shells to penetrate the Donghua Navy's armor.
This is the source of Nie Dahua's confidence.
"Guess how many warships they will send this time?" Nie Dahua asked with a smile.
The entire fleet has entered combat reload.
But the fleet did not turn, but continued along the established route.
There is nothing fancy about the heavily armored knight's attack. As long as there is open flat land in front of you, then just charge!
If you can't disperse the enemy once, then go back and charge a few more times.
In this naval battle, Nie Dahua was not prepared to show mercy.
If you have the opportunity to annihilate the enemy at once, you should seize it.
It will be difficult to get each other together next time.
If they spread out to fight guerrillas, Donghua's long coastline cannot be defended by just two Donghua warships.
According to Nie Dahua's pre-war deductions, the enemy would definitely assemble a coalition force to intercept them halfway out of caution.
The offshore area at the mouth of the La Plata River is undoubtedly the best ambush location.
Because it is far enough away from Donghua.
Even if the combined fleet cannot sink the two Donghua Navy warships, as long as they are damaged or their coal is exhausted, the two warships will be completely unable to return to Donghua.
Nie Dahua can think of this, and so can the enemy.
"I estimate there must be twenty or thirty ships anyway!" Liu Zhongyun said.
"The only ones that can use their navies to block our way now are the Republic of Buenos and the Republic of Chile. Uruguay is a vassal of the Busi Empire and has no navy at all. According to our intelligence, the naval ships of these two countries have increased.
There are less than thirty ships in total. Putting aside some small ships that are not suitable for distant sea operations, the number of combat ships they can produce should be around twenty." Liu Zhongyun analyzed.
Liu Zhongyun did not learn the naval intelligence of various countries in vain at the Royal Naval Academy of the Great Empire.
"Hehe, one to ten, this is really a feast. This time you and the 'Zhenyuan' don't have to compete for credit. Such a feast is not enough for you two!" Nie Dahua said with a sneer.
Liu Zhongyun did not answer, but a fiery light bloomed in his eyes.
Battleships also have their own lifespan, and the achievements each battleship can achieve during its effective combat career will be written into its resume.
As a captain, his honor is tied to the battleship.
Although Liu Zhongyun will also manage new warships in the future.
But as the first battleship and first partner in his career.
The performance of the "Fuyuan" will undoubtedly follow Liu Zhongyun for a lifetime.
Just ten nautical miles south of the Donghua Fleet, the South Amelia Combined Fleet has formed a battle formation and is advancing.
"Your Excellency, Commander, after the Donghua Fleet discovered our picket ship, it did not turn around, but moved forward along the original course. Now we are traveling opposite each other." Fleet Staff Officer Marcon Traore said.
"Traore, let the fleet maintain a double column, and let General Kohler lead the Buenos Navy to maneuver five nautical miles behind the fleet. The driver will intercept the Donghua Fleet."
General Coller was the commander of the Buenos Navy.
Although Encadala is the commander of the entire combined fleet, the Buenos Navy only temporarily joined forces with the Chili Navy because of a common enemy, so there must be some gaps in command.
Enkadala felt that the Donghua fleet was rushing towards them at this time, and they must be trying to take advantage of the speed of the steam warships to directly attack the sea defense line they had set up.
Enkadala also did his homework. He found a lot of news from Europe and learned some parameters of the warships of the Donghua Fleet.
He knew that the opponent's speed was much faster than that of a sailing battleship, and that it was less affected by the wind. In addition, the armored ship's protective power was also very strong.
The opponent is likely to use the protective power of the ironclad ship to directly penetrate the defense line set up by itself.
When the time comes, with the headwind heading south, these sail warships under my command will definitely not be able to catch up with them.
So he set up an echelon tactic. Not only did the entire fleet become a column, lengthening the depth of the defense line. At the same time, he asked General Kohler to lead the Buenos Navy to form a second echelon of defense line in the south.
The purpose of his arrangement was to keep the Donghua Fleet. According to the ratio of ten to one, even if he endured the loss of some warships, he would still severely damage the opponent.
Enkadara believed that even the steel armor would fall apart under the continuous bombardment of artillery shells.
And he knew that the coal carried by the opponent's warships was not enough for them to reach Donghua.
Naval battles will increase the coal consumption on their battleships, further consuming their coal reserves.
While Enkadara was making arrangements, the distance between the fleets of both sides was also constantly getting closer.
The two ships "Fuyuan" and "Zhenyuan" have already joined, and their sharp bows split the waves like blades.
"Commander, the opponent is coming. It seems to be similar to Busi's navy formation, also in double columns." Liu Zhongyun put down the telescope in his hand, turned to look at Nie Dahua and said.
"Isn't this good? Let's follow the old tactics. But this time we must try our best to wipe out the enemy. Keeping these enemy ships will be a disaster in the future," Nie Dahua said.
Facing the enemy's group fight, Nie Dahua showed no panic at all.
Not only him, but all the officers and soldiers in the fleet were very calm.
They had just experienced a naval battle. There was still smoke on the sides of the battleship that could not be washed away.
After the baptism of the battle with Busi Navy, the officers and soldiers of Donghua Navy discovered their own advantages and the enemy's weaknesses.
So now no matter how many enemies come, they can deal with them calmly.
"Commander, the Zhenyuan sent a signal, and they requested that they be allowed to take the lead this time."
Liu Zhongyun actually did not want to report this signal to Nie Dahua.
The "Zhenyuan" is obviously here to grab the credit. It's just that now he still serves as the fleet's staff officer, and he has to take responsibility for his responsibilities.
"Haha, it looks like you are very reluctant. Let them go. There will be a lot of naval battles today, and no one will be short of credit." Nie Dahua could see Liu Zhongyun's little thoughts at a glance.
A burst of thick smoke came out of the chimney of the "Zhenyuan", and then it became faster and faster, and the speed soon soared to twice its original speed.
It passed by the "Fuyuan", and the two warships began to re-form.
"Tell the 'Zhenyuan' to use the 'Fuyuan''s calibrated firing as a signal to launch a concentrated attack on the enemy fleet." Nie Dahua ordered.
The purpose of this naval battle was to destroy the enemy, and the style of fighting was different from the naval battle with Busey.
Although there were only two warships, Nie Dahua could also use his own maneuverability to form a local firepower advantage and knock out the opponent's warships one by one.
In the naval battle with Busi Navy, although everyone in Busi Navy was injured in the end, only one warship was really seriously damaged.
At this time, the speed of Donghua Navy has reached fifteen knots, and the speed of the combined fleet coming from the south has also reached ten knots.
The two sides were approaching at a speed of twenty-five knots. Soon they could clearly see each other.
"It's so fast!" Enkadala couldn't help but sigh.
The two huge bodies made of steel make the "Fuyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ships look like two steel fortresses floating on the sea.
The most critical thing is that the speed of these two steel fortresses has exceeded fifteen knots. This speed is fully half higher than the combined fleet he led.
They encountered the same problem as Busi's navy, that is, they were unable to double-team the opponent.
It's just that the choice Enkadala made at this time was much wiser than Busi's navy.
Seeing the Donghua Navy change direction, he knew that the opponent would use his speed to penetrate diagonally from the right front of his own fleet.
In that case, Donghua Navy will be able to break away from the battle with them soon.
He decisively ordered the fleet to change direction, even if he lost the advantage of the upper hand. Even if it was impossible to outflank.
"All battleships have full right rudders, hold them in check." Enkadara on the flagship "Santiago" ordered.
He wanted the combined fleet to be like a wall blocking the Donghua Navy's path south.
"Hmph, the other side is very courageous. They are going to fight us to death. Send a signal to the Zhenyuan and ask them to continue turning. Let's ignore the warships behind them and kill their leading warship first."
Nie Dahua had no intention of escaping.
Originally, he asked the fleet to move in diagonally, just to prevent the fleet from falling into the opponent's attack, not to escape.
Enkadara's judgment was wrong on this point.
Now that the opponent has turned and lost the advantage of the tailwind, the speed of the opponent's sail battleship will inevitably slow down.
In this way, the Donghua Navy can hang on the opponent's snake formation and hit it. The opponent cannot clump the warships into a ball.
When the distance is controlled, only the first few battleships of the opponent can hit the Donghua Navy.
If the gap in speed can continue to widen, Nie Dahua is even prepared to snake forward in front. In this way, he can always hang on to the opponent's lead ship.
The best martial arts in the world is fast and unbreakable.
When the speed is fast enough, the tricks are not that important.
"The 'Fuyuan' moves forward again, and we hang on to the other's leading cruiser at one thousand meters."
The leading warship of the Combined Fleet was not a battleship, but the cruiser "Eisen" of the Chili Navy.
This cruiser is also the main force of the Chili Navy. Like the cruisers of the Nanyang Navy of the Renaissance Army, it is a new type of sailing cruiser produced in Britain.
It is the fastest heavy cruiser in the combined fleet. It can reach a speed of fourteen knots in a favorable wind. It is almost catching up with the Donghua Fleet.
The faster battleships are naturally placed in front. This cruiser and the several cruisers and frigates behind it are all the fastest battleships.
They were placed at the front by Enkadara in order to block or delay the Donghua Navy.
Finally, they entered the firing range. This time, Nie Dahua did not place the fleet so close. Instead, he placed it at a distance of about one thousand meters.
This distance can reduce the impact of solid bullets fired by the opponent's smoothbore cannon.
Donghua Army's armored ships are not afraid of the opponent's explosive bombs.
Unlike sailing battleships, there are not many sailors on the deck of ironclads, except for gunners.
The gunners of the Donghua Navy are protected by closed turrets. The black powder explosive shells are not enough to damage the armor of the Donghua Fleet.
However, their large-caliber solid bullets can break the rivets of the ironclad armor within a certain distance.
The armor of Donghua Fleet's ironclad ships is not integral, but is inlaid on the ribs like scales.
During the previous naval battle with Busi's navy, a rivet on the Zhenyuan's armor fell off.
Fortunately, there are hundreds of shipyard mechanics on the ship. After leaving the waters of Rio, the damaged parts have been repaired.
The several cruisers and frigates brought by the "Eisen" were already out of touch with the combined fleet behind them due to their high speed. However, their number was still greater than that of the Donghua Fleet.
Therefore, Enkadala did not worry about the fleet being out of touch.
His flagship battleship "Santiago" was in the second echelon at this time.
Enkadara saw that the Donghua Army was walking in a diagonal line. So he ordered the second echelon not to follow the first echelon, but to draw a diagonal line and penetrate directly in front of the Donghua Fleet.
The first to fire was the cruiser "Eisen". Its large-caliber naval gun opened fire as soon as it entered the range.
Such shelling is naturally ineffective.
The Donghua Fleet adhered to Nie Dahua's order to save ammunition and did not conduct shelling prematurely.
At a distance of one kilometer close to the "Eisen", the two ironclad ships corrected their course and advanced parallel to the first echelon led by the "Eisen".
But the Donghua Fleet is slightly ahead.
The turret of the second ship "Fuyuan" can be rotated back 45 degrees for shooting.
The naval guns on the "Eisen" are not so easy to adjust their direction.
"Bang bang bang..." The Donghua fleet, which had been holding back for a long time, finally opened fire.
This time, the main and secondary guns were fully fired, because at a distance of one thousand meters, the main and secondary guns were within range.
The gunners cherished every opportunity to shoot.
They strive to make every cannonball hit the enemy.
They knew how expensive these shells were. Everyone in the Renaissance Army felt a little "petty".
They all knew that Dong Shuheng liked to settle scores during wars, so the whole army formed such a culture.
ps: Today I went to the bank, the police station, took the subway for half a day, and walked at least five kilometers. I wrote half of the manuscript on the subway using my mobile phone. For Dugu’s hard work,
Gentlemen give me some monthly tickets, recommendation tickets and so on.