Yang Qi is the gunner of the secondary side battery of the "Zhenyuan".
There are many "commanders" of various kinds in the Donghua Fleet. Almost every gun position is assigned a gun commander.
Yang Qi's 150mm secondary gun is in the middle of the two chimneys, close to the side.
He had already asked the gunners to finish loading. As the warship moved, Yang Qi covered his eyes on the sighting device and constantly ordered the gunners to adjust the angle of the muzzle.
"Fire!" Yang Qi ordered.
The huge sound of firing from the 240mm main gun on the bow of the ship was heard.
Yang Qi's secondary battery also covered the enemy cruiser "Aisen".
It is not that difficult to target an enemy cruiser at a distance of one thousand meters.
It's just that it's not that easy to hit the opponent. The wind and the bumps of the ship will affect the trajectory of the cannonball.
In this regard, the ironclad ships of the Donghua Fleet are much better than the sail battleships of the United Fleet, at least their stability is stronger.
"Boom..." Yang Qi seemed to be able to see the shell he fired hitting the opponent's side.
A burst of smoke dissipated, and a large hole appeared on the side of the Essen, but this place was a certain distance from the waterline.
Only a few surrounding artillery pieces were affected and were blown to pieces, with the bodies of the gunners scattered around.
"Okay! Hit, clean up and reload quickly." Yang Qi excitedly told the gunners around him.
The first hit is a good sign.
The gunner under his command took a bristle brush with a long handle, reached it along the gun port behind the artillery, and poked it a few times.
Then the loader placed a cone-shaped warhead loaded with a fuze. Then he placed a propellant wrapped in a cylindrical shape.
Then the gun doors were closed. During this time, Yang Qi kept observing the situation of the enemy ships.
The "Fuyuan" and the "Zhenyuan" each have eight cannons, and the two ships have a total of sixteen cannons aimed at each other.
Because the shooting distance was shortened, three shells hit the opponent in the first round of shooting.
One of the main gun shells hits the opponent and causes the most damage.
Yang Qi could see through the telescope that half of the opponent's superstructure had been blown up.
I don’t know if the commander on the other side’s warship is inside.
Yang Qi could also see the sailors on the other side's warship running around on the deck to rescue people.
The gun emplacements of this kind of cruiser are all installed on the deck, so when hit by explosive shells, the gunners on the deck will be the most seriously injured.
Yang Qi could feel that the opponent's shooting frequency had obviously dropped after the first round of shooting, and was less than half of its original rate.
The other half of the misfiring guns were either blown up or had no gunners.
"Ready, fire!" This time Yang Qi's secondary gun was one step faster than the main gun.
"Boom!" The second shot hit again, this time hitting the enemy's deck.
After hitting the enemy ship twice, the entire gun crew was extremely excited.
The hit rate in naval battles has always been very low.
That is to say, the artillery power of both sides is not at the same level now, and the Donghua fleet can shoot closer.
If you face an enemy who is equal to yourself, you should keep your distance and fight.
A quarter of an hour later, the Donghua fleet completed four rounds of shooting. The cruiser "Aisen" had begun to tilt, and the superstructure also began to catch fire. The military surveillance ship had been exhausted.
The Donghua Fleet began to shift its target to the second cruiser.
This cruiser is of the same class as the "Eisen".
It had been shooting at the Donghua Fleet just now.
Only the three warships at the front of the entire combined fleet can shoot at the Donghua Fleet.
The combined fleet warship behind wanted to take a shortcut to participate in the artillery battle.
However, they were all avoided by Donghua Fleet's speed and positioning.
At this time, the fleets of both sides had already begun to sail towards the north.
The Donghua Fleet led the combined fleet in a circle on the sea, and according to their current trend, both sides are still drawing a circle.
Enkadara was furious to find that his nearly twenty warships could not catch two of the opponent's warships.
The combined fleet is already losing strength at a rate of one ship every quarter of an hour.
Even if Enkadara was mentally prepared for such a lack, he still couldn't accept it.
The generals below complained even more. There was no problem with their ship-managing skills. But they just couldn't catch up with the opponent, which made people feel helpless.
No one wants to be the next victim, a stepping stone for the general to gain fame.
Such sentiments spread throughout the fleet.
Only Enqadala still persisted.
The information from the British told him that this kind of steam battleship could not maintain such high-intensity operation all the time.
It's just that the British didn't know the limits of the Prussian-built ironclads.
The intelligence given by the British was based on the operation of the "Warrior" steam engine.
Encadala bided his time.
"Boom..." A frigate in the first echelon exploded under one shot from the Donghua Fleet, and the entire ship was blown into two sections.
Such a scene is too shocking and bloody. In the history of naval battles, there seems to be no naval battle with such a high killing efficiency.
"Oh ho..." Cheers erupted from the command tower and various gun emplacements.
Victory is a stimulant for soldiers!
This naval battle has been going extremely smoothly until now.
"The speed of the fleet is reduced to twelve knots. Let's wait for the enemy's second echelon." Seeing that the enemy's first echelon has been almost wiped out.
Nie Dahua ordered the fleet to slow down and wait for the enemy's second echelon of battleships.
The real tough battle has just begun.
Only now did Enkadala see that the other party had no intention of breaking out.
If the Donghua Navy had wanted to break through, it would have already thrown the combined fleet away, instead of just going around in circles here.
Now three of our own warships have been sunk, and two warships have been seriously damaged and have withdrawn from the battle.
Fortunately, the main force of the combined fleet is still there.
"Let General Kohler lead the Buenos Navy to step in." Encadala ordered.
Until now in the naval battle, the Buenos Navy has not fired a single cannon.
Encadala had already mobilized the Buenos Navy, which was originally preparing to intercept the Donghua Navy in the south.
The opponent originally wanted to cut off the Donghua Navy's path from the front, but was avoided by the Donghua Navy's movement.
Now the Buenos Navy is closest to the Donghua Navy.
Moreover, there are no heavy warships in the Buenos Navy, so the overall speed is faster.
On the "Fuyuan", Nie Dahua also saw that the Buenos Navy seemed to be trying to get closer to him again.
"Order, leave the Buenos Navy alone, let's knock on their battleships." Nie Dahua ordered.
Through the flag, Nie Dahua was able to identify that separate group as the Buenos Navy.
He currently prefers not to attack the Buenos Navy, but instead focuses on the Chili Navy.
Chili is a long and narrow country along the coast, and almost all cities are built along the coast. Therefore, Chili has always attached great importance to the construction of the navy.
All domestic resources are tilted towards the navy. It originally inherited the main naval power of the Kingdom of Spain in South Amelia.
It can be imagined how much the Chili Republic relies on its navy.
If Nie Dahua can destroy Zhang Li's navy in one fell swoop in this naval battle, wouldn't it be easy for Donghua to take control of Zhang Li?
The Buenos Navy obviously had its own little thoughts. They did not release all their strength to pursue the Donghua Navy.
Seeing the Donghua Navy rushing towards the second echelon of the combined fleet, General Kohler seemed to be relieved.
"General, do we want to support the second echelon?" a staff officer in the Buenos Navy asked.
If they take the initiative to move closer to the second echelon now, they can join the battle group.
"We are responsible for the interception task. If we go to mix with the Zhangli Navy, then who will intercept the Donghua Navy." General Kohler rolled his eyes at the staff officer.
Anyone with a discerning eye now knows where there is no need to intercept at this moment! The Donghua Fleet is obviously taking the initiative to attack.
When General Kohler said this, he was obviously pretending to be confused.
At this time, it might be better for the Buenos Aires to be a little confused.
Kohler didn't understand why Enkadala was still insisting after losing so many ships. He might have his own back-up plan.
At this time, the Buenos Navy still focused on maintaining its own strength. After all, there was an enemy Busi to the north of Buenos.
The speed at which the Donghua Navy harvested warships was simply too fast.
There are no heavy battleships in the Buenos Navy. If they fall into the hands of the Donghua Navy, they will suffer the same fate as the first echelon just now.
Kohler had already thought about it. If Encadala used his trump card and severely damaged the Donghua Navy, then the Buenos Navy would go up and beat the drowned dog.
If the Chili Navy is defeated, then the Buenos Navy will disperse and flee. Anyway, the enemy only has two warships, and no matter how fast they are, they cannot be as fast as all our own warships.
Both Kohler and Enkadala were determined to buy their own ironclads after the war.
On board the USS Santiago, the flagship of the Chili Navy.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Donghua Navy is coming towards us."
There was no need for the staff officer to remind him, Enkadala had already discovered it.
The other party's appetite is really big. He just ate his first echelon, and now he's coming for me again.
The second echelon is led by two battleships, with the flagship "Santiago" ranking second.
At the front is the battleship "Mont" of the Chili Navy.
Seeing the Donghua Navy approaching, Enkadara ordered the second echelon to prepare for combat.
The Donghua Navy crossed over from the front left.
Encadala ordered the fleet to turn to the right. He wanted the fleet to move parallel to the Donghua Navy.
Naval battles in the era of sailing battleships almost always involved two fleets advancing in parallel and then shooting at each other from the sides.
It's like a line infantry battle.
But the Donghua Navy always wants to grab the "t" head.
This is a bullying style of play.
The main guns of the sailing battleship are all on the sides. You are always standing in front of me, how can I shoot?
Nie Dahua led his fleet and surpassed the Chili Navy's "Mont" battleship after a salvo.
Then the two warships of the Donghua Navy seemed to be integrated into one, maneuvering in a zigzag pattern at a speed of 14 knots to avoid the "Monte"'s broadside guns. As a result, the "Monte" could only use its two bow guns.
Artillery returned fire.
"Boom" an exploding bomb successfully hit the bow of the "Monte".
The cables tied to the bow of the ship broke one after another.
The ropes whipped around like whips.
If you are caught, your life will be at risk. Some people will even be whipped into two sections by the forcefully bounced cable.
After the bow jib was scrapped, it had a great impact on the maneuverability of the "Monte".
It's just that the battleship is not comparable to those cruisers. Its plywood and sides are reinforced with oak wood hundreds of millimeters thick.
Therefore, in traditional naval battles, battleships have a very strong survivability.
It would take several days of bombardment to sink a battleship.
But this is for naval battles in the traditional sense.
In the past ten years, why Britain and France have begun to study ironclads? This is not just about steam engines being used as power in battleships.
Another important reason is that blooming bullets are gradually maturing. The damage caused by blooming bullets to battleships is obviously much greater than that of solid bullets.
For example, France's "Glorious" and the Daying Empire's "Warrior" are equipped with protection based on the power of shells from current major caliber naval guns.
The 240mm main gun on the Donghua Fleet is much more powerful than the main gun on current major battleships.
This is not to say that the caliber is very large, but because the use of a cone-shaped warhead has greatly improved the armor-breaking ability of the artillery shell.
The first wave of attacks mainly targeted the upper plywood of the battleship.
The gun located in the lower compartment did not suffer much damage.
Nie Dahua also discovered that the tortoise shells of the opponent's battleships were difficult to crack, so he changed his strategy to concentrate fire on the opponent's deck.
The sail structure on the upper level of the battleship is more complex.
Explosive bullets are more likely to damage the upper rigging than solid bullets.
As long as they lost their sail power, these battleships would become living targets on the sea.
None of Chili's battleships were equipped with steam-assisted power. Without sails, they could only lie down.
Seeing that the "Monte" had obviously stalled, Encadala quickly asked the flagship "Santiago" to move forward to make up for the loss.
Move the "Monte" to the rear before it completely loses power.
For a small country like Chili, purchasing and maintaining a battleship requires a large amount of the country's resources.
I can't help but Enkadala doesn't feel distressed.
…
Seeing the Buenos Navy in the distance, they seemed unmoved and had no intention of coming to join the battle.
Enkadara was furious and prepared to give General Kohler a death order.
At this moment, a 24mm main gun shell fired by the Donghua Navy hit the command cabin of the "Santiago".
The flying shrapnel and shock waves made the entire command cabin a mess.
The entire Chili navy temporarily lost command.
At this time, the Buenos Navy was still watching from a distance.
The captain of the USS Santiago took over the command, and he happened to not be in the command cabin at the time.
The battle continued as Enkadala had planned.
The Donghua Navy summed up experience while fighting. They continued to make progress in the battle.
…
The battle lasted from morning to evening, and the two battleships of the Chili Navy withdrew from the battle because their upper sails were damaged.
The remaining warships are no match for the Donghua Navy.
The battle finally ended due to darkness.
At this time, Nie Dahua still had no intention of letting his opponent go.
At night, the Donghua Fleet slowly lifted the Chili Navy.
At this time, the Buenos Navy had shamelessly escaped under the cover of night.
Zhang Li's remaining battleships did not dare to leave the injured battleship alone.
They escorted these injured warships and slowly retreated towards the port of Buenos.
But the speed was too slow, and the Chili fleet was still floating on the sea until the next morning.
It is now time for the Donghua Fleet to harvest.
The small battleships guarding the side were destroyed one after another. In the end, only two injured battleships and several injured cruisers were left in the Chili Navy.
Those small ships simply couldn't withstand the Donghua Navy's fire and sank one after another.
In the end, the remaining Chili people had to surrender.
Nie Dahua ordered the two severely damaged battleships to be blown up and sunk in the sea.
He also looted all the supplies from the two battleships and dismantled the artillery on them.
These things took another day.
During this period, the Buenos Navy never appeared again.
This naval battle that lasted for more than a day finally ended.
Nie Dahua continued southward with his fleet.
Such a high-intensity battle also left Donghua's navy bruised and bruised. The fleet's ammunition was almost exhausted and there was not much coal left.
Fortunately, after they went south, they encountered a Portuguese supply ship, which prevented the fleet from