Chapter 555 The size of the small broken ship and the battleship style
Taishi Ci did not launch a night attack.
Although the Jiangnan boat division formed a camp with boats, they were not all connected as one and unable to move. Instead, they joined boats in twos and threes to help each other and formed a loose camp, occupying a lake with a radius of more than 20 miles.
There are also police patrols around the perimeter.
Night attacks by fireships are not fatal.
The most important thing is that Yunfan Battalion must use guerrilla methods to deal with the enemy with bed crossbows and avoid boarding battles.
This requires constant scheduling and avoidance.
Night sailing is risky enough, but night battles are even more dangerous. Collisions are unavoidable. On the contrary, side battles are more beneficial.
Although our main battleship is slightly longer than the opponent's large-scale battleship, it is nearly half thinner. The swordfish battleship is less than ten meters wide, and the thinnest battleship is only sixteen meters. The difference in size is very obvious. Once they collide,
You will definitely suffer.
"Arrange the swordfish warships to take turns on guard. The rest of us will have a good rest and recuperate before launching an attack early tomorrow morning."
After careful consideration, Taishi Ci set a time for the decisive battle, and told the messenger: "Tell all the crossbowmen to work hard for me tomorrow. No one of the 70,000 little fat balls will be left behind, and they will all be shot by me."
Go to the enemy's ship."
Seventy thousand fuel-filled ignition crossbows weighing nearly ten thousand stone, plus more than ten thousand ordinary crossbows, hundreds of thousands of crossbow bolts and other spare weapons, as well as the supplies needed by thirty thousand soldiers, the main fleet
There is no room for extra load.
In order not to be entangled by the enemy, the supply fleet did not participate in this battle at all. This was also an important reason why he did not use fire ships to make a surprise attack. There were no large-scale fire ships and there were not so many firewood to start the fire.
We still have to rely on the main battleships to do the talking.
The northwest wind in winter blows across the lake, and the blue waves are thousands of layers, and the vast expanse is vast. Birds are flying and fish are jumping between the sky and the water. There is no trace of the harsh winter scene, but it is more like the late autumn when the sky is high and the clouds are light.
Taishi Ci sat quietly on the forecastle, basking in the sun. On the surface, he looked calm, but in his heart he was very nervous.
All the main naval forces of the imperial court are in his hands. Tomorrow's battle will have a bearing on the overall situation of the Southern Expedition. Whether hundreds of thousands of people can safely cross the river and whether the land south of the Yangtze River can be nationalized is all determined by this battle.
He rubbed the sword at his waist and remembered his ambition when he was young. When a man is born in this world, he should carry a three-foot sword and achieve immortal achievements.
I am lucky enough to gain His Majesty's trust. Now I have an opportunity right in front of me to achieve unparalleled achievements and achieve my lifelong ambition. Even if I die in battle, my life will not be in vain.
He turned his gaze to the southeast and swore in his heart that he would kill you all at the bottom of the lake tomorrow!
The Jiangnan boat division that he was thinking about was fishing for shrimps, preparing to reward the soldiers and boost the morale of the army. Zhou Xin was very upset that he had lost the main force of the imperial court, but he could only restrain his anger and think about the next step.
strategy.
He hesitated whether to continue the search or return to the Yangtze River Channel.
The two armies were separated by dozens of miles, and everything was fine for the time being. It was not until the early morning of the next day that the sky just turned white, and the sound of fighting and knocking was loud in the camp of the Jiangnan Marine Corps.
Zhou Xin was awakened by the cry of "the enemy is incoming", and his subordinates came to report: "Reporting from the observation tower, we found an enemy fleet less than ten miles away from our army."
Zhou Xin couldn't help but cursed "trash" after being touched within ten miles of the vast water surface.
But now is not the time to get angry and give orders urgently: "Weight anchor, hoist sail, and prepare the entire army for war!"
The sun has not yet risen, and it is the time when we are tired. The sailors who have been urged to get up are turning the winch and shouting slogans to pull the cable. The Yunfan camp coming with the wind has broken through the interception of the stern and is about to approach.
There are battleships on the periphery.
The battleships were unable to move, but the battleships were not powerless to fight. The military officers in helmets and armors led their subordinate soldiers, holding bows and arrows, holding swords and shields, and were ready for a broadside battle, but they saw a series of
The flames shot out from the forecastle of the enemy ship, spanning a distance of two to three hundred paces, and nailed the sides of the ship, the deck and the crowd.
At first glance, there are crossbows one after another.
The officers on the outlying battleships breathed a sigh of relief. These northerners didn't know how to fight on the water, so bed crossbows were useless.
"Put out the fire and prepare to join the ship!"
Most of the military officials issued the order without looking back. They knew that the next step was the highlight.
But what they responded to was the soldiers shouting in surprise: "Oil! There is fire oil in it!"
The main body of the little fat man is a long bamboo tube loaded with oil. It is not strong. Most of them were cracked when they were nailed into the hull, and some were broken into several pieces. The spilled oil was ignited before it was launched.
If the oilcloth catches fire, a bucket or two of water can't put it out.
The oil that was nailed to the side of the ship was okay, most of the oil was spilled into the water, and it just turned itself into a torch stuck on the ship, which made the sides of the ship black. It could not light the ship for the time being.
Those that hit the deck are in trouble. They burn like fire and flow, making them burn bigger and bigger.
The most terrifying thing was that it hit the mast and the observation deck. The oil flowed along the mast and sails. The fire started and became out of control. Trying to put it out was tantamount to wishful thinking. It was like a fire burning on the hull.
Like a torch more than ten meters high, it made the whole ship glow red. Under the light of the fire, there were all faces of despair.
More crossbows continued to be fired from the enemy ships, setting fire to more and more ships and battleships. The flames shot up to the northwest of the camp. Zhou Xin looked distressedly on the flagship. They were all his battleships.
"The enemy set fire to the ship? Are the ships on the outside useless? They can't intercept them?"
The battle started too quickly, and no one has reported back yet. The sky was dim, and through the fire, he couldn't see the enemy ships outside the camp clearly from behind, so he could only guess at the opponent's tactics.
Zhang Xian was further away from the battlefield and was busy weighing anchor and raising sails. Even if he wanted to make a roundabout way to support him, he was unable to do so.
Taishi Ci did not have this drawback. His flagship charged forward, and the battle situation was clear at a glance. The swordfish warships were chasing the enemy's cockroaches like a pack of wolves. They were already fighting to the left and right, and the battle was getting farther and farther away. There was no interference here.
More than forty fighting ships in the northwest direction were set on fire before they set sail, along with two tower ships.
The results were good.
The tactic of concentrating on a surprise attack at the beginning was more effective than expected. The quality of the enemy sailors was not high, which is good news.
"Turn around to the right, use the left string to meet the enemy, and keep the distance!"
The bow of the ship was already less than 200 steps away from the enemy ship. The big ship needed space to turn around, so he couldn't get any closer. Although the closer he got, the more accurate his attack would be, but he had to control the distance.
One hundred to three hundred steps, this is the distance for Yunfan Camp's main fleet to show its power. It can't be close or far. To be honest, it's a bit difficult.
Fortunately, the Sailfish Battleship is a galley. Let alone turning around quickly, it is no problem even walking backwards. The right side is paddled backward and the left side is forward. The entire ship's sixteen pairs of oars are working together, and the hull only moves forward a few dozen steps.
It completed a half-turn, with the bow of the ship pointing outwards, and slowly widened the distance.
Facing the enemy from the side, the entire fleet adjusted and gradually formed a long snake formation. There were eight crossbows on each ship with shooting angles, and the firepower was even more fierce than at the beginning.
It may be that weapons determine tactics. In the second century AD, Taishi Ci used battle line tactics, which confused the enemy.
I just don’t know what level of battleship the Sailfish battleship with a displacement of less than 30 tons can be considered?