Under normal circumstances, when a steamship encounters an attack, it will not stay still and will run away if the momentum is not right.
However, this time the Eastern Barbarian Shanyu came well prepared and hid these rafts behind a hill in the north in advance. Liu Tie and the others could not find them at all in Yuguan City, and they did not give Jinpeng any warning.
The hill was not very far from Yuguan City, and the north wind was very strong today, so the raft group rushed over quickly.
Although the Zhenyuan No. 1 is the most advanced warship of this era, it is still a steam ship. Every time, the water in the boiler needs to be boiled before it can be started.
Before, neither Liu Tie nor Jin Peng thought that the Dongman people were capable of attacking the Zhenyuan No. 1, so after the Zhenyuan No. 1 docked at the dock, they turned off the engine and lowered the anchor to move down the supplies.
In order to prevent boilers and pipes from scaling, boiler workers would drain and clean the boilers after each voyage.
When the crew and escorts were carrying supplies and ammunition down, the boilermaker had already emptied all the hot water in the boiler. Even if the water was added immediately, it would still not boil for a while.
The huge Zhenyuan No. 1 can only park on the sea and cannot move.
When Zhenyuan No. 1 was first surrounded, Jin Peng was not too nervous.
Because he felt that the enemy might use chisels or pour oil on the sea to deal with Zhenyuan No. 1.
When Jin Feng returned to Jinchuan from the East China Sea, King Wu also used a similar method to deal with steamships.
Although he failed at the time, Jin Feng also modified the steamboat after returning and installed iron plates on the wooden boards in the middle and lower parts of the ship.
If it is not in the sea of fire for a long time, the steam ship can carry it through.
But neither Jin Peng nor Liu Tie expected that the enemy would throw a jar of kerosene on the deck.
The kerosene jar is filled with boiling oil. If it is thrown on the deck and broken into pieces, the surrounding area will instantly turn into a sea of flames.
The deck is made of wooden boards and cannot withstand this burning method.
Moreover, most escorts stand on the edge of the deck. Once they are stained by kerosene, it will be very troublesome, and even heavy armor cannot stop them.
Even the bodyguard who was controlling the catapult had to retreat temporarily to avoid the fire.
Fortunately, Zhenyuan No. 1 had rehearsed how to deal with a fire attack in advance, and the deck was equipped with sand, gravel and mud to extinguish fires.
Without Jin Peng's orders, the crew and sailors quickly started to rescue themselves, using sand, gravel and mud to extinguish the fire.
But there were too many enemies. If they put out the fire with their front legs, more jars of kerosene would hit them with their back legs.
However, the escorts would not sit still and wait for death. They brought boxes of grenades and threw them from the ship.
Throwing things down from a high place is always easier than throwing things up from the bottom.
The Dongman people need to move the raft close to Zhenyuan No. 1 before they can throw the kerosene jar up.
But the escort stood on the deck and could easily throw the grenade onto the raft more than ten meters away.
As grenades exploded one after another, the rafts were blown apart.
The enemy's offensive was finally temporarily resisted.
However, the good times did not last long. The enemy found that they could not get close to the Zhenyuan No. 1. Some of the enemies on the raft took out a strange-shaped wooden frame from the bow of the ship.
The wooden frame is about half a person's height, and the structure is very simple. It is a mini catapult made of bamboo pieces and ropes as a force storage structure.
This kind of catapult can only throw one jar of kerosene at a time, and the throwing distance is only a dozen feet. Not to mention the heavy catapult on the city wall, even the portable catapult is just like a toy.
However, this distance has exceeded the distance that the most grenades can be thrown by the bodyguards, and the grenades of the bodyguards cannot be thrown that far.
What's even more embarrassing is that the ship-borne catapult-type attack weapon can attack enemies hundreds of meters away, but it can't attack enemies dozens of meters away.
The escorts could only use hand crossbows and heavy crossbows to counterattack.
However, the enemy had prepared wooden planks in advance, and the hand crossbows and arrows were useless. The number of heavy crossbows was too small to defeat so many enemies.
Fortunately, the accuracy of the mini catapult was not high, and more than half of the jars of kerosene were thrown into the sea or hit the wall of the ship.
"Go to the boiler room and ask when Zhenyuan No. 1 can be started!"
Jin Peng was so anxious that veins popped out on his forehead.
The vice-captain hurried to the cabin and came back with a grimace a moment later: "Captain, we just put cold water in the boiler. It will take three sticks of incense at the fastest before it can be restarted!"
"Damn it!" Upon hearing this, Jin Peng was so angry that he punched the pillar.
According to the enemy's offensive, it will be difficult for them to survive the three sticks of incense.
"Don't we have sails? Let's raise the sails!"
An escort who was boarding the ship for the first time made urgent suggestions.
"This ship is too heavy and has a deep draft. The ditch under the pier runs east-west. Now the wind is blowing from the north and it is impossible to raise the sail."
An old crew member next to me quickly explained.
The closer to the sea, the shallower the water, so the dock cannot be built anywhere, otherwise the ship will hit the bottom and run aground before it even reaches the dock.
Especially for a large ship like the Zhenyuan No. 1 with a relatively deep waterline, it will be very troublesome once it is stranded.
The reason why the city wall and pier were built here was because there is a naturally formed small trench under the sea, which extends to the land.
Large ships transporting grain and grass can approach the city wall along this small trench.
The small trench runs east-west, so Zhenyuan No. 1 can only go east. If it goes south, it will soon hit the bottom and run aground.
But now the wind is northerly, and even if we raise the sail, we can't get away.
"What should we do?" The newly boarded escort was anxious.
"I don't know either." The old crew member shook his head in despair.
Not to mention them, even Jinpeng Liu Tie and Mr. Tian who followed him out couldn't think of any good solution for a while.
"Tie Zi, I guess Zhenyuan No. 1 can't leave. Please call more people over and move the supplies off the ship as soon as possible!"
Jin Peng said with a pale face.
He had already seen that two planks on the deck had been burned through, and the cabin below had also been set on fire.
The fire has begun to burn from the inside out.
If this continues, Zhenyuan No. 1 will not be able to survive the start of the steam engine and will be burned down.
Jin Peng's face turned pale not because of fear, but because of guilt.
He is the captain of Zhenyuan No. 1 and knows the importance of Zhenyuan No. 1 better than anyone else.
It is not only an important strategic weapon, but also the first steamship built by Jin Feng, taking Jin Feng back to Jinchuan from the East China Sea!
But such an important battleship was destroyed in his hands.
Thinking of this, Jin Peng was so ashamed that he wanted to kill himself with a knife!
But after all, he is a veteran who has experienced war. He knows that there is no point in committing suicide, so he can only try his best to minimize the losses!
In fact, there was no need for Jin Peng to remind him. Mr. Tian had already realized that the matter was irreversible and had just sent someone to Wengcheng to call for help.
Liu Tie also arranged for the catapults on the city wall to turn around and attack the enemies on the sea as much as possible.
By the time Wengcheng's escorts came over, the fire on Zhenyuan No. 1 had already begun to spread.