The speed of the sailing battleship is not very fast.
If there is no contrast, it will even give people the illusion of being motionless on a calm sea.
This slow speed is naturally conducive to the firing of volleys of artillery.
The second salvo of the Imperial fleet was fired quickly.
At this time, the British fleet narrowed the distance, and the result was a more serious blow.
I saw fireworks blooming at the front of the British fleet, and dozens of warships suffered heavy damage one after another.
As many as a dozen ships were sunk on the spot. Although the remaining ones were not sunk by luck, they almost lost their combat effectiveness.
Robert Blake's scalp was numb, it was the first time he saw such a terrifying opponent.
But he had no way out.
Behind us is Britain.
Therefore, he could only order the fleet to continue charging. Only by getting close to the imperial fleet and forming a chaotic battle could he gain the upper hand.
At the same time, he kept praying, hoping that George Monk could defeat Marton Tropp as soon as possible and then rush over to support him.
Kong Zhiguang did not focus on the enemy in front of him.
He raised his telescope and carefully observed the situation over there with the Dutch fleet.
Although the two battlefields are far apart from each other, the Imperial Navy's telescopes have high magnifications and can still vaguely observe some situations.
The Dutch fleet was in very bad shape.
They were already entangled with the British fleet, and the two sides were almost face to face and firing wildly at each other with artillery.
However, the British fleet was too numerous and almost surrounded the Dutch.
If this continues, the defeat of the Dutch fleet will not be far away.
Although they used the Dutch fleet to hold back George Monk, Kong Zhiguang also understood that once the Dutch fleet was defeated, they would be caught in a double attack by the British.
In this case...
Then you have to help the Dutch out of the siege.
With this in mind, Kong Zhiguang issued an order.
"Tell all ships to maintain speed and move northeast."
The battlefield between the Dutch fleet and George Monk was in the northeast. The Imperial fleet made an arc on the sea in order to meet Robert Blake. It happened that the course was facing that way at this time.
After receiving the order, each warship continued to bombard the British fleet with artillery while quickly approaching another battlefield.
Robert Blake was going crazy.
He had never seen a naval gun with such a fast rate of fire. The Imperial Navy's artillery shells seemed to have never stopped, hitting his fleet non-stop.
Especially when he saw the imperial fleet sailing into the distance, with the intention of leaving the battlefield, he gritted his teeth.
"What do the cunning Chinese want to do?"
The imperial fleet's linear array tail boats had already turned around, but the forward distance of the British fleet was still three hundred meters away.
And the bow of the ship is facing this way, so the cannons on the side are completely useless.
By this time, the Zhenjiang in the rear was finally hit.
But for the Zhenjiang, the sporadic ball shells were like scratching an itch, and there was no need to worry about it at all.
Captain Li Dayou of the Zhenjiang assessed the situation and saw that the British fleet was chasing behind him, so he made corresponding arrangements.
"Throw oil."
There were two iron pipes at the tail of the Zhenjiang. They were opened at this time, and the billowing fuel was immediately tilted into the sea.
These fuels are all refined products of petroleum and are very flammable and explosive.
Although it cannot provide power to ships in this era, it is a powerful weapon for killing enemies in naval battles.
Each of the empire's third-class battleships will carry about ten tons of oil. It can be made into incendiary bombs or thrown on the sea to create artificial isolation zones.
The Englishman received a severe beating, but could hardly fight back. He was holding back his anger and just pursued madly behind.
They did not notice that the color of the sea beneath their feet had changed.
After the oil was poured into the sea, it began to spread around as the seawater surged.
However, the weather conditions today are very good and there is no wind at sea, so the oil does not spread very quickly and gradually forms a large area.
Li Dayou smiled happily when he saw many British warships sailing into it.
"ignition."
The soldiers immediately fired the rocket with a crossbow, and the fire spread quickly after it landed on the sea.
The fire burned so fast that by the time the British discovered it, it was too late. On the spot, more than 20 warships were deeply trapped in it and ignited by the flames.
For a moment, the sea was filled with the screams of British people, as if the gates of hell had been opened.
Robert Blake, who was following behind, saw that the sea in front suddenly turned into a huge fire field, and his vision went dark.
When he saw two warships trying to rush in to rescue friendly forces, but they were also set on fire, he understood the horror.
"Go around! Go around now!"
The British could only abandon their comrades in tears, turn the ship around a long distance, and restart the pursuit of the imperial fleet.
But using this time, the imperial fleet has rushed to the outskirts of another battlefield.
"Send a signal to General Tropp to have the Dutch leave the battlefield immediately."
The Imperial Fleet and the Dutch Fleet have already formed a tacit understanding of other ways of contact.
When he saw the imperial fleet approaching and issuing a signal, Marton Tropp couldn't help feeling relieved.
They have persisted for a long time and suffered extremely heavy losses. It might be a good idea to leave the next battle to the Imperial fleet.
"Order all ships to advance at full speed and pass through the British encirclement."
After receiving the order, all the Dutch warships no longer paid attention to the British attack, and all headed towards the distance.
They have all seen the power of the imperial fleet, and they have no desire to stay where they are and be covered in firepower with the British.
George Monk had the upper hand and was about to expand his victory. When he saw the Dutch starting to run away, he thought the victory was already decided.
He was just about to give the order for all warships to continue the siege and do their best to eliminate more Dutch warships, when he suddenly received a warning from the watchtower.
"Mr. Duke, the Chinese fleet is coming."
George Munch was shocked.
He had great trust in Robert Blake's abilities and did not think that the Imperial Fleet could gain much benefit from his old friend.
Why did the imperial fleet come here?
He suddenly turned around and looked behind him.
I saw that seven imperial warships had begun to turn slowly on the sea, and at the same time aimed their sides at their side.
There was obviously still a distance of five to six hundred meters, and the imperial warship's steering was quite puzzling, but George Monk still felt the crisis.
"Enemy attack! Be careful to avoid!"
Before he finished speaking, the roar of hundreds of artillery suppressed everything.
When the British fleet clashed with the Dutch fleet, its formation was already in chaos. There was no time to organize it, and it suffered a fatal blow from the Imperial fleet.