The Matador's suicidal attack not only pulled away a merchant warship, but also gave the Spanish fleet a chance to turn around, which had been at a disadvantage since the beginning of the war.
The huge explosion not only caused great shock to the soldiers of the Merchant Army, but the two burning ships also happened to block the forward path of the eight auxiliary warships behind. Behind the Fuquan, there was a six-ship
The Bailai Fortune Ship was also greatly affected by the explosion. There were many fires on the hull, many cracks on the ship's floor, and two masts were broken. And on the sea directly in front, a raging fire was burning.
Therefore, the captain hurriedly ordered to turn the rudder and go around.
But because the helmsman was also in a hurry at this time, he turned the rudder too much. As a result, the ship rolled sideways on the sea, and the following warships also panicked. Some turned left, some turned right, and the formation became chaotic.
.At this time, the weakness of the merchant navy's lack of actual combat experience was completely exposed.
At this time, the left and right wings of the Spanish fleet had already surrounded them, trapping the rear of the First Squadron.
The eight auxiliary warships behind the First Squadron were two 600-fuel ships, each equipped with eight cannons, and six 400-fuel ships, each equipped with six cannons. The left wing of the Spanish army had nine ships.
warships, including the flagship Saint Louis, two
There are only 600-ton warships: Columbia and Crusader; and there are only eight warships left on the right wing, four of which have been severely damaged, but still maintain a certain degree of combat effectiveness, and the other four have basically maintained more than 70% to 80% of their combat effectiveness.
of combat effectiveness.
Regardless of the number of warships, tonnage and artillery, there was a huge gap between the two sides. Even though the front team of the First Squadron began to turn under Shang Yi's instructions, it was not possible to do so in a short period of time.
to rejoin the battle. Therefore, this is a rare fighter opportunity for the Spanish fleet.
, if we can take the opportunity to severely damage the rear of the First Squadron, and then the fleets on the left and right wings can regroup and turn into formation to fight the front, the outcome will still be unpredictable. So Commander Sanchez immediately ordered an all-out attack.
, we must deal with the following batch of warships as soon as possible.
The left and right wings of the Spanish fleet immediately launched a pincer attack and launched a fierce attack on these auxiliary warships. Each ship looked for its own target, and the artillery roared like raindrops. In the face of the enemy's local superiority,
The eight auxiliary warships behind the First Squadron were almost defenseless and could only be beaten passively. Each ship suffered a heavy blow, and soon there were cracks near the waterline of two 400-year-old ships.
, began to take in water and sink.
If they could still keep their heads clear at this time, maintain the formation of the column, advance at full speed, and rush through the flame zone, they might be able to escape this disaster. Because at this time, the warships of both sides are still moving in opposite directions.
, as long as you pass through the attack range of the enemy ship, you will be safe, and not far ahead is your own front fleet warship, which is turning and rushing over, and you can also be protected immediately.
It's a pity that the formation of the rear team is now in chaos, and more importantly, the mood of the sailors is even more confused, so they have no idea of the direction and are running around. As a result, they play into the hands of the Spanish army. They use columns on both sides to bombard them desperately.
After a while, another 600-year-old fortune ship also began to sink, and two 400-year-old blessing ships collided with each other in panic, and both lost power. Only one 600-year-old blessing ship finally sank.
In the rush, I found the right direction and broke out of the siege.
Sanchez, the commander of the Spanish fleet, was commanding his ship to attack another lucky ship. At this moment, a lookout told him: "Captain, the physiological fleet has turned around and is coming from us."
The rear is coming."
Sanchez was startled, and quickly looked back. Sure enough, he saw that most of the warships in the front group of the Merchant Army's First Squadron had turned around, and some were turning. The warships that had turned had not returned.
Instead, the whole team set sail and rushed towards his back at full speed. It seemed that it wouldn't take long for them to catch up to him.
Sanchez couldn't help but be surprised, because according to common sense, the enemy should reorganize their formation even after turning around, and then launch an attack. This way, he would have enough time to turn around, but now he can catch up with him when the enemy is chasing him.
Before, it was good to complete the turn, but re-formation was impossible, so you could only fall into a melee.
Therefore, Sanchez also murmured: "What's going on? If you attack without forming a good formation, isn't this an act of chaos? Can a physiological commander know how to fight?"
For a professional soldier like Sanchez, it is obviously a very disgraceful thing to have a chaotic battle with an opponent. Even if he wins, there is nothing to be proud of. But now there is no other way. You can't put your own
With his back to the enemy, Sanchez had no choice but to order all the battleships to turn around to meet the enemy ships.
At this moment, at the lookout, a lookout shouted loudly: "Your Excellency, Commander, another fleet has appeared ahead."
Sanchez hurriedly turned his attention to the front of him again, and sure enough, he saw another fleet of ships appearing in the blue sky and blue sea, sailing towards his fleet in a column formation. Although the leader was also a Spanish-style sailing ship, its masts were fluttering.
But it was the banner of physiological man. This time Sanchez
He couldn't help but start sweating on his forehead. It turned out that he was caught in the attack from both sides by his opponents. What should he do now? And he never expected that the physiological man actually had a fleet. It seemed that the expedition fleet was indeed a dangerous force.
There was no luck. And he himself was also in crisis.
At this critical moment, Sanchez also showed his more than 30 years of battlefield experience and immediately ordered: "Ignore the fleet in front of us, all warships immediately raise sails and turn to face the enemy ships behind us."
Sanchez's decision is of course correct, because the fleet ahead is waiting for work, and he does not know the strength of the opponent. It is too risky to rashly engage the opponent. And judging from the current situation, the number of the opponent's warships
Huang Xian is in front of him. There are at least two giant ships in the fleet that are over 1,000 tons. Their strength is far stronger than his own. It is obviously not good for him to continue fighting. Therefore, it is better to fight against the rear fleet with all his strength and strive to penetrate the opponent's formation.
Then it is better to evacuate the battlefield quickly.
But just after the Spanish fleet turned its head, Sanchez discovered that the enemy troops that had become directly in front of him had all stopped at some point, and were lined up directly in front of him, forming a line on the sea.
The several-mile-long barrier was all aimed at its fleet with its broadsides.
It turned out that at this time Shang Yi also discovered that the Third Squadron had arrived on the battlefield, and the Spanish fleet was turning. It was obvious that he planned to break through from his side and then evacuate the battlefield, so he immediately ordered all warships to line up horizontally on the sea.
opened, blocking the direction of the Spanish fleet. Now there were seventeen warships in the First Squadron. Shang Yi ordered twelve ships to move horizontally, facing the enemy with broadsides, while the other five ships quickly moved behind the horizontal force.
Move into a column and prepare to wait for the enemy ship to approach before engaging in close combat with it.
At this moment, Sanchez's mind immediately screamed, "Oh no!". In this way, wouldn't he just be sent to the opponent's gun port? But now there is no time to change tactics, because in his own
Behind him, the Third Squadron of the Merchant Army was already approaching him. And he didn't bother to rearrange his formation, so Sanchez could only bite the bullet and give the order to move forward at full speed.
The other Spanish warships also knew that the situation was not good, so they all filled up their sails and rushed towards the sea barrier formed by the merchant army at full speed.
The fleets of both sides moved horizontally and vertically on the sea, moving and silent, and the distance became closer and closer.
"Fire."
Following Shang Yi's order, the twelve warships lined up in rows fired their side cannons at once, making an ear-splitting noise. Most of the first round fired were chain bombs, so hundreds of cannonballs hit the target.
It whirled and roared towards the Spanish warships. Among the shells, there were also a certain number of thunderbolt rockets, making sharp and harsh sounds as they shot away. Because more than ten warships opened fire at the same time,
The momentum for a time was extremely alarming.
Sanchez saw it very clearly on the St. Louis. His face turned pale for a moment, and he held the cross hanging on his chest with his right hand and kept praying. Because at this time, the Spanish warships were facing the enemy from the bow, and they had no power to fight back.
So we can only leave it to fate.
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-"
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"
Cannonballs and Thunderbolt rockets also poured down from the sky. Dozens of water jets shot up from the sea immediately, and there was a loud crash. Some shells fell on the Spanish warship, causing sawdust to fly, and the crew and soldiers screamed in agony; chain bombs
To twist the mast, cut it down just like cutting down a tree.
And the Thunderbolt rockets were even more terrifying. Some landed on the battleship, some hit the ship, some fell into the sea, and some exploded directly in the air, because in order to achieve the fastest speed to break through the barrier, every Spanish warship
The ship was full of sails, and the targets of the attack were also expanded to the extreme. Fire oil was splashed everywhere, and iron pieces were flying everywhere.
, the sea surface, ships, and sails were full of dots of flames. Several warships had caught fire. In contrast, some warships with their masts broken were able to avoid most of them.
Thunderbolt rockets were fired, but the price paid was that the speed of the warships immediately slowed down, and two warships were already fighting across the sea.
However, despite being violently attacked by the merchant army, six or seven warships fell behind because their masts were broken or because they were too seriously damaged. However, as long as the Spanish warships whose sails were not damaged were still heading towards
The sea barrier rushed straight towards them, because they all knew that only by overcoming the merchant army's barrier could they evacuate the battlefield.
At this time, Shang Yi also immediately ordered the column to attack immediately to fight the Spanish fleet. The other ships were also preparing to turn around, each looking for targets and fighting with a single ship. At the same time, the third squadron of the Merchant Army was also approaching.