Chapter 226 New Year's Eve - Take the initiative to attack (2)
When Shang Yi received Jin's battle plan, it was already the 29th, and the time soon came to the last day of the first year of Hongguang, 1645. After Shang Yi bid farewell to Huang Zhen's fleet early in the morning, he also began to deploy Nanjing guards
, getting ready to attend today’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
The Merchant Army's fourth and fifth-level ships have a total of forty-eight warships, including ten third-level cruisers, twelve fourth-level destroyers, and eight fifth-level frigates. There are four thousand-material auxiliary warships and six-hundred-material auxiliary warships.
There are ten ships and four 200-ton clippers. The tonnage of cruisers is generally around 800 tons, and the river in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is wide and deep enough to ensure navigation.
After leaving Jinchuan Gate in Nanjing, Huang Zhen commanded the fleet all the way up the river. After traveling for about an hour, they passed the entrance of the Yangtze River to the Qinhuai River. Longshan Shipyard is located on the west bank of the Qinhuai River. Now both sides have basically the same power in the Yangtze River.
The entrance to the Yangtze River of the Qinhuai River is used as the dividing line. The upper reaches belong to the Qing army, and the lower reaches belong to the merchant army.
Therefore, as soon as the Merchant Army's fleet approached the Yangtze River entrance of the Qinhuai River, it was discovered by the Qing Army's patrol fleet and immediately notified the Qing Army's navy camp.
At present, the Qing Army has collected more than 400 ships of various types. Although the number is quite large, they are basically small boats with 200 or 300 materials. The largest ones are only 500 materials.
There are quite a few small boats that rely solely on paddling for power, and the navy has more than 10,000 people.
The Qing general who was responsible for managing the navy was called Jin Shuo. He was a Jia La E Zhen who held a red flag in the Han army. The Qing army did not have a professional navy. This navy was formed entirely to deal with this battlefield.
Yes, because both the Manchu and Han banners are from the north and are not used to water warfare, so the navy basically
They were all composed of the Ming Jiangjun, commanded by a small number of Han-banner generals. In fact, the Ming Jiangjun was not a professional naval officer, as long as he could swim. Anyway, the Qing army did not intend to form a specialized navy.
Once the navy captured Nanjing, its mission would be over.
Knowing that the Merchant Army's fleet was attacking from the water, Jin Shuo did not dare to be careless, because two days later, the Qing Army sent a fleet to attack Nanjing from the water. As a result, as soon as the two sides engaged in battle, they were defeated by the Merchant Army.
The warships were defeated, seventeen ships were sunk, and nearly a thousand soldiers were lost. The defeated soldiers who fled back said that although the number of merchant warships was
Although there were not many, they were very huge, and each ship carried a large number of artillery, and the firepower was extremely sharp. The warships of the Qing Army were unable to pass by Long, and were sunk by the artillery. So this time the Merchant Army
If they took the initiative to attack, they must be coming from bad intentions, so while Jin Shuo sent people to fly a report to Azige, he also mobilized a fleet to attack.
After learning a lesson, Jin Shuo also knew that based on the strength of the warships alone, the Qing army was definitely no match for the merchant army. In the past few days, Jin Shuo also gained some knowledge of water warfare, so the only
The method is to win with numbers, using the wolf pack tactic, with several ships besieging one ship. Get warships close to the merchant army, carry out boarding operations, and use the advantage of large numbers to win.
Therefore, this time Jin Shuo led more than 230 ships to the battle, including about 80 ships with a charge of 400 to 500, more than a hundred ships with a charge of 200 to 300, and five ships with a charge of 100 or more.
More than ten ships, this is the largest fleet that the Qing Army can send. As for the ships with less than one hundred materials, even if they are sent out, they will be used as cannon fodder. It is better to stay in the shipyard.
But the mobilization of more than 200 warships is not an easy task, not to mention that the navy of the Qing army is basically amateur-level. After all the warships of the Qing army have sailed out of Longshan Shipyard, they have not yet lined up.
In a good formation, the fleet of the merchant army had already passed the entrance of the Yangtze River of the Qinhuai River and approached the river surface of Longshan Shipyard. Therefore, Jin Shuo was not allowed any extra time to make arrangements, so he had to immediately order the ships to attack.
Although the Qing army's warships were arranged in a disorderly manner, when all the more than 230 warships were lined up, they could cover the entire river surface within more than a thousand steps, so the layout was still very scary.
Huang Zhen regarded the Tianzhi, the command ship of the Fourth Squadron, as his flagship. At this time, he had already seen the Qing navy on the dock. Although the Qing warships covered the entire Yangtze River,
But Huang Zhen couldn't help but laugh out loud. After all, after several consecutive
After the first naval battle, Huang Zhen could basically be regarded as a qualified naval commander. From his professional perspective, although the Qing navy had a large number of ships, they were basically a ragtag group of people, and they were just living targets placed in the river.
, waiting for the merchant army to fight.
And through the telescope, Huang Zhen could also clearly see that the so-called warships of the Qing army were actually just some merchant ships and passenger ships. Most of them did not have any on-board weapons. Only a few warships were equipped with one or two crossbows.
, and there are only about a dozen warships equipped with artillery, basically only one or two artillery pieces. It can be said that all the artillery pieces of the Qing army combined are not as many as the Tianzhi ship. The Tianzhi assembly
The number of artillery pieces is seventy-four.
Therefore, Huang Zhen also immediately ordered that all warships form a column and approach the Qing army in a zigzag route.
Fighting in the Yangtze River is different from that in the sea. The current is more important than the wind direction. Because the Qing army is occupying the upper reaches, the warships can sail towards the merchant fleet by following the river flow. This is why Jin Shuo had to order the attack.
One reason, otherwise the Qing warships would drift past sooner or later. Now Jin Shuo only hoped to use You's advantage to quickly approach the opponent's warships, and then conduct boarding operations.
Soon the distance between the two sides had narrowed, and at this time the merchant army's array had adjusted its formation. All warships were arranged in a line, but were traveling along an inclined route.
.At this time, the warships in the front row had already approached the north bank of the Yangtze River, while the warships in the rear row were on the south side of the Yangtze River. The warships approaching the north bank of the Yangtze River turned around again, still in an oblique shape.
Route, heading south of the Yangtze River.
This also puzzled Jin Shuo. Why did the Merchant Army's warships take such a strange route? In his opinion, wouldn't it be faster to go in a straight line? But the current situation did not allow him to think too much, because at this time
The closest distance between the two sides was less than two hundred steps, almost within range of which crossbows and artillery could be fired.
But at this moment, the Merchant Army's attack had already begun. On the side of the Tianzhi, the thirteen broadsides on the first floor began to make a huge roar together, spitting out shining tongues of flame, and fired the shells.
Qing warships diagonally opposite.
With several "Boom - Boom - Boom - Boom -" sounds, three of the thirteen shells in the first round hit the target, and one hit the side of a ship, smashing a shell on the side.
The river water immediately rushed into the hole the size of a tabletop. Seeing that the situation was not good, the soldiers on the ship jumped into the river and fled. The remaining two shells fell on the decks of the other two ships, and one shot across the
After hitting the entire deck and knocking down several soldiers, he opened a gap on the side of the ship on the other side and fell into the Yangtze River. The other one smashed into the ship building, only causing sawdust to fly and shooting, killing the attacker.
More than ten Qing soldiers were injured on the ship. The remaining ten shells fell into the water, causing more than a dozen water columns to rise into the sky. Several warships were showered with a deck of cold river water.
At this time, the counterattack of the Qing army also began. Unfortunately, compared with the attack of the merchant army, the counterattack of the Qing army was almost insignificant. It only fired two cannons and fired a dozen crossbow arrows, which did not cause any damage to the merchant army at all.
harm.
At the same time, the twelve broadside guns on the second floor of the Tianzhi also opened fire. Several warships following the Tianzhi also entered the shooting range and opened fire one after another. The river surface immediately roared with cannons, and water columns rose and fell one after another.
The warships of the Qing army were also hit and sunk one after another.
Under the command of Huang Zhen, the Tianzhi fired and bombarded while driving diagonally. Unknowingly, it had once again approached the south bank of the Yangtze River. At this time, it almost connected with the front row of the Qing army's warships. Merchants
The army's fleet once again formed a diagonal straight line on the river, and almost a dozen ships were engaged in the battle.
At this time, at least thirty warships of the Qing army had been sunk or were sinking. In addition, more than ten ships were beaten beyond control and could only drift with the river. The river surface had begun to float.
There were many broken masts and broken oars, broken sails and broken planks, and many soldiers struggling in the cold river water. However, the merchant army suffered almost no losses.
In fact, after entering the seventeenth century, the outcome of water battles was no longer determined by the pure number of warships. The tonnage and firepower of the warships were the decisive conditions. Ten warships of 200 tons could win in battles with a total tonnage of more than one
A thousand-ton warship, but in battle, the former will definitely be completely defeated by the latter. The reason is that the firepower of one thousand-ton warship is not comparable to that of ten 200-ton warships.
Although the warships of the Qing army had an absolute advantage in numbers, compared with the warships of the merchant army, they were far inferior in terms of firepower and tonnage. It was like a group of wild cats besieging a few tigers. Not to mention the Qing army.
The weapons used are basically bows, arrows, crossbows, and the like, and the tactics are still the most primitive and close to the side, so it is impossible to compete with the merchant army.
At this time, on the battlefield, the Tianzhi, which had returned to the south side of the Yangtze River, changed its direction again, and this time it rushed into the Qing army's array. As a result, there were Qing army warships on both sides, and they were very far apart.
The shortest one is less than twenty steps, so the Tianzhi is also
Instead of driving in a diagonal line, it switched to a straight line. At the same time, the broadsides on both sides also fired. The hit rate was as high as 50% to 60%. Only the Qing Army complained. Moreover, following the Tianzhi, the Merchant Army
One after another, the warships entered the Qing army's formation.