Because this time, all three submarines of the Yangtze River Fleet were dispatched, with a total of nearly a hundred warships, it was impossible to just line up in a column. Huang Zhen had ordered the cruisers, destroyers and frigates in each submarine.
A column was formed with a cruiser, five destroyers, and fourteen frigates. As the main force, the remaining warships formed columns according to their respective formations. One, one, three, and three, a total of four columns were formed.
Huang Zhen used the cruiser Tianquan as the flagship to command the battle in the formation of the First Squadron. Another cruiser Tianwei, as the flagship of the Pioneer Fleet, was led by He Jin, the captain of the First Squadron, to command the battle in the Pioneer Fleet.
Then, then
He Bin is 33 years old this year. He was originally a Danmin. Although he is not old, since he was in his infancy, he has gone out to sea with his parents' fishing boats to make a living. It can be said that he has been away for many years.
It has been many years since the ship, of course, this is also a portrayal of the common life of the Danmen. When the Merchant Army formed the Navy, it was persuaded by his fellow villager Wu Quanfu and fled to Shang Yi's troops. He basically participated in all the battles since the Navy was established and also set up a new chapter.
He has made a lot of military achievements, and in addition to training, he also participated in literacy training classes, learned to read and read, and became a senior general of the navy step by step. When the Yangtze River Fleet was established, Huang Zhen also called him to bring him over.
, served as the commander of the First Squadron. In this battle, he served as the commander of the Pioneer Fleet.
After the fleets of both sides met, because the Tianwei was ranked first in the vanguard fleet, He Bin stood on the deck and saw it very clearly that the Qing army's formation was lined up horizontally on the Yangtze River, almost
The Yangtze River was cut off. And it was basically small boats with about 200 materials, with three ships as a group, connected by iron locks, each ship was about seven or eight feet apart, and there were about twenty groups in the first row.
There are three rows in total, all of which are like this. Behind these three rows of warships, you can also see some large ships of four or five hundred materials.
Although He Bin felt that the formation of the Qing army was very strange, such a line-up was obviously very beneficial to the merchant army, because the Qing army had arranged the target and allowed the warships of the Yangtze River Fleet to practice shooting.
Therefore, He Bin immediately ordered the vanguard fleet to immediately change from straight to oblique, sailing in the shape of "zhi", approaching the Qing army's fleet. The naval guns of each ship were also ready to fire.
Then the vanguard fleet gradually pulled into a diagonal line on the Yangtze River, and the leading Tianji number was getting closer and closer to the Qing army's horizontal formation.
Huang Zhen, who was watching the game behind, also believed that the current situation was very beneficial to the merchant army. As long as it entered the range of the merchant army, it could launch bombardment without hesitation. It is estimated that after each ship opened fire, it should be able to sink
Nearly half of the Qing army's warships, I just don't understand why the Qing army used iron chains to connect all the warships. I heard that people like to read [Romance of the Three Kingdoms] so hard that they don't understand the disadvantages of Lianzhou?
The Qing army was just three ships in one company, which was different from [Romance of the Three Kingdoms], but why?
But before Huang Zhen could think clearly, the battle began. The Tianwei first launched an artillery bombardment on the Qing army. The Tianwei was a medium-sized warship of about 800 tons, equipped with a total of 72 artillery pieces.
Among them were twelve heavy artillery pieces, divided into three layers of plywood, and the twelve artillery pieces on the first layer of plywood fired together, launching a fierce attack on the Qing army.
Of the twelve shells in the first round, four hit the targets, hitting two boats, smashing the cabins and ships on the boat to pieces, while the rest of the shells fell into the river, causing several feet of height. The soaring water column was just that the shells fired by heavy artillery did not hit, so it did not cause a fatal blow to the Qing army's warships.
Immediately afterwards, the twelve artillery on the second deck also opened fire and launched an attack on the Qing army. Moreover, the several destroyers following the Tianwei also entered their range and began to attack the Qing army's ships. The team launched a shelling attack.
Suddenly, in the Qing army's array, water columns kept soaring into the sky. At least ten warships had been shot. Three of them were hit harder and began to sink into the water, which also dragged down the connection with them. Both ships slowed down.
The Yangtze River Fleet started very successfully, so the soldiers and sailors on each ship were very happy. Many people even cheered, but He Bin, who was commanding the battle on the Tianwei, found that something was wrong, because It has been a few minutes since the war started, and there have been more than ten warships of merchants who can open fire to attack, but the Qing army has not launched a counterattack yet, as if they are really a living target, and they still have a speed. Drive towards the direction of the merchant army without changing.
At this time, the group of serial ships closest to the Tianwei was less than fifty steps. Of course, at this time, the warships of the Qing army could no longer maintain a straight line, and each group of warships was also fast and slow, and the second The group and the third group of warships also followed, and the entire queue was scattered. At this time, He Bin also discovered that the Qing army ships did not seem to be equipped with any weapons, and there were not many sailors and soldiers.
This situation is obviously abnormal. He Bin thought it was difficult to make the Qing army collided with him? But although a cruiser is only a medium-sized ship in the navy of the Merchant Army, compared with the Qing army's warships, it is absolutely true. It is a giant. Even if the Qing army hit three times, it may not be able to hit one. And once it gets closer, the merchant army's naval guns will play a greater role. They can sink a ship with almost one volley. Then, then
Therefore, He Bin also reminded the soldiers and sailors on the Tianwei to be careful, but they are careful of everything. In fact, even He Bin himself can't figure it out.
At this moment, a group of fires on a series of ships flashed across the opposite side, and most of the hull spread in a blink of an eye. Xiongxiong's flames immediately soared into the sky, and the sailors on the ship gathered at the stern and dived and abandoned the ship and fled. .But the speed of this group of serial ships remained unchanged, and the Xiangtianwei rushed towards him.
"Switch the rudder, turn the rudder, turn the rudder quickly."
He Bin couldn't help but feel a little panicked at this time. Only then did he realize that the purpose of the Qing army was to use fire attack on the merchant army. In fact, fire attack was a common tactic used in water wars in this era. In the past, Zheng Zhilong relied on this move. , defeated the Dutch fleet many times, and in the Battle of Greenwif, Britain defeated the Spanish Invincible Fleet, it also used the fire ship attack as its last blow to the Spanish fleet.
In fact, the Qing army's tactical intention of using fire ships to attack was very clear. If it was an experienced naval officer and soldier, it would be estimated that the Qing army would use fire attack from the beginning, but the time when the merchant army's navy was established was not Long, there was not much actual combat experience, and in the past naval battles, I had never seen the enemy use fire attacks, so I discovered this until the Qing army lit a fire on the ship.
Under the urging of He Bin, the sailors of Tianwei tried hard to turn the rudder, adjust the sails, and change their direction. Fortunately, most of the sailors were from Danmin, and He Bin himself could be said to be the one who grew up on the boat.
, are all experts in the boat handling. With the efforts of everyone, the hull of the Tianwei was changing direction bit by bit, and the three fired warships of the Qing army were gradually approaching the Tianwei
Then, then
The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and the soldiers and sailors on the Tianwei could feel the scorching air waves. The soldiers at the bow kept stomping their feet and shouting loudly: "Hurry, hurry, hurry up a little faster."
ah!"
However, under the desperate control of the sailors, the Tianwei finally changed its sailing. It forced the group of fire ships to pass the center position and collided with a fire ship on the left. Fortunately, the Tianwei's body shape was comparable to the other party
It was much larger, so it broke the fire ship more than one meter away, and then both sides almost passed by, and the flames were jumping, rolling up the Tianwei, lit the sails on both sides.
But the gunners on the lower deck were not so nervous because they could not see the whole body. At the same time, they seized this opportunity. The guns on the two decks fired together. Under such a close-range strike, almost every gun was fired.
After a moment of hit, the fireboat was immediately beaten to pieces, and the river kept pouring into the hull. When the two ships passed by, the entire hull had sunk more than two or three feet.
He Bin then wiped the cold sweat from his head and said to himself: "So mysterious, so mysterious, I almost hit a solid one." Then the deadly sailors were about to turn the lit sail down, but at this time,
It was too late to pass, because several groups of fire ships appeared directly in front of the Tianwei and in front of the Tianwei. Some sailors on the fire ships had jumped into the river to escape, while others were adjusting the direction of the fire ships and looking for the target.
He Bin looked around and behind him, and saw more than a dozen groups of fire ships passing by him, colliding onto other warships behind him, and followed him, a destroyer Ang Ri, was immediately behind him.
Because the Chicken was unable to dodge, it happened to be hit by a group of fireboats. The other two fireboats connected by iron chains quickly came up from both wings. The three fireboats were in the shape of a "品" font,
The Angri Chicken was firmly sandwiched in it, and the fire quickly spread to the Angri Chicken, the deck, sails, and the boat building, and they all started to burn.
At the same time, other warships were also a little panicked. After all, in the previous battles, the fleet of the merchant army had not yet encountered the enemy's fire attack. Some warships began to turn and were ready to retreat, while others still advanced.
Some left the queue and avoided the fire ships, and the entire vanguard fleet suddenly became in chaos. Some fire ships crossed the vanguard fleet and collided towards the three columns behind.
Of course He Bin knew that if he turned now, it would be too late and he would be hit by other fireboats. Therefore, the only way was to continue moving forward and try to pass through the gaps between the fireboats and then look for it.
The opportunity turned to return. Therefore, He Bin gritted his teeth and immediately ordered to move forward at full speed. Adjust the direction and pass through the gap between the two groups of fireboats.
At this moment, there was a loud bang behind him. When He Bin looked back, it turned out that the gunpowder depot of the Ang Yue Ji was spreading, causing a big explosion, and together with the three fire ships that clamped him,