Chapter 5 The first battle of attacking the Qing court (2)
"Turtle-shell ship? Where did the Qing army get this antique from?"
Cheng Gang put down his simple telescope and felt a little incomprehensible. Of course he knew about the turtle ship, but it was more than fifty years ago. After experiencing so many naval battles, Cheng Gang also had an understanding of naval battles.
A considerable degree of understanding, so the weaknesses of the turtle ship can be seen at a glance. And after being influenced by Shang Yi, Cheng Gang also deeply
Understand this truth, the world is moving forward and is not static. Over fifty years later, naval warfare has undergone great changes. Turtle-shell ships may have been able to rule the roost for a while, but
It has long been obsolete now. Cheng Gang felt very ridiculous that the navy of the Qing Dynasty still used this kind of thing to fight.
However, despite thinking this way, Chenggang was not slow at all in giving orders and immediately issued an order to the fleet to fight.
Three fleets were immediately separated from the combined fleet. The middle fleet was composed of two second-level battleships, eight third-level cruisers, and five fourth-level destroyers. They sailed in a zigzag route and faced the Qing court's attack head-on.
Turtle Fleet. And
The two fleets on the left and right are composed of one second-level battleship, four third-level cruisers, four fourth-level destroyers, and three fifth-level frigates. They are outflanked from the left and right wings respectively. However, all three fleets are arranged in columns.
arrangement.
The Qing court's fleet was arranged in a wild goose formation, with three larger turtle-shell ships forming a triangle as the core. The remaining warships were spread out to both sides, forming a huge arrow shape, but the horizontal width was up to
More than three hundred steps.
And Li Duguo was on the ship in the middle. Although he had much fewer warships than his opponents, he still confidently led the fleet and approached the Chinese fleet. At the same time, he began to imagine in his mind
Wait a moment, how will you lead the fleet and defeat the enemy?
At this time, the Chinese fleet launched the attack first. The first ship responsible for facing the enemy squadron was the second-class battleship Xianxiu, which began shelling. Sixteen artillery pieces on the second deck opened fire together, taking the lead in attacking the Qing army.
There was a roar.
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-"
After a series of roars of artillery, more than ten water columns immediately rose from the sea near the Qing warships, shooting straight into the sky. Among the Qing warships, two tortoise-shell ships were hit by cannonballs, but they were covered with iron armor.
The hull is indeed much stronger than ordinary warships. Although a large piece of the armor was dented after being hit by the cannonball, it was not penetrated after all. However, it also caused a violent shaking of the hull, and the clear inside
The soldiers were unable to stand firmly and most of them fell down on the deck of the ship.
The turtle ships of the Qing government also fired back, but at this time the distance between the two sides was more than 300 meters. However, because the turtle ships were too small and equipped with small and medium-sized artillery, the range was simply not enough, and almost most of the shells
They were all still a certain distance away, so they fell into the sea. Even if a few of them hit the Chinese warships, they were still weak and could not cause much damage.
Because the turtle ship is essentially a close-combat warship, most of the weapons it is equipped with are rockets and flamethrowers. Only when it is close to the opponent thirty or forty meters is the turtle ship's ideal attack distance, which can be used
Rockets and flamethrowers can directly burn the enemy's warships, while their own armor can resist the enemy's warships.
The army used the same method to attack, so it had a great advantage in naval battles. Yi Sun-shin used turtle ships in this way, and he could often block ten. But in naval battles at this time, the combat distance had expanded to more than several hundred meters, and
Turtle ships cannot be equipped with heavy artillery, so the advantage they had at the time turned into an absolute disadvantage.
There are only three larger turtle-shell ships, each equipped with four red cannons weighing 2,400 kilograms. Two of them are located at the bow of the ship. They can also pose a certain danger to the Chinese fleet, but the first None of the ship's six shells hit the target, and all fell into the sea water. On the contrary, the reaction force of the red cannon caused the ship's hull to sway erratically.
Because although these three turtle-shell ships are larger in size, compared to other turtle-shell ships, their length is no more than forty meters, their width is only five or six meters, and their weight is about five hundred tons, but this is with the addition of armor pieces. The weight of the warship is actually only equivalent to the size of a fifth-level frigate of the Chinese Army. It is indeed a bit difficult to use such a warship to fire red artillery. Moreover, the artillery on the turtle ship does not use cannon carriages and anti-shock devices. Therefore, the reaction force received is definitely not small.
After the red-coat artillery was fired, it still needed a considerable period of preparation before it could be fired again. At this time, almost all the warships of the Chinese Army entered its firing range, so the artillery on each ship fired one after another, and for a while, the sea was filled with smoke. There was a huge surge, the roar of artillery continued, and the shells were fired one after another at the Qing Army's turtle-shell ship.
Because the distance was too far, the Qing army's counterattack was almost powerless, and they were completely at a disadvantage. Although the defensive power of the turtle ship was stronger than that of ordinary warships, it was only a layer of iron armor covering the wooden hull. However, it is not a real ironclad ship, so it cannot withstand the rounds of artillery bombardment. Several turtle-shell ships have been penetrated by artillery shells, and several large holes were penetrated in the iron armor. Broken iron pieces and wood chips were scattered everywhere, and the inside of the ship was The Qing soldiers suffered numerous casualties. Moreover, two ships had taken on water and began to sink.
Li Duguo did not expect that the war situation would develop in this direction. In his imagination, the turtle ship should show its prowess, using its iron armor to resist the enemy's attack, and then use rockets, flamethrowers and other weapons to destroy the enemy ship. It was only right to burn the ships one by one. Who knew that he had no chance to get close to the enemy, and the opponent's artillery was too fierce. Although the iron armor was completely useless, compared with what he expected, it was still quite powerful. Therefore, Li Duguo couldn't help but feel very depressed. He was doing exactly what his ancestors did, so why didn't it work?
But now there is no time for Li Duguo to think about the age difference. At this time, the distance between the turtle fleet and the Chinese army's middle fleet is less than a hundred meters. Although the turtle ship is about to enter its attack range, the Chinese army's fleet is not at all Given a chance, he had already lined up horizontally in front of the turtle fleet, with his broadside facing the bow of the turtle fleet. Therefore, the firepower on each ship was fully opened, and the cannonballs were like raindrops, hitting the Qing army.
And because the distance was too close at this time, the power and hit rate of the artillery were also greatly improved. Many turtle-shell ships were hit by the cannonballs, with their armor shattered, their masts broken and their rudders dismantled. In the blink of an eye, there were more than ten turtle-shell ships. The ship lost combat effectiveness.
At this time, the fleets on the left and right sides of the Chinese army had also been outflanked, inserting themselves into the array of the Qing army's fleet from both sides, and the artillery on both sides opened fire at the same time to bombard the Qing army's warships. The Qing army's fleet had already completely fallen. At a disadvantage, the Chinese army's formation was thrown into chaos. As a result, they were divided into several sections and could only fight on their own. Moreover, the number of Qing army's warships was far less than that of their opponents, and they were beaten to the point where there was almost no resistance. power.
Even though the three large turtle-shell ships were resisting vigorously, the only thing that could pose a threat to the other side was the four red cannons of each ship, and the other weapons were of no use at all. And the red cannons were of no use at all. The number is small, plus the warships are bumpy and ups and downs in the sea, and the training of the Qing army's gunners is not as good as that of the Chinese army, so it is already very good to be able to successfully fire out the artillery. As for the accuracy, I can only leave it to fate. .
Moreover, these three large tortoise-shell ships were also the key targets of the Chinese army. Each ship would be besieged by several Chinese warships. As a result, after a short time, each of them was hit by dozens of cannons, and all were hit in many places. It was cracked and dented, so much so that the mast of one ship was dismantled, the sails fell down, and a large hole opened on the side. Seawater poured in desperately, and it sank to the bottom of the sea. At the same time, another ship was also Five Chinese warships besieged them, and the shells fell on the hull like haildrops. The armor was shattered and the hull was cracked in four or five places. It would only be a matter of time before it was destroyed.
The situation of Li Duguo's ship was slightly better. Although the dragon head sculpture on the bow was smashed and the hull was dented in many places, it was still not penetrated. However, Li Duguo still maintained some traces of his ancestors. Although he knew that the battle situation was unfavorable, he did not flee from the battlefield. He still commanded all the artillery of the ship to fire hard to counterattack.
But at this time, the Qing army's disadvantage on the battlefield was irreversible. The resistance of this warship alone was useless. And at this moment, the rowers on the bottom deck suddenly ran up, Reported to Li Duguo that water was leaking from the bottom of the boat.
It turns out that the turtle-shell ship itself is too small to withstand the shock force fired by the red cannon. The shipbuilding craftsmen in the north are not as proficient as those in the south, so the connection between the ship planks is not strong enough. During normal training, I didn't notice anything yet, but the red artillery fire continued on the battlefield and was bombarded by the opponent's artillery fire. As a result, the seams burst and seawater continued to seep in.
If it were normal times, we could block the water seepage first and deal with it without force to ensure that the warship would not sink. But at this time, everyone's attention was focused on the battle, and no one noticed the water seepage in the hull. As a result, By the time we realized what was happening, the water at the bottom of the ship had reached nearly a foot deep, and the opponent's naval guns were still bombarding the hull, leaving no time to block the water seepage.
At this time, in the cabin, the Qing soldiers were also in chaos. Up to now, the Qing soldiers were still able to support the battle. In addition to Li Duguo's insistence, another point was that the hull of the ship had not been seriously damaged, so the Qing soldiers There was still a sense of security in their hearts, but now the ship began to seep and sink. The soldiers' morale was suddenly shaken. No one was willing to continue fighting, and no one listened to Li Duguo's command anymore, so they jumped into the sea to escape for their lives.