Chapter five hundred and nineteenth big broken fish head array
Taking advantage of the wind on the sea, both sides were traveling at full speed. After a stick of incense, the fifty ships of the Pioneer Battalion had chased for more than thirty miles. The front end was still about three miles away from the pirate ship, and the distance was getting closer.
A lot of them were fired, but each ship fired a series of cannons, but most of them failed. Only one or two shots were lucky enough to hit, but not a single pirate ship was sunk.
If there is a head-on battle at sea, it is indeed a good choice to set up the "Fish Head Formation", because once the ships of both sides get close, they can use small speedboats that are good at close combat to entangle each other, while large and medium-sized warships with stronger firepower can use them to entangle each other.
Launching artillery attacks from behind, but pursuing the enemy at full speed like this is definitely not what the "Yutou Formation" is good at.
Most of the warship's guns are located on the sides, and there are only one or two at most on the bow. According to the "Fish Gate Formation" formation, the small ships are in the front, and the fuchuan and three-masted gunboats are in the back. In this way, the rear
The big ship's artillery was hampered in aiming, and the pirate ships escaping on the sea ahead were scattered, so it was natural that most of the cannons that were forced to fire were missed.
Just because Zhao Xuhai ordered a full-speed pursuit, the Eagle Ship at the front of the "Fish Head Formation" was faster and followed closely behind the pirate ship. However, the three-masted gunboat and Fu Ship were not as fast as the small speedboat, but they fell further and further behind. The original arrangement
The good formation was stretched out and turned into two parts, with small ships in the front and large and medium-sized ships in the back.
"General! I'm afraid it's not appropriate to go on like this. Those pirate ships are faster than our ship, and they seem to be deliberately tempting us to catch up!" Seeing this situation, Sun Li finally couldn't help but said.
Zhao Xuhai curled his lips and said: "They are just running for their lives. We will catch up after a while. What's wrong?"
But after Sun Li said it, Zhao Xuhai still ordered: "Send the order! Tell the ships to maintain a good formation and not to move too far!"
However, this order was obviously given a little late. At this moment, the pirate ship, which had been fleeing in panic, had taken action first, suddenly turned its bow, and rushed straight towards the navy's fleet.
In the previous chase, the distance between the front and rear of the naval fleet had been widened. The small ship in front was only two or three miles away from the pirate ship, while the lucky ship and three-masted warship in the rear were left behind by as much as six or seven miles.
, and because they were too far apart, the ship's artillery could no longer hit the pirate ship. At this time, the pirate ship suddenly turned back at the same time, much faster than when it turned around and fled when facing the pioneer battalion. In almost a moment, it rushed in
Among the more than thirty eagle ships at the front of the "Fish Head Formation"!
"No! They want to fight us in close combat!" Sun Li, who was on the three-masted battleship, shouted when he saw this situation.
The essence of the "Fish Head Formation" is to use the artillery on the large ship at the rear to support the small boats in the front. At the same time, the existence of the small boats can also protect the gunboats in the rear, preventing the enemy from getting close. But the situation at this time is that the front is
The small boats fought together with the opponent's main force, but the gunboats in the rear were unable to catch up for a while.
Zhao Xuhai realized that something was wrong with the situation. The pirate ship turned around too quickly this time and arrived in an orderly manner. It was not the chaotic and unruly appearance it had before. It seemed that their panicked escape at the beginning was really what Sun Li had said.
The words were done intentionally.
However, Zhao Xuhai was not in a hurry, because thirty against twenty, even without the artillery support from the large ship behind, the small Eagle Ship of the Pioneer Battalion still had a numerical advantage and still had a good chance of winning.
However, Mr. Zhao Qian obviously miscalculated again.
As soon as the ships from both sides approached, several medium-sized loach ships in the pirate fleet opened fire first, sinking two of the navy's eagle ships. The ship array rushed to one place, and soon four or five more eagle ships were on fire, and another one was on fire.
Some of them were forced onto the ship by the pirates, and they started a hand-to-hand fight. By the time the fortune ship and the three-masted gunboat approached, the sea was already in chaos, and the front part of the "fish head formation" had been completely washed away.
After being separated, the Eagle Ship fought with the opponent's Falcon Ship and Centipede Ship, but was completely at a disadvantage.
It was precisely because the ships of both sides were fighting in the sea that the ship formation no longer existed. Even if the large ships behind them sailed within the range of the artillery, they did not dare to fire for fear of accidentally damaging their own ships.
When two armies clash, their combat strength is not determined solely by numbers. This is true for land battles and also for naval battles.
The soldiers of the Guangdong Navy have been in the water stronghold for many years, and it is difficult for them to survive a battle. Once the two sides fight hand to hand, they are far from the opponents of the fierce "Black Dragon Palace" pirates. Even if the ships have an advantage in number,
It doesn't have much effect either.
"Go and give the order! Tell the eagle ships to disperse and don't fight with the pirate ships!" Zhao Xuhai realized that if this situation continued, the small eagle ships of the Pioneer Camp would definitely suffer heavy losses, so he shouted loudly.
The flag officer passed on the order, and the eagle ships that had been fighting with the pirate ships in the vanguard battalion scattered in all directions and broke away from the battle circle.
According to Zhao Xuhai's idea, although a few small boats were accidentally lost at the beginning, as long as one's own Eagle Ship was separated from the pirate ship, it could be preserved, and then the formation could be reorganized, and the artillery fire from the three-masted gunboat and the Fu Ship would be enough.
If it works, this battle can still have a huge chance of winning. After all, there are only twenty pirate ships in total, and they are all small and medium-sized ships. Even if the close combat is fierce and the artillery fire from both sides is exchanged, it is still impossible to defeat the large ships of the Pioneer Battalion.
Unfortunately, the war did not go as planned by General Zhao Qian. The pirates in charge obviously did not want to give Zhao Xuhai a chance to reorganize their formation. As soon as the navy's small eagle ship withdrew, twenty pirate ships suddenly separated.
For the sake of the fifth route, they actually rushed towards the three three-masted gunboats and more than ten lucky boats of the Pioneer Battalion.
Only then did Zhao Xuhai realize that he had made another mistake just now. No one messes with me! The pirate ship engaged the Eagle Ship in front. Although the Pioneer Battalion would definitely lose some boats, it could at least block the opponent's counterattack.
At this time, the Eagle Ship withdrew, but the three-masted gunboats and Fu Ships that were originally in the center of the formation and had already approached the battle circle lost their cover and were directly exposed to the impact of the opponent's Centipede Ship and Loach Ship.
"Fire! Fire quickly! Don't let the pirate ship get close!" Zhao Xuhai shouted.
The pirate ships rushing over at high speed were like a pack of wolves attacking a flock of sheep. A round of artillery attacks from the three three-masted gunboats actually missed, not even a single pirate ship was hit!
This kind of situation is not unfamiliar to Zhao Xuhai, and he even feels familiar! He made extremely accurate predictions, skillfully dodged the artillery, and sailed the boat close like a phantom... An idea popped up in Zhao Xuhai's mind, making him
He almost lost his balance and fell to the deck!
The person in charge of commanding the pirate fleet must be a top naval combat master with Peng San's abilities!
Is he going to be defeated today? Cold sweat was streaming down Zhao Xuhai's face. If he was still thinking about killing the enemy and making meritorious deeds before, now all he was thinking about was how to save his life.
"Quickly tell the helmsman to turn the helm! Turn around and retreat!"
Although there are two hundred sailors on each three-masted gunboat, if pirates board the ship, most of these soldiers will still be unable to resist and will be captured. From the beginning, the opponent lures the enemy to pursue them, and then counterattacks and entangles them.
The battle was all about seizing the three-masted gunboat. If the flagship was captured, Zhao Xuhai's battle would have failed.
At this time, the battle situation on the sea formed a strange phenomenon. The Pioneer Battalion obviously had many people on board, but it was in chaos. More than twenty small eagle ships were scattered on the sea, at a loss as to what to do, while three large three-masted gunboats were occupied by three
One pirate ship was chasing them and fled, but more than a dozen medium-sized fortune ships huddled together and were rushed forward by two other pirate ships.
These twenty pirate ships were obviously clippers specially selected from the ships of the "Black Dragon Palace". Regardless of their speed or steering flexibility, they were far inferior to the Fuchuan and the three-masted gunboats.
Seven or eight centipede boats have been divided into two routes and interspersed among the more than ten blessing boats in the Pioneer Camp. These flat speedboats, lying like insects on the sea, spit out streams of flames from both sides and bow, shooting towards
The hull of the lucky ship. These lucky ships were originally arranged in a formation, very close to each other, but now they were huddled together and unable to steer, becoming a ready target for the fire dragon's spray. It didn't take long for several of them to be ignited.
Because they were forced close by the pirate ships, the artillery on these Fu ships also lost their effectiveness. The navy soldiers on the deck could only use bows and arrows to fight back, but they were all blocked by the solid hull of the Centipede ship's roof and could not be hurt at all.
There are pirates on the ship.
On the other side, the three three-masted gunboats that turned around and fled were being chased closer and closer by more than a dozen sea falcon boats, and were about to be overtaken.
Now, the vanguard battalion with more than 50 warships has been overwhelmed by 20 pirate ships. It has been completely defeated. The "fish head formation" previously deployed has been withdrawn and collapsed!
Whether these five pirate ships were chasing the three-masted gunboats or breaking into Fu Ship's formation, they all penetrated from angles that made it difficult for the cannons on both sides of the naval ship to aim. The opponent's commander's method of commanding the ships was actually different from Peng San's on that day.
The "thorny fin technique" used to break through the "Thousand Scales Water Formation" is exactly the same!
The pursuit only lasted half a stick of incense. Two three-masted gunboats were overtaken one after another, and three or four sea falcons on each side approached the ship's side. The pirates forcibly boarded the ship, and men from both sides were already fighting on the deck. Guangdong
The soldiers of the Jingshui Division were not strong in combat and could not defeat the pirates of the "Black Dragon Palace" in hand-to-hand combat. It was only a matter of time before the two three-masted gunboats were captured.
Behind Zhao Xuhai's flagship, four pirate ships were in hot pursuit, approaching within a hundred feet.
Seeing this scene, Mr. Zhao Qian's face was ashen, his lips were trembling, and he was speechless. He knew very well that at this point, no matter what order he gave, it would be impossible to save this completely defeated battle.
!
After a long time, Zhao Xuhai gave the order: "Sun Li, hurry up and prepare the boat. Let's abandon the boat together."
A look of shock and anger appeared on Sun Li's face, and he said: "General, you must not do this! This ship is the flagship of the forward camp, we must not give it up!"