Countless warships lay quietly across the water, and those black muzzles opened their ferocious fangs, waiting for the final attack order to arrive anytime and anywhere.
Behind the calm lies a terrifying war that could break out at any time.
This is May 30th in the twelfth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty.
On this day, neither the Huben Guard Navy nor the Zheng Family Navy were willing to wait any longer. Each of them was ready for the final decisive battle.
For victory - a decisive battle!
At this time, on the side of the Huben Guard Navy, Zhang Xianxuan was on the left, Cai Jiuzhou was on the right, Bao Juhua was in the vanguard, Xiao Yifeng was guerrilla, and Ding Yunyi was personally in charge of the central army, commanding the entire navy.
On the side of the Zheng family navy, the vanguard is Zheng Zhibao, the most powerful general of the Zheng family, Zheng Zhifeng on the left, Gao Yingyue on the right, guerrilla Zhang Yongchan, and Zheng Zhilong in charge of the central army.
The forces brought out by the Zheng family are almost all generals who have participated in the previous battle with Hongyi at Liaoluo Bay. These people are familiar with everything here, and they are even more familiar with this vast sea...
On the Huben Guard Navy side, except for Ding Yunyi and Xiao Yifeng, the other generals had not participated in the previous battle. Although they had passed through Liaoluo Bay countless times, everything here still made them feel so fresh and curious.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, Zheng Zhibao, the navy commander of the Zheng family, took the initiative to attack. Thirty warships began to launch a tentative attack on the Huben Guard navy.
Huben Guard Navy forward Bao Juhua quickly took the initiative to attack.
This gambler and impetuous general of the Tiger Guards had been stationed in Penghu with Xiao Yifeng for a long time, and he and Zheng Zhibao were considered old rivals. Once they met, there was no concealment, and the superior immediately took out everything
strength.
The cannons on the Haicang and Cangshan ships fired at each other, and the shells roared across the sky.
The Zheng family's vanguard, with the Haicang ship as the main force, continuously spit out cannonballs from the Thousand Jin Fo Lang machine. It came with great momentum, trying to engulf the enemy in one go, and make a good start for the decisive battle that would follow.
The Hubenwei "Eagle" warship, equipped with the new "Xunzi" class artillery, refused to show any weakness at all, and continued to fire the artillery with a speed exceeding that of the Qianjin Folang machine, desperately pouring shells into the enemy warship.
On the small sea, boats were constantly being shot, and people were falling into the sea screaming miserably...
The "Xunzi"-class artillery is based on the "Thunder Cannon" and has been extensively improved, allowing it to have a high rate of fire and greatly increase the power of the artillery.
The birth of this artillery is largely thanks to the French engineer: Al Gude Rafal!
Ayer's improvements allowed the Thunder Cannon, which was originally an auxiliary artillery piece, to become the main artillery piece on the "Eagle" warship. This was something Zheng Zhibao had not expected at all.
As soon as the war started, under the high-speed fire of the "Xunzi" class artillery, the Zheng family navy quickly injured two warships in two days. After losing the ability to continue fighting, the two warships quickly became
The opponent's target was focused on. Artillery shells, fire drills, and giant rockets continued to rain down on it, and soon it was wrapped in thick smoke.
However, within a short period of time, the two battered warships burst into flames and began to sink rapidly.
These were the first two warships to sink in the decisive battle at Liaoluo Bay...
This is not a good sign for Zheng Zhibao. As a forward, his mission is to give his fleet a good start and to maximize the morale of his fleet.
But now it seems that it is obviously not going as planned...
In anger, Zheng Zhibao began to stare at the opponent's main ship.
That was the vanguard main ship "Goshawk" on which Bao Juhua was riding.
Bao Juhua also quickly discovered the opponent's intention. Under his command, the twelve "Xunzi" class artillery on the "Goshawk" fired desperately, firing each shell as far as possible.
Hit the opponent as hard as possible.
The water column on the sea soared into the sky, and the waves splashed everywhere. It seemed that everything in the world had been obliterated by the endless cannonballs and waves!
Zheng Zhibao was a little annoyed. He found it difficult to get close to him under the opponent's attack.
The opponent's warships turn nimbly, the opponent's artillery fires rapidly, and the opponent's sailors are as well-trained as the sailors on their own ship.
To be honest, Zheng Zhibao had led his fleet to spy on Tai and Peng a few times before, but was thwarted by the tight defenses of Tai and Peng. But from the bottom of his heart, he still looked down on the Huben Guard Navy...
In his opinion, once he reached the sea one day, he could easily defeat the Huben Guard Navy without any effort, but when that day actually came, he found that he was wrong.
The soldiers who fought bravely on the opposite side were not inferior to the Zheng family navy in terms of combat quality and courage.
They were calm and calm, driving the warship in an orderly manner under the enemy's crazy artillery fire. They stuffed the cannonballs into the cannons without any panic, and then flew out of the muzzles...
There was a wounded warship that seemed to be moving slowly, but under the cover of its companions, it retreated from the battlefield immediately without any hesitation.
This is something Zheng Zhibao could not imagine.
According to the requirements of the Zheng family, if an injured warship can still move, it must fight to the end. In their view, this is a sign of bravery on the battlefield.
But the Huben Guard Navy did not pay attention to this at all... In their opinion, how to protect their warships to the greatest extent is the first priority.
There were shouts and screams on the sea, which were made by the officers and soldiers of the Zheng family navy. This was also one of the characteristics of their battles. They believed that such shouts could bring courage to themselves and make the enemy feel fearful.
Compared to them, the sailors of Huben Guard were much quieter.
They do not value using their shouts to scare the enemy. They focus more on how to effectively kill the opponent in naval battles, rather than on who has the louder voice.
However, sometimes, the sailors of the Tiger Guard can also show their extraordinary courage...
The Cangshan ship was injured and caught fire. This was one of the earliest veteran-class warships incorporated into the Huben Guard Navy. Although they were not as flexible as the "Eagle" warships, and although they were not as fierce as the "Eagle" warships, they
They are proud of who they are.
Without the existence of such Cangshan ships and Haicang ships, there would be no future for the Huben Guard Navy!
The ship quickly fell into the enemy's heavy attack. Cannonballs roared down to the sea around it and landed on its hull.
The ship was punched with several big holes and heavily damaged. It has lost the possibility of withdrawing from the battlefield... The time has come to test all the officers and soldiers on the ship!
The gunners gritted their teeth, with red eyes, and continued firing cannonballs without stopping for a moment. They seemed to have made the final decision: Even if the ship must sink, they must fire the last cannonball.
But this ship is getting worse and worse...
The commander on the ship looked at the wind direction, and then suddenly pulled out his sword:
"Tailwind, assault!"
Tailwind, assault!
This was the last cry of the soldiers on the ship.
The crew rowed the oars frantically, aimed frantically at a target, and rushed forward inexorably...
With a "pass-" sound, the two ships collided with each other. The commander laughed, and then shouted as loudly as he could: "Boarding battle!"
This was a local outnumbered situation, but sailors like this quickly made the Zheng family navy understand what the true spirit of the Tiger Guard is!
Hai Feng whimpered... The last brother also fell... The wounded commander looked around and smiled. His brothers had tried their best until the last moment, but they didn't
Lost the glory of the three words "Hu Ben Wei"...
His name is Chen Zidong, and he used to be one of the "Sixteen Heroes of Penghu" in the past. He was one of the first people to follow Wu Liebotin Yunyi. Even if he died, he would not be embarrassed by the words "Sixteen Heroes of Penghu".
"Uncle Wu Lie, brother is gone!" Chen Zidong smiled, then raised the knife and stretched it towards his neck...
His body was lying quietly on the deck, his eyes were still wide open, and he seemed to have been looking at the enemies around him. He was telling all the enemies:
This is the real Tiger Guard.
I would rather die in battle than suffer humiliation!
Since the Penghu sworn alliance, this is the ninth brother who has died on the battlefield. No one knows how many more people will die in the future war, but they have no regrets...
Following Ding Yunyi, they witnessed the birth of a miracle, and they experienced supreme glory and splendor. Although they were not willing to die like this, when they had to make a choice, they did not hesitate.
I would rather die in battle than suffer humiliation!
The sea witnessed everything that happened in front of it...
The sound of cannons is still ringing, and cannonballs are still hovering in the air. Warships are constantly being hit, and warships are constantly being damaged and sunk. And this is just a prelude to the final decisive battle...
The "Goshawk" was also injured, but it also successfully hit the main ship on which Zheng Zhibao was riding. Zheng Zhibao's Haicang ship was quickly at a disadvantage when facing the newer and more advanced "Eagle" warships.
Appeared.
The four Franco cannons were completely suppressed by the opponent's artillery, two were destroyed, one malfunctioned, and the only one that continued to spit out tongues of flame was completely no match for the opponent.
Although the "Goshawk" was injured, it still showed strong combat effectiveness. Three of the twelve cannons on the ship were destroyed, but the power of the remaining nine guns was not weakened at all.
After several attempts, Zheng Zhibao finally discovered to his frustration that he could no longer defeat the opponent's warship.
Failure? Such words suddenly appeared in Zheng Zhibao's mind. No, this is absolutely impossible to happen. However, the scenes happening in front of him once again confirmed that this terrible thing happened...
At this time, Zheng Zhibao completely gave up his determination to continue fighting, and the Zheng family's forward fleet began to retreat.
This was something that was unimaginable before. No one in the Zheng family navy could compare to Zheng Zhibao in terms of bravery and ferocity. For the first battle of the decisive battle at Liaoluo Bay, Zheng Zhifeng had great hopes for his younger brother.
He hoped to get a good start for the decisive battle, but the result of the naval battle disappointed him.
The Zheng Family Navy participated in the battle with thirty-three warships, and nine were sunk, seven were wounded, and three were captured. Even though this loss was completely acceptable to the Zheng Family Navy, the results shocked the Zheng Family.
The opponent, the Huben Guards Navy, which they had not noticed before, only lost two warships in the first battle.
What kind of situation is this? Is the loss gap between the two parties so large?
Looking at the frustrated Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Zhilong did not blame him, but asked with some suspicion: "Why are the losses so great?"
"Brother, the other side's warships are really fierce." Zheng Zhibao told his brother angrily: "The artillery installed on their ship is far better than ours, and the rotation speed is also very flexible. What's even more terrifying is that their artillery fire speed
It’s really too fast. Often they fire three shots, but we haven’t even fired one..."
He swallowed a sip of saliva and said, "On my boat, there are four Qianjin Folang machines, three bowl-mouth blunderbuss, six Rumi blunderbuss, fifty nozzles, eighty smoke cans, fifty fire bricks, and two hundred rockets.
There were six medicine crossbows and a hundred crossbow arrows. But except for the Qianjin Folang machine, which managed to fire for a while, the other weapons did not work at all. The other party did not give us any chance to use these weapons, and on their ship, according to me
According to visual inspection, at least more than ten artillery pieces are installed."
"This is impossible!" Zheng Zhilong's brows knitted together tightly: "I think the opponent's ship is about the same size as the Haicang ship. How can it install so many artillery pieces?"
"Brother, what I said is absolutely correct." Zheng Zhibao smiled bitterly: "Although their artillery is small in size and light in weight, its firing power is not weak at all."
"Father." Zheng Sen said with a gloomy face: "We have heard before that Taiwan hired a large number of firearms engineers from Thailand and Western countries. I think these are the new artillery developed by these people for Taiwan."
Zheng Zhilong thought there for a while, and then sneered: "New artillery? Although artillery is important, in a large sea battle, ships rely on it! Mang Er, although the first battle was a small defeat, it did not harm our Zheng Family Navy at all.
, there is no need to be depressed, we still have warships that far exceed theirs, and in the decisive battle tomorrow, I will still use you as the vanguard!"
"Yes, brother!" Zheng Zhibao cheered up and said loudly: "Tomorrow's decisive battle, Zheng Zhibao will die on the sea even if he dies!"
Zheng Zhilong was startled for a moment, feeling that it was a bit unlucky for his brother to say these words before the decisive battle! (To be continued, Piaotian Literature registered members recommend this work.