Xiao Ruxun was well prepared and full of confidence. He had a great chance of winning this battle. As for the Spanish navy, they were in chaos before the battle even started.
After receiving Xiao Ruxun's declaration of war, the governor of the Philippines was scared sick. The pro-peace faction had no more excuses. They could only accept the demands of the pro-war faction and gather all the Spanish navy in Southeast Asia to fight to the death with the Ming Army. The Catholic Church, represented by Alexander, had no support and could do nothing but worry.
Whether the Spanish won or the Ming Army won, it would not benefit them.
The Spanish navy spent some time gathering the dozens of warships that had conquered and occupied various places to the headquarters in the Philippines. They increased their strength and gathered about 50 Spanish large ships with an average displacement of about 500 tons. This number would have been even higher ten years ago.
Unfortunately, after the war ten years ago, the Spanish navy began to decline. The weight of warships decreased, and with 500-ton ships as the main fighting force, Xiao Ruxun's fleet had a certain advantage in displacement and size.
However, this time, there were only 10 700-ton ships, the remaining 10 were medium-sized warships of 400 to 500 tons, and 20 were quick-reaction warships with less than 300 tons.
The cannons of the Spaniards used 50-pound shells with a range of about 400 meters. This was determined by Xiao Ruxun after a long period of fighting with the pirates and some of the Spanish cannons seized from the pirates on the island.
The cannons on ships could not be made as big and heavy as the cannons used on land. Otherwise, the ship would not be able to bear it. A three-meter long cannon indeed had a long range, but it weighed three tons. With 20 cannons installed, it would be as heavy as a warship. Would there still be a need to fight?
Therefore, it was necessary to increase speed by reducing the number of cannons on ships. In a naval battle, speed was as important as firepower. No one could be sacrificed.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun could give the army cannons that were more than two meters long as the main firepower. However, the navy was still equipped with smaller cannons, 200 to 300 kilograms. There were more than 30 of them, and their firepower was definitely stronger than the cannons of the Spanish.
After testing, it was found that the effective range of 50 kilograms of solid bullets was about 500 meters, similar to the cannons of the Spanish. The range of explosive bullets was relatively shorter, and the range of grapeshot and chain bullets was even shorter, about 200 meters.
The sailors on the ships were equipped with some rifled flintlocks and most matchlocks. There were even cold weapons such as spears and crossbows, as well as kerosene.
Today, the sky was clear and visibility was high. Before the battle began, Jiang Dahai roughly determined the number and weight of the Spanish navy ships through the telescope.
He discovered that the Spanish Navy had a large number of ships, and most of them were large ships. There were very few small ships. The ships were basically warships with soft sails. The wind was strong, and their speed was slightly faster than the Ming's main warships. However, no matter how fast they were, they could not be faster than the Ming's rapid-fire warships with low weight and many oars.
When dealing with the small and medium ships and fire ships of the ordinary pirates, the large ships did not have much of a deterrent. They needed to use the small and medium fleets to defeat them with absolute firepower.
This was the tactic that Jiang Dahai was best at. In contrast, using small ships against large ships was also what Jiang Dahai was good at. He was not so good at using the 700-ton ships to fight.
Seeing the Spanish tactic of using large ships, Jiang Dahai was delighted. He had already ordered the fleet to spread out in battle formation. The sailors and sailors held their breath. The first wave of the enemy fleet was a fleet of fast firepower. They used the number and power of the cannons to win. In terms of shooting speed, both sides were evenly matched.
But my ship is fast, which is good for avoiding your cannons. Your ship is heavy and slow. I can hit you, but you can't hit me. This was one of the reasons why the British Navy defeated the Spanish Invincible Fleet.
Seeing that the Spanish fleet should have noticed them and started to spread out in battle formation, Jiang Dahai waved the flag. The war drums sounded, and the 20 fast firepower ships attacked at full speed. At such a distance, whoever reacted faster would have the upper hand. The Spanish fleet had not yet spread out in battle formation, but the Ming Army warships had already rushed forward.
However, the first shot was not fired by the Ming Army. It was fired by the Spanish warships. It landed far away in the empty sea. The nearest Ming Army ship was about 100 meters away. No one knew how this shot was fired.
But regardless of them, the Ming Army's fast firepower ships had already advanced to a certain range. They could start the first round of cannons to measure the distance of the target.
Generally speaking, the first round of cannons was used as an experiment to see how far the distance was and how far away it was from the target. Then, they would adjust the position of the muzzle and the ship to make it easier for the gunners to aim and carry out the second and third round of accurate attacks.
The Ming Army began the first round of cannons.
Boom, boom, boom, boom …
The 20 warships quickly fired their cannons, and the cannonballs landed in the water around the Spanish fleet. However, it seemed that God was on the Ming army's side. Out of the dozens of cannonballs, three of them hit one of the Spanish warships, leaving three holes in it.
The captain of the Ming warship that had hit the Spanish warship excitedly took out his telescope to look at the situation on the other side. He saw the Spanish witnesses on the ship running around in a panic. They were probably trying to cover up the loophole and change their direction.
How could they miss such a good opportunity?
"Continue to fire!"
The captain immediately ordered the gunners to aim at the Spanish warship and fire at the same angle. Boom, boom, boom. Eight of the dozens of solid shells hit the Spanish warship. The Spanish warship had eight big holes from the deck to the hull. It seemed to be in a very bad state.
At this time, a few of the Spanish warships also began to fire back. However, they seemed to be unlucky. None of the dozens of shells hit the Ming Army warships. The Ming Army warships all began to move to avoid being targeted by the Spanish warships.
The Ming Army warships began to use their best tactics. They circled around the Spanish warships while maintaining their firing. The Spanish warships were relatively slow. They could not keep up with the speed of the Ming Army's small warships with the help of oars.
For a moment, the cannons of the Ming Army warships rumbled. There were still a few warships that changed to bombard the decks of the Spanish warships. Suddenly, the decks of the Spanish warships exploded. Flesh and blood flew everywhere.
The Ming Army warships began to get closer to the Spanish warships. They planned to take advantage of the fact that the Spanish warships' battle formation had yet to spread out to directly disrupt them. They would not be able to spread out their battle formation and face the enemy calmly. Instead, they would have to defend themselves and fight back against the Ming Army warships.
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