The speed of the tortoiseshell ship was too slow, and the sailors were extremely tired after sailing against the current for two days straight. Other than dropping the anchor and resting for four to six hours last night, they had no choice but to row the oars and fight against the current. In contrast, the sailors of the Revolutionary Army only needed to let the steam engine work on its own. It was extremely relaxing.
When the sailors were exhausted, Li Guan could only use precious pills and talismans to maintain the combat power of the entire fleet. The old attendant, Jin Yi, was even glad that they had sunk more than a dozen transport ships. Otherwise, those slow and clumsy ships would have dragged down the entire fleet.
Li Guan had been worried that they would be discovered in advance for such a desperate plan. But when he finally led the team to the outskirts of Pyongyang, he could not help but be ecstatic when he saw the new docks, ships, warehouses, and roads along the Datong River. There were four or five 500-ton transport ships in the docks, and these strange ships that were spewing black smoke were the main targets.
Destroying these 'black chimney ships' should be enough to deal a heavy blow to the Ming pirates, right?
"Let the pyromaniac ships go first," Li Guan shouted. "Use our last talismans and let the sailors paddle faster."
The tortoiseshell ships, which could only sail two knots against the current, were too slow. They were only a short distance away, but it would still take them half a day to get there. That was even slower than a tortoise. Only the small pyromaniac ships could attack quickly. The most important thing now was to create chaos, weaken the enemy's morale, and make them collapse without a fight.
More than 30 pyromaniac ships left the formation … and quickly closed the distance between them and the docks. The leader of the pyromaniac ships was staring at a ship with a black chimney that was anchored at the docks. All the North Korean sailors were told that this kind of ship with a chimney was especially dangerous and had to be destroyed first if possible.
When the pyromaniac ships shot out like arrows, Li Guan felt his blood boiling on his own tortoiseshell ship. Piloting a pyromaniac ship was very dangerous. If they had to get close to the enemy's ship, they might be intercepted halfway. If they did not control it well, they might not even be able to get close to the enemy's ship and would be sunk.
At this time, it was all about speed …
"Let's go!" Li Guan stood on the observation deck at the top of the tortoiseshell ship and raised her fist to cheer loudly. As he shouted, a dozen sailors from the Black Chimney Ship that could not move at all ran out of shock. They used thick wooden sticks to turn the ship around at the dock. There was something that looked like an iron house at the bow of the ship that was spinning with it.
A cloud of white smoke suddenly emerged from the 'iron house', and a second or two later, the sound of cannons could be heard.
There were cannons on the ship?
The cannonball landed in front of the ship, splashing water into the air.
Li Guan's heart ached. He paused for a few seconds and waited for the water to fall. Then, he shouted in an even more excited tone, "Missed! These Ming pirates missed! Hurry up, hurry up! "
There were also cannons on the tortoiseshell ship. On both sides of the hull were small cannons that fired cannonballs. They had a very short range and were not very powerful. There was also a heavy cannon at the bow, but it took a long time to reload. When Li Guan saw the 'Black Chimney Ship' firing a cannon, she immediately felt that her ship would definitely win. Logically, by the time the other side finished reloading, they would have already set fire to the other side's ship.
However, just as Li Guan and the sailors were cheering, thick white smoke emerged from the 'iron house' at the bow of the enemy ship after ten seconds. It was a semi-open cannon turret. After firing, smoke came out from both the front and back of the ship, and even more from the back.
The second cannonball did not miss. At close range, the kinetic energy of the cannonball was all transferred to the ship. After one shot, the whole ship exploded, and the firewood flew everywhere. The North Korean officer who was preparing to light the fire was blown into pieces. The cannonball penetrated the hull and caused the ship to collapse. The North Korean sailors who were rowing on the side of the ship were all thrown into the water due to the violent vibration.
Li Guan was stunned as he watched from a few hundred meters away. Our cannons usually fired iron sand. Often, it would hit people's faces and cause disfigurement. Your cannons don't look big, but what the hell are they firing? One shot and the ship was gone.
But this was just the beginning. The walls of the cannons were thicker and could withstand longer attacks. Zhu Chengxiu, who finally managed to turn the bow of the ship around, jumped back onto his own commuter ship. He personally ran to the cannon turret to direct the aiming. Zhao Ze was not a professional ship designer. This was the only place on the ship that was armored. There was not even a bridge. Zhu Chengxiu was thinking about his own safety.
"Brothers, work harder. The opportunity to be rewarded is here. Aim and shoot. Make sure to sink one ship with one shot. " Zhu Chengxiu scolded, "I don't know where these bastards came from. How dare they provoke the Revolutionary Navy. They are seeking their own deaths. "
Facing more than thirty ships, the gunners in the cannon turret were not only not afraid, they were also excited. They all knew one thing. Their Revolutionary Army's cannons were very powerful. They were far more powerful than the ordinary navy. Due to the longer barrel, the 70mm cannons had a longer range than the 150mm cannons of the army. The firing rate was also faster and longer.
The retractable cannon easily repositioned itself. The muzzle was slightly adjusted, and another round was loaded.
With a single shot, an arsonist ship was smashed into smithereens, turning into water splashes on the surface of the river, as well as floating lumber and corpses.
Li Guan was shocked by the continuous firing of the Black Chimney Ship. He had heard from the North Korean soldiers who escaped from Pyongyang that the cannons of the North Korean pirates were very powerful and fast. He did not expect them to be so fast. Fast cannons were usually not powerful, but the power of the cannon in front of him was not to be underestimated.
Li Guan couldn't think of the black technology of resetting and reloading. All he could think of was whether there was a monster with more than ten arms firing rapidly in the iron house. Otherwise, how could it have such a fast speed?
Boom! Another round was fired.
The three ships at the front were all destroyed. Although there were still twenty to thirty ships behind them, they still lost the courage to attack. Even the bravest sailor would lose the courage to attack when faced with a cannon that could fire four to five rounds per minute. When the turret turned and aimed at the fourth ship, the North Korean officer at the bow was stunned. The sailors on the side of the ship jumped off the ship and fled. No one wanted to die.
The ships that could not get close to the target were just targets. No matter how fast they rowed, they could not outrun the agile and excited naval gunners. The Arsonist, which had been valiantly fighting to be the first, suffered a heavy blow. Broken pieces of wood floated up from the surface of the river one after another, floating downstream with the current.
"Thank God, I still have a cannon." Zhu Chengxiu wiped the sweat off his forehead and laughed with the gunner beside him. At close range, they fired more than a dozen shots in one breath, reaching the limit of the warship's explosive fire. Except for two missed shots, the rest hit their targets. The attacking North Korean sailors' morale collapsed, and the remaining arsonists all turned around and fled.
Zhu Chengxiu heaved a sigh of relief. They had to reduce the rate of fire. Because the barrel was already boiling hot, any more gunpowder would cause it to spontaneously combust. He looked out through the observation hole of the turret and saw the huge turtle-shelled ships a few hundred meters away. Those were obviously the main force of the enemy. The ships were tall, armored, and the bow …
"Wait for my cannon to cool down …" Before Zhu Chengxiu could finish sighing, the bow of the turtle-shelled ship opened, revealing a thick and large cannon. White smoke was also emitted from the explosion, and a bullet flew towards him with a whistling sound. It was a black lead ball flying towards him at high speed from afar. Zhu Chengxiu was shocked, and his heart almost stopped beating.
Just now, it felt so good to be fired at, and now it felt even better to be fired at.
The speed of the cannons was slow, and the people being fired could see the cannonball flying towards them. Zhu Chengxiu felt his mind go blank, and his muscles stiffened. He could not move. When the cannonball flew over the commuter ship, he jumped up and shouted, "Quick, use water to cool down the cannon. We have to fire immediately."
"Captain, the drill manual states that we can't use water to cool down. The life of the cannon will be greatly reduced. "The gunner on the side did not see the scene of the enemy firing, so he kindly reminded him.
Zhu Chengxiu was even more furious. "If we lose our lives, who cares if it's a cannon or not? Those turtle-shelled people are also firing! "
The water created by the enemy's cannon was rising into the air, and the people in the turret were immediately in an uproar. They all felt that their lives were in danger. This time, no one resisted pouring water on the barrel. The water that had been prepared to extinguish the fire on the ship was poured on the barrel, and steam rose from the turret. Some people were so anxious that they even wanted to pour water into the barrel, but these idiots were immediately beaten up by their colleagues.
After quickly cooling down, another cannonball was stuffed into the barrel. The gunner aimed at a turtle-shelled ship about six hundred meters away. The turtle-shelled ship had a big hole, and a large-caliber heavy cannon could clearly be seen inside. It was probably an old-fashioned bronze cannon. The barrel was very thick and weighed at least a few thousand pounds. This kind of cannon was very difficult to move on land, so it could only be carried on ships.
"Aim and shoot. It's best to shoot through the head of that turtle." Zhu Chengxiu's heart was still beating wildly. He was as scared as he was before, and now he was as angry as he was now. "There should be gunpowder piled up behind that cannon. If we hit it, we'll teach those turtle-shelled people a lesson."
That's right … Only artillerymen understand artillerymen. A group of artillerymen laughed when they heard this, but after they laughed, they looked at the large amount of gunpowder piled up in their turrets, and all of them remained silent. Zhu Chengxiu also turned his head and scolded angrily, "Fuck, who piled so much gunpowder in the turret? In the future, don't put too much gunpowder in the turret. This rule must be written in the drill manual. "
The turret was protected by armor, and it was already the safest place on the commuter ship. If they didn't put gunpowder in the turret, where would they put it? No one knew. In short, not long after the battle began, the new 'Revolutionary Navy' felt that there were too many areas that needed improvement in their drill manual. And their primary goal now was … "Fire!"
The opposite turtle-shelled ship was about six hundred and fifty meters away, which was close to the effective range of the ship's cannon. It wasn't that they couldn't hit it, but it was difficult to see it with the naked eye. It was just that the hull of the ship was undulating on the river, which made the gunner in charge of aiming uncertain. Zhu Chengxiu also knew that the hit rate of the ship's cannon was lower than that of the land cannon, so he couldn't help but shout, "Fire first, then adjust."
A cannonball was fired and hit the opposite turtle-shelled ship two or three seconds later.
The cannonball failed to hit the enemy's turtle head, but hit part of the turtle shell. The cannonball hit several iron plates covering the top and also smashed the observation deck at the top, but it didn't cause much damage. It was already extremely lucky to hit the ship from more than six hundred meters away. After all, a centimeter shake on the hull would be magnified into a deviation of several meters from six hundred meters away.
"Reload." Zhu Chengxiu gritted his teeth and said, "We have a fast firing speed and the hull is small, so we have a higher chance of hitting it."
The commuter ship fired four or five shots, and the other side only fired one shot back. The two sides fought with each other, but neither could cause much damage to the other. The cannonballs on Zhu Chengxiu's side were powerful, but they missed every time. Except for the first shot, the others all flew past the side of the turtle-shelled ship, and they were no longer as accurate as they were at a hundred meters away.
The firing speed of the North Korean cannons was slow, and the quality of the artillerymen was not good. Their cannons were even worse. The closest shot was more than ten meters away from Zhu Chengxiu and the others, and the furthest was even a hundred meters away. But as long as they were hit, the thin hull that Zhu Chengxiu was on would be finished.
Did they really have to rely on luck? Probability was completely dependent on luck!
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we have a fast firing speed, and we have better luck." Zhu Chengxiu tried to comfort himself, but just as he turned to comfort his own gunners, the North Korean navy also realized that one cannon against Zhu Chengxiu was too weak. So …
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