"Today, I'm loyal to the country!"
In the bridge of the Liaodong, Zhu Chengxiu, the commander of the Revolutionary Army, had a face full of grief and indignation. The chief officer, second officer, helmsman, draftsman, and even the lookout standing on the mast were all extremely indignant. We only have one fucking ship, and I heard that there are dozens of ships on the other side. There are also seven particularly powerful ships. The leading one is even as big as us, and it has ten times more cannons!
How the hell do we fight this?
We're dead!
Before the navy officers and soldiers were ordered to board the ship, the exhausted Flat Hair flew the plane to investigate and came back to report the battle situation. Flat Hair didn't know much about ships either. He only said that the enemy had a warship that was especially big and had a lot of cannons, comparable to the Liaodong. There were also six smaller warships that looked like standard transport ships with a lot of cannons. In addition, there are dozens of weaker naval ships.
Hearing this report, Zhu Chengxiu's heart went cold. He had been commanding 50-ton commuter boats before. Three months ago, the shipyard had just launched and installed a thousand-ton capital ship. In order to not forget to recover Liaodong, Zhou Qingfeng specially named it the Liaodong.
Since the construction of the navy was too complicated, Zhao Ze, who was in charge of the shipyard, had to take a group of shipbuilders and navy personnel to the Blessed Enclave for a few years to ensure the smooth construction and sea test of this warship.
It was not that the navy did not have other warships, but the warship was complicated to operate and the navy was limited, so they could only drive this big ship first. Zhu Chengxiu and the others were originally very happy to command such a big ship. However, after only three months of sea test, they were ordered to go to sea to fight.
The opponent was especially strong.
This was like being asked to take a postdoctoral exam when they were still in kindergarten. It was too difficult!
Time was tight, and the task was urgent. Zhu Chengxiu and the others didn't even have time to write their wills before they hurriedly drove the Liaodong with a displacement of 1,000 tons.
Because Zhao Ze, who was in charge of the shipyard, didn't know anything about ships before he made a last-minute effort to design this iron-ribbed wood-hulled Liaodong. Therefore, this ship used a lot of very fashionable technology. As for whether these technologies were good or not, no one knew.
These days, most sailboats were squarish, but the Liaodong had a streamlined bow. Sailing warships were tall and had multiple decks, with cannons installed on both sides of the ship. The Liaodong, on the other hand, used a very low freeboard ratio. The ship was short and slender. It had only six cannons, all in the revolving turrets on the deck.
There was no need to mention the square stern, steam power, propeller propulsion, and other technologies. In short, this was a warship that was completely incompatible with the current era. When Zhu Chengxiu received the ship, he felt that it was a great ship, but now that he was asked to fight, he felt that he was really going to die this time. There were dozens of ships on the other side, and their cannons were dozens of times more than ours.
As the saying goes, 'random punches can kill an old master'. No matter how strong the 'Liaodong' was, it couldn't beat him in a one-on-one fight.
If it wasn't for the fact that it concerned her entire clan and her own fate, Zhu Chengxiu really didn't want to fight. But now, he had no choice but to come. He had to fight to the death. This was because the Grand Marshal had personally ordered the annihilation of all the enemies, and not a single one was to be spared. Zhu Chengxiu felt that he was really miserable. It's already too much for me to single-handedly kill dozens of ships, but they actually want me to annihilate them all!
This is really a shameless request.
According to the instructions given by Flat Hair, Zhu Chengxiu wrote his will in the bridge with tears in his eyes while leaving Lushun Port at a cruising speed of twelve knots. Not long after he came out, he bumped into Roy's fleet that was passing through the Old Iron Mountain waterway.
The Amsterdam's mast was taller, and the lookout had more experience. It was the first to discover the rapidly approaching Liaodong and warn them in advance. Faced with this aggressive warship, Sir Roy, who was commanding the fleet, immediately realized that something was wrong. There were too many cases of fighting on the sea. Whether it was murder, arson, or robbery, the victor was never blamed.
Since it was currently a northerly wind, Roy's fleet took a zigzag route to the west through the Old Iron Mountain waterway. The flag-bearer on the 'Amsterdam' waved the signal flag quickly and ordered the six armed merchant ships following behind to change course. They lined up sideways and headed north, ready to face the incoming ship that was emitting black smoke.
The sudden change in formation of Roy's fleet made the dozens of fake Ming ships following behind realize that something was wrong. They were also constantly sending messages, trying to divert south and avoid the upcoming battle. On a ship with 2,000 tons of materials, the sea merchant Li Dan stood on the side of the ship and watched with binoculars. His chest and abdomen kept churning, and he felt very uncomfortable.
The Daming's sea merchant force was not small, and there were countless people who were rich enough to rival a country. For example, Li Dan controlled the trade route with Japan and made a fortune. All the sea forces in East Asia had to be respectful to him.
However, having a large force did not mean that he was strong. Li Dan's ship was at most 2,000 tons, about 100 tons. This was a far cry from the large ships of the Western colonists that easily had 500 or even 1,000 tons of ships. When the ship was twice the size, the profit from a trip by sea was at least three or four times greater. He had always wanted a large ship, but the shipwrights in Jiangnan did not know how to build Western-style ships.
It was fine that Daming was bad at building ships, but he was even worse at building cannons. The systematic development of Western science and technology began in the 15th and 16th centuries. Whether it was metallurgy or mechanical processing, the West was gradually leaving the East behind. This caused the West's firearms to become more and more sophisticated.
Li Dan clearly controlled the sea route and made a lot of money, but he still had to bow down to the West. In the eyes of the West, Li Dan was a local tyrant, but in the eyes of Li Dan, the West was a dragon. Li Dan always felt that no one in the East could build a ship that was comparable to the West's' Galen ship ', but today, he found that the rapidly rising' Revolutionary Army 'in the north not only built it, but also built a better one.
It could sail without sails, which was too convenient for sea trade. The ship was also so fast, which made people even more envious. Li Dan always felt that the Dutch's Amsterdam was a top ship, but now he felt that the white-painted warship was the real strong one.
In the fleet from Jiangnan, there were too many people like Li Dan. Just when these people's hearts were churning and they were drooling over the 'Liaodong', the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, "That ship is coming towards us."
Oh no … this is bad!
Not only was the 'Liaodong' fast, but it was also very agile. The seven Taixi ships had not yet set up their horizontal formation when it turned its rudder to the east, heading towards Li Dan's' small boats'. Most of the ships sent by the Fake Ming were transporting troops, preparing to land somewhere in the north to harass the 'Revolutionary Army.' Li Dan was both a merchant and a bandit, coming with the purpose of robbing. But although they had the advantage in numbers, their combat power was the weakest.
Zhu Chengxiu obviously 'picked the soft persimmon to pinch'. Even if she was going to die, she would drag a few down with her.
Li Dan's ship was originally turning south to avoid the enemy, so they were very fast after setting up their sails. In an instant, they could rush up to eight or ten knots. However, when they looked back, they found that the white battleship that was emitting black smoke could still accelerate and soared to 15 knots in one go. Two steam engines with 1,000 horsepower provided power to the Liaodong, and the streamlined shape of the flying shears allowed it to increase its speed.
Fifteen knots!
In this era of sailing, being able to run ten knots was considered fast, and fifteen knots was heaven-defying!
When the lookouts on the seven Taixi ships reported their observed speed, the captains and sailors on the ships looked at the white warship as if they were looking at God. Because the speed was too fast, the waves in front of the flying shears were churning. It was really a carefree feeling as if they were cleaving through the waves!
But in the eyes of the enemy, this carefree feeling was fear.
"Send a signal to that warship. Tell it that we are a merchant ship from the Netherlands. We have no intention of being enemies with it. "Sir Roy instantly understood that although they had the advantage in numbers, the performance of their ships was far behind. If they really started fighting, seven ships might not be able to defeat one ship — with just this speed of fifteen knots, the 'Amsterdam' would not be able to catch up even if it whipped its horse.
Was Sir Roy admitting defeat?
No!
They would not admit defeat. He then ordered again, "Let the ships behind approach us. We must resist this fast warship in a tight formation. Order all the gunners to open the cannons, load the ammunition and be ready for battle at any time. We are likely to face a fierce battle. "
The side of the ship was close to the sea. In order to prevent the waves from entering the hull, both sides of the sail warship were sealed with cannons. If a fleet was heading to another port, for the sake of friendship, the cannons and even the cannons had to be closed, and the port was allowed to send people to inspect. Opening the cannons and loading the ammunition meant one thing: the ship was ready for battle and could fire at any time.
The flag bearer of Roy's fleet was constantly sending messages, but Zhu Chengxiu, who was commanding the 'Liaodong', did not care at all. He had already ordered the two boilers to be pressurized, and the power was increased to the maximum, drawing a large arc on the surface of the sea at an extremely high speed.
The 'Liaodong's' hull tilted at a high speed, and one side of the ship seemed to be scraping the surface of the sea, causing the waves to constantly fluctuate. It passed in front of a merchant ship of the Fake Ming Navy, causing a wave to rise.
The undulating waves continued to spread, spreading into the distance, causing the merchant ship to shake violently. The sailors on the merchant ship were horrified. They grabbed things to stabilize themselves, but they still stumbled.
This kind of stunt was only for the sake of entering the battle position as quickly as possible. When the 'Liaodong' corrected the hull again, the six cannons on the deck of the ship happened to be aimed at the escaping Li Dan's ship. The distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters. Li Dan looked at the thick and large cannons on the opposite side and immediately shouted in a heart-wrenching manner, "Fire! Fire! Fire now!"
A series of gunshots rang, but it was the six main cannons installed on the 'Liaodong' that opened fire.
The short-barreled, large-caliber heavy naval cannon was a new thing that the Revolutionary Army specially created after abandoning the conventional arrangement of the side cannons. Since the current technology could not solve the problem of the stability of the ship's cannons, there was no requirement for the range of the cannon. In the early 19th century, the British Navy still fired within a distance of 100 meters because the distance was too far and the hit rate was too low.
It was precisely because of the special environment on the sea that Zhao Ze, who designed the naval cannons, went to the extreme. He reduced the number of naval cannons on the 'Liaodong' and created a revolving cannon slide. He made the caliber bigger and increased the power, trying to hit the target with one shot!
And now, at a close distance of 100 meters, Li Dan's ship that was targeted by the six large-caliber main cannons became the first target to verify Zhao Ze's idea. Six large-caliber oval-shaped solid shells were fired at the 'small ship' that only had one-tenth of the displacement of the 'Liaodong'.
The rumbling of the cannons spread on the sea, and all six shells hit their target.
Li Dan's ship was immediately heavily damaged, and the hull on the side of the ship exploded continuously. The large-caliber shells perfectly transmitted their destructive kinetic energy, and the internal structure of the target was completely disintegrated. The side of the ship was instantly flooded and tilted.
The sailors on the target ship were either thrown away the moment they were shot, or they kept jumping into the sea after being shot. In less than two minutes, the ship sank. Only a large number of broken planks and corpses were left floating on the sea. Li Dan, a great sea merchant, great pirate, and great ship owner who had dominated the East Asian sea for 20 to 30 years, was finished just like that.
Slaughtered!
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