The shelling of the port of Iquique never stopped, and after the Esmailale led the main Chilean fleet to disperse the Peruvian navy, it cruising off the coast of Iquique, suppressing the coastal defense batteries with artillery.

In naval battles, generally speaking, the battleship and the roadbed battery are bombarded, and the battleship's side always suffers. Because the roadbed battery is directly mounted on a strong battery, it is not afraid of recoil, so it is possible to install a larger caliber gun, and the power is not at all comparable to the battleship artillery.

Moreover, the permanent fort has built a heavy fortification, the modern one is made of reinforced concrete, and the original stone fort has a very good defensive performance, and the small-caliber guns of the battleship are really scratching on the fort, and the ammunition fired by the fort is blown up on the battleship, and the iron armor with a thickness of twenty or thirty millimeters is really difficult to defend.

Fortunately, the strategic intention of the Chilean Navy in this operation was to harass and suppress, and did not consider using warships to solve these batteries, so the fleet has been cruising and shooting at the edge of the farthest range, although the accuracy is insufficient, but the accuracy of the same battery shooting has also been greatly reduced, the two sides have been bombarding each other for several hours, and hundreds of shells have been fired, but there is no serious result at all.

Compared with the navy's soy sauce, the army is in full swing, and the sailors of the fleet are excited when they look at the hot war scene on the shore, and they all sigh with emotion: "God, it seems that we won't get any credit for this war until it ends, and the army is really lucky......"

However, how could the god of war ignore the prayers of these soldiers, and shortly after the order for a general attack on land was issued, a mysterious fleet suddenly sailed from the Pacific Ocean to the northwest.

"Report to the Chief...... A large fleet has been spotted in the northwest, heading towards us at high speed......"

"What? Fleet! Is it the main force of the Peruvian Navy? They are desperate to come and fight us? Boys, the battle you are expecting is in front of you, change your formation and prepare to meet the enemy...... The lookout is always ready to report the situation!"

One order after another was given from the flagship, the Esmerdale, and the flag-bearers of the ships began to communicate, and soon the fleet was out of range of fire from the shore defense batteries, and all their attention was on the Pacific Ocean.

"Report to the Chief...... The identity of the enemy warship has been confirmed...... It is the flagship of the Peruvian Navy, the Casca...... The Peruvian Navy poured out ......"

"Wait, it's not right, sir, it's not ......."

The lookout put down the binoculars, rubbed his eyes, and then raised them up again to carefully observe "one, two, three...... Seven**...... Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen......"

"Twenty-three, twenty-five...... XXVIII, XXIX...... Oh my God, the Peruvian naval fleet sent twenty-nine warships?

The officers of the ships climbed on the side side and looked through binoculars, and their faces were full of incredulity: "No, what you said is not right! You must be mistaken, the total number of Peruvian navies is only 12 ironclads, when did it become 29? Wait, there are still wooden sail warships in the rear of the fleet?"

"Damn, it's really twenty-nine, of which the number of ironclad ships has increased to twenty, and the remaining nine are wooden sail battleships, where did they get reinforcements?"

There was no time for the battlefield class, and soon the two fleets were already close to the effective range of the two sides, and the effective range of two kilometers could completely allow the 24-pounder guns of the largest caliber on both sides to exert their power.

"Ready for battle...... The gunner performs the reload...... Flowering bomb preparation ...... Aim at the enemy's flagship and put!"

Almost at the same time, both fleets opened fire on each other, and the caliber of the 24-pounder gun was 148 mm, which was already the main force in heavy artillery on the sea at that time.

The new rifled gun makes the trajectory of the shell more stable and the firing range is longer, and the situation of firing at close range of several hundred meters between the two sides in the past is no longer the same, and the firing between two or three thousand meters has gradually become the mainstream.

The sea was filled with black smoke and gunfire, and in the era when nitrocellulose explosives were not popular, most of the black smoke and dust that bubbled up on the battlefield were like this.

Boom Boom Boom ...... The explosion set off waves that soared into the sky, and the iron armor was twisted and deformed by the explosion, and some were even directly penetrated, and there were always figures thrown into the air in the firelight, and the wreckage fell like rain.

The sudden naval battle on the sea made Cirapizo shocked: "The Peruvian Navy actually dares to make a move? Their little warship strength actually dares to come to a decisive battle? Damn, what's going on?"

Before the war, he had patted his chest and assured that the Peruvian Navy would never dare to act rashly, and it was only after eliminating the threat from the sea that Tietoutuo and he formulated such a risky plan to encircle and send reinforcements.

But now the tide of the war has suddenly turned, and if the Peruvian Navy defeats the Chilean Navy, the sea to the west of Iquique will become an enemy artillery position, and even if the city is captured, it will be mercilessly bombarded.

If the artillery on the sea and the artillery in the fort were combined to cross-bombard the army, then it would be useless to rely on their own field artillery.

Just when Cirapizo was at a loss, Tang Lei ran back angrily: "What's going on? General, what about your previous guarantees? Didn't you say that the Peruvian Navy absolutely does not have the courage to fight a war? So what is on the sea?"

"No, no, no...... I really didn't know that such a thing would happen, we don't have such a fleet in our intelligence, when did Peru get so many ships?"

The battle situation has reached such a situation, complaining about each other has no effect at all, Tang Lei stomped his feet angrily, "There is no way, the brave wins when we meet on a narrow road, now we can only fight hard, pile up with human lives, before the enemy's fleet controls the sea, we must pull out these fortresses, at least we have to control the shore defense batteries!"

"I beg you to give the fleet an order for a decisive battle, a battle to the death, and even a death together, that they must hold off the enemy and absolutely protect our flanks......"

"It's time to fight to the death, and now that any ploy doesn't work, show your courage!

Cilapizo looked at Tang Lei, who was resolutely gone, a flame was burning in his heart, he drew his sword and shouted, "Start with me, the command headquarters moves forward, we have to follow the footsteps of the charging soldiers!

"Send a signal to the Esmerdale, and tell him that I, Syrapizo, have come to the front line to fight a decisive battle against the enemy! Let them remember the glory of the navy! Hold the sea even if they die together!"

"Brave Chilean Army...... Victory!"

The entire high command and all the reserves shouted wildly, "Victory, victory, victory!" All the reserves of the Chilean army, including the personal guard of Commander Cirapizzo, also pulled up, and the war entered the most critical moment of bloody fighting.