The distance of more than 2,000 meters was not far, and the two fleets soon charged head-on, and the bows of the ships were staggered together, and the Esmerdale and the Huasca were actually close to each other at an ultra-close distance of ten meters, and at that moment the commanders of both sides could see the flames in each other's eyes without using telescopes.

"Fire...... "Almost at ......the same time, the supreme commanders of the two fleets gave the order, and a bright fire suddenly erupted in the center of the battlefield.

Boom Boom Boom ...... Port to port, at that moment all light and heavy weapons were fired, 24-pounder main gun, 16-pounder secondary gun, 12-pounder rapid...... Add to that a large number of Hatch Chase rapid-fire runs, Gatling heavy machine guns, and all of them are pouring fire on their opponents like crazy.

Such a close-range pour of firepower was not at all something that twenty or thirty millimeters of iron armor could resist, the iron armor on the explosion surface was completely overturned, the wooden shells inside were blown open huge cavities, and the fragments of shells were whizzing inside the battleship and harvesting lives.

The two battleships that were shot at the same time shivered in the sea, and the hull of the ship appeared to be strangely tilted.

At the critical moment, the tonnage was still large, and the ironclad Esmerdale had the advantage, and the boiler room of the Huasca was hit twice in a row, and the high-pressure steam boiler suddenly exploded, and powerful steam rushed out from every crack in the hull.

The hot steam scalded sailors screamed, and the blazing coals erupted everywhere like fireworks with the explosion waves, and white smoke rose from the sea.

"Well done! God is on our side......" There was jubilation in the command room of the Esmerdale, but at this moment, a Peruvian ironclad ship on the starboard side of the battleship opened fire, and a salvo blew up the starboard side, which was already full of holes, and smoke suddenly filled the starboard.

The most fatal thing was that a shell hit the command room, and the huge explosion shook all the officers, and when the smoke cleared, the sailors found that the entire command room was silent, and the officers who were cheering just now did not know whether they were alive or dead.

The battle was now a complete mess, the Peruvian flagship Huaasca began to tilt, tons of seawater poured into the cabin, and countless sailors jumped from the deck into the sea, holding the wreckage of the planks in the sea and swimming desperately to the shore.

However, the most fortunate thing on the Peruvian side was that the commander was still alive, and more than a dozen officers escorted the admiral in a lifeboat to the nearest ironclad ship, the Lima, which soon raised its flagship flag, and the Peruvian chain of command was barely restored.

Looking back at the Chilean Navy, the Esmerdale is still fighting tenaciously on the sea, the guns on both sides are firing desperately, but without the commander they don't know where to go.

"Fire...... Sink Esmerdale!Victory must be ours!" The Peruvian navy began to lay siege to the Chilean flagship like a pack of wolves.

It was already ten o'clock, and the battle on the sea was fierce, and the battle on land had fallen into madness. The Chilean army, which charged frantically like an ant colony, began to forcibly attack the city.

The field guns were pushed forward again and again, the artillery fired at an accelerated rate to provide fire suppression to the warriors in front of them, and the grenadiers with explosive bags bravely rushed forward, staring at the enemy's bullets and stuffing the explosives bags into the foundation of the fortress.

It was a death assault with no return, the musketeers on the fortress firing downward like crazy, and the grenadiers dying one by one.

Boom Boom Boom ...... Eventually, an explosive bag was ignited, but the results were not ideal, as there were too many grenadiers who died during the charge, so the number of explosive packs in the fort foundation was limited, and it was difficult to form a large gap.

"Twenty more brothers, follow me and rush up!" At the critical moment, Tang Lei was about to rush forward regardless of life and death, but he was thrown to the ground by the veterans behind.

"You can't let the chief take risks, come and watch the chief with two people...... The rest will be with me, and those who are not afraid of death will be on me! Don't let the brothers who are ambushed look down on us, ......."

"They can win in Ossaka, and we don't eat for nothing! This life was originally picked up for nothing, and it is not a pity to confess here today!"

"Master Tang, go back and tell the prime minister...... We gave him back today...... Let him remember his promise!"

"Taiping Army...... Kill me!" more than 200 veterans rushed out of the military formation at once, many of whom were personally brought by Tang Lei from Nanyang, and he could call these people by name.

Tang Lei was pressed to the sand, tears came out of his eyes, and he howled like a wolf, "Brother, I took you away from a fire kang...... Why did you jump into a fire again! I can't stand you......"

The veteran who pressed Tang Lei shouted with red eyes: "This is fate! My father and mother gave birth to me, and my life is not good! Since we have been reincarnated in this troubled world, we have to accept our fate...... My lord, you live well, how to ask the prime minister for credit in the future, how to compete with the Chileans for benefits, this is what you have to do......"

"Let's do this desperately, as long as we don't die in vain...... Brothers, drums!"

Knock knock knock...... The cowhide snare drums resounded across the land, and the blood of the Taiping veterans was drummed, and groups of dead soldiers with explosives bags mixed with the grenadiers and charged the enemy fortress.

The rain of bullets knocked down one veteran after another, blood spilled on the yellow sand, but no one looked back, as long as they could still move, they would move forward even if they struggled to crawl forward.

The Grim Reaper was also afraid of these desperate men, and soon more and more soldiers rushed through the fire net, and the explosive packets were piled up at the foundation of the fortress, which was soon as high as a hill.

"Broken city! Old and young masters, don't forget to avenge me......" The veteran roared, and the revolver in his hand snapped at the explosives pack.

The ground shook with a loud bang, and the fortress southwest of Iquique finally fell, and the explosion opened a three-meter-wide gap.

The soldiers behind the "Breakthrough ......" rushed in, and soon the Peruvian flag inside the fortress was set on fire, and the Chilean flag and the Taiping pennant began to rise.

Tang Lei sat helplessly on the sand, as if all his strength had been drained......, "How can this be? There are six more! There are six more forts! How many people are we going to die?"

At this moment, the east of the battlefield suddenly erupted with a roar of mountains and tsunamis, and people looked back and found that the five thousand reinforcements led by Weng Derong in the east had finally arrived, and at 9:25 Weng Derong's army was put into the battlefield.

The veteran looked at the burning Iquique, and the rumbling sea of cannons in the distance, and said incredulously, "How did you fight like this? Why did you fight so hard?

"! Brothers fight...... We can't count on this group of waste, if we want to take down Iquique, we have to look at us Chinese!"

"Brothers, rush ...... me," the 5,000 reinforcements threw themselves into the bloody battle again, despite their tiredness.