When it comes to the guiding thinking of naval warfare, the battle line is a heavy term that has to be mentioned.

Once upon a time, sails were booming, and with the expansion of tonnage and the development of the iron casting industry, larger and larger artillery and longer and longer ranges changed for the first time the stereotype of mankind that naval warfare was equal to broadside.

However, the accuracy of artillery at that time was limited, and the extremely low hit rate and unstable performance made the navy miserable, and for a time it could only raise the banner of "bravery" again, abandon artillery fire in the army, and advocate swords.

Until 1588, at the Battle of Gravoline, Francis. Drake ripped apart the front of the Armada with a surprise attack that pirates excelled at. Howard dealt the Spaniards a fatal blow with limited artillery fire and a first-of-its-kind line artillery bombardment, playing an elegy for the Spanish maritime empire.

England's path to maritime supremacy began from this moment, and Charles. Howard and Francis. Drake's line artillery tactics became the banner for this solid step, and the battle line has since been regarded as the benchmark by countries around the world, and even the most powerful warships have been dubbed battleships.

However, the instruments of war always change because of a change in tactics.

After the battle line was born, the navies of all countries in the world continued to tend to be strong and sharp, and the penetrating power of artillery could not keep up with the thickness of the hull, and it was becoming more and more difficult to sink a capital battleship in the battle line.

According to the internal data of the Admiralty of Great Britain, 80% of medium-sized naval battles of more than 300 were drawn, and the two sides of the battle were unsinkable, lively and lively, lively and lively, peaceful and joyful, and did not hurt peace.

This is by no means the world that military men are after.

Thus, from the mid-18th century onwards, a discussion of retro tactics became popular in the Royal Navy.

Approach!

Extremely advocating high-speed approach, pursuing the implementation of short combat in naval warfare, imitating pirates, and achieving quick battles and winning battles with single-ship duels or small-scale wargroups.

This discussion focused mainly on young people who were active in their minds and untroubled by tradition, and whose first achievement was to carry dangerous mortars onto battleships.

The broadside cutting tactic gives full play to the short-range penetration of heavy guns and the broadside height advantage of large warships, and launches mobile artillery shelling at a distance of 50 to 150 meters, greatly improving the hit rate of artillery strikes.

Staggered flank attack tactics, with medium and short-range stationary artillery strikes within 300 meters, give full play to the advantages of sideboard firepower and protection, quickly sweep the enemy's deck, or aim at the ship's mast, and destroy the enemy's maneuverability.

Frontal assault tactics, challenge the opponent's most powerful side with the bow of the ship, and establish an advantage in a short period of continuous evasion with ultra-destructive mortars.

The three detailed tactics greatly enriched the graphical reasoning of the changes in the campaign, and as the first batch of believers in approaching thinking gradually became the backbone of the navy, the new tactics gained a lot of experience in practice.

However, because of the conflict in thinking with the commanders of the older generation, these decisive, determined, courageous, and radical officers themselves were not recognized accordingly.

They disobeyed orders and often broke up the battle columns, and no matter whether they won or lost, they were prone to huge casualties, and all kinds of negative influences were unjustifiably amplified, and the tactics of approaching were regarded as heresy

Shaq is one of the representatives, and he is also the representative of luck and prosperity, and his circular formation defense itself is a practical deduction of approaching thinking, and it is also one of the few large-scale close combat methods of that generation that can enter the practical stage.

The approaching mind was thus convinced, and the battlefield of the debate shrank from the Admiralty to the Naval Academy, and two freaks were immersed, the experiential Nelson and the academic Lorraine.

Nelson was the orthodox successor to the Navy's approaching mentality.

In the handful of intramural deduction confrontations, he invented and perfected the so-called deviant oblique interspersed combat method, that is, completely abandoning the traditional battle line advantage, taking the T-shaped straight line, an absolute disadvantage position in the traditional vision, as the campaign initiation point, and realizing local chaotic battles with a brave advance, and finding and seizing the temporary T head in the gap of the opponent's battle column.

Sink us, or be sunk by us, that's the essence of Nelson's tactics.

Lorraine's thinking, by contrast, is more biased.

Because of the self-centered influence of later generations, he hated collective victory, and was unwilling to disregard his own safety or sacrifice as glory.

So he resisted entrusting the weight of victory and defeat to others.

His deduction bureau rarely considers the head-to-head confrontation of the major battle groups, and actively seeks to divide and tear the big battlefield in any environment, hoping to use the victory or defeat of the core war group to sway the balance of the big battlefield.

In short, sink me, or be sunk by me.

Lorraine and Nelson, I am still us, individually or collectively, have clashed in this rush of approach.

In order to create an active and decisive opportunity to control the big with a small one, Lorraine's tactics are full of strong unplanned and irreferential, and the value of inspiration and emotion is often greater than that of reason and planning.

For example, Cantabrian's use of triangular observation to perform out-of-sight raids, or Le François's exchange to lure enemies, and so on, are all representative manifestations of this characteristic.

Among them, Lorraine's favorite is the night.

On a night without lights and fires, the observation range of two to three kilometers is especially in a relatively complex geomorphological environment, holding the uneven and tortuous coastline......

Lorraine's strengths are on full display in these extreme conditions, and the night is Lorraine's home turf.

However, today, in the Chesapeake Bay, at the mouth of the Choptangk River, at the home of Lorraine, the Jackdaw was ambushed.

The other party made full use of the night, the terrain, and the slackness and relaxation of the Jackdaw's safety to moor the ship in their way home, and used static artillery bombardment to strike at the preset sea surface with precision!

Just as the Jackdaw took the initiative to sail into this preset sea!

"The port side has been bombed! Circumvent! ”

Pierce screamed in the night sky with the iron voice characteristic of a young man, and Bell rolled and crawled away from the helmsman, pinching the handwheel to the right of the full rudder.

But it's too late!

The first round was a salvo from Brigentine on both sides, with shells falling around the jackdaw, at a distance of 20 to 50 meters.

The second round was an additional bombardment of the Galen, and the dense projectiles whistled and arced, one smashing a large hole in the bow near the port side, and the other struck the windcatcher between the two masts, and instantly ignited a raging fire.

Lorraine stood between fire and water with a grim face, her feet as immovable as nails.

"Report the damage!"

Clen, who covered her forehead, bared her teeth and flew over, walking all the way, dripping blood all the way, her face was pale, and her eyes were red.

"The second sail of the mainmast caught fire, the mainmast was three layers, and the second foremast sail failed, and the estimated speed was reduced by two percent! In addition, the No. 1 gun compartment on the port side was broken, and the stored corn also caught fire! ”

"Push out all the corn in stock, and solve the fire in five minutes. At the same time, send someone to the mast, I don't need the lifting function, as long as it can blow the wind! ”

"Yes!"

Lorraine took a deep breath: "Let Pierce see whose handiwork it is, I don't believe it's the wrong person!" ”

His anger was instantly translated into an order, and the report was soon heard, and the attacking Galen's fifth-class ship, with a bow like a red goddess, combined with the emblem and the pirate flag, was the Bloody Mary, the flagship of Cotton Jack VII.

"Cotton Jack......," Lorraine gritted her teeth, "this pirate king's bearing and honor are not at all suitable!" ”

The matter is now completely clear.

Two months ago, Caterina rushed into the mouth of the bay under the cover of Cottonjack, who survived by some luck and hibernate for a long time, giving Lorraine a big lesson today.

[In the face of pirates' personal enmity, the state is not a fart].

With his mind racing, Lorraine strode to the stern.

"Noya, it's time until the first round of shelling!"

"1 minute and 13 seconds!"

There is still time......

The mist in the sky thinned, and Lorraine stared at the Bloody Mary who was close at hand, and ordered in a loud voice.

"Bell, carry out frontal assault tactics against Bloody Mary, bow against the enemy!"

"Are you crazy again?" Bell was shocked, but quickly adjusted the bow as Lorraine ordered.

"Pierce, 20 meters to report the enemy distance, artillery warning!"

"270,250,230 ...... from the enemy"

"Acharin! Hopefully, you've finished reloading! ”

Yacharin poked his head out of the gun bay: "Of course, Captain! Every lady knows that you must never spread your legs when you are pestered by a tramp, especially a delicate beauty like the Jackdaw! ”

"Very good, ...... next"

“150，130，110，90…… Shelling! The bow has been bombed! Circumvent! ”

Pierce shouted bitterly, and as he spoke, Lorraine's order sounded at the same time.

"Acharin!"

"The next time you rob the road to pick flowers, don't show your eyes! Bow shotshots, put! ”

Rumble! Boom Boom!

The Bloody Mary guns roared, and at a distance of less than ninety meters, starting from the last gun compartment on the port side, the fire exploded one after another.

The Jackdaw opened fire almost simultaneously, the bow guns roared, and the sky struck the hull of the gun bay in the front of the Bloody Mary. Sporadic stray bullets shot into the wide open cannon door, instantly interrupting the opponent's shelling round.

The sailor's scream rang out, and the deafening roar came to an abrupt end!

The distance between the two sides is less than fifty!

"Bell, the left full rudder!"

Wow!

The Jackdaw, which was rushing forward, shook its tail and turned around at close range, and the huge waves set off slapped towards Bloody Mary, the waves went straight above the freeboard, splitting the head and covering the face, like the sky pouring down!

Brigentine, who was next to Bloody Mary, launched a bombardment at the right time, and before Pierce could even give warning, three nine-pound cannon chain shells hit the heavy hull of the Jackdaw, making a dull pop and puff, and there was no follow-up news.

"Breakaway!" Lorraine tugged on the guardrail and shouted loudly, "Return to Baltimore!" ”

"This pirate is a great gift to us...... We'll report back to you tomorrow! ”

……

Less, the Choptangk River estuary.

The rolling waves in front of him were gradually subsiding, but Cotton Jack's heart was not calm at all.

The ambush failed......

The smuggling ship, named Jackdaw, was more cunning than the rabbits of the steppe, and it was attacked without the slightest panic.

Avoid, rush, feint, turn in.

Every response she had was unexpected, and by the time Bloody Mary had stabilized, she had regained the cut corner of the wind and fled five hundred meters away, with no further chance of pursuit.

Cotton Jack had a vague feeling that he seemed to have provoked a troublesome opponent.

The helmsman, whom he regarded as an arm, approached him and whispered: "Commander, the gunners of the lower compartment are killed and seriously wounded four, in addition to a dozen minor wounds...... Such a terrible opponent, don't you really chase it? ”

"The other party is a high-speed ship of the Bag type, and now it has found the wind ...... It's not that I don't want to chase it, it's that I can't catch up at all. ”

"But she hurt the sail after all, if it was Brigentine......"

"Don't you see? She had given up on evading Brigentine's shelling. If a fifth-class ship made up her mind to run, even if she was a commercial type, a mere nine-pounder gun would not be able to stop her. Not to mention ......"

Cotton Jack shook his head bitterly.

"I bought the British guy rotation from New Orleans at a high price, and that Drake is coming back. Bloody Mary's features are too obvious, and we won't be able to get out until Drake blocks the mouth of the bay......"

"Tell the way down, lower the flag...... Evacuate. ”