Although five or six of the fireships were turned into huge torches, the morale of the fireships suddenly increased considerably.

"Brothers, rush forward! That's what they're capable of! Nothing new! ”

The sailors on the ship shouted frantically, but they held the rudder steadily, and operated the sails according to the orders of the commander, providing the most powerful power for the ship to move forward.

"Huamei, what should we do now?" After this battle, Ao Lei Yilan, who was called one of the two fatal women in the Nanyue Army's naval division by Zheng Jiajun, looked at the arson boats speeding on the sea with some nervousness, and the huge iron nails that appeared from time to time in the waves, like the fangs and claws of wild beasts, made her feel terrified.

"Wave the flag, blow the trumpet! Let the rocket ships withdraw from both sides! Stand by behind the big ship! Let those Cron gunboats prepare! ”

A series of orders were issued to the flotillas on both sides of the battle line, and the rocket ships immediately took action, the front line to the left, the rear column to the right, and retreated to the rear and flanks of the fleet in an orderly manner to take up the task of guarding.

As if it had been rehearsed, as soon as the rocket ship detoured backwards, the last ship disappeared into the bow of the big ship, and more than forty arsonist ships were killed in three waves.

Looking at the battle line in front of them, which towered like a city wall, and those black cannon ports, the soldiers on the arsonist ship were not afraid.

"Burn a naval ship of the Nanyue Army and reward 1,000 silver dollars. Burn Li Huamei's ship and reward 3,000 yuan! If anyone captures Li Huamei, the young marshal will be rewarded with 10,000 silver dollars! ”

The boat couldn't stop resounding with the sound of repeating the appreciation.

"The young marshal has an order! Capture Miss Lee. Be courteous! Make no mistake! Whoever violates the order, kill the whole family! ”

Listening to the shouts that were faintly sent to her ears by the sea breeze, the corners of Li Huamei's mouth were full of disdainful smiles, and Ao Lei Yilan next to her heard her personal soldiers tell her what those people were shouting, so angry that she turned the fire gun behind her back, pulled out the gun cap and fired it into the distance to express her anger.

"Miss! Why hasn't the Crone gunboat come over yet? ”

The gunner, who had always wanted to use the Croon gunboats, that is, the brigs equipped with the Croon guns, to deal with these arsonist ships, saw from the other side of the ship that the sailboats were still struggling against the wind, and he couldn't help but be a little impatient.

"No hurry!" Look at the Zheng family's arsonist boats, which have reached the dead end of the cannons on their own ships. A time to rejoice in the coming victories. A cold light burst out of Li Huamei's eyes.

"Herald! Ships use Thunderbolt Cannons! ”

"Bombard these fireships that come into range!"

The so-called Thunderbolt Cannon is the nickname given by the sailors to the rear-mounted rotary gun mounted on the side of the ship, because although this kind of gun is small, it uses the same sub-gun as the Franc machine. The rate of fire is fast. Like thunder and lightning. Hence the name.

Although the caliber of this cannon was small, about the same as the usual one-pound gun, it was lightweight. The lugs are mounted on a wrought iron bracket. The firing angle can be adjusted high and low (huh?). A bit of a high-level dual-purpose machine gun? ）； The bracket is erected on a pivot and can be rotated 360 degrees; The pivot was fixed to the side or column of the ship, and the sturdy hull was used to counteract the recoil generated by the shot, and the sub-guns were used to feed the ammunition as in the case of the Franc machine. The slight difference is that it can only use shotguns. However, this small cannon, which was completely used to bridge the gap between the range of the ship's guns and the guns, became a magic weapon to defeat the enemy at this moment.

The small cannon, which was usually regarded as chicken ribs and could only be used to fight seabirds, immediately became a fragrant bait in the eyes of everyone.

At the sound of the command, about twenty Thunderbolt guns on the side of the ship immediately took their gunners into position, and the aimers adjusted the high and low angles, making sure to send every shotgun to where it belonged!

"Free fire from all cannons!"

Twenty of the shotgun shells weighing about 25 grams were tied in one place, and about a pound of gunpowder were used to hit the sailors of the Zheng family who were about to light the fire rope about 20 meters away from the side of the ship.

"Fire!"

There was another roar, with the sharp whistling sound of the projectile piercing the air, outside the ship, there was immediately Zheng Jiajun's arson ship swept by the dense projectile, the small cannon of the Thunderbolt Cannon is useless against any solidly fortified target, or a sturdy ship, but at close range, to hit these Zheng Jun sailors who only have a single coat and no armor, it is a weapon of mass destruction!

In the first round of shelling, the sailors of the three Zheng Jun arson ships that were targeting it were overturned in the water, and in the blink of an eye, a pool of blood surged in the waves, and they disappeared in an instant.

This Thunderbolt Cannon may be the smallest caliber artillery included in the active equipment of the Southern Guangdong Army, the cannon body made of ductile iron weighs only a few dozen catties, and the effective lethality is only twenty or thirty steps.

This cannon was once jokingly called by sailors to fight seabirds for fear of loneliness at sea, but which sailor would fire at a bird that symbolizes an island not far away, representing life and hope at sea? Even if they on the heads of the sailors, they are just scaring with empty guns, where are they willing to bombard with artillery?

But today, these artillery pieces come in handy for the most!

As he spoke, the loader who assisted the shooter had already taken off the gun with an iron rod and replaced it with a gun that had already been loaded, and in it, there was also a pound of gunpowder accompanied by a pound of projectiles!

"Aim at each gun, fire freely!"

Hearing the sound of the order to prepare, the gunners swirled the muzzles on the gun carriages, choosing the arsonist sailors who were still in high spirits and planned to exchange these huge ships in front of them for a rich reward. One can imagine what kind of power these lead pellets loaded in the guns will be on the sea surface against the sailors of the Zheng family sailors on those arsonist ships that are less than thirty meters away from the ships of the Nanyue Army!

The arsonist boats, who were lucky not to be targeted by the gunners of the Thunderbolts, were still trying to steer the boats carefully, avoiding the same team that had been beaten to the ground covered in blood and flesh, and struggling forward along the waves. With the help of the north wind. Five or six ships had already rushed into the defensive circle of the Aomei and the several Fubo-class ships guarding her, and even the Thunderbolt Cannon had to be adjusted to the maximum downturn angle to aim. But then there were some sharp-eyed people on the ship, and they saw that around the black muzzles on the bow of the ship, there were quickly a hundred and ten black holes poking out of the firearms, and everyone recognized what it was! The power of the volley of the Southern Yue Army, as long as anyone with ears knows it, and for a while, their faces are like ashes!

The men were about to shout loudly, when an excited and somewhat strange accent came from the bow of the boat: "Open the gun!" ”

Compared with the sound of the thunderbolts, the sound of the guns was not a loud sound, but dense fires and thick smoke rose along the side of the ship in an instant. Instantly connected. More than 100 lead shots shot by firearms. Like a big broom, the sailors of these arsonist ships, who were almost close to the side of the ship, screamed incessantly, and turned over and fell into the water, the icy sea. Blood gushing outward. In the blink of an eye, they will die! Luckily swept off the board. Many of them were covered in flesh and blood, and their bodies were covered with thick holes swept by projectiles, and some of them were not dead for a while. I could only lie on the board and scream miserably.

The power of the volley of firearms was like a sudden storm of wind and rain. After being hit by a fire bolt at this distance, the human body was overturned to the ground like grass in a typhoon, and the sailors on the ship were bleeding profusely, covering their bloody heads and faces and rolling to the ground screaming.

The swift north wind blew the smoke from the bow of the ship in an instant, and the black muzzles of the guns appeared before the poor sailors once again.

The sailors were so frightened that they had completely forgotten that they only had to pull the fire rope and let the burning fire ship hit the big ship of the Nanyue army with the wind, and connected the two ships with large iron nails erected on the bow of the ship. After that, you can turn around and claim your bounty.

"Run!" There was only one thought in their minds.

Ignoring the coldness of the sea, more than a dozen sailors on the boat jumped into the water one after another.

A few sailors beside Ao Lei Yilan picked up the firearms in their hands and prepared to pull the trigger on the people who were floating in the water.

"Stop!" Without saying anything else, he stopped a few sailors who were about to beat the water dogs, and everyone looked at the seventh lady in front of them with some ignorance. See what she's going to do?

Ao Lei Yilan plucked a tripod made of bamboo from the wall of the nearby ship, picked up a thick rope, wrapped it around it a few times, and skimmed it out casually.

"Pull them up! Catch it alive! They are no longer capable of us. Just don't kill them anymore, it's useless to kill them! With her distinctive accent, Ori explained the significance of her move to the sailors.

"I see!" Unexpectedly, the Seventh Lady, who had just used four or five firebolts in a row to fire, also had a benevolent side.

Dozens of bamboo tripods tied with long ropes were thrown into the sea, and as these tripods fell on the heads of the sailors in the water, there was a burst of shouts overhead: "If you don't want to die yourself, the wife will remarry and the child will come up!" ”

"Everybody's a mixed life! Not so much hatred! ”

Seeing that her seventh aunt was a little self-absorbed and salvaged the first batch of captives sent by the Zheng family from the sea, Li Huamei was very pleased, and she waved the order flag in her hand, "Let the dragon cannon go up and teach this Zheng family kid a lesson!" ”

Maybe it was the shadow left when they met for the first time, and Li Huamei didn't have a good impression of Zheng Sen every time she mentioned it. Now that I know that the person who sent a fireboat on the other side to burn him is this guy, how can I swallow this breath?

Eight Kelon gunboats stepped on the waves, crossed the arson fleet that was struggling in the sea water from the two wings of the fleet, and swooped down on the flanks of the Zheng family's fleet that was struggling to adjust the formation. A Cron cannon at the bow of the ship that can fire more than 60 pounds of heavy shells is the single horn of this Jiao, and the eight-pounder and twelve-pounder cannons on the ship's two sides and stern are the fangs and claws of this Jiao!

The eight unicorns were divided into two teams, and under the leadership of their respective leaders, they swooped towards the red-haired boats in front.

"Aim at those red-haired boats and fire!"

The commanders of both teams gave the order almost simultaneously.

"Yes, sir!"

The gunners replied excitedly, and then waved the contact signal flag that had been sweating in his hand for a long time, and sent a signal to the three neighboring boats: "Commander's order!" Fire! ”

His voice had just landed. The cannon mounted on the bow of the ship let out an earth-shattering roar.

Huge muzzle flames flickered and danced in the bow, and the whole brig trembled.

The massive muzzle flame formed a massive ball of fire nearly a meter in diameter, which flickered for less than a second before being replaced by an even larger white cloud of smoke. The white smoke was quickly dispersed by the fierce north wind blowing from the sea, and for a moment the entire hull of the brig was shrouded in the thin smoke.

The power of the full charge of the Cron cannon is enormous, to the point of being staggering. The huge air pressure of the muzzle pressed the sea surface on the side of the ship into a wide shallow pit, and the huge recoil pushed the hull of the ship to the rear by about half a meter, and all the people on board, although they all saw the Cron cannon fired for the first time, still felt a deep sense of awe in their hearts for this terrible man-made destructive power.

When the brig schooner burst out of formation. Shi Lang instinctively realized that danger was coming! When I saw through the binoculars, the sailors on the ship were struggling to stabilize the ship. As he protected the bow of the ship, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Not good! ”

Before he could finish speaking, a hissing sound hit people's eardrums. It was a huge Cron cannon shell wreaking havoc in the air. A sound that came straight in.

Didn't wait for him to react. A loud, dull explosion had already begun to abuse his eardrums.

In a panic, Zheng Sen and Shi Lang threw themselves to the side of the ship and looked in the direction of the explosion, and a spectacular scene that would appear in their nightmares countless times later appeared before their eyes.

At the forefront. The bow of a red-haired ship that served as a flank protection for Zheng Sen's flagship on the left side was enveloped by a thick column of water, which rose into the air almost the size of a water tank, far exceeding the mainmast of the red-haired ship.

Imitation of the Dutchman's plywood boat, the red-haired hull of the ship with a displacement of nearly 1,000 tons looks as weak as a small bamboo raft in a fish pond in front of such a behemoth.

Before Zheng Sen and the others could marvel at such a scene, three more shells flew from the three directions of the red-haired boat.

There was a scream and exclamation from the stern, and a Kron cannon shell struck its stern helm, the force of which propelled the shell into the cabin, sending up countless pieces of wood with flesh and blood residue. The red-haired boat, which had lost its rudder, spun around in front of Zheng Sen and Shi Lang.

One of the shells had a slightly higher trajectory, and instead of firing at the waterline as the other gunners did, it swept over the ship's side, flew over people's heads, and hit the ship's mainmast.

The mast, which was more than ten meters high, suddenly turned into a huge shotgun, projecting countless high-speed wood fragments and sail rigging parts in all directions.

The huge mast was lifted by the impact of the brutal cannonball, as if there was an invisible yellow turban wrestler who pulled the mast out of the ship's plank, and then slowly rose up, as if it jumped more than a person high in the flames and smoke and then slowly fell, the last one collapsed in the stern, a cross beam was put into the sea water at the stern, the broken rope sail was wound around the mast and burned, and the deck was full of sailors and gunners lying down, Holding his body that had been beaten by the flying splinters of wood, he cried and wailed loudly. It's a horrific sight.

Before the screams of the red-haired boat on the left had disappeared from the ears of the panicked officers and men of the Fujian Navy Division standing on the side of the boat, an earth-shattering roar had already sounded on their right side.

Two huge columns of water suddenly appeared in the frightened eyes of the officers and soldiers, making them unable to believe their eyes. A huge column of water roared into the sky, like a huge column of water connecting the sky and the ocean.

If a dragon king is about to appear in front of these people from the bottom of the sea at this moment, I believe that no one will say a word. No one could keep their composure in the face of such a miraculous spectacle, some of the people standing on the deck screamed and searched for what they thought was safe, and some people who believed in Catholicism and had the same religious name as Zheng Zhilong grabbed everything he could and then read the scriptures aloud and prayed to the God of Lu, praying that the omnipotent Lord would make them quiet.

And more people, like Zheng Sen, were stunned by the scene in front of them, and they stood at their original posts and stared blankly at the spectacular scene in front of them with their mouths open.

No one can say how high those water jets were at that time, because they were so close to people, so close that one felt as if they could touch it with one hand, and they were so huge that one couldn't help but feel awe.

The tremendous force displayed by the water jets and the threat of death behind them exerted such a strong psychological coercion on the witnesses that no one dared to raise their heads in front of them.

The water column stood abruptly on the right side of the flagship, as if time had stopped, as if the heavens and the earth had been standing here, and perhaps they would continue to stand like this forever.

This is the result of the four Cron gunboats on the left taking advantage of the gap between the red-haired ships guarding the flagship and struggling to rush into the defensive circle!

After a few short seconds, the water column began to fall slowly, and the officers and soldiers reacted from the extreme fear, and everyone breathed a long sigh of relief in their hearts, it seemed that everything had passed. (To be continued......)

PS: It's the end of the month, let's vote for the monthly passes! Smash it out like a cannonball from a Kroncannon!