Chapter 491 Blossom Bomb

Beside Jiang Dashuo, Zhang Chenfeng also raised the telescope and adjusted the focus.

The first boat appeared in the eyepiece, a small civilian boat common in inland rivers, which certainly looked less than a hundred tons, with a bamboo bundle at the bow, covered with mud, and a low waterline.

Immediately after that, a second, third, and fourth appeared next to it......

In the blink of an eye, a dense crowd of countless ships poured over, and the river was full of large and small boats, hanging sails and rowing oars, going down the river, and crashing straight into the fleet.

Zhang Chenfeng's scalp was slightly numb.

Here the river is narrow, and he is in the reverse current, so he has little room for maneuver, so he can only seize the distance difference, open fire at a long distance, and destroy the enemy ships as much as possible.

Originally, according to Zhang Chenfeng's thoughts, since he had landed, his cavalry regiment was no longer willing to take a boat - what kind of fast column was this?

However, the captain Lin Xiao believed that the water network in the Hongze Lake basin was staggered and the rivers were crisscrossed, and the advantages of the cavalry might not be brought into play, so it was better to go up the river with the fleet and go straight to Huai'an.

Zhang Chenfeng knew that Lin Xiao was actually worried about the thousands of former migrant workers who followed him, and he was worried that the migrant workers would not be able to keep up with him, so that the front and rear would be too disjointed, which would affect the timely replenishment of ammunition and materials for the troops, causing unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, Zhang Chenfeng could not resist Lin Xiao, and after leaving a company in the three towns of Hekou, the whole army boarded the ship again and set out with Shi Lang's fleet.

Due to the large number of war horses, Zhang Chenfeng's cavalry regiment of more than 3,000 people all boarded the large forward gunboats headed by the "Qinzhou" to open the way in front, and Shi Lang's main fleet, except for his ship "Graflan", was almost all more than 100 tons of troop carriers.

Similarly, although Zhang Chenfeng did not dictate the formation and navigation of the fleet, the captain Jiang Dazhuan still looked at the head of his horse - the ship was carrying all the people of this chief, and he could not afford to miss anything......

"Chief, the enemy ship is about to enter the firing range......"

The enemy ship was very fast, Jiang Dazhuan reminded.

"Heading 270, speed three knots,"

Zhang Chenfeng put down his binoculars and calmly ordered, "Order the ships behind to maintain formation and prepare for battle." ”

Unlike Captain Garlic, the well-informed Zhang Chenfeng was naturally not so nervous - although he could only be regarded as a layman in how to command the sail warships of this era.

Soon, the battle flag of the "Qinzhou" was raised to the top of the mast, and behind it, there was a faint sound of a rapid whistle on the four gunboats including the "Gray Dolphin".

A light smoke erupted, and the hull of the "Qinzhou" turned slightly so that the naval guns on the fore and aft decks could exert their firepower, and Jiang Garlic immediately issued the order to shoot: "Incendiary bombs, reload!" ”

The gunners used the bomb stick to load the silk medicine packets, wet mud cakes, and shells into the chambers one after another, and the gunners immediately shook the handwheels, and the huge barrels were slowly raised, and wisps of smoke from the incendiary shells drifted out of the barrels......

"Reloaded!"

The rangefinder constantly reported the distance of the enemy ship: "Five chains...... Four-chain half-...... Quad chain! ”

The distance was reduced to four chains, only about one and a half miles, and Jiang Dazhuan shouted: "Fire!" ”

The main guns on the foredeck shook violently, and a ball of flame erupted from the muzzle, and although the tonnage of the "Qinzhou" was large, the recoil of the guns still shook the battleship for a while.

After the 24-pounder cannon was discharged, it was wrapped in a ball of fireball, whistling in the air and making an arc, flying towards the enemy ship a mile away......

Jiang Dazhuan held the binoculars and nervously observed the landing point.

There was almost no need to aim, and at such a close distance, the fireball accurately landed in the middle of the dense fire attack ships on the river, only to see a flash of red light, and a column of water rose into the air.

Jiang Dazhuan immediately corrected the impact point data.

"Boom!"

The naval guns on the aft deck opened fire immediately afterward.

"Bang!"

There was a loud bang.

This time, the heavy projectile hit an enemy ship, instantly tearing the bamboo handle shield arranged in its bow, and then ignited the straw in the cabin, and the remaining kinetic energy almost smashed it in two.

"Well played!"

Zhang Chenfeng turned his head to look at the "Gray Dolphin" that was catching up from the side, and ordered loudly, "Quickly reload, continue to bombard!" ”

Although the "Qinzhou" at the beginning is a motorized ship, the firing range of the naval guns also has a considerable advantage, but as a vanguard, its main task is to bombard the Yuntiguan fort from a long distance, and to deal with this kind of dense formation of fire attack boats, there are only two guns "Qinzhou", and the firepower density is not enough.

It's the turn of the Grey Dolphin!

"Molotov cocktails!"

The "Gray Dolphin" also quickly crossed the line, and the captain Niu Ritian, Xiao Lu Zhishen, roared and gave an order, "All guns on the starboard side, fire freely!" ”

In an instant, several 24-pounder guns on the side of the "Gray Dolphin" erupted one after another.

Smoke and fire of iron bullets swept across the river, with a whistling sound in the air, one after another crashed into the front of the fire attack fleet......

The first group of fire-attacking ships began to scurry up and down, and a few of them caught fire and then swirled in the middle of the river, and sailors kept plopping down and jumping into the river.

However, the ones behind were still rushing forward, and for a while, the formation became denser and denser, and the distance was getting closer and closer.

Many of the Grey Dolphin's secondary guns also opened fire, and in an instant, dozens of iron projectiles swept across the fleet.

Shattered planks, masts, sails, and sailors' heads and bodies flew in all directions, and scorching shells ignited straw stained with tung oil and gunpowder, and the cabin caught fire, and then quickly tilted and sank by the influx of the river......

The second batch of fire attack ships Xu was caught off guard, Xu did not dare to stop the ship under the coercion of the officers and men, and crashed into this sea of fire one after another, or hit the wreckage of the ship in front of them, or detonated rapidly, and the scene was chaotic......

"This ......"

Huang Sida, who was standing on the deck of the ship at the rear, saw it very clearly, and couldn't help but be secretly frightened.

That's too miserable, isn't it?

Looking at the several enemy ships in the distance that were constantly breathing fire, he couldn't help but shrink his neck, the bow of the ship raised high, like a god, his own small boat, it was really not enough to see.

He knew that against such a huge ship, if he did not surround them, the effect of the fire attack would not be good, and even if he could really get forward, this kind of sea ship would not be able to burn for a while.

But is this like a situation that can be contained?

Just as his legs and stomach were trembling, a second round of cannon fire followed......

"Mortar ready!"

Zhang Chenfeng yelled and ordered, "Hit Lao Tzu hard!" ”

With Zhang Chenfeng's roar, the three mortars on the foredeck opened fire one after another.

Although the deck was constantly shaking, the fighters were well trained, and the mortars were still far ahead of the naval guns, and the whistling projectiles shot down from the sky, harvesting the ships on the river again and again......

"Open...... Blossom bombs? ”

Huang Si was so frightened that he stumbled and fell on the deck.

This time, it wasn't a big fireball that was whirring, but the small projectile landed more accurately, and it fell from the sky with a terrifying scream, and exploded on the ground.

With just one shot, a ship was blown apart, and in an instant it disappeared into the skyrocketing flames, blasting up debris......

"Hoo ......"

An arm flew past Huang Sida's eyes and fell on the deck with a "snap".

"Ah......h

With a scream, he suddenly gained strength, got up with a bone, and ran backwards.

He could no longer care about the "central command", and surrounded by several personal soldiers, he climbed down to the stern dinghy, quickly cut the cable, and rowed towards the north shore in a hurry.

He didn't dare to flee in the direction of Anton, he was captured by Shangfeng, and he was going to be beheaded.

……

(End of chapter)