Admiral Tasman, the commander of the Eight-Nation Allied Fleet, stayed in the North Goto Bay in the Goto Islands because he was unwell, and by the way supervised the construction of the defense facilities in the North Goto Bay. The left vice admiral Zheng Jiangong was commanding the landing operation, so on the evening of February 18 in the 10th year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, the one who commanded the main fleet to cover the landing in Kagoshima Bay was the right vice admiral of the fleet. Jones and Chief of Staff Shen Shiwen.

David. Jones was originally a captain in the Dutch Navy, but later experienced the "Battle of Japan and Mongolia" (an undeclared battle between the Japanese-flagged Ming fleet and the Mongol-flagged Spanish fleet).

And Shen Shiwen was originally a Confucian student, a nephew of Shen Tingyang, a supervisor of Nanjing Guozi before the Jiashen Rebellion, and Zheng Sen was a classmate. After that, Koshin first served in the Hokuyang shogunate, and later was sent to the Naval Academy to learn Western-style naval warfare. Because he was born in a family of merchants in the southeast sea, he has long dabbled in navigation and Western studies, and he got started quickly and graduated with very good results.

After graduating, he served back and forth between the Naval Academy and the fleet, and was promoted all the way to the director of the Naval Academy, actually the assistant to the deputy director Tasman - his level was certainly not as good as that of the great navigator Tasman, because his background was more suitable, not a foreign devil, so he served as the hall director. However, he also knows his level, so he has been playing Tasman's assistant in the Naval Academy.

Because the cooperation with Tasman was very pleasant, he made Tasman the chief of staff of the fleet after he served as the commander of the fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In short, Shen Shiyuan is a decent naval staff officer.

After learning of the Spanish fleet's attack, he also proposed a decent response.

"Adjutant General, we should form a single column, with eight Flying Class ships as the vanguard, and launch a close artillery bombardment with the enemy, close the distance as much as possible, and destroy the enemy ship with flowering shells."

Seven of the eight Flyer class ships were equipped with swirling bombarders, because the Flyer class had a low bow and low stern design, a low center of gravity, and a sturdy hull with a sturdy hull that was standard for the Dutch Navy's fast warships. Therefore, the upper deck of the Flyer class can be equipped with more or larger roundhouse bombarders.

In the refit at the end of the ninth year of Hongxing, the Ming Navy Division chose a larger bomb weight scheme, and installed the latest 24-kilogram cast iron short-barreled cannon on the deck of the Feixiang (after the arsenals in Nanjing, Shanghai, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou successively learned to design and develop new artillery, the artillery of the Ming army began to "change pounds to pounds", and in this process, the ammunition weight of the artillery also generally increased), and the number of bombardment guns on the big bird ship was the same, and it was also five. However, the layout scheme is different from that of the Big Bird ship, because of the obstruction of the bow sails, there are no bow guns that fire forward, but the five guns are arranged along the central axis for the first time, all on a circular track that can rotate 360 degrees.

Because the center of gravity of the Flying is low and the stability is good, the accuracy of the roundabout bombardment gun is relatively high, and the power of the 24-pound bullet is also more than that of the 24-pound bullet.

Therefore, the seven Flying Class ships equipped with gyroscope guns are the trump cards of the Ming Navy!

"No, it won't work." David. Jones disagreed, "Now we have the upper hand, and the enemy has the upper hand, so the distance between the two columns is not our final say, but the enemy's final say." ”

"But when the two sides pass each other on opposite courses, won't we have the upper hand?"

David. Jones shook his head and said, "In the Anglo-Dutch War that just ended, there were some cases where two fleets always sailed in the same direction. ”

"Always in the same direction? You're talking about George. Munch's tactics? ”

George. Munch was a cattle man under Cromwell, an amphibious general on land and sea, who had been in the army for more than 20 years before the First Anglo-Dutch War. After the outbreak of the British Revolution, he was a royal party at first, and then he was arrested by the Parliamentary Army and imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, his biggest change was not from the royal party to the revolutionary army, but from a rear admiral to a fleet commander after the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War, and he also proposed a rather revolutionary naval tactic - the T-shaped tactic.

However, the T-shaped tactics are not always placed, and the enemy is not stupid, and when he sees you grabbing the T-shaped position, he will inevitably follow the steering, so that the two fleets will form a sail in the same direction on the battlefield.

"Yes!" David. Jones said, "And our main task is to cover the landing fleet...... While the landing fleet was ready to storm the bay of Inner Kagoshima in order to block the Spanish fleet with bombardment and the narrow channel of the Sakurajima Strait.

But we still have to block the Spanish fleet from entering the Sakurajima Strait, and we can't risk the destruction of the troop transport fleet! ”

"So what do we do?" Shen Shiyuan asked.

"We can take detachment tactics," said David. Jones said, "Divide the eight Flying-class into four groups, serve as the lead and tail ships of the four detachments, and then divide the remaining ships evenly into four detachments...... We have a total of 27 ships, and each detachment will consist of six or seven ships, each fighting on its own, seeking an opportunity to divide the enemy column and engage in a chaotic battle after engagement. We have a lot of ships and fierce firepower, and once we enter the chaos, it will be very large! At least it was possible to block the Spanish fleet from rushing into the Sakurajima Strait. As long as they can't rush in, the landing fleet will be able to find a new landing site in Uchi-Kagoshima Bay. ”

A chaotic battle is a melee battle, which is generally beneficial to the side with a higher level of operation and a larger number of ships. At present, the main force of the Eight-Nation Allied Fleet is the Ming, British, Dutch, and French, and the standard is not low, and they all have bombardment, so they are not afraid of melee.

"Our target is the Flying Class of the Ming Dynasty Navy!"

On the new Spain armed Galen, Admiral García of Spain was issuing an order: "The generals should follow the flagship as much as possible, and should make the Flyer class the main target as far as possible, first destroying their sails and masts, and then bombarding them with arsonistic bombs...... Remember to keep your distance, don't approach under any circumstances, don't engage in broadside battles, and don't pay attention to the bird boats of the Ming Dynasty!

We have only one mission, to burn the Ming Dynasty's Flying Class as much as possible! ”

The Spanish admiral was not confused, he knew very well that the anti-Spanish alliance in the western Pacific was centered on the Ming Empire! And those who support the Ming Empire's ambition to dominate the Pacific Ocean, in addition to the wealth of the Ming Dynasty court, are these flying ships of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

Although the tonnage of these Flying Class ships is not comparable to that of the New Spain, they are numerous, fast, and powerful, enough to compete with battleships like the New Spain class.

If the Spanish Navy could destroy them all, the anti-Spanish alliance in the Pacific would face collapse due to the lack of a core.

Today's battle of Kagoshima Bay is undoubtedly the last chance for the Spanish Eastern Armada to reverse the unfavorable situation.

Because the coalition fleet had to cover their landing fleet, it was impossible to use it with full force, and now that it was a southeast wind, the Spanish fleet was in a favorable position to gain the upper hand.

A staff officer of the Spanish Navy walked into the command room at this time: "Admiral, the lookout post has discovered the Grand Fleet of the Coalition Army!" At least 20 warships, already in a column, are heading towards us against the wind, the first of which is the Flying class. ”

"Good!" Garcia nodded, "Here we go!" Then he stood up and solemnly drew a cross on his chest, "God bless the king, God bless Spain, God bless us......"

The officers who were with him also stood up and painted crosses and prayed.

After asking God, it will be up to the officers and men of the Spanish navy to do their best!

On the evening of February 18, in the darkening sky, accompanied by the rumbling cannons coming from the direction of Sakurajima in the distance, the sea battle that could determine the hegemony of the western Pacific finally began!

Kagoshima Bay tonight will be a burning ocean!