"New Spain, right full rudder!"

With Admiral Garcia's order, the new Spain, the lead ship of the Spanish Oriental Armada, suddenly turned to the left when it was still more than 2,000 steps (more than 3,000 meters) away from the Jiangnan (Feixiang-class), the lead ship of the coalition fleet, and its course changed from due north to due west. The purpose of changing course was, of course, to pass head-on from the Jiangnan as the lead ship of the coalition fleet heading due south, so that the New Spain, which had nearly 80 cannons, would be able to concentrate its firepower on one side to bombard the Jiangnan.

The captain of the Jiangnan was Chen Shangchuan, who was transferred from the Henan, and he was also the commander of the first detachment, which consisted of seven warships, the main force of which was the Jiangnan and Fujian, and the other five ships were the Galen ships of the British East India Company - the British ships were stronger than the Dutch ships, and they were not as pompous as the French ships, so they were put at the forefront.

The first detachment was followed by the second detachment with the flagship Feixiang and Jiangbei as the main force, and in addition to the two ships Feixiang and Jiangbei, the second detachment also had five warships of the Dutch East India Company.

The third detachment was mainly composed of two ships, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and was also equipped with three French warships and two Dutch warships.

The fourth detachment was composed of two ships, Shandong and Henan, plus a British battleship, a Dutch battleship, a French battleship and a Portuguese battleship.

Four detachments, a total of 27 warships, sailed from north to south and rushed to the entrance to Kagoshima Bay, which is also a big belly bay in general, the entrance is a bit narrow, only more than 20 li wide, and most of the interior is more than 40 li wide.

For the coalition fleet, which wants to fight in close combat and melee, it is natural to try to block the enemy at the entrance to the bay.

The Spanish fleet began to turn to the left, just at the entrance to Kagoshima Bay, and the Spanish fleet was heading along the western shore of the Osumi Peninsula, and after turning left, it was in the direction of Ibusuki Onsen (located at the top of the Satsuma Peninsula).

The position of the coalition fleet is in the middle of the Satsuma Peninsula and the Osumi Peninsula, near the middle line, so it is also a space that detours to the west.

After seeing the Spanish fleet turn to a strong T-position, Chen Shangchuan also immediately followed up in order to keep the same direction as the opponent - the two Flying Ships he had at hand had a total of 10 24-pound short-barreled guns, but none of these guns could fire forward, so they had to face the enemy on the side side.

"Commander, the distance is still too far, and it will be difficult for our bombardment to hit!" Zhang Guanghui, the first mate of the Jiangnan, is an expert in naval gunnery and the main person in charge of the work of the navy's bombardment on board, and he knows too well the shortcomings of the bombardment after it is put on board.

Whether it's 24 pounds or 24 pounds, it's a heavy artillery. The 800-ton DWT Flying Class is still too light for this kind of heavy artillery, so the hull shakes very much when firing, and the accuracy of shooting will drop significantly, and the fire density of five bombardment guns on a ship is too low to make up for the lack of low hit rate with fire density.

So the best way to use these bombardments is to bombard them at close range!

"I know, I've watched Bombardment Drills, but the Spaniards are not stupid, they're just a little crazy, but they're definitely not stupid!" Chen Shangchuan said loudly, "They won't let us get close easily...... But it doesn't matter, we can fight naval battles without relying on shells! We have 8 Flyer class ships and 12 medium Galen ships of more than 500 tons, armed with more guns than the Spaniards! We can damage some of the Spaniards' ships first, slow them down, and then destroy them with bombardment!

Don't worry, we have time! ”

"The conductor is very kind!" Zhang Guanghui nodded, "So now do you want the bombardment to prepare for fire?" ”

"No...... We fired chain shells with 12-pound cannons and hit the sails and masts of the New Spain! This time, we can't let it go! Chen Shangchuan paused, "Hang out the decisive battle flag!" Daming ...... There is no advance or retreat! ”

The Ming Dynasty has advanced and no retreat flag is the decisive battle flag of the Ming Navy, it is the idea that Zhu Cihong came up with, the design of the flag is very simple, and there are four Chinese characters above a red flag - there is no advance or retreat!

As long as this red flag is hoisted, it means that the decisive battle begins!

......

"Admiral, the enemy has turned to sail in the same direction as us!"

"Got it! The cannon fires chain shells and hits the sails and masts of the Flying class ship in the lead! ”

"Yes, Admiral!"

Admiral García also chose to bombard the sails of the Jiangnan with chain bombs, because he also knew very well that the most critical factor in determining the victory or defeat of today's sea was speed!

The speed of the Mistral Galen ship is not as fast as that of the Dutch and English Galen ships - not only is there a gap in the design level, but the naval combat ideas of Spain, the Netherlands and England are also different, Spain prefers to engage in broadside battles, so they tend to design tall bow towers, while the Dutch and English navies prefer artillery battles, and their cannons are advanced!

Another reason that reduced the mobility of the Spanish ships was that the Spanish ships had too many icons and religious decorations, which would be a burden in naval battles unless they were blessed by God......

Boom Boom Boom ......

The first to fire was the 20 12-kilogram cannons on the starboard side of the Jiangnan!

After the addition of bombardment, the first deck area of the Flying Class was reduced, and the number of guns (excluding bombardment) that could be carried was reduced from the original 54-48 to 40 (45 after the addition of 5 bombardments), but at the same time, the original 12-pounder bronze cannon was replaced by a 12-pound cast iron cannon.

And 12 pounds is heavier than 12 pounds, so the range is longer and the power is greater.

However, the first round of shelling of the Jiangnan was still empty - because the distance between the two sides was too far, it had exceeded 3 miles, if it was on land, this distance was nothing, but on the sea with high winds and waves, it was still a little farther.

Boom Boom Boom ......

More than 30 cannons on the left side of the New Spain immediately roared, but they also missed!

The first round was all out of the box on both sides.

"Keep course and keep firing!" Chen Shangchuan didn't care, because he knew that the New Spain was Spain's first ship in the western Pacific!

The Jiangnan only needs to attract the New Spain, and even if it loses in the end, the winner of the naval battle of Kagoshima Bay is Daming!

"Keep going, keep fighting! Don't be in a hurry......" Garcia was actually very anxious when he said this.

Because only a few ships at his disposal were armed with 12-pounder guns, and most of them were equipped with 6-pounder guns. 6-pounder cannon 12-pounder gun, what a loss! If the New Spain can't repel the Flyer as soon as possible, then its own side will definitely suffer.

Boom Boom!

The Jiangnan class fired another salvo, although it still missed, but the landing point of the shell was already very close to the New Spain, and the splash even hit Garcia in the face!

Boom Boom Boom ......

The New Spain also fired a second round, and the shells also landed near the Jiangnan, stirring up waves!

"Hit ......"

Cold sweat came out of Garcia's forehead, and the next time he shot to protect him, I'm afraid his fate will be decided!

O God! Be sure to bless Spain......

Boom Boom Boom ...... Hiss Lala......

The sound of shelling and the tearing of the sails sounded almost simultaneously!

"Damn it!" Garcia knew that one of his opponent's third salvo had hit his own sail with a chain bullet!

Boom Boom Boom ...... Click......

Chen Shangchuan heard the sound of wood breaking, he quickly turned his head to bang the mast to look, and did not find any of the masts broken and fell.

"Hit the ship's board...... What a bodhisattva bless! ”

Chen Shangchuan also sighed, but immediately furrowed his brows: "Go on, continue to fight ......"

After three rounds of shooting, the level of both sides has come out - comparable! Dozens of cannons are bombarded like this, and the level is not low, and hitting the key point is only a matter of probability.

Chen Shangchuan also silently recited in his heart: "Amitabha, Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, God bless...... Saint Confucius! ”

Boom Boom Boom ......

Once again, the cannon sounded!