The ten Gale-class frigates arranged in the shape of "plum blossoms" belonged to the second and third frigates of the frigate fleet led by Zheng Zhaoji. The extreme speed made the hull even tremble, and on the deck, in addition to the lookout posts in the front and rear, there were guns and crossbow arrows that were ready to shoot at their respective targets, and there was also rocket artillery aimed at enemy ships. The only drawback of this wide-area, high-range and powerful weapon at close range was that it could not shoot longitudinally, and would have burned the entire sail with a single shot.

The sightman has a small observation tower under the box-shaped gun, a simple mechanical sight, and the sighter can order the fire as soon as he locks the launcher. It is worth mentioning that this gun needs to be loaded with the muzzle facing the sky, and the shells that have been installed on the loading plate below the deck are aligned, and the loading plate moves upwards to lift the shells into the barrel, complete the loading, and prepare to shoot again.

The lookout was staring at a simple rangefinder combined with binoculars, and at this moment he reported to the microphone, "Enemy ship No. 1 is within range of artillery......

The red-haired Rona watched with a little nervousness as the speeding boat continued in the water column created by the incessant bombardment of her ship's 12-pounder guns, with no fear or intention of ending the attack. She couldn't help but wonder what these brave dinghys were going to do, and if they were going to use the kind of broadside combat that was already going to be eliminated? But how could their dwarf ship be able to board such a massive battleship?

Although they are enemies, for some reason Rona has a good impression of them in her heart, perhaps because of their bravery!

The 12-pounder cannon next to him kept firing shells, and it was very difficult to shoot at sea, not only because it was difficult to aim, but even a small wave at the beginning of the attack would make the fired shells disappear.

As the enemy ship got closer, Rhona's hand holding the hilt of the knife was sweating, and she hoped that the 12-pounder shells would hit the target, because they were enemies. At the same time, I was worried about the brave people in the boat.

That's when something happened she'd never seen before. A roaring sound, like the sound of a hurricane when the sea is angry, with a shrill whistling in it. The small boats shot a dense stream of meteor-like things at the battleship. The chilling howl of the hell made Rhona crouch down and hide between the deck and a large wooden barrel.

A salvo of 300 rockets and 50 rounds of 60-mm guns was completed in an instant, and the 3rd and 2nd squadrons were placed within 45 safe firing positions on the axis of advance of the enemy ships.

Charlotte looked at these wonders in amazement as his daughter, and he was a little helpless, all these small boats were firing in places where he could not shoot.

Meteor-like rockets whizzed down on the battleship, and at such close range and in such a dense situation, only three 100-millimeter rockets and ten 60-millimeter shells were hit. Moreover, most of the shots hit the battleships numerous sails. The rest of the shells formed large and small columns of water around the battleship, and even the splash of water obscured the eyes of the battleship gunners.

A series of explosions rang out from the deck of the battleship, and scorching prefabricated fragments whizzed around the deck, and although these explosions did not penetrate the deck, the 10-knot speed of the behemoth was slowed down by the numerous sails that had been damaged and cut by splinters.

Charlotte's pride in his ship was almost instantly gone, and although the thick protection kept the cabins and decks from suffering, most of those who were exposed were injured by the powerful explosion, and the worst of all was the once-beautiful white sail, which was falling from the top of the mast with flames.

In the final moments of the explosion, Charlotte was desperately pushed to the edge of the wall by his adjutant Hudson, and covered him with his own body. As a result, this cute young man was hit by a fragment in the back, and the blood was already out.

Fortunately, at this time, the remaining five dead ships of Charlotte's fleet had completed their turn and formed a "double row of frame formations" that could protect each other, among which the "Count of Nalason" had moved forward to the right rear of the "Queen", and at least one side could be temporarily covered.

Charlotte struggled to his feet, and when he got up, all the sails were down, and the once proud "Queen" was like a sick noblewoman, staggering on the sea.

The battleship "Count Nalason" had quickly turned around and opened fire on the enemy ship, which had already left almost 900 meters away. The concentrated fire of more than 40 guns concealed the "Lord of Nalasun" in a choking puff of smoke. Charlotte didn't have much hope for the shells that would come out, knowing that if they were more than 600 yards away, it would be difficult for them to hit their target unless they were too lucky.

But he misjudged again, and the luck of a chain bullet was indeed very good.

Between the two small balls, an elongated iron chain struck the mast of the flagship of every third fleet, and even amazingly pulled together a large number of cables and broke the other two masts.

The lookout looked at the warship that broke away from the queue in the distance, and secretly said in his heart, "Fortunately, the battleship's shells are not hitting the fuse, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!" Then he shouted into the microphone, "Report to the chief, the Red Whale was shot, and all three masts were destroyed......"

Zheng Sen looked at the staff officer expressionlessly planting a wounded small flag on the small boat representing the "Red Whale". At this time, the news of the signalman also arrived: "Sir, the 'Red Whale' sent a signal, our ship was shot, all three masts were destroyed, 3 killed and 4 wounded, please instruct." ”

"Order them to retreat from the battle sequence, leave the combat range, do a good job of recovering the wounded, and at the same time monitor the battlefield, and report immediately if they find any abnormalities!"

"Yes" The signal staff officer was busy sending the signal, and Zheng Zhaoji's mind returned to the battle. Because by this time the First Detachment, led by his flagship, had come to the vicinity of the wounded "Queen." At this time, he heard Huang Kehui's order.

"All the ships of the First Squadron should pay attention, line up in a column with the flagship, and carry out a 'piercing attack' on the enemy's wounded enemy ships."

Zheng Zhaoji listened to his words, but scolded in his heart, "What a madman!" ”