At the beginning, it was the Second Fleet that ran away to keep a distance, and the Ming Navy Division wanted to close the distance, but now, it was the Ming Army Navy Division that wanted to escape, and the Second Fleet pursued.

However, the ships on both sides are similar, they are all traditional ships such as Fu boats, sand boats, and Guangzhou ships, and everyone keeps the same course, so it is not so easy to catch up.

Seeing that he couldn't close the distance, Ouyang Gui said: "Order all fireships to assault the whole army!" ”

In this battle, both sides actually carried a large number of small boats, the Ming army sailors, and the second fleet as well, and judging from the signs, in fact, the intentions of both sides were very similar, both intended to use fire attacks.

Moreover, both sides have used this tactic one after another, but each side is on guard, and there are also small boats to cover, so the small-scale fireship tentative attack has not achieved much effect.

However, now, Ouyang Gui can't care about any reserve strength, and he can't care about casualties, he wants to entangle the enemy fleet, even if the attack of the fireship can't cause any actual damage to the enemy fleet, but as long as the enemy fleet is forced to turn, then it will be a victory.

Once the enemy fleet turns, the main fleet of the enemy side will be able to force up again and entangle them, and it will not need to be too close, as long as it is enough to close the distance to two or three hundred meters.

If the Ming naval division could withstand its own artillery at this distance and insisted on attacking the transport fleet, then Ouyang Gui also said that there was nothing he could do.

The fireships of the Second Fleet began to move, and these fireships were very small ships, most of them were sloops, and they could also use their oars to accelerate directly, which was much faster than the large ships of the main fleet.

The remaining more than 20 fireships swarmed up, and this posture did not need to be analyzed in detail to know that the Datang Navy must have launched a full-force charge and fought to the death.

The reaction of the Ming army sailors on the opposite side was also dissatisfied, and many maneuverable and flexible boats also turned their bows and then came up, these small boats are very useful for carrying out fire attacks, and the same can be used to intercept the opponent's fire boats.

Because it is flexible enough, the speed of the explosion in a short period of time is not slow!

However, it is impossible to intercept all of them in this kind of interception, and the small boats of the Ming army sailors used for interception also suffered heavy losses, so after a scuffle between the small boats of the two sides, there were still about ten fireships left in the Second Fleet to continue to rush up.

At this time, the big ships of the Ming army's naval division also fired guns and cannons, and at the same time began to turn to avoid.

Seeing the penetration of the Ming Army's naval divisions and turning to avoid, Ouyang Gui on the Lianzhou said: "The whole army is assaulting, and the marines are ready to jump into the gang battle!" ”

The fleets of the two sides were already relatively close, and after a scuffle between the small boats of the two sides, the fireships of the Second Fleet successfully forced the Ming naval division to start turning, and the speed of this turning inevitably slowed down, and there was a certain amount of confusion.

This is the opportunity that Ouyang Gui waited for, and even sacrificed more than a dozen fireships for this!

The distance between the two sides is rapidly narrowing, three hundred and fifty meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters!

At this time, the artillery in the fleets of both sides, but all those that could fire were already firing one after another, and for a while, the sea was filled with gunsmoke and the sound of cannons rumbled.

Suddenly there were many bullet holes in the ships on both sides, sawdust flew everywhere, the screams of the sailors came one after another, and blood began to flow!

And the distance continues to close!

After the distance between the two sides approached about 100 meters, all kinds of small-caliber shotguns on both sides also began to fire continuously, such as Franc machine guns and various front-loading shotguns.

Even the soldiers in the Marine Corps went to the deck and fired at them with muskets!

Suddenly, the casualties on both sides were even greater!

On the right deck of the Lianzhou, the gunners were nervously loading, and the gunners were aiming, but under their feet, there were already the corpses of many comrades-in-arms, and the blood was flowing on the deck, so that it was slippery and greasy to step on, and they would fall down if they were not careful.

"Shoot!"

"Quick, quick, reload!"

"Let's all move!"

A gun commander shouted at this time, while looking at the opposite side, opposite was a Ming army sailor ship, and he could clearly see the guns on the enemy ship less than 100 meters away, they were also aimed at themselves, and were loading.

Although the gunners did their best to reload as quickly as possible, it was a long time for the battlefield, and the gunner seemed to feel that he had waited hours to see that his gun was loaded.

And then he didn't aim personally, he just gave the order to open fire!

The distance is less than 100 meters, and the opponent is still such a large ship, and the two sides are still sailing in the same direction, which does not need to aim at all, and can probably hit the enemy by firing in the direction.

As the cannon fired, a five-pound shell was shot out, and then flew across the sea, smashing the side of the opponent's ship, and the heavy solid shell easily tore through the plank, and then continued to fly on the ship.

Wherever they passed, sawdust flew everywhere, causing casualties to the Ming sailors along the way.

But at this time, they also saw the artillery on the opposite side firing, and it was obvious that the artillery on the opposite side was not using solid shells, but scattered shells.

After the shrapnel flies over dozens of meters, it is directly built on the side of the ship, and the shrapnel directly hit the side of the ship naturally cannot cause any harm to people, but it will cause heavy casualties to many unprotected sailors and gunners on the deck.

At such a close distance, both sides, whether it is large-caliber artillery or small-caliber shotguns, are already capable of inflicting heavy casualties on each other.

Even many ships began to catch fire, and this fire was not due to the attack of the other side with fireboats, in fact, now almost all the fireships on both sides have been lost.

This caught fire because rockets were fired at the opposing ships with bows and arrows, especially at the sails of the opposing ships.

If the sails are burned, the ship will basically become a dead fish floating on the sea.

So at this time, when the gunners on both sides, and even the musketeers and archers, were fighting, many sailors were also fighting fires everywhere.

At this time, on the Leizhou in the Second Fleet, a Marine Corps lieutenant watched the ships on both sides getting closer and closer, from tens of meters to more than twenty meters, and immediately said loudly: "Marines, grenade ready!" ”

The Marine Corps of the Navy is a comprehensive branch, equipped with waist knives and shields, as well as muskets and grenades.

And the soldiers in the Marine Corps, like other Navy soldiers, are also from the Army full-time.

They can't do this naval battle, but they are really not afraid of anyone in hand-to-hand combat.

Soon, the soldiers of the Marine Corps began to throw grenades, dozens of grenades flew across the sea in unison, landed on the ship of the Ming Army Naval Division only 20 meters away, and then quickly exploded, raising clouds of white smoke at the same time, it also caused many casualties of the Ming Army on the opposite side.

After throwing the grenades, the ships on both sides were already close to the last ten meters, and the Ming sailors on the opposite side had already begun to throw the ropes with hooks, ready to board the ship.

And it is worth noting that the gunners on both sides are still reloading, and then firing!

At a distance of only a few meters, this cannon used to be very lethal. But the gunners soon had no chance to open fire, because at this time, with the shaking of the ships under their feet, it was possible to see that the ships of both sides were already close together.

Immediately after, the sailors on both sides are fighting each other!

This sight is not unique to it, but it occurs in several places at the same time, with several ships approaching each other at the same time, and then the most tragic gang fighting takes place.

There was only one result of such a battle, and that was the complete defeat of one of the sides, and sometimes even the ships were captured.

The rumbling of artillery and gunfire, the explosion of grenades, and the screams of people were mixed together, announcing that the sea battle that broke out in the Qiongzhou Strait had also entered the most intense and tragic stage!

In such a tragic battle, regardless of whether it is an officer or a soldier, the probability of casualties is about the same, because the shell does not have a long eye, and it is purely a matter of luck to hit a soldier or an officer.

Even a fleet commander like Ouyang Gui was the same, at this time his arm was already stained with blood, and a medical soldier was urgently disinfecting and bandaging him.

But Ouyang Gui was still sitting, watching the battle between his fleet and the Ming army's sailors!

But at this time, he could no longer command, because at this time the battle between the two sides had completely fallen into a melee, and the overall command was no longer possible.

At this time, the battle will rely heavily on the captains of each ship and officers at all levels!

At this time, all Ouyang Gui has to do is wait!

Wait for victory or defeat!

While a fierce battle broke out between the main fleet of the Second Fleet and the Ming Army's naval division, the transport fleet continued to sail south!

Even though they were more than ten kilometers away from the battle area, they could still hear the rumbling of artillery coming from the sea, and on the masts, they could see that the fleets of both sides were already entangled with each other, and dozens of warships on both sides were fighting closely.

Colonel Li Yanxi was not in the mood to care about the victory or defeat of the main fleet, he was concerned about the land opposite!

Just in front of his transport fleet, less than five kilometers away, is the land of Qiongzhou Island!

According to the current speed, in less than an hour, they will be able to dock, and then carry out a large-scale landing, as long as the army of nearly 2,000 people can be sent ashore, then this battle, the Tang Dynasty Wang Division can proudly claim victory.

The army has declared more than once: With the combat effectiveness of the second mixed regiment, as long as it goes ashore, it will definitely be able to sweep Qiongzhou Island!

Half an hour later, a major ran up to Colonel Li Yanxi with a heavy expression and said, "My lord, the lookout report that eight enemy ships are coming towards our transport fleet!" ”

Li Yanxi said: "What about the main fleet? How's it going? ”