Tuesday, May 10 afternoon. South Atlantic, westerly wind force 5, 0 degrees Celsius.

Yunsheng-1 and the East Coast Eagle are still haunting the waters east of Tierra del Fuego. Yesterday the Galician Exocet had just arrived from the Falklands with a shipment of supplies and ammunition and had taken a group of prisoners. The twenty-odd captives were on board a British ship that swam around the Strait of Magellan and seemed to be doing the same thing as crossing the crowd. Unfortunately, she was mistaken for a Spanish ship by Captain Wang Tiehammer of Yunsheng No. 1, and after a heavy fire, the small three-masted galleon raised the white flag. When the receiving personnel boarded the ship, they found that they had accidentally hit their peers, and that the whole ship was too damaged and was slowly sinking, so they had no choice but to abandon the ship and transfer the prisoners to the "East Coast Eagle".

This was only a small episode in the hunting operation, although the tragic British served as a footnote to the episode. At this time, the mainsail and foremast sail were raised, the main engine was closed, and the whole ship was drifting with the tide at a speed of 2 knots. The "East Coast Falcon" patrolled the seas to the southeast, and both ships were bored waiting for their prey to take the bait.

However, hunters and prey are not always so absolute. The lookout of the Yunsheng No. 1, Naval Alternate Officer Given, soon spotted a tall mast, followed by a second and a third, in the northeastern sea......

"Three-masted galleons have been found in the northeast! Fly the flag of the Kingdom of Spain! Speed 5 knots! Givens pulled the bell for the annunciation.

After receiving the report, Wang Tiehammer immediately ordered the mainsail and foremast sail to be lowered, and the main engine began to heat up, and the red battle flag was raised at the same time. At this time, the "East Coast Eagle" also discovered the ships in the northern seas, and immediately turned left and leaned towards Yunsheng No. 1 to form a two-ship formation.

"That ship raised a signal flag! No way! She's definitely more than one ship! Wang Tiehammer observed from a distance through the binoculars, and at this time the weather at sea was clear and the visibility was extremely high, Wang Tiehammer saw the movements of the Spaniard at a glance, "She must be gathering accomplices!" Has the host been booted up? ”

"What's going on with the East Coast Falcon? What is the excitement at this time? Xiao Bailang also held the telescope and muttered. He was a little insecure, because the Spaniards usually came from the west, and this was the first time he had encountered a ship from the north. And the ship's first reaction after seeing Yunsheng No. 1 was not to turn around and run away, but to raise a signal flag, what does this abnormal behavior mean? The answer is already on the horizon.

"There's a new three-masted galleon in the northeast! Repeat, a new three-masted galleon has appeared in the northeast! The dutiful Gilvin roared loudly from the mast, and the voice of the duck in the midst of a voice change was clearly heard in the ears of everyone on deck.

"Holy! Poke the hornet's nest! Quick, hoist the yellow signal flag, and let the 'East Coast Eagle' shine as far as possible. It's hard to know that there is a boat behind her, so don't join in the fun here with her little body. Wang Hammer shouted, and the sudden arrival of the enemy ship made him a little excited and nervous.

"Lao Wang, don't worry too much. The speed of Yunsheng No. 1 is difficult for these sailboats to catch up, and if we are determined to go, the Spaniards will not be able to keep it. Xiao Bailang smiled and said, "Let's slowly raise the speed first and see the situation." ”

The main engine of Yunsheng No. 1 slowly accelerated, and the whole ship was currently moving eastward at a speed of 4 knots, and Lu Ming on the "East Coast Eagle" immediately and decisively withdrew at full speed to the southwest after seeing the yellow retreat signal flag hung by Yunsheng No. 1.

To the northeast again, two Spanish ships appeared, one of which was still a four-masted galleon, and it became more and more obvious that this was definitely the main fleet of the Spaniards.

"I'll take a look, our incident really happened, this Spaniard must have come to arrest us." Wang Tiezhu muttered to himself, "Lao Tzu will accompany them for a walk to see if there are any loopholes." ”

……

Diego Garcia, holding a telescope and observing the tall ships that rose and fell in the southwestern sea, had been at sea for so long before he finally found the traces of the Tatars. This big ship with a pitch-black body must be the 2,000-ton large battleship of the Tatars, but the layout of this battleship is really as bad as rumored, and the flashy tall buildings in the midships take up a lot of valuable deck area, which will definitely lead to not enough space to install artillery, maybe only 18-20 guns, Captain Garcia guessed.

But these are not the point, the point is that the ship obviously has a mast, but it does not raise any sails, that is, it does not use the help of the wind, and what can sail without the help of the wind, and the speed is not slow. Maybe it's the large number of oarsmen rowing underneath the cabin? Diego García quickly dismissed his hypothesis, which was unlikely to last, and no oars were observed near the hull waterline from the telescope.

Perhaps the Tatars invented a new ship power system, Diego Garcia suspected. He didn't call this ship the devil's ship like those devout believers, he didn't believe in anything after so many years of working in the New World, he only believed in the truth and knowledge he had. It seems that there is also a small warship on the other side that has escaped to the southwest, but it doesn't matter, when the big ship is solved, it will be easy to destroy the small ship.

"Hang the signal flag, prepare for battle, keep all ships in formation, and try to meet the enemy with broadside guns." Captain Diego Garcia estimated the speed and direction of the opponent's ship, and felt that he was completely sure that he could intercept the opponent and force him to fight his own fleet.

The battleship "Cadiz Rock" made an arc and outflanked from the northeast of Yunsheng I, followed by the "Bison" and the "Araucan Conqueror"; At the same time, the "Countess Alfonso", who was the first to spot Yunsheng No. 1, hung up its auxiliary sails and rushed towards Yunsheng No. 1 at full speed, and the distance between the two sides was constantly decreasing. On the other side, the "Glory", "Prosecutor" and "Bishop of Lima" were approaching at full speed, intending to outflank Yunsheng 1 from the left side.

"Rub, I have a big appetite." Wang Tiehammer smacked his lips, and his hand holding the telescope trembled slightly. This is a real gun, and the enemy's strength is very strong, far from being comparable to the small boats he bullied before. You have to deal with it carefully, Wang Tiehammer secretly alerted himself that the other party's cannon can also kill people.

"Turn! Speed! Heading due east at an economic speed of 8 knots, grandma's first stretched the Spanish formation. Delay as long as you can to give the bunnies from the East Coast Eagle time to escape. Wang Iron Hammer ordered.

The speed of the Spanish ships was also impressive when downwind, generally reaching more than 8 knots, and individual ships even had a speed of 10-11 knots. At an economic speed of 8 knots, Yunsheng-1 narrowly crossed the encirclement on the right led by the "Cadiz Rock", and the distance between the two sides was even less than 1,500 meters, almost within the maximum range of the guns of both sides.

"Rub, almost! It's a real underestimation of the speed of these sailboats. Turn to the northeast, Lao Tzu can still maintain such a fast speed when you are headwind! Old Han, the speed is raised, and 10 knots are mentioned, so don't think about fuel saving at this time. Let's see if there's a chance to bite these Spaniards and buy the 'East Coast Eagle' more time. Wang Tiehammer wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said hatefully.

The main engine of the Yunsheng No. 1 spun rapidly, and the whole ship turned to face north, and after making a beautiful arc, it swooped down on the Spanish supply ships and armed sailing ships that had fallen behind. The Spaniards' armed galleons did not have the 8-10 knots of the capital ships, but they generally had a speed of 4 knots, and they were still slowly catching up behind. At this time, in the face of Yunsheng No. 1, which quickly got rid of the main fleet, they suddenly panicked and turned to the coast.

Yunsheng No. 1 approached an armed sailing ship, and eight broadside guns that had long been ready were fired almost simultaneously, and the whistling projectiles smashed the left side of the armed sailing ship into tatters. The enemy's return fire was somewhat weak, and the few remaining small-caliber guns on the port deck fired some projectiles at the Yunsheng 1, but they did not cause any damage.

The two sides were about to pass by, and the gunners on the Yunsheng No. 1 seized the time to fire another round of guns one after another, this time completely plowing the opposing side's port deck, scattering grape shells that killed all the sailors who were still standing, and one chain bullet even broke the opponent's back mast.

"Happy!" Xiao Bailang waved his arm heavily and said excitedly.

"Turn to the Northeast! Maintain a speed of 10 knots! The capital ship of the Spaniards has already turned around, let's try their catties, pay attention, control the distance, don't crash headlong into the encirclement of others. Wang Tiehammer said a little excitedly. A round of shelling just now had sent all his nervousness and anxiety into the Atlantic, and now he was getting up and wanted to take advantage of his high speed and the fact that he didn't have to look at the direction of the wind to have a good time with the Spaniards.

By this time, the Spanish armed galleons and supply ships were all sailing close to the coastline, and the seven capital ships had already completed their U-turns, gathered together in a looser formation, and sailed north to catch the wind.

Soon, the Yunsheng 1 was able to reach a speed of nearly 12 knots with a tailwind, and then quickly approached the three-masted galleon "Araucan Conqueror", which was on the outermost part of the Spanish fleet's formation. With a displacement of 600 tons, the Araucan Conqueror was equipped with a total of 28 bronze guns, mostly 6-, 8-pounder, and 12-pounder guns, in addition to two 18-pounder guns, and the firepower was not to be underestimated.

As soon as the broadside gun crew on the Yunsheng 1 came into range, they rained a large number of iron bullets on the enemy's warship. Although the hit rate is pitifully low, there are always a few luck bullets that can hit the enemy ship and deal damage. And at this distance, the enemy's artillery is not yet within its reach, so it can only be beaten, not to mention how depressed it is.

The distance between the two ships was soon approaching within a thousand meters, and the Yunsheng 1 had already fired three rounds of artillery by this time, and the first round of shelling of the "Araukan Conqueror" was belated: most of the shells fell into the sea, and only one 18-pound shell was lucky enough to hit the tall cabin of the Yunsheng 1, breaking one of the windows.

"I'm rubbing, the 18-pounder cannon is so fierce! No way! Turn the rudder left and keep your distance! Wang Tiehammer was startled, and hurriedly ordered: "Keep out of the maximum range of the enemy's artillery, and spend a while with them, it will be dark soon, and we will withdraw when it gets dark!" ”

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