The Chongqing class is the Beichuan class of the Qinghai Navy Army, after testing, the technology has matured, with a full load displacement of 600 stone (30 tons), two decks, three mast rails, and a total of six naval guns on both sides.

The most advanced warships of the Qinghai Navy are not the Beichuan class, but the Xining class, with a full load displacement of 2,000 stone (100 tons) with three decks, four masts and four corner sails, and are expected to be able to carry eighteen naval guns on both sides.

After Zhou Kun entered the Yangtze River basin, because the waterways in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River were too narrow, and there were dangerous shoals such as the Three Gorges, he did not continue to build the Xining-class until the navy entered Huguang and broke through the restrictions of the Three Gorges, and Cao Jian began to step up the construction of Xining-class warships in Jingzhou.

However, against Zuo Liangyu's civilian ships and merchant ships, the Chongqing class is already shocking enough!

Zhou Kun not only mobilized five warships, but also a large number of transport ships and small warships, but when these ships were concentrated on the north bank of the Jiujiang River, it took more than half a month.

On the other side of the Jiujiang River is the boundary of Huguang Huangzhou Prefecture, but there is no large wharf on the river surface of Huangzhou, except for small warships and some transport ships parked on the shore, all Chongqing-class warships are docked on the river surface of Qizhou.

Li Zicheng's Chinese army camp had already left Qizhou and re-encamped in Xinkaikou Town, near the riverbank.

The scorching sun, the scorching sun is like fire, and under the breeze, the river surface is sparkling.

Chongqing took the lead, and the four warships of Fengjie, Shunqing, Long'an, and Jianchang were lined up, and many small warships and transport ships followed, stretching for several miles.

Using such a fleet to attack Zuo Liangyu's fleet is really a knife to kill chickens, but the Yangtze River Navy has no opponents on weekdays, mainly as a transport soldier, and it is already rare to find an opponent like today.

After all, the navy is an army, and relying only on drills and training on weekdays is not only boring, but also unable to test and improve its combat effectiveness; only on this battlefield can the combat effectiveness of the army be improved through continuous fighting and summing up experience.

Since the naval army of the Mandate of Heaven went down the river, the fleet of Zuo Liangyu's department has lost its former majesty, and in front of the giant ships, they have significantly reduced the time and frequency of patrols, preferring to lean on the dock and accept the protection of the infantry.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Chongqing appeared on time on the river west of Jiujiang, and the battleship continued to move forward, while the transport ship docked, and together with the transport ship that had been docked here, it was full of soldiers on the shore.

The transport ships lined up along the river bank, did not sail for the time being, but waited patiently on the shore, and waited until the fleet destroyed the defensive fortifications of the Ming army, and then it was time for them to attack.

Li Zicheng was on the deck of the "Chongqing", looking at the river bank not far ahead with a telescope, the camp tent of the Ming army could be seen clearly in the camera, and he shifted the lens slightly and aimed at the Ming army fleet anchored on the shore, "Hey, why is there no one on the fleet?" Aren't they going to fight? ”

Zhou Kun is also standing on the deck, from front to back, scanning every corner carefully, the river surface is different from the # sea, the naked eye can see the shore on both sides of the river, however, in the telescope, you can see more clearly, you can search every corner, and you can also see the farther distance between the front and back.

Hearing Li Zicheng's words, he said lightly: "Fight? The Grand Governor, these warships of the navy are scared to death, they really want to fight, just with these warships, we will crash and sink them! ”

"Sinking?" Li Zicheng's heart moved, put down the binoculars, and said, "Commander Zhou, is the bow of the battleship wrapped with iron sheets and steel plates?" ”

"Iron sheets, steel plates?" Zhou Kun removed the binoculars and turned his head, "Did the Metropolitan Governor mean that the bow of the ship should be covered with iron sheets and decks, and then go to ram the enemy ship?" ”

Li Zicheng said lightly: "According to Commander Zhou, is there a possibility of collision on the battlefield in the future?" ”

"This possibility is extremely unlikely," Zhou Kun frowned and said: "If it is at sea, the two fleets are far apart, and they both rely on artillery to attack each other, unless they ......"

"Unless what?"

"Unless the battle is one-sided, and then pursue the enemy's fleeing ship," Zhou Kun had already heard Li Zicheng say, the best area for the battleship to move was not the Yangtze River, but the sea, although he had never seen the sea, but he had been thinking about the situation on the sea, "Or after the defeat, he was pursued by the other party, and he was forced to die with the other party by ramming!" ”

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, modern warships, after being equipped with long-range artillery, the possibility of hand-to-hand combat is very small, the bow of the ship is equipped with iron sheets, steel plates, may change the draft of the battleship, the actual effect may not be large, perhaps it is more useful to wrap iron sheets on both sides of the battleship to improve the ability to resist attack.

He turned around and looked at the "Fengjie" behind him, the side strings were obviously bare, and he told Zhou Kun what he meant, Zhou Kun was stunned for a moment, and then said: "The Metropolitan Governor is really a good idea, after the subordinates go back, they must convey the meaning of the Metropolitan Governor to Cao Jian, and ask him to wrap the side of the battleship with iron sheets!" ”

"Whether the side chord of the battleship needs to be wrapped with iron sheets depends on the actual use of iron sheets on the battlefield, and whether they should be wrapped or not, you and Cao Jian will consider whether they want to do so," Li Zicheng said: "What is the range of naval guns?" ”

Zhou Kun bowed slightly and said, "Back to the Grand Governor, the maximum range of the naval cannon can reach five thousand steps!" ”

Five thousand steps? Li Zicheng thought for a moment, and felt that the range was already very against the sky, at least in this era, the range of naval guns was not much worse than others, unlike Western Europe, which had entered the age of navigation very early, this naval army in China had never even seen what the sea was like......

The battleship drove down the river for a while, and it was already close to the surface of Jiujiang, Zhou Kun glanced at it with a telescope and said, "Governor, we will open fire soon!" ”

Li Zicheng nodded, looked at the riverbank in front of him, the warship docked at the riverside, on the riverbank, is the camp of the Ming army, extending to the outside of the riverbank, at this time many soldiers out of the camp to stand outside the camp tent to watch the excitement.

Maybe it was this behemoth that attracted their attention, maybe they didn't know the range of the ship's guns, and when they saw the Kyushu military flag flying on the bow of the ship, they didn't have much fear.

Zhou Kun first consulted Li Zicheng, and then gave the soldiers the order to "open fire"!

In the deafening roar, the "Chongqing" naval guns took the lead in firing, and three flowering shells flew in an arc towards the Ming army's camp on the embankment.

The caliber of the naval guns is much larger than that of the mountain guns, and the flowering shells fired are much thicker, and the gunpowder contained in them is several times greater, and the power generated when it explodes is also much greater.

Three shells, one fell outside the embankment, one fell outside the fence of the camp, and only one flowering shell fell inside the camp tent, and the loud explosion sound, as well as the shock wave generated by the explosion, greatly surprised the Ming army.

At the center of the explosion, not only was a deep crater blown out of the ground, but the nearby soldiers were either missing arms and legs, or were overturned into the sky by an invisible shock wave, and their eardrums were shattered by the sound of the explosion......

Although only one flowering bullet landed in the camp, the Ming army still had a deep fear, and near the landing point of the flowering bullet, the mutilated corpses of the soldiers, and the stunned soldiers...... The wounded soldiers looked particularly miserable, with blurred wounds and screams, and three or four soldiers, who obviously couldn't see any blood on their bodies, but covered their ears with both hands, rolling all over the ground, screaming miserably, looking at that look, it was worse than death!

Just when the Ming army was in shock, the artillery of the "Chongqing" was already rapidly loading the shells, and the "Fengjie" behind was about to enter the range of the naval guns, and the artillerymen were already eager to try and could load the flowering shells into the barrels at any time.

Li Zicheng saw the Ming army gathered from the telescope, and estimated that the casualties must have been beyond their expectations, he did not speak, and his face was as calm as water.

After the adjustment of the artillery, when the second wave of fire was fired, the three flowering shells fell in the camp, and the sound of explosions was heard in all directions, followed by the desperate screams of the Ming army......

A fire began in the camp, at first just a light fire, but near the center of the explosion, the soldiers were either killed or wounded, or were so frightened by the loud sound that no one cared about fighting the fire, and the fire soon spread and ignited the neighboring tents......

Fang Guoan's big tent, in the safety area on the side of the back river, heard such a huge explosion, knew that something was wrong, and hurriedly rushed over with his own soldiers, just in time to see the third wave of shelling of the "Chongqing", "The Fengjie has also come down the river and entered the range of the naval guns.

Six flowering shells blew up six firepower points in the camp, and there was a wail in the camp, and Fang Guoan was busy arranging soldiers to extinguish the fire between the firing of the ship's guns.

However, as soon as the fire was extinguished here, a new flame appeared on the other side......

After the "Chongqing" broke away from the battlefield, it did not go down the water, but turned the bow of the ship, returned from the outward, went upstream, and aimed the port gun at the camp of the Ming army.

The flowering shells of the naval artillery fell in the camp of the Ming army, and every explosion point, compared with the camp of the Ming army, was very small, and the number of casualties was also limited, but the shock of the flowering shells to the hearts of the soldiers far exceeded the casualties themselves.

Dozens of flowering shells exploded in the camp of the Ming army, and most of the soldiers had seen the horror of flowering shells with their own eyes, and the most important thing was that the Ming army did not have any effective way to deal with this flowering bombs of the Mandate of Heaven, and they were completely beaten in vain.

Some soldiers put their shields in front of them, not only could they not stop the threat of the flowering shells, but once the flowering bullets exploded near the shield, the shields were blown away, and the shields themselves became weapons to kill the soldiers.

Fang Guoan consulted urgently with his subordinate generals and decided to withdraw the battalion, away from the river embankment, out of the range of the flowering projectiles.

In the current situation, this may be the only way to protect the soldiers!

As soon as the Ming army began to retreat, the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven, who had been staying on the transport ship, began to cross the river, and waited until the transport ship was almost in the middle of the river before the battleship's naval guns stopped firing.

The first appearance of the battleship on the battlefield may not have caused much damage to the enemy's personnel, fortifications, and property, but at least achieved the predetermined strategic goal, forcing the Ming army to retreat and escorting the soldiers of the Mandate of Heaven to land on the beach.

Among the transport ships, the 7th Battalion Song Wenbu was at the head, and after the soldiers landed, they immediately established a defensive formation along the river embankment to cover the soldiers in the rear to continue the landing.