Volume 18 Chapter 22
The formation of the Swedish fleet was exactly the same as Zheng Chenggong expected, in order to block their retreat, they lined up in a flat formation, so that the longitudinal thickness could not be too thick, and it was easy to be penetrated, and now the Swedish fleet has one hundred and fifty battleships in fifteen columns, that is, there are only ten warships in each column.
The reason why he lined up the treasure ships to the rear was to break through the encirclement in the rear, and now, the twelve-inch cannon only fired five rounds of shells, and the ten Swedes in the middle column had been beaten to the ground, and the two columns of twenty warships near the middle had also been damaged by more than half of them, and the formation was in chaos.
If the remaining two columns of more than ten warships near the middle at this time squeezed into the middle and directly crashed into the four treasure ships, then the Ming fleet might be a little troublesome, and Zheng Chenggong might be forced to abandon one or two damaged treasure ships, otherwise he would not be able to escape.
However, the Ming Empire and Sweden do not have any inextricable mortal enemies, besides, it also takes great courage to rush directly to death, and the remaining ten or so Swedish warships near the middle did not choose to squeeze in the middle, but hurriedly scattered to both sides, in case they were hit by the treasure ships of the Ming army and destroyed by them.
After the three columns of battleships were penetrated, a passage seven or eight miles wide was vacated in the middle of the Swedish fleet, and the four treasure ships led by Zheng Chenggong soon turned into a column and inserted into the middle of the Swedish battleships.
At this time, the terrifying firepower of the treasure ship giant ship was even more unmistakable, and the three-layer naval guns on both sides of it were all six-inch howitzers, and not a hundred, but more than two hundred.
"Boom, boom" A roar of artillery rang out, and both sides opened fire, however, the result was very different.
There were only four treasure ships on the side of the Ming army, but the watermelon-sized cannonballs smashed into the Swedish battleships on both sides like raindrops, and many Swedish battleships were smashed into sawdust, although they were not sunk, the damage to the battleships was very serious, and the casualties of the soldiers were not small.
On the Swedish side, although nearly 30 warships opened fire at the same time, they were a big difference in height and range, and only a few shells smashed into the sides of the treasure ship giant, smashing out a few watermelon-sized holes, causing some damage to the treasure ship giant ship.
The rate of fire of the treasure ship is also quite terrifying, the Swedish battleship here has just pulled back the gun and is ready to reload the ammunition, and the treasure ship has opened fire again, and after a roar, another wave of watermelon-sized cannonballs smashed over.
The Swedish commander was almost stupid, the treasure ship battleship of the Ming army was simply like a moving fortress, the firepower was too fierce, at this time, let alone leaning on it to close the encirclement, if he didn't dodge, the thirty battleships in the middle didn't know how many to sink, in order to avoid losses, he had to order, the thirty battleships in the middle quickly moved like two sides, and quickly got out of the range of the Ming gun's guns.
After five rounds of rapid fire, the four treasure ships had already broken away from the encirclement, held their heads high, and walked away.
And the Ming warships behind were not to be outdone, like a sharp cone inserted into the middle of the Swedish fleet, and the shells were poured on both sides like no money.
The firepower of the Ming army was too fierce, too fierce, this was the only feeling of the commander of the Swedish fleet, looking at the Ming warships gathered like sharks behind him, he completely lost the courage to block, only knew to order, retreat, retreat, retreat again.
After all the more than 600 warships of the Ming army passed, the Swedish fleet had been squeezed out of a passage more than 100 miles wide, and they were clever enough to know how to retreat quickly, and in the end they were only sunk by the Ming army More than 50 warships, and they were asked to stand up to it and not retreat, and it is estimated that all 150 warships will have to be explained here.
The fleet led by Van Mendi chased after the ass of the Ming army, and when he saw the Swedish fleet that was battered, he was really shocked and angry, and he was shocked that one hundred and fifty battleships were beaten to fifty in just a while, and he was angry that one hundred and fifty battleships did not cause even the slightest obstacle to the Ming army!
These useless things, even if they directly hit a hundred battleships, they can drag the Ming army, of course, he doesn't know yet, what he sees is only half of the Swedish warships, and the other half has been squeezed by the Ming army to a hundred miles away.
He didn't have time to be angry at all, because the Ming army's fleet never stopped for a moment, fleeing all the way to the north, he could only bite his tail and chase after it, if he stopped again, the Swedish commander would teach him a lesson, then the Ming army's fleet would run away!
After chasing for about an hour, news continued to come from the left and right that the Allied fleet had come closer one after another, and that the Swedish fleet had been broken through, and that what had been a circular encirclement had now turned into a bottle without a lid.
Fortunately, the Ming warship was not completely out of the encirclement, he could see the rear wing of the Ming fleet clearly through the telescope, and even, sometimes the gun on the bow of the ship could still catch the tail of the Ming fleet, of course, after entering the range, the Ming warship would also open fire, and both sides were damaged.
This is simply **ah, if the allies change their commander-in-chief, I don't know if they can stand this kind of **, Fan Mendi will definitely not be able to stand it, because he has suffered too much loss in the hands of the Ming army, and if this field is not recovered, he will not be able to swallow his breath!
Seeing the Ming fleet in front of him waging its tail ostentatiously, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Order all allied fleets to pursue with all their might." “
Look where you run, unless you cross the Mediterranean, cross the Eurasian Canal and flee directly back to the Far East, you will be dead!
Holding the mind of biting hard, Fan Mendi led the fleet all the way to catch up, gradually, the fleet of the allies gradually approached, more than a thousand warships lined up in a semicircle around the ass of the Ming fleet, during the period, the Ming army was like a provocation, a moment to catch fire and a moment to break, and the fun was very happy.
Fan Mendi was angry, now, I'm afraid that even if the Ming army's fleet all passes through the Eurasian Canal, he will catch up, isn't it just a few fortresses, more than a thousand super battleships, a salvo, cannonballs can bury the fortresses on both sides!
In this way, the combined fleet of the anti-Habsburg powers and the Ming fleet chased and fled, and ran wildly at sea for a day and a night.
Seeing that the Strait of Gibraltar was approaching, Van Mendi thought that the Ming fleet would definitely flee to the right through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean, but he never thought that the Ming army had no intention of turning around, and actually fled directly to the north!
Is the Ming army looking for death? To the north, Portugal doesn't have any fortresses, and then it's the territory of the anti-Habsburg coalition, where else can they flee, this Ming commander can't be really sick!
After a few more hours, seeing that the coast was approaching, the Ming army did not turn left and fled to the western coast of Portugal, but rushed straight to the mouth of the Guadiana River.
They wanted to hide in the Guadiana River, Fan Mendi quickly made a judgment that he thought he was wise, it will take time for so many warships to squeeze in, and when the time comes, at least half of the Ming warships can be killed, perhaps, it can directly hit the Ming army in a panic and desperately squeeze into the river, at that time, it is not impossible to cripple the main force of the Ming army, it seems that the commander of the Ming army is really an idiot!
He didn't know that the Ming army had built countless forts and fortresses at the mouth of the Guadiana River, because the Ming army specially blocked the news and moved everyone nearby, in Zheng Chenggong's eyes, this allied commander was a real idiot, and he couldn't even see such an obvious plan to lure the enemy in, and he was biting his ass and chasing it, looking for death!
When the Ming fleet arrived at the mouth of the Guadiana River, it did not run into the river, but spread out to both sides like flowing water, and turned its side straight to the Allied fleet that was catching up.
Is this going to be desperate, due to the distance is too far, coupled with the Ming warships blocking the line of sight, Fan Mendi did not pay attention to the fact that there are still fortresses and batteries on the coast, he directly ordered the allied fleet to rush up and destroy them!
The result can be imagined, they were greeted by a storm of shells, fortresses, batteries, plus the guns on the side of the battleship, the number is already about the same as the anti-Habsburg coalition naval guns, the land-based artillery is originally more accurate than the naval guns, plus the Ming artillery is also mixed with twelve-inch cannons and Shenwei cannons, the anti-Habsburg coalition combined fleet is simply bombarded.
By the time Van Mendi realized that something was wrong and ordered to retreat, more than a hundred battleships had already been sunk!
Defeated again, defeated again, the Ming army is simply his nemesis.
Looking at the coast and the Ming warships that gradually disappeared from sight, Fan Mendi almost wanted to cry without tears.