The group of ships formed by the pirates in the South Seas could not shake the formation of the other side at all, and many ships suffered serious casualties in the short confrontation, and when six or seven ships sank, the Spanish officer in charge of commanding the fleet also decisively ordered the signal that those men were ready for battle.

The losses were not very severe, and the convoy of nearly 200 small ships of the South Sea pirate group simply abandoned the encirclement from all directions and retreated to a position more than a mile away from the enemy ships, forming a constantly retreating curved horizontal formation to block the advance of the fleet, while the main ships covering the Spanish maritime power began to approach when the threat was not very great.

The difference in speed and resilience between the two sides, combined with the apparent contrast in strength and number of ships, also seemed to have always given the Spanish Combined Fleet an obvious possession of the initiative in the battle.

When approaching a distance of about three or four hundred paces with the help of the cover of the fleet dominated by the South Sea pirates, the fleet dominated by the South Sea pirates began to retreat layer by layer to the two sides and even in the gap between the big ships. The semi-encirclement situation formed by the huge main battle line also gradually unfolded.

The 12 and 24-pound main guns deployed on the twelve capital warships with a displacement of several hundred tons each had a scale of about 500 guns, and although they could only effectively use the guns on one side when firing, and they could not fire effectively when the waves were undulating like the light guns on the gunstay of the ingenious ship, they still carried out fierce test firing one after another at a distance of about one mile. In just about a minute, under a round of fire, more than 200 heavy artillery shells hung with the sound of whistling wind, accompanied by the rumbling sound of cannonballs, which brought a lot of momentum.

Even if it is a solid bullet, the water column brought by the violent kinetic energy seems to have exploded violently under the surface of the sea like some submarine dragon king cannon. The 12 seagoing ships in the southwest direction of the main ship regiment were under the attack of more than 200 heavy artillery shells, and the officers and sailors on board seemed to feel as if a rain had suddenly ushered in a curtain of rain.

It was also at this time that the enemy's main artillery shells finally began to hit the ship's gunmetal, which was also the most worrying thing for Wang Yuan, who led the main ship group to fight, and no one could know whether the shells fired by the opponent's ship-borne heavy guns were effectively resisted by the ship's gunmetal.

In previous shelling tests, this kind of ship armor could not stop even a twelve-pounder gun under the extreme charge of black powder at close range when it was suspended in the air, and if it was a shell of a twenty-four-pounder gun, it would be difficult to cope with the close bombardment of half of the maximum limit standard charge. Even if the steel plate of two minutes thick has a certain toughness, it will tilt backwards under the great force of the impact, and the chain will be trained, and the cannonball will hit the side of the ship with great force, and although it is difficult to sink the ship, there is no doubt that there is no small risk of casualties.

When the huge crashing sound began to sound one after another, and after receiving the flag signal of the relevant ship, Wang Yuan's heart relaxed slightly. Perhaps because of the distance, the guns fired by the enemy's capital ship did completely cause the steel plate to hit the ship's armor violently, but because of the resistance of the waves below, although the curved part of the steel plate in the middle of the smashed steel plate was only attached to the wooden side of the ship, it did not pose an obvious hazard to the hull.

Of the more than 200 shells, almost none of the fifteen shells that hit the main armored ship caused significant damage to the hull. Of course, the two gunners who approached the side of the ship and suppressed the enemy's gun window with fire were seriously wounded as a result.

In addition to the 12 enemy capital ships approaching, there were also 20 large civilian armed merchant ships with the same displacement of about 1,000 materials, and more than 200 medium-sized guns of about 10 pounds and heavy shotguns of about 6 or 7 taels launched a fierce bombardment.

In this way, although the rate of fire of the 400 concentrated medium and heavy guns was not fast, and they had to fire when the waves reached the apex, in just a quarter of an hour or so, thirteen rounds of fire were launched, and more than 5,000 shells were fired, and at least 400 or so shells hit 12 ships, and many of the ship's hanging armor were knocked off under the fierce bombardment, and the ship's buildings and masts began to be seriously damaged. But at this time, the ship's crew also began to concentrate some armor from other directions to the front to defend against the enemy's heavy artillery fire.

Seeing that the fire spread out at a distance of one mile seemed to have no effect, the main ship group of the Spanish Navy held a meeting and pulled the distance to a distance of about 200 paces and launched a round of heavy bombardment at this distance.

However, at this distance, the main ship regiment led by Wang Yuan was no longer silent, and began to concentrate more than 400 rifled guns to fire fiercely, and the real artillery duel also entered a climax at this time. Although the main naval guns of the Spanish sea power were very powerful, due to the difference in the protection of the two sides, as well as the difference in hit rate and rate of fire, there was a clear difference in casualties in the counterfire. Although it seemed that the main group of ships under heavy bombardment was more dangerous and the threat of damage to the ships was greater, the casualties of the Spanish fleet amounted to almost ten times as much.

If the main battleship of the Spanish Navy at this time was an eighteenth-century warship with a displacement of thousands of tons and a thickness of several tens of inches of oak, then perhaps the level of the rifled guns with a two-pound projectile and a two-hundred-pound barrel would be difficult to penetrate such a thick ship's side, but the main ships of the Spanish maritime forces in the Far East in this era did not have such a level of protection. This is especially true of those armed merchant ships that are weaker in their protection.

Under the direct bombardment of eight or nine thousand shells fired in about ten minutes, many enemy gunners and crews on the ship began to face serious casualties, and although the hull seemed to be safe for the time being, they had to retreat back at this time.

Although the 12 scarred capital ships in the southwest did not break away from the formation to pursue the enemy, their fire did not stop there, and within three minutes that the enemy ships escaped the effective threat range of fire, they killed and wounded many of the enemy gunners with several thousand shells.

The battle at sea did not last long, and the situation seemed to be that the Spanish Combined Fleet side had a clear advantage, but at this time, Wang Yuan's confidence began to firm. The order was given to raise the sails and the voyage continued on the scheduled course.

(End of chapter)