It was indeed the 32-pounder long-barreled naval guns that were bombarding!

In the frightened and shocked eyes of the English, in the eyes of Chen Tumu who could not believe it, and in the eyes of Guo Zili in surprise, the tall and majestic hull of the double-deck battleship "10 August" faintly appeared in the fog. And the "10 August" was followed by two frigate gunboats -- the "East Coast Eagle" and the "Sea Writer".

Slowly but resolutely the 10th of August plunged diagonally into the sea behind the stern of the Beagle, separating the newly reinforced ships of the British, and then fired the guns on the left and right sides of the ship in unison.

What a spectacle it was! At a distance of less than 100 meters, dozens of artillery pieces opened fire almost at the same time, and through the thick fog, we could faintly see orange-red flames flashing from time to time in the dense gun windows on both sides of the "10 August" ship, like a fire-breathing monster.

Clifford looked at the super-battleship on the surface of the sea in shock, which seemed to be like a tiger breaking into a flock of sheep, and almost forgot to think for a moment.

......A 24-pound solid iron ball crashed into the deck of the Lucky Gianni with a screeching sound, piercing the planks more than a meter thick, and the shattered pieces of wood flew in all directions, creating chaos.

"Captain, we must retreat! This is a battleline gunboat! Even in the kingdom and the Netherlands, there will not be too many such powerful warships, we must retreat! Nick's voice came in a somewhat panicked voice.

The sea breeze gradually became stronger, blowing away some of the dense fog. William. Clifford stared at the tall warship that was flaunting its might on the sea not far away, and there was a look of anger and helplessness on its delicate and tough face like a knife and an axe.

"Nick." The Lemon is no longer gone. The Warrior was also badly damaged. I'm afraid I won't be able to return home. We made an oath before we left, and I couldn't abandon them and run away alone. Besides, many of our sailors are still fighting on enemy ships. "You are now on board the Prosperity in a transport boat and retreat with Captain Morris, whose ship has been so damaged that he is no longer able to continue fighting." ”

"Captain......" Nick was a little overwhelmed.

"It's an order!" Clifford raised his voice, "Hopefully, Mr. Hampton's boat, which is still south, will only be able to escape in time." And also. I authorize you to dispose of a portion of my property upon your return to London, together with Gianni, to compensate the gentlemen for their losses. I started this rash fight, and I must be responsible to the end. ”

Nick was silent for a moment, then turned to leave. The sailors lowered a transport boat, and Nick stepped down to the boat, and glanced at William, who was still standing in front of the fence of the captain's quarters. Clifford then rowed with his sailors to the armed merchant ship "Prosperity" not far away.

The gunners of the "Lucky Gianni" aimed all six of their guns on the port side of the "10 August" not far away, and then began the shelling with a high rate of fire of two rounds a minute. The "10 August," which had been hit by several shells, ignored her harassment and continued to stare at the "Warrior," which was entangled with the "Beagle," and beat her violently. The powerful 32-pounder and 24-pounder shells easily pierced its weak planks at a distance of 100 meters. In particular, the breach in the waterline has caused a large amount of seawater to pour into the bilge, which has affected the balance of the ship.

Desperate sailors rushed into the bilge frantically to try to plug the hole. While firing at the "10 August" in vain with muskets and small cannons, the ship gradually began to sink......

The "Lucky Gianni" had already hoisted a conspicuous retreat signal on several masts, which made the few remaining British merchant ships seem to be amnestied, and they turned their bows one after another, trying to escape in the fog.

The two frigates that followed the "10 August" let go of several British merchant ships downwind and began to surround the "Lemon" with all its might, which was trying to turn. And the "10 August", after dealing with the "Warrior", began to turn its guns on the "Asuka", which was also entangled with the "Beagle".

John on the "Bird". Hill was now in the mood for death, his ship was tightly connected to the enemy's ships, and more than half of the sailors and officers on board were on the enemy's deck, including his own nephews.

Oh God, the devil turned the cannon at him, Hill shuddered, and watched the orange flames flash in the porthole of the battleship in the fog, and he subconsciously lay on the deck.

......An 18-pound iron bullet easily pierced the bulkhead, shattering the expensive glass on the captain's cabin window, and landing on Hill's head, face, and neck.

"Retreat! Fall back! Retreat! Ciel looked up and yelled, but no one answered him. He turned his eyes and saw that his first mate was lying in a pool of blood, and he had been hit by a stray bullet in his chest that had come from nowhere, and it was obvious that he would not survive.

Hill stumbled across the bridge on the third floor of the stern, and thankfully, the captain and a few officers were still there.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Captain. Your nephew is still fighting on the enemy's deck, but we must retreat or we will be sunk by the enemy's battleship. The navigator shouted at Hill with some anxiety, and the other officers were silent and did not speak, but they all looked at Hill with hopeful eyes.

"Retreat!" Ciel waved his hand weakly, "Let's hope we're lucky enough to run away with the fog." ”

The sailors of the "Asuka" took out the hooks that held the two ships and cut the rope nets, and at the same time took out long poles to push the two ships away; At the same time, the sailmen were also hurriedly raising and lowering the sails and turning the booms, and after exerting all their strength, they barely succeeded in turning around, and slowly fled out in the face of the heavy artillery fire fired from the "10 August."

The English sailors who had already boarded the ship and were fighting were so angry that they cursed when they saw this scene, and they lost any intention to fight in an instant. Some of the sailors, organized by the officers, retreated in the direction of the "Lucky Gianni", while others jumped into the sea in despair, floating on the surface of the sea and calling for help from the departing "Asuka".

Seeing that the "Asuka" quickly broke away from contact with the "Beagle" and fled, the battleship "10 August" also began to adjust its course with great effort to try to chase after it. However, its size was too large, its turning was slow, and Captain Hill of the "Asuka" decisively ordered a large amount of cargo to be dropped to reduce the weight of the ship, so it was allowed to escape into the thick fog, and the "10 August" could only send a few shells as the last gift.

The upheaval on the battlefield was seen by both sides, and the sailors and army soldiers on the Beagle, who had been besieged by three ships for as long as an hour, were also glowing with infinite combat effectiveness at this time.

The once-broken army rearranged itself in a relatively dense formation, and killed the sailors of the "Lucky Gianni" who had not yet retreated one by one with a platoon of guns. Faced with stubborn resistance from the favorable terrain, the armored grenadiers decisively stepped forward and threw a small bomb at it, and then everything was settled.

The battle has been decided.

The captain of the "Lemon", a woolen merchant from Bristol, Cole, still wanted to continue to resist after being surrounded by three gunboats, including the "East Coast Eagle". However, the sailors were apparently unwilling to accompany him to his death, and took Captain Cole, the first mate, the boatswain, and other officers who insisted on continuing the fight, and then raised a white flag on the mast and begged to surrender.

The resistance on board the Lucky Gianni was much more intense.

After she saw the "Warrior" sink and the "Lemon" surrendered, she began to retreat at the last turn. During the retreat, several 8-pounder and 12-pounder guns on board were still spraying shells incessantly. The ship's side and superstructure suffered no less than 10 shells in the process, especially the 12-pound iron ball that hit the captain's room, which directly shattered an oil painting hanging on the wall, which made Captain Lu Ming very annoyed.

After the "Lemon" was resolved, the "Red Trout" and the badly damaged "Beagle" stayed behind to receive enemy warships, prisoners, and supplies, and the "East Coast Eagle" and the "Sea Writer" also quickly rushed over, outflanking both sides of the "Lucky Janney" on the left and the right, just as the "Lucky Janney" outflanked Guo Zili's two-ship formation at the beginning of the battle.

The two sides chased only a few hundred meters in close range on the foggy sea, and the mast of the "Lucky Gianni" was interrupted by the bombardment of the chain bomb launched by the "10 August." The broken mainmast crashed onto the deck, crushing and wounding several British sailors who were manoeuvring the booms, and causing chaos on the deck.

The "Lucky Janny", whose speed had slowed down suddenly, still insisted on stubbornly resisting and refused to surrender in the face of the three battleships of the First Fleet that quickly surrounded her. In desperation, in order to avoid casualties among its own soldiers, the "10 August" canceled the battle by help. At a distance of 100 meters, a 32-pound long-barreled heavy gun was used to continuously bombard the waterline of the "Lucky Gianny", breaking a terrifying hole in it, and the raging sea water suddenly poured into the bilge of the "Lucky Gianny".

The battle came to an abrupt end at this moment.

The remaining sailors aboard the Lucky Gianni finally stopped their senseless resistance. Under the watchful eyes of nearly 1,000 officers and men of the three battleships of the First Fleet, they lowered four transport boats from the deck, and dozens of English officers and sailors jumped onto the dinghy and then raised a white flag to sign surrender.

After obtaining permission from Rear Admiral Lu Ming, commander-in-chief of the First Fleet, the second mate of the "Lucky Gianni" boarded the battleship "10 August" as a surrender representative and came to Lu Ming under the escort of the officers and men of the First Fleet. (To be continued......)