At this time, Wang Yuan did not hesitate, and quickly ordered the signalman to give a signal for counterattack. The red fireworks exploded abruptly on a clear day, and according to the predetermined battle plan, the ships on the north and south wings first broke through to the approaching enemy ships, and the speed of the ship began to increase sharply.

When the light gunners, firearms men, and the ship's elite archers carried out suppressive operations regardless of the risk of casualties, the muffled sound of cannons accompanied by the white smoke rising from many positions on the deck also flashed one after another, and after strengthening the charge, the new mortar cannon installed on the ship could fire heavy pottery shells of about 500 catties to about 150 paces, and the threat of heavy arquebuses began to be greatly reduced to the distance.

These projectiles containing 150 kilograms of black powder appear to be equipped with a unique wire fuse, and when the shell flies a certain distance, the thought linked to the shell will remove the mechanism on the fuse, so that when the shell encounters violent resistance when falling into the water again, the arquebus will ignite the powder channel and detonate the shell, thus ensuring that the explosion can occur near the waterline to the greatest extent.

Although it was a fairly good black powder, even if it had a charge of 150 kilograms, the explosive power was not much stronger than that of the old modern 152 mm caliber shells, and it was probably only equivalent to about five or six kilograms of modern explosives.

Even so, for ordinary enemy ships or large armed merchant ships that are not armored and unarmoured, if such a shell is allowed to explode at a distance of less than two feet from the ship, it will have immediate and serious consequences. The force of the water's vibrations, which are more powerful than the air, began to destroy the sturdy planks of individual ships at the waterline, and while the sturdy ribs were often not damaged in such cases, the huge damage from near the waterline often silenced the crew before they could react.

Although the crews operating the heavy mortar guns were all the result of rigorous training and careful selection, in such a sporty and fierce naval battle, even if the accuracy required from 100 to 150 paces away was only about 15 to 20 times the distance, the probability of the four mortars on each ship effectively sinking the enemy ship under salvo fire was often only about half.

Of course, even this had an immediate and obvious impact on the battle situation, and the twenty armored ships that launched a counterattack on both flanks were only under a single salvo, and hundreds of them exploded in the water and the waves raised by the waves engulfed many ships of the coalition fleet, and at least eight enemy ships fell silent under such a fierce blow, and the fifteen armored ships in the western direction also fired sixty short-range 500-pound heavy bombs with continuous fierce fire, and the continuous violent explosions seemed to hit more accurately at a distance of about 100 pacesAt least nine of the main ships of the coalition fleet or armed merchant ships covered in the water were threatened almost irrevocably at once. On some of the ships that were close to the silence, the violent explosions also caused many ships to quickly lose their combat effectiveness.

Almost at the same time, thousands of marines on each ship began to climb the longitudinal axis manpower propellers with all their might, carrying hundreds of pounds of heavy burdens, and driving the entire ship to maneuver faster than it seemed necessary to have obvious sails.

The light artillery shooters on the ship, even if they were rifled guns, did not attack the opponent mainly with live ammunition at this time, but mainly used light shotguns to open a window close to suppressing the opponent's firepower with all their might.

In a short period of time, seventeen capital ships suffered heavy losses, and it still changed the tide of naval warfare in a short period of time, but this was only to get the main ship group led by Wang Yuan out of the most dangerous situation. After the officers and men of the artillery crew on the deck reloaded their ammunition as quickly as they could, it was only about a minute later that a new round of strikes was quickly launched against the enemy ships that had not fled too far away.

Perhaps it was because the suppressive fire on the enemy ship was greatly weakened by the great deterrence, or perhaps it was because the second time the fire was fired, the enemy ship was closer. The effective hit rate of the four salvos of heavy mortar fire from each of the ships approaching the enemy also began to exceed half. With 170 heavy explosive bombs that exploded one after another, the 35 main armoured ships that were engaged with the enemy at the most important level caused the 19 main ships of the enemy to begin to sink significantly in the fierce explosion.

Before the battle, in fact, whether it was the commander of the Spanish Combined Fleet, the Dutch governor, or even the Dutch officer in charge of commanding the sea forces, they had all thought about what they could do, and perhaps the other side had it. But such a throwing degree, rate of fire, and especially the effective explosion rate at the extremely high waterline position were unprecedented to anyone. It can even be said that it is precisely because the Dutch and the Spaniards themselves have tested this method that they feel that such an attack method is not reliable. In addition to the accuracy and training itself, the effective protection advantage brought by the enemy's armor also greatly weakened the attack effect of this method.

But this time, when the fleet led by Wang Yuan launched a fierce attack with well-trained gunners, many people began to realize how dangerous this attack was.

In order to survive and escape, at this time, the sailors on the coalition fleet also raised their sails as fast as they could, and tried their best to escape into the distance with the help of the not too big wind. According to the previous impression, those armored ships with outstanding protection should not have too high speed, but they did not expect that the speed of the enemy ships also suddenly became faster, so that the originally superior coalition fleet fell into danger at once.

Columns of water rose from the sea one after another, and the sea within a radius of several feet was filled with a hundred flowers, and the sound of fire and explosions of heavy explosive projectiles fired by heavy mortar guns rang out one after another.

After three waves of heavy blows in a row in just two minutes or so, at least forty-two Dutch and Spanish capital ships or armed merchant ships were silent, and nine smaller warships were also on the verge of sinking under the heavy blows, and the contrast between the main ships of the two sides also changed at this time. Wang Yuan's heart was also completely relaxed at this time. Because from then on, the fleet can lock on to pursue an enemy ship with a capital ship in the process of pursuit, and finally destroy the enemy fleet at sea as quickly as possible.

Therefore, it was at this time that the pursuit and counterattack at sea completely kicked off, and in a short period of time, the ships began to clarify their goals by contacting each ship with flags.