"How long will our smokescreen last?" Nelson asked Babbel about it. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Colonel, it shouldn't be a problem to stay until dark." "We seized a lot of whale oil last time, and with this stuff, and the broken canvas and the rope or something, we can keep this smoke screen for a long time." ”

Now the Zheng family's fleet is still firing, but the frequency and accuracy of the design have greatly decreased. It had been a while since no shells had hit or came close to hitting the Fury, and as for the condition of the other ships, he could not see clearly because of the thick smoke. However, judging from the fact that he had the other ships report to him by shouting not long ago, it seems that there are no major losses.

And just like that, before I knew it, the time was in the afternoon. In a few more hours, it should be dark. By that time, the Spanish fleet would have been in the predicament it is today.

"This battle once again illustrates the importance of long range and high speed." Nelson told Babbel that "our warships are too old and too slow to be fit for fighting in Asia." After we go back this time, we must ask China to provide us with more high-speed warships. This is true even at the cost of seafaring and defensive capabilities. On this side of the Pacific, unlike Europe, there is no need to have too good resistance to wind and waves. ”

"That's what you say, Colonel. It's just that if such a ship is built in Europe, when it passes through the Cape of Good Hope or the Strait of Magellan, it is easy to get into trouble. Unless built directly in Manila. Babbel said.

"It is impossible to build directly in Manila." Nelson shook his head. Manila doesn't have that many people, and, more importantly, won't allow it domestically.

At this moment, suddenly there was a shout from the top of the mast.

"Colonel!"

"What's wrong?" Nelson shouted.

"The big guy of the enemy is starting to close in on us."

The smoke screen released by the Spaniards also obscured their view, but the smoke point was on the bowmast, so the top of the foremast was not completely covered by the smoke screen, so sailors who climbed to the top of the foremast could see the outside clearly.

"The big ship?" Nelson hurried to the side of the boat and looked over there.

Although the smoke screen is very thick, it will be blown away by the sea breeze from time to time, so sometimes, you can still see some. Just as the sea breeze blew and the smoke screen cleared a little, Nelson did see that the big ship that had just impressed him was slowly breaking away from the formation and approaching his own formation, and had already entered the range of his naval guns.

"What do they want to do? Their courage is really not small! Nelson lamented.

Nelson certainly knew what the big guy was trying to do when he came closer. The smoke screen can seriously affect the opponent's shooting at a long distance, because it is very difficult for the opponent to judge the distance, but if the opponent is close enough, this problem no longer exists, and the accuracy of the shelling will naturally increase greatly. At this time, the smoke screen released by the Spaniards themselves would seriously affect their aiming, making it impossible for their artillery to make effective counterattacks.

However, the opponent's approach to such a distance meant that it was also within its own range, not only of its own ship, but also of the other Spanish fleets. Of course, because of the problem of course angle and firing angle, there will be no more than three warships that can fire at this big guy, and the shooting efficiency of the third warship will also be very low. It even needs to change course drastically to get its broadside aimed at the enemy ship, and this behavior is likely to seriously disrupt the navigation of the entire formation. (Of course, in its current state, it's certainly worth it)

Although the Zheng family's warship looked huge, it was also a risky thing to use a single ship against three cruisers at the same time, no matter how you look at it. What's more, Nelson also noticed that the firepower of this big guy is actually completely sorry for its size. Such a large warship actually has only two gun decks. From the time he was attacked by the Gluttony just now, Nelson also noticed that it would not have more than twenty guns on one side, which was no more than a regular cruiser. Such a large warship, if it is placed in Europe, can be loaded with more than 100 guns, and 50 guns on one side are guaranteed (for example, the King of the Seas, which is actually similar in size to the "Endeavour", but it is equipped with more than 100 cannons). In Nielsen's view, this obviously shows that there are still some problems in the shipbuilding technology of the Chinese.

"Sixty guns against twenty guns, well, the efficiency of the guns on the third cruiser will be relatively low, even if it is fifty percent firepower, so fifty guns against twenty guns. We should have an advantage. Nelson thought so, and ordered, "Remove the smoke screen and prepare for battle." ”

A sailor climbed as quickly as an agile monkey to the top of the bowsprit, where a brazier was secured. The brazier was constantly emitting smoke. The sailor untied a pocket from his shoulder and poured the sand into the brazier, and the thick black smoke began to fade, and soon only a little white smoke remained.

At about the same time, several loud-voiced sailors shouted Colonel Nelson's order to the warship behind the ship. Now the Spanish fleet was sailing downwind, so the "Fury" at the front of the formation was downwind compared to the other ships, and if the sound was too quiet, the warships on the opposite side could not hear it.

Now that the "Fury" at the front has stopped releasing smoke screens and revealed its figure, the Zheng family fleet also reacted quickly: the "Endeavour" continued to approach and began to fire at the "Fury" at the same time, while the other Zheng warships also fired at the "Fury" at a greater distance.

The guns on the Fury had already been reloaded, but due to the effects of the smoke screen, they were slower to aim. But that's what Nielsen had anticipated for a long time. Nelson knew that the other ships of the Zheng family's fleet would only take the opportunity to fire at the Fury. However, considering the distance between the two sides, and the hit rate and power of the shells at such a distance, although there will be many warships that fire at the "Fury", I am afraid that there will not be many shells that can really hit. On his own side, as long as he was not beaten too badly by the big ship during the first round of shelling, the situation should still be in his favor after several warships on his side joined the battle. So Nielsen thinks it's a perfectly acceptable risk.

At this time, the "Endeavour" fired the first volley first. Because it was still at a normal combat distance, the "Endeavour" used ordinary solid shells in this round of shelling. This round of shelling did not hit much, only one 18-pound shell hit the target, but Zheng Sen was not in a hurry, because he knew that it was normal for the first round of shelling to not have a high hit rate. The gunners naturally adjusted to the situation of the shelling. The shelling of the next few rounds will also become more and more accurate.

In the first round of shelling of the Endeavour, a shell hit the starboard side of the Fury, and the 18-pound shell opened a large hole in the thick rib of the ship, then hit the opposite rib before bouncing back and landing on the deck. With the exception of two gunners who were wounded by flying pieces of wood, there were no more casualties. From this point of view, the Fury was in good luck.

But this good fortune did not make Nelson happy, and the enemy ship successfully hit the target in the first round of fire, which only meant that they would hit more and more accurately. And not long ago his experience on the Gluttony taught Nelson that the Chinese fired their guns quickly, almost twice as fast as the Spanish gunners. So, soon, he may be shot in a second round.

"Tell the gunners not to panic, to aim before shooting." Nelson ordered that since he couldn't beat others in terms of rate of fire in any way, he had to find a way to gain an advantage in hit percentage.

However, the Fury's first round of shelling was not very good, because it was a little closer, and two of its shells hit the opponent, but neither shell could penetrate the oak planks of the Endeavour more than a meter thick, and the damage to the Endeavour was almost negligible.

At this time, the "Endeavour" fired another salvo, this time three shells hit the target. The first shot hit the bow of the ship, knocking the statue on the bow and the boss into the air. However, there was no problem with the bow sprit, so the damage caused by this blow was not too great.

The second shell hit the upper deck, punched a hole in the gang, and then jumped on the deck, killing a sailor with bad luck and flying away. The losses brought by the calculation are not large.

But by the third shot, the character of the "Fury" seemed to be almost consumed. The shell pierced the ship's plank and into the second gun deck, where it first hit an 18-pounder gun that was being reloaded, turning it on its side, then jumping sideways and knocking over another 18-pounder gun, and by the way breaking a gunner in two, and then the shell jumped forward and broke the chain that held another 18-pounder gun, and the broken chain swept over, slashing two more gunners. The cannon that had lost its chain slid up on the deck due to the influence of the waves, and the remaining chain tied it to it, causing it to swing over the deck like a large meteor hammer, and in one breath, it broke two more cannons. Fortunately, these two guns were on the starboard side, and the Zheng family's warship was on their left, so this loss would not affect the combat effectiveness too much for the time being.

At this time, the two warships behind also stopped releasing smoke screens.