Although the Spaniards made a few more turns, they were only blind after all. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 At best, these turns have caused some trouble for Zheng Sen. As soon as noon, the lookouts of both fleets saw each other's masts.

The Spaniards began to steer again to grab the t-head.

"Jose, we didn't mistake the speed of the Chinese, right?" Major General Duque asked.

"Although we cannot judge the enemy's speed as accurately as we measure our own, I don't think our human experience will make a big mistake in this regard, General." José replied.

"You're right, but doesn't that mean we'll have an easy T-head advantage?" Major General Duke said.

"Yes, General, isn't that a good thing?" Jose Road.

"José, I asked the soldiers and officers who had participated in the last naval battle, and they all spoke highly of the enemy's command, and judging from the course of the battle, the enemy's command was indeed good. It is impossible for them not to understand the advantage of the T-head, because they used it to defeat our fleet in the last war. And in terms of speed, they should have a slight advantage, so they should not honestly give up the T-head advantage anyway. Duke, frowning, raised his binoculars again, and looked at the Chinese fleet opposite.

"General, maybe, maybe the old pirate...... I mean, maybe the commander we're facing now isn't the old pirate anymore. The Chinese don't know how to use European-style warships. José guessed.

"Even if the Chinese have fought so many battles with that old pirate, they should understand a little bit, and it can't be like this - I think we still have to be careful."

That being said, the Chinese fleet insisted on running in the direction of giving the Spaniards a T-head, and the Spanish fleet was not easy to refuse. Therefore, although full of doubts, the Spaniards did not make any adjustments to the current course of the fleet, because when the two sides were advancing at an angle of 90 degrees, a slight adjustment would affect the speed, and perhaps they would be occupied by their opponents.

The fleets of the two sides are getting closer and closer.

"Separate the first and second teams." Zheng Sen ordered.

Although Zheng Sen's fleet was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, Zheng Sen always believed that he could defeat his opponent at a relatively small cost. One reason for this is that his fleet has mastered the advanced communication technology that surpasses this era, the flag language. With this technique, his fleet can carry out complex maneuvers and coordination at distances far beyond the propagation range of sound. As for the Spaniards, they are still stuck in the era when communication was basically based on roaring. This meant that in battle, Zheng Sen's fleet was more organized than the Spanish fleet and could complete more complex tactical coordination. For example, the current tactic of splitting the fleet in two while on the move seems simple, but it is also a very difficult tactic to complete for a fleet whose communication basically relies on roaring.

The ships of the first and second detachments yawed a little to the left or right, respectively, and the first column became two horizontal formations, and the two fleets quickly widened the distance, and the ships following behind also increased their speed, filling in the space left by the ships removed in front.

"General, you see, the Chinese have changed formation!" Jose Road.

"I saw it. Are they trying to have a scuffle? Major General Duke frowned and said, "Most of them are not as trained as we are, and melee is also a solution." ”

"They gave us the top of the t, and we were able to hit them hard before the melee." José said confidently.

The fleets of both sides continued to approach, and the Spanish battleship "Ferdinand" fired the first shot of this naval battle.

"Major General, you must enter the anti-artillery command room." "We are already within range of the Spaniards. ”

"It's still a long way off, and the Spanish artillery fire is not enough to penetrate the planks of the Endeavour at such a distance." Zheng Sen said disapprehantly.

"Major General, your post is in the anti-artillery command room. Only when you get there can the warriors fight with peace of mind. Liu De continued, while also winking at several guards on both sides.

"Okay, I'll go." Zheng Sen stood up and said, "You guys from the province pushed me in again." ”

"The subordinates don't dare." Liu De and others.

At this time, some improvements had been made to the anti-artillery command room, and there was an extra set of periscopes in the room, which allowed Zheng Sen to see the battle situation outside even if he was hiding inside. And its top is also raised a little, even without periscopes, you can see through a few small windows. In addition to Zheng Sen, there are also two heralds in the anti-artillery command room, and they can go out at any time to convey Zheng Sen's orders.

The Spaniards did not hit the first shot, but this was only the beginning, and the Spaniards had the opportunity to fire several salvos before Zheng Sen's detachment inserted into the formation of the enemy fleet. And as the distance approached, the hit rate of the Spaniards' artillery fire would also increase.

"Boom!" It was the sound of a shell hitting the board of the Endeavour, which was blocked by the nearly one-meter-thick oak hull of the Endeavour, and the shell slid away on the left side of the front of the Endeavour, leaving a long trail.

"Keep course, speed up, rush into the enemy's formation, and fire together on the port side!" Zheng Sen shouted at the herald. The herald answered and climbed up to the upper deck to give the order.

"Smack!" It was another shell that hit the "Endeavour", but this one hit the upper deck, and the shell bounced on the deck at the bow of the ship, breaking several cables, and then plunged headlong into the sea. And a broken cable swept out, and struck a sailor's arm, and in an instant, like a knife slashing it, cut a deep wound in his arm, and blood gushed out.

As the Endeavour approached the Spanish line, the Spanish shelling became more and more accurate. At first, a few shells hit from time to time, but later, it turned into a stormy "pop pop", Zheng Sen knew that each of these sounds meant that another shell hit the "Endeavour". The sailors on the upper deck of the Endeavour were lying on the ship's plank, but quite a few were still killed by shells. But what worries Zheng Sen more is the mast and sail of the Endeavour. Now the sails of the Endeavour have been torn open by various chain bullets fired by the Spaniards, and her mast has been directly hit by chain bullets more than once. However, these masts, made of whole giant trees, withstood the test and were not interrupted by the Spanish shells.

"This Chinese warship is really strong! Was her hull cast of steel? Looking at the "Endeavour" rushing straight under the fire, and the shells that hit the Endeavour fell into the sea one after another, José couldn't help but let out such an exclamation.

"Speed up, or we'll be bumped into by her!" Major General Duque also shouted. Judging from the state of the "Endeavour" in front of it against those shells, it is really very dangerous to be hit by this guy.

The "Ferdinand" fired another salvo, and the shells crackled on the "Endeavour", which was close at hand, but even at this distance, the Spanish shells failed to penetrate the luxurious oak planks of the "Endeavour". Approaching this era was still the era when battleships had just appeared, and there was still a big gap between the level of artillery on battleships and later.

Amid the smoke and flying wood chips, the "Endeavour" rushed into the ranks of the Spaniards, and the forty gun doors on the left and right sides of the "Endeavour" were opened, and the black holes of the cannons protruded.

In the command room, there are several copper pipes that lead to the gun deck or the captain's room. Zheng Sen stood in front of one of the copper pipes and shouted into the pipe: "Aim at the enemy ship and fire!" ”

The cannon rang out suddenly, and the "Endeavour" was like an angry fire dragon frantically spewing smoke and flames around. The thick smoke made the sky seem to darken. Zheng Sen's vision was completely blocked by these gunsmokes, so much so that he couldn't see the effect of the "Endeavour's" round of two-port salvo at all.

Fortunately, the sea breeze quickly blew away the smoke, and Zheng Sen looked in the direction of the port side, and he saw a Spanish battleship over there, and the tail of the Spanish battleship had several big holes.

Zheng Sen knew that generally speaking, the most vulnerable position of the sail battleship was in the tail, and the ship board here was generally weak, as long as it penetrated the outer ship board, the cannonball could hit the bow from here to the bow in one go, thus bringing huge damage to the entire battleship.

"Quick, while they're still within our firepower, give them another one!" Zheng Sen thought.

"Boom!" Endeavour fired another volley at a speed that shocked the Spaniards. The cannons of the Zheng family's fleet used silk medicine packs, which saved a lot of time when loading, so they could fire at a faster speed before the barrel overheated, and the gunners were also well trained, so these battleships of the Zheng family, in a short period of time, their guns had almost twice the rate of fire of the Spaniards. In other words, one cannon of the Zheng family can sometimes be used as two cannons of the Spaniards.

Zheng Sen felt that at such a close distance, this round of shelling would definitely be able to deal a heavy blow to the Spanish battleship, and as for the Spanish cruiser on the starboard side, after receiving two consecutive salvos at such a close distance, it also suffered heavy losses.

At the same time, farther to the left, the second detachment led by Old Jack also inserted into the Spanish array, and the salvo of the "Brave" also disorganized the Spanish battleships in front of her and behind her, and the Spanish ranks began to waver.