Chapter 396: Smashed

Originally, when it was entangled with Qi Zhentao's escort fleet, the fleet of the Bosa Kingdom did not fall behind in terms of tactics, although the old man occasionally played tricks such as fleet salvos, but most of them were still single ship against single ship, but the single ship of the Huya ship was strong in combat effectiveness, but when these fleets suddenly faced such a neat fleet horizontal salvo, when the overwhelming Mars bombs, fire oil bombs and the long pillar of fire spit out at close range, they suddenly cut off one side of the fleet, and they were also stunned for a while.

"Ye Tao, look over there, the other party's flagship!" Min Yue keenly recognized from the enemy's fleet the ship with a long strip hanging from the top of the mast, bearing the emblem of the navy of the Kingdom of Baisa. It was a three-masted sail-paddle hybrid warship, or the old model with an inverted bow and powerful ramming angles protruding forward. Both sides are delicately painted with blue-green paint.

"Ready to rush?" Ye Tao looked at Min Yue and didn't know what Min Yue meant. They have now formed a situation in which three fleets take turns to attack, constantly firing salvos at the enemy fleet from oblique flanks. The other party will either fight for losses, and rely on some luck to rush into the distance and form a broadside battle, or they will be determined to throw down some ships and escape from this sea area, otherwise they will definitely not be able to please them. To sink the enemy's flagship, it is necessary to tear through the encirclement around the enemy's flagship, it is necessary to rush into the range of ballistas or flamethrowers, and some warships must break away from their fleet formation to do this kind of impact. In Ye Tao's opinion, it seems that there is no need, and he is completely uninterested in such things as capturing the flag, whether at sea or on land. Whether it is the Blood Qi Army or the Yunzhou Army, the generals are strictly forbidden to fight the enemy generals in front of the battle. In Ye Tao's view, the most important thing is to be able to win the war, and there is no need to add all kinds of variables to the battle for the sake of pursuing something.

"Look at the old man's methods, I can give you a chance to let this guy be in our range, whether you can beat this guy to death, it's up to you?" Min Yue had a stretched look.

Ye Tao is not very familiar with this kind of scene, and he also knows that the accuracy of mobile shooting at sea is not accurate. With the sophisticated instruments in the hands of the shooting commanders on these warships, and the various types of ballistae that have been being prepared, the fleets of both the Tohei Navy Division and the Nanami Trading Company are already the best in the world in terms of shooting accuracy. But around the way, to be able to achieve a hit rate of 20% in naval battles must be blessed by God.

But Ye Tao accepted the challenge generously. He smiled and said, "Okay." In fact, in Ye Tao's view, since this kind of combat situation has been formed, this is not a challenge, it is just a fun game. He is only a quasi-layman in naval warfare, but he is an expert in operating instruments and understanding the effects of weapon shooting. In Ye's Workshop in Yunzhou, there is a whole department that constantly plays with fire and constantly studies the shooting effect of various large equipment. "But it's up to you. If it's just at the longest range, God knows if it's accurate. It's not that you don't know this kind of thing, and you're not sure about it in the first place. ”

"Oh?" Min Yue asked with interest: "What shall we bet on?" ”

Ye Tao raised his eyebrows and asked without mind: "Even if you say it, I really can't think of anything I don't want to give." Of course, there are some things that you have to dare to ask for. ”

Min Yue laughed and said, "Airship! I want an airship. …… Now with your little output, you have just been able to get one airship team in Nanyang and one airship team in Danyang, and only six ships have been fished out by the Yicheng Naval Division. ”

"Okay," Ye Tao said without mind, "But, you don't know?" Yicheng is ready to equip the third-generation airship. The research institute has not yet been finalized, where can I get it for you? That way, you can get close to the ballista range, and I'll equip you with four more specialized high-speed scout boats. If you can get within range of the flamethrower, I'll personally give you a private airship to get out and see. How is it? ”

Min Yue was teased, and his eyes were full of expectation. In fact, these old friends really want to ask Ye Tao to get some private airships to play, and Ye Tao will not give it back. Originally, it only made sense for them to dare to play this kind of thing. But now the Tanjia has relied on a few private airships to form a private route from Danyang to Jiangshan Fort, and it is not pleasant to come and go. Now Tan Xiaopei flies back to Jiangshan Fort almost every few days to rest. According to Tan Weixin and Tan Weiying, Tan Xiaopei is now less like a full-time king, but more like a CEO who is tasked with running the country and has a day off.

Being able to win the airship from Ye Tao is more meaningful than simply coming, and it is more face-saving to say. Min Yue also took the airship out to watch the scenery several times. In fact, in the whole of Dongping, except for a few generals who have fear of heights and are usually insensitive to mountaineering, almost all the generals have flown into the sky. But being able to own a private airship is a very high treatment. Everyone hasn't figured out how to open this mouth to Ye Tao.

"That's it. I can get so close, the airship must be taken. …… If you hit, hehe, I've got something good for you, too. Min Yue waved his fist and said heroically. I turned around and communicated the battle plan with my deputies and signalmen. Min Yue used carbon strips to draw dots on the paper, clearly making an extremely complex combat plan. It took two rounds of attack time for the signalmen to send the rough idea to the second and third teams. Everyone rolled their eyes a little, this time it was a naval battle that was half encountered and half ambushed, and it was necessary to make the operation so complicated. But since Min Yue has an order, whether it is the Yazhou First Fleet, which is currently under Min Yue's direct control, or because of Ye Tao's relationship, the fleet of the Seven Seas Trading Company, which is temporarily subordinate to Min Yue's deployment, but has been extremely obedient to Min Yue's deployment, has moved according to the new plan. And at this time, the old man, who had already completed the fleet turn and was following the formation of the first team, saw something. Seeing that the fleet clearly missed two rounds of attacks because of the adjustment of its movements, and actually deliberately let go of the encirclement formation a little, so that the other party had room to maneuver, the old man immediately understood that he must be playing some tricks again.

Sure enough, the second and third teams responded, allowing the first team to go around and complete the turn, and rushed straight towards the sideways side of the Perthald Empire's fleet at full speed. The old man was very moved, he didn't believe that Min Yue, a guy who took advantage of the dead, was willing to fight with the other party, but the old man just glanced at the enemy's fleet formation and understood Min Yue's thoughts.

In the face of the Huya ships, which were superior in size and structural strength to those ships of the Bosa fleet, although they were suitable for broadside battles, the enemy did not dare to use the side to meet the onslaught of the Dongping fleet. They turned in all directions. All of a sudden, the sea was filled with loud shouts and chaotic waves.

At the last moment before Kankan had time to turn the bow of the ship to avoid collision, Min Yue shouted: "Right rudder four! With a neat and vigorous wave of the signalman, all the helmsmen of the entire detachment, who had been waiting for the order for a long time, played the right rudder in unison. The sharp turn gave all the ships of the detachment a noticeable tilt to the right. At this time, Ye Tao lightly instructed the signalman standing beside him: "According to the predetermined plan, shoot!" "Ning Xuan, who had already adjusted the firing data of the trumpet, made a salvo on the port side. The thick pillar of fire fired from the flamethrower pierced through the gap between the two enemy ships of the enemy fleet that were almost grazing themselves to avoid the impact, and licked exactly at the enemy's flagship. At the same time, Mars bombs and oil bombs were scattered all over the target area. Ye Tao originally did not expect to be able to measure and adjust the distance completely accurately in this high-speed action, but adopted the safest method: the Greek fire of the flamethrower plus the coverage of a small area. The ship's ballistas have been adjusted by him to a total of four stops of distance, and the dispersion of the design itself is enough to make the enemy look good. Not only that, the two battleships that followed behind Ning Xuan did the same, covering the enemy twice. Although the accuracy of mobile fire in naval combat was very unreliable, the three battleships still hit a total of six Martian shells, plus almost 200 liters of Greek fire incendiary. According to everyone's experience in ordinary naval warfare, these things are enough for the opponent to die twice.

Ye Tao was still not satisfied. In his opinion, since he wants to fight, he simply sinks and pulls down quickly. By the time the Ning Xuan had finished turning, he was already standing on the back deck of the Ning Xuan, the largest and farthest ballista gun in the ship. He stood in the gunner's position, took the scope and rangefinder to quickly check the degree, adjusted the ballista, and stepped on the firing spring vigorously.

This ballista was not loaded with a Martian projectile, but a cylindrical stone projectile. These stone shells were mainly used for gunners to practice their hands during long voyages, so as not to have their hands born in case of battle. Usually, it is thrown in the bilge as ballast. In peacetime, the stone projectile smashed into the plank of the enemy's tough warship, at most, it would be a depression and break a few planks. But now, a large amount of Greek fire has been sprinkled, and several Martian bombs have been smashed. Those things that burned violently had already charred at least part of the ship's planks, especially the sides of the enemy flagship, and it was difficult to extinguish even the fire. Keep burning until there's nothing left to burn. And at this time, Ye Tao's stone bomb, which was blessed to the soul, just smashed a little above the waterline, and suddenly opened a big hole in the local flagship. At this moment, the death sentence was completely pronounced for the other party's flagship. In the binoculars, the crew members only symbolically put out the fire a few times, piled up a few planks to keep the water out, and abandoned the ship after a little struggle.

Ye Tao secretly called it a fluke, originally he didn't expect to be able to hit. But luck is luck. Seeing Min Yue open his mouth wide and look incredulous, Ye Tao was also quite complacent. "Old Min, this battle is over."

The support fleet, which had the upper hand in combat power, took an hour and a half to defeat the fleet of the Kingdom of Baiza pursuing Qi Zhentao, and after dropping more than 20 ignited floats on the sea, the remnants of the fleet of the Kingdom of Baiza could only watch the confluence of Qi Zhentao's escort fleet and the fleet that came to support and turn to the northwest. They had to be busy containing the crew members who had fallen into the water, repairing most of the damaged ships, and they were afraid that they would have to stay on Golden Leaf Island for a while. Ye Tao, Qi Zhentao, and Min Yue can discuss the next move without any obstacles and put it into practice.