The opponent's artillery is many and fast, the power of the nine-pounder cannon is of course worse than the thirty-six-pounder gun, but the victory is light and easy to operate, in just a moment has been fired many rounds in a row, the cannonballs are whistling one after another, most of them are flying by like the first one, but the night road is more than the end of the ghost, finally there is a cannonball on the side of the gunwale, everyone heard a boom, and saw the cannonball smashed heavily on the side of the ship, smashing the solid wood everywhere burst and splashed, a sailor screamed, But he was stabbed in the head by a sharp wood, and it went deep into the flesh, and his face was immediately covered with blood.

More shells flew by, the Dutch hull had already turned sideways, more than a dozen cannons were fired one after another, less than a mile apart, the distance was very close, the power of the cannonballs was fully exerted, the second and third shells hit the hull respectively, and several crew members were injured.

Zheng Zhilong knew that he had to be calm at this time, and he ordered more sailors to help adjust the foresail and aft sail, and he must eat the wind as soon as possible...... He personally went to the stern of the ship to direct the firing of the cannon to return fire.

There was only one stern gun, a 36-pound gun, and the barrel looked so brand new that from a long distance you could see the crew running around carrying the shells, stuffing them into the packets, and preparing to light the arquebus...... Everything was in order, and Zheng Zhilong was relieved when he saw it......

It can be said that at this time, there is no navy as trained as Hutchison in the world, from sailors to artillery crews and the army, which has been insisting on high-intensity training, which is very respectful to the Russians.

"Brother He, take the mission personnel into the cabin." Zheng Zhilong saw He Bin outside, and hurriedly beckoned him to bring someone in to hide.

"Isn't it the same?" He Bin said with a smile: "If the shell hits the cabin and enters, the result is the same as standing outside." ”

Zheng Zhilong said: "It's different, the hull of the ship is very strong, all of them are made of high-quality hardwood, and they are quite thick...... Ordinary shells are exhausted, and at most they are damaged and cannot break through, so let's go in. ”

When He Bin and the others heard this, they bowed down into the cabin, insisting on using good wood and the benefits were here, and the shells came one after another, but on the thick and sturdy hull only sawdust flew sideways, and did not cause serious damage at once.

This is also characteristic of artillery warfare in this era...... You go back and forth, and the shells even penetrate the enemy ship, but if you want to sink the enemy ship, you need a constant heavy bombardment, plus a little luck.

It is not surprising that there are many records of dozens or hundreds of shells in a ship without incident.

At this time, the Russians were still stepping up to adjust the sails...... The schooner has more than ten sails such as the front spinnaker, the mainmast, the second mast, the rear spinnaker, etc., after two hundred years, the schooner has become the main force of freight, it is not surprising that a schooner has more than a dozen sails, the wooden schooner has a displacement of more than 7,000 tons, carrying 6,000 tons of cargo, and the speed can reach 19 knots, which is the record of the North American schooner.

At this time, the schooner had four sails, which was still far worse than the schooner with more than a dozen sails a hundred years later, and the Russians roared and kept adjusting each sail, hoping to go faster in the wind.

The situation was tense, but Zheng Zhilong calmed down, it was impossible to be sunk in such a situation, and he focused on the stern artillery.

This is a 36-pounder cannon, produced by the Hutchison Firearms Bureau in Lizhuang, all the parts of the gun body weigh 5,800 catties, the gun body is quite heavy, in order to transport it from Li Zhuang to Tianjin, several carriages were used, and after arriving in Tianjin, it was put on the ship and directly put into Taiwan with more than a dozen other guns...... Today, this newly cast artillery is finally going to participate in the actual battle, and Zheng Zhilong's heart is full of hope......

The artillery roared, Zheng Zhilong was close, and he felt that his ears were deafened, and a huge tongue of fire erupted from the barrel, emitting a brilliant light, what a huge thing a shell of more than 30 catties is, a thinner person is struggling to hold it, even if a strong gunner carries more than a dozen rounds, he will sweat profusely, and he has to change the wheel to hold it.

The movements of the members of the artillery crew are quite skillful and sophisticated, and these artillery crews are all transferred from Lizhuang to Qingcheng, and they basically maintain a complete structure, not only the proficiency of the artillery is very high, but the degree of cooperation with each other is also extremely high.

Zheng Zhilong thought: Judging from the artillery group alone, it shows that the military department's support for Taiwan has increased a lot in the past six months......

The first cannonball whistled out, and at the same time as the Hutchison Sailor artillery group fired, there were still more than ten shells coming together, and four of them landed on the hull of the ship here, and the wooden sailboat was full of sawdust and parts that were splashed up, and more than a dozen sailors were slightly or seriously injured, and the military doctor rushed out to carry out first aid on the deck for the seriously injured sailors......

These are all rehearsed, everyone knows their position well, and everything is quite proficient.

A Russian shouted at this time, Zheng Zhilong's Russian was very good, and he heard that the Russians were praising the steadiness of these sailors and marines......

"Old Maozi, why do you need to say this!" Zheng Zhilong's heart was full of pride, and at this time, he saw that the shell of the heavy artillery fell into the water dozens of steps away from the side of the enemy ship, and he felt a sense of regret in his heart.

At this time, the second shell also went out, the action of the artillery crew was quite skillful, the speed of firing the cannon was much faster than firing the firing gun, and more than a dozen people were waiting for a cannon, which was still slower than a single person firing the firing gun, it was really worthy of shame. The artillery can fire three rounds in two minutes, and it seems that it is faster now, Zheng Zhilong turned his mind and fired the second shot.

Not long after the artillery crew fired, this time another twelve guns fired in a salvo from the opposite side.

Zheng Zhilong stood on the side of the stern building with a knife, stood with his hand on the waist knife, and watched the opposite artillery fire, the muzzle of the gun spewed out tongues of fire, and the smoke rose violently, and then you could see the artillery retreating violently, because the space for the artillery to abdicate was reserved, the Dutch on the opposite side got out of the way, and after the recoil of the artillery disappeared, they stepped forward to scrub and clear the chamber, load the powder bag, stuff the shells, and push it tightly with the push rod, so that the power of the gunpowder kinetic energy was guaranteed...... On the opposite side, a figure could be seen faintly running, and although it was not clear to see, it was obvious, and this must be the case on the second deck of Hutchison.

In addition to the aft cannon, the members of the cannon crew of the merchant army were anxiously waiting below the deck, the cover plate had already been opened, and the muzzle of the gun was pushed out of the side side of the ship, but in the view there was only the rough sea, and the gradually moving away Hirado port and the mountain scenery on the shore, and you could also see the ant-colony crowd, presumably after hearing the cannon sound, running out to see the lively Hirado residents and passing maritime merchants, and on the right side you can also see the fleet of ships docked in the harbor, large and small merchant ships.

A cannonball whistled and hit the side side, and the damaged place of the side side was smashed through under the huge shock, and the cannonball went straight into the cabin, and then roared forward, hitting the bulkhead on the other side, making a huge bang, fortunately, the cannonball was a nine-pounder gun, the strength was not strong, and it failed to penetrate the cabin again, and the cannonball rotated on the ground of the cabin, emitting white smoke, and there were some wood chips on the ground, and there was an open flame under the rotation of the high-speed rotating and high-temperature cannonball......

A gun commander hurried over and poured a bucket of water on the shell, which snorted and sent up a puff of white smoke, extinguishing the flames that had just emerged.

Beads of sweat flowed from the gunner's forehead, some were afraid, some were happy, and some were complacent.

Fortunately, it was dealt with quickly, and there was a plan for a long time, and the shells would not explode, but the open flames caused by the ignition of the medicine bags piled up in the cabin ignited, and it was a disaster.

In the cabin, you can still feel the hull moving forward rapidly, at this time the ship is a little sideways, it should be the Russians on the top with the sailors can finally turn the hull, the people in the cabin are waiting with bated breath, one side of the cabin is eight guns, six eighteen-pounder guns and two nine-pounder guns, the whole gun crew is an artillery battalion commander to command, there is a company on each side, the officers are standing behind several gun crews, and the members of the gun crew, they are also waiting......

"Port crew, prepare!"

When the hull turned a little more to the side, the large battleship that happened to be opposite was firing, and the guns were fired one after another, bursting into flames, and the shells flew again with a loud roar.

This time, when a lot of shells landed in the side compartments or aft towers, a clear thumping sound could be heard.

"It's finally within range, aim!" The commander of the artillery company in the left compartment was a young man in his twenties, and his voice was hoarse under nervousness.

Most of the people in the artillery crew are veterans, novices are trained in shore-based batteries or ordinary merchant ships, and capital ships such as schooners are used by old men, which is to ensure combat effectiveness...... Most of the sailors are newcomers, and most of the officers of the naval division are newcomers, relying on the Russians to bring learning experience, and there are also Portuguese help, but the marines and artillery crews are the elite of Hutchison, which is also to maintain the combat effectiveness of the warship to the greatest extent......

The company commander had followed Dufrei and Peter, participated in many major battles in the northern steppes, and his command experience was still a little shallow, but he had a lot of combat experience, and the members of the artillery crew had already been in place, waiting for further orders......

It's said to be aiming, but in fact, I'm still waiting for a more appropriate angle, and now it's still a little off.

When the hull of the ship turned at an angle again, and most of the sides could be bombarded, the commander of the port side of the artillery immediately shouted in a hoarse voice: "Fire, release!" ”

All the ropes were lit at the first time!

First there was a fire in the cannon door, and then the medicine bag was ignited, and everyone had already plugged their ears with earplugs, but a huge roar was heard, and the eight guns were fired together almost instantly, and the cannonballs whistled towards the big ship opposite.