Chapter 537

"Until a hundred years later, when people look back at the naval battle off the coast of Cologne, the question is, what made them choose not to back down?

The answer is very simple - honor!

The honor of the members of the Navy drove them to make that decision. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

There are still many people who hypothesize that if there had been radio at that time, maybe it would have been a different outcome, maybe that war would not have broken out, maybe ......

But history cannot be assumed, and what we must see is that the war, marked by the "Battle of Cologne", changed everything, changed the entire history of the 19th century and the future! There is no doubt that the "Battle of Cologne" was the trigger for the First World War! ”

Finally, when the ironclad ship "Black Prince", which raised the "Z" flag, took the lead in invading Panamanian territorial waters, at the moment when the naval guns of both sides were aimed at each other, while both sides were waiting for the other's next move.

No one thought that it was neither the Chinese Navy nor the British Navy that fired first, but ...... Panamanian gunners inside the fortifications of Portoveillo and San Lorenzo.

After the British fleet invaded Panama's territorial waters, less than a hundred Panamanian servicemen in the Peruvian hills, operating old shore defense guns that had been cast decades earlier, opened fire first.

Smoke from the firing of several old shore defense guns enveloped the Peruvian hills, but the British, who were focused on the Chinese fleet, did not even notice the smoke rising from the Peruvian hills, and did not realize that they were under attack until the shells hit.

But the shells fired by the Panamanian soldiers were very mediocre, and they landed at least half a nautical mile from the British, but - this is the war!

The column of water half a nautical mile away, alerting the British officers and sailors of the fleet that they were under attack,

"Your Excellency, we have been attacked!"

There is no other choice!

Faced with the fact that the fleet was attacked, even if it was not the Chinese fleet that fired first, Heber still ordered.

"Aim at the Chinese Yankees and hit them hard!"

As soon as the order was given, the gunners of the "Black Prince" immediately pulled the triggering cord, and the Armstrong rifled guns on the side immediately rang out.

"The British fired!"

When clouds of cannon smoke poured out from the side of the "Black Prince", Zhang Di said in a calm tone.

His expression was extremely calm, as if he had faced an easy matter, and he did not even order the fleet to fire, but gave an order unexpectedly.

"Wait!"

When the order was issued, there was no tension in the bridge of the "Hubei", and there was only an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity. Everyone understands that if they were defeated today, the navy of the Chinese Empire would probably cease to exist! Because of where the essence of their Chinese Navy lies.

When this order was given, he silently calculated in his mind, calculating the time when the British shells would fall.

One second, two seconds, three seconds......

In the next instant, a column of water rose around the fleet, and there was no doubt that it was an explosive bomb, and as a naval officer, it was clear that the source of the explosives technology used by the British Navy was China.

The British Navy's gunnery is excellent, as an opponent, Zhang Di even admired this opponent in his heart, they not only formed a large number of near-misses, but also several shells hit the "Hubei", and the smoke and dust raised by the violent explosion instantly swallowed the warship.

Fragments of steel flew sideways, flying over the deck, and even Zhang Di could feel that the sandbags on the bridge had been hit by the fragments, but he still stood there motionless, as did all the naval officers, they were like puppets, standing there motionless, watching the British fleet getting closer and closer.

"The Chinese are crazy!"

Lieutenant General He Bo was stunned by the movements of the "Hubei", and he stared at the "Hubei" so dumbfounded that he couldn't believe his eyes, and even rubbed his eyes several times to determine whether he was dazzled.

The Chinese did not fight back, but rushed towards them so desperately, completely turning into a fixed target position.

No, it's a moving target!

What are the Chinese trying to do?

When this question popped up in Heber's heart, he also knew that even if he continued to attack and shoot shells, it was probably impossible to send these four Chinese armored ships to the cold bottom of the sea.

In the past few years, the Navy is setting off an unprecedented technological revolution, with unprecedented large-caliber rifled guns, which can shoot shells weighing hundreds of pounds for several nautical miles, and the heavy iron armor provides good protection for warships. And in this technological revolution, naval warfare has not become simpler, but more complex.

In the Crimean War, high-explosive shells could easily sink wooden warships, but explosive shells had no meaning for armored ships, and solid armor-piercing shells could only make a small hole in the armored ship at most, which was completely meaningless.

If you want to sink an ironclad in a naval battle, there is almost no possibility.

This is the general opinion of the Navy!

It is precisely because of this that He Bo chose to launch explosive bombs, he tried to use explosive bombs to destroy the ship buildings on Chinese warships, and then severely damaged the Chinese fleet, I have to say, as a vice admiral of an old naval power, He Bo is extremely shrewd, in the case of solid armor-piercing shells are ineffective, the use of high-explosive shells "deck washing" can kill and injure the enemy to the greatest extent, and win the naval battle by killing and injuring a large number of its deck personnel.

This has been the most common method of naval warfare for hundreds of years, except that in the past it was with solid shells, and now it is with explosive shells.

But to his surprise, the Chinese simply ignored his attack, completely ignored it, and they just faced their artillery fire and continued to advance. As for the shells fired by the British fleet, it was like tickling for a heavily armored ironclad ship.

Especially for the "Hubei-class" combat ship, its 10-inch thick steel armor makes it almost immune to British naval gun attacks, although it seems to be shrouded in gunsmoke at this time, but in fact, it is just gunsmoke.

"What are the Chinese doing?"

At a time when the two oncoming fleets were getting closer and closer, when they were about to form two parallel lines, and in the face of Chinese stubbornness, such a thought crossed the mind of every British naval officer.

Just a few hundred yards away, when Heber could even see the commander of the Chinese fleet on the bridge, he was watching the smoke clouds of explosions rising from the Chinese warships, at their dead gun barrels, at the shells that had been fired from the side, but only a cloud of flames rising up on the warship, leaving not even a trace.

A thought suddenly popped up in his heart, and a cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.

"Is it ......?"

In an instant, he realized what the other party was doing!

It's not that they didn't fire, they were waiting for the time to fire!

No, they are waiting for the target to open fire!

Because neither side rushed to fight the T-shape, the two sides approached in the form of battle lines, and the leaders were the two ironclad ships of the Black Prince and the Warrior, and behind these two ironclad ships, there were eleven unarmored wooden-hulled warships!

Those wooden-hulled ships are the target of the Chinese!

Perhaps, the "Black Prince" and the "Warrior" ironclad ships can withstand the shelling of Chinese warships, but the other eleven wooden-hulled warships in the fleet can never withstand the huge artillery bombardment of the Chinese, and their main guns can even sink a warship with one shot!

After understanding the other party's intentions, Hebo's whole person immediately fell into unprecedented fear, and there was only one thought left in his mind at this time - he fell into the trap of the Chinese!

In this period of naval change, the change of tactics is not something that anyone can adapt to, and for the Chinese Navy, they are well aware of the advantages of their side, and they also understand the enemy's disadvantages, and the naval battle of Lingdingyang tells them how to fight with the opponent, and because of this, they will choose to let the other side open fire, and not fight back, his goal is not the powerful "Black Prince" and "Warrior" ironclad ships from the beginning, these two hard bones, maybe very hard, but their firepower is far inferior to the "Hubei", The armor was also inferior to the "Hubei", so he made another choice - to choose the opponent's soft underbelly to attack.

Indeed, this tactic is an extremely dangerous tactic, and the danger is that before approaching the wooden-hulled warships of the British fleet, you will be a live target for the opponent.

However, the heavy armor and the understanding of the changes in naval technology made this decision confident. For Zhang Di, what he needed was a complete victory, and the fragile wooden-hulled warships of the British fleet were the root of its victory!

"Aim for the Yurias!"

The cruiser Yuriaris was the first steam-powered and propeller-designed warship of the Royal Navy, and was once a symbol of the Royal Navy's strength, but in the era of ironclads, this wooden-hulled warship has been obsolete, and when its gunners operated 100-pound Armstrong guns to attack the Hubei, which was hundreds of meters away, they were not themselves targeted by the 10-inch guns.

When the entire British fleet appeared in sight, it immediately shouted loudly, which had been waiting for a long time.

"Fire!"

When he gave the order, there was a "whoosh", and a piece of shrapnel almost stuck to his body, flying only a dozen centimeters away, and he stood there, staring at the British fleet that had been completely displayed in front of his eyes, and this British fleet had become a lamb to the slaughter in his eyes.

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