In the face of the flag from Joseph Horaff, John Powell thought about it, and finally decided to turn a blind eye and directly use his huge fleet to give the other party a dismount first, and then surround it. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Even if the ship is really an envoy who came to send an envoy, how can the British Empire be in charge of the territory of the British Empire?

John Powell's idea was very good, he even guessed that this fleet was likely to go to the Netherlands, and in this sensitive period, it was absolutely impossible to lead the fleet to rob the other side, and that was also for the sake of the British Empire.

It not only shows the strength of the British Empire, but also cuts off the hope of the Dutch, to put it mildly, this is the sea area of the British Empire, and no one will know if they destroy each other...........

In fact, the Anglo-Dutch war has been fought until now, and it has begun to take shape, at least near the European mainland, the British have gradually grasped the initiative, not to mention the Daming Naval Division from the Far East, even if the British fleet cannot report the exact number, it has to stop the ship for inspection.

Joseph Horaff had been in the Far East and did not know the situation in Europe.

Just recently, the British and Dutch navies, after a long period of preparation, are about to break out a large-scale naval battle, in order to grasp more advantages before the big war comes, not to mention only about 30 steam warships, even if it is doubled, John Powell will mercilessly intervene to block it.

However, no matter what John Powell is calculating, Zheng Chenggong is not a vegetarian, and if you give labor and management a horse, labor and management will make you lose your skin.

"Pass the order, each ship will enter a state of first-level combat readiness, if the opposing fleet has not slowed down when it enters the range of artillery, there is no need for warning, and fire directly!"

"In addition, the General Xuanwei is at full speed, rushing straight to the opponent's flagship and disrupting their formation!" Zheng Chenggong snorted coldly.

He also guessed that the other party was going to get off the horse, but now that he was overseas, the most advantageous guarantee was the giant ship cannon under his feet, and the other party's unreasonable approach, the only way for the Nanyang Navy Division to deal with it was to be more unreasonable than him.

As for the use of ironclad ships to attack the opponent's flagship, it is to reduce losses and achieve a quick victory, after all, they are here to negotiate, not to fight, and if they really want to cripple the fleet of the British, the Dutch should be secretly happy again.

The first-level combat readiness order was quickly transmitted to the steam warship at the front, this battleship carrying the envoys of the two countries, responsible for leading the way and negotiating, it was impossible to cause the slightest damage in the war, so the battleship began to make a sharp turn and turn around, and at the same time, five battleships quickly rushed out from the rear to cover.

Knowing that the Great Ming Naval Division was going to fight with the British fleet in front of him, Joseph Holaff was completely anxious, and once the two sides went to war, the Dutch could only profit in the end.

When the battleship was about to withdraw from view, Joseph raised a final round of flags, to the effect that John Powell should immediately slow down and stop the ship, otherwise the Ming navy would regard it as a provocation and resolutely return fire..............

Originally, he just wanted to threaten the fleet in front of him, but if it was really the Far East Fleet of the Dutch, under the disparity in strength, the other party would not dare to force his way into the English Channel.

But if it was an envoy from the Far East, it would be able to intercept the other side, at least until the end of the North Sea Naval War, and find a way to "detain" it in the British Empire, so as not to give the Dutch the slightest chance to turn the tables.

However, John Powell did not expect that the commander of the fleet in front of him was so arrogant that he had entered the territorial waters of the British Empire and wanted to counterattack.

"Humph! The commander of the other side thinks that this is still the Far East! Lads, since they want to go to war, let's meet, these miraculous steam warships spread in the Far East! John Powell exclaimed.

He is also a tough temper, perhaps the British Navy today has a spirit of not admitting defeat.

Of course, this was before seeing with your own eyes the power of a steam battleship.

This area is very close to the territorial waters of the British, and the British naturally want each other to do what they want.

However, Zheng Chenggong's voyage across the ocean this time was to promote the prestige of the Great Tomorrow, and the envoys needed to summon the British king, not the British navy.

That's right, since ancient times, Huaxia, as a superpower in the East, has directly represented the emperor of the dynasty, and the treatment of those lords of Fanbang is generally not an audience, but a summons.

This is where the majesty of the Heavenly Empire lies, and this sense of superiority in the bones is difficult to be erased in a short period of time.

Moreover, today's Great Britain can indeed only be regarded as a "small country".

Seeing that the situation was irreparable, Joseph Holaff could only pray silently in his heart at this time, praying that the British Imperial Navy would win a great victory and kill the spirit of these Orientals.

Even the Dutch on the side looked a little solemn, they did not expect that a group of fleets that had crossed the ocean would dare to take the initiative to launch a "war" in the face of an opponent more powerful than themselves.

In the eyes of the Dutch, the British fleet in front of them does not represent more than 200 warships, but a powerful maritime empire with more than 1,000 warships, although the steam warships are powerful, but this is Europe, and the sea ahead is the territory of the British, in the absence of absolute superiority, the Ming Dynasty navy should not be so "reckless".

At the very least, you should take advantage of the speed advantage of the steam battleship and get out of here first.

At the same time, the Dutch have a "hope" in their hearts, if the two sides are at odds with each other, then there is no need to negotiate next, at least the interests of the Far East can be preserved, and maybe this fleet can also support the Dutch in the major battlefields in Europe.

Well, for Europeans, Zheng Chenggong's behavior is already equivalent to a "declaration of war", but in Zheng Chenggong's view, this is just a skirmish, after all, all dynasties and dynasties can make China officially declare war, and that is directly the endless war of annihilation.

Zheng Chenggong's Nanyang Naval Division is not qualified to issue a declaration of war order, and there is no need to go on an expedition to destroy a country, after all, it will not benefit the Ming Dynasty in the slightest............

Both sides will not back down when they hold their breath, and the final result will be the use of force to fight each other.

When the General Xuanwei, hidden in the middle of the fleet, rushed out, the British Navy was dumbfounded: "What kind of monster is this?" ”

No one could have imagined that such a huge warship could not be much slower than those small steam warships.

After the appearance of ironclad ships, the British directly divided the steam warships, which were originally defined as large warships, into small warships, as for the warships they drove......... It's just the best of the smallest.

"This is the ship that the Royal Navy should be piloting!" John Powell's eyes flashed with a fiery gaze: "Send twenty predators to carry out a string battle, and I will capture this battleship!" ”

Since the war has already begun, then no matter what the other side comes from, these battleships will become the trophies of the British Empire!

The arrogant John Powell never thought that he would lose this battle, because he had already sent a message through the Flying Eagle that all the fleets carrying out blockade missions in the nearby waters rushed over to support.

"The enemy has entered the range of the ship's guns, and the ships are firing on their own!"

Relying on the speed advantage, the Nanyang naval division has successfully seized the T-shaped prefix, and the closest distance between the two warships at this time has been close to 2,500 meters, entering the maximum range of the new artillery.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! ”

Thirty steam warships, with the first salvo fired, more than three hundred guns of caliber 150 mm or more, flew towards the fleet of the British Navy.

At this point, preemptive action is king.

"Artillery fire is coming, pay attention to evade! Eighty battleships in the front team, firing back in a battle line! John Powell commanded loudly.

At this time, there were already turbulent waves in his heart, the opposing fleet took advantage of the steam engine and successfully seized the "T" prefix battle line, not to mention, and at a distance of 2,500 meters, it was already possible to carry out artillery bombardment on his own side, you know, with the new warships of the British Royal Navy, 2,500 meters is just enough to set the distance of the battle line, as for the artillery range, it has to wait until the two sides are close to 2,000 meters, just enough to be able to hit each other.

In other words, at a distance of 500 meters, John Powell's fleet could do nothing but resist it.

The so-called battle line refers to the fleets of the two warring sides, each lined up in a single column in a naval battle, and carried out the tactics of firing artillery in the same direction or in the same direction.

Due to the limited range of the artillery, and the two warring sides are in a state of hedging, it is difficult for the battleships in the back to show the power of the artillery.

In order to solve this dilemma, it is necessary to form a battle line at the time of engagement.

In the battle line, seizing the "T" prefix horizontal position, so that the side's fleet presents a line of sideboard firepower, to meet the first warship of the opponent's column to enter the firing range first, forming a situation of fighting more and less, while the opponent's longitudinal straight line can only exert the front artillery fire, and the ships behind are greatly affected in terms of vision and firing angle, and at the same time, it can also play the effect of blocking the enemy's route in the strategic situation.

In the past, the battleline formations of the navies of various European countries were all rushing straight towards each other, and when the two sides were in a state of "=", they opened fire in unison.

This tactic, just like the newly built double-track railway of the Ming Dynasty, the time when the steam trains in two directions intersect is the time for the battleship to fire, and when the hedging is over, the two sides will regroup, turn around again and rush back to continue fighting.

As for the new "T" prefix tactic, it is still the latest tactic developed by the British Royal Navy (the Anglo-Dutch War, the British used this tactic to defeat the Dutch Navy, which had a larger number of warships).

The tactic of seizing the "T" prefix, even the British themselves, is not very skilled in using it, because today's warships, over-dependent on the wind, in the case of headwinds, the speed will be greatly limited.

In addition, the number of battleships is so huge that the British can only complete the steering tactics of a hundred battleships at a time, and maybe the opposing fleet has already rushed over before they have completed the turn.

However, Zheng Chenggong's steam warships do not need to worry about these problems, even if they do not use sails, their speed can completely surpass the British warships, as for the number of warships, there are only thirty steam warships, there is no problem at all.

Perfect "T" preemption, plus an extra artillery range of almost five hundred meters.

Although the opponent's first salvo did not hit, the nearest shell fell less than 20 meters away from the lead ship, which was enough to make John Powell frightened.

Now that the battle has officially begun, John Powell's previous self-confidence has begun to waver...........

Just as the British Navy was busy maneuvering the fleet to turn, less than two minutes before the first salvo fired, the opposing battleship fired another salvo.

This is the life of the British Navy!

Originally, the range of the two sides was not equal, and the British could only be beaten passively at this distance, and the only thing to be thankful for was that the opponent was not accurate enough at this distance, and at most it only played a role in disturbing people's hearts.

But the second volley came so quickly, which John Powell didn't expect.

A salvo is not as good as a single shot, that is, all the gunners need to complete the reloading before they can be fired again, and the rate of fire is naturally the speed of the slowest reloading gun in the entire fleet.

And the hit rate of the salvo is much greater than that of the free fire, which is why the fleet would rather sacrifice the rate of fire advantage and choose the salvo.

The most terrifying thing is that the British Navy at this time is turning, this time not only the first ship has entered the range of the opponent's artillery, but nearly thirty battleships that have completed the turn have entered the range of the Ming army's artillery.

The distance is too far, the target is too few, and the Ming fleet may not be able to hit, but thirty ships appeared at once, even if they closed their eyes, they could be blinded by one.

Sure enough, in the second salvo, four British battleships that had completed the turn were directly hit, one of which was hit by five shells, and caused the ammunition depot to explode on the spot and disintegrate directly.

"God! It's a grenade, these guys, since grenades are used on naval guns! John Powell exclaimed.

The so-called grenade, also called the flowering bomb, is the "patriarch" of the shell, it is the earliest "born", the longest used, and the most "descendants".

It is characterized by sufficient explosive charge, thin cartridge casing, no built-in steel balls and prefabricated fragments, mainly using the huge shock wave generated by the projectile explosion to destroy the target.

Europeans naturally also have grenades, but with today's level of science and technology, it is still difficult to produce them on a large scale, if it weren't for Song Yingxing's invention of thunder mercury, the manufacturing process has been simplified, and the naval guns of the Ming army can only use which old-fashioned solid projectiles.

The British Navy, currently using, is this kind of solid projectile, because the number of grenades is too small, allocated to the huge naval fleet, tens of thousands of naval guns are averaged, and each gun is estimated to be only equipped with two or three rounds, and the power is far less than that of solid projectiles.

Therefore, grenades are generally used to equip the armies of European countries, after all, only the army needs large-scale lethality, and the navy only needs a solid bullet to hit the opponent's battleship below the waterline, which can tear a hole and let seawater pour into it, so that the enemy ship can slow down or sink.

Well, this is actually an excuse for the navies of various countries without grenades, which is just an excuse to comfort themselves, who does not know that in naval battles, it is much more difficult to hit the part below the waterline of an enemy ship than to hit a superstructure.

Moreover, in addition to the explosive impact, the grenade also has a certain combustion effect, once the wooden battleship is ignited, or like the previous unlucky battleship, it detonates the ammunition depot, and it can sink the opponent directly with one shot.

In comparison, a solid projectile is simply weakly explosive.

The use of grenades even made John Powell ignore the rate of fire of the opposing fleet's guns, so much so that he looked at the sunken battleship in a demented manner, and forgot for a moment to continue to command the fleet.

The British Navy's execution ability is still very strong, since the captain did not give a new order, then continue to turn, although now the warships of both sides are close to 2,000 meters, and have reached the maximum range of the British Navy's guns, but the captains of each ship held back and did not give the order to fire.

First, John Powell did not give the order to open fire.

Second, at this distance, the accuracy of the naval guns is not even comparable to the first salvo of the Ming army.

According to the British Navy's code, in naval artillery battles, both sides must be at least 1,500 meters close to the first salvo...........