The Spaniards wanted to annihilate the Zhu Li fleet, not the two of them to put on a posture, fight a round, and then stagger each other, allowing the Zhu Li fleet to escape.

Therefore, just when Li Guang was about to 'see the light of day', the ships behind the two columns of the Spaniards, two third-class sail battleships and two fourth-class sail battleships, crossed the southwest and southeast to form a 'closed door' and intercepted them.

But the Mediterranean Sea is a big bath, and there are monsoons and currents here. The direction of the summer monsoon goes without saying, while the ocean currents move from west to east.

- Summers in the Mediterranean are hot and dry, with high evaporation, scarce precipitation, and relatively low sea levels. In the Atlantic Ocean, the oceanic nature is strong, the winter is not cold, the summer is not hot, the evaporation of seawater is much smaller than that of the Mediterranean, and the sea water level is relatively high. In this way, the Mediterranean sea level is relatively low, the Atlantic sea level is relatively high, and the water flows low, so the surface current flows in the same direction: from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.

Because of the ocean currents and monsoons, it was determined that the warships of the two Spanish columns could not be coordinated.

Zhu Lian stood on the deck of Li Guang, shouting 'Forward, forward!' ’

The main fleet could not be surrounded, and they had to lead the Spaniards towards the southeast, the Sardinian fleet. All the enemies present must be dragged into the battle group, and the convoy and escort fleet behind can wait for the opportunity to break through.

Perhaps the escort fleet will be able to shoot back, and as for the remaining merchant fleet, how far can it run, how long it can last, how many can it run, how many can it run.

Anyway, Spain came to find a venue with great fanfare, and it is normal for Zhu Li to have thin arms and legs, and a large number of transport fleets to drag them down. As for whether this will appear to be a breach of trust by Chen Han - they promised the Ottomans at the beginning, but they were guaranteed to send the warship.

Enverpasha, who was also in the fleet, was not worried at all, and he believed that Istanbul would not be worried either.

The small amount of money for ordering warships is not worth the trust of the Chen Han Empire. This time the delivery smashed the pot, and the Ottomans also have every reason to believe that the trustworthy Chinese will 'work harder' to compensate themselves in the next transportation, and will never let themselves suffer a loss.

The Spanish fleet did not continue to attack the transport fleet and the covering fleet, but turned around and went back to the rear, intending to besiege and eat the main fleet led by Zhu Li.

A first-class sail battleship and a second-class sail battleship, and four third-class sail battleships outside, this piece of meat is too fat and fat.

The Spaniards were reluctant.

Compared to this main fleet, both the escort fleet and the transport fleet are less important.

It's just that it's not so easy for the Spaniards to devour their prey in one bite.

Most of Chen Han's warships were equipped with short-barreled large-caliber guns, and 35-kilogram shells could smash a hole the size of a man into a solid and resilient oak plank.

Compared with the 12-pound, 16-pound, 24-pound, and 36-pound long-barreled guns installed on the French warships, and the 35-pound short-barreled shells, the firing range may not be as long as that of the French army, but the destructive power is definitely huge, and the rate of fire is much faster.

No matter how short the 35-kilogram short-barreled artillery is, the effective firing range can reach seven or eight hundred meters, which can just meet the separation distance of naval battles.

These heavy short-barreled guns themselves were placed on the top deck, and the angle of fire was much stronger than that of the middle and lower decks, so they were more useful in battle.

With the powerful firepower of a single ship and the superior quality of the sailors and gunners, the main fleet led by Zhu Lian could not be underestimated although it was outnumbered. Their firepower is also ferocious.

Although it was night, the searchlights on each warship made them so conspicuous to each other. Moreover, there was a fire on the Li Guang that was quickly extinguished.

During the battle, the artillery level of the main fleet led by Zhu Lian was obviously inferior to that of the Battle of Gibraltar, which could only be the result of their mental stress.

But even then, the shelling effect was much stronger than that of the Spaniards - on average.

With great courage, the Li Guang rushed straight ahead of a Spanish third-class sail battleship.

This is part of the Spaniards' shut-offs. The latter did not show weakness, and rows of shells smashed towards Li Guanghao.

The distance between the two sides has rapidly shortened, from one nautical mile to one kilometer, and from one kilometer to seven or eight hundred meters again, and the distance is constantly shortening.

"Rush up, rush up. Prepare the rockets—" Zhu Li's eyes were red. It's already at a disadvantage, and if you don't have the courage to fight hard, it's all over.

He held a meeting before and asked all officers and men to be prepared to live and die with the ship, so he naturally had the determination to die.

In the first game against Spain in the Strait of Gibraltar, his mentality quickly adjusted.

Prior to this, Zhu Lian and his subordinate officers and soldiers agreed that it was impossible for Westerners to pick up China's tiger whiskers at this time. But the Spanish came to pick it up, and not only that, but they were also going to cut the tiger's beard directly.

Then, this time the nature of the mission immediately changed. What started as a 'long journey' has become a dangerous game.

"Ready to shoot—" The distance between the battleships was already just over 600 meters.

You know, when the distance goes to 500 meters, the rocket can be launched.

In these years, the naval warships fired rockets, which was a real desperate effort. One is unlucky, and a single rocket can detonate half of the deck.

The Spanish warship was timid, it retreated.

The Spanish navy on the battlefield had an absolute numerical superiority, and the ratio of capital ships on both sides was 2:1.

The Spaniards didn't want to go to God so early.

So the Spanish 3rd sail battleship retreated.

This is a sudden change.

In the arrangement before the start of the battle, as the four battleships that closed the door and beat the dogs, the Spaniards also asked them to complete the task. As a result, the battleship dropped its chain at a critical moment.

It doesn't matter if it retreats, the whole 'door' is open.

Eight capital warships drilled straight out of the 'gate', and the arrows were straight to the Sardinian fleet. At this time, half an hour had passed.

Therefore, the naval battles of this era are wasted.

After a battle is fought, no matter how smooth the process is, it will not take five or six hours in vain.

Just the fleet lined up in a line to go back and forth, it would take half an hour, an hour.

Zhu Lian relied on his desperate spirit to successfully drag the Sardinia fleet into the water. Then the convoy and escort behind can leave. The Spaniards didn't stop them, perhaps they really valued the eight ships in the encirclement.

After all, there is a first-class sail battleship, and this thing is a treasure in any country. If you can eat it in one bite, the Spanish Navy will have a glow on its face.

Thirty or forty warships on both sides engaged in a life-and-death battle on the sea, and for a time the sea was covered with smoke from artillery firing, and even with the sea breeze, the visibility was still very low. And this situation was obviously very unfavorable to Zhu Li, because then the ships lost contact with each other and fell into a melee.

At 10:20 a.m., exactly two hours after the battle began, another sudden turn of events reversed the course of the naval battle.

The convoy that had already left turned around and killed back.

The strength of the latter is not very strong. Even if they come out of the nest, their power is quite limited. Not to mention that they also left behind two relatively slow third-class sail battleships.

In other words, there were only four fourth-class sail warships, two thousand-ton flying shear bow warships and four fifth-class sail warships.

Ten warships turned around and came back, and all of them turned off their lights, and all of them groped in the dark with their eyes closed.

Sailing at night without traffic lights hanging between each other, it is very likely to get lost or collide with each other.

But just as Zhu Lian made people close to the Spaniards to play with their lives, the frigate pair is also very aware of the danger tonight, if they don't fight this battle with desperate faith, by dawn tomorrow, then there will really be no death.

Fortunately, they made it all the way to the battlefield safely.

……

"Boom ......"

Another shell hit the stern of the "San Padro", shattering fragments of wood and leaving the captain's cabin in shambles.

But for the giant ship, this does not affect anything at all.

"Your Excellency, the Inazuma has withdrawn from the battle, the waterline part of the ship is flooding, and the situation looks more difficult." An anxious voice sounded in the ears of Admiral Don Juan Langara of Spain, and His Excellency, who had experienced one brutal naval battle after another, pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.

In fact, there was no need for him to say anything, the level of Chinese gunners greatly exceeded his expectations, and the training level of these gunners was much higher than that of Spanish gunners. In short, in this battle, Spain did not have the upper hand as he thought.

They had the upper hand only with warships.

Obviously, there are only eight enemy ships, and the combined fleet of Spain~Sardinia is four times that of the enemy, and the number of naval guns is also two to three times that of them, but two hours have passed, and the combined fleet of Spain~Sardinia can only have the upper hand and cannot win.

The flagship of the Chinese was badly beaten, but it was this three-stage sail battleship that was badly beaten, but the Spanish and Sardinian warships were frequently forced to retreat in embarrassment.

Langara does not advocate unnecessary sacrifices, especially if they have the upper hand. But now he preferred that the "San Padro" on which he was riding would appear in front of the abominable Chinese 3rd class battleship in the next moment, and that he would not retreat. Even if the "San Padro" was an expensive 1st sail battleship. His captain, Rear Admiral Ignacio Arava, would not retreat either.

- The mighty "San Padro" will send the Chinese warship to the bottom of the sea with artillery and rockets.

And now the Spanish warships that are frequently retreating are no longer avoiding senseless sacrifices, but a kind of cowardice, but a kind of shame.

It is undeniable that Don Juan Langara's attention was completely attracted by the main fleet led by Zhu Li. He really didn't pay attention when the two shear-bow warships came out of the darkness and fired rockets at a three-class sail battleship.

He thought the Chinese ships had fled.

Langara had always considered annihilating the eight enemy capital ships in front of him, and then eating the weakened Chinese fleet little by little, like hunting in the jungle.

Now, the fires of the two shear-bow warships are the USS San Antonio, a 3rd class sail battleship. His captain had noticed the two shear-bow warships before they approached.

The San Antonio also chose to retreat, but its speed was not as fast as that of a flying shear-bow warship.

Then, when the rockets from the Flying Shear Bow hit them, the rockets fired from the San Antonio also hit them.

The San Antonio exploded, a thunderous roar that could be heard by the convoy on the sea more than a dozen kilometers away, and in the explosion, a huge fireball rose on the sea, and the sails and corpses were thrown into the air, and then fell into the sea, and there was a dead silence all around.

Unfortunately, the San Antonio was killed.

In this era, gunpowder kegs were often placed next to the deck gun emplacements of warships, and although the rockets were not very penetrating, they covered a huge area after explosion.

And even a small spark can easily ignite a barrel of gunpowder, and then pass it one after the other. Destroying half of the deck is light, and the heavy is the complete disintegration of a massive warship.

The San Antonio is the latter.

In the explosion of "boom ......", the whole person of Marlin Eleven, the young pipe belt was lifted up by the shock wave generated by the explosion of the powerful rocket, as if there was an invisible giant hand, picking him up and throwing him into the bulkhead.

The entire command podium was overturned.

When the pipe band recovered from the explosion, his forehead bleeding profusely, the first thing he saw was the command platform that had been destroyed by the storm, and the fire was still burning on the aft deck of the explosion.

His signal corps, attendants, etc., were swept into the corner like garbage swept by the shockwave.

"Doctor, doctor?"

The pipe band shouted loudly, and the people in the command platform were all 'wounded', but the first mate on the back deck was swept by a piece of broken wood in the explosion just now, as if he had been slashed by a knife, and he was dripping with blood. Blood stained the clothes red.

The first mate did not know where the strength came from when he saw the pipe belt, and the two men supported each other, staggered to the side of a ship with a large opening missing, and kicked a closed powder keg into the sea through the gap in the side of the ship.

This was originally the place where a 12-pound cannon was located, but now everyone here, along with the cannon, is gone, and only a powder keg remains. Not far away is a raging fire.

It was a blessing that the powder keg did not explode.

The open flames on the aft deck were already being extinguished, but a powder keg at close range was just as threatening. And when they looked at the San Antonio from here, they saw thick black smoke in front of them.

Of the two flying shear ships, only one was bombed, and the other was unscathed.

The bombed shear warship was hit not by one rocket, but by two, and the bow of the ship was also gnawed. Thick black smoke rose, and there was a faint flame in it.

The sailors aboard Marlin 11 are already pumping seawater from a water pump to put out the fire.

Hustle and bustle and black smoke became the theme on the aft deck and aft deck at this moment.

Pipe Band did not mourn the loss, he only rejoiced in his good fortune and the bad luck of the enemy. The same was a rocket bombardment, and there was nothing wrong on his side, and a third-class sail battleship exploded in the enemy's place at once.

The powder keg and the deck of the ship made of balsa wood are not strong or not, but they are only said to be insulated from fire and heat, which does have some effect.