"Hurry, hurry!"

In the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, on the Ming patrol ship Zhang Jing, the captain Han Zhong shouted eagerly. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Next to the boiler next to him, four sailors are desperately shoveling up coal, constantly filling into the fiery red furnace, the fresh water in the boiler is constantly vaporized under the high temperature of the raging fire, accumulating into high-pressure steam, driving the steam engine piston to continue to reciprocate, driving the gear set in the reducer to rotate at high speed, and then turn into a strong low-speed power transmitted to the paddle wheels on both sides of the hull through the transmission shaft, the rotation of the paddle wheel and the auxiliary sails jointly push the three-hundred-ton battleship to more than ten knots of high speed.

And not far behind it, a huge fleet was sailing at full speed, and one after another majestic ships with full sails rode the wind and waves.

The two giant battleships at the forefront, twenty zhang long, with three layers of gun doors, dozens of cannons on each side of the board continued to spray flames outward, the huge cannon sound resounded across the sea, the piercing whistling sound continued to cross, the water column stirred up by the cannonballs continued to rise one after another beside the body of this small boat, rushing the hull to sway violently, looking like an antelope hunted by lions, and the only resistance it could make was a nine-pound deck gun on the front and rear decks, and the fire from the gun muzzle was so weak against the backdrop of the flames like the eruption of the volcano.

"Boom!"

There was a loud bang.

A solid cannonball suddenly hit the foredeck of the Zhang Jing, instantly smashing into fragments and sending a huge hole into the sky.

"Ma, it's really not exquisite, two second-class battleships are besieging a patrol ship."

Han Zhong said sadly.

He is subordinate to the Zhennan Garrison, and now there are such patrol ships in all bases of the Nanyang Ming Army, mainly patrolling the open sea to fight pirates and maintain the route, etc., who would have thought that today he actually hit the Crusader's Grand Fleet, so scared that he quickly turned around and ran, who knew that the machine had a small malfunction, and after the elimination it would become the current situation.

Now it's up to him to see if he can hold on.

His speed was faster than the enemy, but not by much, and he had to hold on for a while to get rid of the enemy, but it was not easy to hold on under the guns of two second-class battleships, which was a full hundred and eighty cannons, even if only half of them were used to bombard him, it was the rhythm of ninety shells every minute or so.

"Armor bombs!"

He gritted his teeth and yelled.

At the same time, another cannonball hit Zhang Jinghao, and the sailors near the deck gun were mourned by the stirred up broken wood, he didn't think much about it, and immediately rushed over with several sailors around him to drag away the dead and wounded, and then the two sailors carried out a wooden box, and after opening it, there were four small wooden boxes inside, and the outside was sealed with wax, and one was taken out and opened, and the inside was still a layer of wax seal, and after opening the wax seal, it was a pointed cylindrical cannonball. The gunners next to him quickly took out the fuse box, took out a metal disc fuse, glanced at the enemy ship as the target, and then punched holes in the position marked on it and installed it, and a soldier who had been waiting for a long time immediately took it and stuffed it into the gun chamber from the front and pushed it to the end.

"Boss, just these four."

The gunner said.

Although the first type of ammunition is good, it is expensive and dangerous to use, even if those battleships only carry a small amount on them, not to mention that they are such miscellaneous patrol ships, each of which is only equipped with a box of life-saving in times of crisis, in fact, they never thought that they would use them to participate in the war.

"Yes!"

Han Zhong said angrily.

Then he lay on the cannon and began to aim carefully, at this time, another cannonball hit the Zhang Jing, and the bow deck gun was smashed away by a huge force, the opponent was a terrifying second-class battleship, and any cannon on it was the lowest level and the nine-pound cannon on the Zhang Jing, twelve pounds is the most basic configuration of the battleship, and other twenty, thirty, forty or even fifty-pound levels are not uncommon, and it is fortunate that it was not hit by the fifty-eight-pound cannon, If that thing hits this small wrecked ship with a solid bullet, it probably will be killed in one shot.

Han Zhong, who had completed aiming, suddenly pulled the cannon rope, and with a loud bang, in the blazing flames erupting from the muzzle, the armor shell spun at high speed and flew towards the target two miles away.

"!"

Immediately after the observer let out a helpless shout, and at the same time an exploding column of water rose next to the enemy ship.

The cannonball hit, and he could even see the side of the second-class battleship opposite in his high-powered telescope, and it was a clear trace, but it was only a trace, and the two-foot-thick solid teak wood directly bounced the small cannonball away, it was too small to penetrate a battleship of this level, and the time fuse could not make it explode at the moment of impact.

"Reload!"

Han Zhong shouted.

The second type A shell was quickly loaded.

Immediately followed by ejaculation.

But it turned out to be a failure.

And then the third.

This one is still missing.

In the undulating waves, even the best gunner has to rely on luck, in fact, because it is a rifled gun and with the help of a rangefinder, the hit rate of the Ming army is already against the sky compared to the European navy, if the enemy on the opposite side can have a one-third hit rate, at this time Zhang Jing would have been bombed into slag.

"The last one!"

The gunner said in a solemn tone.

"I'm afraid of a bird!"

Han Zhong said.

But having said that, when the last cannonball was loaded into the barrel of the cannon, and when he was about to pull the cannon rope after completing the aiming, he still couldn't help but feel the sun and moon talisman hanging around his neck, which is now hung by almost all Ming soldiers, including more and more folk hanging, and even similar temples, temples dedicated to the statue of Emperor Yang, there are often ordinary people hanging the sun and moon talismans to bow in the past, and many of them can still be fulfilled their prayers, as for why it is so effective, this is unknown.

Well, maybe Emperor Yang really heard their prayers.

"The emperor blesses, the emperor blesses!"

Han Zhong muttered silently with a reverent face, and then roared and pulled the cannon rope suddenly, and the last cannonball roared out with the hope of everyone on the Zhang Jing, crashing into the main mast of the enemy ship like a divine help, and then hitting the horizontal deck and bouncing up, suddenly exploding in the air less than a meter high. The brilliant fireworks of white phosphorus flew dazzlingly in all directions, like hellish flames, on the deck, on the sails, and even on the Dutch sailors, and almost in an instant the flames rose, and the whole deck was instantly chaotic.

"Run!"

Han Zhong said proudly.

He didn't have time to stay and see what would happen next, this battleship was the closest to him, and he would definitely not be able to chase it now, although it did not mean that he was completely out of danger, but at least there was a lot of hope.

In the midst of cheers, the sailors in the boiler compartment desperately filled with coal, and the boiler with enough steam drove the steam engine to finally reach the power limit, and the two paddle wheels turned wildly like waterwheels, and the bow of the ship, almost perpendicular to the sea level, ploughed the waves, and the speed of the small boat climbed to thirteen knots. Although this speed seems ridiculous in modern times, in such an era, it can be described as amazing, and the distance between the warships behind them, which are driven by pure wind and are now at most seven or eight knots, is rapidly widening.

After two more shells, the boat, which was almost smashed into a sieve, finally broke out of the range of the enemy's guns.

Ten hours later, they sailed into Malacca, and quickly went to the garrison to report the news, and after learning the news of the arrival of the Dutch Grand Fleet, the garrison of Zhennan Mansion immediately issued an order, and all the Chinese in the outer plantations entered the city, and at the same time sent another patrol ship to report to the Nanyang Economic Envoy of Coconut City, and thousands of defenders and two cruisers of Malacca City were ready to meet these enemies who dared to invade the Ming Dynasty.

And at this time Admiral Bank was looking at the battleship Ruyter with a heavy heart.

The battleship, which had just been commissioned and named after his former boss, Admiral Ruyt, the legendary hero of the Dutch Navy who had saved the Netherlands, was now in shambles, and looked miserable.

The burned mainmast was pitch black, a few broken sails hung on it like rotten rags that had been used for years, and most of the rigging had been burned, and the busy workers were climbing up and down the ground to make repairs. As for the originally spotless teak deck below, it looked even more terrifying, just like the face of the black dead patient was covered with terrifying ablation, the largest black spot even burned through the solid teak plank more than a foot thick, and the falling spark almost detonated the gunpowder on the second deck, if it weren't for the well-trained crew, this battleship would probably be directly buried in the fire.

"Admiral, the Ruyt needs a little time to repair."

The captain of the Ruyter said in a sad tone.

A piece of his hair was burned off his head, and it was shocking to watch.

"This kind of cannonball is too ruthless, the fire may really come from hell, ordinary fighting can't make it extinguish at all, and even splashing water is useless, unless it is poured directly, it will continue to burn just by splashing water, and it can only be completely extinguished by burying it with sand, and once it is stained on wood, it will keep burning like dripping on wax, even if there is only a little spark, it will eventually become a flame, and it is even more terrifying to get on people."

He said as he lifted the sheets from a dead body.

Even Bank, who had experienced many wars, couldn't help but take a step back, and the young officers nearby screamed even more, in front of them was a corpse like a demon, half of this corpse's face was good, but the other half of the face had been burned to charred bones, there was no flesh on it, and there was no flesh on the open mouth, only the same charred teeth attached to the bones.

"It's the result of a little grape-sized Mars."

The captain of the Ruyter said in a sad tone.

"It seems that the liars of the church are really not deceiving people this time, we are indeed fighting against the devil."

Admiral Bank said with a blank face. (To be continued.) )