"Fire!"

He Wen, commander of the Fourth Squadron of the Nanyang Fleet stationed in Cam Ranh Bay, roared excitedly. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

At his feet, the starboard side of the cruiser Sea Tiger was frantically spewing flames outward, and fifteen-pound rifled shells were whistling and flying two hundred feet away, and at the same time, the starboard side of the other three cruisers behind him was constantly spewing out the same flames.

And opposite them, the cannons of the four Dutch battleships were also roaring wildly.

Dense shells staggered over the narrow Strait of Johor, accurately hitting their respective targets, in the splash of broken wood smashed through the thick planks into the inside of the battleship, and then turned into explosive flames, whether it was the Ming warship or the Dutch battleship The same fire ball continued to spray outward like lava that smashed the earth's crust, this is a real blood and fire fight, four cruisers and four battleships fought between this war, which can be called the most tragic battle, The same cast-steel blossom bomb exploded, and the eight warships frantically destroyed each other's bodies.

The artillery of the Ming army had strong penetration.

But the Dutch battleships had thicker planks.

The artillery of the Ming army was highly accurate.

But the Dutch had a large number of cannons.

In this four-on-four showdown between cruisers and battleships, the result of the first round of firing was actually to shoot the same number of shells into each other's hull.

But the Ming army's was mixed with armor bullets.

Countless white phosphorus burning sparks, splashed in the cabin of the Dutchman.

However, this time the effect is not as good as before, because on the deck and bulkheads of the Dutch, especially those powder kegs, are smeared with thick silt and dried to form a layer of hard shell, this ubiquitous material, since ancient times, is the main measure of fire prevention of battleships, although it is impossible to really prevent fire, but it can minimize the power of armor shells, after all, white phosphorus cannot ignite this layer of hard shell, which is why the previous battleship has been destroyed by fifteen shells of two ships in Dinghai.

And this time this means still helped the Dutch to the maximum.

Although the fire still broke out in the hold, it did not ignite the powder keg, and it did not turn into an uncontrollable fire, and when the sailors were desperately trying to extinguish the fire, the cannon roared a second time at the gun position where there was no fire, and the cannon on the Ming cruiser opposite them also fired again, and the dense shells hit their respective targets again.

But it was at this time that a huge bow appeared on the other side of the Dutch.

This was followed by a terrifying muzzle.

"Fire!"

Xu Shou roared with a cruel smile.

The eighty-pound cannon suddenly erupted into flames, and a huge cannonball instantly flew over the sea surface of more than 100 zhang, like a meteorite violently crashed into the starboard side of a Dutch warship, and went straight through the interior with violent power, until it hit the deck on the port side.

With just one shot, the battleship was scrapped.

At the same time, the second eighty-pound cannon also exposed its muzzle, and then the second shell whistled out, and it was impossible to deviate from the distance of more than 100 zhang, and almost instantly drilled into the second Dutch battleship, the result of the latter was no different from the first, and then lost its combat effectiveness under the terrifying power of the explosion. The mud smeared by the Dutch on the battleship was indeed effective against the shells, but it had no meaning against the shells, and the captains of the remaining two battleships, who understood this, raised the white flag as fast as they could before the Ming could fire their guns after the Baiyue had also sailed out.

They surrendered.

Xu Shou and He Wen, who joined forces, then burned the sails of the two battleships and left them directly in the Strait of Johor, while six Ming warships, including the four wounded cruisers, slaughtered out of the strait and headed straight for the main fleet of the Dutch.

The two ships of Zhenwu, which were sailing at full speed halfway, once again left their cruisers and caught up with the two fleets that had already begun to exchange fire at the mouth of the Gamba River, and when they found that they had arrived, Admiral Bank immediately divided six battleships to meet them, while the remaining ships lined up in battle lines, and Chen Han's fleet was separated by fifteen hundred yards and constantly opened fire on each other. Neither of them could help the other with flowering shells at such a distance, because neither shell could penetrate the opponent's plank, and the two fleets that were killing fire kept closing the distance while firing, and soon entered a thousand yards. At this time, the Ming army's 40-pound rifled shells could easily penetrate the opponent, but the Dutch's 42-pounder guns still could not penetrate the Dinghai and Zhenhai, and soon a second-class battleship had to withdraw from the battle because it was too seriously injured.

Admiral Bank commanded the ships to do their best to keep closer, but Chen Han was not a fool, he also tried his best to keep such a distance, and it was not long before another Dutch battleship was beaten to the point of ineffectiveness and fled to the side with billowing smoke to extinguish the fire.

And at this time, the four Ming cruisers also joined the battle, fourteen Ming warships against twenty-one crusader warships.

A large-scale scuffle at sea.

However, the scuffle lasted less than half an hour.

"What did you say?"

Admiral Bank yelled in disbelief as he grabbed an officer by the collar.

On a Dutch cruiser that had just arrived in front of him, the signalman was waving the flag to him, and as for the meaning of the flag, of course, he could not understand it, he just didn't want to believe it.

"General, the Ming army's fleet in Batavia is moving south from the north and is approaching the city of Malacca!"

The officer said with some alarm.

"Quick, order all ships to withdraw from the battle and go to Malacca City immediately!"

Admiral Bank shouted without hesitation.

At the same time, a cold sweat broke out on his head, it was three battleships and six cruisers, and the cruisers of the Ming army could basically be used as third-class battleships, but the planks were thinner, but the firepower of thirty-six twenty-pounder rifled guns was not inferior to that of a battleship with forty or fifty guns, not to mention the magic fire bombs, and he was left in Malacca City with only two medium-sized third-class battleships and a bunch of frigates, the latter's twelve-pounder and nine-pounder guns had no meaning to the battleships.

Once the Ming fleet broke through and intercepted, Ke Houn's army would be targeted by the artillery fire from the flanks, and the barracks and docks they had worked so hard to build would be completely destroyed.

All the Dutch warships that were fighting with the Ming army abandoned their opponents, and then headed north to the city of Malacca, at this time Admiral Bank had only eighteen battleships left in his hands, in addition to the two that had been heavily damaged before, and three more were sunk and one destroyed, but they also sank and destroyed one Ming cruiser each. But such a result is already a fiasco, he knows very well that he will not be able to win the naval battle, if he delays any longer, he will not be able to leave after the arrival of the main Ming fleet, and now admitting defeat and retreating to Colombo is the best option, so that the Ming fleet in the north must be resolved.

Of course, the Ming army would not just watch him leave, especially the two schooner battleships wandered near Admiral Bank's fleet like maggots attached to the bones, relying on the fast speed and long range of the artillery to keep sneaking attacks, and before they could go far, a battleship was blown off the mainmast by an eighty cannonball and had to sail to Sumatra and ran aground. Moreover, those light Ming cruisers also kept approaching to attack, and although it was almost impossible for fifteen pounds of rifled guns to penetrate the battleship, luck would still reap certain results.

In this way, the two fleets fought and headed north.

And by this time it was too late for Bank.

The crusader camp south of Malacca was in desperate panic, and the soldiers fled desperately into the land, with only a small number of artillerymen, lying in front of the cannons and aiming at the sea, where three battleships were slowly approaching. Behind these three battleships, together with the one that had been wounded and hid near Sumatra last time, a total of seven Ming cruisers were fighting fiercely with more than a dozen frigates, the sea was full of burning wreckage, blazing fire and smoke everywhere, and those armed merchant ships were scattering and fleeing, and some even accidentally ran aground on the shore.

This is Chen Han's fleet.

After they bypassed Banda Aceh, they went directly south along the Strait of Malacca, just as Admiral Bank's main fleet ambushed at Longya Gate, how could the two battleships and a bunch of small frigates left behind stop these wolf-like guys, after a cannonball bombarded the two battleships into the bottom of the sea, leaving the cruiser to continue to fight with the frigates, these three battleships came directly to bully the infantry on the shore.

Poor Kohorn's infantry on the shore were like lambs to the slaughter in the face of this thing, what could they do but flee?

However, it is not so easy to escape.

The three battleships lined up on the sea, and the twenty-four pound cannons with a range of more than seven miles were constantly spewing flames, and the cannonballs fell like meteors in the smoke of gunpowder, exploding in the middle of the fleeing crusaders, reaping the lives unscrupulously, and in the light of the explosion, the ghosts who had traveled thousands of miles to this foreign land were blown to pieces, and the stumps and broken arms became fertilizer for the soil.

The living are still screaming and running, but even if they do, what can they do?

This is the tropical rainforest, this is not their homeland, the snakes and beasts of the forest, the natives who are still in the semi-wilderness, will take them as their prey, and hunger and disease will make them disappear forever in the green sea.

Of course, even they can't do that.

Because at this moment, the gates of Malacca City opened, and heavily armed Ming soldiers and armed civilians were surging out, which was a good opportunity to capture prisoners, as Emperor Yang said, what a good cattle. According to the system of the Ming army, the captured prisoners are officially discounted according to the market, and then the discounted money is divided equally among the soldiers of the participating troops, as for the civilian prisoners, this official has no right to interfere, he can sell himself to slave traders, of course, the income from the sale also belongs to the individual, including the capture also belongs to the individual, so the Ming people have always been very enthusiastic about participating in the war. (To be continued.) )