The Spanish warships were two horizontal columns, head to tail, and there were also a "reserve" of more than a dozen armed merchant ships on the side, which was the usual formation of the Europa navy. The battleship "Royal September" in the front, and the "Rose of Verona" in the back, lined up in the front row, became the commanding height of this horizontal formation.

The helmsmen of the four Sea Shark ships are all among the best helm masters in the navy, not to mention that Lao Jin personally went into battle, the helmsman of the Silver Shark of the Baiyan Dingzao ship is still a Portuguese, and he was the second officer of the Portuguese Navy battleship. They seized the two battleships, which were much larger than the other Spanish ships, and burst in, with both guns in unison, inflicting serious damage on a cruiser and the stern of the Rose of Verona.

The rudder of the cruiser was broken, and several shells pierced the stern, almost sweeping most of the gun deck, losing its combat effectiveness on the spot, and drifting out of the horizontal formation. The hull of the "Rose of Verona" was so high that it only smashed the luxuriously equipped tail to shreds, but did not hurt the internal organs.

After the Sea Shark ship cut in, it met the artillery fire of the second layer of ships, and the four Sea Shark ships had their own responses, and the shortcomings of the British and Chinese navy's lack of experience in major wars were exposed. Xiao Sheng's flagship Golden Shark turned the rudder to the left, trying to be caught in the enemy ship column in parallel, so as to develop the firepower of both sides, and at the same time avoid the deadly fire of the "Royal September". The wingman Bronze Shark was red-eyed by the previous flanking attack, turned the rudder to the right, and was immediately attacked by the "Royal September" and the enemy on the stove side of the horizontal team.

Hu Hanshan even saw that although a large number of Haiao ships poured in from the gap made by the Sea Shark ship, in the process of stretching left and right, the pace was very inconsistent, some drilled the inner side of the team, and some drilled the outer side, although the Spaniards were assaulted, the formation was still not chaotic, and they were always able to bombard the Anglo-Chinese single ship that broke through with the side of the two ships. Fortunately, most of the opponents are 12-16-pounder guns, and the Haiao ships that take the lead are all newly built ships that have been strengthened by the ship's board, otherwise there would really be a tragedy of rushing up and being smashed one by one.

After breaking into the enemy's formation, the Haiao ships were beaten all the way, and most of them subconsciously turned their rudders to face the enemy with their broadside, and only a few of them still rushed forward in the face of a flanking attack, preparing to penetrate the horizontal formation and bombard the bow and tail of the enemy ships at the same time.

Hu Hanshan's heart tightened, his attempt to break the opponent's formation failed, he looked at the two battleships, and said in his heart that if the Sea Shark ship failed to suppress these two big guys, this battle would be a complete defeat.

"Just go sideways! Bump into it! Even if we're done, we're going to scrap this guy's leg! ”

On the Bronze Shark, a lieutenant general had blood on his face, but he didn't care about it, and just shouted loudly.

This lieutenant general is becoming more and more inconspicuous in the Anglo-Chinese Navy, and he is almost Xiao Sheng's shadow, helping Xiao Sheng to deal with chores silently. If it weren't for the sudden rise to prominence before the war, many front-line generals would almost have forgotten about this person.

Liang Deguang, when it comes to the art of naval warfare, has been abolished after he took charge of the executive affairs of the Admiralty of the Commander-in-Chief. When he asked for war, Xiao Sheng also said that someone had to take care of naval affairs in the rear, but Liang Deguang said that if this battle was lost, the navy would have nothing to take care of.

Xiao Sheng said this, so he had to agree to him, and Liang Deguang also practiced the oath of "fighting to the death" with his own actions.

The Bronze Shark leaned on the remaining two masts and continued to turn the rudder, even if it was hit from the left and right, and the hull was bombarded to pieces, it still did not hesitate to tilt its bow towards the "Royal September".

"Crazy Stove...... Turn the rudder! Turn the rudder! ”

Rear Admiral Pedro watched in amazement as the battered enemy ship crashed into it, and if it was held back, even if the battleship had 56 guns over 9 pounder guns, including 22 30-pounder guns, it would have become a living target.

It was too late, and the Spaniards could never have imagined that such a cruiser would dare to go to the side of the battleship. The battleship can dispatch three or four hundred men to fight hand-to-hand, and it is easy to deal with this ship.

There was a loud noise in Galala, and even if a 1,500-ton warship was hit by a nearly 1,000-ton Sea Shark ship, it was no longer possible to stand firm, and the huge hull shook suddenly. The long mast on the bow of the Bronze Shark snapped instantly, leaving half of the mast to cut a deep crack in the plank of the "Royal September", and finally poked into a gun door on the main gun deck.

Pedro scolded: "Jump gang! Clean up this crazy stove ship! ”,

With the advantage that the upper deck was five or six feet higher than the Sea Shark ship, the Spaniards' deck guns hit their heads and faces, and Liang Deguang was still shouting: "Feed all the cannons to these kings!" Let them ......"

There was a crushing sound, and the Spaniards' shotguns washed over the deck of the Copper Shark like a rain of iron, and Liang Deguang's shouting came to an abrupt end.

The sound of people stopped, but the sound of artillery did not. The gun deck of the Bronze Shark was in tatters, and on the side of the "Royal September", only four of the ten 20-pound guns were still firing, and the eight guns on the other side were still intact with an overspeed of almost three rounds in two minutes, and the enemy ship on the side of the stove in the horizontal formation was blown to shreds, and there was no strength to fire again.

The fighting on the deck was endless, and when the sound of footsteps approached, the more than forty gunners who were still alive on the gun deck silently picked up their muskets and gathered together.

Spanish soldiers poured down from the front and back, and the officers shouted in stiff Chinese: "Surrender and die!" ”

He was answered by a burst of gunfire, which was then muffled by the fiercer gunfire of the Spaniards.

At 8:03 a.m. on 17 April, Zhonglang General Liang Deguang was killed in battle, and all 370 officers and men of the Bronze Shark were killed.

When the Bronze Shark collided with the "Royal September", Xiao Sheng already knew such an ending. He closed his eyes in pain, then opened them widely, and cried out, "Good opportunity! Turn right! ”

It was a good opportunity, as the Bronze Shark dragged the "Royal September" to the right, and the right side gun also lost its angle of fire. The Golden Shark had the opportunity to keep its side in the direction of the opposing ship's bow. And its butt strands were also exposed from the array, and Xiao Sheng believed that his subordinates would definitely be able to seize this opportunity.

This was the first turning point in the Battle of Subic, and Liang Deguang dragged down the formation of the two Spanish battleships with the sacrifice of the Bronze Shark. Of course, if no one in the Anglo-Chinese Navy can seize this opportunity, this opportunity will be lost when the "Royal September" gets rid of the Copper Shark that was stabbed in its stomach.

"Up! Break this guy's rudder! ”

A group of Haiao ships in the rear that had not yet broken through into the enemy formation were commanded by Luo Wugui, and when he saw the huge battleship deflected inward, and the farts were also warped out of the horizontal formation, Luo Wugui shouted excitedly.

Without using binoculars, Pedro could already see several small boats sailing towards the rear of the "Royal September", and he reluctantly gave the order to turn left of the "Verona Rose", which was fighting against two sea sharks, and also protrude out of the horizontal formation to cover the stern of the "Royal September".

As the two battleships broke away from the formation, the scale of the god of war gradually returned to its original balance.

"The battle really begins! Raise my flag! Let's go all the way! ”

Hu Hanshan finally let out a long breath, and said in his heart that our sacrifice should be enough, and now it is time for the Spaniards to taste what it is like to be miserable.

First his two ships, then a group, then a team, and three groups of six ships struggled to get rid of the fire of the Spaniards, broke into the outside of the formation, formed a battle line, and rushed towards the front of the formation.

At this time, after paying a heavy price, the other Haiao ships finally stretched out in the Spanish formation, and fought fiercely at a distance of two or three hulls.

At this time, the structural differences and combat characteristics of the warships of the two sides have been fully revealed, and the hull of the Haiao ship, the small cannon of the Spaniards is difficult to cause much damage, but if it is hit by a cannon of more than 16 pounds, a large hole will be broken in one shot. The Spanish warships, under the bombardment of the Anglo-Chinese navy with an astonishing rate of fire, were cracked one by one, no matter how thick or thin.

On the battlefield, the damage of the Haiao ship is shocking, but surprisingly, it has not been sunk yet, thanks to the unique structure of the Anglo-Chinese naval warship. All Anglo-Chinese naval warships have two hulls, from the bottom of the ship to below the main gun deck, there are seven to ten layers of watertight cabins, and above the gun deck is a through-cabin. This not only ensures considerable unsinkability, but also has a cabin to arrange the gunwales.

The disadvantage of this is that the ribs of the Anglo-Chinese battleship are not as dense and strong as the Europa battleship, and although the board is thickened, the strength is still insufficient, so that the hull is seriously damaged. But as long as you don't get penetrated by more than two watertight cabins, you can still have a certain amount of mobility, and you can continue to fight. ,

Comparatively speaking, the Spaniards' warship, as long as the planks near the waterline were blown up, the ship was in great danger. Several Spanish warships on the battlefield were already skewed into the water, a sign of imminent sinking.

"It's settled! The muzzle of the cannon is aimed at theirs! Whoever blinks loses! ”

Lin Lang's shouts were also issued by the other captains, resounding through the upper and lower decks of the Haiao ship. However, the distance of more than ten zhang is who fights who is big and who is fast.

The superiority of the Anglo-Chinese navy was finally revealed, and on the gun deck, the sound of rumbling wheels crushing the rails was endless, and the guns were wiped, the ammunition was loaded, and the repositioning was carried out in one go. Ten feet away, the opponent was pulling the rope hard, trying to pull the gun carriage into place and then adjust the position of the gun port.

But before the gun truck could be in place, a 12-pound shell burst in, cracking the gap between the gun and the gun door, smashing the gun car several meters away, and throwing this group of six gunners away by the way. The shell hit the top of the gun deck and bounced down, smashing the bottom deck and dragging another gun down.

The time for the Spaniards to fire one cannon was enough for the British and Chinese Navy to fire two cannons, and Hu Hanshan's flag fluttered high, and the Haiao fleet column led by this flag was like a steel gun, bombarding the small ships on the other side of the Spanish column. The helmsmen of these six Haiao ships have already performed at a super level, and they can barely maintain a consistent battle line in this chaotic battlefield.

"Reserves, dispatch!"

Pedro noticed the disturbance of his own ships on this small battle line, and his two battleships held the enemy's most elite combat forces at the top. If the other ships were unable to hold the battle, there was a danger that they would be divided and besieged by an enemy force with a superior numerical advantage. At this moment, he had to dispatch the more than a dozen Wuzao merchant ships in the rear, as long as he could entangle that small battle line. When the three enemy ships in front of you are eliminated and the battleships are freed, the enemy will be defeated.

"It's time for the lads in the back!"

Through the smoke and fog, on the Silver Shark, which was chasing the stern of the "Rose of Verona", Bai Yanding saw the group of enemy ships in the distance turning rudder approaching, and he hurriedly sent out a signal.

There are three kinds of signal bodies of the Anglo-Chinese Navy: flags, lights and horns, and the most unique is the horn. This kind of long horn horn with unique audio was also obtained by Zhang Hanwan from Tibet, and the low sound can penetrate the sound of artillery and spread more than ten miles away, which is most suitable for battlefield communication. Combined with flags and lights, it ensures that the message is received accurately.

In the northwest direction, 30 small longitudinal sail sea carp ships were like wolves out of a cage, pulling out large white waves and rushing towards the battlefield. In this battle, Xiao Sheng brought four Sea Shark ships, thirty Haiao ships, and thirty Sea Carp ships, which could not withstand the intersecting artillery fire of the two armies, and just used them as reserves.

At this point in the battle, the Anglo-Chinese Navy barely stood on its feet, but it had already damaged one Sea Shark ship, and at least seven Haiao ships had lost their combat effectiveness. In addition, another Sea Shark ship, Hu Hanshan's former flagship Iron Shark, was also broken in the back mast, and the captain Bai Lianren and Bai Yanding's clan uncle were killed by a cannon.

At 9 o'clock on 17 April, the naval battle of Subic entered the second phase, and neither side had any reservations...... ）