The sun is blazing, and the beautiful South China Sea is full of blue waves.

The scenery was pleasant, but the officers and men of the Dutch East India Fleet were dejected. On the flagship Leiden, the commander, Rear Admiral Reyoz, was grim-faced. By noon, the other officers and soldiers were eating, but Reyoz's stomach was full of anger and grievance, and he had no appetite to eat.

"Enemy ships spotted!"

A shout from the watchtower sent Rayoz to a stirring.

"Nammh"

Hurriedly climbed up to the stern battlement, and standing on a high place, Reyoz observed the situation with a telescope.

A fleet suddenly appeared in the northwest, sailed south, trailing the Dutch fleet. However, when Reyoz saw the Ming flag hanging on the opponent's mainmast and "That." After the word flag, he was immediately furious.

"Ready for battle!"

Dangdang!

A hurried bell rang, and the officers and men of the Dutch Navy ships quickly moved into battle and entered combat posts.

Colonel Teel, the adjutant, also hurried out of the cabin, wiped the rice from the corners of his mouth, and straightened his clothes to come to Retiz's side.

"It's the damn Ming fleet! small

Till counted carefully, about eleven battleships, and looking at their gun doors, there were more than twenty on the side of the ship.

"It is Deng Haonan's main fleet."

Rejoz sneered: "What about the main fleet? This time, I had to hit them with a blue nose and swollen face, and there was no return! ”

On the opposite side was none other than the 1st Squadron of the Pacific Fleet.

The Pallas cruiser led the way, followed by ten Galen-type cruisers, breaking the waves ten miles from the Dutch fleet.

"Would you like to go over and get a few mustaches down?"

On the cruiser Pallas, Captain John quipped. It's been a long time since they got along, and John and other British sailors have learned a lot of Chinese, but they are not very proficient.

"Great idea!" Shi Jianfei said with a smile: "When greeting the Dutch, you always have to ask for a greeting gift."

Shen Yangwei put down his clairvoyant eyes and leaned over and said, "The Dutch have discovered us!" ”

Shi Jianfei and John hurriedly fixed their eyes on the enemy situation, and sure enough, ten Dutch cruisers broke away from their team and headed towards them. Then, ten more cruisers sped up. And maneuver in a southwesterly direction. The remaining Dutch ships slowed down.

"The Dutch want to surround us".

The intentions of the Dutch were quickly seen through by the experienced old captain of the ships, and at the moment the First Squadron had only eleven cruisers, while the Dutch fleet had thirty cruisers and fifty frigates. As well as a large number of sloops.

According to the Pacific Fleet's understanding of Dutch naval tactics, the Dutch Navy emphasized speed and flexibility, with an emphasis on melee combat and gang-hopping tactics. They are good at using arson boats. They are good at hand-to-side combat, as they have excellent seamanship and a lot of melee experience.

Fighting with the Dutch Navy for navigation technology and warship control is undoubtedly tantamount to death. John has always warned Shi Jianfei and others that the Pacific Fleet has just mastered navigation technology, and its handling of warships is far inferior to that of the Dutch Navy. The only hope of victory is to engage in an artillery battle with the opponent from a long distance and take advantage of the Pacific Fleet's powerful naval firepower.

Shi Jianfei and the others knew in their hearts that the strength of the Dutch Navy in front of them was beyond doubt. The only advantage of the Pacific Fleet was to surpass the Dutch Navy in the rate of fire and range of naval guns. The Dutch Navy still used front-loading arquebus-fired naval guns, with an average of three rounds in two minutes, while the Pacific Fleet used rear-loading seam-fired naval guns, with an average of five rounds in two minutes. In addition, after the Battle of the Black Water Ocean, the soldiers' psychological quality and level of shooting have improved, and a distance artillery battle with the Dutch Navy is the way out for the Pacific Fleet.

John reminded: "The Dutch navy as a whole is very scattered, but the individual ships are strong. They like to rush over and fight in close combat without listening to commands, and fight the enemy hand-to-hand with the guò jump gang to achieve the goal of capturing the enemy's warship. ”

That's right! The overall coordination of the Dutch navy was so poor that if the ships found their prey, they would forget the orders of the commander and rush forward to rob the enemy of their wealth. If you define them, they are a group of undisciplined pirates.

These days, John is more and more fond of staying in the Pacific Fleet. Because he felt that the Pacific Fleet was a whole, and the most direct thing was the standard uniform and rank, which was not available to the British and Dutch navies or even Spain.

Look at a group of officers and men of the Pacific Fleet in uniform and look at the Dutch sailors in a variety of clothes, the latter is clearly the role of pirates.

Although John and the others used to be pirates, they have become "legitimate pirates" since following Na Haonan. Finish.

In a happy mood, John and other foreign officers were always chattering about their maritime experience. For Shi Xiaofei and Shen Yangwei and others, as juniors, they need to dig more experience from John's predecessors.

"Didn't you say how many mustaches he had?

"Of course!" John laughed, "Don't be in a hurry? The Dutch don't fire lightly, in their words, "Hey! Look at it, don't break my boat! Oh my God, that's my ship, how can you bear to poke her in a few holes, you're so cruel"

Looking at John's appearance and expression as he learned from the Dutch officer, Shi Jianfei, Shen Yangzi and the others couldn't help laughing.

However, the mentality of the Dutch naval officers and men described by John is true.

Shi Jianfei thought for a while and said, "Since they are greedy, then we can tempt them to annihilate!" ”

"Great idea!" Shen Yang nodded his head, so he ordered the first team to avoid it.

The sea breeze blows the sails

The First Sentai accelerated to the southwest, closing the distance between them and the Dutch fleet. In this way, the main Dutch fleet, which was slowing down, was left behind. Only the ten Dutch battleships that accelerated to the east and were ready to outflank the First Sentai were the closest.

Rejoz watched the Pacific Fleet flee and was immediately a little disappointed. Originally, he divided the fleet into three groups and prepared to encircle the Pacific Fleet. Unexpectedly, the other party discovered his intentions.

Adjutant Thiel said: "The enemy only has eleven warships, and according to intelligence analysis, this is Di Haonan's main battleship. ”

Rayoz nodded, he knew that Deng Haonan only had twelve warships to hold the table. It can compete with the Dutch fleet. Now, except for the Black Pearl, the other eleven capital ships have appeared, much to Reyoz's excitement.

So Reyoz ordered thirty cruisers to maintain their current formation and continue to pursue the enemy, while the rest of the battleships continued to maintain their course.

"The Ming people have now learned to pilot our advanced warships, but they are still in the initial stage, not to mention that our thirty ships against eleven ships, even if they are one-on-one, they are not our opponents."

Adjutant Thiel agreed, supporting Reyoz's Jianyì.

Rayoz suddenly said, "If we keep chasing them, will they still be able to run?" ”

"Of course not?" Thiel said with a smile: "With the Ming people's level of control of this kind of warship, it is equivalent to the fishermen of Europe, we will definitely be able to catch them if we round them up from three directions."

Thiel's encouragement and approval gave Reyoz confidence.

"Strike with all the fleet!" Rayoz immediately ordered thirty cruisers to pursue the 1st Squadron of the Pacific Fleet in three directions. Not to be outdone, other frigates and sloops turned to pursuit.

"Oops!" John chirped and said, "We look like we've stabbed a hornet's nest!" ”

Shi Jianfei and Shen Yangwei were also nervous, and soon the former said, "Don't worry. Although they have many ships, they can only have at most twenty-two warships at the same time to form an angle of attack on us. ”

John laughed, "That's right! They are nothing but bluffing! ”

Shen Yangwei said: "But the enemy's sloops are fast, and they will catch up with us in a few hours, and once they are entangled, we will have to fight the enemy's capital ships!" ”

Shi Jianfei looked at the sky, and the sky was still clear.

Hours of chase. The Dutch fleet persevered, closely pursuing the First Squadron. Several attempts were made to close the circle, but they were all thrown off by Team One. I have to admit that the Dutch maneuvered quite well, and even with the help of the side wind, the battleship could maintain a high speed in pursuit.

On the contrary, Team 1 is much inferior in this regard. If it weren't for the Pallas as the lead ship to guide the course, the First Sentai would have been surrounded by the Dutch fleet long ago.

The Dutch dhow was faster and after several hours of pursuit. Gradually walked in front of the first team. Rejouz hurriedly ordered them to harass the First Sentai in order to slow down the advance of the First Sentai and buy time for the Dutch fleet to encircle the First Sentai Force.

"Twenty-two on the starboard side, twenty-three on the port side."

As the sentinels reported the situation, the Dutchman's clipper was slowly approaching, trying to interfere with the course and speed of the First Sentinels.

"As soon as they get close to us, they'll fire giant harpoons!"

John reminded them that the Dutch liked to approach with a clipper and then fire a giant harpoon to tie the opponent's ship, so that they could drag the opponent's ship to slow down or even not move.

Shi Jianfei asked, "How far can you shoot us?"

John said, "About seventy or eighty meters!" But when they were two or three hundred meters away, they started sprinting."

The opposing side has a lot of clippers, so it can't wait until the other side enters a distance of two or three hundred meters before firing, then it's too late.

Shi Jianfei and Shen Yangwei glanced at each other, and the latter immediately ordered the ships to enter the battle state.

Dangdang!

A hurried bell rang, and the flagship, the Pallas, sounded a battle alarm. Then, the whistles of the ships sounded, the gunners took their positions, and the port and port gun doors opened.

At this moment, two schooners on the left and right sides of the Pallas began to turn, accelerating diagonally and approaching, rolling up layers of huge waves.

The enemy ships approached, and the countdown began.

"Seven hundred meters".

"Six hundred meters".

"Five hundred meters!"

Shi Jianfei's eyes tightened, and he ordered: "Open the cannon!" Captain John! ”

"Fire!"

Captain John took the order, turned around and repeated the order, and then the secret order descended to the commander's ear.

Knock knock!

The starboard side of the Pallas opened fire first, and twenty Aares guns spewed angry flames and smoke, and one shell weighing twelve kilograms whizzed towards the enemy ship.

As the cannonballs fell from the sky, columns of water rose into the sky, and the sea suddenly boiled. Under the intense firepower, several schooners were shot on board, and there was a brief pause. The effective range of live ammunition of the Ares artillery was 900 meters, and now it is at a distance of 500 meters. The kinetic energy of the cannonball was so powerful that it slammed through the schooner's knee-weak hull. Then the powerful impact pierced the bilge, piercing the bottom of the schooner through a hole the size of a basin. The sea poured into it, throwing the schooner off balance.

Immediately afterwards, the ten cruisers behind opened fire in turn, and the shells rained down on the Dutch battleships, causing heavy casualties to the caught Dutch battleships, and the first round of shelling hit nine schooners. Since the tonnage of the schooner belongs to the unprotected warship, once hit by a shell, there is no spare manpower on board to repair the hole, so in most cases it is already incapacitated. Suddenly, "hit, Linghe! People panicked at their concept, and the navies of various countries opened fire about 500 meters from the 7th Dragon. In particular, the Ming Dynasty, which is still backward in navy, is really surprising compared to the Pacific Fleet, which has just learned to walk with the European maritime powers.

"Port side artillery fire ready!"

At the sound of an order, the gunners, who had just finished firing on the starboard side, quickly switched to the port gun position. The loader, on the other hand, immediately cleared the chamber of the starboard gun, reloaded it and fired the charge.

After experiencing the Battle of the Black Water Ocean, the psychological quality of the officers and men of the Pacific Fleet was much better, and the belief in victory swelled again.

"Fire!"

Knock knock!

The order was given, and the guns of the first squadron roared outboard on the port side, and the fiery snakes spewed out, and shells whistled and fired at the enemy ships. Suddenly, the waves rolled and the smoke filled the air.

In the middle, a Dutch schooner trying to approach quickly, the bow of the ship was hit by three shells in succession, and the powerful impact force shattered the bow of the schooner, and the inertia caused the ship to make a ninety-degree turn, and the huge harpoon firing lock was shattered and shot out with a whoosh. Unexpectedly, the harpoon hit the stern of the schooner in front, and the reverse tearing force of the sail immediately caused the ship in front to turn and crash into the ship next to it.

On the other side of a schooner, the sailor saw that the rope was blocking the way, and hurriedly turned the sail sideways, trying to avoid it. However, each schooner was relatively close, and it was too late to turn. Seeing that the situation was not good, the sailor immediately crouched down, and the schooner's mast struck the taut rope and broke when he boarded. The mast fell to the sea, pulling the saillock to bring the schooner down. The sailor hurriedly got up and jumped into the sea, but the broken rope swirled and swept around, tying the sailor's neck, and in an instant a corpse was separated.

Bang bang bang!

Shells followed one after another, hitting the dense column of schooners. The fragile schooner could not withstand the impact of a cannonball, and a single shell was enough to fatally wound it, and if several shells hit at the same time, it would be scattered in an instant.

The first team opened their bows left and right, and caught the Dutch by surprise, and the Dutch schooner commando, which was originally in strict formation, was suddenly defeated after a blow, and turned around to evade.

Rayoz, who was chasing behind, immediately gritted his teeth when he saw it, the always arrogant Dutch schooner commandos, which used to run rampant on the world's oceans, did not succeed today.

Adjutant Thiel said: "Your Excellency, it seems that the Pacific Fleet does have the capital to be arrogant, their artillery can fire at a distance of five hundred meters, and it can reach the hit rate of one out of ten shells

Rejoz calculated in his heart that according to this calculation, it would not be cost-effective to use the schooner to contain the enemy. Because the opposing cruiser had as many as twenty guns on the side of the ship, at least two shells hit the schooner in one salvo, which was enough to destroy the vulnerable schooner.

The schooners could not get close to the enemy ships, and the losses and casualties were only increased. Rear Admiral Reyoz hastily ordered the schooners to retreat. Since the opponent had only eleven warships, the Dutch fleet, although it had eighty warships, could not be deployed in front of the other side.

Rejoz saw this, so he ordered the frigate to withdraw from the battle, and the task of pursuing the enemy was given to thirty cruisers.

At 5:10 p.m., the Dutch Navy finally caught up with the first team with excellent battleship handling skills.

At this time, the first team was located thirty nautical miles southwest of Huayu Island. The first detachment of the Dutch fleet was located five miles to the right of the first squadron, the second detachment was eight miles to the left rear of the first squadron, and the third detachment was six miles behind the first squadron.

The operational purpose of the Dutch fleet was already obvious, encircling the 1st Squadron from three directions and trying to drive the 1st Squadron forward along the route they had set.

At 5:30 a.m., the 1st Detachment of the Dutch Fleet turned 10 degrees to the left and approached the 1st Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. At a distance of 900 meters, the first gun of the first gun deck and the tenth gun of the second gun deck of the first gun deck on the port side of the ships of the first squadron opened fire.

The shell was fired at the Dutch fleet at the maximum elevation angle, and fell on the sea off the starboard side of the Dutch fleet, causing waves to splash everywhere.

"What is this?"

Adjutant Thill asked, puzzled, "Do they want to hit or sink us at this distance?"

Apparently impossible, Rejouz shook his head. According to his knowledge of the ship's guns, the shells could hit this distance, but the kinetic energy was almost consumed, and it was impossible to destroy the shell of the battleship at all. However, Rejoz found that the splash caused by the opponent's shell after falling into the water was more than two meters high, which immediately made him suspicious. This shows that the power of the opponent's shells has not weakened too much, and it is still within the radius of effective damage.

In Reyoz's opinion, the other party is really full of mystery, which makes him very uneasy.

"They must be killed!" "If you can't destroy them in the bud, it will be a nightmare for the republic when they grow up," Rejords said.

"Your Excellency, General!"

Adjutant Thill was a little confused when he heard Reyoz say this suddenly. However, it is absolutely true that he said that he would nip the other party in the bud!

"Prepare to attack!"

At the sound of Rejouz's order, the starboard gun doors of the Dutch fleet were opened, and a Westminster cannon was pushed out. The muzzle of the black hole was aimed at the Pacific Fleet on the right, and the gunners lit the arquebus, which they hung around their necks, ready to fire at any moment.

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