Chapter 351: Battle of Isabella (2)

[Today's first update]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beautiful South Pacific, like a moody woman, is full of blue waves one moment and stormy the next.

The Pacific Fleet, sailing in the waters near Peru, escaped the torrential rain and sailed into the Isabela Islands, the only archipelago in Peruvian waters. and anchored in a bay in the north of Isabela Island.

At the same time, the Spanish-Peruvian fleet also took refuge in the Isabela Islands to escape the storm, anchoring in a bay in the southern part of the island.

The fleets of both sides anchored on both sides of Isabela at the same time, but because there was a huge Fernando island between the bays of the two sides, the mountains created two large bays on Isabela Island, so the two sides did not find each other.

The storm lasted for two hours before it subsided.

The sea breeze was still very cold, and the moisture invaded the human body, and I couldn't help but shiver.

Dressed in dark blue winter naval uniforms, the officers and men of the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet have only one way to deal with the cold, and that is collective labor – wiping down decks and getting armoured.

The sky was gray, and it was not known if it would rain again, so the commanders of the ships gave up the idea of taking out the gunpowder to dry.

As fast communication ships, the four Sea Sparrow-class warships quickly moved out of the bay to reconnoitre.

Similarly, in the southern harbor of the Isabela Islands, the Peruvian Navy sent fast schooners to reconnoitre.

After the storm, the sea breeze is strong, rolling up a thousand waves, wave after wave.

With its advanced flying clipping hull, the Sea Sparrow communication ship shuttles through the waves as agile as a flying fish.

The steel-hulled hull can withstand the seawater counterpressure brought about by high-speed sailing, which is an advantage that other wooden hulls cannot match.

The Sea Sparrow sails at high speed, and the ship's visual angle changes with the undulations of the waves. When the battleship rushes towards the crest of the wave, the horizon is wide and the entire sea can be looked up. When falling into the valley of waves, only the waves near the left can be seen.

However, this qiē is all the horizon on the nail plate, and for the tower on the mainmast tens of meters high, the impact of the horizon is not great.

"Detection of enemy reconnaissance ships"

As the tower reported, the Sea Sparrow communications ship was the first to spot the Spaniards' reconnaissance ship and quickly reported back.

The Spaniard's reconnaissance sailing ship soon spotted the high sails of the Sea Sparrow communication ship and quickly followed. Unfortunately, the Sea Sparrow was too fast and soon disappeared into the sea.

On the northern side of the Isabela Islands, the main forces of the Pacific Fleet are assembled here.

The main warships of the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet participating in the naval operation against Peru were forty SeaLion-class third-class sail battleships and sixty Kitun-class fourth-class sail battleships.

Originally, the first ten Beiyun-class battleships were named Beiyun, Beichen, Beirui, Nanxiang, Hai'an, Haiyan, Guangcheng, Fukang, Chengqing, and Pengpu. Due to the increase in the number of warships of the main fleet, the fleet headquarters divided the battleships into groups of ten and used them as sub-fleets, and the main forces were assigned to sub-teams during the decisive battle.

In this way, in order to facilitate command, the fleet command has organized each detachment into a single font size to facilitate the transmission of orders and unified command.

In fact, in ancient China, the naming of warships has always been based on the name of the warship. This situation lasted until the Manchu Beiyang period. However, Shenwu Emperor Deng Haonan was deeply influenced by the naming of the navy numbers of later generations, and pressed the naming rules of the later generations of naval numbers on the Royal Navy, but ignored the lack of advanced communication equipment and other factors such as the lack of advanced communication equipment of sail warships in this era, which was inconvenient to command.

To this end, the Naval Fleet Command has adopted a new naming convention for each detachment according to its trade name. Of course, they did not dare to abolish the emperor's rules, and in the naming rules of the battleship class, they still referred to the emperor's set.

The status of the two battleships of the first rank of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan as the flagships of the fleet was unshakable, and their nomenclature remained unchanged. The others have been adjusted, among which there are 40 ships in the Sea Lion class, which are named "Hai", "Feng", "Ya" and "Yong", corresponding to the first to fourth fleets.

The "Hai" was assigned to the First Squadron and was assigned to the First Squadron of the main fleet during the battle, including the "Sea Lion", "Hai'an", "Hailong", "Haihua", "Haixi", "Hairong", "Haichen", "Haichou", "Haizhe", and "Haitian". Among them, the "Sea Lion" was classified as the flagship of the detachment.

The "Wind" was assigned to the Second Squadron, and during the battle, it was assigned to the Second Squadron of the main fleet, including the "Imperial Wind", "Kaoru Wind", "Whirlwind", "Long Wind", "Cold Wind", "Hurricane", "Hurricane", "Hurricane", and "Fufeng". Among them, the "Yufeng" is the flagship of the detachment.

The "Ya" was assigned to the Third Squadron, and during the battle, it was incorporated into the Third Squadron of the Main Fleet, including

"Zhengya", "Liya", "Liangya", "Yongya", "Zhuangya", "Duanya", "Xiaoya", "Xianya", "Boya", "Changya", of which "Zhengya" is the flagship of the detachment.

The "Yong" was assigned to the Fourth Squadron and was incorporated into the Fourth Squadron of the main fleet during the battle, including the "Yong'an", "Yongxi", "Yongye", "Yong'an", "Yong'an", "

There are a total of 60 warships in the Beiyun class, which are named "Yun", "Lin", "Ping", "Lu", "Fu", and "Chen".

The "Yun" was assigned to the Fifth Fleet, and during the battle, it was assigned to the Fifth Squadron of the main fleet, including the "Beiyun", "Luoyun", "Xuanyun", "Pengyun", "Tiyun", "Xuanyun", "Xiangyun", "Songyun", "Caiyun", and "Fuyun", of which "Beiyun" was the flagship of the detachment.

The "Lin" was assigned to the Sixth Fleet, and during the battle, it was incorporated into the Sixth Squadron of the main fleet, including "Lin Needle", "Lin Yu", "Lin Jia", "Lin Cong", "Lin Tang", "Lin Fu", "Lin Lan", "Lin Fowl", "Lin Qi", and "Lin Feng", of which "Lin Needle" was the flagship of the detachment.

The "Ping" was assigned to the Seventh Fleet, and during the battle, it was assigned to the Seventh Fleet of the main fleet, including "Pingyuan", "Pingzhi", "Pingkuang", "Pingdian", "Pingjin", "Pingcheng", "Pingrong", "Pingshui", "Pingding", and "Pingyan", of which "Pingyuan" was the flagship of the detachment.

The "Lu" was incorporated into the Eighth Fleet, and during the battle, it was incorporated into the Seventh Squadron of the main fleet, including "Anlu", "Yinglu", "Ganlu", "Tianlu", "Juelu", "Shilu", "Minglu", "Zhilu", "Guilu", and "Ronglu", of which "Anlu" was the flagship of the detachment.

The "Fu" was assigned to the Ninth Fleet, and during the battle, it was assigned to the Ninth Squadron of the main fleet, including the "Fuwei", "Fuxiang", "Gospel", "Fufu", "Fujiang", "Fuxing", "Fuze", "Fuyin", "Fuyou", and "Fuyun", of which "Fuwei" was the flagship of the detachment.

The "Chen" was incorporated into the 10th Fleet, and during the battle, it was incorporated into the 10th Fleet of the main fleet, including "Jichen", "Binchen", "General", "Suchen", "Tichen", "Taichen", "Servant", "Shichen", "Xianchen", and "Zhongchen", of which "Jichen" was the flagship of the detachment.

The main fleet consisted of a total of 100 battleships, organized into 10 sub-fleets, each with 10 warships, and each equipped with a Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ship for liaison purposes.

When the communications ship brought back and discovered the enemy fleet reconnaissance ship, Shi Jianfei, commander of the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet, hurriedly summoned the commanders of the various detachments to discuss countermeasures.

On the bridge of the Dingyuan, the flagship of the fleet, on the huge command deck, there is a nautical chart of the Isabela Islands, although the drawing is a little rough, but the terrain of the islands is simple and does not affect the strategic deployment.

"We have received information before that the Peruvian Navy is going east to search for the location of our fleet"

Shen Yanghao, chief of staff of the fleet, first said: "Originally, our fleet was going to use the Komanra sea area as a battle site with the Peruvian fleet, but because of the sudden storm, we missed the opportunity, and now we have lost the opportunity to rush to the Komanra sea area. ”

Then, Shen Yanghao changed his words and said: "But the latest intelligence shows that the Peruvian fleet also failed to locate the waters of Comanla on time, and was also stranded near the Isabela Islands because of the storm. ”

At this time, Shi Jianfei said: "Judging by the position and direction of the opponent's reconnaissance ship, the Peruvian fleet is in the south of the Isabela Islands."

Xue Muhua said at this time: "The other party has discovered our communication ship, and it will be found here soon." According to their current understanding of the Imperial fleet, they should immediately go north to search for us."

The Peruvian fleet had always thought that the Pacific Fleet had only twenty fourth-class sail battleships, so after judging the direction of the Pacific Fleet, they would immediately search all the way north.

Shi Jianfei nodded and said, "The current situation shows that the Spaniards despise us, or that they can be closed-minded. In short, the strength of the Peruvian fleet is well known to everyone, but there are only four third-class battleships, thirty-two cruisers, and seventeen frigates, which are not as good as ours in total, except for four third-class battleships, the other warships are not to be feared."

"Our goal is to destroy the Peruvian fleet and now that the other side has given us this opportunity, we must take it"

Shen Yanghao added: "If you let the other party escape and the turtle retreats back to the harbor, it will be a very troublesome thing. Therefore, they must be eliminated in this battle."

Shen Yanghao's words, everyone understands that at this time, the Spaniards still have contempt for the Pacific Fleet, if they see the strength of the Pacific Fleet, then they will definitely choose to escape, once the turtle retreats back to the military port, with the help of coastal batteries, it will be difficult to destroy the other party in a short time.

"Yesterday, the fifth and sixth teams met them, so today's first battle will be fought by your two teams first."

Shi Jianfei looked at Liu Jian and Wen Sanjiu, and the two immediately came out to salute.

"Yes"

Shen Yanghao looked at the two of them and said, "Remember, you two warbands stay here, when the enemy fleet discovers you, you are not allowed to evacuate the bay, drag them for an hour, and ensure that the main fleet completes the encirclement of you, do you?" ”

"Resolute in getting the job done"

Liu Jian and Wen Sanjiu replied in unison, like a bell.

"Very good"

Shi Jianfei nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the other commanders, and ordered loudly: "The first and second warbands will stop after sailing northwest for one hour, the third and fourth warbands will stop after sailing southwest for one hour, the seventh and eighth warbands will stop after sailing north for an hour, and the ninth and tenth warbands will block the shipping lane between the Isabella Islands and the Peruvian naval base Guayaquil to block the enemy's retreat." ”

"Yes"

The commanders of the various detachments received the order, left the flagships one after another, returned to their respective detachments, and then directed the detachments to sail out of the bay. At the same time, they have dispatched communications ships to reconnoiter near the bay and stand by, and once they discover that the enemy fleet is approaching, they will immediately go back to inform them.

The Pacific Fleet, on its part, was ready and waited for the arrogant Peruvian Navy to take the bait.

Soon, the Spaniards' reconnaissance ships went all the way north along the bay, and finally found the main fleet of the Pacific Fleet in the bay to the north.

Of course, the other side has always regarded the fifth and sixth teams as the main force of the Pacific Fleet, and when the Spaniards found out, they immediately turned around and went back to report.

In a bay at the southern end of Isabela Island, after receiving the report, the commander of the Peruvian fleet, Cstras, did not hesitate and directly ordered the whole fleet to sail north, searching for traces of the Pacific Fleet along the way.

In the afternoon ..., the lead fleet of the Peruvian fleet, a formation of frigates, discovered the 5th and 6th fleets of the Pacific Fleet near the bay.

… At 05 minutes, the 5th and 6th warbands of the Pacific Fleet sounded the battle alarm one after another, and for a while, the alarm bells over the bay echoed for a long time.

In fact, the 5th and 6th teams had long been ready for battle, all the officers and men were in place, and although the gun doors were not opened, the shells were loaded and the artillery was ready.

But on the surface, he had to make a look of being suddenly discovered by the Spaniards and preparing for war in a hurry.

Raise the sails

The 5th and 6th squadrons of the Pacific Fleet quickly left the bay and made an escape posture to the north.

Sure enough, when the commander of the Peruvian fleet saw that the other party was about to run, he immediately thought that the other party was afraid of them, and urgently ordered the seventeen convoys to quickly intercept and buy time for the main fleet behind.

Obviously, Liu Jian on the battleship Beiyun happened to continue acting, pretending to desperately break through, but in fact he was preparing to severely damage the opponent's frigate formation.

… At twenty minutes, the group of frigates of the Peruvian Navy quickly approached the fifth squadron of the Pacific Fleet.

As soon as the cannon rang out, the Spaniards took the lead in firing the cannon, with a distance of more than a thousand meters, which was obviously just a scare.

Although the guns of the Hokumo-class battleships could reach a range of 1,500 meters, in order to improve the hit rate, the naval fleet command still rigidly stipulated that the combat distance must be within 700 meters. At this distance, the Pacific Fleet's naval guns can be used to minimize the damage of the battleship. Because at this distance, the shells of small battleships below the enemy's cruiser could not penetrate the hull of the battleships of the North Cloudo.

The sky was overcast and the sea was rough, and it was not a good weather for war.

The sound of the Spaniards' cannons was like thunder. The hot shells roared in, hitting the water and immediately setting off columns of water.

The sea was boiling, and the waves were rolling more violently.

The Pacific Fleet still did not fire, and the gun doors were closed to prevent seawater from splashing into the gun deck. The Fifth and Sixth Clans formed a long snake formation and sailed north.

Seeing that they could not frighten each other, the Spaniards immediately continued to approach and at the same time organized a second round of shelling.

The Spaniards' naval guns belonged to large-caliber long-barreled cannons, although they were only the tonnage of frigates, but Westerners liked to build big ships, especially the Spaniards, whose Galen-type frigates were actually equivalent to third-class cruisers.

Although they were facing the fourth-class battleships of the Pacific Fleet, they were not afraid, but forgot about the huge gap between the ranks.

… At forty minutes, the Peruvian convoy reached a distance of 800 meters, and by this time their second round of artillery was not ready.

At this time, the firing distance of the European naval powers was generally between three hundred meters and five hundred meters, the British had a short barrel, so the British liked to fire within three hundred meters, and the Spaniards had a long barrel, so they liked to fire at a distance of five hundred meters.

"800 meters"

Twenty ships of the 5th and 6th Fleets of the Pacific Fleet opened their gun doors on the port side, and as the gun doors opened one after another, the Spaniards finally discovered the strength of the opposing ships.

Each Beiyun-class battleship had as many as twenty-eight gun emplacements on the side, which was generally eighteen to nineteen more guns than the Spanish frigates, and this huge gap immediately frightened the Spanish sailors in the convoy.

"They're not going to shoot at this distance."

The Spaniards were a little worried, but most of the captains and sailors did not expect the other to fire at this distance.

"Seven hundred and fifty meters"

As the Spanish convoy continued to approach, the ships of the Pacific Fleet pushed out the Shenwu cannon one after another, the silver-white and slender barrel, the pitch-black muzzle exuded endless murderous aura, and the distance was more than 700 meters away, which still made the Spaniards feel a little chill.

"Is the other party going to open fire?"

"No, they won't be so far away, they can't hit us"

However, to their disbelief, at a distance of about seven hundred meters, the warships of the Chinese Empire took the lead.

With a cannon bang, the battleship Beiyun was the first to open fire, and a shell weighing six kilograms whistled into the sky, heading straight for the enemy ship, opening the prelude to the naval battle of Isabella. E