Friday, August 17, 1635.

The huge main fleet of England finally arrived outside Plymouth Harbour after two days of cautious sailing. But what unfolded before Admiral Dean's eyes was a different story.

A nautical mile to the north, in Plymouth Harbor, the mouth of the Taima River was covered with smoke, the wreckage of the battleship that had not yet burned out was pushed by the waves, and a large amount of garbage covered the surface of the harbor, and a charred corpse rose and fell in the filthy water.

On the shore, the warehouse area, England's most important home naval supply base, had been turned beyond recognition, and countless supplies had been reduced to char.

"Your Excellency, Plymouth has brought news that there was an accident in the detachment moored in the harbor last night, the stockpile of gunpowder of several ships exploded, and the fire spread to the shore again, burning down the supply depots...... "Standing behind Dean was 37-year-old Robert Brown. Blake, a future admiral who would go on to issue the first Disciplinary Statute of the English Navy and lay the foundation for centuries of tradition in the English Navy.

"Do you think it's like an accident? Mr. Black. Dean smiled wryly and shook his head.

Ever since his departure from London, he has been feeling a certain uneasiness, always feeling that there is a strange pair of eyes that have been watching the main force of his fleet. Now that the eight ships of the squadron stationed at Plymouth have been basically wiped out, his premonition has become a reality.

"Even if it's a conspiracy, we still have a numerical advantage, and every one of our captains is experienced." Blake was more optimistic than Admiral, "No one knows the sea better than we do. ”

"But our intentions, the enemy may already know." Dean rubbed the wooden railing of the ship's side worriedly, and sighed deeply at the paralyzed Plymouth Naval Base.

The main fleet of the English navy, which had no way to retreat and no reinforcements, spent two days at Plymouth to replenish some of its troops as much as possible, and then sailed again to the Celtic Sea to the west of the English Channel. Now, though, Dean had anticipated that his opponent would be prepared and that his surprise battle would turn into a strong attack.

And Dean had a bigger hunch. It was the American European expeditionary fleet that might take a "sidestander" attitude, and this speculation became abundantly clear since the burning of the Plymouth detachment - that it could destroy its own detachment without knowing it and so appropriately, and it also had the ability to kill it suddenly when necessary.

……

Tuesday, August 20th, noon, sunny.

The large schooner battleships USS Santa Mariana and USS Santiago, led by a coalition Spanish and Portuguese navy, are cruising 15 nautical miles southeast of the Isles of Scilly. The whole fleet consisted of 15 Spanish warships, 4 Portuguese warships, and of course, there was also an "inexplicable" hospital ship of the Chinese and US Navy Bian Que hanging behind the fleet.

Quantitatively. The combined Spanish and Portuguese navy was nearly half smaller than the incoming main fleet of England, but its average tonnage and firepower were much higher than that of its opponents. In particular, the naval guns on the Santa Mariana and the San Diego are all the latest American cannon heavy guns, and there are hundreds of the latest Type 34A breech-loading flintlock guns for broadside combat.

Spanish Admiral Freddy, who had arrived from the Caribbean to take over the command of Marquis Albert of Santa Cruz, was also nervously holding a telescope at this time, constantly sweeping back and forth in the northeast direction. He thought that his military talent was not much worse than that of a naval veteran like the Marquis de Santa Cruz, but the thought of facing off against Admiral Dean, who had almost wiped out the Spanish fleet some time ago, made him feel empty for no reason.

The hateful Americans, though they did not know where to get the information, even drew the approximate time and area of engagement. However, on the grounds that their warships needed to be maintained, they refused to send the main force to participate in this joint interception at sea. Looking back at the leisurely gorgeous medical ship at the end of the fleet, Freddie's heart was secretly on fire.

However, he can't blame too much, and it is said that the main force of the Huamei fleet is actually not idle. The Strait of San Giorgio was also blockaded and fire support was provided to the Spanish Army under the command of the Marquis de Santa Cruz. On the island of St. Marys in the Isles of Scilly, a new fleet of transport ships is about to set sail for the port of Kinsale, and tens of thousands of tons of supplies are stored on the island. The slightest mistake will put the entire coalition in a worse position than before. There is no way back for Ferredy.

"English!" Hoarse cries rang out from the lookout post at the top of the flagship's mast, and the Spanish officers and men on deck were all pore tight.

A minute later, the order was given. A hurried battle readiness alarm was sounded on the Santa Mariana, and hundreds of Spanish officers and men began to scramble to push the ship's guns into place and wash their chambers under the reprimand of the officers.

The southwesterly winds, with the Spanish and Portuguese forces having the upper hand from the start, had to turn to the southeast to deal with the headwinds that preceded the war.

Although the wind was very unfavorable to his side, Dean still divided the entire main fleet of England into two parts, and 12 of them were to circle around the battlefield in a large arc, regain the upper hand, and launch a flank attack from the flank and rear of the combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet. And he himself personally commanded the remaining 23 warships to directly engage the opponent's main force, with a view of intending to annihilate the opponent at any cost, and then break into the Isles of Scilly after dusk.

In this way, at least for two hours, Dean's own fleet no longer had an absolute numerical advantage in terms of numbers, and even because most of the warships were small-tonnage armed merchant ships or pirate ships, both in terms of the number of sailors and firepower, they were lower than the combined Spanish and Portuguese fleets. Especially the two large warships in the opponent's lineup that weighed down the retina numb, which made Dean's nerves tense even more.

An hour later, in an atmosphere of "Spanish gentlemen firing first", the USS San Diego of the United Spanish and Portuguese Fleet fired a salvo from the starboard naval gun at the English battleship 400 yards away, opening the prelude to the Battle of the Celtic Sea.

The English warships, which bravely engaged the enemy in the face of the grapeballs that came like rain, showed the spirit of fighting bayonets at sea with fearlessness. Having staggered past a Spanish battleship at a distance of 300 yards, Dean still did not give the order to open fire, and another salvo from the Spanish battleship finally produced a staggering image on a small English battleship.

At least a dozen 24-pound or 18-pound shells shattered the hull of the small boat, and more than half of them exploded. The flames of the explosion of the black powder shells, even though they were much weaker than those of the gorgeous high-explosive shells, still caused an uncontrollable fire. The rising smoke and fire caused the sailors on the Spanish battleship to let out a frantic shout, as if their grievances had been washed away.

Although the first target was destroyed, though. The Spaniard soon found himself embarrassed. For after this salvo, they were still in a state of reloading for at least three minutes, and England's line of response was almost 200 yards away, and the rows of black holes of cannon exposed by the open gun windows seemed to be waiting for revenge.

At 200 yards, Dean's ship, the Easterly, finally found its target, a handful of 32-pounder bronze guns mixed with more 12-pounder American medium cannons to deliver an extremely accurate salvo. Even with some of the magnificent reinforcement of the wooden hull and iron bars, the starboard side of the Santa Mariana suffered considerable damage.

The shattered hull armor flew sharp wood chips that were more terrifying than the lethality of the scorching solid shells, and the gun deck and upper deck suddenly became miserable, and dozens of sailors were scattered with flesh and blood. Several sails were also destroyed by chain bombs. The sail collapsed with the twisted rope and the speed of the ship dropped.

The two Portuguese warships, which had slowed down to avoid their flagship, had to turn eastward, but they also happened to aim their port side at an English medium battleship in front of the Eastleigh, and dozens of 12-pounder American cannons fired a timely salvo.

Less than 300 yards away, the overwhelming reddening of solid shells scarred the English medium warship covering the flagship Eastleigh was riddled with holes, and the fire caused by the scorching shells instantly ignited the powder keg on the gun deck. Patches of flames and shock waves rolled like waves from the guns on the side of the ship, and a series of waves of air tore through the hull of the ship, ejecting the corpses and burning wooden components inside.

"Fire! Send the Eastleigh and the English to hell! ”

Spanish Admiral Freddy, who was hit by the attack just now, even flew his hat off. Inspired by the warships under his command, he had let go of all his timidity and scruples at this time, and let out a roar like a bull that had been poked.

A minute later, the Santa Mariana and Santiago were reloaded. A salvo was fired almost simultaneously. Dozens of scorching shells, flowering shells, or solid cannonballs were fired almost all at one shot into the ranks of the English warframe, setting off rows of columns of fire or waves.

More and more English ships came within firing range, and rows of guns spewed snow-white gunsmoke, smashing the body of the combined Spanish and Portuguese fleets with the glow of death.

The entire surface of the sea was shrouded in smoke and dust emitted by black powder. Dozens of European sail warships fought to the death with the most bloody posture of this era. The Chinese Navy hospital ship Bian Que, which was hanging on the periphery of the battlefield, looked stupid at this time.

"Sergeant, will they run out of shells and rush up to hand-to-hand combat?" The gorgeous soldier who was guarding the only 75mm gun in the stern of the ship cautiously asked the gun leader beside him. This was probably the first time he had seen this kind of primitive and blood-pumping naval battle since joining the Chinese and American Navy.

"This is the real battle at sea, lad." The middle-aged non-commissioned officer, who had combat experience on Danish armed merchant ships when he was young, also said with emotion at this time, but his eyes looked at the other team of English battleships that were making a difficult detour on the horizon in the other direction, "They are too dependent on the direction of the wind, and when those Englishmen adjust to join the battle, maybe everyone will be exhausted." ”

……

The naval battle had been going on for almost two hours, the sea was thick with smoke, and the line of sight was less than 200 yards, and any flag was useless at this point. Amid the rumbling sound of artillery, the undulating and burning wreckage of the ship drifted down the river, and hundreds of officers and soldiers from both warring sides struggled on the water.

The Santa Mariana and the Santiago became the first targets of the English, and in the eyes of the English, as long as the two main Spanish cores were destroyed, victory was not far off.

But the firepower of the two Spanish battleships was so fierce that no less than three small English battleships were smashed into burning wreckage in a salvo of 100 to 200 yards in a desperate battle between 100 yards and 200 yards. On his side, Admiral Dean had replaced the flagship, and the previous Easterly had lost its combat effectiveness after the second firing, and was now in a state of strict inclination, with hundreds of sailors floating and struggling on the sea around the hull with various broken wooden blocks.

But the Spaniards were not having a good time, not only were they smaller in numbers than the main fleet of England, but they were also significantly lower in rate of artillery fire than their opponents. Often, England ships can fire three volleys, and the Spanish side has only just played the second round. At this time, the Santa Mariana was also in ruins. Two-thirds of the sylopters on the four masts were damaged, and the speed was reduced to the point where the ship was on the verge of stopping, and at any moment it was threatened to be attacked by the English.

Maybe it was because of the breath, but it was more likely that the great might of the two main battleships of the Navy was exciting, and the morale of the Spanish naval officers and men at this time was undiminished, and they resisted the close artillery battle of the English to the death, and even the Portuguese battleship, which had always thought that it was playing soy sauce, bravely engaged in a broadside battle with a small battleship in England. The Portuguese and English sailors, armed with ornate flintlock pistols, fired a dense barrage of bullets as soon as the two ships approached and collided. Smoke and fire filled the air, and the soldiers crowded on the deck on both sides suffered heavy casualties.

However, the Portuguese were more sophisticated, and the faster rate of fire of the 34A flintlock pistol than the 21B flintlock pistol immediately prevailed, and coupled with the difference in the number of people engaged in the broadside battle, the Portuguese actually beat the English pirate who jumped into their own battleship.

The Santa Mariana was already on fire, and countless Spanish sailors frantically shook the ship's hand-cranked pumps or carried barrels full of sand to extinguish the fire. The guns on the side of the Santiago were almost completely damaged, nearly half of the officers and men were killed or wounded, and blood flowed from the gun deck. Having lost its combat effectiveness, it also began to prepare to withdraw from the battlefield. These two expensive baby bumps ordered from Huamei, Ferredy did not dare to be sunk by the English in the first battle.

"Your Excellency, we can't continue, please get out of here!"

In the fleet of England. Adjutant Blake pulled the commander-in-chief of naval warfare, who had changed the flagship again, onto the deck from the boat, and then pointed anxiously to the east, "It's a west wind, you can withdraw." ”

"We've got the upper hand! The roundabout detachment was about to go into battle. Cut off the Spaniards from behind, victory is ours! We should insist! Dean glanced at the western periphery of the battlefield, where the detachment he had previously separated was about to adjust its ranks. At this time, he actually showed a confident smile.

"No, General, you were right before, it must be a conspiracy! Do you think we can really surround and cut off the ranks of the Spaniards? Blake glanced at the only U.S. Navy hospital ship that had been roaming around the perimeter of the battlefield without sails, and pointed to the northwest, his gray face showing a hint of horror.

Dean turned his head and held up his binoculars, and after only a few seconds of looking at it, his face began to turn pale.

If a few streaks of black smoke were absent on the northwestern horizon, it was certainly not cooking smoke on land. There is only one answer, and it is the arrival of the Chinese and American European fleets.

"It's a shame, if only there were two more hours...... But now we can't inform and change any of our decisions. Dean threw away his binoculars and straightened his beautiful smoky-blackened coat, relieved, "Mr. Black, you go back to the defenders and take them back to Falmouth......

"But the general...... Blake's eyes suddenly turned red, but when he saw the resolute gaze of the other party, he could only salute, and then retreated to the boat.

……

At 16 o'clock in the afternoon, when the Celtic naval battle was in progress, the three large Princess-class light cruisers and two Republic-class cruisers of the Huamei European fleet finally "arrived belatedly".

At this time, on the Celtic Sea, both the Spanish-Portuguese combined fleet and the main fleet of England were exhausted. Five of the ships of the combined Spanish-Portuguese fleet were destroyed by fire, and four were severely damaged and had to withdraw from the battlefield, including the flagships Santa Mariana and Santiago, and the rest were also bruised; The main fleet of England had 8 small warships completely destroyed, and another 5 withdrew from the battlefield, but the remaining 22 warships still cut the combined fleet of Spain and Portugal into two parts and completed the encirclement.

After being flanked, the combined fleet of Spain and Portugal was extremely chaotic for a time, and the losses increased rapidly, and even the Spanish admiral Freddy had already issued an order to break out, intending to learn the lesson of defeat again. However, when the sea breeze blew away the corner of the smoke and revealed the figure of another fleet one or two nautical miles away, the officers and men of the United Spanish and Portuguese Fleet on the entire battlefield erupted in earth-shattering cheers.

"Sir, it's a lot of work here. We can go around from the outside and attack the defenders of the English who are retreating, so that we can wipe them out. On the flagship Princess Xijun, an adjutant said with a grin at Colonel Sun Yang.

"The Spaniards are impressive, and the fact that they have been able to hold out until our arrival proves that they still have a little bit of the majesty of an empire on which the sun never sets. Although it was a cushion, they fulfilled the task of protecting the Isles of Scilly. Sun Yang threw away his binoculars and pointed to the chaotic battlefield, "Just let go of the English guards, sink the English warships here, and relieve the siege for the Spaniards." ”

"Yes, sir!" The adjutant saluted, walked to the communications compartment on the other side of the bridge, and began to convey the latest orders.

In a linear column, the 120-mm and 90-mm guns of the snow-white Princess-class large light cruisers were aimed at the scarred English ships a few hundred meters away. A direct shot at this distance can basically reach a 10% hit rate, and the only thing to be afraid of is the possibility of accidentally injuring a Spanish or Portuguese friendly warship in the middle of the fight.

On the sea at dusk, the smoke had not yet cleared, but the chaotic sound of the cannon had weakened a lot, leaving only the weak shadows of the ship, the burning masts and sails swaying under the cover of smoke and sunset...... (To be continued......)