Melee has always been the main naval tactic of the Dutch, and the Dutch, who are bent on making money, are very stingy in building large-tonnage warships, resulting in a large number of warships of medium tonnage and below, so the mode of naval warfare adopts the advantage of numbers to fight in melee.

Turner commanded the main force of the East India Fleet to face the main force of the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Empire, and before that, he attacked the Pacific Fleet from both flanks with hundreds of warships of small and medium-sized tonnage in order to consume the Pacific Fleet's firepower and destroy the tactical formation of the Pacific Fleet.

Hundreds of cannon fodder-class cruisers and frigates, divided into three echelons, rushed from both wings to the main forces of the Pacific Fleet in turn.

Shi Jianfei's original plan was to directly assault the main force of the Dutch East India Fleet, but the battlefield suddenly changed, and in the face of the overwhelming Dutch battleship group, he had to make adjustments and deal with the "cannon fodder-class" enemy ships in front of him first.

"Full rudder on the left, turn the whole fleet to the left, keep the formation and attack the enemy fleet"

Shi Jianfei No matter how many Dutch warships there were, he would not let the Pacific Fleet fight with them separately. Although the number of enemy ships was several times that of his own, Shi Jianfei understood that only by always maintaining an inconvenient formation could he offset the numerical advantage of the enemy fleet. Because of the inconvenient formation of the Pacific Fleet, the warships of the two sides were always kept in a limited area, and the Dutch battleships had a large number, but they could not fully deploy the attack formation and could not give full play to the numerical advantage.

As the Pacific Fleet turned to the left, the battleship split the huge waves, drew a graceful arc on the surface of the sea, and rushed towards the right flank of the Dutch East India Fleet.

As the battleship crossed the battleship, the side guns opened fire in turn, and the shells were fired at the enemy ship.

The ships shelled the enemy ships in front of them, and countless shells poured out at the snap of a finger.

At the same time, Dutch warships opened fire.

A large-scale artillery battle between the two sides began, which instantly became white-hot.

The cannon roared, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air. I saw countless water columns set off in the warring sea area, and the sea water boiled instantly.

The Pacific Fleet formed a huge triangular shock arrow, and the warships of each sub-fleet were staggered and arranged in concave and convex lines. While the ships on the periphery attack, the ships inside can also fire. By virtue of the range of their guns, each ship formed a long-range high-low artillery coverage area to carry out all-round firepower strikes against enemy ships within the line of sight.

On the other hand, the naval guns of the Dutch East India Fleet had a short range, and only some of the ships surrounding the perimeter of the Pacific Fleet had only the opportunity to open fire, and the other ships, although they were in the encirclement, could not effectively fire their guns and could not strike at the ships of the Pacific Fleet.

In this way, the border area where the two sides exchanged fire can be hit by the firepower of all ships inside and outside the Pacific Fleet. The firepower of the Dutch East India Fleet was only capable of being done by the outermost warships, and the other warships could not do anything because of the dry thunder and no rain.

The Pacific Fleet has few warships, but a single ship with heavy firepower. The Dutch East India Fleet had many warships, but the firepower of individual ships was weak. In general, the number of artillery pieces on both sides is about the same, but the actual number of shells that actually fall on the area of battle is very different. The Pacific Fleet's firepower was fierce, compared to the weakness of the Dutch ships.

The dense sound of artillery muffled the sound of qiē, and the thick smoke of gunpowder also obscured the sea and sky. The area of large-scale fighting between the two sides was instantly submerged in thick smoke.

With the fierce onslaught of the Pacific Fleet, the Dutch "cannon fodder fleet," consisting of cruisers and a large number of frigates, encountered the battleships of the Pacific Fleet, and was almost powerless to fight back; in less than half an hour, the "cannon fodder fleet" suffered heavy losses, sinking dozens of warships and scarring hundreds of warships.

The Pacific Fleet continued to maintain a powerful shock offensive, and the fleet pierced into the formation of the "cannon fodder fleet" like scissors, and cut the "cannon fodder fleet" into two parts.

As the two fleets staggered with each other, an hour later, the losses of the "cannon fodder fleet" on the left flank of the Dutch East India Fleet climbed rapidly, and battleships were sunk almost every minute.

The brave expression of the Pacific Fleet, Li Yan and Li Zicheng, who were watching the battle on the Dongting Lake, and the soldiers of the treasure fleet were extremely excited, and they waved their flags and shouted.

Because Turner basically transferred all the warships to deal with the Pacific Fleet, the number of Dutch enemy ships around the treasure fleet was sharply reduced, mostly for surveillance, and the offensive weakened a lot, and Li Yan and others dealt with the enemy very easily.

Turner knew that the treasure ship was moving slowly, so he was very relieved to deal with the Pacific Fleet with all his might, so that the officers and men of the Chinese Empire on the treasure ship could rest and watch the battle.

The warring sea area, which was originally only a few miles, has now expanded dozens of times, and the sea surface for hundreds of miles is covered with thick smoke. Especially in the core engagement area, but the sound of artillery roar is heard, but the exchange of fire is not visible, and in some places only half of the mainmast sail is exposed. Fortunately, there are flags on the sails, but they can also distinguish between friend and foe.

"This is a naval battle, it's spectacular"

Li Zicheng and Li Yan stayed in the mainmast tower at the moment and looked at the entire battlefield, and they had a panoramic view in the telescope.

Watching the Pacific Fleet attack the Dutch East India Fleet, and feeling the excitement and excitement of the Chinese Empire's warships sinking the enemy ships in an instant, Li Zicheng's heart was surging at the moment, and he shouted and shouted every time, punching and kicking, as if he was already there.

Li Yan is relatively stable, although the feeling in his heart at the moment is similar to Li Zicheng's situation, but he thinks more than Li Zicheng, and focuses on the main force of the Dutch East India Fleet that has not yet participated in the war.

At this moment, Turner was commanding the main fleet of the East India Fleet to maneuver around the periphery, keeping an eye on the movements of the Pacific Fleet.

Li Yan understood in his heart that the Dutch warships in the battle at this moment were all small and medium-sized warships, but they were just cannon fodder, and the real battle was still to come. And the situation of the main force of the Dutch East India Fleet made him faintly worried about the Pacific Fleet.

"I heard that when the navy fights, theoretically only battleships can sink battleships"

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "It seems that something is wrong?" ”

Li Yan asked rhetorically: "Don't you think that the Pacific Fleet is attacking low-level warships now?" ”

Li Zicheng suddenly discovered this situation and said, "It's also like fighting a gray army."

"That's all" Li Yan said with great certainty: "The main fleet of the Dutch is not weaker than the Pacific Fleet, but their commander only let those cannon fodder battleships go up to die, and their main force is maneuvering on the periphery, it seems that they are ready to wait for an opportunity to give the Pacific Fleet a fatal blow"

Li Zicheng immediately understood that this situation was similar to a land war, when the battle was engaged, there were always some cannon fodder troops in the front to die, but the real killer weapon was in the back.

This tactic is often used by Li Zicheng, and it can be described as commonplace.

Immediately exclaimed: "In this way, the Pacific Fleet is not very dangerous?" ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "I think the Dutch have two purposes at the moment, one is to consume the Pacific Fleet's ammunition reserves, and the other is to prepare to seize the fighter plane to sneak attack when the Pacific Fleet makes a mistake." ”

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "Cannon fodder is originally used for this purpose, once the Pacific Fleet consumes ammunition, when the fight starts, the main force of the Dutch Fleet only needs to fight to consume enough to drag down the Pacific Fleet."

Li Yan sighed and said suddenly: "We have to run back quickly, so that even if the Pacific Fleet is in danger, as long as we escape, they can get out quickly, and there is still a chance to retreat."

Li Zicheng nodded, and without further ado, hurriedly ordered the treasure ship to drive back. V