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Just when the first detachment of the task force stopped and began to prepare for war, the ironclad fleet of the United States of America from the direction of Vicksburg was still emitting black smoke and rushed with a fierce momentum with the advantage of going downstream.

The total number of this fleet is quite large, a total of 16 warships, and all of them are ironclad ships, so it is not an exaggeration to call this fleet ironclad fleet.

In this era, the weapon of ironclad ships has just begun to develop, and all countries are still in the exploration stage, and the technology is not mature.

In fact, ironclad ships were first proposed by General Bessan, a French gunnery expert. In his opinion, in the face of horizontal fire from armor-piercing shells, it was possible to consider covering the battleship with a layer of 180-200 mm iron armor, which is also the origin of the name of the ironclad ship.

However, at that time, the steam engine was not yet mature, and all large ships could not do without sails or manpower, and when there was no new type of powerful power, this kind of ironclad ship could only be used as a technical reserve, and did not have actual combat capabilities.

Later, in 1849, when the power of the steam engine could be effectively used on ships, the first ironclad ship with sails and steam-assisted power was born, and the first to build this kind of battleship was still France, named Napoleon. This ship, because of its actual combat ability and good combat power, is also known as the pioneer of steam ironclads.

Later during the Crimean War, the combat capabilities of ironclad ships were recognized in real combat. That kind of strong defense and attack power made many sail warships helpless, which also strengthened the intention of various countries to develop ironclad ships.

However, it is clear that ironclad ships cannot be developed if they want to, they must have a strong industrial and technological background, and it is difficult for small countries, or countries with insufficient technological and industrial capabilities, to keep up.

In 1859, France was the first to build the battleship "Glorious" with a displacement of 5,630 tons, followed by 1860. Britain also built the 9,137-ton "Warrior", and after its construction, these two warships are also known as the two most powerful warships in the world.

These two warships, in fact, are not steel warships in the real sense, they are still made of wood and bones, and they are just covered with iron armor, in other words, the bones are still wood, but they are reinforced with some steel during the period. It can only be regarded as an iron-hulled steam battleship.

The reason why it became like this is not that Britain and France are conformist and do not know the benefits of pure steel warships, but that material technology does not allow it.

In this day and age. With the exception of China, there has not yet been a decisive breakthrough in steelmaking technology around the world, such as open-hearth steelmaking, which has not yet been born. There is only the crucible steelmaking method, and at most some air heated at high temperature is added to it during the smelting process.

It is conceivable that this method smelts steel. Although it can be reluctantly called steel, the performance is better than that of cast iron, not to mention the output, and it is generally relatively brittle, so it is impossible to be the keel of a ship.

You know, due to the nature of the ship's keel, not only must be strong enough, but also have a certain toughness, if it is just simple hard and brittle, a wave hits, it is likely to fall apart, not to mention that the problem of rust can not be completely solved.

Therefore, the current ironclad ship can still only be made of wood keel, but it is only reinforced with steel bars in some key parts, which cannot be compared with the real ironclad ship with steel keel.

In addition, due to the lack of power, and the cover of ironclad, the freeboard is relatively low, so the ironclad ships of various countries can actually only be engaged in offshore operations, and cannot carry out ocean-going operations.

For example, when the Russian expeditionary fleet was attacking China, Britain and France used to let the Glory and the Warrior participate in the war as independent volunteers.

At that time, in order to keep these ironclad ships from accidents, this fleet was called a cautious one, but it was still annihilated by the Chinese Navy, and even the Glory and Warrior became the trophies of the Chinese Navy.

Relatively speaking, although the development time of ironclad ships in the United States is not as good as that of old powers such as Britain and France, because the US Navy is very young, dares to try new technologies, and just in time for the Civil War, the development speed of ironclad ships is the fastest among the powers.

It is difficult to say that the United States had the first ironclad ship in the real sense, because before the Civil War began, there were many ironclad ships in the United States, but none of them were ironclad warships in the real sense, after all, those ships were simply stamped with iron plates, and there was a big gap in performance.

Therefore, if you want to say that the first ironclad ship with real combat significance during the Civil War, it is none other than the USS Virginia of the Confederate Powers.

Originally a wooden steam battleship, the USS Virginia was converted to become the first iron-framed battleship.

The ironclad ship is 53.4 meters long, has a speed of 5 knots, a displacement of 3,500 tons, and is equipped with 10 armored turrets, of which 4 are rifled guns.

Last year, in early 1862, the ship had just left the harbor with great success, inflicting heavy damage on the Commonwealth Navy, and later in the Battle of Hampton Anchorage, it confronted the newly built Squad Leader Ironclad of the United States, the first ironclad of the Civil War.

In that war, the two ironclad ships of the North and South fought to a draw, and neither of them could help the other, but this stimulated the United States of the North and strengthened their idea of developing ironclads, and in the following time, the United States used its powerful industrial system to go all out to manufacture ironclads, especially in the Mississippi River Valley, and built a powerful inland ironclad fleet.

As mentioned earlier, the ironclad ship at this time, because the keel was still wooden, and the hull was covered with ironclad, the center of gravity of the guide was shifted upward. Therefore, in order to avoid the instability caused by the upward shift of the center of gravity, the ironclad ships of the United States have been designed with a new type.

The ironclad ships of the United States of America are different from the ironclad ships of Britain and France, or the Union States, in that they are not simply adding iron plates to the outside of the sail warship and then dismantling the superstructure, but are completely redesigned, and it is a structure similar to a turtle ship.

Most of the ironclad ships of the United States have small tonnage and deep draft. The freeboard is extremely low, and the sails are all abandoned, and all are powered by steam engines.

And interestingly, although the ironclad ship of the United States is still a paddle steamer, its paddle wheel is inside the hull, not outside, a bit like a catamaran.

To put it simply, the ironclad ships of the United States have a water intake tank inside. Inside the hull there is a paddle wheel, which is then in the center of the hull, so that it is possible to avoid being hit by enemy shells during the battle, which will make the ship lose power.

Therefore. At this time, most of the ironclad ships of the United States had a displacement of no more than 1,000 tons, all of which were powered by steam engines, and the freeboard was extremely low. The main part of the hull is mostly underwater, and the part that emerges from the water is shallow.

In addition to the chimney, the hull is covered with 8 layers of 2.5 mm removable iron plates. From a distance, it looks like a turtle shell with a chimney floating on the water.

This low-freeboard design idea not only gave the ironclad ships of the United States excellent defense and stability, but also obtained good mobility, generally reaching a speed of more than 8 knots, which is much faster than the 5 knots of the Virginia.

However, this design idea of low freeboard also leads to the poor ability of this ironclad ship to resist wind and waves, and can only fight on inland rivers or offshore coasts, and once the wind and waves are stronger, it is likely to capsize.

Historically, the famous ironclad ship Monit during the Civil War is a typical example, this ship participated in a series of naval battles, not once sunk head-on, but once again sunk in the wind and waves.

Of course, although it is said that the ironclad ships of the United States have poor wind and wave resistance, it is also relative, after all, the tonnage is there, and if you compare the ships of the same tonnage, the wind and wave resistance of this ironclad ship is still very good. For example, the sinking of the ironclad ship Monit actually encountered a hurricane at sea, and in that case, a wooden ship of the same tonnage would be equally unbearable.

But in any case, no matter what kind of design idea, because the core keel is still wooden, and the steam power is not strong enough, it is determined that the so-called ironclad ships at this time can only become defensive warships fighting in coastal waters or inland rivers, and cannot become real ocean-going warships.

On the Mississippi River, near Vicksburg, the main force of the United States' fleet was this kind of ironclad with a displacement of less than a thousand tons, low freeboard, pure steam power and rotating turrets, and in previous battles, especially in the artillery battle with the Vicksburg defensive batteries, this ironclad also proved its superiority, providing extremely strong support for Grant's siege of Vicksburg.

It can be said that in the previous battle, without this batch of ironclad ships, it would definitely be quite difficult for Grant to trap Vicksburg safely and destroy those batteries in Vicksburg, at least at a heavy price.

However, with these ironclad gunboats, the battle to besiege Vicksburg became easier, because the artillery strongholds of Vicksburg were cleared in advance by these ironclad gunboats, which made Grant's operation to clear the outlying strongholds of Vicksburg easier, and the waterway was also cut off by the ironclad fleet, which really trapped Vicksburg.

Otherwise, even if Grant can control the land stronghold on the periphery of Vicksburg, if he can't control the adjacent river of Vicksburg, he will not be able to trap Vicksburg, and it will not be possible to completely cut off Vicksburg from the outside world.

It was precisely because the Vicksburg batteries were cleared and the river was blocked that Grant was able to leisurely play his twenty-one hours of continuous artillery bombardment, with almost non-stop shelling, to demoralize the defenders of Vicksburg.

The reason why Grant engaged in that 21-hour continuous artillery bombardment was very simple, that is, it was clear that bullying the defenders of Vicksburg lacked artillery, that is, to bully people with his own firepower superiority, to make them frightened, to make them despair, and finally surrender unconditionally.

Therefore, the real hero of the Battle of Vicksburg was actually this ironclad fleet, Grant's army of 80,000, which was nothing more than a deterrent.

Now, this ironclad fleet, which has established great martial arts for Grant and the United States, has begun to rush to the first detachment of the task force, wanting to use its strong defense and powerful artillery fire to play hand-to-hand artillery combat with the first detachment of the task force. Completely defeat this yellow-skinned monkey in Sherman's mouth.

…………

When the first battleship of the United States' ironclad fleet was still five kilometers away from the task force, the first detachment of the task force had all completed the pre-war preparations, which meant that at this time, the task force was ready to fire, but Mo Haiwen still did not give the order to fire, but asked everyone to continue to maintain a state of aiming alert.

The reason for this is because Mo Haiwen knows that at a distance of five kilometers, the other party still has a certain chance of being able to escape.

Because according to the experience of previous exercises, these four Jianghu-class frigates are a mess although their combat capabilities are strong. However, in the absence of missiles and only the use of artillery shells, the hit rate does not reach 100 percent, not even 50 percent, and at most it is about 30 percent.

Of course, a 30 percent hit rate is already a terrible hit rate in this day and age, especially when the rate of fire also keeps up.

But the problem is, if you shoot from five kilometers away. Once the other party realizes that something is wrong, it is still possible to escape, although at most they can escape from the next few ships, but this is still not the situation that Mo Haiwen wants.

Other words. Due to the narrowness of the river, the opponent can only rush over in a long snake formation, and the opponent's formation is too long, with a range of five kilometers. Mo Haiwen estimated that if he fired at this time, he would definitely win. But only half of the other party can be left, and the other half is still very likely to escape.

Mo Haiwen didn't look at Si Swenwen, but in fact, he was quite ruthless in his bones, he felt that since he had the advantage in firepower, he would either not fight, or if he wanted to fight, he would leave all the other party.

Therefore, Mo Haiwen's shooting distance is two kilometers apart, that is, two kilometers before firing, at this time, not only the shooting of his own side is more accurate, but also the secondary gun can also be added, regardless of shooting accuracy or firepower density, it can be optimized.

On the contrary, once the opponent reaches within two thousand meters, the ships of the entire fleet will be within the range of their own artillery fire. When the time comes, he can pinch the head and tail and attack the head and tail of the opponent's fleet at the same time, so that not only can the opponent be confused, but also can all stay.

The reason why he chose two thousand meters is not that Mo Haiwento is big, on the contrary, he is actually quite careful.

Although Mo Haiwen had limited knowledge of real naval warfare before, since he met Li Yongji, he got a lot of books from Li Yongji, and from there, he really realized what real naval warfare was like in this era.

In the book, Mo Haiwen not only knows the common sense of naval warfare in this era, but also knows the advantages and disadvantages of the battleship artillery of the great powers in this era.

Tong guò study, especially later, he also came into contact with video learning, through those three-dimensional animation videos, Mo Haiwen knew what was going on in naval warfare, and more understood the artillery performance of other powers in this era.

In the mid-nineteenth century, in the fire. Before the breakthrough in medicine technology, the artillery of the great powers and countries is still dominated by black powder, which is nothing more than the formula of black powder is slightly different, and it has been granulated and polished. The frying performance is just a little better, but it is not as good as smokeless. Fire. The medicine is not a grade at all.

In addition, the steel process is not up to par, so the artillery at this time is quite bulky, the range and power are not very good, and the shells are still mainly solid bullets. Burst. Although there are bombs, they are very few and are not the mainstream, especially in naval warfare. Bombs - There are not many cases of bombs.

Although the British had built the Armstrong cannon at a distance of more than 1,500 meters, it was only an effective firing range, not a hit range, nor an engagement range.

You must know that at this time, the artillery battle was still based on the eye, and the distance of engagement was no more than 500 meters, and generally speaking, in order to increase accuracy, it was still about 300 meters before firing, which was not much different from the era of sail warships in the 18th century.

Although in fact, the firing range of naval guns in many countries has exceeded 1,000 meters, but at that distance, there is basically no accuracy at all, and in addition to the failure of observation and sighting equipment, the most important reason is that naval warfare is different from land warfare, and there is also a problem of stability.

Artillery firing has recoil, and on land, the recoil can be transmitted to the land, and the stability is somewhat guaranteed. However, on the water, once the fire is fired, the ship will sway, and this hull instability is not only limited to the lateral sway (sway) of the port side, but also the longitudinal sway (sway) of the head and tail tilting back and forth.

In addition, during the voyage, the bow pointing of the ship is actually a small swing along the course (first swing), so the instability of the hull is triaxial, which also leads to a big difference between the shooting of naval guns and land artillery, which requires more complex measurements and calculations.

In the era of sailing, the distance of engagement was about 300 meters. At this visual distance, there is actually no need to calculate much, because the projectile flies almost in a straight line, that is, it is relatively easy to shoot where.

However, once the distance of the engagement exceeds 500 meters, the shooting will be curvilinear and the change in the accuracy of the shelling will be greatly increased by the various swing numbers. More complex calculations are required, otherwise it will only depend on luck.

During this period, not to mention China, Britain undoubtedly had the most experience in naval warfare. Their gunnery is also the most advanced, and there are only two ways for them to pursue accuracy:

The first method is to pursue the density of firepower. That is, to increase the number of guns of a ship, with more shelling, with the same hit rate. to increase the chances of hitting. For example, the battleships of the British Empire followed this method, and the principle is, if I can't hit you with one shot, I can't hit you with two shots, and I will hit you with a hundred guns at the same time, and one shot will always hit.

The second method is the hand-to-hand combat method, that is, to pull the distance between the two sides close enough, close enough to within 300 meters before firing, relying on the powerful power of their own artillery to destroy the enemy ship at close range, and the advent of the ironclad ship is mainly prepared for this hand-to-hand combat. Because the protection of the ironclad ship is perverted, when the shelling is at close range, you can't hit me, but I can sink you, so it is so favored by all countries.

Nowadays, the navies of all countries tend to prefer the second method, that is, the method of close shelling, so they are vigorously developing ironclad ships, and there is no doubt that the navy of the United States of America is particularly respectful of this method.

Since it is a hand-to-hand combat, the opponent's engagement distance should not exceed 500 meters, and it is generally about 300 meters, and even if they do not play this game, with the range of the Americans' naval guns, the hit rate of more than 1,000 meters is less than 2 percent, and the hit rate of 2,000 meters away is not even 1 in 1,000, which is not half a point worse than the 45 percent of the task force.

This 45 percent refers to the hit rate within 2 kilometers, and once it exceeds 2 kilometers, if it is 5 kilometers, the hit rate will drop to 30 percent, but this is still a pretty terrifying hit.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Chinese Navy in this era is too short, the training time is too short, and the comprehensive quality is too low.

But then again, in modern society, the way of naval warfare has long changed, and no one will play the trick of naval artillery bombardment, all of which use missiles and torpedoes, or planes to throw smart bombs, and the role of naval guns is more to assist ground attacks, or anti-aircraft guns to intercept missiles.

It is precisely because of the change in the mode of naval warfare in modern society that the Jianghu-class and Jiangwei-class frigates are outdated, and they can be sold to Zhang Xinda so cheaply, and then transferred to Li Yongji.

In fact, at that time, the arms dealer of Red China planned to sell Zhang Xinda the Type 056 foreign trade version of the missile frigate, but Zhang Xinda insisted on buying the Jianghu and Jiangwei-class that China had eliminated, and even did not want missiles, which surprised them very much.

However, it is precisely because there are no missiles and the ships are old that the trade in these ships is so smooth, otherwise, it is unlikely that Europe and the United States will watch China sell missile frigates in Africa on a large scale, which will change the regional situation.

In the view of Li Yongji and Zhang Xinda, in the mid-19th century, fighting naval warfare with missiles was completely a luxury and waste, because the cost was too expensive, maintenance was also troublesome, and missile shooting seemed simple, but in fact, the requirements for soldiers were very high, and with the level of Chinese in the sixties of the nineteenth century, if you want to become a qualified missile soldier, the training time is not ordinarily long.

In comparison, the use of modern naval guns to fight naval battles was more than enough in the sixties of the nineteenth century, and it was also the most cost-effective method of naval warfare.

In short, it was with reference to the firing distance, shooting power and hit rate of the naval guns of the enemy and our side that Mo Haiwen made a combat plan to put the opponent to a distance of 2,000 meters and then open fire, and his combat goal was to completely annihilate the enemy's fleet, and not a single ship would be spared!

Now, Mo Haiwen was ready, and his whole body was excited, his eyes were firmly fixed on the few points of light on the radar display, waiting for the other party to enter his preset engagement distance, and then gave the order to fire! (A good event for pie in the sky, cool mobile phones are waiting for you!) Follow from ~ Dian/Chinese network public account (WeChat add friends - add public account - enter ddxiaoshuo), participate now! Everyone has a prize, now pay attention to ddxiaoshuo WeChat public account! (To be continued......)