Chapter 490: Pursuit at Sea

He didn't have much time to think about it, because he found that these warships were very fast, and could run at least seven knots, while his warship, which was headwinding, could run up to five knots. After a little calculation of the distance, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that in two hours at most, the ships that are close to full load will inevitably be overtaken by the opponent's ships.

Flags were constantly being sent from each ship, asking what to do next. There are undoubtedly a lot of people who run, and if you look at this formation, you will know that if you don't run, it will definitely be the end. The opponent has four times more warships, and in no way inferior to himself, and there are even large warships among them, and there are not a few in number. What a!

Seeing that the time was still morning, he reluctantly ordered a retreat. Fang Sigu had been observing here, and after discovering that the Dutch fleet had turned around, he scolded angrily: "You actually want to run? Catch up with me. Inform the clipper detachment and chase them up. ”

As soon as the fleet under the command of Yu Yi had completed its U-turn, a boom was heard, and a column of water rose from a distance of less than 200 meters. Raising his eyes, ten clippers suddenly appeared on the flanks, and the distance was less than four thousand meters at this time. The cannonball was fired by a 12-pounder rifled gun equipped with a clipper ship, which was definitely a fast and fast fight. It's just that there are fewer guns, and there are only eight 12-pounder guns on a ship.

Just ten minutes later, the shell came again, grazing the side of a ship and falling to the sea, this time in a leap. That is, they are already in range. At this time, he was a little panicked, and he could fire at this distance? The distance observed and reported on the mast. Isn't it 3,000 meters away? What cannon, can it hit so far? And this quasi-head.

Two consecutive cannons missed, Liu Mazi was very helpless, fighting at sea is like this, three points depend on technology, seven points to see if God takes care of it. Especially in the battles of the Sail Age, if you can have a 1% hit rate, even if the ancestral tomb is smoking. Whatever one may say, already into range, in order to entangle the opponent. Liu Mazi ordered all of them to open fire.

Ten clippers hit the first round of the ship. It all fell short. But it is good to achieve the scare effect, and the abacus of the one is very good, and he runs away at full speed, and when he is overtaken, he runs while fighting. Being able to drag it out until dark is a victory. Didn't think about it. That's just for a while. The opponent's ship came up, and the range of the cannon was beyond his expectations. That is to say, all the previous cognitions of Da Ming. It's all wrong. This result is really terrible. If you think about it, the Chinese have this level of technology, then their ensuing revenge, except for Batavia, there is nowhere else.

"Sue the Courage, discard everything except people, flee back to Batavia at full speed, and be sure to tell the news to the Governor." The governor in his mouth is called John. Ma Suiju was also the decision-maker of this military operation. It was precisely because of his contempt for Da Ming that such a fleet was sent. These ten ships are all sail-armed merchant ships, not mere armor. The largest is 1,500 tons, the smallest is only 1,200 tons, 24 cannons. Even if the opponent's ship is on par with your own, you know what the result of the defeat will be?

The rumbling cannons came, and in the midst of the cannons, the Spirit kept dropping things, and the fleet was still fleeing for its life, and at the same time it was ready to fight, and as soon as the enemy fleet approached, it would immediately attack. There is no doubt that the speed of the Dutch has been greatly affected by the attack of the clipper fleet, and even after turning around, the speed is only barely between five and six knots, and the fleet commanded by Fonsgu is catching up at full speed.

Half an hour later, the long-awaited hit finally came, a cannonball hit the flagship of the Mauritius, and the 12-pound cannonball smashed the side of the ship, and flew up a cloud of sawdust, and the two sailors became unlucky, knocked to the ground and clung to the wounded parts and screamed, and their companions immediately pulled them down, so as not to continue to disturb the morale of the army here. In fact, at this time, the Dutch fleet had little military spirit to speak of. It was the first time that the coachmen of the sea had encountered such a scene, and the strength of the opponent far exceeded them. In the past, they chased others to fight, but now it's the other way around.

Probably the good luck of the Dutch ran out, and the Mauritius was hit by three shells in a row, the most terrible thing being that at this time the opponent's ship was still out of its own range. This is a Galen ship, also called a plywood ship. With a displacement of 1,500 tons, it was considered a very good warship in this era. But compared to the opponent's larger ships, there is no confidence at all.

Run, keep running. Anyway, if you don't sink it, continue to run, in naval battles in this era, unless you chase very closely, the hit rate depends on God's will. Liu Mazi didn't know what he was thinking, but this thing had done pirate business, look at this posture, shooting at 2,500 meters away, that's it. simply gritted his teeth and ordered: "Follow me to catch up, and get closer to fight." Liu Mazi's movements were quickly discovered by Fang Sigu, who put down the binoculars and said solemnly: "This commander is a warrior, and it does take great courage to enter the enemy's range with a flying clipper. However, I have to say that he gave the order to open fire at such a distance, and I must criticize his nonsense after the war. ”

The staff officer put down the binoculars on the side and said, "Dengzhou battalion, there are no cowards." The order is to annihilate the opponent's fleet, then it must be completely annihilated, even if it is a heavy price, to catch up and sink the enemy ship. As for not following the code, I also think he must be punished accordingly, but in terms of the task, there is a certain reason for him to do so. So, a simple punishment will do. The young staff officer had a proud look on his face. The treatment of the Dengzhou Navy is twice that of the Army, and if you can't make a show, these people will die when they go back. He listened to Fang Sigu's words, and he had to refute them. They are all from Dengzhou, and they are all colleagues raised by the master with a lot of money, so they must speak up to help.

"The enemy caught up and came into range." Kuichi finally waited for the news, and at a distance of about 1,500 meters, it was the limit of the range of the ship's guns. At this time, the effect of shooting is definitely not good, and even if it hits, it will not have any good results, but it will definitely affect morale if you are always passively beaten. Kaichi immediately ordered: "Fight back!" ”

In fact, in this era of combat, the distance of engagement is generally within 200 meters, and the other distance is a waste of ammunition, at most to harass the opponent. Like Liu Mazi, firing at about 3,000 meters is actually nonsense, or rather, emboldening, scaring opponents and the like. In terms of practical effect, it really scared Yuyi, otherwise he wouldn't have given such an order. To return fire at this distance, you have to increase the elevation angle, and then you can barely hit such a distance, where the shells go, that's something that God doesn't know.

Sure enough, as soon as the Dutch naval guns rang out, Liu Mazi was happy, and you know that you are afraid? At this time, Liu Mazi was not in a hurry, his cannon entered a thousand meters, and he would be able to have a certain accuracy. After all, it is a rifled gun, or a rear-loading one, and the rate of fire can theoretically get one shot a minute. In actual operation, you can shoot a shot in two minutes, that is, a very skilled gunner. It is inevitable that the sea is relatively bumpy, which brings a lot of trouble to the shooter. Of course, repeated drills and strict implementation of the drill may be two rounds in three minutes in the future, but that will be for the future.

"Eight hundred meters!" Under the whirring shells, Liu Mazi's Flying Fish No. 1 rushed closer and closer. At this time, the speed of the Dutch was obviously slower, and it was a little uncomfortable to be entangled, and this kind of boat dared to hit the door, and it was not an ordinary annoyance.

"Fire!" Liu Mazi gave an order, and the four guns on the side went off one after another, and this time the effect was good, and it hit one shot directly. The side of one of the Galen ships was hit, but it failed to penetrate the oak, and the shells fell into the sea. Liu Mazi was quite annoyed when he saw this: "Damn, rifled guns can't fire chain bullets, get closer, get closer." ”

Five hundred meters, at this time the Dutch were not good, turned the bow of the ship to meet it. Liu Mazi decisively ordered and turned! Shoot at the same time! The ten clippers made a rapid arc movement, and at the same time used the four naval guns on one side to bombard the Dutch fleet that had completed the U-turn, and at the same time the opponent's cannon also sounded. A cannonball almost grazed the mast of Exocet 7, scaring Captain Chen Qing into a cold sweat. The other shells, naturally, failed one after another. In the process of approaching, Koichi also calmed down, and ordered not to fire indiscriminately, and wait for the opponent to catch up. In today's situation, it is difficult to have a good result. We can only hope that the Spirit will escape, otherwise everyone will have to stay, and it will be a big trouble for the Governor to know nothing.

The result of this round of turning fire was unexpectedly good, forty percent of the forty shells hit, and in front of the rifled guns, the oak planks were pierced. One of the shells, luckily hit a cannon muzzle, directly overturning a cannon. This result frightened Kuichi, this is at a distance of 500 meters, and it can actually penetrate three feet of oak? (Note, I don't know the Dutch unit, so I wrote it casually.) ）

The successive bullets exacerbated the uneasiness of the Dutch, and the courage that had just been mustered was extinguished a lot. At this distance, it is very scary to be able to hit four guns themselves, let alone penetrate such thick oak planks. , Yu Yi immediately ordered to continue to run at full speed, and he would not look back after killing people.

The Dutch fleet, which was entangled in a dead end, was never able to reach a peak in speed, and was constantly hit by shells from clippers, causing some damage, the most unfortunate of which occurred at 11 a.m., when a shell broke one of the Mauritius's cables and one of the sails fell. The Mauritius, whose speed had suddenly decreased, was immediately chased up by Liu Mazi's ten ships and beaten up, hitting more than ten shells in a row, and four shells pierced the planks on the side of the ship. (To be continued......)