Chapter 18: The Quick War

It was completely dark, and an hour had passed since the last patrol fleet of the Liaodong Navy, and it was also an hour before the next patrol fleet arrived. During this time, if the Conch launched an attack on the island, even if the defenders of the island gave a warning, it would take an hour for reinforcements to arrive at the earliest.

Gangzi stays in the Qingzhou Ocean Control Zone, Wet Island is opposite, the narrow and desolate island is called Gangzi has an unobstructed view of the facilities on the island, a tall guard tower is built on the highest point of the island, from that place you can see Changdao County in Qingzhou, this guard tower is the target that Gangzi needs to destroy. A dhow is moored at the simple dock on the wet island, while another dhow cruises back and forth in the nearby waters. After an afternoon of observation, Gangzi did not find any omissions on the other side, and the cruising dhow never left the sight of the wet island, which means that Gangzi needed to face the attack of two dhows. Time was pressing, counting the time for evacuation, there was not much time left for Gangzi to fight, and seeing the cruising warship reach the farthest point in the west of the patrol circle, Gangzi pressed the timer and ordered the Conch to cross the demarcation line and enter the control area of the Bohai Strait in Youzhou.

As soon as it crossed the demarcation line, the Conch entered the warning range of the wet island. The dhow that had been on the opposite side of the island for an afternoon had already aroused the vigilance of the island's garrison. The dhows left behind on the island were ready for battle, and they broke away from the pier to intercept the Conch, and the cruising dhow immediately turned to outflank the Conch's rear route.

"Captain, the other party waved a flag and told us to stop moving immediately, drop sail and drop anchor for their inspection." The lookout on the mast shouted at the position of the Conch bridge.

Gangzi stood in the command position of the bridge and said: "Tell them that we are the frigate of the Youzhou Maritime Association, and the rudder has broken down and needs to be repaired on the wet island." ”

The lookout sent Gangzi's words through the flag, and the other party responded quickly.

"The other party said that the wet island is a naval warning area in Liaodong, and no ships are allowed to approach, and told us to stop advancing immediately for inspection, otherwise they will attack."

Gangzi held a telescope to observe the dhow in front of him, estimated the distance between the two sides in his heart, and said to the lookout: "Tell them that we belong to the Maritime Association, and your military rank has no right to order us to stop sailing, since the wet island is a warning area, we will not stop, we will go around to return to Liaodong Port." ”

NPC's dhow will not appoint an official captain, and the opposing dhow should only be an acting captain on the opposing dhow, and the lack of skill bonuses to the ship's performance is also the audacity of Gangzi who dares to fight against two sloops on his own. As for whether the other party has the authority to order him to stop the ship, it is completely nonsense, the other party is the navy, and no matter what rank he ranks in the performance of the mission, he has the right to order the merchant ships to stop and inspect the ship.

The dhow battleships of the Liaodong Navy really didn't eat Gangzi's set, and issued an ultimatum, "Stop the ship immediately, otherwise attack!" ”

The other party has already entered the range of artillery, and Gangzi's purpose has been achieved, and he replied: "Please don't attack, let's leave immediately, there are important items on the ship that the Admiral of the Liaodong Navy wants, and you can't afford to pay for the damage." ”

Gangzi continued to flicker and at the same time ordered the Conch to turn east and aim its side at the other side.

The other party was still unmoved, seeing that the Conch kept warning and insisted on turning, the dhow in Liaodong was also alert to turn in the same direction as the Conch, and the other dhow was still a short distance away from here.

The Conch took the lead, and at the same time, the captain and elite sailor bonuses allowed the battleship to complete the combat posture first. Seeing that the Conch had adjusted its hull so drastically, the hostility had been revealed, and the two sloops of the Liaodong Navy accelerated the adjustment and raised the battle flag at the same time.

Gangzi saw clearly in the telescope, the intercepted Liaodong dhow battleship had not yet completed the turn, and the bow of the ship was slanted in the conch sideboard firing boundary. ”

"Boom, boom, boom......"

A salvo from the starboard guns of the Conch opened the naval battle.

Because Gangzi had just narrowed the distance between the two sides as much as possible, although there were only five guns on the port side of the Conch, with the increased accuracy, one shell still hit the target in the first round of shelling.

It's just that this shell didn't hit the deck, which disappointed Gangzi greatly. The Liaodong Navy dhow finally completed its turn and launched a counterattack against the Conch under a false alarm, and at the same time kept getting closer to prevent the Conch from approaching the wet island and endangering the island's watchtower.

The Conch also continued to get closer, he could not be forced out of the range of the wet island too far, Gangzi's task was to destroy the guard tower on the wet island, not to accompany the two Liaodong naval warships in the artillery battle. If the battlefield is dragged too far, even if he wins the naval battle, he will not have time to return here to destroy the watchtower, because the patrol fleet of the Liaodong Navy is composed of three brigs, and one show is only a part of the death.

Each side had its own aims, and they invariably chose to seize the channel ahead of the other side, and the two warships poured shells on each other on the sea, and quickly approached along the two intersecting lines.

The distance is shortened, the hit rate increases exponentially, and when the two sides are close to a distance of 100 meters, the hit rate reaches almost 100 percent, and the cannon is hit. The defense of the sloop was not high, even if the key point was reinforced with armor plates, it could not withstand the continuous hit of the shells, the port side of the Conch was full of holes, and a shell came in through the gun door, and a group of guns and gunners were all killed. A crack appeared in the bilge and water was entering, but fortunately, the waterline armor plate was not penetrated, and the sailors in the cabin immediately reinforced the ship wall and drained the water.

The Conch was badly injured on the port side, and the opponent's dhow was no better? The power of the gun, the rate of fire, and the performance of the hull were all weak, and the damage to the conch was even more serious, and it was almost impossible to fire normally. The speed of the ship was also seriously reduced, and it was finally overtaken by the Conch to occupy the voyage.

The Conch made a forced turn to the north, and the tattered port side was aimed at the oncoming Liaodong Navy sloop.

"Change the grape bomb!"

Through the observation hole in the bridge, Gangzi can see through the open bow of the dhow and see the sailors on the opposing deck who are looking for hiding and the guns on display. I don't know why the opponent's battleship didn't change course in response to the adjustment of the Conch, so it rushed straight over, presumably there was a rudder problem, and the opportunity should not be missed.

"Fire!"

The remaining four guns on the port side of the Conch leveled their muzzles and fired a salvo, and the grapes-sized scattered bombs swept across the deck of the Liaodong Navy dhow in a fan shape, and the metal storm swept in, and the sailors of the Liaodong Navy who were "swishing" could not raise their heads. Although they had dodged in advance, the rebounding projectiles still injured many sailors. After the shelling, the sailors of the Liaodong Navy immediately jumped out and took advantage of the time when the Conch guns were filled to treat the wounded and clean the deck.

"Inspire!"

Captain Gangzi's Skill: Inspire Launch. The muzzle of the cannon that had just been silent was sprayed again, and all the sailors of the Liaodong Navy on the deck had leaked out, and in the face of the unprepared shelling, there was no time to dodge, and they were shot one after another, and the flesh and blood on the deck were flying, and the deck gunners were almost all wiped out, and this sloop battleship was no longer combat-ready for a short time.

Another dhow of the Liaodong Navy had already arrived from the south side of the Conch, and he did not choose to shell the Conch with its stern exposed, because the warships of the warring side were too close to the other side, and there was a possibility of accidental damage if the shelling was rash.

The Conch narrowly escaped, turned its hull 180 degrees, ignored the seriously injured Liaodong dhow battleship, and galloped away towards the wet island.

The remaining Liaodong Navy dhow battleships also did not care about their seriously injured companions, and chased after the conch's wake. Their mission is to protect the watchtowers on the wet island, which are obviously more important than their comrades who are no longer able to fight.

The Conch experienced a sea encounter, and although it was victorious, it also paid a price, the ship's speed decreased, and the port side could not withstand the heavy attack. The enemy still has one intact dhow left, chasing along the left side of the Conch, and it is clear that they also know how to strike at the enemy's weak point.

Gangzi looked at the pursuing enemy in the rear, and this speed difference would definitely be caught up before the Conch brought the wet island into range.

"Turn 15 degrees to the left!"

Gangzi ordered to the helmsman beside him, since there was still one more fight, the Conch must not use the fragile port side. The Conch deflected course in an attempt to give way to the pursuing dhow to its right.

However, the opponent did not intend to act according to Gangzi's plan, and also turned left to firmly target the weak position of the Conch.

"Continue to turn left 15 degrees."

The Conch adjusts again, and the opponent responds as well.

Adjusting the direction twice, the two sides are still parallel but the angle is open, as long as the Liaodong Navy sloop catches up a little more, it can incorporate the port side of the Conch into its own firing angle.

Gangzi's gaze was always on the chasing sloop: "The stern gunner of the port side reported to me that the other party is still how far from our firing range!" ”

The voice of the gunner of the stern gun crew came from the cabin below the bridge: "Report to the captain, the other party is still a hundred meters away from entering my maximum firing range!" ”

According to Liang Hong's teaching, Gangzi gave a thumbs up and stretched out his arms, and estimated the distance between the two sides with the distance between his eyes, and when the other party was about to enter the range of artillery, Gangzi shouted at the helmsman: "Right full rudder!" Fast! Right full rudder! ”

The Conch made a U-turn outside the range of the opposing sloop, drew a semicircle on the surface of the sea, and continued to turn right to chase the stern of the enemy sloop. In order to prevent the stern from being shelled, the enemy sloop also turned to the right, and both sides aimed at each other on the starboard side and began a circular gun battle.

"Fire!"

The two ships rotated and approached, entering the firing range, and the Conch was the first to open fire.

The roar of "boom, boom, boom, ......boom" artillery rang out again in this sea area.

Gangzi saw that there was still half an hour left in the time, plus the destruction of the watchtower and the retreat, there was not much time left for him to deal with the sloop. Fortunately, once I went back to the sea area of Wet Island, the watchtower was in my eyes, and the wooden structure three-wheeled cannon could destroy it.

After two rounds of gunning, neither side made any achievements, and the hit rate of this kind of shelling at the edge of the range was unimaginably low, and unless the captain had the skill to increase accuracy, it was the character that could hit or not. The Liaodong dhow can accept such a situation, his task is to protect the watchtower, not to sink the invaders, and the next patrol fleet will arrive in half an hour, at that time if the invaders do not escape, they will only be sunk, so he waits.

But Gangzi can't afford to wait, waiting for the Liaodong Navy patrol fleet to arrive, he can only retreat, the previous efforts will be in vain, the next time the other party will definitely strengthen the defense, he may have to deal with more than two dhows, if the Sea Lion is transferred to come, I don't know how long it will be delayed.

"Wealth is in danger, what my brother is best at is dog fighting, stick it up, and if my brother has a bayonet on the artillery, even if he dies, he will vomit your blood!"

"Battle Song!"

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