"Lao Tzu is loyal to the country today!"

On the bridge of the 'Liaodong', Zhu Chengxiu, commander of the 'Revolutionary Army' navy, had a sad and indignant look on his face. The first mate, the second mate, the helmsman, the draftsman, and even the lookout man standing on the mast were all very sad and indignant—we only fucking had one boat, and I heard that there were dozens of boats on the other side. There are also seven particularly powerful ones, the leader is even as big as us, and the cannon ratio is ten times more!

What the fuck is going to do with this?

We're dead!

Before the officers and men of the navy were ordered to board the ship, the tired flat-haired pilots made a reconnaissance and came back to give a briefing on the war. Flat Mao didn't know much about ships either, and only said that the enemy had 'a particularly large one with a lot of artillery, comparable to the battleship of the 'Liaodong'. There are also six battleships that resemble standard transports and a lot of guns. In addition, there are dozens of large ships of the Mariners who are a little weaker. ’

Hearing such a report, Zhu Chengxiu's heart was half cold. He had been commanding 50-ton commuter boats before, and three months earlier the shipyard had just launched a 1,000-ton capital ship. In order not to forget to recover Liaodong, Zhou Qingfeng deliberately named it 'Liaodong'.

Because the construction of the navy was too complicated, Zhao Ze, who was in charge of the shipyard, had to take a group of shipbuilders and naval personnel to the blessed land of Dongtian for several years of advanced study, so as to focus on ensuring the smooth construction and sea trials of this warship.

It is not that the navy does not have other warships, but the operation of warships is complicated and the number of naval personnel is limited, so this big ship can only be driven out first. Zhu Chengxiu and others were originally very pleased to command such a huge ship - as a result, they were ordered to go to sea to fight after only three months of sea trials.

The opponent is also very strong.

It's just like being asked to take the postdoctoral exam just after going to kindergarten, which is so embarrassing!

The time was tight and the task was urgent, Zhu Chengxiu and the others didn't even have time to write a suicide note, so they hurriedly drove out the 'Liaodong' with a displacement of 1,000 tons.

Because Zhao Ze, who was in charge of the shipyard, didn't understand ships at all before, he temporarily designed the iron-ribbed wooden shell 'Liaodong'. So the ship uses a whole bunch of very fashionable technology. As for whether these technologies are good or not, no one knows.

In these years, most of the normal sailing ships are square, but the 'Liaodong' uses a streamlined flying scissor bow. The sail warships were tall and large, with multiple decks, and their guns were housed in open windows on both sides. The Liaodong, on the other hand, used a very low freeboard ratio, and was low and slender. It had only six guns, all in the swing turret on the deck.

Not to mention the other stern, steam-powered, propeller-propulsion and other technologies, in short, this is a warship that is completely out of step with the current era. When Zhu Chengxiu took over the ship, he felt that this ship was too good, but now that he was asked to go to war, he felt that he was really dead this time - there were dozens of ships on the other side, and there were dozens of times more artillery than ours.

The so-called 'punching to kill the master', no matter how strong the 'Liaodong' is, it can't be picked up alone.

If it weren't for the entire family and his own fate, Zhu Chengxiu really didn't want to fight. But now he had to come, and he had to fight to the death. Because the marshal personally ordered that all the incoming enemies should be annihilated, and no one should be spared. Zhu Chengxiu felt that he was really miserable - it was too much for me to fight dozens of ships with a single ship, and he even wanted me to be annihilated!

It's a shameless request.

According to the instructions given by Bian Mao, Zhu Chengxiu wrote a suicide note in the corner of his eyes wet in the bridge, and left Port Arthur at a cruising speed of twelve knots. Not long after he came out, he ran headlong into the Roy fleet that was passing through the old Iron Mountain waterway on the opposite side.

The 'Amsterdam' had a higher mast and more experience as a lookout, so they were the first to spot the 'Liaodong' that was rushing rapidly and warned in advance. Faced with this menacing battleship, Sir Roy, who commanded the fleet, immediately realized that something was wrong - there were too many things to fight when they met on the sea. Whether it is murder or arson or roadblock robbery, the victor is never to blame.

Due to the current northerly wind, Roy's fleet took a zigzag route in order to pass westward through the Old Iron Mountain Waterway. The standard-bearer of the Amsterdam waved the signal flag and ordered the six armed merchant ships following behind him to change course and flank to the north, ready to meet the incoming ship with black smoke.

The sudden change in formation of Roy's fleet made the dozens of puppet ships that followed behind also realize that something was wrong. They were also constantly relaying messages, trying to deflect south to avoid the impending battle. On a 2,000-material Daifuku ship, the maritime merchant Li Dan stood on the side of the ship and watched with a telescope, and his chest and abdomen kept churning, which was very uncomfortable.

The power of the Ming maritime merchants is not small, and there are countless people who are rich and rival the country. For example, this Li Dan mastered the shipping route of trade with Japan and made a fortune sitting on the ground, and the maritime forces in this part of East Asia should respect him a little bit.

But the power is not small, but it does not mean that the strength is strong, and Li Dan's ship is only 2,000 materials at most, about 100 tons. This is a far cry from the 500-ton or even thousand-ton ships of a few Western colonizers at every turn. If the ship is twice as big, the profit of a sea trip will be at least three or four times greater. He always wanted big ships, but the shipwrights in Jiangnan just didn't know how to build Western-style big ships.

Even if the Ming shipbuilding is poor, the gap in cannon building is even greater. The development of the Western scientific and technological system began in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the West was gradually throwing away the East, whether it was metallurgy or mechanical processing. This has led to the increasing sophistication of firearms in the West.

Li Dan obviously controls the route and makes a lot of money, but he still has to bow his head in the face of Westerners. Westerners see Li Dan as a local snake, and Li Dan sees Westerners as crossing the river. Li Dan has always felt that no one in the East can build a design comparable to the Western 'Galen Ship', but today he finds that the rapidly rising 'revolutionary army' in the north has not only built it, but also built it better.

You can sail without sails, which is too convenient in maritime trade. The boat is still running so fast, which is even more eye-catching. Li Dan always felt that the Dutchman's 'Amsterdam' was a top-level ship, but now he felt that the white-painted battleship opposite was really strong.

In the fleet from Jiangnan, there are too many thoughts like Li Dan. Just as these people's hearts were churning and salivating over the Liaodong, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, 'That ship is coming towards us.'"

Oops...... it's bad!

The Liaodong is not only fast, but also very agile. Before the formation of the seven Taixi ships was set up, it turned its rudder to the east and came towards Li Dan's 'small boats'—the puppet Ming sent most of these ships to transport troops, preparing to land somewhere in the north to attack the 'revolutionary army'. Li Dan is also a businessman and a bandit, and he came with the purpose of robbery. But although they are numerous, they are the worst in battle.

Zhu Chengxiu is obviously 'the persimmon picks the soft pinch first', even if he wants to die, he will pull a few cushions first.

Li Dan and the others were already turning around and going south to dodge, and they were very fast after hanging the sails, and they could rush up to eight knots and ten knots in an instant. It's just that when they looked back, the white battleship emitting black smoke could still accelerate, soaring to fifteen knots in one breath - two 1,000-horsepower steam engines powered the 'Liaodong', and the streamlined shape of the flying shear bow allowed it to increase its speed.

Fifteen knots!

In this era of sailing, being able to run ten knots is fast, and fifteen knots is against the sky!

When the lookouts on the seven big ships gave their observed speeds, the captains and sailors on the ships looked at the white battleship as if they were looking at God—because the speed was too fast, the waves in front of the flying shear bow were churning, and it was really a kind of pleasure of chopping the waves!

But this exuberance is terrifying in the eyes of the enemy.

"Send a signal to that battleship. Tell it that we are merchant ships from the Netherlands and that we have no intention of making enemies of them. Sir Roy instantly understood that although his side was superior in numbers, his ships were far behind in terms of performance. If this is really going to start, seven ships may not be able to beat one of the others—the speed of these fifteen knots alone will not be able to catch up with the 'Amsterdam'.

Is this a confession of Sir Roy?

No!

People don't admit it. He then ordered: "Let the ships behind us come closer to us, and we must resist this fast ship in a dense formation." All gunners were ordered to open the gun doors and reload ammunition ready for battle at any time. We may well face a fierce battle. ”

The sides of the ship were close to the surface of the sea, and in order to prevent the waves from entering the hull, both sides of the sail battleship were closed with gun doors. If a fleet goes to a port elsewhere, it is necessary to close the gun doors or even the artillery for the sake of friendship, and allow the port to send people to inspect it. And opening the gun door, loading ammunition means one thing, the ship is ready for battle and ready to fire.

The standard-bearer of Roy's fleet was constantly passing on information, but Zhu Chengxiu, who was commanding the 'Liaodong', didn't care at all. He had already ordered the two boilers to be pressurized, the power to be raised to the maximum, and a large arc was drawn on the surface of the sea at an extremely high speed.

Turning at a high speed and at a large angle, the hull of the 'Liaodong' tilted, and one side of the ship seemed to be grazing the sea, and the waves were constantly fluctuating. It rowed in front of a merchant ship of a puppet sailor, setting off a wave of waves.

The undulating waves were spreading, spreading into the distance, causing the merchant ship to shake violently. The sailors on the merchant ships were terrified to death, grabbing things everywhere to fix themselves, but they still stumbled.

When the 'Liaodong' corrected the hull again, the six guns on the deck of the ship were aimed at the fleeing Li Danzao ship - the distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters, Li Dan looked at the thick and big cannon muzzle on the opposite side, and immediately shouted heartbreakingly: "Open the gun, open the gun, open the gun quickly!" ”

A series of cannon shots rang out, but it was the six main guns installed on the 'Liaodong' that fired.

Short-barreled large-caliber heavy naval guns, this is a new gadget specially created by the 'revolutionary army' after abandoning the conventional way of arranging the broadside guns. Because the current technology cannot solve the problem of stable naval shelling, naval guns have no requirements for range. By the early 19th century, the British Navy was still firing at a distance of 100 meters, because the distance was too far and the hit rate was too low.

It is precisely because of the special environment at sea that Zhao Ze, who designed naval guns, simply went to extremes. He reduced the number of naval guns on the 'Liaodong', created a maneuverable artillery slide, made the caliber larger, increased the power, and tried to hit the soul as much as possible!

And now, at a close distance of 100 meters, the Li Danzuo ship, which was aimed at by six large-caliber main guns, became the first target to verify Zhao Ze's idea -- all six large-caliber ovoid solid bullets were sprayed over, and the target was a 'small boat' with only one-tenth of the displacement of the 'Liaodong'.

The rumbling of artillery spread over the sea, and all six shells hit.

Li Dan's ship was immediately hit hard, and the hull on the side of the ship burst continuously. The large-caliber projectile perfectly transmitted the lethal kinetic energy carried by itself, and the internal structure of the target was completely disintegrated. The side of the ship instantly flooded and skewed.

The sailors on the target ship either threw themselves off at the moment of being shot, or kept jumping into the sea after being shot. Within two minutes, the ship was sinking. Only a large number of tattered planks and corpses were left floating on the surface of the sea. Li Dan, a maritime merchant, a big pirate, and a big shipowner who has been crisscrossing the East Asian seas for twenty or thirty years, is finished.

Killing!