Sure enough, as a veteran naval warfare expert, the course of the battle was as the British observer group officer said, the Queensland fleet was divided into two ships, one or so cut along the edge of the circle of fire into the outer firing corner area of the sail fleet, and then turned to fire fiercely with a beautiful flick of the tail.

After only four rounds of shooting, the first hit hit an unlucky Dutch sailing ship, the cannonballs blew up thousands of wooden thorns, and half of the wind swept across the deck to produce great secondary damage, bringing a bloody storm to the crew of this sailing ship.

At first, the flagship of the "Utreven Warriors" tried to maintain a one-time artillery array, directing all seven sail ships to turn as a whole and meet the enemy with two broadside guns.

This futile effort soon failed, because the Queensland fleet was faster, which was reflected in the speed of starting, the speed of steering, the speed of acceleration, the speed of sailing, and the constant maintenance of heavy cathartic fire in the firing dead zone.

After an unlucky battleship was hit, the flagship "Utreven Warrior" made a desperate discovery that the inherent shortcomings of a sail battleship were infinitely magnified compared to the fast and nimble steam cruiser.

Every turn of the sail warship requires the captain's experience in accurately controlling the sails, the cooperation of many sailors, the timely cooperation of the helmsman, whether it is shaking the winch to adjust the front mast, turning sharply to retract the reverse sails, and waiting until the ship has eaten enough and the sea breeze begins to accelerate, which takes time.

The steam cruiser only needs the steering wheel to deflect, and the course changes immediately, and the effect is immediate, like a swimming fish shuttling on the sea surface to vent artillery fire.

Moreover, the seven sail battleships were scattered in a zigzag artillery array up to 1.8 nautical miles, the battle line was stretched too long, and the surface of the bullet was too wide, so that the hit rate of artillery fire at both ends of the attack was greatly improved, and the Queensland fleet only hit an unlucky sail battleship with only the fourth salvo after a violent tail flick and turn.

Damn, why are these Queenslanders so difficult?

As a last resort, the flagship "Utreven Warriors" disbanded the formation, breaking up the seven sail warships into two fleets, each fighting separately.

Take advantage of the regrouping of enemy ships

Albatross, Flamingo, Pelican, and Heron four battleships shelled and covered with all their might, and successively achieved two hits and two near-misses, and one of the 239-mm shells hit the stern of the flagship "Udlevin Warriors", and a large part of its rear was blown up on the spot.

Because the 239-mm shell penetrated the stern before exploding, it did not cause fatal damage to the 1,700-ton second-class sail battleship "Utreven Warrior", but only killed and wounded more than 20 crew members, and was still able to hold on to the fight.

After the Dutch disbanded the artillery array, they paid a heavy price to form separate sub-fleets, and the threat to the Queensland fleet increased dramatically.

The mutual shelling on the sea surface tended to be white-hot, and countless shells whistled through the air, fiercely covering the area of the enemy ships.

The two sides gradually formed two battle groups, fighting each other with hot shells, and the battle became white-hot.

The fierce battle lasted for more than an hour, around 3:50 p.m

The flagship "Albatross" was hit twice by the Dutch flagship "Udlevin Warrior" in the intersperse, and a 120-mm shell pierced the bow, and although the strong blast wave was blocked by the explosion-proof wall of the main gun position, it still caused many casualties in the front main gun crew.

One of them was killed on the spot by shrapnel in the head, one was hit by a shell that was about to be reloaded, vomited blood, three were seriously injured, and the rest were slightly injured.

A 95-mm shell hit the tall steel foremast above the wheelhouse, knocking it down on the spot in the flames, and the roof of the wheelhouse was blackened and partially distorted.

The iron pieces brought by the explosion flew sideways, forming a bloody rain on the left side of the ship's hull, and the casualties were even more heavy.

The officers and men on the two 120-mm semi-open secondary guns on the left side suffered heavy blows, six dead and four seriously wounded, and the rest were slightly wounded.

In the cockpit building, all seven officers and men, including He Fang, the commander of the fleet, were knocked down by the violent explosion shock wave, and thick gunpowder smoke filled the cabin.

Because there was no one at the helm, the "Albatross" rushed straight towards the detachment led by the "Utreven Warrior".

This detachment consisted of three sail warships that were still capable of fighting, among which the "Utreven Warrior" was slightly wounded, and they were trying to output artillery fire, and the next round of shelling fired two near-misses around the "Albatross", and the explosion stirred up a column of water like raindrops.

The commanding officer of the "Albatross" suffered heavy losses and was placed in an extremely dangerous situation.

If you don't maneuver in time to avoid the area covered by heavy artillery fire, it is only a matter of time before you are hit again.

With the precision of the Dutchman's gunnery, he would not miss this opportunity.

"Captain, Captain......"

Zheng Dashan, the commander of the No. 3 deputy gun position, struggled to open the cockpit door with a full body of trauma, and the thick smoke of gunpowder came from inside, and his vision was not clear.

Zheng Dashan groped his way and rushed in, stepped on a soft body under his feet, and hurriedly leaned over and hugged him, it turned out to be the navigator who was stunned by the explosion of the cannonball, he yelled and shook twice and did not wake up, so he could only temporarily lean the navigator against the wall.

The cockpit was filled with black smoke, and the short circuit of the wires produced a thick burnt smell, accompanied by the flickering flames.

After touching two people who were stunned by the cannonballs in a row, Zheng Dashan finally dragged the captain He Fang up under the bridge and opened the hatch on the other side.

Where it catches the eye

The two secondary batteries on the port side were completely stained red with blood and corpse remains, large splatters of plasma stuck to the walls with minced flesh, and the gunners lay on their backs, and the seriously wounded let out a terrible howl.

Now that the battle is raging, there is no spare manpower to treat the gunners, so we can only wait until the battle is over.

By that time, I am afraid that the blood of the seriously injured would have been drained.

"Captain...... Wake up, wake up! Zheng Dashan looked at the captain's face covered with blood, and his heart was full of fear and fear, so he hurriedly reached out and touched him around, but found no other trauma.

It should have been stunned by the shock wave of the explosion, so Zheng Dahai patted He Fang's cheek with his hand and shouted loudly; "Captain...... The fleet needs you, and we need you to command the battle, wake up! ”

At this time, the "Albatross" rushed straight towards the enemy fleet like a warrior who looked at death as if it were home, and only the rear main gun and starboard secondary gun on the ship insisted on firing.

But in the face of the rain of shells smashed by the black pressure, the firepower was so weak.

This round of salvo fire from the Dutch fleet once again fired an extremely dangerous close miss, like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper lingering over the head of the "Albatross", and it was only a matter of time before it was sent to the bottom of the sea.

The officers and men of the "Heron", which was slightly backward from top to bottom, were so anxious that they had to distance themselves from the "Albatross" in order to avoid the extremely dangerous shelling zone.

The "Heron" constantly issued flags, asking the fleet commander for his safety, whether he would be able to continue the fight?

This extremely dangerous near-miss bomb exploded on the sea near the front of the port side of the hull, and the huge water pressure squeezed the bulkhead with a creaking sound, and the "Albatross" was pushed away by the violent surge, and the water column set off by the explosion split its head and covered its face.

Zheng Dashan fell down in a cold and unguarded manner, but he pulled the captain He Fang hard at the end, and the two fell to the ground heavily, He Fang smashed on Zheng Dashan's chest, which almost smashed Zheng Dashan out of breath.

Then the sea water covered the sky and poured down, drenching the two of them to a wet body.

The sea rolled and surged on the bulkhead, and in the blink of an eye it had turned red into a dazzling bloody water, sweeping small pieces of minced flesh into the sea, and cleaning the entire bow.

The open flames in the wheelhouse were instantly extinguished by the seawater, and the short-circuited wires emitted bright sparks in the shaking, and the captain He Fang was awakened by this violent collision, and his eyes were briefly confused.

And the cannon rumbled, and the cockpit shook non-stop.

He Fang didn't know where he was for a while, and suddenly heard a roar in his ears; "Captain, you're awake, great, please continue to lead us in battle."

"Where am I?"

"Captain, we are fighting the Dutch fleet, and our brothers need your command."

Hear this

He Fang suddenly woke up, his eyes revealed a resolute look, and he struggled to get up and look, and there was an extremely tragic scene in front of him.

Several officers and men on the front main gun position fell on the gun position without knowing whether they were alive or dead, and there were large splatters of blood everywhere, and other wounded were struggling in pain, while the rear main gun position was still insisting on firing back with artillery, and many officers and men had blood stains on them.

The two 120-mm semi-open secondary gun emplacements on the left were strewn with corpses and had completely lost their combat capability.

The battleship Albatross headed straight for the enemy fleet and fell into a dense artillery coverage area, and the situation was critical.

The warm blood gushing out of the wound on the top of his head blurred He Fang's eyes, wiped it with his hand, ignored it, and rushed to the helm platform and turned the steering wheel sharply, causing the "Albatross" battleship to turn sharply in high-speed sailing, and the hull rolled violently, deducing a high-speed sideslip on the sea.

Almost between the front and rear feet, dozens of hot shells fell into the track of the forward direction, and if it did not make a large turn and dodge, it would inevitably be hit by one or more shells, and the "Albatross" escaped this catastrophe by hanging again and again.

"Third Artillery Commander, call me all the people in the cockpit building who can wake me up, damn it, as long as I have a breath left, I will fight to the death." At the critical juncture of life and death, He Fang burst out with unprecedented domineering.

"Captain, they're all unconscious and can't wake up!"

"Slap me hard until I wake up." He Fang spat out a mouthful of blood and spittle, and suddenly thought of something, took off the short knife decorated on the bulkhead, threw it to the third artillery commander, and shouted; "If you don't wake up, you will stab me with a knife, don't worry, you can't die, I will bear the problem if something goes wrong."

"Yes, Captain." Zheng Dashan was also shocked by He Fang's fierce expression, and he couldn't be merciful.

"Is there anyone else, is there anyone who can catch their breath?" He Fang shouted while manipulating the steering wheel.

"Captain, I'm gunner Ah Quan."

"Report the gun emplacement."

"Yes, two dead and three seriously injured in the front main gun position, one seriously injured in the rear main gun position, and the rest are all slightly injured, the No. 1 and No. 2 sub-gun positions on the left are all in ink, and the No. 3 and No. 4 auxiliary gun positions on the right are slightly injured, and they can still hold on to the fight."

"Go and call me out in the engine room, the galley, the signalman, the lookout, all the people who can move, and go into battle."

"Yes."

A few minutes later

All the gun emplacements of the Albatross roared again, like a scarred warrior brandishing his sword, and re-engaged in a bloody battle.