In the dark night, the cannon roared, the shining cannon flame reflected half of the sky, and from time to time a flare flew into the sky, driving away the cover of the night, and the two sides were fighting fiercely in this dark night.

The high-pressure steam pipe of the "Cuckoo" was damaged, and the leaking white vapor gushed out with a tingling whistling sound, and billowing black smoke came out of the cracked hole at the base of the chimney, which was mixed together to form a large gray smoke ball, almost enveloping the second half of the ship.

In this case

The "Cuckoo" still rushed to the battlefield with all its might, and its speed could only be maintained at about 15 knots, which made the captain Li Sixian anxious;

"How's the boiler room...... Can it be repaired? ”

"Report to the captain, the boiler room has closed the No. 3 and No. 4 boilers, and the sailors have been organized to make every effort to repair it, but due to a large amount of smoke poured into the boiler room, the repair progress is very difficult, and three sailors have been scalded by the high temperature steam."

"Don't tell me that it's difficult, now that the brother ships are fighting fiercely with the enemy, it's the time for the bayonets to see the red, I'll give you 20 minutes at most, you must connect the blown up steam pipes to me to restore power, the sailors are dead, the chief engineer is dead, I'll take the officers on it, and we must connect the high-pressure pipes."

"Obey the order, all sailors are not afraid of sacrifice, and must connect the high-pressure pipeline."

Li Sixian clenched the blood-soaked steering wheel with his hand, and looked through the blown up porthole in the direction where the rumbling of artillery in the night ahead, his face was stained with blood and black ash, and the strong sea breeze blowing from the broken porthole in front blew off the general's hat, and he ignored it.

"Report speed and distance."

"Report to the captain, the combat sea area is 8.6 nautical miles away from our ship, and according to the current speed, our ship should sail within three nautical miles of the combat sea area in about 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes."

"Special mother's ...... It's too slow. Li Sixian slammed his fist on the console, his hand was cut by broken glass, and he asked loudly; How far is my ship from Lucky Bay? ”

"Report to the captain, it should be about 33 nautical miles from the chart, and it can be reached in about an hour and ten minutes at the speed of our ship at 15 knots."

Hearing the captain's report, the captain Li Sixian couldn't stand even more, and ordered loudly; "Order all kitchen personnel, hygienists, confidential personnel and other non-combatants to quickly reinforce the boiler room, be sure to connect the high-pressure steam pipes to me within 20 minutes, there are no bad breeds on the cuckoo, no deserters, the sound of artillery in front is the order to charge."

"Obey, the sound of artillery is the order to charge."

The "Cuckoo" rushed towards the battle area, and the entire back half of the ship was obscured by gray smoke, like a battered soldier stumbling to the battlefield, as long as he still breathed, he could launch a decisive charge.

Time passed minute by minute, and every second of waiting was torment.

Li Sixian knew it in his heart;

If the average speed of 10~11 knots is hard to break, then the "Cuckoo" can only recover the speed of 4 knots in an hour, which is about 7 nautical miles.

However, after traveling 28 nautical miles in an hour, the battleship had already entered the threat range of the shore guns in the Lucky Bay, and the ships of the other side were faced with the double attack of the enemy ships and shore guns, and they almost fell into the dead ground of inevitable defeat, and could only watch the other side successfully break through.

The Seahawk, which was alone, could not be stopped, and the "Petrel", which was pursuing from behind, could not intercept even if it chased behind the enemy ship, because the opponent also had a second-class sail battleship "Dutch Giant" escorting it.

If the "cuckoo" cannot be repaired in a short time, it will not be able to catch up with the battlefield.

If the "cuckoo" is repaired and its speed is restored to more than 20 knots, it will only take 20 minutes to reach the warring sea area......

Li Sixian knows;

Once the Dutch landing formation sent reinforcements and a large amount of supplies into Lucky Bay, it was enough to be the key to the success or failure of the defensive battle of Moresby.

No one could afford this heavy responsibility, and if the defensive battle failed, the officers and men of the Molzscore fleet would not be able to redeem their lives.

It is estimated that Captain Geng Guigui can only lead the remaining ships to launch a desperate attack to the death, and face the fierce fire of the shore artillery into the lucky bay......

The waiting time was extremely torturous, Lee Eun-hyun held the steering wheel tightly with one hand, and his eyes were torn when he looked at the sea and sky in front of him, he didn't dare to look at the time, he could only endure the bitterness.

I don't know how long it took

The chief engineer in the sea soul shirt rushed over sweating, his body was steaming and filled with the smell of burnt meat, his hands with thick gloves were already drenched in blood, and he roared with all his strength; "Report to the captain, the high-pressure steam pipeline has been repaired, and the brothers in the engine room have lost eight people, and they ...... They were all roasted......"

At this point, the chief engineer burst into tears, and the tough guy's cry hit the centerstring like lightning, and the officers burst into tears......

"How long has it been since the repair?" Li Sixian asked with blood-red eyes.

"Report to the captain, 19 minutes."

"I fuck his grandma...... The blood of the brothers cannot be shed in vain, order the ship to speed up with all its strength to catch up with me and ......hit me hard," Li Sixian hissed and ordered, and the rushing tears had blurred the eyes of this tough guy and flowed down his cheeks.

The "Cuckoo" battleship was filled with black smoke, and a large stream of smoke billowed out from the hole in the chimney, and a large white vapor mass could no longer be seen.

More than 20 minutes later

The battleship "Cuckoo" hurried to the battlefield and saw what kind of tragic scene was on the battlefield with the fire in front of it.

Falling behind was a Dutch three-masted galleon, the huge canvas had been ignited by artillery fire, the reinforcements on board were killed and wounded by the artillery fire, the hull was seriously damaged, because of the serious water leakage and rolling, and the fierce battle group in front of it had been a long distance, and the Dutch on board were struggling to save themselves.

In the battle group with fierce artillery fire at the front

The "Sea Hawk" was bruised by enemy artillery fire, and the bow of the ship was so badly flooded that it was about to sink, but the soldiers on the ship still controlled the guns to fire fiercely, throwing hot projectiles at the enemy ship.

The "Haiyan" led by Captain Geng Guigui followed behind the left side of the enemy ship "Dutch Giant" and was violently venting its artillery fire to attack the enemy, forcing the "Dutch Giant" to give up continuing to attack the "Sea Eagle" and turn its hull to deal with the "Haiyan" instead.

From time to time, artillery fire can be seen exploding on the hulls of both sides, and it is obvious that both sides are losing and losing.

The "Sea Eagle" and the "Petrel" were like two ferocious wolves, staring at the "Dutch Giant" and biting frantically, not caring about the bruised body at all, and only trying to hit the enemy with heavy artillery fire.

The Dutch Giant also showed a very high level of combat, always holding off the opponent with heavy artillery fire and nimble steering, and inflicting heavy damage on the Sea Eagle with precise shelling.

The two sides sacrificed their lives and forgot to die, and the battle tended to be white-hot.

The remaining three sail-warships, under the cover of the "Dutch Giant", were fully furling their sails and speeding away in the direction of Lucky Bay.

At about 5:20 a.m., a morning light appeared in the sea and sky, indicating that the light would dispel the darkness and a new day was coming.

Li Sixian's eyes were fixed on the battlefield in front of him, knowing that there was not much time left for him, at most more than ten minutes, and now he was only a dozen nautical miles away from Lucky Bay, and the Dutch landing formation would arrive at Lucky Bay before dawn.

The Dutch are very chicken thieves in time, and they can get the protection of the bay shore artillery as soon as they are able to get protection after dawn.

In the midst of his thoughts, he quickly made up his mind; "The ship's right rudder is 15 degrees, we go around the warring sea and go straight to the cargo ship, the Dutch ghost of the special mother, Lao Tzu wants to bomb them all into the sea."

The "Cuckoo" made a light turn of direction, followed the fire-lit wargroup and made a large circle, pursued the Dutch schooner under the cover of night, and locked the target on the schooner in the first place.

The three-masted galleon, which had a much shallower draft than the others, was one of the three troop carriers with Dutch reinforcements on board, followed by another troop carrier, and the third troop carrier was the three-masted galleon that was already far behind, struggling on the line of sunken death.

Striking enemy troop carriers is the first priority, and the importance is at the top.

By a touch of morning light

The crew and the loaded Dutch infantry let out a burst of enthusiastic cheers from the three three-masted galleons speeding towards the Gulf of Fortune, and they had already seen the black mountains high and low on the distant coastline, and that was where the hope lies.

Now it seems that he is out of danger and can go ashore safely.

Let's be honest

After 5 days and 5 nights of long-distance turbulence at sea, and crossing the life-and-death hurdle intercepted by the Queenslanders again and again, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief and kept drawing crosses on their chests to pray for God's blessing.

God pity you, no matter what awaits you in the future?

As long as they get out of this small cabin shrouded in death, free from the danger of life caused by the roaring artillery fire, free from that extreme sense of helplessness, the soldiers and crew don't care what they face in the future.

God testifies that there is no more ferocious than the Queenslanders.

Lucky Bay Battery

The commander of the landing force, Lord Smitt von Crawns, a colonel of the Royal Netherlands Army, held the telescope in both hands and looked at the sea ahead, his fingers turning white from the exertion.

Standing next to him were the commanders of the mercenary unit, Colonel Heinrich and Lieutenant Colonel Schmeichel, both holding German Zeiss binoculars and staring ahead, and the atmosphere was very solemn.

"I have to admit that the Royal Fleet fought very tenaciously, and exchanged their own sacrifices for the safety of part of the landing force and sent us valuable resources, and they were all heroic knights worthy of respect." Colonel Heinrich sighed and lowered the telescope in his hand.

Under the entanglement of the "Sea Eagle" and the "Sea Petrel", the "Dutch Giant" has been turned into a blazing torch, and the huge mainmast has collapsed, splashing up sparks in the sky, illuminating the vicinity as if it were day.

The "Sea Hawk" was sinking, and due to excessive water in the bow, the stern of the ship had been raised high, and the artillerymen in the bow were half buried in the water, and the artillerymen continued to fire a hot shell, and fought until the last moment of their lives.

The "Dutch Giant" is also sinking, and many of the crew members who are on fire jump into the sea like dumplings, and the ship is already hopeless.

The "Petrel" gave up rescuing the crew of its friendly ship and gave the "Dutch Giant" the final blow, and sailed all the way to the waves with the wounded hull and smoke billowing from the ship, trying to chase the three escaped cargo galleons.

However, because of the desperate blocking of the "Dutch Giant", the distance between the two sides has been shortened to more than 7 nautical miles, and it is impossible to catch up.

Lord Colonel Smitt von Crawns silently lowered his binoculars, his gray-blue eyes staring at the dark sea of night, a look of shock on his face that could not be concealed.

He was extremely impressed by the ferocity of the Queensland fleet, and it felt like ...... The bloodthirsty wolf will not let go once it bites and dies.

"Hell, these Queenslander Chinese are very different from the Chinese in Batavia, they fight like bloodthirsty hungry wolves one by one, which makes people feel very uncomfortable, can it be said that cutting off a braid will make such a difference?" Lord Smit von Crauns felt incredulous.

Chinese laborers are not unusual, they are everywhere in the South Seas, from the British Strait Governor's House colony to Malaya, from Luzon to the East Indies to Java, Bali, Madura, Sumatra, you can often see Chinese laborers with long braids and melon skin hats, they are hard-working, hard-working, and can endure extreme exploitation and oppression like cockroaches.

In the Lord's rubber plantation, there were no less than 400 Chinese laborers toiling under the whip, and they could work hard all day long with a bowl of gruel mixed with filthy sewage.

When the squeezing exceeds the endurance limit, these Chinese laborers will die silently in a corner without adding the slightest trouble.

"Honorable Lord, I think this is what is terrible about the peoples of the East, who are able to endure inhuman treatment and live tenaciously, and under the proper moisture of the rain, they are able to display amazing vitality and fighting power, which is very similar to that of the Germanic peoples." As the head of the mercenaries, Colonel Heinrich was well-informed and saw things well.

To put it simply; Give it a little sunshine and it will shine.

"We picked the wrong opponent at the wrong time and fought the wrong war." Lord Smitt von Crawnes was so blessed that he suddenly uttered a very philosophical remark, which he tasted very well when he touched it, and his well-maintained beard could not help curling; "God forbid, fortunately we didn't lose this war, with this group of valuable personnel and material support, the landing army is confident that it will be able to deal with an enemy 10 times our size if it only defends and does not attack, Mr. Colonel, does I have a point?"

"Your Excellency, I agree with you, provided we have enough shells to fight back against the enemy."

"Rest assured, the three-masted galleon at the back is loaded with 220 tons of shells and 400,000 rounds of ammunition, in addition to 16 guns and 2,500 bolt-action rifles, enough for us to use for a long time." Seeing that the landing fleet was about to arrive, and the big stone in his heart was finally put down, Lord Smitt von Clauens had a long-lost smile on his face, and said in a relaxed tone; "Even though we suffered a lot of losses, we were able to get at least 800 to 900 good boys to support us, which greatly alleviated the shortage of manpower, and I think it was a blessing in disguise."

"Then I'll be fine." Colonel Heinrich replied with a smile, and though he did not think so, he did not want to offend his employer to death, which eased the solemn atmosphere in the fort.