"Steady!"

The old captain roared.

The warships of both sides approached quietly, and everyone was waiting for the commander's order to open fire. Alves was even more nervous, he poked his little head out and looked at the other party's warship approaching like a ghost, they were so close......

"When to fire?!"

Finally, Alves couldn't help but ask in a whisper.

However, Captain Geralf did not answer him, but just stared at the sea with a pair of weathered eyes. Visually measuring the distance between the two sides, the accuracy of the artillery is actually very poor on the bumpy sea, and the sail battleship is actually very strong, and it needs to be fired at close range to have a chance to hit the target. Having spent most of his life at sea, Geralf knows that.

Finally, the opposing warship couldn't help it and fired the first round of shelling.

"Get down!"

The crew roared from the deck. In the next second, the high-speed flying solid shells whizzed by, however, only one or two sporadic shells hit the hull, and most of the shells fell into the sea less than ten meters away from the hull, splashing into the sky.

"Fire!"

About half a minute after the enemy ship opened fire, Captain Geralf gave the order to open fire.

Suddenly, artillery fire roared and gunsmoke erupted. Fifteen heavy guns vented their fire on the enemy ship, and the solid projectile flew out at high speed, tearing through the sky and smashing into the enemy's ship. Even by visual inspection alone, Alves could see that at least half of the shells hit the enemy ship. The wave pushed away several hapless sailors, their bodies falling from the deck into the sea like ants. However, after a round of artillery salvo, only a few holes were left in the hull, and the impact on the entire battleship was still very small.

"Reload!"

Captain Geralph's nervous command arrived. There is no doubt that after a round of artillery bombardment, the naval battle has entered a critical moment, and as the warships of both sides get closer and closer, the power of the artillery bombardment will also increase.

In the distance, the other ships were already roaring, and the large-tonnage ships were equipped with better guns and had a longer range, so that several of the Queen's ships were already engaged in a confrontation with the ships of the Erlengrad rebels before the Rose and the oncoming enemy ships could fire. Throughout the sea, the roar of artillery fire continued, and the smoke of gunpowder was dense.

"Get down!"

Soon, a second round of shelling from enemy ships roared. The attack was like a storm, causing real damage to the Rose.

Two solid shells hit the deck, destroying a light ballista on the deck, and at the same time, the two sailors in front of Alves were pierced by the high-speed flying shells, their bodies were blown away like fragments, and the stumps and broken arms were spilled from mid-air and fell into the sea, blood and internal organs poured on Alves, making him feel what real naval warfare was......

At the same time, the cabin below deck was also penetrated, three solid shells pierced the side deck, killing the gunner and crew inside, and a sailor crouching behind the gunwales was directly cut off his head, leaving only half of his body lying in the cabin. Another soldier had his arm severed by a high-speed shell and collapsed in the cabin, screaming in pain......

"Sprinkle some more sand!"

The accompanying physician shouted, and the boatmen quickly punctured the sandbags, spilling sand all over the cabin. （1）

Stepping on the bloody sand, the Navy Medic drew his cork and stuffed it into the wounded's mouth, and the two shipwrights pressed the wounded soldier to death, and the doctor immediately bandaged the wound. Screams echoed through the cramped cabin. 135 Chinese

Others, accustomed to such bloody scenes, knew that if they wanted to survive a naval battle, they had to hurry up and reload and shoot. One more round of shelling, one more chance that the enemy ship would be sunk. All the crew went crazy and continued to nervously reload the shells, which were still solid, the enemy ship had not yet entered the close range, and the captain had not yet given the order to change the shells.

Soon, a deafening shelling resounded through the cabin.

Alves clearly saw that seven or eight of the fifteen shells still hit the enemy's hull, and the remaining few shells fell into the sea, making a splash.

"Equalize the angle of fire, ignite!

"Clean the chamber!"

"Bring the cannonballs up to Lao Tzu, quick!"

As the distance was further shortened, Captain Geralf gave the order to fire freely, and all the gunners fired as fast as they could, regardless of whether they would hit the or not, at this distance, basically eight out of ten hit the target.

The smoke of gunfire continued to rise, the sound of artillery fire became more and more messy, and from time to time one or two projectiles pierced the side of the ship, killing the crew members who were working inside.

After a few rounds of shelling, Alves was already hiding under the ship's building and shivering. He did experience war, but it was the first time he had experienced a naval battle of this magnitude, and it was hell. Blood covered the deck, and even the fine sand could not cover it completely. A solid bullet pierced one of the boatmen beside Alves, and the boatman's body exploded in fragments, shattering even his bones and splattering his internal organs and blood. The solid bullet continued to move forward after penetrating the first soldier, bouncing off the deck a few times before slowly rolling to the other side. It was covered with horrific pieces of internal organs and red and black blood.

"Chainbomb!"

Soon, Geralf gave the latest combat order. Orders were conveyed in turn by the messengers, and the smoothbore guns on the deck began to be reloaded!(2)

"Aim for the mast and fire freely!"

The order continues to be communicated. Everyone was nervously doing their job, and some of the artillerymen who were cleaning their chambers were damaged by shells fired from enemy ships. Other soldiers crouched in the corner, vomiting, scarlet blood and guts flowing slowly......

Alves barely bothered his head to watch the battle, knowing that it was not safe to hide anywhere in such a situation. It's not safe on deck, it's not safe in the cabin. Several chain bullets were fired from their own deck, whistling towards the mast of the opposing ship. However, most of the shells simply pierced the sails and did not hit the mainmast.

Gradually, thick gunsmoke obscured the crew's vision. Even the snipers on the watchtower could barely see the personnel targets on the opposite deck.

"Get on the shotgun!" (3)

Finally, the tragic close-range shelling began. Shotguns are the most powerful weapons of destruction in naval warfare, and they are enough to cleanse everyone on deck.

"Fire!"

Shouts rang out across the deck and cabins, and finally, the last round of shelling was launched.

The six smoothbore guns fired at the same time, and the instantaneous pressure generated by the high temperature ejected the shotguns, and countless bullet-sized projectiles burst out from the tin barrels, and in an instant, a metal storm covered the opposite ship. At the same time, the enemy ships fired the same ammunition.

Alves only felt that there was darkness in front of him, and countless metal projectiles were thrown from behind the gunsmoke, forming a barrage that instantly cleaned the deck. Countless screams of pain from the crew rang out, and projectiles the size of fingers rained down on the crew. More than a dozen people who had just been fine fell to the ground in an instant, bleeding profusely. The projectile pierced their heads and bodies, more powerful than the most powerful crossbow arrows.

Even the captain himself was grazed by the projectile, and a piece of flesh and blood was blurred on his arm. But he still insisted on commanding. Alves was glad that he didn't die in this ** rain barrage blow, and he wasn't even injured, but he felt a burst of tinnitus in his ears, and the continuous huge shelling almost deafened him...... But at least he's alive......