1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 805 Strength gap
Shooting at a stationary target at a distance of more than 100 meters is not a difficult subject for the gunners on the Haihan battleship, not to mention that the combat environment at this time is relatively calm on the inland river. Instead of rough seas, the difficulty of shooting is relatively greatly reduced.

Four Haihan "Explorer-class" sailboats lined up, facing the north bank of the Danshui River with their starboard sides, and twenty artillery pieces were fired one after another brazenly, bombarding several small boats docked at the dock.These ships were originally civilian ships, and the hulls basically had no means of defense. After the shells hit, sawdust flew across, the masts toppled over, and soon some ships were flooded and overturned because the planks near the waterline were pierced.

Of course, when carrying out this kind of mission that focuses on destruction without worrying about the enemy's counterattack, the navy will not expose [-]% of its capabilities to the enemy's eyes, and the shooting frequency is much slower than the normal combat level. More energy is still put on the pursuit of hit rate. After all, accurate shooting is what the gunners can be proud of. Who will show off with simple speed.

Although the Spanish side entered the city early to avoid danger, there were no casualties in this round of unilateral shelling, but Lopez, who was watching the battle on the city wall, was still as black as the bottom of the pot.He saw at least two things from the flamboyance of the Haihan people. First, the Haihan people did not intend to leave them any retreat, so they destroyed all the ships on the shore before the official war, which fully proved their Second, the hit rate and firepower displayed by the Haihan battleship in the shelling were beyond his expectations. The only thing that made him feel lucky was that these artillery were deployed on the ship instead of on land, otherwise he would now It's time to worry about how to deal with the opponent's shelling.

But Lopez thought about it again, the warships sent by the Haihan Army to this place may not only have such a few ships, and the artillery configuration of the warships is so terrible, how could the army be so bad?There is no artillery position deployed by the other side outside the city yet, probably just because the timing has not come yet.If the enemy army really sacrificed artillery outside the city later, how should I deal with it?

Haihan's shelling didn't last for a long time, only about ten minutes before and after.But several Spanish ships on the shore have been riddled with holes, and they seem to have been basically scrapped.For the defenders watching the battle on the top of the city, the visual stimulation and psychological oppression are very strong. Among the enemies that the defenders have dealt with in the past few years, none of the armed forces has the sea level. Han's strength.Even the Dutch, who were able to fight against Spain with sea arms, had far fewer cannons than the Haihan warships on the armed ships they sent here to fight.

"Maybe we should think about how to ask Jilonggang for help..." Before the fight officially started, Lopez had such a thought in his mind.

However, he soon came to his senses. The posture of the enemy troops outside the city did not seem like they would release water. If he wanted to send someone out to ask for help, the possibility of breaking through the enemy's encirclement was not very high. At least the waterway would definitely be impassable.

"Come here, let Delgado from the reserve team come to see me immediately." Lopez gave the order with a sullen face. Although the hope was slim, he decided to give it a try before he was reconciled.

The ancient surname Delgado comes from the Santander Mountains, which means "thin" in Spanish, but the Delgado in Lopez's mouth is not a Spaniard, not even a little Spanish. .The owner of this name is actually a Bangdu native who was born in the mountainous area of ​​northern Luzon. Because his father had served the Spanish colonists, he also got a Spanish name after inheriting his father's career.

Delgado is now also a member of the garrison army in Santo Domingo, but because of his blood relationship, his army is only an auxiliary army rather than a regular army, and usually spends more time doing farm work than military training. Many, somewhat similar to guard soldiers in some areas of Ming Dynasty.It is reasonable to say that his status is not enough to be valued by the local supreme commander, but compared to other soldiers of the Confederate Army, Delgado has a special unique skill.

Delgado used to be a jungle hunter before playing for the Spaniard. He was very good at hiding his whereabouts in the forest, and this skill did play a role after he joined the army.He lurked out of Santo Domingo twice when he was attacked, and crossed the Yangmingshan Mountains to Jilonggang for help.Although the straight-line distance between the two places is less than forty kilometers, considering that there are still many indigenous tribes in this mountainous area that have feuds with Spain, it is indeed a matter of fact that Delgado can pass through this area without incident. Not easy to do.

Because of his two successful rescue missions, when the city of Santo Domingo was once again invaded by foreign enemies and became difficult to fight against, Lopez naturally thought of this hunter who was good at traveling through the mountains and forests.If he can successfully cross the mountainous area again to seek help from Jilonggang, then perhaps there is still room for recovery.Otherwise, everyone will wait in the castle to die together.

However, this time Delgado showed embarrassment after listening to Lopez's order: "Sir, maybe you haven't noticed that these guys are holding rifles, not bamboo arrows and bamboo spears, and they are all deployed on several main lines. Near the passage, if you want me to go out of the city, it is very likely that I will die before I enter the mountain."

"Delgado, you are a fighter, you can't be so cowardly and cowardly!" Lopez didn't expect his subordinates to question his decision, and his face became even uglier at the moment.

"Sir, I'm not afraid of fighting, but I don't want to lose my life needlessly." Delgado defended himself: "No matter which direction I go out of the city now, I will be discovered by the enemy. There is no chance for me to pass through the encirclement."

"Then what do you want to do?" Lopez felt that there was something in his words, so he asked.

"I need 15 to [-] people, divided into five teams, and go out of the city after nightfall, and break out in different directions at the same time. I will arrange their travel routes and avoid the enemies outside as much as possible." Delgado really proposed My own opinion.

"As long as one of the teams can go out, maybe the news can be sent to Jilonggang." Lopez thought for a while, and felt that Delgado's method made sense, and immediately agreed to his proposal: "Then you Now go and pick people, the reserve team is up to you.”

This plan seems feasible, but Lopez is not stupid. Of course, he can think that Delgado probably wants most of them to be cannon fodder to cover him to escape, but he will not point out Delgado's thoughts in person, just This candidate must be controlled, lest this guy choose a group of Spanish soldiers to die. This kind of loss is not something Lopez can bear, and Master Gusman will never agree.As for the people in the reserve team who are all natives of the colony, they can recruit as many as they die anyway, and Lopez doesn't particularly care.

Of course, Lopez is also very clear that the defenders must hold on to their defenses before this, and this time may last for several days.According to Delgado's previous records, it took one to two days to cross the mountainous area to arrive at the destination of Jilonggang, and then the local garrison spent a day or two gathering troops to prepare supplies, and then rushed over from Jilonggang to rescue, at least It will be four or five days later, and this is already the ideal state without any delay in the process.If the rescue organization is delayed due to weather or other objective reasons, it is also possible that the reinforcements will have to wait ten and a half months to arrive.

If it was a former opponent, Lopez is indeed confident that he will defend until reinforcements arrive, and even repel the enemy on his own.But this time the opponent who came to Tamsui River was not as easy to deal with as before. From the opponent's formation and tactical arrangement, Lopez could feel that the opponent came prepared, and tightened the noose step by step. , but did not leave any opportunity for the defenders to counterattack.If you don't cheer up and deal with it carefully, Lopez is not sure whether he can drag the reinforcements to arrive.

At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, three [-]-pound guns with lighter barrels finally arrived at the front line. Takahashi Minami, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately ordered the artillery to be deployed to the predetermined position, ready to launch an offensive.

Since the city of Santo Domingo is located on a hillside, the artillery of the special warfare battalion can only be placed on a slightly lower terrain, which is relatively disadvantaged in terms of range.But this time, Lopez stopped leisurely watching the opponent's movements outside the city, and immediately ordered the artillery in this direction to shoot at the area where the opponent was setting up the gun positions.

Sun Zhen's infantry platoon was fortunate enough to undertake the task of guarding the artillerymen into the battle position. As soon as they entered the predetermined position, the artillery on the distant wall rang loudly.When he raised his head a little, he could see a shell whizzing through the air, and smashed towards where he was.

Although I have also received infantry and artillery coordination combat training during the training period, and I have heard the explosion of artillery fire at close range, but that is my own firepower after all, and I know in my heart that the artillery shells will not hit my head, which is the same as the enemy army now. The feeling of the shells whizzing towards them is completely different.Sun Zhen believed that he had killed people in troubled times before he joined the army, so he was considered a brave person, but at this moment he still felt his knees were weak, his mouth was dry, and his mind was in a daze.

"Standing around like a living target?" It wasn't until the platoon leader Wang kicked him on the butt that he was pulled back from his distracted state.

The shells that fell from the sky didn't hit him, but landed about ten meters in front of the right, and stopped in the grass after two rounds of smoke.This distance is almost the limit range of the defender's artillery. If Lopez wants to make the shell hit farther, there is only a risky way to charge more gunpowder.Of course, Lopez may not have the guts. Extreme loading is a dangerous behavior that can easily cause the barrel to explode. Regardless of whether it is artillery or gunners, they are important resources that Santo Domingo City cannot afford to lose at present.

However, even if Lopez makes a desperate effort, it may not cause real trouble to the attacker. Due to the limitation of weapon manufacturing technology, the artillery of this era is not very accurate at the extreme range, and whether it can hit the target is completely random. look at the face.Lopez ordered the firing, in addition to deterring the attackers, he was more or less hoping to draw a prize with his luck-what if he hit it?
However, God is not so favored by the Spaniards. The four cannons on the city wall in this direction fired four rounds without a hit. The nearest one is still about ten meters away from the target area. Not hurt.Lopez has nothing to do with such a result. Since he does not have the conditions for regular artillery training, he can only have the opportunity to fire once a year or so, and he has no way to demand the performance of the gunners.

But Lopez can't show discouragement on his face yet, and the people under him are all watching his performance. If he loses control of his emotions and panics first, then these people under him probably won't have the heart to fight.

"Don't stop, keep shooting!" Lopez ordered with a straight face.

At this time, Gusman's servant appeared in front of him again: "Captain Lopez, Master Gusman wishes to know the reason for the firing and the current battle situation."

"You tell Master Gusman that the situation is under control, and the enemy has been blocked by us from the artillery range..."

Before Lopez finished blowing the cowhide, there was a bang from the Haihan artillery position in the distance, and a black dot sprayed out from the muzzle and flew straight towards the city wall.

The people on the city wall opened their mouths to watch the shell whizzed by about three meters above their heads, and then smashed into a wooden house in the city.Obviously, the trajectory of this cannonball is because the opponent's firing angle is slightly higher, so that it directly crossed the city wall and smashed into the city.Of course, as long as the brain is not particularly stupid, you will also realize that the range of the opponent's artillery is much farther than your own. When someone shoots from a low place to a high place, it is farther than oneself from a high place to a low place. In terms of weapon performance The gap was immediately apparent.

Lopez's heart sank a little more. Before he could think of words to explain, Gusman's servant said with an optimistic face: "Although the enemy has artillery, it doesn't look very accurate!"

Lopez managed to squeeze out a smile and echoed a few words, and quickly sent the foolish servant down the city wall.This guy probably has never experienced artillery battles at all, and he doesn't understand what this phenomenon of artillery straddling means.In order to avoid disturbing the morale of the army, it is better to send him away as soon as possible.As for how he will report to Gersman after returning, Lopez can no longer take care of that much.Although the opponent had only deployed three cannons in place, he was already a little panicked, secretly praying that the sky would darken sooner.

(End of this chapter)