1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 818 Crossfire
Slogans can be shouted loudly, but to what extent they can be achieved is a very real question.Neither Gesman, Fernandez, nor Alcarazor actually possessed the determination to fight and die in the Far East for the glory of the kingdom.But out of duty, you can't just run away without firing a shot. If the Haihan people are not as powerful as Gesman described, wouldn't it be a foolish behavior to give up prematurely.Therefore, it is necessary to continue to prepare for the battle. If the uninvited guests outside the city can be defeated, then everyone can use this record to make a great contribution.

With a powerful enemy approaching the city, Alcarazo did not dare to relax, and checked his combat readiness overnight with red eyes.The result is mixed. The good news is that most of the city’s fire prevention guns in El Salvador are still in good condition and can perform combat missions normally; but the worry is that the amount of ammunition in stock is not enough to support long-term high-intensity combat. The reserve was less than twenty rounds.If the battle is fierce, perhaps half a day will consume this little combat material.

With the lessons learned from the city of Santo Domingo, this time the defenders did not choose to retreat to the city from the beginning, but deployed a line of defense outside the city overnight to deal with the enemy who was likely to land here.Alcarazor deployed [-] musketeers, [-] pikemen, and [-] cannon on this line of defense.He believes that even if this line of defense cannot prevent the enemy from landing in the end, at least it has the opportunity to cause relatively large damage to the enemy.

On the contrary, the maritime combat force under the command of Fernandez was easier. Due to the obvious gap in the table strength of the two sides, it was impossible for the only three armed sailing ships on the Spanish side to fight head-on with their opponents on the frontal battlefield.The task he needs to undertake is to harass the Haihan army from the sea while launching the landing operation.Although the effect of this kind of harassment is mostly limited, if it can delay the progress of the opponent's landing operation, it can also reduce the defensive pressure of the land defenders to some extent.

However, Gusman, who knew that his military literacy was limited, took the initiative to apply for the command and coordination of logistics. For him, as long as he could stay away from the battlefield, the specific job was not the focus.Anyway, he doesn't need to do it himself, he just needs to talk and let others do errands.

On the morning of March [-], the good weather that had been stable for more than half a month suddenly changed. A sudden storm came to the northern part of Taiwan.Takahashi Minami had to order to delay the attack and wait for the weather to improve before making plans.The Spanish defenders on Sheliao Island also got a valuable respite because of this, but unfortunately because of the weather, they were also unable to send a boat out of Hainan to report to Manila.

At noon on March [-]th, God finally received the magic power, and the weather gradually turned fine.Before the defenders on Sheliao Island had time to sigh, they discovered that an established Haihan army had appeared on the coast of Jilonggang, which was only separated by a narrow waterway, blocking their only retreat route to Taiwan Island.

This force followed Gesman's fleeing team all the way from the land to the offshore area of ​​Jilonggang. However, due to the weather two days ago, they did not rush to block the coast, but waited patiently until the weather improved today. A blockade was deployed on the coastline without a sound.

The speed of the Haihan navy was not behind the army at all. Fernandez, who commanded three armed sailboats at sea, suddenly discovered that three Haihan warships had already deployed to the sea about two nautical miles north of Sheliao Island.If Fernandez's three sailboats wanted to harass Haihan when he landed, he had to be prepared for these three ships that might attack from behind at any time.Fernandez didn't have the courage to face the front and back attacks of the Haihan warships, so he could only command his three ships to maintain a relatively safe position, so as not to be directly taken by the Haihan warships.

Haihan's main fleet slowly sailed out of the temporary stop at [-]:[-] a.m. During the two days of storms, several ships were damaged to varying degrees, but fortunately, it had little impact on combat capabilities. Basic combat missions are still fine.Coupled with the absolute advantage in numbers, Takahashi Minami believes that there is no need to be afraid of the opponent's three armed sailboats, as long as they are ready for battle.As for the command of the navy, he did not interfere too much, and only asked the navy to ensure that it would not receive interference from the sea during the landing of the special operations battalion.

Since the Spanish sailing ships could not put enough pressure on the Haihan Fleet at sea, they traveled unimpeded as they approached Sheliao Island, and soon arrived at the scheduled landing area on the west coast of Sheliao Island.Since the east of Sheliao Island is facing the Pacific Ocean, the coastline has been washed and baptized by stormy waves for a long time, and the terrain is relatively steep, which is not suitable for landing operations. There is only a relatively flat area on the west side of the island facing Jilonggang Harbor. Ships dock, and the only pier on the island is also built at this location.

Gao Qiaonan stood on the deck and carefully observed the defense fortifications on the island with binoculars.The Spaniards deployed the line of defense outside the castle in an arc, forming a semi-encircled state of the only landing site, and there were obviously multiple artillery positions on the line of defense, ready to use artillery fire to drive away the Haihan army Preparations for the sea.

However, this is not impeccable in Takahashi Minami's eyes. Due to the limitation of weapon performance, the Spaniard's defense line is only about 200 meters away from the coastline.Even so, the muskets in their hands can only be shot casually, relying on the face to hit, the real lethality that can be exerted is extremely limited, and they still have to rely on those cannons as the main force.What they don't know is that Haihan's naval guns have a range far beyond that of their European counterparts, basically more than 300 meters, and some can even reach [-] meters. As long as they come close to the coast and bombard, it is enough to cover this line of defense It's within range.Of course, the hit rate of bombarding land targets from the sea must be quite low. It is unrealistic to use this to destroy the defenders on this line of defense. As long as the army can win the opportunity to land .

The Haihan fleet slowly drew an arc on the sea, adjusted its formation, and then aimed its side at the shore.Although the Haihan fleet is at least 200 meters away from the Spanish defense line on the shore, the purpose of posing this posture is very obvious.It is not without capable men in the Spanish army. They understood what the Haihan people were planning to do at the first sight, and immediately ordered the infantry on the defensive line to enter a concealed position.

This line of defense was just a temporary fortification erected overnight last night. Except for a few artillery positions, the rest of the area only had sections of parapets made of earth-wrapped stones to cover the infantry's assembly behind it.This defensive method may be effective in blocking rifle bullets, but it is really difficult to be effective against shelling.

"Fire! Fire!" The Spanish officer, who reacted quickly, immediately gave an order to the gunner next to him. At this time, he didn't care about asking Mr. Alcarazor who was sitting behind him. If he didn't fire again, he might not even have a chance to fight back .

The two sides, one sea and one land, one attack and one defense, fired almost at the same time, and the shells drew arcs and staggered through the air to hit their respective targets.Haihan's side has an absolute advantage in the number of artillery pieces, but it still depends on luck to hit the narrow defense line on the shore.Although the Spaniards only deployed ten cannons on this line of defense, the hit rate advantage of shore cannons over naval cannons is huge. What's more, this row of Haihan warships is really not small, and they are not too big in terms of aiming. At a distance of about 200 meters, aiming roughly can basically guarantee that you will not miss the target.

In the first round of shelling, the Spanish side with fewer artillery had a higher hit rate, but at this time, the Spaniards discovered that their disadvantage in weapons was not just the number. It couldn't directly penetrate the side of the Haihan warship. After hitting the ship's plank, it only made a dent and was thrown into the water, which failed to achieve the damage effect at all.

This is also why Haihan's military regulations set a high standard, and the ship's plank was thick enough. If it were a civilian ship of the same tonnage, the side plank would not be able to block the shells flying at this distance.If the Spaniards want to achieve the effect of damage, they must either shorten the shelling distance further, or they can only achieve it by increasing the charge or switching to a larger caliber artillery.

It is impossible to shorten the distance or change the guns before the battle, so the Spaniards chose to increase the amount of charge to increase the muzzle velocity of the guns. However, because their number of guns is too small, the firing frequency is definitely not as good as the discharge The Haihan warships that entered the shooting position one after another in the wheel array.After the shelling on the Spanish position stopped, the second expedition-class warship just entered the firing position, and more than a dozen artillery shells on the side side poured shells on the shore one after another, and this time, one shell hit the shore very fortunately. A defensive wall in front of a gun emplacement.Although it didn't directly hit the gun position, the rubble splashed out of the defensive wall instantly injured the three gunners on the gun position, causing the gun position to temporarily lose its combat capability.

After increasing the amount of charge, the Spaniards' second round of bombardment really improved significantly. The battleship "Tian Du" in the Haihan Fleet was hit twice in a row, and one hit the side. It was broken down, but obvious cracks had already appeared.The other shot hit the ram position near the bow. Fortunately, this part was covered with copper skin, but it was only hit with a dent.But in this round of shelling, the Spaniards still did not cause any casualties to Haihan, they were just having fun for nothing.

Takahashi Minami felt a little regretful at this time. He could have waited another ten days or so before he could take the Majestic-class capital ship that had completed maintenance and repairs to the expedition.With the thickness of the majestic side and the number of cannons, it is absolutely possible to stop on the shore and have a close-range confrontation with these Spaniards. There is no need to be afraid of these small-caliber artillery bombardments of the enemy like tickling. The fortifications are much easier.

Although the Spanish artillery attack seemed to have some advantages at the beginning of the battle, as the battle progressed, the superiority of the Haihan naval guns gradually suppressed the artillery fire on the shore.Although the hit rate was not high, after the eight Haihan warships passed the firing positions one by one and completed a whole round of shelling on the shore, three of the ten artillery pieces on the shore still failed to fire.Two of the artillery were injured by the gunners, and it took time for the backup gunners to be replenished.The other artillery was unfortunately hit directly by a shell, and the artillery and the two gunners on the emplacement were scrapped together.

Although the Haihan army has gained certain advantages, after completing a round of bombardment, the fleet has to make a big circle at sea and then come back for the next round of bombardment, and the time spent in the middle is set aside for the Spaniards. Enough respite.Before the line of defense on the shore was defeated, it was impossible for Gao Qiaonan to order the army to land forcibly. In that case, the army without cover would be completely exposed to the Spanish guns. will do.

Now the competition between the two sides is the will to fight, whoever can't hold on first will have to retreat.Haihan's fighting will is very firm. The plan for this trip to Jilonggang is thorough, with sufficient supplies and personnel. Except for the fact that the attack could not be launched immediately due to the weather in the first two days here, everything else is going smoothly. .So far in the battle, Haihan's side has not suffered a large number of personnel losses, and there is no need to fear that the Spaniards can launch a decent counterattack. All they need to do is to be patient and continue to attack the Spanish defense line on the shore with naval guns.

However, the Spanish defense line was set too close to the coastline, and the number and power of artillery could not take advantage, which caused the defenders to fall into a great passivity.The hundreds of infantry deployed on the defense line have no other purpose except to carry ammunition. Instead, small-scale casualties may occur from time to time due to the indiscriminate bombardment of Haihan naval guns.This is actually not the worst thing. What really disturbed the Spanish officers on the line of fire was that the ammunition base they had prepared in advance was not large, and after only a few rounds, there was not much left.If the Haihan people continue to launch shelling with the current tactics, then the artillery on the defense line will probably not wait until all of them are destroyed by the enemy's shells, and they will lose their combat ability by firing out their ammunition first.

The only thing the officers can be thankful for is that the enemy at sea does not know that their own situation is so bad, otherwise they will definitely save some ammunition and send infantry to land in advance.

The officers can only send people to send the bad news back to the city, and what Alcarazor can do is to send people to send more ammunition from the city-don't think about defending the city now, try to stop it Let's talk about the landing of the Haihan army.

(End of this chapter)