Great Qing Dynasty talker

The next morning, Nelson led his fleet out of the port.

When the two Wu army fast reconnaissance ships waiting in the open sea saw the four enemy reconnaissance ships approaching aggressively, they immediately hoisted sails and fled.

One side chases, the other escapes.

Everyone realized that the decisive battle was coming.

The captain of the Wu Army's fast reconnaissance ship stood at the stern of the ship and observed the enemy ship in pursuit. He gave a stern order: "Discard all irrelevant items, reduce weight, and speed up."

After a while, he continued to give orders:
"Throw away the sampan, too."

"Throw away half the shells, too."

……

The sea is full of various debris~
It was visibly seen that the ship's speed had increased and the distance between the two sides had widened.

One hour later, it disappeared into the skyline.

Both sides breathed a sigh of relief.

Nelson did not care about the news leaked by the two escaped Wu army reconnaissance ships. On the contrary, he was looking forward to a decisive battle.

The Royal Navy always draws its sword in every battle.

He couldn't wait to annihilate the Wu army's combined fleet and achieve unprecedented merit.

Although they have fewer ships, they are large and experienced, especially the flagship "Victory", which can be called the killer in the Indian Ocean.

……

The next afternoon,

On the way back, the 2nd Squadron of the Combined Fleet encountered Nelson's Fleet and the fierce battle lasted for two hours.

The result was 10 to 4.

The 2nd Squadron lost more than half of its ships, 3 frigates were sunk, 5 frigates were seriously damaged, 2 were slightly damaged, and 1 reconnaissance ship was sunk by boarding.

Nelson's fleet had two level 2 ships sunk, one level 6 ship seriously damaged, and one level 1 ship caught fire.

Finally, the 2nd Squadron withdrew under the cover of darkness.

Nelson's fleet gave up the pursuit and turned to the Frankish colonies in Yharnam.

Although there are constant conflicts between the two countries, and Saxony is now leading an army of five countries to besiege Paris, it does not affect the cooperation between the colonies in the far East.

……

No cheering, no joy.

All the senior officers of Nelson's fleet looked solemn as they looked at the wounded being carried down.

During the battle yesterday, they were surprised to find that the Wu army was equipped with shrapnel shells, which caused great losses to their deck sailors in the naval battle.

One shot hit and many sailors fell.

If it weren't for our excellent navigation skills, the most advantageous formation, and accurate suppression by long-range artillery fire, the situation might have been reversed to 10 to 4.

Nelson whispered:
"Gentlemen, our opponents are stronger than expected. We need to make some changes to our planned tactics~"

Everyone discussed the matter repeatedly under the kerosene lamp.

During this time, someone expressed regretfully: "If the Holy Trinity was also there, the chances of winning would be at least 7%."

The Iberians have always kept their distance from the Saxons.
They would not place their only giant ship in the Far East.

……

Three days later, the Combined Fleet set out.

Seven days later, in the early morning, the two sides encountered each other 7 nautical miles east of Orissa!
The lookout on the Victory flagship suddenly wiped his eyes, pointed to the east and shouted: "There are smoke columns over there, at least 20 of them, the enemy is coming."

The officer on duty immediately issued the order to prepare for battle.

The little drummer was beating loudly.

Everyone in the cabin immediately got dressed, rushed out of the cabin, and went about their duties.

Nelson rushed out of the captain's room wearing only a shirt and pulled out the telescope. In the lens, he saw black smoke rising to the sky in the distance. Without asking, he knew it was the steam battleship of the Wu army.

The only one of its kind in the world!
Although European countries also cracked the technology of steam battleships, due to the inertia of naval thinking, steam ships were only used as auxiliary to the fleet.

He smiled and said:
"Gentlemen, prepare breakfast. Make sure it's hearty, and give everyone an extra quota of rum."

……

It was two quarters of an hour later that the Combined Fleet's lookout discovered Nelson's fleet.

at this time,

Nelson's fleet had finished breakfast and was making various preparations for war.

It's like this on the sea, if you look at the mountain, you will die.

Both sides had enough time to deploy their troops, put their personnel and weapons in place.

The portholes were pushed open one by one and the gun muzzles extended.

Boxes of shells were lifted out of the cabin by crane and arrived at various gun positions.

In the bottom room, the military doctor covered everything on the dining table with a tablecloth, threw it aside, and set up a surgical operating table.

Deck, sandbags are in place.

The servants came to the deck carrying muskets and distributed weapons.

……

The cook was busy all the time, completely unaware of the blood and filth all over the ground under his feet.

"The buns are cooked."

The helping servant immediately filled wooden barrels with the guns and carried them to the low gun deck for distribution.

People are iron rice is steel.

You can fight only when you are full.

The short and fat cook opened the bamboo cage, slaughtered a few piglets and hens with a knife, and threw them into the big iron pot after some rough processing.

……

Before setting off, Liu Wu suddenly changed his flagship, abandoned the sailing ship, and moved his command center to the largest 1200-ton steam battleship.

at this time,

He is arranging his troops.

The combined fleet was divided into two and attacked from two directions.

The experience of the 2nd Squadron reminded him that long-range bombardment was disadvantageous, but close-range bombardment was beneficial, especially bombarding the enemy's decks and sails.

However, there is a big problem with the wood tube slow burning fuse.

The explosion could not be timed precisely.

Shorten it? What if it explodes?

Keep it long? There is a high probability that the enemy ship will not be bombed.

……

The types of shipborne guns in the Combined Fleet were very complex.

There are muzzle-loading cannons, carronades, and breech-loading cannons.

The reason why not all of them were replaced with breech-loading guns was not entirely due to production restrictions, but rather out of caution. After all, the range of muzzle-loading guns is obviously higher than that of breech-loading guns.

Judging from the experience of the 2nd Squadron, the Saxons are very good at long-range bombardment.

The 2nd Squadron suffered a heavy loss mainly because of this.

Every inch is stronger.

An inch short and an inch dangerous.

Now, it is obvious that our side has short weapons and the other side has long weapons.

Thinking of this, Liu Wu spoke:
"Send a signal to tell all ships to fire as close as possible. The length of the fuse is up to the captains to decide."

……

The staff officer looked at the commander in surprise.

Time passed slowly, and the distance between the two sides kept shortening, from only being able to see the sails to the outline of the hull being visible.

Both sides adopted the same formation.

A long snake lined up in a line, fighting shoulder to shoulder.

The 10 steam battleships of the 20th Squadron rushed to the front and began to fire rockets.

Rockets flew into the air and fell into the sea.

The launch distance is very far and the accuracy is basically non-existent.

but,

The sailors of the Royal Navy were still terrified and if they were hit by a bullet, they would be seriously injured.

……

A quarter of an hour.

None of the rockets hit the target, all of them blew up the fish, but they affected the enemy's formation.

In order to avoid the very small probability of encountering an enemy, the four battleships led by the Victory simply broke away from the long snake formation.

Not only that,

Five Frank level VI fast ships and four Saxon level VI fast ships took the initiative to break away from the formation and headed straight for the 5th Fleet.

The 10th Fleet had no gun portholes and no broadside guns.

The deck weapons include 4 adjustable launchers, a mortar at the bow, a breech-loading gun at the stern, and 2 small Franz machine guns on each side.

……

The Victory suddenly raised the battle flag:

"England expects that every man will do his duty~"

Everyone who saw the flag signal was filled with excitement and tears. The flagship of the Combined Fleet also sent out a flag signal:

"Sixth and Seventh Squadrons, meet the Victory."

The forty steam warships at the rear immediately adjusted their direction and headed for the left ocean, aiming to capture the leader first.

A quarter of an hour later~
The 10th Squadron engaged nine European fast ships.

The first to open fire were the Royal Navy, which fired long guns from a mile away.

A column of water rose up and poured onto the scalding rocket launch pad, and a cloud of salty steam rose up.

……

Two thin lines of warships began to merge, with a mile between them.

When seeing enemy ships passing by, the gunners would seize the opportunity to pull the flintlock rope and fire fiercely.

For a moment, white smoke was spewing from the sides of every warship.

In the middle sea area, water columns rise and fall.

Most of the shells missed the target, and only a few hit the target.

The naval battle began to escalate at this moment.

……

After a brief encounter, both sides silently cleared all the artillery on one side.

then,

The Saxons turned around and started to outflank from behind, they were in the upper hand!

The Combined Fleet, however, sailed straight ahead, heading against the wind, with its target - the Victory.

Faced with the enemy ship chasing after him, the captain ordered a counterattack using the stern gun.

Breech-loading gun, shrapnel.

The trajectory is high.

The power of the mid-air explosion obviously frightened the enemy ships that were chasing it.

The foresail of a Saxon 5-class ship was affected by the explosion, and no sailor on the foredeck was left standing.

……

The tail gunner of the Combined Fleet was busy loading and firing.

Inside the wooden-stock round blank bullet is a shortened fuse.

The muzzle of the gun was raised high, and some of the shells fired exploded in the sea, while some exploded in the air.

After each shot was fired, a servant ten feet away would bring another shell.

There is nothing near the gun position~
No powder kegs piled up.

Boom~
The stern gun of a battleship suddenly exploded, but the impact was not great, only the gunner was blown to pieces. There was no secondary explosion.

……

The 10th Squadron suffered the most brutal battle.

Warships were constantly hit and in a mess. The eight level 8 ships on the opposite side pulled their hulls horizontally and continued to fire, with a very high level of artillery fire.

Looking at the messy deck.

The commander shouted:
"10th Squadron, all ships face the enemy with their bows, advance quickly, mortars ready, follow my orders."

Everyone was beaten up.
Fortunately, the bow of the ship is small, so the area that is affected by bullets is small.

……

A large cloud of white smoke suddenly rose from the bow of the ship, and the mortars began to bombard.

A shrapnel bomb exploded at the enemy ship's mast, setting the sail on fire and washing the deck with blood.

What's more outrageous is that
A sailor suddenly had an idea to lower the rocket launcher to the lowest position and fired at the sail of the enemy ship that was close at hand. Whoosh! A rocket with a tail flame just hit the main mast of the enemy ship.

Fireworks explode.

In just half a quarter of an hour, the ship was engulfed in flames and the sailors jumped into the sea one after another.

Realizing the horror of the rockets, the level VI ships retreated one after another, trying to keep their distance.

The 10th Fleet relied on steam power to pursue the enemy relentlessly and prevent them from gaining distance.

During this process, the "Victory" suddenly intervened and appeared half a mile away from the flank of the 10th Fleet.

In one round of bombardment from 30 42-pound guns and 28 24-pound guns on one side, at least four steam battleships exploded on the spot, broke apart and sank to the bottom of the sea.

The rocket in the cabin was penetrated by the artillery shell, causing a secondary explosion.

Three more warships had their paddle wheels damaged by shells, losing their ability to move normally and spinning around in circles.

The huge Victory continued to fire shells.

The 10th Squadron was in danger.

……

Fortunately, the 6th Squadron arrived and launched an attack on the Victory.

The first batch of solid bullets fired by the muzzle-loading guns hit the oak on the side of the Victory, causing little damage or even bouncing off.

The gunnery officer shouted from the deck:
"Give up the solid bullets and use only shrapnel bullets."

"The lead is the shortest, the shortest!"

The moment of gamble had arrived. Shrapnel shells exploded in the air, setting off brilliant fireworks on the side of the Victory.

The shrapnel kept hitting the oak side, thump thump thump.

Nelson was a little nervous and quickly ordered:

"Keep your distance and retreat."

……

The Victory sailing battleship, with a displacement of more than 2000 tons and a length of 67 meters, can actually turn flexibly under the control of the world's best sailors.

The Victory was too big.

The 700th Squadron, with an average displacement of only about 6 tons, was like a pack of wolves chasing after the enemy, focusing its bow guns on bombarding its stern rudder.

The high rate of fire of the breech-loading gun was fully utilized at this moment.

Shrapnel shells kept exploding at its tail.

Nelson also realized the seriousness of the problem and suddenly shouted:

"Turn and engage the enemy broadside."

The Victory suddenly turned on the sea, revealing the sharp gun muzzles on its side.

50 cannons opened fire one after another.

The steam battleship in the front was hit by bullets continuously, its bow was damaged, the hull was tilted, and a fire broke out in the cabin.

……

Nelson calmly ordered:

"Keep turning, confront the enemy, and charge forward."

The Victory's sudden reaction caught the 6th Squadron off guard.

One of the steam warships had its paddle wheel damaged and was even deliberately hit by the Victory and capsized on the spot.

but,

The 7th Squadron is here again.

After a barrage of shrapnel, all the Marines gathered on the deck of the Victory were wiped out.

The commander of the 7th Squadron constantly reminded all ships in various ways: Never face the enemy broadside! !
The advantages and disadvantages of steam battleships are obvious.

The huge paddle wheel on the side was too fragile. Once hit by a bullet, the power would be immediately paralyzed.

……

Nelson also discovered this problem and ordered:

"Tell the entire fleet that the enemy's steam battleship's weak spot is its paddle wheels. Try to attack them."

When the naval battle lasted for one hour, the entire sea became a mess.

The original formation is gone.

The two sides fought each other in a melee.

One on one, two on one, or even four on one.

……

A Royal Navy warship with black smoke suddenly rushed towards Liu Wu's flagship~
The gunner at the front of the deck could clearly see that the deck of the ship was crowded with sailors holding muskets, swords, and axes. It was obvious that these people wanted to board the ship and rob it.

"Exploding shells, half loaded, aim at the enemy ship's deck."

Two shrapnel shells hit the enemy ship's stern compartment and suddenly exploded a second or two after hitting the ground. Another shrapnel shell pierced the main mast sail and fell.

The smoke cleared and no one was standing on the deck anymore.

Wash it thoroughly.

The Combined Fleet finally found the correct way to fire shrapnel, so that the shells were blocked by obstacles and then fell on the deck of the enemy ship.

The artillery chief quickly gained experience:
The fuse is normal, no need to take risks, the amount of gunpowder for firing is halved~
quickly,

The flagship successfully turned another level 5 ship into a torch, with the entire ship engulfed in flames from portholes to sails.

……

The naval warfare mode in the 18th century was not just about cannon bombardment, muskets were also an indispensable supporting role.

The Marines gathered on the deck and crouched to fire. The enemy ship's helmsman, crow's nest lookout, and tail gunner were their main targets.

After four helmsmen of a Frankish warship were killed in succession, no one dared to take over the steering wheel.

As a result, the warship had no one to steer it, and after more than a hundred seconds, it veered into a nearby friendly warship, causing chaos. (End of this chapter)