The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 109 The Battle of Cape Verde

On July 1725, 7, at about 5:[-] in the morning, a fierce naval battle broke out in the waters of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands.

Yesterday evening, the National Task Force Expeditionary Fleet, consisting of 36 large warships, six armed supply ships, two medical ships, four troop transport ships, and several small fast liaison ships, arrived in Cape Verde waters.After seeing the two English warships cruising here from a distance, they immediately turned around and fled, sailing back to Praia Port, the largest port in Portuguese Cape Verde, and sounded the battle alarm.

As of [-] a.m. this morning, Wan Botai, Commander-in-Chief of the Qi Expeditionary Fleet, Commander of the Western Indian Ocean Fleet, and General (Admiral) Hussars of the Navy, sent an envoy to the island to meet with the Governor of Portuguese Cape Verde, demanding that the other party expel those stationed in the port. British fleet, and warned the Portuguese to strictly maintain neutrality during the war.

As a result, the Portuguese ignored Qi's well-intentioned warnings, politely rejected the expedition fleet's request, and claimed that due to the alliance contract between Britain and Portugal, the British fleet had the right to station and use the port of Portuguese Cape Verde. .

At the same time, the Portuguese warned the people of Qi that the Portuguese Cape Verde was the legal territory of the Kingdom of Portugal and did not allow any infringement. They asked the Qi expedition fleet to leave the waters of Cape Verde and not to engage in war there, let alone attack Cape Verde without any reason.

The Portuguese were also very helpless at this time. A group of twelve ships from the British fleet entered the Port of Praia two months ago, and then took over the dock fort and military camp. Their fleet commander took out the agreement signed by the two countries that year. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance Treaty required the Portuguese to fulfill their obligations as an alliance and provide necessary supply and defense facilities for the British fleet while it was stationed here.

Yes, the British Royal Navy is preparing to use Cape Verde as an outpost to defend Qi, providing the necessary early warning for the rear and home fleets.At the same time, the squadron deployed here will launch an attack on the incoming Qi navy in the sea area to ascertain the opponent's combat strength and provide necessary reference opinions and guidance strategies for the Royal Navy's subsequent operations.

Judging from paper data, as early as 20 years ago, Qi's navy ranked first in the world in terms of quantity and scale, controlling the vast Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, and almost taking the entire eastern world into their sphere of influence. .Moreover, Qi State put their strong industrial productivity and various advanced technologies into their naval construction, constantly increasing the number of ships and equipping them with more advanced weapons.

The Qi Navy was also the first country in the world to install steam engines on ships, which allowed their motor-driven sailing ships to have faster speeds and more flexible maneuverability on the ocean.

When the Royal Navy of England assigned a small number of explosive shells with poor stability to the ship's guns, Qi State had already updated and iterated this maritime killer for several rounds. Moreover, the performance was more stable and the power was more powerful.

Although the naval officers and soldiers of Qi have not experienced many large-scale actual maritime battles, they have continuously sent naval officers and soldiers into the Dutch, French and Ottoman navies decades ago to personally participate in and observe the ongoing maritime wars they are conducting.Qi naval officers and soldiers can be seen in the two Anglo-Dutch Wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the Venetian War, the War of Spanish Succession, and the Four-Power Alliance War.

It is reported that the observing naval officers of Qi State will record the detailed battle process after the war and bring them back to Qi State for repeated chessboard deductions and even field simulation exercises.

Yes, in this world, Qi is also the first country to put the war process on the chessboard for deduction, and formulate various combat plans and battle plans based on this, and predict all the situations that will arise in the war in advance. and calculated.

The wealthy Qi Navy is still the navy that conducts the most actual combat exercises in the world. The funds they invest in training and exercises every year are enough for the Royal Navy of England to arm a medium-sized fleet.

To sum up all the above, it would be an absolute lie to say that the Royal Navy of England was not cautious (nervous) when it was about to engage in a battle with the powerful Qi Navy.

Now, Qi's expedition fleet has finally arrived, and its number and size are roughly as they expected.However, the only thing that slightly surprised the English was that among the many warships in Qi, there were as many as ten ships with a displacement of more than 1677 tons, and the number of artillery pieces they were equipped with was obviously not as many as the first-class battleships of the Royal Navy ([-] , Samuel Pepys, then Minister of the Royal Navy, classified combat ships according to the number of guns equipped).

You know, the first-class battleships in the Royal Navy of England generally have a displacement of more than 1000-1200 tons, two or three decks, and a number of 90-100 guns.However, through telescope observation, those large Qi warships only had about forty or fifty cannons, and such a large ship only had one combat deck.

Perhaps, because these ships were equipped with steam engines, their several huge chimneys seriously occupied the placement of the artillery.

The English really couldn't understand. Do the Qi people have to sacrifice the firepower of the warships in order to enhance the maneuverability of the ships and equip them with necessary steam engines on the sea?
In this era, doesn't naval warfare emphasize who has more artillery and whose firepower is more ferocious, and who can win the war in the end?
With confusion and doubts, the twelve ships of the Royal Navy of England stationed in the Port of Praia formed a long queue at [-]:[-] in the morning, slowly sailed out of the Port of Praia, and gathered momentum not far away. The waiting Qi expedition fleet bravely killed them.

Twenty minutes later, the fleets of both sides collided fiercely in line and column.As for who of the two sides fired the first shot, no one paid much attention at the time.However, after the two giant ships - the 10-gun "St. Lawrence" and the 66-gun "Qufu" (taken from Shanhaijing) approached each other, they immediately fired their broadsides at each other.

After entering the close battle, the fleets of both sides also entered the battle with their respective flagships.A captain of the British Royal Navy later admitted, "Because the distance was too far, I don't know how the battle started, but when I saw the general fighting, I fired the artillery battle as ordered."

The number of English ships was small, but they were flexible in operation and brave in combat. With their inherent mature and ruthless combat style, they took the initiative to attack the Qi fleet, which was four times their own.After an hour of fighting, the Portuguese who were watching the battle on the cliffs of Santiago Island could only see the fleets of both sides fighting together in no formation. More than thirty Qi warships and twelve British warships were all heading in different directions. heading, firing continuously and violently at close range.

The battle waters were filled with smoke and black mist. The roar of artillery, the cracking of shipboards, the whizzing of whips, the cries, shouts, and screams were deafening, occasionally mixed with bursts of warm cheers.

The scene on the ship was even more unsightly, with smoke billowing, gunfire flashing, bodies and limbs thrown from the gun windows and the deck, the wounded being carried out of the cabin, and blood dripping on both sides.When the ship recoiled under the influence of the gun's recoil, blood flowed across the deck. Young sailors waded through the blood and rushed to carry gunpowder to the gun emplacement.The scene in the lower stern cabin below the waterline of the ship was even more horrifying. There were only candles lit in the cabin. In the darkness, doctors recruited temporarily were hacking up the bloody limbs of the wounded who were enduring severe pain. saw.

On the upper decks, masts and yards snapped, burying sailors in a tangle of canvas and cables.A hail of bullets and sharp wood splinters swept across the deck, eliciting a series of wails.The captain and helmsmen instinctively maneuvered the ship to avoid collision.The battle continued amidst billowing smoke. Sometimes the smoke made it impossible to see the hull of the ship, and acrid smoke filled the air everywhere.

Perhaps, being in a chaotic and unclear battlefield, the English could not see the entire battle process.But the Portuguese who gathered at the commanding heights of the island were fortunate enough to witness the entire battlefield.

To the consternation of all the Portuguese watching the battle, although the English warships performed very bravely and fired artillery at a very high frequency, displaying their superb combat skills, the entire battle was clearly in favor of the Qi expedition fleet. One side leans.

Qi's warships seemed to have been equipped with protective iron plates. After being bombarded by the British navy's artillery fire, the entire hull did not seem to have much damage. Unless the artillery shells were fired directly into the deck, some damage to the Qi's ships would be caused.

On the other hand, the English warships were bombarded by countless Qi artillery pieces, or had terrifying huge holes opened on both sides of the ship and under the waterline, causing the hull to be flooded and tilted, or after being bombarded by explosive shells, they rose into a dazzling sky. The flames engulfed the sails and planks of the ship, and one sailor after another jumped into the water hastily.

Those giant Qi ships that were supposed to be clumsy and slow-moving, exhaling thick smoke, like nimble boats, quickly moved their hulls on the battlefield, turned their bows, and entered round after round of line bombardments. .

The battle lasted for two hours, and four English warships were sunk and six English warships were seriously damaged. Three of them had their sails completely damaged, basically lost their power, and floated helplessly on the sea.Seeing that there was no chance of victory, the English tried their best to get rid of the entanglement of Qi's ships, filled up the sails, and fled toward the northeast.

Qi's warships immediately separated into more than ten ships and chased after the English as they fled. Looking at this, it was obvious that they wanted to kill the English.

Although, in this battle, the English tried their best to concentrate their fire on the opponent's hull, hoping to cause effective damage to the Chinese warships.But the cannonballs fired by the English were almost all solid bullets that were strong and did not explode. Unless they hit the gunpowder magazine on the ship, it was generally difficult to sink the opponent's ship.What's more, the people of Qi covered the outer shells of all ships with a layer of iron armor, which increased the protection of the hulls.

Of course, adding iron armor to the hull will inevitably increase the weight of the entire hull and affect the flexibility of the ship.Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why there are relatively few artillery guns on Qi's ships.

However, the people of Qi equipped their warships with steam engines, which effectively avoided the disadvantages of overloaded ships and slow speeds. It also increased the ship's maneuverability, allowing it to quickly adjust its course without relying on wind direction.

After capturing three injured English warships and rescuing all the crew members who fell into the water, the Qi Expeditionary Fleet stormed into Praia Port with great force, preparing to seize this Portuguese territory.

(End of this chapter)