I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 540: Who do you think you are when it comes to playing military tactics?

The sailors of Yan Haixun A-16 hurriedly moved two box-like weapons to the special launcher on the deck.

That’s right, this is the Longqing Type 2 rocket, the quadruple-launch naval version.

Its characteristics are reduced propellant and a range reduced to two kilometers.

The warhead is made of ceramic and contains only one pound of gunpowder, which is much less than the Army version.

But it was loaded with 45 kilograms of kerosene and large incendiary bombs.

There is also a long triangular cone on the top of the warhead, which is not for penetrating armor, but for nailing into the hull.

The power of the naval version of the rocket does not come from explosion, but from rapid burning. If it can't kill you, it will burn you.

With today's black powder, it's not easy to blow up a sailboat, either by using a large enough amount or by blowing it up in the right place.

It's so easy to burn a sailboat.

The most basic prototype of the Ming Dynasty’s rockets is the “fire dragon emerging from water”.

A two-stage rocket made of bamboo. The range is unknown and the accuracy is random. The main goal is to leave it to fate.

Later, Zhu Yijun made improvements to it, and the source of the technology came from the Congreve rocket launcher that he had learned about while typing politics online.

The Congreve rocket was once the star weapon in the British Army's arsenal.

It first appeared in the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1807, the British Navy launched Congreve rockets at Copenhagen, Denmark, setting the famous Nordic city on fire.

According to a letter from an officer, during the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Congreve's rockets made Nazi Germany's French army flee like ants.

In 1814, during the War of between Britain and the United States, Congreve rockets attacked Fort McHenry near Baltimore.

The spectacular display inspired American poet Francis Scott Key to write about the "red gleam of the rocket" in his poem "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The Star-Spangled Banner later became the lyrics of the American national anthem.

During the First Opium War, Congreve rockets were used by the British army in Guangzhou, Zhoushan, Nanjing and other places, defeating the Qing army.

How was the Congreve rocket invented?
When the British army conquered India in the 17th and 18th centuries, they were defeated by the Indian kings who used rockets learned from China.

The British army, which was good at learning, transported the captured Indian rockets back to their country, which aroused the great interest of William Congreve, colonel of artillery at the Woolwich Arsenal. He made improvements and developed the more powerful and more accurate Congreve rocket in 1805.

Zhu Yijun’s move must be extraordinary.

The Ming army's rockets were improved several times. The Jiajing Type 46 rocket can be said to be the ultimate Congreve rocket, or the long-pole large double-kick rocket.

By the time of the Longqing Type 2, it began to take the path of a true rocket.

The long cylindrical body of the projectile is divided into a propulsion part and a warhead.

The stable propellant, tail fins and autorotating propellers are completely different from the Congreve rocket, and are more powerful and more accurate.

Yu Dayou installed the naval version of the Longqing Type II rocket with four rounds on the patrol boats, which was actually a last resort.

The Wusong ship and the Prince's sailing ship were good, but their sails and ropes were very complicated, and the decks were filled with all kinds of equipment.

The launch of the Jiajing Type 46 rocket on the Wusong ship caused an accident. The flames from the tail ignited the ropes and canvas, causing a disaster.

So rockets can be used on naval ships, but they must be modified to make enough space on the deck.

The main force of the ships in the Zuoying Camp of the South China Sea Navy were Wusong ships, which were launched between the 42nd and 46th years of the Jiajing reign, and they did not consider using rockets at all.

It is not realistic to make changes now. The shipyards in Malacca, Semarang and Longkou Port can be repaired, but they do not have the capacity for major changes.

Later, the rockets were tested on the paddle boats of the Coast Guard Battalion, and the effect was amazing.

The galley has only two masts, a stiff sail and a simple configuration.

The oars are in the rowing room below the deck, and the upper deck is empty, so there is no need to worry about the harm of the rocket's tail flame.

Yu Dayou knew that the firepower of the Coast Guard Battalion was insufficient, and the rocket missiles issued to it could not be used by the navy's main battleships for the time being and could not be wasted, so he equipped the Coast Guard Battalion's main paddle boats to strengthen their firepower.

I didn’t expect to use it so soon.

The Longqing Type 2 rocket was quickly assembled on the launch pad.

This rack can move left and right, up and down. The operator sits beside it, pulling the launcher, staring at the three-point sight, and asks: "Report! There are two targets, which one should I hit?"

After listening to the report, Ding Ergui raised his telescope and looked for a while. Finally, he pointed at the Roland Knight and said, "The people on this ship are the most arrogant. Shoot them!"

"Yes!"

"Boatswain, tell the rowers to gather their strength and speed up the boat at any time. We have to be on guard against the Portuguese fleet chasing us and taking revenge."

"Yes!"

The rowers of the paddle boats are all young and strong local natives. They are majestic and powerful, obedient and easy to use.

"Helmsman, approach the Portuguese ship with three blue flags. Stand by and wait for orders. After the rockets are launched, turn immediately and disengage!"

"Yes!"

"Send a signal to other friendly ships to inform them of our actions and ask them to pay attention and cooperate with the actions."

"Yes."

Soon, a quadruple-fire Longqing Type 2 rocket was aimed at the Roland Knight.

The distance between Yanhai Patrol No. 16 and it gradually narrowed to four hundred meters.

The Knight Roland arrogantly fired two more shots. As expected, the two shells disappeared into the vast ocean, without even a wave being seen.

The Portuguese sailors on the ship shouted insults and ridiculed Yan Haixun Jia No. 16.

"You damned pagans, surrender now!"

"Damn yellow monkeys, I will kill you all!"

Like most of the Portuguese warships in the fleet, the Knight Roland fought its way through Africa, terrorized Arabia, and was invincible in India, but it had never tasted the iron fist of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, they were extremely arrogant and thought they were the best in the world.

Well, in this world, only the Spanish are slightly stronger than them.

But they didn't know that the Spaniards had been blocked and defeated by the Ming people twice, and each time they were completely wiped out.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so arrogant.

They were so complacent and arrogant, but they didn't know that the end was approaching.

"Fire!" Following Ding Ergui's military order, four Longqing Type 2 rockets were ignited one after another, with tail flames spurting out. The 1.8-meter-long rockets slid on the four-meter-long launch track.

The tail rotor spun rapidly, achieving a stable trajectory, then it derailed and flew along the sea surface towards the Roland Knight 400 meters away.

Four streaks of flame streaked across the sea, and the sailors on the Knight Roland soon spotted them, pointing at them and screaming in surprise.

But before they could react, two rockets flew over their heads, flying beyond the maximum range of two kilometers. Then, due to the safety device, the warheads exploded, and two huge fireballs burst on the sea, scaring everyone on the Portuguese ship.

Only then did they discover that the Knight Roland was engulfed in fire, and not far away, a fireball suddenly exploded.

Four shots were fired in succession, and one hit the bow of the Roland Knight.

The pointed cone of the warhead penetrated into the hull, and the ceramic shell of the warhead was shattered by the violent impact. The sticky special kerosene was all over the hull due to inertia, and then the burning propulsion unit rushed in to join in the fun, together with the unburned propellant and the explosives in the warhead, ignited 45 kilograms of kerosene, and instantly exploded into a fireball, engulfing the bow of the Roland Knight and quickly spreading to the sails, decks and inside the shipyard.

Calderon was stunned, and all the Portuguese were stunned.

Seeing the Knight Roland transformed into a huge torch on the sea, everyone had a bad feeling!

Ding Ergui was overjoyed when he hit the Knight Roland with one shot.

I can't defeat you in an artillery duel, but I have rockets.

At a distance of four to five hundred meters, you can't hit me accurately. If you hit me exactly, I will definitely be punished for ten lifetimes!

But my rockets can hit one out of four, which is a good deal!
Ding Ergui gave the order to stop running and turn to the "Hellhound" to settle accounts with this second most arrogant Portuguese ship.

The other three paddle boats equipped with Longqing Type II rockets, imitating the example of Yan Haixun Jia No. 16, excitedly approached the Portuguese ship.

The Roland Knight was burning rapidly and had turned into a huge fireball, with flames constantly spewing out of the muzzles and portholes.

Hundreds of sailors struggled and screamed in the fire, while other sailors jumped into the sea to escape.

Their miserable condition terrified the people on other Portuguese ships.

Seeing the Flame Patrol A-16 approaching it, the Hellhound immediately turned around and ran!
Other Portuguese ships nearby also turned and ran when they saw the galley approaching.

Stop, don't run!
You all have military merits!

As the battle continued, the four paddle boats, led by Yan Hai Xun Jia No. 16, fired sixteen rockets in succession, but none of them hit the target.

That's all.

The Portuguese warships such as the Cerberus fled in a panic. Looking at the effect, hey, the weapons of the Ming Dynasty are just a bunch of crazy things!
Not reliable.

They stopped fleeing and turned back to engage in battle with the Ming galleys.

Unexpectedly, in the next round of continuous shooting, a rocket from the Yanhai Patrol No. 19 hit the "Monte Cristo" of the Portuguese fleet. With a loud bang, it instantly turned into a huge fireball.

This was a large Spanish sailing ship hired by Calderón, carrying 300 Portuguese soldiers, noble cavalrymen. Now both the men and horses were struggling in the sea of ​​fire.

Mudd!

What a crazy person!
Do you have any accuracy at all?

But Portuguese warships such as the Cerberus were completely cowardly.

The Ming people's devilish weapon may not be accurate, but it is very powerful. Once it hits the soul, there is no way to save it.

The Portuguese fleet, which had been neat, orderly and aggressive just now, was in complete chaos. More than 20 ships on the right wing were chased everywhere by four galleys.

"Enemy ship! Enemy ship spotted!"

Just as the Portuguese fleet was in chaos, the lookout on the main mast of the "Our Lady of Grace" let out hysterical cries, and the lookouts on other ships also sounded the alarm, and everyone hurriedly looked around.

where?

Where are the enemy ships?
How many of them came?

Damn, why are they everywhere!

To the north, more than one hundred Ming warships appeared, including more than sixty battleships, each of which was larger than the Portuguese flagship, the Our Lady of Grace.

More than one hundred Ming warships also appeared in the south, with similar strength.

Whoosh, three streaks of fire appeared in the sky, two red and one green. The twelve patrol galleys, led by Yan Haixun A No. 16, immediately turned around and evacuated the battlefield.

There will be thousands of artillery pieces firing at each other soon. We are big and thin-skinned, so we will be easily injured by mistake.

The Longqing Type 2 rockets are also unusable. Who knows if they will be able to knock down a few of our own warships.

In that case, let’s run first as a sign of respect!
Yu Dayou stood on his flagship, the 2,000-ton Wusong warship Quanzhou, and said to his attendants with great vigor, "How dare you play military tactics with me!
When our ancestors were practicing military tactics, the ancestors of these guys were still savages somewhere!

Go attack South Island and stab Zhang Shichen for no reason? Anyone who has read three pages of Sun Tzu's Art of War knows that this is a feint to the east and attack in the west! "

"The general is wise!"

"Smart ass!
The Portuguese's top priority is to recapture Malacca and defeat the main force of our navy. It would take an idiot to come up with this trick of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west instead of going to the South Island to fight Zhang Shichen. "

The adjutant continued to flatter him: "General, let's use a trick to defeat the enemy. Send half of the main force to the north to let the Portuguese know. When they think they have succeeded, the whole force will go south, and we will encircle them from the north and south here.

This is the Strait. If we block it from both ends, the Portuguese will have no way to escape this time!"

Yu Dayou touched his hair bun and put on his woolen military cap. "Yaoxiu, if all the Western barbarians were to fight at this level, I'm afraid I'll have to finish the war before I get old."

After a pause, he ordered his men: "Raise the banner for a general attack! Tell the boys to stew all these Western barbarians for me!"

"Yes!"

Soon, the sound of artillery fire rang out across the strait, which was even louder than the thunder during the summer rainstorms. The people, animals, and insects on both sides of the strait were so frightened that they hurriedly moved away.

The smoke that filled the air was like thick fog in the morning, once again covering the surface of the strait.

Under the training of Yu Dayou and others, the Ming navy borrowed cavalry tactics, with five to six warships in a team, focusing on attacking one enemy ship after another, one after another, like a group of cavalry, galloping in one after another, firing bows and crossbows at the same time, running away after shooting, and then turning around and coming again.

After the bombardment, the next step was a brutal boarding battle.

At this time, the final outcome of a naval battle still required boarding. Just like the army, after the guns and cannons were exchanged, the final outcome of the battle still required hand-to-hand combat.

After an unknown amount of time, the setting sun shone obliquely from the west, dyeing the entire strait blood red. There were burning ships everywhere on the sea, and the entire sea was burning.

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from the sea: "Great Ming wins!"

A Portuguese warship was filled with two or three hundred blood-soaked Ming sailors, waving their steel swords and cheering. A Ming flag was slowly rising on the main mast.

The roar was like a hurricane, sweeping across the sea. Soon, cheers rose and fell, and loud shouts of joy rose and fell: "Great Ming will win!"

The huge sound made the entire sea boil, and the entire strait echoed with only one sound!
Ming Dynasty is victorious!

(End of this chapter)