I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 863: Is there someone behind the scenes?

What the Spaniards didn't know was that while they were working hard to make progress, the Ming people were also working hard to make progress.

The Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding industry and navy directly copied the best answers in history, but in actual manufacturing, navigation and naval warfare, there were still many details that required them to slowly figure out and innovate.

Previously, the naval guns of the Ming Dynasty's navy battleships, frigates, and cruisers ranged from 105mm (nine-pound guns), 115mm (twelve-pound guns), 130mm (eighteen-pound guns), to 145mm (twenty-four-pound guns) and 160mm (thirty-two-pound guns). At the beginning, they were all long guns like the army's field guns, that is, the ratio of barrel length to caliber was more than seventeen times.

105mm gun, the barrel is 1.78 meters long.

160mm gun, the barrel is over 2.5 meters long.

The barrel is long and loaded with lots of propellant, so it can shoot far and accurately with great power.

However, such a long barrel, with so much gunpowder and strong recoil, caused great trouble for the naval gunners on the warship.

The cabin space is narrow and there is little room for maneuver, and such a long gun barrel takes up a large area.

The recoil is strong, and it takes a lot of effort for a naval gun to return to its original position after firing a shot.

The key point is that such a long gun barrel, whether it is made of bronze or steel, is very heavy. A 160mm gun weighs nearly three tons.

Artillery takes up a large proportion of the load, so less food, fresh water and ammunition have to be carried, which reduces the endurance.

After studying in actual combat, naval officers and soldiers discovered that our naval battles only take place within a hundred meters. Is there any point in firing artillery at such a distance?

Therefore, naval officers and soldiers suggested to the researchers of the Naval Weapons Research Bureau that the barrel be shortened and the propellant be reduced, so that the effective range only needs to be 600 meters and the power is maximum within 100 meters.

It is both accurate and far-reaching, but for a warship floating on the sea and tossed by the waves, it is impossible. Even if one of them hits the target out of a million chances, it is just an illusion.

The researcher who was testing the ship on board had personally experienced the pain of the battleship's gunners and thought the suggestion was reasonable, so he went back and conducted experiments immediately.

The barrel of the 160mm gun was shortened, the propellant was reduced, and after several tests, as well as improvements in various technologies such as the reset gun mount, flintlock ignition device, steel material, and boring machine processing technology, the new 160mm gun is completely different.

The weight increased from 2.6 tons to 0.86 tons, the barrel length increased from 2.6 meters to 1.2 meters, the propellant charge was 1.2 kilograms, the elevation angle was one to five degrees, the effective range was 380 meters to 1,200 meters, and the firing rate increased from two rounds in five minutes to two rounds in three minutes.

That’s right, the new short-barreled cannon has a very low initial velocity, and beyond its effective range, its power is greatly reduced, and its accuracy has also become a mystery.

But for the current naval battle, it is enough.

In naval battles, the Ming navy would not fire more than 100 meters away, and would only fire in sequence when the enemy was within 50 meters. At this distance, the iron projectile fired by the short-barreled cannon was enough to smash a big hole in the hard oak planks.

So after the third year of Wanli, the navy unified the caliber of its naval guns.

The A-class battleship has twenty-eight 160mm short-barreled guns on the lower gun deck, twenty-eight 145mm short-barreled guns on the middle gun deck, and twenty-eight 115mm short-barreled guns on the upper gun deck.

There are four 115mm short-barreled guns, four 130mm short-barreled guns and two 160mm short-barreled guns on the forecastle deck of the main deck, and six 130mm short-barreled guns on the poop deck.

The lower gun deck of the Class B battleship was equipped with twenty-eight 160mm short-barreled guns, and the upper gun deck was equipped with twelve 160mm short-barreled guns and twenty 145mm short-barreled guns.

There are two 115mm short-barreled guns, four 130mm short-barreled guns and two 1450mm short-barreled guns on the forecastle deck of the main deck, and six 130mm short-barreled guns on the poop deck.

The "Golden Leopard" was a frigate, about 1,000 tons, with 50 guns. The gun deck had 20 145mm short-barreled guns and 20 115mm short-barreled guns, which were very powerful against a 500-ton carrack like the "Kyrenia".

The rate of fire was fast, the caliber was large, the number was large, and the ship was better than others. After two rounds of attack, the "Kyrenia" was completely stunned and could not hold on.

The captain quickly ordered the rudder to turn and run away as a sign of respect.

When the "Kyrenia" turned around, the captain and sailors saw the shocking scene in the distance.

Its sister ship, the Carl Steven, also a 600-ton three-masted carrick, was cut at an angle by a huge sailing ship, and then the densely packed gun barrels on the starboard side were pointed at it.

That was the "Kaifeng", a Class A battleship of the Second Squadron of the Qinglong Fleet. It weighed 2,200 tons, had three gun decks, and one hundred guns.

It was less than fifty meters away from the "Carl Steven". Compared with the "Carl Steven", its huge hull was like a tiger coming in front of a rabbit, revealing its bloody mouth.

The starboard guns plus the guns on the forecastle and poop decks, about fifty-five guns, fired fiercely at the "Carl Steven".

With flames flickering and smoke filling the air, the "Carl Steven" was like a dead leaf in a storm, trembling and drifting.

After the Kaifeng left, the Jianxin arrived. It was 1,600 tons and had 74 guns. It concentrated 40 guns and fired fiercely at the Carl Steven.

How cruel!

The captain and sailors of the "Kyrenia" were overwhelmed and finally realized how lucky they were.

They watched helplessly as the sails of the "Carl Steven" were torn into a spider web, and the mainmast and mizzenmast could not bear the weight and fell onto the sea.

The Carl Steven, which had lost power, was like a dead fish, wandering aimlessly on the sea. Soon, a white flag was hung on the remaining foremast.

A cruiser went forward and watched it from a distance. The "Kaifeng" and "Jianxin" set sail with the wind, cut past the "Carl Steven" and continued to move forward at full speed, just in time to catch the "Kyrenia" on its escape route.

The captain and the sailors were so frightened that they quickly turned the rudder, turned the bow, and fled in another direction. However, not only did the "Golden Leopard" circle around and seize the upper hand to attack again, but the "Zhaozhou Bridge" frigate also rushed over, forming a situation of two ghosts knocking on the door.

With wolves in front and tigers behind, the captain of the "Kyrenia" hesitated for less than ten seconds before making the decision.

The huge ships of "Kaifeng" and "Jianxin", their countless cannons, and their brutal bombardment methods had already frightened him.

In comparison, the "Golden Leopard" and "Zhaozhou Bridge" look much gentler. Having just withstood two rounds of attacks from the "Golden Leopard", it should not be a problem to withstand another round.

Continuing to maintain the course, they soon met the "Golden Leopard" and the sound of booming artillery could be heard.

Dozens of artillery pieces of "Kyrenia" and "Panther" fired at each other as the ships crossed each other. Fires flashed and thick smoke continued to spread. The iron bullets whizzed past the waves at a distance of less than 40 meters and flew towards their respective targets.

"Boom!" A ball of fire burst out from the cabin of the "Kyrenia", and then thick black smoke came out of the cabin.

The "Golden Leopard" was worried that the "Kaifeng" and "Jianxin" would rob it of its lives, so it used explosive bombs in a madman manner.

The conical shell has a layer of steel wrapped around the tip, which is sharp and has armor-piercing capabilities.

The projectile body is a lead-copper-zinc alloy filled with five pounds of black gunpowder. The tail of the projectile is a conical groove with a fuse connecting the gunpowder part inside the projectile body, which is based on the same principle as the Minié bullet.

The propellant burned, pushing the shell forward and igniting the primer in the tail groove. The shell easily penetrated the hull of the "Kyrenia", but the bullet was broken and no longer had any penetrating power. It would get stuck there if it hit an object.

When the primer burned to the end, it exploded with a bang, and the pre-broken shrapnel flew in all directions. The killing power was amazing in the crowded cabin, and a large number of sailors fell down.

The key is that the black gunpowder of this explosive bomb also contains special "fine balls" mixed in, just like Liuwei Dihuang Pills, which are ignited when the bomb explodes. Along with the shrapnel flying, they can easily ignite clothes and wood chips wherever they fall.

The fire spread, igniting more things and making the fire bigger. The sailors in the cabin and deck of the "Kyrenia" desperately moved the gunpowder barrels away.

If this thing explodes, everything will be over.

But there was no time to put out the fire in other places, and they could only watch the fire grow more and more fiercely, with black smoke and flames drifting towards the cabin.

The captain immediately ordered the ship to turn around and find another way to escape, and at the same time ordered to put out the fire. However, the "Zhaozhou Bridge" passed by it, and at a distance of 50 to 60 meters, it whizzed and fired six naval version rockets.

It’s so disrespectful of martial ethics!

The captain cursed as he watched six streams of black smoke flying towards the Kyrenia.

God, why did you let these damn pagans take control of the devil's weapons.

Three rockets, one hit the forecastle, one hit the stern, and one hit the base of the main mast. Three bangs and three balls of fire rose up, sealing the fate of the "Kyrenia".

The three large fires soon connected together, turning the "Kyrenia" into a huge torch floating on the sea.

Seen from the air, the ten Spanish ships were running hither and thither, like a flock of panicked rabbits running out of their burrows to escape.

More than 20 warships of the Ming Navy were chasing closely behind, like a group of wolves chasing their prey.

On the sea surface within a radius of ten nautical miles, there were flashes of fire and roars of cannons everywhere. Thick smoke floated on the sea surface for a long time and was blown by the sea breeze. Some of the smoke gathered together and formed a fog with a radius of hundreds of meters.

The warships traveled through the fog and smoke, sometimes appearing and sometimes hiding.

From time to time, the thick smoke and fog flashed red light, followed by a huge roar, tearing through the air, like sharp flying knives thrown out and piercing everyone's ears.

After more than four hours, each ship sent in flag signals. The communications officer of the "Pingliang" sorted them out and reported to Wang Fengju.

"We sank six Spanish ships, captured six, and one managed to escape the battlefield under the cover of smoke and fled to the northeast. The Shamrock communications ship spotted it and chased after it.

The cruiser USS Sika followed in that direction and picked up the USS Clover.

Our army suffered few casualties, with Golden Leopard, Zhaozhou Bridge, Maijishan and Qingshuihe being slightly more seriously injured but not affecting navigation. The remaining seven warships, Kaifeng and Jianxin, were slightly injured to varying degrees.

Eleven killed, twenty wounded."

A crushing result.

The Spanish ships were only armed merchant ships, not regular navies. In addition, the Ming Dynasty had an absolute advantage in terms of the number of ships, ship types, and artillery, so it was natural for them to achieve such a result.

"Instruct all ships to hurry up and carry out damage control, rescue the wounded, collect the dead, and hold a unified burial at sea ceremony at dusk.

"The captured Spanish ships should be kept if they are usable, and those that are not usable should be sunk immediately. The captured Spanish sailors should be well guarded. We are fully engaged in the management of Xunzhou, and what we lack most is manpower. Those are strong laborers."

After giving the order, Wang Fengju walked up the stairs to the stern deck and said to Zhu Jingfa, "Captain Zhu, since Pingliang is the flagship of the squadron, you will have fewer opportunities to make contributions."

Zhu Jingfa smiled faintly and was about to speak when he suddenly saw three flares rising into the air from a very far place in front of him on the right. All three were red!
Zhu Jingfa blurted out, "In that direction, the Shamrock was ambushed!"

Wang Fengju's face changed, he rushed to the fence of the stern deck, raised his telescope and looked over there.

(End of this chapter)