Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1271 Escorting the Storm ([-])

"Fire!" On the first deck of the "Executive Committee", Lieutenant Li, holding a torch, quickly passed by, and then ignited the artillery of each gun position, carrying a large number of 12-pound shells. With a mighty force, it rushed to the opposite Portuguese ship.

Dark gunpowder smoke rose one after another, and even the bitter sea breeze could not completely blow it away.The enemy ship was already getting very close. Dozens of cannons on the starboard side of the "Executive Committee" fired successively, and the projectiles fired by the 32-pound, 24-pound, 18-pound, and 12-pound artillery rushed towards the "Pereira" The bow, though most of it was missed, still had seven or eight hits, and considerable damage was done to it at once: the bowsprit was snapped off by a divine shell; Flying around with the cables; there is only half of the statue of the Virgin Mary standing on the bow, the foremast bilge is damaged in a large area, and a board on the port side has fallen off...

The captain of the "Pereira" must be crying at this time. Maybe he knew that the three-deck battleship with a displacement of 1730 tons was fierce, but he didn't expect it to be so fierce!The shelling just now killed one of his bow guns and seven or eight crew members, and also caused serious damage to the hull. This battle is very dangerous!But it’s impossible not to fight. These heretics on the east bank wantonly bombarded and killed the Lord’s people. If they don’t get justice, neither King Alfonso nor Count Mulloll will be able to explain it. Therefore, this battle is a If you fight, you have to fight, if you don't fight, you have to fight!Fortunately, my side has summoned more than 20 ships, which can more or less make up for some disadvantages for my side.

Soon, another enemy ship, the "San Marcelo", also approached, and shells fired from two 12-pound bow guns hit the open deck of the poop of the "Executive Committee", knocking off the roof of the toilet. Fortunately, no one was injured. At this time, the "Pereira" was about to wedge into the rear of the East Coaster fleet. The Portuguese warship sailed very fast with the wind and the wind, and the artillery on the starboard side of the "Executive Committee" that could bombard it was limited by the angle. At least one door is gone.

The artillery of the "Executive Committee" was still bombarding, but the target had turned to the "San Marcelo", and the artillery on the third deck fired non-stop.The gunners showed their usual training level, especially the gunners on the lower two decks. They were sullen and shouted at each other. Under the command of the officer, they sent shells to the enemy ship two to 300 meters away. Starboard, causing great damage to the enemy ship.

At this time, the angle between the two ships is relatively small, so most of the side cannons on both sides can exert their power. The difference is that the people on the east bank have dozens of cannons that can be fired, while the Portuguese only have a dozen cannons that can fire them. Shoot to the enemy.In the short moment when the two ships crossed each other, the two sides almost fired hundreds of shells at each other. The "Executive Committee" suffered less damage because of its powerful firepower and was a three-deck warship, but the "Holy Spirit" with only one deck However, the "Marcelo" suffered from bad luck. Many sailors on the deck were killed and wounded. The topsail of the topmast was even burned by a hot bullet. There was confusion on deck.

Fortunately, the two sides passed each other quickly, and the "San Marcelo" finally avoided the fire range of the "Executive Committee" and ran forward.

Behind the two professional warships is a "thin-skinned" armed merchant ship. Its tonnage does not seem to be large, and its firepower is also very poor. There are only less than 8 artillery pieces, and most of them are small-caliber [-]-pound guns. When he turned around and confronted the "Executive Committee" which was parallel to it, the gap suddenly appeared. It was adults bullying children!

Only a few minutes after the two sides opened fire, the topmast of the Galen ship named "Correa" was shattered by a powerful chain bullet, and the fractured place was about ten meters above the deck. At this time, the wind was getting stronger. When they got up, there was panic on the Portuguese ship. The sailors worried that the split mast would be blown off by the wind, so they began to frantically furl the sails.On the other hand, under the command of the captain, some sailors rushed to the bottom cabin and found many small masts and thin logs that were carried with the ship. Shout out to the responding sailors to quickly hoist these small spars to the mast tower with pulley booms-they obviously intend to use these small spars, thin logs and split topmasts to tie them tightly together to make it look like the past Just as durable.

However, how could the well-trained soldiers of the "Executive Committee" give up this excellent opportunity to attack the enemy?Taking advantage of the chaos on the enemy's deck, dozens of cannons fired together, and the raindrops of hollow iron bombs, chain bombs, grape bombs, explosive bombs, and hot bombs were sent to "Correa" without money. "The deck of the ship killed and wounded the busy Portuguese sailors on the enemy ship with the highest efficiency.

A weakly armed merchant ship cannot withstand such a blow.A burning fore-mast sail was blown down by the wind, enveloping several sailors and burning into a ball of fire; the sailors who were hanging the small mast desperately were hit by grape bullets, screamed into a ball, and shattered into pieces. Pieces of flesh and blood were lost, and the mast hanging in mid-air also crashed down, knocking down several people in a row; the middle mast couldn't stand it at this time, and was blown into the sea with a loud "嗤啦" The speed of the armed merchant ship "Correa" suddenly slowed down, and the hull bumped violently, blocking another armed merchant ship "Coelho" behind, seriously disrupting the rhythm of the Portuguese fleet.

At this time, the "Executive Committee" was still at full starboard, and their starboard artillery continued to shoot at the rear of the "Correa"; part of the port artillery that had been silent since the start of the war was not willing to be lonely at this time. After speaking, they sent some 24-pound long-barreled heavy artillery shells to the "Coelho" hundreds of meters away. Although the power was limited due to the distance, they also scared the enemy and started to attack in a hurry. Turned around, intending to face the "Executive Committee", but its move undoubtedly disrupted the actions of the Portuguese fleet in the rear, and this is exactly what the people on the east coast hope to see.

"Boom! Boom!" A few minutes later, in the dense smoke all over the sea, the battleship "Indomitable" suddenly jumped out, and it was seen obliquely behind the "Coelho" at an extremely fast speed. While blocking the advance route of the two Portuguese warships, it also allowed its starboard artillery to cover the poop of the "Coelho", which suddenly plunged the "Coelho", which was attacked from the front and back, into a **** In the most dangerous situation—isn’t it so cool to be taken care of by as many as fifty or sixty artillery pieces?Not to mention that the number of artillery that can hit it is still increasing, and the caliber and barrel are still increasing!

With several loud bangs, the third floor of the poop of the Correa was hit by as many as seven or eight shells, and shattered pieces of wood and glass hit the faces of the captain, first officer and other officers, causing serious injuries. There were a lot of casualties.The ship had already been hit by the "Executive Committee" before, the topmast was broken, the fore-mast sail was destroyed, and the sailors were also killed and injured. At this time, the center of the stern tower was hit hard again, and it basically lost its combat effectiveness. , the reason why the ship is still floating on the sea is only because it has not suffered fatal injuries—but this is actually a matter of time, because the "Executive Committee" has already moved its hull to the rear of it, Dozens of cannons almost completely smashed its rear, and it sank in an instant.

The "Coelho" is probably even more miserable than the "Correa", because this ship has been sandwiched obliquely between the two east coast battleships, and the large number of side guns can fully cover it. The front and rear parts—the beginning and the end of the T—were robbed. In just 5 minutes, more than 200 shells were fired. The steering wheel compartment below the deck was also severely damaged, and the ship had lost the ability to turn, and could only sail straight ahead along the ocean current and wind direction until——hitting land...

The super maneuverability, fierce firepower and courage of the naval officers and soldiers of the two east coast battleships caught the Portuguese by surprise.It's only been a while since the war started, except for the first two professional warships sailing over to seize the T-suffix of the people on the east coast, the entire large fleet behind was intercepted a few times and lost its rhythm, and there was a tendency to fall into a melee, which is not a big deal good!In addition, behind the dense gunpowder smoke, the commander of the Portuguese fleet faintly saw two other powerful double-deck warships approaching at high speed. The gunboat can have plenty of time to turn and seize the upper hand, and then go around to attack the idea of ​​​​their own fleet. Their behavior must be stopped!

"Boom! Boom!" At 11:30 in the morning, the battle was still going on. There was a big gap under the rear cabin of the "Correa", which was attacked by the "Executive Committee", and the sea water began to rush in. entry, but there were not enough sailors or officers on board to block it, and it was expected that it would sink quickly within half an hour.

The "Executive Committee", which had severely damaged the "Correa", started to turn full port rudder at this time. While hitting the "Coelho" sideways with dozens of cannons on the port side, it made an arc to the left, intending to slant Inserted into the formation of the Portuguese fleet, and then used powerful firepower to start a scuffle with the enemy, completely disrupting their rhythm.

The battleship "Indomitable" almost had the same idea. The gunner was standing on the port side, pointing the command knife in his hand fiercely at the Portuguese professional battleship "San Sebastian" in the front left. At the same time, the starboard artillery was also continuously pouring shells into the poop superstructure of the "Coelho" under the command of the second officer.

The "San Sebastian" is a large warship of 30-[-] tons, with more than [-] artillery pieces, but limited by the angle at this time, it can only have about a dozen of them that can shoot at the ships of the people on the east coast.Although it was lucky, two grape shells swept down more than a dozen sailors and gunners on the port side of the "Indomitable", and a solid bullet also knocked over a stove. Rolled up and down, and ignited many cables and a bottom sail, but after all, the firepower was a bit insufficient, and the troubles caused to the people on the east coast were not big enough, so the "Indomitable" had enough energy to take care of " Coelho, and then punched a crack in its waterline—although the Portuguese sailors used canvas to block the crack, and at the same time pumped water frantically out with pumps, so that it would not sink in a short time, but it withdrew Fighting is certain, and if you can't find a way to run aground or rush into the Spanish port, there is a great possibility of sinking within a few hours.

It hasn't been long since the war started, but one of our own ships sank and one was seriously injured, while the two large enemy battleships were only slightly injured and suffered dozens of shells, killing and wounding dozens of crew members without pain. There is simply no way to compare.What's even more unfavorable at this time is that with the arrival of the other two large battleships from the east coast, the disruption of one's own formation is already a rough event, and melee is inevitable.But don't forget, the people on the east bank still have seven escort gunboats that are turning hard. Once they complete this action, they may copy behind their own buttocks, and then line up in a straight line, using side cannons to comfortably If you want to bombard your own fleet convincingly, it will be miserable!

However, under the desperate interception and confusion of several fast battleships from the east coast, it is extremely difficult for the Portuguese fleet sailing along the southwest wind to regroup and arrange formation!Not to mention that the sea is full of gunpowder and visibility is not high, the rhythm and formation of the fleet are disrupted, and the various ships are not responding well. Everyone has basically fallen into a situation of fighting on their own.If you want to adjust the formation in this situation, do you think that you are an unborn famous admiral and that the ships under your command are all professional navies who have been trained for many years?Don't dream as soon as possible!

At twelve o'clock in the morning, the wind had reached level six, and the sea surface was getting bigger and bigger. The melee battle between thirty and forty warships on the east coast and Portugal also entered the most intense moment.More than 20 ships of the Portuguese fleet fought from the southwest to the northeast. The original one-line formation was disrupted and dispersed. The widely scattered Portuguese ships almost surrounded the four battleships on the east coast, but it seemed that it was by no means a short-term attack. What can be eaten - or whether it can be eaten is still a big problem!

Half an hour later, as the armed merchant ship "Coelho" was completely sunk, the east coast flotilla consisting of seven sail escort gunboats also completed their turn and seized the upper hand.This time, it is a good opportunity for them to line up and attack the Portuguese fleet in chaos at the speed of an arrow!And with their joining, the four east coast battleships that are being besieged (with hundreds of shells hit) can also cooperate with the inside and outside to completely damage the Portuguese fleet.

(End of this chapter)