Kowloon wins

Chapter 1115 Opening Battle ([-])
Although the "Shunfeng" hit four bullets, except for a slight drop in speed, it had little effect on the combat power itself. The gunners who had already warmed up and fired had completely entered the state, almost firing a shell every minute. Firing desperately at high speed, the "Victory", which was desperately approaching from the slanting thorns, shot down with a dense salvo of artillery fire. After three rounds of volley, the "Victory" was immediately unlucky, with nine hits in a row. The hull of the ship was on fire, and the single-layer gun deck was blown to pieces. Of the nine cannons on one side, only five were able to fire. The action of "Shunfeng", while firing artillery to counterattack, went all out to shorten the distance between the two sides. Nothing else, the combat habit of the British Navy is close combat!
In the naval battles of Western countries, under normal circumstances, they are bombarded at a distance of about 200 meters. This equal distance can be maximized. In terms of training level, the naval guns of the British Navy can fire a salvo in one and a half minutes, which is more than twice as strong as that of Western countries. But even so, the "Victory" In the confrontation with the "Shunfeng", it is inevitable to be at an absolute disadvantage. There are three reasons. First, the artillery of the Qing army is more advanced, and the loading of the propellant packs is obviously better than that of the black powder used by the British. It is much easier to install, and the Qing army has an obvious advantage in terms of firing rate; secondly, the "Shunfeng" is 42 meters long, which is ten meters longer than the 32 meters of the "Desheng", and it is equipped with more side cannons. three, and the power of the shells is far higher than the [-]-pound shells of the British; as for the third, it is the difference in tactical training-the British navy emphasizes close combat capabilities, while the Qing army emphasizes It is to use the power of the artillery to inflict heavy damage on the opponent at a long distance. The gunner's long-range shooting skills are extremely strict, and the emphasis is on the hit rate. Combining these three things, in the long-distance combat, the "Victory" is obviously not The opponent of "Shunfeng".

"Aim at the enemy ship, fire, fire!"

Taking advantage of the entanglement between "Shunfeng" and "Victory", the "Rose", which was left behind due to the damage of the foremast staysail, has been repaired quickly, and rushed from the slant to the "Rose". At a distance of less than 400 meters from the "Shunfeng", a sudden acceleration has been inserted between the "Shunfeng" and the "Victory". With the order of Lieutenant Colonel Cook Bosnia, the original seven The two cannons and the two cannons that were added later opened fire at the same time, three solid bullets and six blooming bullets pierced the sky, and smashed towards the "Shunfeng" roaring.

350 meters, although such a distance is not the combat distance used by the British Navy, it can barely adapt to it, and the hit rate has been greatly improved. When the "Rose" fired its first salvo, five shells hit the target. , Three of the solid bullets hit a little above the waterline, two were bounced off the thick ship's side, and only made a shallow crater, but one directly penetrated the ship's side and hit the bilge. Part of the food reserves of the "Shunfeng" was blown up, and the other three blooming shells were all smashed on the rear deck of the "Shunfeng", causing thick smoke to billow from the poop, but it was limited by the power of the shells. The "Shunfeng" suffered too much damage, and only two sailors on duty at the poop were killed and one injured.

"Order: Adjust the course, increase the distance, don't stop at each gun position, and continue to fight!"

Although the "Rose" shot out from such a slanting stab, although it did not cause too much damage to the "Shunfeng", Su Ke immediately and keenly noticed that the smaller the distance, the higher the hit rate of the British's artillery fire. Due to this fact, he didn't want to be entangled by enemy ships in such a situation where the enemy was outnumbered, so he immediately issued a general order.

The officers and soldiers of the "Shunfeng" are all well-trained people. With a general order, they all started to work. On the gun deck, twelve artillery pieces roared non-stop, and the shells roared and rushed forward in turn. On the front and rear decks of the two enemy ships, the bosun commanded many sailors to control the sails and sail diagonally, in order to increase the distance between them and the two Great Britain warships. The level of the sailors of the army - from the perspective of the battleship itself, the "Shunfeng" is a three-masted ship, while the two battleships of Great Britain are two-masted ships. In terms of speed, the Qing army should have an absolute advantage. If the sailors on both sides are equally capable, the "Shunfeng" should be able to quickly open the distance between each other, but in fact, although the sailors on the "Shunfeng" have gone all out to control the sails, the distance between the two sides However, the distance has not been widened, and it has been bitten by two Great Britain warships, and the distance has been kept between 300 meters and 350 meters.

In the twinkling of an eye, nearly half an hour passed, and the bloody battle between the two sides was still going on. Although the "Shunfeng" was one against two, it did not lose the wind at all. Of course, under the attack of two British warships, it also Did not take advantage of too much, the officers and soldiers of both sides were red-eyed, and the artillery fire was fired at each other almost non-stop. You come and go, and no one is willing to show weakness. What is interesting is that the huge combined fleet is always swimming in the sea. On the side, he didn't step forward to interfere in this small-scale battle, just watched quietly.

Gradually, the two British warships with insufficient artillery power were already a little bit overwhelmed. There was nothing else. The difference in the power of the artillery shells between the two sides was too large. Second, the results that can be obtained are quite different. Often the effect of two shots hit by the British warship is not as powerful as the Qing army's one shot. There were quite a few fires on the body, and the deck and sides of the ship were damaged in dozens of places. However, with the efforts of the sailors, the fires everywhere were quickly extinguished, and the damaged parts were also being repaired urgently. On the other hand, the two Great Britain warships, Although the sailors on it were also working hard, the power of the Qing army's flowering bullets was too great. Once it hit, it could eat a large part of the battleship, and it was difficult to keep up with the battle. First, one of the masts of the "Rose" was interrupted, its speed dropped sharply, and it was completely thrown out of the battlefield. Immediately afterwards, the "Victory", which had been hit by more than [-] bullets, was also beaten into a mess on the sea. Turn, it will be difficult to compete with "Shunfeng".

"Order: 'Hundred-eyed Giant' and 'Rage' come forward and sink the enemy ship!"

Watching the "Shunfeng" beating the "Victory" which was almost unable to fight back, Edward Vernon, who had been watching the battle silently with his binoculars, finally couldn't stand it anymore, and put down his face gloomyly. Looking at the glasses, he raised his hand, and gave the general order in a cold voice.

"Captain, look, the enemy fleet has moved!"

Edward Vernon's general gave the order, and the semaphore soldiers on their own tall masts gave the order to the two second-tier battleships that were attacking. Immediately, the two huge battleships began to turn and rushed out of the fleet line at an extremely fast speed. He rushed towards the battlefield full of artillery fire, and the sentinel who was watching the enemy's situation on the tall mast of the "Shunfeng" immediately discovered the change of the combined fleet, and hurriedly shouted.

"Send the order, turn the rudder to the left, and evacuate the battlefield at full speed!"

Hearing the alarm from the lookout post, Su Ke, who was roaring and directing the battle, immediately calmed down, quickly picked up the binoculars on his waist, and looked in the direction of the combined fleet, his eyes froze instantly. Yes, the two warships that came just because of the killing and running are really too huge - the length of the ship is 100 meters, the three-layer gun deck, and 98 large and small artillery pieces. Looking from a distance, they look like sea monsters , the 42-meter hull of the "Shunfeng" is as small as a toy in front of such a behemoth. If it is really going to be caught up, it may not be able to withstand a round of salvos. Su Ke Since he didn't dare to stay where he was anymore, and he didn't care about such an easy-to-get result of the "Victory", he gave the order loudly in a hurry.

"Captain, our main fleet has arrived!"

"Shunfeng" was one against two before. Although it won, it was not without damage. Although the sailors tried their best to make up for it, there were still a few damaged sails that could not be replaced in time. Naturally, its own speed advantage was difficult to reflect. , even though the sailors tried their best to steer the sails, they were gradually chased by two British battleships, and when they saw that they were doomed to be sunk, the lookout post on the mast suddenly let out a cheer of surprise. Sound, it is impressive that our main fleet has finally arrived on the battlefield!

"retreat!"

Although he had reached a distance sufficient to launch an attack, facing the full-speed attack of the large Qing fleet, Lieutenant General Jonathan Canning, the captain of the "Hundred-Eyed Giant", resisted the sinking of the "Shunfeng" Due to the impulsiveness, he turned the bow of the ship without firing a shot, and sailed back to his own fleet at high speed. At the same time, the "Fury" also made the same choice.

"Order: All ships immediately turn their rudders to the left, seize the downwind line, and prepare to meet the enemy!"

Although due to the distance, Edward Vernon had not seen the arrival of the main fleet of the Qing army, but when he received the warning signal from the "Hundred-Eyed Giant", Edward Vernon immediately woke up. With a loud voice, the general order was issued. With this order, the United Fleet, which was originally heading towards Yakushima, immediately started tactical maneuvers, trying to seize a favorable battlefield position before the arrival of the Qing fleet. The largest naval battle in the Pacific Ocean This kicked off the prelude, who will have the last laugh, only the one who has fought can know...

(End of this chapter)