Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 1311: Battle at Sea

In the strait, Zheng Chenggong's fleet had just turned to the northeast, and the Spanish Far East Fleet also began to turn to the northeast. After they turned around the bay, they intended to avoid the right-wing formation from the southwest and rush out of the siege from the northwest corner of the strait.

For so many years, judging from the experience of fighting against Ming in the West, Duke Alva knew that even if he had a strong ship and a powerful gun, he would be no match for four with two fists, not to mention that the opponent had more than four, perhaps forty.

The Far East Fleet must not fall into the siege of the Orientals. The Dutch were beaten and maimed by gangs in Liuluo Bay and Taiwan Island. He cannot follow in the footsteps of the Dutch.

Duke Alva knew he couldn't fall into the siege, so he decisively decided to break out of the siege, and it has to be said that his decision was very correct.

Twenty Spanish warships turned half a bay on the sea, and their track was a semicircle, turning from east to northeast, then north, and finally northwest, rushing out of the strait obliquely.

The formation of the ships also changed from a line of geese, with the bows of the ships advancing side by side, chasing and killing the Luzon navy, to a diagonal line, like a sharp arrow about to be shot.

Just as the Spaniards completed their turn, Zheng Chenggong's forty warships also turned around and began to chase the Spaniards in turn.

The artillery in front of the forty warships fired at once, the hulls vibrated, and flames were sprayed out. The projectiles roared out of the rising smoke, and the iron bullets weighing more than ten catties flew close to the sea surface, quickly drawing closer to the battle with Spain. distance of the ship.

The stern of the flute-shaped warship rapidly enlarged and became clearer and clearer. You could even see the cannon protruding from the gun port at the stern. At this moment, the howling shells flew lower and lower, and drilled into the ground at a distance of more than 100 meters from the stern. In the water, a water column several feet high was splashed.

Of course, some shells hit the Spaniard's stern, and the shells broke through the deck, drilled into the cabin and swept everything.

"Boom boom boom!" After Zheng Chenggong fired a round of cannon, the flute-shaped boat raised its tail and began to fire suddenly.

Jets of water soared into the sky on the route of the Luzon navy, and forty ships chased after them with gunfire and sails. However, the Spaniard's ship was fast, while Zheng Chenggong's ship was slow. After a few rounds of shelling, the Spanish warship broke away. The range of the [-]-pound red-clothed cannon was exceeded, and Zheng Chenggong was left behind.

On the south bank of the strait, the right-wing formation rushed out of an unknown bay on Mindanao Island. Just when they were all out to sea and were riding the wind and waves, the situation in the east began to change. The Spaniards and Zheng Guogong turned to the northwest at the same time.

On the Fuhai, the Luzon general Wang Yi who was in charge of the command immediately realized that the Spaniards were going to flee along the northern shore of the strait.

He immediately sneered and gave an order, "The fleet turned north to intercept the Spaniards fleeing northwest."

On the Sanhe, the black donkey standing on the mainmast looking out had piercing eyes. He was tanned by the scorching sun, and his sweat shone golden under the sun. He noticed the situation at sea and hurriedly shouted to the deck: "Second brother, the Spaniards are going to run!"

Immediately afterwards, he shouted again: "Second brother, the Fu Hai has issued an order to turn north!"

There were more than 250 sea ships on the right wing. The Sanhe did not rush to the front, but was sandwiched among them. The sails and sea ships in front blocked his sight, and the surrounding situation was conveyed by the black donkey on the watchtower.

Gao Yihuan immediately shouted: "Turn left!"

The Sanhe quickly began to turn the rudder, and the sailors untied the sails to turn the sails. The entire fleet pointed the bow of the Spanish fleet obliquely forward, and intercepted them before the Spanish fleet broke through.

The entire right wing was full of voices. The sailors untied the sail ropes to change the direction of the sails. The rudder plate at the stern swung. With the help of the wind force and the resistance caused by the rudder plate, the ship turned quickly, and the sail rushed northward. The fleet and the Spanish fleet quickly approached.

On the St. Philip, the Duke of Alva turned his attention from the Luzon navy behind the tail to the right wing fleet trying to intercept him.

He was observing with binoculars. On the table next to him was a chart, and several officers were busy with surveying, mapping and calculating.

In a short while, several straight lines and included angles appeared on the chart. The combination formed a triangle, and an officer directly calculated it with a formula on it.

It can be seen that the short line is the route of the right-wing fleet, while the hypotenuse is the route of the Spaniards. The intersection of the two lines is the place where the right-wing fleet intercepts the Spaniards, but the route of the right-wing fleet is short. , but their speed is slow, while the Spaniard's course is long, but fast.

The Spanish officers only need to calculate, at the speed of the current two fleets, at what angle when the fleet sails, they can pass the meeting point first, and then they can get rid of the blocking of the right-wing fleet.

It has to be said that at this point, the Spaniards are much more professional than the Ming army and the Luzon Navy, and they are very precise in their work.

The Chinese do things, almost on the line.In this kind of naval battle, a rough estimate is also made, but the West is making precise calculations.

In such a comparison, they can indeed reduce many errors, avoid many mistakes, and expand the odds of winning in the war.

At this time, the officer in charge of the calculation suddenly stopped writing, smiled and straightened up, "Your Excellency, sailing at the current angle, their speed can't stop the fleet at all!"

Duke Alva smiled in satisfaction, and looked down on the Easterners in his heart, "Haha, order the fleet to sail at full speed and rush out of the encirclement first!" At this point, a stern look flashed across his face, and he said in a deep voice: "Then use The advantages of range and speed, teach them a lesson."

Hearing that they could break out of the siege, the Spanish officers on the podium were relieved, but at the same time a little angry.

When they saw that they were in an ambush just now, the officers were startled and complained in their hearts. The damn Orientals wanted to play more tricks and tricks. After rushing out, they must make them look good.

"No, Commander, there is also an enemy fleet appearing in the northwest!"

Just as the Duke of Alva and the Spaniards on board breathed a sigh of relief, the soldiers on the watchtower shouted again, instantly making the entire Spanish fleet happy and sad.

The smile on Duke Alva's face froze, he walked quickly to the side of the ship, looked in the direction of the fleet, and saw a dark shadow also appearing in the northwest direction.

Needless to say, this is the left-wing fleet hiding on the north bank. They and the right-wing fleet are like a door to the strait. The left and right sides will be closed, shutting in all the Spanish fleet.

Duke Alva's expression twisted, "Damn it, how could this happen!"

The officers on the side quickly gathered around the table without his instructions. The distance measurers picked up binoculars and other tools to measure the distance, and the drawers used a ruler. They drew a few more lines on the chart, and then began to calculate, but this time Did not solve it.

The speed of the Spanish fleet was not fast enough to break out of their encirclement before the two enemy fleets locked the strait.

"Your Excellency, Commander!" The calculating officer trembled with sweat on his forehead, "The fleet is surrounded!"

The Spaniards on the ship were flustered when they heard this. Some of them didn't believe it and squeezed to the table to calculate by themselves, but after a while they became depressed.

The Spanish fleet is powerful, but not so strong that twenty ships can fight against more than 600 enemy ships. They immediately thought of the scene of being beaten by a group.

Seeing that his subordinates panicked, Duke Alva put away his gloomy expression, and suddenly said: "Don't panic, the enemies are small boats, we can smash them away. Order the fleet to turn to the west and directly charge to break through!"

There was interception in front and pursuit in the back, and the Spaniard had no choice.From the moment they entered the strait, their fate was doomed. They may be very exquisite and excellent in tactical details, but they were wrong in the overall situation of the entire battle, and those exquisite details could not save their failure.

The Spanish fleet had already lost this battle since they entered the encirclement. The difference now is how many ships they will lose and how many ships can break out of the encirclement.

It was discovered that the Ming Dynasty fleet appeared in the northwest, and the Spanish fleet's breakout route from the northwest corner was blocked, and the Spaniards rushed directly to the west decisively.

This change made the distance between him and the right-wing fleet rapidly shorten, and the getting closer and closer distance gave the personnel on the right-wing fleet a sense of tension.

"Copy guys, ready to go to war! Your Majesty ordered me to fight for 50 taels per person!" Beside the Sanhe, on a lucky boat, a short, stout, dark-skinned man was wielding a broken axe. , shouted loudly, even Gao Yihuan could hear it.

On the Sanhe, Gao Laosan also began to order, "Prepare more fire bottles and short ladders!"

On the decks of the ships, the sailors and guards howled and brandished their weapons to embolden themselves. At this moment, the Spanish fleet in the distance, the bottom row of guns, heard a loud "boom boom" .

Those were the 24-pound guns of the Spaniards. I saw their gun barrels retreated suddenly, the hull trembled, and the gun windows were filled with smoke, and iron bullets weighing more than 20 kilograms roared in, splashing streaks in the middle of the fleet. water column.

Gao Yihuan only heard a loud noise, and the mast of the lucky boat next to him was broken. The sailors on the watchtower screamed as the mast fell into the sea, and the sailors on the deck hurriedly dispersed...

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(End of this chapter)