Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 609 Fighting for male and female, Zhenjiang battle
The Qing soldiers on the river continued the practice on land. The Green Battalion soldiers took the boats in front, and the five hundred bannermen supervised the battle behind. The real Manchus were not familiar with water warfare, and most of them watched the battle on land.

The cannons fired at each other, the war drums were beating, and the Qing army's warships were divided into three pieces, arranged in a trapezoidal formation, and sailed against the current. There was no trickery, no bluff, it was a full-on frontal attack, and it was a showdown.

Lu Jianguo set up a geese-shaped formation, and the two No. [-] lucky boats were geese heads.

This array may not be suitable for water battles in later generations, because it emphasizes collision and is not as capable of side-string firepower as a single vertical, but the current water battle is not the era of decisive victory of naval guns in later generations.

In the era of sailing warships, before the large-scale equipment of explosive bombs, ramming and boarding battles were the real key. In China, one more point was to attack and burn ships with fire.

Lu Jianguo was not rich, and he was not so blessed that every warship was equipped with broadside guns. Except for dozens of main warships, most of them were equipped with only one cannon on the bow.

The Ming army marched in geese, and it was also indomitable. It wanted to cut through the Qing army's warships, and defeated its army in one battle.

Most of the bows of the Ming army were red guns. This heavy weapon has repeatedly made military exploits in sieges, but in fact when it was first introduced to the Ming Dynasty, it was actually a naval gun loaded on a warship.

Countless cannonballs fell from the sky, from falling into the river in front of the warship, water jets gradually rose up, until they hit the warship, sawdust flew, and the mast broke.

Although the ship was smashed to pieces and the hull was severely damaged, it was difficult for the shells to seriously damage the hull under the water. The big ship would not capsize easily, which is why the decisive victory depends on collision and boarding.

The artillery fired at each other, and the warships of the two armies suffered casualties. The flagship of the Qing army was a No. [-] blessing ship, which was commanded by Liang Huafeng, a rare water warfare talent in the Qing army.

He is proficient in water warfare, thanks to the cultivation of the Ming army. During the Taihu battle, he and his subordinates gradually grew up and became talented during the long-term education, and finally succeeded in forcing the teacher to abandon the water village and break out to sea.

"The geese are in formation, the head of the geese is strong, and the wings are weak. Hang the command flag and order the left wing to move closer to me, and the right wing to move forward to attack the pirates' flanks!" There are two brushes.

When the command flag was hoisted, the shape of the Qing army's ship changed immediately. The commander of the right wing, Guan Zhongzhong, drew his sword in his hand, and hurriedly ordered: "Full sail and move forward at full speed."

The Qing army sailed against the current, relying entirely on the force of the wind to move forward. The sailors on the ship immediately pulled up the sail ropes, shouting chant and pulling hard, "full sail, yo ho he~"

Unlike Liang Huafeng's boat which shrank behind the vanguard, Lu Jianguo's boat was the head of a wild goose, rushing ahead of all the boats.

The king of Lu held the sword in his hand and stood under the colorful umbrella and the big banner. The warship rushed to the front and ate the most shells. Most of the guardrails on the blessing boat were damaged.

Zhang Huangyan saw that the two armies were getting closer, and the shells were getting denser. The shield wall couldn't stop the iron bullets. He was a little worried. He took a step forward and said, "Your Highness, it's too dangerous here, please move to the cabin!"

Zhu Yihai looked resolute, looking at the oncoming Qing Chuan from a distance, he was no longer the sensual prince a few years ago, the shells passed by him without blinking his eyes.

"Eliminate the Tartars and restore our great Ming country. Although hundreds of families are working hard today, I am alone with the surname Zhu. I belong to the Shenzong lineage. I have a duty to be the first in the world." The army moved closer, obviously to strengthen the central army, block our army's goose head, and then outflank the right wing. Ai Qing thinks which ship is the strongest in the navy and can break through the captive formation?"

"Naturally, His Royal Highness's ship is the largest and strongest." Zhang Huangyan replied.

Zhu Yihai nodded, his eyes were burning with blazing fire, and he said confidently: "The key to this battle is to go forward without hesitation. If a wild goose's head crashes into a captive ship, you can't kill the enemy with a knife. But standing here, the whole army can see it. You are not afraid. If you die, you can directly hit the captive flagship with a boat, and the soldiers will surely rise up. How can the captive soldiers be opponents? They will be defeated alone."

After Zhang Huangyan heard this, he exchanged glances with several civil servants around him. He couldn't help being moved. The emotional ones were already in tears. The times make heroes. The spineless King Lu, who surrendered the city to captives, finally waited for the Ming Lord who had grown up and honed himself in the flames of war.

Although Zhang Huangyan felt that Lu Jianguo didn't have to take the risk himself, seeing that Jianguo was determined, he had no choice but to compromise.

At this time, he and all the civil servants saluted in unison and said in a solemn voice: "Your Majesty, the ministers and others, are the only ones who are looking forward to the battle."

"Put up the flag!" Zhu Yihai was very pleased, excited in his heart, and calmly ordered: "Order Zhang Mingzhen, the rocket is ready, and the captives will shoot the sail first."

On the Dafu ship, a huge king's flag embroidered with gold rims was hung on the mast. This is the symbol of the king of Lu. He directly confronted the captive ship. The flag was in the state of Lu Jian, and the army was undefeated.

The Ming army marched forward with great momentum.

The right-wing Qing ship on the river, which was in charge of loyalty, had already braved the artillery fire and rushed to a position parallel to the Yanshou of the Ming army, and came to the side of the Yanshou.

The main battleships of the Ming army equipped with broadside guns were all above the head of the character "人", which was convenient for a large ship to crash into a captive ship, and then it could be strangled with artillery.

Guan Zhongzhong went to the side first, and the broadside gun, which had not fired, finally had a chance to make a contribution.

"Port side gun, release!" On the Ming army warship, the general waved his arms vigorously.

The firepower on the side suddenly unleashed, and nearly a hundred artillery guns sprayed a rain of bullets at the same time. The sound of the guns was deafening.

The artillery fired directly, the hull vibrated, and the iron bullets flew close to the river, smashing towards the captive ship at a very high speed. At the same time, a puff of green smoke rose from the black hole on the side of the captive ship. Attack the bright ship.

Due to the strong recoil of the artillery, the barrel protruding from the muzzle was shaken far away after each shot.

"Reload, reset, release."

Amidst the rumbling sound, the soldiers hurriedly cleared the muzzle and reloaded the ammunition. Several people worked together to push the cannon fixed with iron chains back, but before the soldiers came, they hurriedly fired, and an iron bullet fell over, smashing the side of the ship. It was smashed, sawdust flew, soldiers were injured, and cannons were knocked over.

"The enemy is nearly two hundred paces away!"

"Shenhuo Flying Duck! Let it go!"

"Rocket, let it go!"

The flank of the Ming army and the right wing of the captive ship that went out ahead were within reach of bows, arrows and blunderbusses.

Countless rockets and flying ducks with flaming tails scurry in the air and shot at the sails of the captive ship. Suddenly, the fire filled the air and the sky was covered with smoke and dust.

In almost no time, among the captive ships, seventy or eighty red dragon boats and mother-in-law boats rushed out, the ships were full of sails, and the soldiers rushed towards the Ming army with oars.

(End of this chapter)