Dominate the Country

[Thanks to ‘Wu Xin Zhi Wang’ for the 500-coin reward]

With a “boom…”, the sound of the iron bullet piercing the hull rang out.

Guo Nan felt the warship under his feet tremble violently in the sound of the cannon. The distance between the ship under his feet and the Qing army warship was already three or four hundred meters, and the probability of the cannonball hitting the warship increased greatly. This shot hit the bow of his ship.

A big hole was broken in the hull, and the cannonball penetrated from the left. Guo Nan heard a series of cracking sounds in the cabin below. And there was a big hole on the left side of the bow. From a distance, it was thought to be a big ship eye on the outside of the bow.

Guo Fuhai, the captain of the ship, was Guo Nan’s cousin. Of course, he also heard the sound of the wooden board breaking in the loud sound of the bullet. He immediately shouted to the frightened sailors around him: "Look at the cabin, look at the cabin?"

The upper part of the bow was hit by a bullet, so water would not enter, but if the internal cabin was severely damaged, it would greatly affect the stability and toughness of the bow structure, and would have a significant impact on the life and speed of the warship. After this battle, the warship must be overhauled!

"Sir, only two layers of bulkheads were penetrated, and they have been repaired." The voice of the chores sounded in Guo Fuhai's ears only a moment later. Guo Fuhai and Guo Nan's nervous expressions immediately relaxed. The loss was not great, and the keel of the lower layer was not damaged. Such trauma at least did not delay the current battle.

"Boom boom boom..." Four consecutive cannons sounded, and Guo Fuhai and Guo Nan felt a shock under their feet. They saw a cloud of green smoke rising from the left side of the ship. Through the green smoke, Guo Nan's telescope saw two flashes of fire on a Qing army ship that was moving rapidly!

"Hit!? So lucky?" Guo Nan was overjoyed. The four shells just now were all hot shells. Four shells can hit two in a row? Goddess Mazu bless you!

Guo Nan and Guo Fuhai looked at each other, and they could see the smile and endless surprise in each other's eyes.

"Attention, helmsman! Turn the rudder to the right and speed up to the southwest!" The cannon on the left side of the ship has been fired. Pull the direction obliquely, and the cannon on the right side of the ship can also be fired. Guo Fuhai shouted, and now he was shouting everything he said.

At this time, two more shells fell around the ship. But except for giving the warship a bath, there was no damage.

Guo Fuhai commanded the ship Fengzi No. 1 to approach the Qing warship with all his strength. They also have rockets on their ship!

The distance may be less than 300 meters, and the rocket flashed. The poop of the Qing army's Ting ship was hit by two more rounds, and the deck was blown to pieces.

He Sihe climbed up from the deck again and glanced at the deck. He couldn't help but secretly feel lucky that he had just left the poop and was not hit directly, otherwise he would have been the same as the incomplete bodies of the sailors at the stern.

The Qing warship that had just been hit immediately retaliated. The cannons on the side of the ship roared continuously. Guo Nan was still holding a telescope to look at He Sihe's ship. Looking at the flag hanging on the bow, this was a general's ship. As a result, his feet shook violently, and his body staggered and almost fell. It turned out that his ship was hit again. His luck was really bad. "Damn it!" He hurriedly put down the telescope, and saw with his naked eyes that there was a blazing fire near the stern of his own ship, accompanied by bursts of smoke.

Hot bullets, the Qing army also fired hot bullets. Guo Nan was dumbfounded.

Naval battles are never one-on-one battles. He Sihe's general ship had already pulled away. Under the strong northeast monsoon, the warship could not turn around immediately and return to continue to entangle with them.

Guo Nan and Guo Fuhai could only look for new prey. The warship had not been hit for a while, and it seemed that the bad luck just now had passed. But He Sihe's bad luck was far from over. But He Sihe didn't know that the cannons on both sides of his ship had been loaded and were concentrating on finding the next target.

"Boom boom..."

A series of explosions sounded on the warship. Rockets, or rockets.

One wave of four, one wave of four, in a short period of time, a Fu Han army warship four or five hundred meters away fired a full four waves of sixteen rockets at him.

Only five of the sixteen rockets hit, but the huge power of these five rockets made He Sihe confused.

His body was once again blown up by the powerful shock wave, and the whole person fell backward and hit the wall of the ship.

It was unknown how long it took He Sihe to come back from his dizziness. The entire deck was in a mess. With blood on his forehead, he sat up and the first thing he saw was the deck that looked like it had been destroyed by a storm.

The helmsman, gunner, etc. were all swept to the corner like garbage. Screams, painful groans, and dead sailors...

The captain of He Sihe's personal guards had his arm swept by a piece of wood in the explosion just now. It didn't penetrate very deeply into the flesh. When He Sihe was still not awake, he rolled over and crawled over. He Sihe, who had just regained consciousness, was still in a dizzy state. He didn't know what scratched his left leg. The blood dyed his pants black and red.

"My lord, my lord..."

The entire warship was filled with thick black smoke. "My lord, Chen Ni's shells ignited the gunpowder barrel..."

Two large gaps appeared on the side of the ship, and the stern was also like a bite from a giant beast. Thick black smoke rose from it, and there was a faint flame. The oarsmen on the lower deck came up to the deck one after another, and some of them were already fetching water to put out the fire.

"Put out the fire quickly. Let's retreat, let's retreat..." He Sihe gritted his teeth, and the blood flowing down his forehead covered his vision with a layer of blood red.

When the sun set on the western horizon, the naval battle that lasted for more than three hours came to an end.

The attacking Qing navy suffered as miserably as He Sihe's ship. Not only did they suffer a great loss in the single firepower of the warships, but they were also beaten to death by rockets in close combat.

After the first battle, the Qing army lost 25 large and small warships, more than 2,000 officers and soldiers were killed or wounded, and both generals were injured.

Zhang Qiu did not order a pursuit because the place where the two sides fought was very close to Sanmen Island and not far from Dapeng Bay. If the Fu Han army continued to pursue, the Qing navy would retreat to Sanmen Island and rely on the water camp and artillery on the island. In that case, the Fu Han army might suffer. In a naval battle, wind is crucial, and the strong northeast monsoon has both advantages and disadvantages.

Gan Guobao, who was stationed in Dapeng Bay, was shocked by the battle report. How could he be defeated so badly?

Twenty-five warships, large and small, and two thousand casualties? This, this...

Gan Guobao sat back on the big chair, his eyes full of astonishment and disbelief. He had been in the army for thirty-seven years, and spent most of his time on the sea. He did not dare to say that his military talent was comparable to Shi Jinghai, but he also thought he was not bad. This time, the Qing army was well-rested and had a great chance of winning. How could it be such a disastrous defeat?

"What happened?"

His self-confidence was hit hard and was shaky. His body seemed to be hollowed out all of a sudden, and his vigorous spirit and firm belief became clouds and disappeared suddenly. The voice that came out of Gan Guobao's mouth was so dry, like a dying old man.

"Report to the army, Wei and He, the two garrisons have reported that Chen Ni has used a new weapon. It seems to be a firecracker and a rocket that have been magnified countless times. The firing speed is extremely fast and the accuracy is also good. It can hit about a mile away, and the power is much greater than the large-sized shrapnel!"

"The defeat of the government army in this battle was all due to this weapon." The navy of the two garrisons was beaten badly by rockets.

Gan Guobao's inner disappointment suddenly stopped, and he froze, "A firecracker and a rocket that have been magnified countless times??"

He recalled the firecracker and the rocket in his mind. How many times were they magnified countless times? Much more powerful than the large-sized shrapnel? How much more powerful?

"How fast is that thing firing?"

"The two generals reported that it was like setting off fireworks. General He's ship was severely damaged by it. According to General He, it was just a blink of an eye, and Chen Ni's warship, which was 150 feet away, fired four waves of this kind of fire bombs. The entire ship was swept away."

"General He had a slight injury on his head, his internal organs were slightly shaken, his right leg was scratched by shrapnel, and his calf was probably fractured."

The messenger told everything he knew.

Gan Guobao's inner confidence and spirit were restored a little. It turned out that "this defeat was not the fault of the war." It was not that he was really useless. It was that the Fu Han Army had developed a new weapon, just like the rumored flying thunder cannon. So far, the Qing army has not found any good way to defend against this thing.

Now that the Fu Han Army has a new weapon, Gan Guobao has found the "biggest factor" for the defeat.

The drums for gathering generals sounded in the navy camp. After Gan Guobao calmed down, he called all his generals to discuss the next course of the war.

The news of defeat needed to be made known to the generals, and Chen Ni's new weapons also needed to make them mentally prepared.

Although the morale of the entire army would be sharply dampened after the news spread.

Gan Guobao's slightly dry voice fell in the hall. The three generals, deputy generals, and more than a dozen important generals of the Guangdong Navy, all had gloomy faces.

The content of Gan Guobao's words had a great impact on them.

Jieshi Town and Nan'ao Town not only did not win, but were defeated, and they were defeated miserably. Two generals were injured, 25 warships were destroyed and captured, and 2,000 officers and soldiers were killed or captured. The new weapons developed by the Fu Han Army are so powerful! ?

"The northeast wind is strong now, the wind is fast and the ships are fast. If the government troops want to avoid close combat, they can only seize the upper hand." Tan Xiu, who came from the military, is the general of Beihai Town.

He started a conversation and also drew a circle for the following discussion - not to fight close combat with the Fu Han Army Navy.

None of the generals of the navy of Gaozhou and Qiongzhou towns had any objection to this. If they turned a blind eye to the information that Jieshi Town and Nan'ao Town had exchanged for them with bloody lessons, it would be like having their heads stuck in the door.

"Don't fight close combat, just fire from a distance. Then this battle will be entangled." With the hit rate of naval cannons in this era, if the distance is pulled away by 700 to 800 meters or even farther, it is estimated that the sound of the cannon will not sink the two ships for a day.

And the most important thing is that the Qing Navy frequently seized the upper hand. What if the Fu Han Army blocked Daya Bay? Can they still return to Dapeng Bay smoothly?

The generals and officers of the Qing navy racked their brains to think of ways to deal with it. The Jieshi Town and Nan'ao Town navy hiding in the Sanmen Island water camp seized every minute to repair the warships, but the atmosphere on the Fu Han Army side was much more relaxed. The military meeting held by Zhang Qiu and Ye Xiangde was like a tea party.

Wang Haichao and Guo Nan, who participated in the battle this afternoon, were great contributors. They praised the rockets at the meeting. The nine Qing warships they sank today, and the sixteen Qing warships that were captured and surrendered voluntarily, the credit of rockets accounted for at least 70% to 80%.

Compared with the limited accuracy, limited number and slow speed of artillery shells, rockets far exceed the existing naval guns in terms of hit rate and firepower density. Rockets in actual combat are really a life-threatening blade.