Dominate the Country

The Spaniards wanted to annihilate Zhu Fu's fleet, rather than setting up positions, fighting one round, and then staggering each other to let Zhu Fu's fleet escape.

So, just when the Li Guang was about to "see the light of day again", the rear ships of the two Spanish columns - two third-level sailing battleships and two fourth-level sailing battleships, crossed southwest and southeast horizontally, forming a "closing door" trend, intercepting.

However, no matter how big the Mediterranean is, there are monsoons and ocean currents here. There is no need to say much about the direction of the summer monsoon, and the ocean currents are from west to east.

- The summer in the Mediterranean is hot and dry, with strong evaporation and little precipitation, and the sea water level is relatively low. In the Atlantic Ocean, the ocean is strong, not cold in winter and not hot in summer, the evaporation of sea water is far less than that of the Mediterranean, and the sea water level is relatively higher. In this way, the Mediterranean Sea is relatively low, and the Atlantic Ocean is relatively high. Water flows to low places, so the direction of the surface ocean current is: from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Because of the ocean currents and monsoons, the warships of the two Spanish columns could not coordinate as one.

Zhu Fu stood on the deck of the Li Guang and shouted loudly, "Forward, forward!"

The main fleet must not be surrounded. They must guide the Spaniards to crash into the Sardinian fleet in the southeast. All the enemies present must be dragged into the battle group, and the transport fleet and escort fleet behind can wait for an opportunity to break through.

Perhaps the escort fleet can still make a comeback, and as for the remaining merchant fleet, they can run as far as they can, hold on as long as they can, and run as many as they can.

Anyway, Spain came to find a place with great fanfare. Zhu Fu and his thin arms and legs, and a large number of transport fleets dragged down, it is normal that they can't bear it. As for whether doing so would make Chen Han seem to be unfaithful-they promised the Ottomans at the beginning, but they promised to deliver the warships.

Enver Pasha, who was also in the fleet, was not worried at all, and he believed that Istanbul would not be worried either.

The small amount of money for ordering warships is not worth the Chen Han Empire's trust. This time the transportation failed, and the Ottomans had every reason to believe that the trustworthy Chinese would make up for themselves more "hard" in the next transportation, and would never let themselves suffer any loss.

The Spanish fleet did not continue to attack the transport fleet and the cover fleet, but turned around and went back to the rear to besiege and eat the main fleet led by Zhu Fu.

A first-class sailing battleship and a second-class sailing battleship, with four third-class sailing battleships, this piece of meat is too fat.

The Spaniards were reluctant.

Compared with this main fleet, the escort fleet and the transport fleet seemed less important.

But it was not so easy for the Spaniards to swallow the prey in one bite.

Most of Chen Han's warships were equipped with short-barreled large-caliber artillery, and the 35-jin shells could smash a hole as big as a person in the solid and tough oak board.

Compared with the 12-pound, 16-pound, 24-pound, and 36-pound long-barreled cannons installed on the French warships, the 35-pound short-barreled shells may not have as long a range as the French, but the destructive power is absolutely huge, and the firing rate is also much faster.

No matter how short the 35-pound short-barreled cannon is, the effective range can reach 700 to 800 meters, which can just meet the interval distance of naval battles.

These heavy short-barreled cannons are placed on the top deck, and the firing angle is much stronger than that of the middle and lower decks, so they can play a role in battle.

The powerful firepower of a single ship, combined with the superior quality of the sailors and gunners, the main fleet led by Zhu Fu, although outnumbered, should not be underestimated. Their firepower is also fierce.

Although it was dark, the searchlights on each warship made them so conspicuous to each other. Moreover, a fire broke out on the Li Guang, which was quickly extinguished.

During the battle, the artillery level of the main fleet led by Zhu Fu was obviously inferior to that in the Battle of Gibraltar, which could only be the result of their nervousness.

But even so, the effect of the artillery was much stronger than that of the Spanish - on average.

The Li Guang rushed straight to a Spanish third-level sailing battleship in front with fearless courage.

This was part of the Spanish closing the door to fight the dog. The latter did not show weakness, and rows of shells hit the Li Guang.

The distance between the two sides was rapidly shortened, from one nautical mile to one kilometer, and from one kilometer to seven or eight hundred meters, and the distance was still shortening.

"Go up, go up. Prepare rockets--" Zhu Fu's eyes were red. He was already at a disadvantage. If he didn't have the courage to fight, it would be all over.

He had previously held a meeting to ask all officers and soldiers to be prepared to live and die with the ship, so he naturally had the determination to die.

When he fought the first battle with Spain in the Strait of Gibraltar, his mentality was quickly adjusted.

Before this, Zhu Fu and his officers and soldiers agreed that it was impossible for Westerners to touch the Chinese tiger's whiskers at this time. But Spain did, and not only that, they were ready to cut the tiger's whiskers directly.

So, the nature of this mission immediately changed. From the beginning of the "long-distance journey", it became a dangerous game of passing levels.

"Prepare to shoot--" The distance between the warships was only more than 600 meters.

You know, when the distance enters 500 meters, the rocket can be launched.

In these days, the naval battles between warships and rockets are really desperate. If you are unlucky, a rocket can detonate half of the deck.

The Spanish warship was timid and retreated.

The Spanish navy on the battlefield had an absolute numerical advantage, with the main battleship ratio of both sides being 2:1.

The Spanish did not want to see God so early.

So the Spanish three-level sailing battleship retreated.

This is a sudden change.

In the arrangement before the battle, as the four warships that were closed at the door to fight the dog, the Spanish also required them to complete the task. As a result, this warship failed at the critical moment.

It didn't matter if it retreated, the whole "gate" was opened.

Eight main battleships drilled straight out of the "gate", and the arrows were pointing straight at the Sardinian fleet. At this time, half an hour had passed.

So, the naval battles of this era were time-consuming.

After a battle, even if the process was smooth, it would be useless if it didn't take five or six hours.

Just for the fleet to line up and go back and forth, it would take half an hour or an hour.

Zhu Fu relied on his desperate spirit to successfully drag the Sardinian fleet into the water. Then the transport fleet and the escort team behind could leave. The Spanish did not stop them, perhaps they really valued the eight warships in the encirclement.

After all, one of them was a first-class sailing battleship, which was a treasure in any country. If it could be eaten in one bite, the Spanish Navy would also have a bright face.

Thirty or forty warships on both sides launched a life-and-death battle on the sea. For a time, the sea surface was covered with thick smoke produced by artillery firing. Even with the sea breeze, visibility was still very low. This situation was obviously not good for Zhu Fu, because the ships lost contact and fell into a melee.

At 10:20, when the battle had been going on for two hours, another sudden change reversed the course of the naval battle.

The escort fleet that had left turned around and killed back.

The latter's strength was not strong. Even if they went out in full force, their strength was quite limited. Not to mention that they left behind two relatively slow-moving third-level sailing battleships.

In other words, there were only four fourth-level sailing battleships, two thousand-ton clipper warships and four fifth-level sailing battleships.

Ten warships turned around and came back, and all the lights were turned off. All the warships were groping in the dark with their eyes closed.

Sailing at night without signal lights hanging between each other, it is very likely to get lost or collide with each other.

But just like Zhu Fu had people approach the Spaniards to fight for their lives, the frigates were also very clear about the dangers of tonight. If they did not fight this battle with a desperate belief, they would really die when tomorrow dawned.

Fortunately, they came all the way and approached the battlefield safely.

…

“Boom…”

Another shell hit the stern of the “San Padro”, and the broken wood shattered all over the ground, and the captain’s room was in a mess.

But for this giant ship, this did not affect anything at all.

“Commander, the Lightning has withdrawn from the battle, and the waterline of the ship is taking in water. The situation looks difficult.” An anxious report sounded in the ears of Spanish Admiral Don Juan Langara. The admiral, who had experienced a series of brutal naval battles, pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.

In fact, he didn’t need to say anything more. The level of the Chinese gunners was far beyond his expectations. The training level of these gunners was much higher than that of the Spanish gunners. In short, in this battle, Spain did not have all the upper hand as he thought.

They only had the upper hand in the warships.

There were only eight enemy ships, and the Spanish-Sardinian joint fleet had four times the number of the enemy and two to three times the number of their guns. But after two hours, the Spanish-Sardinian joint fleet could only gain the upper hand, but could not win.

The Chinese flagship was badly hit, but it was this badly hit third-class sailing battleship that frequently forced the Spanish and Sardinian warships to retreat in embarrassment.

Langara did not advocate unnecessary sacrifices, especially when his side had the upper hand. But now he would rather the "San Padro" he was riding on could appear in front of the hateful Chinese third-class battleship in the next moment, and he would never retreat. Even if the "San Padro" was an expensive first-class sailing battleship. His captain, Rear Admiral Ignacio Alava, would not retreat to avoid it.

——The powerful "San Padro" would use artillery and rockets to send this Chinese warship to the bottom of the sea.

Now the Spanish warships that frequently retreated were no longer avoiding unnecessary sacrifices, but a kind of cowardice and a shame.

It is undeniable that Don Juan Langara's attention was completely attracted by the main fleet led by Zhu Fu. When two clipper warships emerged from the darkness and fired rockets at a third-level sailing battleship, he really didn't pay attention.

He thought those Chinese ships had already escaped.

Langara had always been thinking about destroying the eight enemy battleships in front of him, and then eating up the Chinese fleet with a sharp decline in strength bit by bit, just like hunting in the jungle.

Now, the third-level sailing battleship San Antonio was being targeted by the two clipper warships. His captain had noticed them before the two clipper warships approached.

The San Antonio also chose to retreat, but its speed was no match for the clipper warship.

Then when the rockets from the clipper warship hit them, the rockets fired from the San Antonio also hit them.

The San Antonio exploded, and the thunderous roar could be heard by the transport fleet on the sea more than ten kilometers away. A huge fireball rose on the sea during the explosion, and the sails and corpses were thrown into the air and then fell into the sea. There was a dead silence all around.

It was very unfortunate and very likely that the San Antonio exploded.

The gun positions on the decks of warships of this era were often filled with gunpowder barrels, and although the penetration of rockets was not strong, the coverage area after the explosion was super large.

Even a small spark could easily ignite a barrel of gunpowder, and then one barrel after another. Destroying half of the deck layer was a light punishment, and the heavy punishment was to completely disintegrate a huge warship.

The San Antonio was the latter.

Amid the explosion of "boom boom...", the young captain of the Tuna Eleven was lifted up by the shock wave generated by the powerful rocket explosion, as if an invisible giant hand had lifted him up and thrown him against the bulkhead.

The entire command desk was in chaos.

When the captain recovered from the explosion, the first thing he saw with blood on his forehead was the command desk that looked like it had been destroyed by a storm, and there was even fire on the rear deck after the explosion.

His signalmen and attendants were swept into the corner by the shock wave like garbage.

"Doctor, doctor?"

The captain shouted loudly. The people on the command desk were all "hurt", and the first mate on the rear deck had his arm swept by a piece of wood in the explosion just now, just like being cut by a knife, bleeding. The blood dyed his clothes red.

After seeing the captain, the first mate didn't know where he got the strength from. The two of them supported each other and staggered to a place where there was a big hole in the side of the ship. They kicked a closed barrel of gunpowder into the sea through the gap in the side of the ship.

This was originally the gun position of a 12-pound cannon. Now all the people here, including the cannon, have disappeared, leaving only a barrel of gunpowder. And not far away was a raging fire.

It was fortunate that the gunpowder barrel did not explode.

Someone was already putting out the open fire on the rear deck, but such a barrel of gunpowder at such a close distance was also a threat. And when they looked at the San Antonio just now from here, what appeared in front of them was thick black smoke.

Only one of the two clipper warships was bombed, and the other was unscathed.

The clipper warship that was bombed was not hit by one rocket, but two, and the bow of the ship was also bitten. Thick black smoke rose, and there was a faint flame.

The sailors on the Tuna 11 were already using water pumps to pump seawater to put out the fire.

Busyness and black smoke became the theme on the poop deck and the rear deck at this moment.

The captain did not feel sad about the loss, he was just thankful for his good luck and the enemy's misfortune. They were both hit by rockets, but nothing happened to them, while a third-class sailing battleship exploded on the enemy's side.

Let's not talk about whether the gunpowder barrels and ship decks made of light wood are strong or not, just say that they are fireproof and heat-insulating, which is indeed useful.