In the bottom cabin of the Golden Griffin, the black gun barrel spit out flames, and the shells flew towards the Zheng He like meteors.
At this distance, there is almost no need to aim because the target is too big.
Under the fierce bombardment, holes were smashed out of the side of the Zheng He ship.
Yes, a cannonball made a dent!
That's all...
Zhu Qizhen is very angry!
Why?
My ship is worth thirty million taels of silver.
Do you deserve to be smashed?
"Turn right!"
"Lower the sails!"
"The artillery camp is ready!"
As a series of orders were passed on, everyone was acting nervously and orderly.
The Zheng He finally opened its fangs, and the two floors of gun ports in the bottom tank were opened. Countless gun barrels protruded from the ship's hull, like a giant beast from the deep sea. The oncoming pressure was almost suffocating.
.
Charlemagne couldn't help but swallowed, and felt his head was buzzing.
How to fight this...?
It was like a seven or eight-year-old naughty boy, holding a stick in his hand, and then a two-meter strong man wearing armor and holding a machete came across from him, and he was even beaten!
The armored ships of the Ming Dynasty turned out to be like this!
When Prussia got the blueprints of the ironclads, it caused an uproar.
The Eastern Romans believed that their navigation technology far surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty. Faced with such incredible technology, they did not believe that it could really be realized.
Some nobles even used this to attack Prussia, thinking that he was a clownish clown.
Today, Charlemagne finally realizes that... the clown is actually himself!
What to do?
He smiled bitterly, but he knew very well that he had no choice now but to fight.
If you don’t fight, you will die.
At least you can struggle to the death...
"Soldiers of the Holy Empire of Eastern Rome!"
Charlemagne forced himself to calm down and shouted loudly: "The Almighty God has chosen us. Here today, let us fight for the glory of the Holy Empire of Eastern Rome. Take up your weapons and fight against the devils from the east!"
”
Boom!
Boom!
Before Charlemagne's pre-war mobilization was over, he heard fierce artillery fire from the front.
He raised his eyes and saw the flames emitting from the black muzzles of the ship on the opposite side.
Countless cannonballs roared in, like stars falling!
Boom!
The first cannonball hit accurately and exploded, splinters of wood flew across the bow, and screams continued.
This is not a solid iron lump, but a blooming bullet that has been continuously improved by the Academy of Sciences and Wang Gong Factory.
Boom!
Boom!
As shells continued to hit, the Golden Griffin immediately became riddled with holes and flames shot into the sky.
The soldiers on the ship have long lost their fighting spirit. They want to escape, but where can they escape on the ship...
As soon as the sea breeze blew, the fire swept across the entire ship in an instant. Then, the ship began to tilt and slowly sank into the cold water.
Boom!
Boom!
The first round of attacks has just ended, and the second round has begun.
Huge explosions sounded one after another, and in the splendid flames, the Golden Griffin instantly turned into ashes and disappeared completely from this world.
The soldiers on other ships were frightened.
They are the navy, the best at naval battles, comparing tactics, positioning, ship performance, sailor skills, and artillery power... However, in front of this huge ironclad ship, everything is in vain.
In the face of absolute strength, all techniques and tactics are meaningless.
Boom!
Boom!
On the side of the Zheng He, the black holes of the guns kept spitting out tongues of fire. For a moment, the sea was filled with flames, and the warships of the Eastern Roman Empire disappeared one by one.
The current situation of the battle can no longer be described in terms of victory or defeat.
But...crush!
Those ships, which were fine one second, suddenly disappeared.
Even when they were preparing for the ambush, they were still imagining that after defeating the Ming army's ships, they would see those Easterners jumping into the sea for help.
Now, there are indeed many people struggling in the sea...
Woo——
The huge steam engine made a low roar, and black smoke continued to come out of the chimney. The ironclad ship began to accelerate and rushed towards the Eastern Roman fleet. The gun muzzles on the ship's side continued to spit out tongues of flame. With such a devastating effect, one ship killed a fleet.
The Eastern Roman fleet had no power to fight back. Even if a few artillery responded, it would only make a few dents in the steel hull.
Woo——woo——
The roar became more and more rapid, and the armored ship began to accelerate, rushing directly towards the densest place of the Eastern Roman fleet.
The huge hull even created a whirlpool, leaving the opponent's ship with nowhere to escape.
Boom!
The Eastern Romans on board watched helplessly as the huge steel battleship crashed into them, smashing a medium-sized battleship into pieces like cutting into tofu.
Countless people fell into the sea wailing, and even more people didn't even have a chance to wailing...
The battle has reached this stage and has become a one-sided massacre.
The ironclad ships ran rampant and were simply unscrupulous.
Yes, unscrupulous, because people really have nothing to be afraid of.
Compared to what, artillery?
If you hit it, there will be a dent.
If someone hits you with a cannon, your ship will be gone!
Than armor?
Then there is no need to compare...
What else can we compare to, other than boating skills?
In the face of absolute strength, so-called technology is so ridiculous...
All-round crushing, yes, unscrupulous!
The sea has become a hell on earth. Wherever the ironclad ship passes, it brings only destruction.
------------------
------------------
The battle was over, and the Eastern Roman fleet was completely wiped out.
The Ming army began to clean up the battlefield. Jin Ying smiled happily and trotted forward to report the battle situation.
"Your Majesty, we have wiped out more than 3,000 enemies in this battle and captured 42 people."
Zhu Qizhen was not satisfied with the result and asked: "Why are there still prisoners?"
"Back to the emperor, all the enemy troops on the ship have been wiped out. As for the forty-two prisoners, they were captured by General Zhang."
"Zhang Mao?"
Zhu Qizhen hurriedly asked: "Where is the person? Let him come to see me quickly!"
"Yes!"
Jin Yingsu had no choice but to walk away. After a while, Zhang Mao stepped forward to meet him.
"I, Zhang Mao, come to see the Emperor!"
"Please get up!"
Zhu Qizhen raised his hand to indicate, and then asked: "Tell me, what is going on?"
Zhang Mao immediately scouted the opponent's base, took advantage of the foggy weather to make a surprise attack, and then was chased by the enemy ship. Finally, he was trapped on this five-person island. He said it all over again.
"I attacked rashly and almost missed my chance to fight. I... apologize!"
"What's the crime?"
Zhu Qizhen smiled and said: "I told you at the beginning that I asked you to be the vanguard, not to conduct reconnaissance. When it is time to attack, attack decisively and never hesitate."
"Yes..."
Zhang Mao felt even more uneasy when he saw that the emperor did not punish him.
If the armored ship arrived a few days later, I might have been trapped and died on the island.
Or maybe it was not the ironclads but other warships that came and were ambushed by Charlemagne's fleet. The outcome of this battle would be hard to say.
"I heard that you captured more than forty prisoners?"
Zhang Mao hurriedly replied: "Back to the emperor, one of them named Wells is an officer, and his status is not low. I think he must know the whereabouts of the ironclad ship blueprints!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Bring it here and let me take a look!"
Zhang Mao walked out and said hello, and then, Wells was kidnapped and escorted in.
"Kneel down!"
Zhang Mao kicked him from behind, and Wells fell to his knees involuntarily.
"You evil oriental devil, God will never forgive you!"
"Hey, I can also speak Chinese!"
Hearing this poor Chinese sentence, Zhu Qizhen immediately became happy, and then asked: "Tell me, what is your name and what is your position in the army?"
"Humph!"
Wells snorted and turned his head away, looking uncooperative.
Zhang Mao suddenly became angry, slapped him in the face, and turned his head away again.
"The Emperor is asking you something!"
"Your Majesty?"
There was a look of shock on Welsh's face, and he asked: "Are you the emperor of the Ming Dynasty?"
“Not bad, if it’s fake it will be replaced!”
"It's really... incredible..."
"What's so incredible?"
"Didn't the emperor of the Ming Dynasty stay in Zijin's castle? How could he go to sea to fight in person?"
Zhu Qizhen found it funny. This guy seemed to have a lot of research on the Ming Dynasty. However, the Forbidden City was not the Purple Gold City, and the emperor could also conquer it himself.
Especially saying goodbye without saying goodbye is really exciting!
"I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I am going to sea this time to get back what you have stolen. You should know what it is?"
"What?"
Wells shook his head, pretending not to know.
“You’re still pretending!”
Zhu Qizhen suddenly sank down and asked: "I'm here to ask you, the ironclad blueprints were stolen by that...Prussian, yes, that Prussian. Where are the blueprints now?"
"I..."
Wells shook his head and said, "I don't know!"
Zhu Qizhen was not that patient. He waved his hand and said: "Tug it out and chop it into pieces to feed the fish!"
"Yes!"
Zhang Mao grabbed Wells and walked out. This frightened Wells and he quickly shouted: "Wait a minute, wait a minute!"
In his expectation, since the Ming Emperor came here for the drawings, as the only remaining senior officer, he should be taken seriously.
Maybe we can use this as a bargaining chip in exchange for some conditions.
However, they don’t even think about it...
Zhang Mao gave him a hard blow, threw him to the ground, curled his lips and said, "Hurry up and say what you want to say, this is your last chance!"
Wales turned pale with fright and hurriedly said: "The drawings are in Ceylon!"
"Ceylon Island..."
Zhu Qizhen couldn't remember this place for a while. Jin Ying saw this and quickly opened the map.
Wales pointed to one of the large islands and said: "This is the island where our queen, Duke Dosia, is located."
Zhu Qizhen looked over and suddenly realized that it turned out to be the island of Sri Lanka in southern India.
"How many people are there on the island of Ceylon?"
"There are twenty-five thousand people, all of whom are the navy of the Eastern Roman Holy Empire."
Zhu Qizhen said disdainfully: "You can't even go back to your home after being beaten, what a god!"
Wells subconsciously wanted to refute, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.
What they say is true, what is there to refute...
Speaking of which, the Ottomans are really fierce. If it weren't for the underdeveloped navy, Queen Dosia wouldn't be able to escape.
I thought I would go to the East to accumulate strength, develop and grow, and wait for an opportunity to take back Constantinople. However, all my dreams collapsed at this moment!
Ironclad ships are too scary!
What’s even more terrifying is that someone actually made it!
On that small island, he could see clearly that the huge steel monster made a terrifying roar and easily destroyed a fleet.
At that moment, he felt extremely desperate.
It turns out those drawings are not fantasy. Just imagine, what would it look like if this ship was built by the Eastern Romans?
However, there is no if in reality...
God has not favored me, or... God is dead!
Zhu Qizhen thought for a moment, and then asked: "Jin Ying, were all the ships in the Eastern Roman Empire destroyed?"
Jin Ying replied: "There was a fierce battle just now and everything was destroyed. However, a small warship was found outside and a white flag was hoisted, so the artillery fire was not wasted."
When Wells heard this, he said: "That's the Flying Shark, a reconnaissance ship. It's very fast, but it's not equipped with artillery."
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "How many people can the Flying Shark carry?"
"If you are older than fifty, you can still sit down if you have more."
"That's good!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "You take the forty prisoners and take the Flying Shark back to Ceylon Island."
"What?"
Wells thought he heard wrongly and almost didn't believe his ears.
Not only him, Jin Ying and Zhang Mao also looked strange and puzzled.
Zhu Qizhen said disapprovingly: "Go back and tell your queen that she took my things, and now I want to get them back!"
Wells hesitated and said: "Are you really going to let us go?"
He even thought that the other party was playing a cat and mouse game and let him go. When he got on the boat, he suddenly opened fire and enjoyed the thrill of hunting...
Zhu Qizhen didn't want to continue talking nonsense with him, so he waved his hand and motioned to Zhang Mao to take him out.
Zhang Mao understood, picked up Wells and walked out.
"No...don't kill me..."
"Who wants to kill you? Didn't you hear the emperor say, let's go!"
"Ah? Really, really..."
"Stop talking nonsense and get out of here!"
Wells tremblingly got off the ship, gathered the other prisoners, and then everyone boarded the Flying Shark with expressions of horror and confusion.
This ship has a long and narrow hull and is very fast, making it suitable for reconnaissance.
Because of this, it is not equipped with artillery, just to maximize the speed.
The sails were raised and the Flying Shark set sail.
Under the huge shadow of the ironclad, slowly, it sailed towards the west.
Wales stood on the bow of the ship and looked behind cautiously. He was even ready to accept the baptism of gunfire at any time.
He would not be surprised at all if the armored ship suddenly opened fire.
However, as the distance became farther and farther, the long-awaited artillery was not fired.
Could it be...
Wales was confused, did the other party really let him go?
Why...
------------------
------------------
PS: I heard that there is an Easter egg stamp and you can post pictures. I don’t know how it will look when posted. Is there any update reminder? I will try posting it. It is roughly the prototype of the Zheng He ironclad ship in my mind.