The Star was the last one to rush out of the smoke screen. Of course, it was not because Zhang Yanling was afraid of death, but according to the tactical arrangement, when the other six armored warships rushed into the enemy's formation and disrupted the enemy warships, the Star would be undisturbed.
Launch an attack on the enemy flagship HMS Flower of the Sea hiding in the rear.
As the saying goes, capture the thief first and capture the king first. In this kind of battle with huge disparity in strength, there is no more effective way to defeat the opponent than to take the head of the general from among the thousands of troops. If Amelda's flagship is shot,
Shen, the Eastern Fleet of the Franji Kingdom is leaderless and will inevitably be defeated.
Otherwise, if the melee continues like this, even if we can sink and damage many of the opponent's warships, we may not be able to save our own armored ships. After all, the number of the opponent's warships is as high as more than thirty. They are not just made up of paper.
Therefore, after the battle started, Zhang Yanling was not distracted and ordered the Star to rush towards the Flower of the Sea, which was two miles away. The ship was easily identifiable, flying the flag of the French Republic with a white diamond pattern on a red background.
The Xingchen didn't even pass by the area where the Yansui was besieged to rescue the Yansui, leaving the Yansui trapped in a deadly battle. Zhang Yanling just glanced at it and never took another look.
Dozens of soldiers were sweating profusely and flying with their oars. The Star was moving at extremely high speeds. In a short time, it had escaped from the chaotic battlefield around it and arrived at the sea a few miles east of the Ocean Flower.
The other party has obviously discovered its intention. Several French ships on the left turned around and started to catch up, while the two escort ships 'Warrior' and 'Loyalty' next to the Flower of the Sea also cut diagonally into the channel from both sides, intending to
block.
The flagship of the Ocean Flower also turned its hull slightly in accordance with Almeida's order, and its side Franco cannons began to fire at the Etoile.
The shells roared in, and a series of explosions sounded near the Star. Water columns rose into the sky. The explosive air waves of the explosive shells were hot and powerful. Two explosive bombs exploded at the front of the deck. The explosive air waves shook ten people on the deck.
The flesh and blood were torn apart by several Ming navy soldiers.
The cables and a pile of wooden boxes at the front of the deck caught fire. Smoke and dust billowed. More than ten soldiers rocking the oars were affected, and their bodies were covered in blood from the debris of the explosion.
Fortunately, the deck of the Star was paved with thin iron plates, and the power of the explosive shells was not enough to blast through the iron plates, leaving only some mottled dents.
"What are you doing for food? Is our cannon mute?" Chen Shi yelled and cursed.
"The angle is wrong, we can't hit the ship in front." the commanding hand shouted.
"Idiot, there are so many ships chasing you from the side and rear, why do you have to attack the front? I turned around and dismissed you from your post. It's so stupid." Chen Shi cursed.
The commander woke up from a dream. He was also focused on dealing with the Flower of the Sea, so he didn't even think of bombarding the chasing ships from behind. After all, the Duke of Guo had given an order to only watch the Flower of the Sea, regardless of other things.
vessel.
"Aim and attack on your own. Beside the enemy ship and fire whenever there is a shooting angle." The commanding officer ran around in the second-story artillery cabin and gave the order.
Boom boom boom!
The gunners, who had been dormant for a long time and could no longer stand it, immediately launched an attack. Although the angle was not good, they were still able to bombard the two enemy ships rushing towards the rear and side. A series of smoke rings and flames appeared from the side muzzles.
, two enemy ships that rushed to the rescue a few miles away were hit by intensive artillery fire. Amidst the roar, smoke and dust scattered on the deck, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.
Three explosive rounds and one solid round hit the deck of the Ares at the rear of the north side, directly opening a huge hole in the deck. The ship also started to catch fire. The mainmast and mainmast of the Virgin Mary were hit at the rear of the south side.
It broke and hit the ship's building. The commander and a group of people in the ship's building were frightened and fled in panic.
The artillery power of the flagship of the Ming Dynasty's Armada is extraordinary. The Star is equipped with a heavy bow gun, plus thirty Tiger Howling Cannons. Fifteen guns on each side of the ship, firing at the same time shows its power. The gunners on this ship are all carefully selected.
Careful selection, without excellent combat skills and loyalty, is not qualified to board the flagship. The combat effectiveness of the flagship is far above other warships, this is a fact. Because both the ship equipment and the personnel on it are the best.
Zhang Yanling stood in front of the command platform on the ship building, his eyes fixed on the flagship Ocean Flower ahead, calculating the approaching distance. The surrounding artillery fire roared, water columns rose into the sky, smoke, dust and fire filled the air, but Zhang Yanling stood upright and remained unmoved.
.
Tan Changshun, who was standing aside, looked frightened at first, but when he saw Zhang Yanling standing there with his back straight and his face as fearless as a mountain, he slowly straightened his back and no longer worried about the surroundings.
frightened by the artillery fire.
"Changshun, are you afraid?" Zhang Yanling looked at the situation ahead with a telescope and asked in a deep voice.
"No... afraid. I'm just a little uncomfortable with it." Tan Changshun said.
Zhang Yanling put down the telescope and looked at Tan Changshun with a smile and said: "Changshun, do you regret coming out with me? It turns out that you are not enjoying happiness, but you are about to lose your life all the time. Do you regret it?"
Tan Changshun said loudly: "I have no regrets. This kind of life is more exciting, much more exciting than farming and chopping firewood in my hometown. Living this kind of life for one day is more exciting than living it for a lifetime."
Zhang Yanling laughed loudly and said: "That's right. Life must be wonderful, otherwise there is no difference between living and dying. Even if you live a hundred years, you will always die. Why not indulge in life, do some great deeds, and do something great?"
It’s a great success. Otherwise, what’s the point of living? Is it a waste of food?”
Tan Changshun's dark, childish face showed a look of deep understanding.
Zhang Yanling said: "Changshun, I will teach you how to overcome fear. You can think of these artillery fires as the fireworks of the Lantern Festival and the sounds of these things as the New Year's firecrackers. On the battlefield, you must despise all dangers. The more you fear death, the more likely you are to die."
The more you do, God is like this. Whatever you want to do, He will try his best not to make it happen to you. You
If you really ignore all this, you will feel relieved. Besides, if this bombardment hits, you will die immediately, and there will be no pain. What are you afraid of? Isn’t the most feared way to die not to be tortured to death? What if we
If death is inevitable, I would rather be bombarded to death. Wouldn't it be better to go to the west without any awareness?"
Tan Changshun laughed when he heard what Zhang Yanling said was interesting. It turned out that his cousin-in-law was so open-minded. He was the Duke of the country and he was not afraid of death. What was he afraid of?
"Boom!" A violent explosion sounded on the left side of the ship's hall. It was a bomb that exploded in the air. The fragments and air waves shattered the window railings of the ship's hall on the left, and people in the ship's hall were sprayed with smoke, dust and sawdust.
One head and one face.
Tan Changshun rushed forward to protect Zhang Yanling's body. He was hit hard by wooden bars behind him.
After the smoke and dust dispersed, Zhang Yanling stood upright. Although he was a little embarrassed, his expression did not change. He was very satisfied with Tan Changshun's performance. When danger came, his first thought was to protect himself. This son is loyal and can be cultivated.
"Are you injured?" Zhang Yanling brushed off the dust on his body.
"It's okay, it just hit the door frame. It's nothing. I rolled down a cliff when I was chopping firewood at home, and I didn't care if I hit a rock." Tan Changsheng said.
Zhang Yanling nodded. He didn't even check Tan Changshun's wounds. On the battlefield, some actions were superfluous. Tan Changshun was definitely injured, but there was no need to make a fuss.
"Report to the Duke, two enemy ships ahead are intercepting them, please give the order. If you want to avoid them, you should rush forward." Chen Shiyi rushed into the command platform and shouted loudly.
"What do you think? Do our armored warships still have to avoid these broken ships of the Folangji? We will move forward at full speed and hit them." Zhang Yanling shouted.
Chen Shiyi made a loud promise and quickly rushed onto the deck. He personally joined the rowing of the oars. The Star broke through the water waves, raised its head high, and rushed forward like a ferocious beast.
Two enemy warships, the Warrior and the Loyalty, lie across the channel between the Star and the Flower of the Sea. Both warships are escort ships with larger tonnage than ordinary warships. They have strong
Hulls and powerful firepower. As the escort ships of the Flower of the Sea, their duty is to protect the flagship and their commander-in-chief.
They originally thought that after blocking the channel, the other party would definitely go around and would be unable to pass. Because even if the other party collided, it would be a lose-lose situation. That would actually complete the task of protecting the flagship. They were not worried about the other party's collision.
Not only that, when they saw the other side rushing over at high speed, the Warrior and the Loyalty crossed the hull of the ship and aimed their side guns at the opponent. The commanders of both ships believed that before the other side approached, their
The artillery fire will destroy the opponent halfway.
It doesn't take much, as long as each fires one round, the opponent's warship will disintegrate.
However, it was this decision that made them completely lose the possibility of blocking the Star.
The two escort ships launched an attack, and the flames and smoke from the porthole muzzles rang out repeatedly. This was a direct shot at close range, and the power of the shells was evident. They fired all solid shells because they wanted to sink the opponent's ship, so
Aiming at the position of the opponent's bow and hull.
Amidst the roar, the bow of the Star burst into violent flames. The square bow exploded. The majestic animal head exploded into pieces. Countless craters were blasted out of both sides of the ship by direct cannonballs.
However, the Xingchen did not sink. The damaged bow still split the waves and rushed towards the two escort ships. How could they have thought that the bow was the thickest armored part of the ironclad battleship. The Xingchen was the first ironclad ship, Xu Gao
Knowing that this was Zhang Yanling's flagship, during the manufacturing process, extremely expensive fine steel, which was used to make musket steel pipes, was specially used at the bow. Moreover, it was also thickened fine steel.
The Star is the first treasure ship. It is actually very bulky in terms of maneuverability and layout, and is far inferior to other battleships that have been built and continuously optimized. However, it has the thickest armor, the largest tonnage, and the heaviest weight. The keel
There are hundreds more than other ships. All of this makes the Star a heavy but safe fortress.
At this moment, the fortress played its due role. Even though the bow of the ship was hit by more than a dozen solid cannonballs, it was only deformed and did not break and flood. A round of bombardment could not penetrate the iron armor of its bow.
.
The next moment, the Star was like a dull knife with great weight, cutting hard into the waist of the Warrior escort ship. If the Warrior was not lying across the water, the collision would have only shattered its bow.
There was still room to escape. But unfortunately, the Warrior chose to cross the hull in order to fire its artillery. During the collision, amidst the screams and the terrifying and huge friction sound, the Warrior was like a piece of used tissue paper.