The Star was guarding the gate, lying in front of the pirate fleet. Although the other party was disguised as a cargo ship, how could it be hidden from Zhang Yanling and others? Where could such a large merchant fleet come from in this sea area? Isn't that a deception?
Therefore, Zhang Yanling immediately issued the order to attack.
In the cabin, dozens of artillery roared loudly. The commanders kept issuing orders for concentrated fire and bombardment, and the gun surveyors kept issuing orders for firing adjustments. The gunners loaded the cannons, fired them, and fired in a busy and unhurried manner.
The method used to attack is to focus fire on an area to kill, which can effectively make up for the lack of shooting accuracy. Although it consumes some ammunition, this is not what the Armada considers. Although the hit rate is less than half, it is enough to cause damage to the opponent.
Huge damage. They were just some unarmored wooden sailing ships. A few cannonballs could cause these wooden sailing ships to catch fire, or the bombarded structures could break and the hulls could be shattered.
In just a short tea time, all three wooden sailing ships in front of the pirate fleet were hit. One ship disintegrated and sank immediately, and the other two caught fire, broke their hulls, and sank rapidly. The pirates on board were chattering.
He screamed loudly and jumped off the boat like a dumpling to escape.
Timothy is worthy of being a battle-experienced pirate leader. After a brief panic, he quickly understood the situation. He found that the opponent seemed to have only one ship. There was no trace of other ships around. Although the opponent's warship
The firepower is very fierce, but it is a bit too arrogant to dare to fight against the entire fleet with only one ship.
"Send the order, the fleet disperses. Outflank them left and right to avoid their shooting angle. The nearby ships fire back. Send the order to Black Dog Modi and let him lead the Yoga and Curry to approach from the side and prepare to seize the ship and board the ship for a close fight."
Timothy ordered in a deep voice.
Singer immediately ordered a semaphore on the flagship, and more than a dozen pirate ships responded quickly. The fleet was originally in a scattered formation, with five or six ships on each side beginning to rush in from the side to avoid the angle of the opponent's broadside fire.
Several pirate ships on the front also recovered from their fright, and the artillery on the ships began to aim at the Star and bombard it.
Timothy's flagship was equipped with five Franco cannons. At this moment, they were all aimed at the opponent. Under the cover of the ships in front, they rushed into the firing range. Timothy gave an order and all five cannons were fired, roaring.
Fire.
Although the opponent's ships are small and each can be equipped with a small number of artillery, they only have one target, so they can form a concentrated fire. The Star became the target of public criticism, and dozens of water columns rose into the sky from the sea around the ship.
Very appalling.
Under such circumstances, being hit was inevitable. During the second round of intensive bombardment by the opponent, violent fire and smoke erupted from the side of the bow of the Star and the middle section of the hull. Two shells hit the hull.
There was cheering on the pirate ship. The one on the bow was nothing more than a shell. Although the smoke and fire of the explosion were spectacular, it was not very powerful. But the one in the middle of the ship was an actual cannonball. For a ship
Generally speaking, the middle section of the hull is the fatal part and is the weakest point. The larger the ship, the more fragile it is. Once the hull is penetrated, the larger the ship, the greater the risk of breaking into two pieces.
It's not the power of the cannonballs, but the weight of the seawater that will crush and break the hull after the hull is penetrated. Therefore, pirates like to attack the hull position most when attacking enemy ships.
Timothy also breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that the battle was actually over. The opponent's warship must have been damaged, and maybe it was pouring water into it now. The opponent should be able to flee soon.
.
However, Timothy was soon disappointed. The Star remained motionless after taking two shots, and the cannons on its sides were still spraying flames intensively. The two pirate ships burst into flames under Timothy's eyes. The pirates were miserable.
They screamed and jumped into the sea. The sea was full of debris, debris and human heads floating and sinking.
"What's going on?" Timothy raised his telescope and observed. The distance was very close and he could see very clearly. There were no signs of breakage or penetration in the middle of the opponent's hull, but a piece was sunken and somewhat deformed.
That's all.
Timothy suddenly understood that it was iron armor. How could he have forgotten that the other party was an iron armored ship? An iron cannonball could not cause any damage to it. No wonder the other party dared to stop his fleet and launch an attack with just one ship. They were confident.
.
"Keep banging, keep banging!" Timothy yelled loudly, his head burning.
Although it may not be useful, it can at least cover the flanking pirate ships approaching the enemy ship for boarding battle. Even if it only attracts the opponent's attention, it would be good.
But soon, Timothy regretted it. The continuous bombardment of the flagship Ganges finally succeeded in attracting the attention of the Star. The gunners in the cabin of the Star received an order from the Duke of Guo, and launched an attack on the ship hiding in the river.
The pirate flagship behind the other ships launched a strike.
More than a dozen artillery pieces turned their heads in unison, aiming their muzzles at the pirate flagship Ganges. The command hand quickly measured various parameters such as distance and angle, and reported them loudly. The gunners quickly adjusted the elevation and declination angles to take aim. The loader quickly adjusted the elevation and declination angles.
They inserted the hot sub-cannon into the rear cavity, locked the bayonet, and checked the seal.
Timothy saw in the telescope that the muzzle of the gun was turning and pointed in his direction. He was so frightened that his scalp was numb and he realized the seriousness of the problem. He immediately ordered the ship to turn the rudder and rush towards the side of a pirate ship.
Dodge from side to side.
"Boom, boom, boom!" A series of fireworks went up from the side of the Star, and more than a dozen shells came instantly with a screaming sound. The big ship in front of the Ganges became the scapegoat, and was hit by five or six flowers in an instant.
The bomb. The entire ship hall was blown up, fireworks filled the deck, and the sails and a pile of branches disguised as cargo on the ship caught fire, turning into a sea of fire.
Timothy wiped the cold sweat from his head and shouted loudly: "Go south, go around the blind corner, go around the blind corner. Approach quickly and prepare to board the ship."
The battle started not long ago. The Star had successfully damaged and sunk seven pirate ships. It suffered a few shells, but the damage to the hull was not serious. There were only more than ten soldiers killed or injured. It can be said that it had the upper hand and achieved the ultimate victory.
Big results.
But in fact, the Star was already in danger. In the blind spot of the shelling on the north and south sides, more than ten pirate ships were approaching quickly. When the Star launched the bombardment on the Ganges, the other party's roundabout ships were already approaching less than five meters away.
A hundred steps away.
The Star can no longer fire on the spot and must evade maneuvers to avoid the enemy approaching. Because it is obvious that the opponent wants to approach the Star for a boarding battle or directly board the ship for a hand-to-hand fight.
Zhang Yanling was paying close attention to all this in the cabin, and of course he also saw the current situation.
"Send the order, turn the rudder 40 degrees to the left and move forward at full speed. Brother Chen, prepare for the boarding battle, the musketeers are ready, the bombardiers are ready, and the archers are ready." Zhang Yanling ordered in a deep voice.
Chen Shiyi loudly agreed and ran away.
"I'll go too." Tan Changshun said.
Zhang Yanling glanced at him and said with a smile: "Just stay here. If something happens to you, your mother and I can't explain it to you."
Tan Changshun said: "We are all born and raised by our parents."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "Go. But be smart and careful."
Tan Changshun was overjoyed and rushed to the deck.
Catherine knew a little about sailing, and she couldn't help but be suspicious when she saw that the Etoile turned the rudder forty degrees to the south, not to escape, but to head straight towards the enemy ships that were circling south.
"Your Majesty Duke, shouldn't we retreat?"
Zhang Yanling smiled, put his arms around her waist, gave her a sip on her lips, and said softly: "Hold me tight for a moment, so as not to bruise this beautiful face. How can we retreat? I want to crush them.
.You'd better close your eyes, because the scene will be very bloody and violent."
The huge hull of the Star slowly turned half a circle, and the bow of the ship was aimed at several pirate ships that were approaching rapidly hundreds of steps away in the southwest direction. The ship's stern left a huge white arc-shaped track, and gushed out.
There were huge waves.
Three hundred steps away, on the deck of the pirate ship Yoga, the mast was already crawling with pirates. They were holding long rope hooks and wooden poles with iron hooks, and had weird-shaped gurls stuck in their waists.
The scimitar is like a group of hyenas waiting for prey, ready to attack at any time.
Boarding battles and boarding battles are their best combat methods. Once they get close to an enemy ship, hooks and long poles will firmly lock the opponent's ship. A large number of pirates on the mast will use hooks and hooks to hook the opponent's mast and sails.
Then he roared along the rope, landed on the enemy ship, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
These methods were their special skills before traveling across the ocean. Boarding operations meant bloodthirsty massacres, and each of them became extremely excited because of their bloodthirsty.
On the foremast beam, a pirate leader with a white beard and dark skin stood there with eyes wide open, the hook rope in his hand spinning and whirring by his side.
This man's name is Modi, known as Black Dog Modi. He is the second-in-command of the Timothy Gang. Despite his kind-hearted appearance and gray beard, he looks like an immortal, but this man is cunning and vicious, with vicious methods. Many incredible things
He led his men to commit atrocities. He was loyal to Timothy, as loyal as a dog, so he was nicknamed Black Dog Modi.
At this moment, he was staring ahead with excitement on his face, waiting for the moment to board the ship and kill him. But when he saw the other party's ship turning around and rushing towards him, he was a little surprised. What was the other party doing? Did they dare to rush over at this moment? Did they dare to rush over at that moment?
Is it true that you are not afraid of anything?
Seeing the enemy ship rushing towards the Curry dozens of steps away from the side, Modi shouted: "Turn the rudder and speed up. They want to break out of our encirclement. Speed up and block them. And Curry
The boats ran parallel together, forcing them to turn around."
A small leader next to him said in astonishment: "Boss Modi, our boat is so small, we have to avoid it."
"Odin, you coward, do they still dare to collide? Although their ship is big, it can't withstand the collision. I don't believe they dare to do this. If they collide with the ship, they can't leave." Modi scolded disdainfully.
road.
Odin had no choice but to shut up, but he was worried in his heart. Black Dog Modi likes to take risks, always thinking that as long as he is more aggressive than the opponent, the other party will give way. But he is facing a huge warship, and he is still so aggressive.
Not good.
As they spoke, the distance between the two parties quickly approached. Two hundred steps, one hundred steps, fifty steps.
The huge square bow of the Star was already close at hand. The ferocious beast's head looked down at the two pirate ships with two glaring eyes, like looking at two ants.
"Turn the helm, turn the helm. They are really going to collide." Only at this moment did the black dog Modi feel the huge pressure and danger, and roared loudly.