The Flower of the Sea has a total length of 180 steps, a width of 52 steps, a cabin of 30%, a two-story building, a mainmast plus three auxiliary masts, and a mainsail that is 18 feet long and 9 feet wide.
Equipped with eighteen heavy Folan cannons, two giant crossbows on the deck, and ten light Folan cannons.
In terms of personnel, in addition to a total of fifty-eight oarsmen and helmsmen, and thirty sailors, there are also eighty gunners, sixty arquebusiers, and thirty archers. The remaining commanders and handymen Several.
This is a mobile castle on the sea. Regardless of its size or the personnel and firearms it is equipped with, it is a giant-level ship. Its length even exceeds the Ming Dynasty's armored ships.
As the flagship of the Eastern Fleet, this ship has the most elite firepower equipment and personnel. It is an extremely powerful force in both long-range attacks and close combat.
In comparison, although there is not much difference in the personnel and firepower equipment on the Yansui, and it is even better in terms of the ship's flexibility and sturdiness, it is far inferior in terms of overall troop strength and firearms equipment.
There were only 30 bird cannons on the Yansui, which Zhang Yanling equipped them with in order to ensure their firepower output and prevent hand-to-hand combat. The entire Ming Dynasty Invincible Fleet only had 500 bird cannons, and they were damaged all the way. Yes, quite a few have been lost. Zhang Yin's Liaoyuan is also equipped with fifty.
At the end of the day, the Armada currently only has more than 300 muskets available. Zhang Yanling brought 200 muskets for this raid, which are necessary firearms. The rest are distributed among the many ships.
Liutan's Yansui has thirty ships assigned to it by Zhang Yanling who attaches great importance to their mission.
There were only about 150 Ming soldiers and horses on the Yansui, which was nearly half the number of soldiers and horses on the Ocean Flower.
If it is just a violent collision, it does not matter the difference between the soldiers and horses. It depends on the courage to die together. But the boarding battle is equivalent to hand-to-hand combat between the two sides. They are more than 20 steps apart, and the power of blunderbuss and muskets is not too great. The only difference is that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have Jin Gua Lei. However, the number is limited, and there are only a hundred Jin Gua Lei on the entire ship.
After a long period of fighting, the Ming Armada's military supplies were already in extremely short supply. There was only one replenishment in the process, but that time the Kunpeng mainly transported supplies for ship repairs and did not replenish combat supplies. to make up for it completely.
Liu Tan originally thought that the Flower of the Sea was just an ordinary flagship, but he did not expect that it was the flagship of the Eastern Fleet with extremely powerful personnel and firepower.
Soon, the Ming soldiers on Liutan and Yansui felt the terror of being suppressed by the opponent's firepower.
The close-range shooting of sixty musketeers, coupled with the bombardment of archers, deck crossbows, and light Folang machine guns. All kinds of blows came like raindrops, suppressing the Ming soldiers on the Yansui. Don't start.
The Jin Gua Lei had a certain counterattack effect. After several rounds of Jin Gua Lei were thrown at it, many enemies were killed and the facilities on the opponent's ship were damaged. However, it did not have decisive consequences.
Firearms and bows and arrows from both sides continued to fire at each other, and the number of casualties on both ships soared rapidly. In all the previous naval battles, such a cruel close combat had never happened.
Liu Tan felt a little regretful in his heart. Perhaps his decision was wrong, and now he hit the wall. When he discovered that this ship was probably Alfonso's flagship, he had the idea of capturing Alfonso. It was this
My thoughts put me in this predicament. I should have
Implementing the previous idea, it is better to rush into the enemy ship formation and disrupt the opponent. For example, if the collision fails, simply rush south. Not far away, there are several enemy ships on the south sea. Those are obviously
Some medium-sized warships can deal with them easily.
But in this situation, it seems that we are in a dilemma. Should we take the initiative to cut the cable and escape? I feel really unwilling. How is that different from escaping? There is no such precedent for the Ming Dynasty Armada.
But if it continues like this, it will be doomed. Not only will there be a lot of casualties, but the ships will also catch fire in many places, and the surrounding enemy ships are also gathering around to join the battle. That is a dead end.
Liu Tan thought quickly in his mind. He thought: What would he do if it were the Duke of Guo in this situation? Is there any trick he could use? He didn't know, but one thing was for sure, the Duke of Guo
I won't be as helpless as I am.
While Liu Dam was in a state of anxiety, the French soldiers and horses on the Flower of the Sea were also under tremendous pressure.
Alfonso had already hid on the side of the cabin on the other side of the deck. Seeing the explosions and fires rising on the deck, the fires that kept igniting, and the soldiers who were being shot and killed, Alfonso was also horrified and speechless.
He has never experienced such a battle in his life. Although he was born in the military and has experienced battles before, this is the first time he has experienced a battle of this level. Horseback riding, long-distance musket shooting, etc. are so difficult to deal with now.
Before the battle, everything is childish. This is a real battle, a life-threatening battle. You may die at any moment.
Alfonso didn't want to die, but he knew that if he didn't get out of the battle quickly, the fire on the Flora of the Sea would spread, and he would be unable to escape even if he wanted to. The other party was obviously prepared to die.
But I'm not ready yet.
In this showdown between willpower and courage, Alfonso felt fear before Liu Dam, and made the decision to retreat in advance. Although as long as he gritted his teeth and persisted even for a cup of tea, the other party might be the first to
collapsed.
"Cut...cut the cable, cut the cable at all costs, get out of the fight. Get out of the fight. Damn it, these are a bunch of desperadoes. I don't want to die with them yet. We have to leave," Alfonso yelled.
.
The order was conveyed, and a group of French soldiers rushed to the starboard stern with large axes and shields under cover of fire. After more than ten people were shot and killed, they finally succeeded in cutting off all the cables.
The moment the last cable fell off, the hulls of the two warships shook at the same time, as if they let out a moan of joy. The two ships regained their ability to move at the same time.
Breaking free from the shackles of the cable, the Ocean Flower quickly broke away to the north.
Liu Tan was a person who knew current affairs. He had actually figured it out not long ago and had to withdraw from the battle quickly. The Yansui had been seriously injured and it was not suitable to fight anymore. He could not risk the lives of all his brothers. The opponent's actions happened to give
How could he not seize this opportunity when he was already at a lower level than himself.
"Turn the rudder to the east and get out of the battle." Liu Tan shouted.
The Yansui began to move, but they soon discovered that three side propellers were damaged, leaving only one pair of propellers available. The maneuverability of the Yansui was greatly reduced. The Yansui was like a lame man with a broken leg.
, took the ship full of fire and left towards the east sea.
The two large ships, which had been in close contact not long ago, were now covered in bruises and fled from each other without looking back. The two ships were scarred and on fire everywhere. The soldiers on the ship were busy extinguishing the flames and ensuring safety, but their tacit understanding was useless.
Artillery bombarded the opponent.
The Flower of the Sea quickly changed course to the southwest, and the soldiers on the ship were busy putting out the fire with water hoses. The deck was full of holes and flesh. The ship's hall was half down, and it was in a mess.
Alfonso collapsed on a chair and let out a long breath. Through the large hole behind the damaged cabin, he could see the enemy ship burning and fleeing toward the northeast.
"Send the order, chase them, don't let them escape. These bastards almost destroyed me. They must be sunk." Alfonso suddenly jumped up and shouted.
The three enemy ships began to pursue. In fact, they had already begun to pursue. Artillery fire sounded continuously, bombarding the Yansui, which was sailing north not far away.
In normal times, if the Yansui was sailing at full speed, they would never catch up. But now, only one oar on one side is intact. The Yansui's speed is very slow, and the opponent is pursuing closer and closer. Shells are falling around,
Huge waves arose on the sea, and the Yansui creaked and trudged northward like a rusty old machine that might fall apart at any time.
"General Liu, it seems we can't escape." A lieutenant general covered in blood sighed.
"I'm sorry, Liu is incompetent, so tired brothers." Liu Tan said in a deep voice.
"General Liu, don't say that. The enemy is too powerful. We have tried our best. If it weren't for General Feng..."
"Don't blame General Feng. He has proven himself with his life. You can't blame him. Lieutenant General Li, give the order to move to the middle of the west channel. Even if it sinks, it must sink on the channel, block a channel, and let Buddha
The Langji people will not pass so easily." Liu Tan said solemnly.
The deputy general was stunned for a moment, gritted his teeth, nodded in agreement, and went to deliver the order.
Liu Tan was silent for a moment, stood up, and walked slowly out of the ship's hall to the deck. The soldiers on the deck had stopped fighting the fire, and they all realized that the Yansui could not escape.
There was continuous artillery fire all around, and water columns rose into the sky. Liu Tan and dozens of soldiers on the deck stood silently, ignoring all the artillery fire.
Suddenly, red fireworks bombs rose from the dark sea in the north, and several fireworks bombs were as dazzling as lighthouses in the darkness.
"What is that?" Liu Tan said in shock.
"I don't know. However, those are the fireworks bombs used by our Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses. Three fireworks bombs are the signal to attack. Could it be that our reinforcements are coming?" The deputy general beside him shouted in surprise.
"Reinforcements? Where do we have reinforcements? If there are reinforcements, they come from the south, so how can they be in the north? Could it be the Duke of the State and the others are here?" Liu Tan said hurriedly.
As he spoke, fireworks continued to rise on the sea in the north, covering a large area of the sea and forming a straight line several miles long. It seemed as if a large number of ships were coming here.
Liu Tan's eyes widened in shock and confusion.
At the same time, he heard someone beside him shout happily: "General Liu, the enemy ship has turned around."