Second Officer Wu Erbao came up and said: "Captain, this is the fleet of Li Zhi, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty. They have been transporting farmers to the colonies in the north of Formosa. Their ships are full of farmers and have no sailors, so they cannot engage in battle, so
They can only aim their cannons at us and try to determine the outcome in an artillery battle."
First mate Caron said: "Yes! There were only farmers and no sailors on their ship. We rushed to engage the ship and captured their ship! Study why their ship does not need sails!"
Forreston nodded.
Although more than 300 people were killed by Zheng Hui when he attacked Hsinchu in January, Forreston had made great achievements in plundering in western Formosa in the past few months. The headquarters of the United East India Company in Batavia was very hostile to Ford.
Reston attached great importance to it, and in March he replenished Forreston's manpower. The headquarters gave him 300 high-morale Dutch sailors and 200 strong Javanese sailors.
There were now 1,200 sailors on Forreston's nine ships. If they were to engage in a broadside battle with a Ming ship carrying only farmers, Forreston believed that he would be able to win.
As for Li Zhi's cannon, Forreston didn't take it too seriously. Although the warships of this era were equipped with a large number of artillery, the decisive factor was often gang fighting. I believe that before his fleet joins gangs to fight,
The enemy's artillery could only punch a few holes in the ships of the Combined Fleet.
"Send the order! All ships rush towards the enemy fleet and strive for a boarding battle!"
The messenger hung colorful flags on the mast of the flagship and conveyed Forreston's order to the other eight battleships through semaphores. The nine battleships were fully loaded with sails and aimed at Li Zhi in the front row.
Eight gunboats were ready to charge forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Taking advantage of the south wind, the Dutch ship sailed very fast, at least seven or eight knots. A Galen ship with 18 guns rushed at the front, rushing directly towards Li Zhi's flagship Nova.
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Li Zhi's eight gunboats loaded up their ammunition and prepared to fire.
The gunners used a medicine spoon to grab a handful of propellant in the gunpowder barrel and poured the propellant into the gun chamber. Then the gunners used wood to pound the gunpowder, put in the blooming projectiles, and then pounded the gun again; after completing the loading, the gunners put the gun into the barrel.
The gun is pushed out of the cannon hole, and the gunner pours a small amount of gunpowder into the fire door at the rear end of the cannon as percussion powder.
Nine Dutch sailing ships rushed over in a line, with the distance between each ship being no more than a hundred meters. The Galen ship at the front was three miles, two miles, and one mile away from the Nova. Li Zhi's Nova opened fire.
The gunners adjusted the muzzle of the cannon to aim at the overcoming Galen ship, suddenly pulled the flint trigger, and used flint to ignite the black powder on the fire door. The sparks instantly spread into the bottom of the cannon, igniting the black powder inside.
Gunpowder and black gunpowder exploded with a bang, turned into flames and smoke, and shot out the sixteen-pound cannonball.
The nine cannons on the port side of the Nova fired one after another from front to back. Black smoke immediately exploded on the port side, like black flowers. The whole ship shook again and again, moving towards
Pressing it again and again on the right side, a row of waves was created on the sea.
Not only did the Nova open fire, but the three ships next to the Nova also opened fire at the same time. The roar of artillery fire was deafening.
Thirty-six shells roared towards the Dutch Galen ship. Two shells hit the Galen ship and smashed into the bow of the Galen ship.
Two shells were fired into the bow of the ship. One shot into the third deck and broke through the two inner partitions of the ship. The other shot into the second gun deck and hit a twenty-four-pounder.
The body stopped.
The mood of the Dutch is very stable. After all, these Dutch people have never seen Li Zhi's explosive shells. According to the power of solid bullets in this era, even if it is hit by more than a dozen shells, the Galen ship will still sprint without any damage. At most,
That is, the iron cannonballs that rushed into the ship killed several sailors, or the flying wooden pieces brought out when the cannonballs smashed through the ship's planks stabbed several sailors to death.
But the development of things shocked the Dutch people.
After being blocked by obstacles, the two shells exploded in the middle of Galen's ship. Huge shock waves burst out on the second and third decks of the ship respectively. The third deck was okay, it was the rest of the sailors.
There was no one in the area at this time. The explosive shells that fell on the second deck set off an iron-blooded storm. Countless iron pellets shot out from the shells and shot into the bodies of dozens of gunners operating the artillery on the deck.
, their lives were taken away in an instant.
Not only that, the shock wave caused by the explosion of the shell blasted through the hull and deck. From the perspective of the Nova gunner, the shell exploded and scattered sawdust on the hull of the Galen ship, as if two flowers had bloomed, exploding on the hull.
Two huge holes three or four feet in size were opened.
Before the Dutch could react, the remaining four ships opened fire, and a second wave of thirty-six shells hit the Galen ship.
This time, three shells hit the target and entered the hull.
A horrific explosion erupted in the hull of the ship again. Sparks and iron pellets were like a storm, sweeping across the cabin, blowing up the second and third decks and killing who knows how many people inside.
One of the last shells to explode rolled into the lower deck along the large hole in the deck that exploded in the front, blowing open the bottom of the ship with a bang.
The seawater gushes out from the bottom of the ship like a fountain, quickly swallowing the entire Galen ship. The sailors on the Galen ship panicked. If the bottom of the ship leaks, the ship will sink. They were all standing on the top deck.
They were preparing to engage in a broadside battle. At this time, one by one they dropped their weapons and rushed to the bottom deck, using wooden planks to block the gushing water.
On the Dutch flagship, Captain Foreston looked at the Galen ship at the front in surprise, his mouth wide open and speechless. After a long time, he stammered: "Oh my god, the Ming Dynasty is from the Ming Dynasty.
Will the shell explode?"
First mate Caron's face turned pale and he murmured: "My Lord, I have never seen such a shell."
Second Officer Würburg had lost the confidence to continue fighting and said: "Captain, Akito's cannonballs will explode. If our ship rushes up like this, it will be sunk by the cannonballs!"
Forreston said coquettishly: "Then what should I do if the artillery can't fire even more and they can only escape?"
"But Li Zhi's boat is faster than ours."
Forreston felt a little weak, holding on to the side of the boat, his face getting paler.
On the Galen ship at the front, dozens of sailors worked desperately to plug the water with wooden boards and seal the hole with nails. It took several minutes to finally seal the big hole in the bottom of the ship.
But the bad luck has just begun.
The Nova led eight gunboats to quickly turn around using their paddle wheels and stern rudders, and headed north. The surging power brought by the steam engines acted on the paddle wheels, allowing the eight ships to drive faster than the Dutch with the wind. Eight
The ship moved some distance away, turned around, and fired at the Dutch with its starboard cannon. (To be continued.)
