On March 21st, on the Osaka Castle Castle Tower, Zhong Feng and his captains looked at the Seto Inland Sea in the distance with telescopes, and nervously watched the naval battle offshore.
Zhong Feng arrived in Osaka from North Korea ten days ago. Because the Tokugawa shogunate joined the battle group to attack Osaka Castle, Li Zhi urgently ordered Zhong Feng to lead 20,000 tiger soldiers stationed in North Korea to support North Korea. Zhong Feng led 20,000 people from Seoul
We boarded the ship and arrived in Osaka in a few days.
The shogunate troops outside Osaka Castle did not attack Zhong Feng, but allowed Zhong Feng to successfully land and enter Osaka Castle.
At first, Zhong Feng thought that this trip was going very smoothly, and that Osaka Castle seemed to be able to be defended. But today, Zhong Feng realized that he had fallen into the trap of the Hongyi and the Japanese.
The shogunate army outside Osaka and the Dutch on the sea deliberately let 20,000 tiger soldiers enter Osaka Castle.
After these days of attack and defense, the defenders in Osaka City have figured out that the shogunate army has about 40,000 Mini rifles and 300 long cannons purchased from the Dutch.
Artillery is not a big problem. There are 150 long cannons in Osaka Castle, which are enough to fire against the shogunate artillery in the field behind the city wall without falling behind. What really trapped Osaka Castle was the 40,000 Mini rifles.
Japan has just ended the Warring States Period, and the martial arts culture is still strong. There are a large number of "iron cannon" craftsmen in various feudal towns. In Japan, the number of iron cannons is tens of thousands. The Dutch taught the Japanese how to make Mini rifles.
After the war, it took one year for the Tokugawa shogunate to produce 40,000 new rifles.
Among them, 20,000 are sniper rifles with scopes.
In addition to 40,000 "rifleman" equipped with Mini rifles, the Tokugawa shogunate also dispatched 20,000 cavalry, 20,000 ordinary iron gunners, 25,000 ashigaru and 5,000 Hatamoto samurai, a total of 110,000 people.
These 110,000 people learned the tactics of Jiangbei Army and Huben Army and dug trenches outside Osaka City to besiege Osaka City. As soon as Zhong Feng entered Osaka City, he found that he could not get out. Whether it was a competition of firepower or hand-to-hand combat ability, outsiders
The 110,000 shogunate troops were stronger than the 25,000 men in Osaka Castle.
Zhong Feng didn't think he could defeat these 110,000 people. The only way was to defend the city.
There is not much food stored in the city. The original food stock was used to support the 5,000 permanent garrison, which could sustain the garrison for more than two years. But after the sudden increase of 20,000 horses, the food stock could only support half a year.
If the shogunate army still does not relieve the siege after half a year, Osaka Castle will have no choice but to surrender.
The only reinforcements can only come from the sea. Just yesterday, the officers in Osaka Castle were very optimistic. Everyone believed that the prince's navy would defeat Japan's backward navy and transport a steady stream of reinforcements to Osaka Castle.
But today, the officers standing on the castle tower began to doubt whether the navy could dock at Osaka Castle.
Because Hongyi's fleet appeared and blocked the port of Osaka Castle in the Seto Inland Sea.
Not only did the Red Barbarians join the battle, but the British fleet with the red cross flag on a white background also joined the battle group. At this time, on the offshore sea, thirty-nine European warships were lined up in a line with the twelve ships sent by the prince.
Ironclad battle.
Huang Daoguang, the regiment leader under Zhong Feng, was a little nervous and said: "Commander, the armored ship is covered with iron armor, so it will definitely have an advantage in artillery battles, right?"
Zhong Feng frowned and said nothing.
Jiang Chong touched his chin and said: "That's not necessarily true. Hongmao's naval gun is so big, and the iron armor of the armored ship is only three centimeters thick, so it may not be able to defend against it."
After a pause, Jiang Chong added: "Besides, Hong Mao seems to be confident in stopping the prince's armored ship when he lets us in."
As everyone talked, they became more and more worried. Everyone nervously held up their telescopes and looked at the artillery battle on the sea.
Li Zhi's ironclad ship had better maneuverability than the sail battleship, took the initiative in the artillery battle, and took the lead in firing at the Anglo-Dutch fleet.
The distance between the two fleets was about one mile. The twelve ironclads lined up in a straight line and opened fire on the Europeans with one hundred and eighty eighteen-pound guns on their sides.
Amidst the huge roar, the shells roared towards the battleship. The distance was very close, and many shells hit the battleship.
Huang Daoguang roared excitedly: "Hit!"
If the shells are fired into the hull of a battleship, they can cause considerable damage. Even a battleship will lose its combat capability if it is shot into the belly by more than a dozen shells.
However, after a few seconds, the explosion that everyone expected did not sound.
The distance was too far, and the officers could not see what happened after the shell hit the battleship, and everyone was a little confused.
Jiang Chong gritted his teeth and said, "I'm afraid the explosive bomb failed to break through Hongmao's hull and fell into the water."
Everyone was very disappointed when they heard this.
In fact, the hull, or armor, of European battleships is very thick. Take the fourth-class battleship York built by Britain in 1641 as an example. The thickness of its hull near the waterline reaches fourteen inches, which is thirty-seven inches.
Centimeters. According to the experience of the ironclad era, a nine-inch oak or teak hull is equivalent to one inch of wrought iron armor.
In other words, although the battleships of the Anglo-Dutch Combined Fleet did not have iron armor, the protective power of the armor was similar to that of Li Zhi's iron armor, or even stronger.
Such a hardwood hull of several dozen centimeters cannot be penetrated by an 18-pound smoothbore gun.
Soon, in the telescope, thirty-nine battleships of the Anglo-Dutch fleet fired back.
A louder rumbling than before exploded on the sea, resounding like a rolling thunder. Pieces of black smoke about the same size as the battleships emerged from the sides of the thirty-nine battleships, and more than 700 artillery shells were fired like
A heavy rain hit the ironclad ship.
Probably more than sixty shells hit the ironclad.
The British battleships were equipped with artillery calibers of different calibers. Generally, they were equipped with small nine-pound cannons on the upper deck. The guns were heavier as they went lower. The cannons on the bottom deck weighed 48 pounds or even higher. The Dutch had a different strategy.
They have fewer artillery, but heavy artillery is used in large quantities. Battleships are almost entirely equipped with heavy artillery of 32 pounds or more.
Sixty rounds of various artillery shells hit the armored ship, causing various damages.
Of course, some small cannons had no effect on the one-inch-thick iron armor and were bounced away by the armor. However, some heavy cannons made serious dents in the iron armor. Those dents were often more than one meter wide, which shows that they would also cause huge damage to the hull underneath the armor.
Damage, I don’t know how much sawdust will be caused.
Seven or eight more shells penetrated the armor and entered the interior of the armored ship.
Fortunately, these shells are solid bullets, and the damage caused can be tolerated.
Holding the telescope, Zhong Feng shook his head.
It seems that the Dutch's confidence is justified. The combat power of these thirty-nine battleships is higher than that of twelve ironclads.
Fortunately, the prince did not send out unarmored steamers to fight, otherwise several ships might have been sunk in the previous round of shooting.
After a round of firing, the twelve ironclads found themselves at a disadvantage and no longer wanted to fight. They turned on the propellers and retreated. The ironclads traveled much faster than the battleships, so they could advance and retreat freely.
Seeing the retreat of his own fleet, Huang Daoguang said nervously: "Oops, we are completely isolated in Osaka! Hong Mao and the Japanese want to eat 25,000 of us in Osaka and then attack North Korea."
The officers looked at each other for a while, with some uneasiness in their eyes.
Zhong Feng took a breath and said: "Don't panic, we have enough food for half a year, the prince will definitely find a way."
