Chapter eight hundred and eighty first grab the T word
Neither Gascoigne nor Adalbert could understand how Li Zhi built twenty-eight ironclads in three months.
The ironclad ship rushed towards Gascoigne's Swordfish at high speed. Although Li Zhi's fleet had no sails, it was faster than the sailboat, with a speed of at least ten knots. Gascoigne looked at the ironclad fleet with a telescope, shook his head and said
: "God, this is the fastest battleship I have ever seen."
Adalbert's body shook inexplicably, and he didn't even know why he was so scared.
Suppressing his fear with a strong composure, Adelbert said loudly: "Don't worry, everyone, Li Zhi's naval guns can't penetrate our hull at all! The last battle has proved this!"
Gascoigne looked at Adalbert and swallowed.
What Adalbert said makes sense. But if Li Zhi had no ability to penetrate the armor of the British and Dutch battleships, why would he send ironclad ships up? Is there something wrong with Li Zhi's brain?
God bless Britain, may Li Zhi just struggle to his death! What Adalbert said was right!
At this time, the war was about to begin. All thirty-nine warships of the Anglo-Dutch Combined Fleet entered combat mode and began to fight according to the flag of the flagship "Swordfish".
The semaphores can still work now, but they won't be needed later. In such a large-scale battleship battle, the fleets are often more than ten miles in front and back. You can still see the semaphores at the beginning, but when the battle actually begins, the ships of both sides are intertwined, and the field of vision is blurred.
will be obscured by enemy ships. In a real battle, the captain of each warship can only rely on his own experience to complete the command. Sometimes the entire fleet will be in chaos and it will be a complete melee.
The battle had begun, and the British captain Gascoigne could no longer return to his flagship, the Royal George. He could only watch the battle on the Dutch ship.
Skilled Dutch sailors climbed up the mast on hands and knees and lowered the huge soft sail with shouts. Thirty-nine battleships sailed in the Seto Inland Sea and formed a battle line towards the rushing ironclad fleet.
Adalbert used a telescope to observe the battleships in front and behind him, and took a breath of satisfaction.
"Sir Gascoigne, don't worry. Now we are in the upper hand and have set up a perfect battle line. Li Zhi's fleet is at leeward. This is a perfect T-shape. The yellow people who rush up like this will be defeated.
To the head-on bombardment of our battleships."
"Obviously they haven't learned enough lessons in the last battle. It's time for the yellow people to see our European naval warfare technology!"
Gascoigne looked at the orderly fleet, and his racing heart steadied a little. Adelbert was right. The Anglo-Dutch fleet had well-trained sailors, larger artillery and long-term naval battles.
Tactical strategy. In any case, Gascoigne should not be afraid of the yellow people in the Far East.
Gascoigne touched his heart and whispered: "God bless Britain."
The distance was getting closer and closer, ten miles, seven miles, four miles. The gunners of the Anglo-Dutch Combined Fleet had completed the artillery loading and aimed more than 700 broadside artillery pieces at the approaching fleet of ironclads.
Seeing Li Zhi's fleet gradually entering the lee of the British and Dutch fleet, Adalbert laughed.
"Lord Gascoigne, look at Li Zhi's fleet and look at these stupid yellow people. They actually rushed straight towards our battle line. In a few minutes, thirty people on our battle line will
The nine battleships will take turns bombarding the ironclads in their front row."
Gascoigne perked up after hearing Adelbert's words. If Li Zhi's fleet continued to charge in a straight line like this, then the laterally moving Anglo-Dutch fleet would move one by one to the upwind of the ironclad, using its broadsides to
The cannons hit the yellow warships hard.
Gascoigne felt that victory or defeat was decided at this moment, and his heart began to beat wildly uncontrollably.
The European sailors on all thirty-nine battleships stared at the approaching ironclads with wide eyes to see if the yellow steel ships would fall into their own traps.
Forty armored ships cut through the waves.
On the flagship Tianjin, fleet commander Lu Hu looked at the battle line laid out by the Europeans and smiled contemptuously.
Shi Dingping, commander of the First Squadron, laughed and said: "Commander, the Europeans have indeed been fooled. They really thought that we would attack their battle line with a long snake formation, but they actually formed such a long line."
"Now the European warships are in a line, more than ten miles apart from end to end. If we go around in front of them, the ships behind them will not be able to enter the battle at all."
Lu Hu laughed loudly, patted Shi Dingping on the shoulder, and said: "Shi Dingping, your strategy is good this time. If you can win this battle, I will definitely repay you!"
Shi Dingping's face lit up with joy and he said with a smile: "It's all thanks to the commander's promotion!"
Lu Hu said loudly: "Start turning the helm and go around to the southernmost end of the European battle line!"
Shi Dingping shouted the order and waved his hand to give the order to the first mate. The first mate ran to the flagpole on the ship and conveyed the order to the flag commander.
The semaphore was hung up.
The armored captain's snake formation suddenly turned to the right four miles in front of the British and Dutch fleet's battle line, completed a ninety-degree turn on the sea, and all circled towards the southernmost part of the British and Dutch fleet.
The British and Dutch fleets were now in a long line, and the speed and maneuverability of the European battleships were far inferior to those of the ironclads. As Lu Hu circled around like this, he saw that the ironclads were about to get rid of the battleships in the north and round up the battleships in the south of the European formation.
surrounded by shapes.
When Adalbert and Gascoigne on the Swordfish saw Lu Hu's actions, their faces turned pale with shock.
The yellow people want to outflank their southern flank.
They underestimated the yellow race. The yellow race not only understood the battle lines, but also knew how to deal with the European battle lines.
At this time, the south wind was blowing on the sea, and Adelbert's thirty-nine battleships were heading south against the wind. Their speed was only five or six knots at most, which was half of the ironclads. Previously, Adelbert had stretched the formation too far.
At this time, the ironclads rushed to the south to attack the battleships in the front row. The battleships behind them could not catch up with the speed of the ironclads.
Gascoigne seemed to have seen the end of the war and was a little unsteady on his feet. He held on to the wooden railing above the poop and kept wiping the sweat from his head. He didn't know whether it was cold sweat or hot sweat.
Adelbert roared in victory: "The battleships in the front row turned around, and the battleships in the rear row caught up at full speed!"
However, it was too late by now.
Soon, the war turned into forty ironclads besieging the three battleships at the southernmost end of the European battle line in the south.
Li Zhi's fleet struck later and grabbed the T-shaped position without mercy.
This is completely the dominance of steamships over wooden sailing ships by using their maneuverability. This is the crushing of the technology of the 19th century over the technology of the 17th century.
Six hundred twenty-four-pound rifled guns were pushed out of their emplacements, and lead-cased, steel-cored shells were loaded into the bores of the new artillery. The gunners skillfully completed a series of actions, aiming the muzzles of the guns and heading north desperately.
Three battleships facing retreat.
Lu Hu had a smile on his face and raised his right hand high.
He waved his hand downwards violently.
The chief mate standing at the deck hatch shouted loudly to the artillerymen on the gun deck:
