Fleet Commander Adalbert was giving orders, but the sailors of the Swordfish were all in shock, and no one responded to him.
Li Zhi's rifled gun cone-shaped shells are so shocking. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, who would have believed that an ironclad ship that could only be passively beaten three months ago and had no way to deal with the combined fleet would suddenly turn into a man-eating devil.
, easily destroying three expensive battleships with one shelling.
Three months ago, Li Zhi's round shells bounced into the water as soon as they hit the hull of the battleship. But now, the armor-piercing shells broke through the armor like tofu.
The contrast was so great, it was as if a village bully who had been domineering for a long time was suddenly knocked down by a thin villager. It was shocking.
In Europe, naval battles are commonplace. But in any naval battle, there has never been any artillery that can destroy the hull of a battleship so easily. In order to produce a hard battleship shell, Europeans will even spend more than ten years cultivating the toughest hulls.
As the oak grows, the trunk bends into a curvature like a ship's hull.
The Europeans who own battleships have always believed that they are the most powerful maritime armed forces in the world. However, today their illusions were easily torn apart by the rifled guns on the ironclads.
The sailors on the Swordfish were immersed in fear and panic, and they were all stunned.
If it is a miracle that Li Zhi transformed forty armored ships in three months, then the sudden emergence of armor-piercing shells that were far ahead of this era is a miracle more terrifying than a miracle.
This miracle was so shocking that no one responded to Adalbert's orders.
Why do yellow people have such powerful artillery? This is beyond the understanding of European sailors. If cannonballs can tear through battleship armor so easily, what is the difference between expensive battleships and ordinary merchant ships?
Some older sailors have even lost their fighting spirit. These Protestant believers clasped their hands and closed their eyes and chanted: "God bless the Republic of the United Provinces..."
"God bless the Republic of the United Provinces..."
The first mate on the ship was obviously frightened. He stood there with his right hand on his hips and his left hand tightly covering his heart, unable to react.
Adalbert angrily rushed to the first mate, grabbed his sleeves and shouted: "I said hang up the flag!"
The first mate was grabbed by his sleeve by the fleet commander. Only then did he regain some sense from the shock and fear. He trembled and said loudly: "Yes! Commander! Hang the flag!"
However, the first mate didn't know what flag to hoist. He thought for a long time and summoned the courage to ask: "Commander, escape or attack?"
Adalbert shouted angrily: "The entire fleet abandoned the battle line, moved closer at full speed, and fired at the enemy ships!"
The first mate then understood and ran towards the mainmast in panic.
The semaphore was hung up.
Except for the three battleships destroyed by the ironclads, the remaining thirty-six battleships moved towards the center at full speed. The Dutch already understood that their maneuverability was far inferior to the steam ironclads, and pulling out a long battle line would only be destroyed by the ironclads.
Defeat them one by one. Only by gathering together to defend the middle part can you have a chance to shoot at the armored ships.
However, how could the armored ship that had already grabbed the "T" let go of the fat so easily?
The forty armored ships pursued them without hesitation, bypassing two crippled and one sinking battleships, and pursued the four southernmost battleships of the Anglo-Dutch fleet.
Forty armored ships are like forty sharks chasing a school of sardines, extremely agile and fierce.
Finally, the four battleships that were targeted by the ironclads panicked. In the process of escaping, they shot at the ironclads that were surrounded from all directions.
More than a hundred smoothbore cannons fired shells and flew towards the ironclad ship.
The distance of seven to eight hundred meters is already the limit of the effective range of the cannon. Less than 10% of the shells hit the armor of the ironclad. Even less than 10% of the shells only hit half, that is, eight or nine heavy artillery shells.
Really hurt the armor.
Four shells penetrated the armor of the ironclad. However, the damage caused by the solid shells was extremely limited: one hit nothing and rolled to the other end of the hull and stopped. The other damaged a rifled gun.
, the rifled gun deflected and injured an artilleryman, but it was only a minor injury. One hit the unoccupied crew cabin. The last shell actually shot into the coal bunker of the ironclad ship, hitting the coal pile.
It shook out a black ash.
For a fleet of forty ships, the damage suffered was negligible.
Then the ironclads fired back.
Another six hundred armor-piercing shells were fired. Like bloodthirsty beasts, the shells plunged into the hull of the battleship, exploding into sparks one after another.
This time, the gunners of the rifled guns were more experienced, and most of them aimed at the waterline of the battleship. The explosion of the explosive shells directly broke the bottom hull of a battleship, and seawater poured in through the gun holes like a fountain.
The crew began to jump into the sea, and the battleship gradually sank below the sea surface.
The other three battleships were also severely damaged, and their interiors were blown to pieces. However, their sails were not damaged and they were still escaping to the north.
So after a minute, the ironclad's rifled guns opened fire again.
This time, the fierce artillery fire directly sank two scarred battleships. The last battleship that was not sunk by luck was also blown to pieces internally, completely losing its combat effectiveness.
In just a short time, the combined fleet of thirty-nine battleships had lost seven battleships and nearly one-fifth. The morale of the Europeans was dealt a fatal blow.
After sacrificing so many ships, the Dutch's front and rear battleships finally gathered together. The thirty-two battleships had no choice but to form a circular formation and gathered near the flagship Swordfish to face the pursuing ironclads.
Lu Hu looked at the battleship reporting for survival and smiled.
"The Europeans broke the pot!"
Shi Dingping also smiled and said: "It is true that our armored ships are driving too fast. Otherwise, the European battleships would have escaped long ago. How would they be crowded here and fight to the death with us?"
Lu Hu waved his hand and said: "Surround them!"
The semaphore was hoisted, and the ironclad's steam turbine emitted a long and dull whistle. It quickly moved east and west and began to outflank. In the end, it took more than ten minutes for the ironclad to lie across the sea and surround the crowded battleships in a semicircle.
them.
The most brutal bombing began.
If the arquebusiers' queuing to kill is the most cruel form of war in this era, then the battleship shooting is the next best thing. And when the Europeans faced Li Zhi's armor-piercing shells at this time, they were hit as soon as they were hit.
When one piece is exploded, the cruelty of being shot increases even more exponentially.
The battleships also tried to bombard the ironclads seven or eight hundred meters away. However, on average, only one shell of more than twenty rounds could break through the armor of the ironclad. Even if it broke through the armor, it would not cause any decisive damage.
And every shot of the ironclad's cannon blasted the Europeans into pieces.
Six hundred rifled cannons sprayed out tongues of fire and continuously bombarded the crowded battleships. On the undulating sea, cone-shaped explosive shells screamed through the air and crashed into battleships one after another.
Looking from Lu Hu's perspective, he could see huge red sparks exploding from the crowded battleships, one after another, like a large-scale fireworks display.
