At first, it was the Second Fleet that ran away to keep its distance, and the Ming Navy wanted to close the distance. But now, it was the Ming Navy that wanted to escape, and the Second Fleet pursued them.
However, the ships on both sides were similar. They were all traditional ships such as Fu Chuan, Sha Chuan, and Guang Chuan. They also kept the same course, so it was not that easy to catch up.
Seeing that he could not close the distance, Ouyang Gui said: "Send the order to the fire ships and the whole army to attack!"
In this battle, both sides actually brought a large number of small boats. This was true for the Ming Navy and the second fleet. And judging from the signs, the plans of both sides were actually very similar, and they both planned to use fire attacks.
Moreover, both sides have adopted this tactic one after another before, but they were both on guard against each other and had the same small boats as cover, so the small-scale fire ship test attack failed to achieve much results.
However, now, Ouyang Gui no longer cares about preserving strength or casualties. He wants to entangle the enemy fleet. Even if the fire ship's attack cannot cause any actual damage to the enemy fleet, as long as
If you force the enemy fleet to turn, you will win.
Once the enemy fleet turns around, our own main fleet can press forward again and entangle them. It doesn't have to be too close, as long as the distance is two to three hundred meters, it will be enough.
If the Ming navy could withstand its own artillery at this distance and insisted on attacking the transport fleet, then Ouyang Gui said there was nothing he could do.
The fireships in the second fleet began to move. These fireships were very small ships, most of them single-masted ships, and they could also use oars to accelerate directly. This speed was much faster than the big ships of the main fleet.
The remaining twenty or so fire ships swarmed forward. Without detailed analysis of this posture, it is known that the Tang Navy must have launched a full-scale charge and fought to the death.
The reaction of the Ming navy on the opposite side was also dissatisfied. Many small, maneuverable boats also turned their bows and faced them. These small boats were very useful for carrying out fire attacks, and they could also be used to intercept the opponent's fire ships.
Because it is flexible enough, the speed it can burst out in a short period of time is not too slow!
However, it is impossible to intercept all of this kind of interception, and the Ming Navy boats used for the interception also suffered heavy losses. Therefore, after a melee between the boats on both sides, there were still almost ten fireships left in the Second Fleet.
dash forward.
At this time, the large ships of the Ming Navy also fired their guns and artillery, and at the same time began to turn to avoid them.
Seeing the Ming navy's penetration and turning to avoid, Ouyang Gui on the Lianzhou said: "The whole army attacks, the Marines are ready to join the gang war!"
The fleets of both sides were relatively close to each other. After a melee between the boats on both sides, the fireships of the second fleet successfully forced the Ming Navy to turn. The speed of this turn inevitably slowed down, and there were certain problems.
confusion.
This is the opportunity that Ouyang Gui waited so hard for, even sacrificing more than ten fire ships for it!
The distance between the two sides quickly shortened, three hundred and fifty meters, three hundred meters, two hundred meters!
At this time, the artillery in the fleets of both sides, as long as they could fire, had already fired one after another. For a while, the sea was filled with smoke and the sound of cannons was rumbling.
Suddenly, numerous bullet holes appeared in the ships on both sides, sawdust flew everywhere, the sailors screamed one after another, and blood began to flow!
And the distance continues to get closer!
When the distance between the two sides approached about a hundred meters, various small-caliber shotguns on both sides also began to fire continuously, including Franco machine guns and various front-loaded shotguns.
Even the soldiers in the Marine Corps went on the deck and started shooting with muskets!
Suddenly, the casualties on both sides became even greater!
On the right deck of the Lianzhou, the gunners were nervously loading, and the gunners were taking aim. However, under their feet, there were already many corpses of comrades lying, and blood was flowing on the deck.
It's very slippery when you step on it, so you'll fall down if you're not careful.
"shooting!"
"Quick, quick, reload!"
"Everyone move!"
A gunner was shouting at this time while looking towards the opposite side. Opposite was a Ming Navy navy ship, and he could already clearly see the artillery on the enemy ship less than a hundred meters away.
They are also aiming at themselves and are loading.
Although the gunners tried their best to reload quickly, this time was very long on the battlefield. The gunner seemed to have waited for several long hours before he saw that his artillery had been loaded.
Then he didn't even take aim himself, he just ordered to fire!
The distance is less than a hundred meters, and the opponent is such a big ship, and both sides are sailing in the same direction. There is no need to aim at all. You can hit the enemy by firing in the same direction.
After the artillery fire, a five-pound cannonball was fired, then flew across the sea and hit the side of the opponent's ship. The heavy solid cannonball easily tore through the wooden planks, and then continued to fly on the ship.
move.
Wherever it passed, sawdust flew everywhere, causing casualties to the Ming army sailors along the way.
But at this time, they also saw the artillery on the opposite side firing. It was obvious that the artillery on the opposite side was not using solid bullets, but shotguns.
After the shrapnel flew dozens of meters, it directly hit the side of the ship. The shrapnel that hit the side of the ship naturally could not cause any harm to people, but it would cause heavy casualties to the many unprotected sailors and gunners on the deck.
.
At such a close distance, both sides can already cause heavy casualties to each other, whether it is large-caliber artillery or small-caliber shotguns.
Even many ships started to catch fire. The fire was not caused by the other party attacking with fire ships. In fact, almost all the fire ships of both sides were lost.
The reason why there was a fire was because arrows were fired from bows and arrows onto the opponent's ships, especially into the opponent's sails.
If all the sails are burned out, the ship will basically turn into a dead fish floating on the sea.
So at this time, while the gunners on both sides, and even the musketeers and archers were fighting, many sailors were also putting out fires everywhere.
At this time, on the Leizhou in the Second Fleet, a Marine Corps lieutenant watched the ships on both sides getting closer and closer, from tens of meters to more than 20 meters, and immediately shouted: "Marines, prepare grenades!"
The Marines of the Navy are a comprehensive branch. They are equipped with knives and shields, as well as muskets and grenades. They use muskets to attack at long distances and throw grenades at medium distances. When fighting in a gang, they directly switch to swords and shields.
The soldiers in the Marine Corps, like other navy soldiers, also come from the army full-time.
They can't do this naval battle, but they really don't fear anyone when it comes to gang fights and hand-to-hand combat.
Soon, the Marine soldiers began to throw grenades. Dozens of grenades flew across the sea and landed on the Ming Navy ship only twenty meters away. Then they exploded quickly, sending up clouds of white smoke.
At the same time, it also caused many casualties in the revenue collection of the Ming army on the opposite side.
After throwing the grenades, the ships of both sides were already close to the last ten meters, and the Ming sailors on the opposite side had already begun to throw ropes with hooks in preparation for boarding the ship.
What is worth noting is that the gunners on both sides are still loading and firing!
With such a distance of only a few meters, this shot was very lethal in the past. However, the gunners soon had no chance to fire, because at this time, there was a vibration from the ships under their feet, and it was possible to see that the ships on both sides were already close to each other.
Together.
Immediately afterwards, the sailors from both sides fought with each other!
This scene was not unique, but appeared in several places at the same time. Several ships approached each other at the same time, and then the most brutal gang-hopping fighting took place.
There is only one result of this kind of battle, and that is the complete defeat of one of the parties, and sometimes even the ship will be captured.
The rumbling sounds of artillery and gunfire, the explosion of grenades, and the screams of people were mixed together, announcing that the sea battle that broke out in the Qiongzhou Strait had entered the most intense and tragic stage!
In such a tragic battle, regardless of whether it is an officer or a soldier, the probability of casualties is almost the same, because the cannonballs have no long eyes, and whether it hits the soldier or the officer is purely a matter of luck.
Even a fleet commander like Ouyang Gui is the same. At this time, his arm is already covered with blood, and a medical soldier is performing emergency disinfection and bandaging on him.
But Ouyang Gui still sat, watching the battle between his fleet and the Ming Navy!
But at this time, he could no longer continue to command, because at this time the battle between the two sides had completely fallen into a melee, and overall command was impossible.
The battle at this time will rely heavily on the captains of each ship and officers at all levels!
At this time, all Ouyang Gui has to do is wait!
Wait for victory or defeat!
Just as a fierce battle broke out between the main fleet of the Second Fleet and the Ming Navy, the transport fleet continued to sail south!
Even though they were more than ten kilometers away from the battle area, they could still hear the rumble of cannons from the sea, and they could see on the masts that the fleets of both sides were already entangled with each other, with dozens of warships on both sides close to each other.
Fight hard.
Colonel Li Yanxi was not in the mood to care about the victory or defeat of the main fleet. He was focused on the land on the opposite side!
Right in front of his transport fleet, less than five kilometers away, is the land of Qiongzhou Island!
According to the current speed, they will be able to dock in less than an hour, and then carry out a large-scale landing. As long as they can send the nearly two thousand troops ashore, then the Tang Dynasty King Division will be proud of this battle.
Claimed victory.
The Army has declared more than once: With the combat effectiveness of the Second Mixed Regiment, it will be able to sweep across Qiongzhou Island as long as it lands ashore!
Half an hour later, a major ran to Colonel Li Yanxi with a heavy expression and said: "Sir, the lookout reported that eight enemy ships are heading towards our transport fleet!"
Li Yanxi said: "Where is the main fleet? How is the situation?"