Chapter 663 The Despair of the Allied Forces [1 More]
Because of the great victory during the day, at least in the eyes of the coalition forces, being able to not fall behind in the battle with the Ming fleet, and even vaguely gain the upper hand, was a great victory. This great victory allowed the coalition forces to
Everyone from top to bottom had a feeling that the Ming fleet was nothing more than this, but these people did not think about the gap between the fleets of the two sides.
Yu Dayou's warships were only over 200, but on the coalition side, more than a dozen countries were gathered, and even pirates were involved, forming a total of over a thousand warships.
As the saying goes, too many ants will kill the elephant.
Although the performance of the warships was far inferior to that of the Ming warships, the coalition did have the upper hand in the daytime battle due to their numerical advantage.
From top to bottom, the coalition forces had a feeling of neglect towards the Ming fleet. They thought that the Ming fleet must be hiding in the port and trembling. Therefore, although soldiers were sent on duty, they did not have much vigilance.
These people never dreamed that after Yu Dayou and others retreated and returned to the port, they just took a short rest, completed the supply of the warship, and set sail again without stopping at all. With their superb navigation skills, they were stunned in the night
They were heading towards the port where the coalition forces were docked.
Yu Dayou and others had already investigated the ports where the coalition forces docked, and even knew some of the layout of the ports very well.
The battle during the day made Yu Dayou and other generals realize that although the coalition forces said that the performance of the warships was not comparable to theirs, it was really possible to kill them with their numerical advantage.
After realizing this, the first thing Yu Dayou, Qi Jingtong and others thought of was not to escape, but to think about how to reverse this unfavorable situation.
Sail out to sea, and there will be naval battles one after another. The total number of large and small naval battles is dozens if not a hundred.
Yu Dayou has never retreated. No matter how strong his opponent is, he dares to lead his fleet to attack him.
The night attack was a decision made by Yu Dayou, Qi Jingtong and other generals after some deliberations. It was also the weakness of the coalition forces.
The coalition itself is composed of navies from more than a dozen countries. Although it is a coalition, each has its own affiliation. This situation will not affect the overall situation when fighting during the day, but once it falls into chaos, ten
The navies of several countries will inevitably become a mess.
This is also true. Just when Yu Dayou and others led the fleet to blast open the port in the night, and then blocked the port and launched crazy artillery fire into the port, the naval fleets of more than a dozen countries stationed in the port fell into
In the midst of chaos.
Especially not long ago, senior navies from various countries gathered together to drink and talk, celebrating the destruction of the Ming fleet in advance.
As you can imagine, less than 10% of the senior executives were able to stay awake when they dispersed.
Before these senior navy officials could fall asleep, bursts of rumbling sounds were heard, the ground shook, and explosions like thunder suddenly woke these people up, and even their drunkenness seemed to disappear out of thin air.
One by one, the generals ran out of the room in a hurry. Their clothes were disheveled and their faces were flustered. Looking around, they could see the chaos in the port.
The night was so dark that if it weren't for the blazing fire, it would be impossible to see clearly what was going on in the port.
But at this moment, the port was filled with flames. Warships were crowded into the port one after another. Nearly a thousand warships were gathered in one port, almost one ship next to another. In this way, as long as the Ming Dynasty
The fleet's cannons were aimed in the direction of the port. I can't say that one shot would hit the coalition warship 100%, but at least one of the three shots could hit.
With the port gate blocked, hundreds of warships under Yu Dayou frantically poured artillery fire in the direction of the port.
The shells fell like a torrential rain, and in just a blink of an eye, at least dozens of warships ignited fires, lighting up the entire port.
The burning warships were like large torches that illuminated the chaotic warships around them for the Ming Dynasty fleet, immediately making those warships the target of bombardment.
In the harbor, where Prince William lived, Prince William, who was awakened by the sound of gunfire, put on his clothes under the service of the attendant, and quickly walked out of the bedroom. He also saw the fire in the direction of the harbor.
There was a thump in his heart, and Prince William's face became extremely ugly. As the next Crown Prince of England, this time the coalition forces from various countries are trying to deal with the Ming Dynasty fleet, Prince William has come forward on his own initiative, in order to plan for himself a huge military merit.
.
The battle during the day made Crown Prince William very excited, because he saw the dawn of victory. As long as nothing unexpected happened, the Ming fleet would be destroyed, and as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, he would definitely be famous among the countries.
At that time, his position as crown prince became even more stable.
However, the blazing fire and the constant sound of shelling made Crown Prince William's heart sink.
Crown Prince William almost growled at the guard beside him: "What are you doing here? Why don't you go and find out for me what is going on and who is attacking the port?"
In fact, there is no need to send people to find out who is attacking the port. Crown Prince William can guess this in his heart, but Crown Prince William is a little reluctant to admit it.
It was not only Crown Prince William who sent people to check in panic, but the other commanders-in-chief also looked gloomy as water.
The Portuguese Governor was so angry that he roared: "Damn Akito, send the order, fight back, fight back!"
Without any instructions, some of the coalition soldiers who had been sleeping on the battleship for the night reacted and quickly began to fight back.
It's just that most of the navy soldiers have gone ashore to rest, and only a small number of naval crew members remained on the ship. In this case, even if they were not hit by artillery fire, some of the crew members even gathered together and wanted to
Counterattack is also very difficult.
There are at least several or even a dozen cannons on a battleship. To control so many cannons is not something that just a few crew members can do, especially the gunners responsible for operating the cannons, which require experienced artillerymen.
to take control.
It is difficult for ordinary naval soldiers to control the range and impact range of artillery. As gunners, they are naturally a superior class in the navy. Most of these artillerymen have disembarked to rest, which has led to many warships trying to counterattack after reacting.
At that time, they discovered that they did not have excellent artillery to control the artillery to fight back.
Scattered gunfire came from the port, and some warships that barely fired fired back at the Ming Dynasty.
However, these fleets that fought back immediately attracted the attention of Ming warships. These warships fired a few cannonballs, but the Ming side immediately replaced them with dozens or even hundreds of cannonballs. In the blink of an eye, the coalition forces fired back.
The battleships burst into flames. At least half of the hulls of several battleships sank in the port, while the other half of the hulls were floating on the water and burning with raging fires.
When the senior coalition forces headed by Crown Prince William arrived at the port, although they could not say that the overall situation was determined, the situation of the coalition forces in the port was very bad.
Because of the Ming army's surprise attack in the middle of the night, the coalition forces had no time to react. In addition, the coalition forces themselves were in chaos, and everyone was in charge of their own affairs. Under such circumstances, if they were attacked, the consequences would be predictable.
Got it.
"It's over, the army is over!"
A general from a small country looked with a look of despair on his face as he saw that most of the dozens of warships in his fleet had been bombed and sunk, and the remaining ones were scurrying around in the port like headless flies, but they could not get out of the port.
, instead it made a mess in the port.
One family was in chaos, and other affected families were also in chaos. Battleships colliding with each other could be seen everywhere.
Outside the port, with the help of the firelight in the port, Yu Dayou and other generals looked at the chaotic scene with calm faces. After a while, Yu Dayou nodded with satisfaction and said: "The coalition forces are nothing more than that."
Not long ago, for example, the pirate Cook said something like this, but in just a few hours, the situation had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The Ming fleet just blocked the port, preventing any fleet from rushing out, and on the other hand, it also used the topography of the port as close as possible to eliminate more coalition warships.
Thousands of warships is really a frightening number. There is really a huge difference in scale between the two sides. Even in such a chaos, if we do not seize the opportunity properly, once the coalition forces react,
, the hundreds of remaining warships alone are very likely to threaten the safety of the Ming fleet.
The artillery fire almost never stopped overnight, and almost 70 to 80% of the ammunition returned to the port was lost.
Hundreds of warships, adding up to thousands of cannons, fired tens of thousands of cannonballs overnight. If it hadn't been for such a saturated artillery fire attack, the port would not have been a miserable scene.
Already.
When they realized that the overall situation was decided and even the appearance of God could not change the outcome, Crown Prince William, the Governor of Portugal and other high-ranking coalition forces immediately evacuated the port under the protection of the army.
The first ray of sunlight fell from the sky, bright and warm, and shone on the soldiers. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who had been busy all night were in high spirits. They almost instinctively looked towards the distant port.