nucmednet Chapter 300 The Power of the Bomber
Chapter 300 The Power of the Bomber
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On the "Guangdong," Gao Jie stared wide-eyed at the three large ships before him: "My God, if the Zheng family's ships are all three-masted sailing vessels like these, our chances of victory will increase dramatically..."
Liu Ye observed the three-masted gunboat and guessed, "It's probably a modified version, intended as Zheng Yiguan's flagship. Although Zheng Yiguan is wealthy, his reliance on fire ships and hand-to-hand combat means that such large ships wouldn't be built in large numbers, so your concerns are basically unfounded."
"Zheng Yiguan's flagship?" Gao Jie looked the three ships up and down. "Then Zheng Yiguan must be on one of them, but which one is his real ship?"
"Why bother guessing? Just sink all three ships."
Gao Jie grinned: "You're right. Pass on my order: prepare to fire the two Yongle-class ships."
The ships "Guangdong" and "Shandong" were positioned sideways, facing the three three-masted gunboats. Ordinary solid shot would hardly sink them quickly; to decide the outcome with a single shot, they would have to use their ultimate weapon—the bombardment cannon.
The Zheng family, unaware of their impending fate, remained oblivious. Zheng Zhilong was still directing the cumbersome Hongyi cannons to turn their muzzles towards the "Guangdong" and "Shandong" warships. He was convinced that the two larger warships opposite him were most likely Liu Ye's flagships, and he wished he could destroy Liu Ye with a single shot. Both sides shared the same thought, pointing their cannons at each other.
With a loud "boom," the Hongyi cannon fired first, but it missed. The shell flew over the deck of the "Shandong" and arced into the sea. The Zheng family's gunners relied on experience to fire, hoping to hit the target one by one, without any rangefinding or aiming.
Conversely, the bombardment guns on the two Yongle-class ships were busily adjusting their firing parameters. Each gun's crew of up to ten men was performing their duties: some carefully lowered shells into the muzzle, others calculated the appropriate muzzle angle based on distance and angle charts engraved on the gun barrel, and still others held torches, ready to ignite the fuses. The gunners behind them encouraged them: "Remember, be bold yet meticulous. Follow the drills step by step, strive for a hit on the first shot, and don't disappoint the general!"
After the opposing Hongyi cannons fired their second shot and luckily hit the hull of the "Shandong", the bombardment guns finally prepared to fire.
With a deafening roar that echoed far beyond the reach of the cannons, the "Guangdong" fired the first shot. A massive cannonball struck the three-masted gunboat in the middle with pinpoint accuracy, creating a large hole and penetrating its hull.
A second or two later, the delay signal triggered the explosion of the shell. With a muffled thud, the 52-pound shell exploded inside the cabin. The unique watertight compartment design of the Chinese sailing ship amplified the power of the explosion in its sealed space. The kinetic energy generated by the explosion was transmitted layer by layer, and finally burst out, tearing open the deck and the side hull. The sailors were thrown into the air, accompanied by broken wood chips and broken planks.
The Zheng family's heads were all on a three-masted gunboat nearby, witnessing this scene. They were all dumbfounded. They couldn't believe that such huge exploding shells existed in the world, and that they were used in naval warfare.
Immediately afterwards, the other three bombardments on the sides of the two Yongle-class ships also opened fire almost simultaneously, all aiming at the poor three-masted gunboat in the middle. It seemed that they were adhering to the principle of "better to break one finger than to injure all ten," either not firing at all, or firing until they sank it.
The middle ship was struck by bad luck; three more bombs exploded inside the ship, and the massive shockwave nearly broke it in two. The sailors who survived the first explosion were either thrown overboard or died from shock, bleeding from all seven orifices. The seemingly indestructible three-masted gunboat was destroyed in a single round of shelling.
Zheng Zhiwan and the others were terrified. With such a devastating explosion, there was nowhere to run; everyone on the boat would be killed. Without needing to discuss or coordinate, their thoughts and actions were perfectly aligned. The cousins didn't waste any time talking to Zheng Zhilong; they simply hoisted him up and ran, lowering a small sampan on the side closest to land and jumping aboard. At that moment, survival was paramount; any concern for face was meaningless in the face of such a horrific explosion.
The small sampan had only traveled a dozen meters when the muffled thunder of cannon fire rang out again. The large boat behind them was hit by several cannonballs in succession. The shockwaves ripped through the hull, carrying out splinters of wood and mangled limbs, nearly capsizing the small sampan. The people on board were terrified. Those with oars used them, while those without used their hands and feet, paddling frantically to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
The battle was over after just four cannons fired in two rounds. Of the three tall, three-masted warships, one was dismantled, and the other two had their main structures destroyed, with half of their hulls submerged in seawater, on the verge of sinking.
With the cover of the large ship, the Zheng family's small sampan quickly sailed away, and the Qiongzhou camp's view was blocked, so they did not notice that the head of the Zheng family was being "swept away" and escaped.
Seeing that the last resistance had been destroyed, Gao Jie asked, "General, should we clean up the battlefield and verify whether Zheng Yiguan is dead?"
Liu Ye frowned and said, "Nobody knows if he'll stay on this ship, and we don't have time to take a full count. Regardless of whether Zheng Yiguan died at sea, we'll proceed according to the original battle plan: naval cover, army landing operation!"
The naval battle at the mouth of Zhongzuo thus came to an end. Zheng Zhilong's throne as the maritime hegemon of East Asia had barely warmed when it was pulled down by the watchful Qiongzhou Camp. Both sides basically committed their main forces. The Qiongzhou Camp, a mixed fleet of 30 warships of different classes, cleanly and decisively defeated Zheng Zhilong's group of nearly two hundred ships. Zheng Zhilong's three-masted gunboats, large blue-headed ships, and troop transport ships were almost completely destroyed. Nearly ten thousand soldiers were either killed in battle or fed at sea, with very few escaping back. His naval power was completely destroyed.
The end of the naval battle did not mean the end of the war. The army, which had been eager for battle, split into two groups and headed to Zhongzuo Fortress and Anping Town respectively, heading straight for their targets with murderous intent.
Zheng Zhilong suffered a crushing defeat at sea and was naturally no longer capable of stopping the Qiongzhou naval forces. Under the cover of the main fleet, a massive transport fleet filed in and entered the almost undefended port, preparing for an amphibious landing operation.
After years of painstaking management, Zhongzuosuo Port had essentially become the private port of the Zheng family. Both the dockworkers and the merchants on the shore had countless connections with the Zheng family. Hearing the booming cannons on the sea outside the port and seeing the scattered Zheng family sailors fleeing back in disarray, the entire port was thrown into chaos.