nucmednet Chapter 294 Gunship Exchange
Chapter 294 Gunship Exchange
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After hearing Gao Jie's explanation, Liu Ye said with regret, "That is indeed a pity. This battle line is so impressive, but it didn't encounter an evenly matched opponent. It's like putting on a show for a blind man."
Gao Jie grinned: "Although we can't fully utilize the T-formation tactic, we can still concentrate our 14 warships and wait for the enemy to board and engage in close combat—once these ships get close, a round of shelling will send them to their deaths."
Liu Ye asked, "What if Zheng Yiguan brings out the fire ship's trump card?"
"The 16 280-ton patrol vessels on the perimeter will be effective. These smaller patrol vessels are not high-value targets to the operators of the fireboats, but their maneuverability is sufficient to sweep away these fireboats that can only move in a straight line. It is certain that the suffering that the Netherlands endured will not happen to us."
Liu Ye recalled that the bombardment cannons hadn't been used earlier, so he asked, "Why weren't the bombardment cannons on the Yongle-class ships used?"
"I've heard that there's a saying in the Ming Dynasty: 'Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.' We have more than enough firepower to deal with these small boats. Besides, the ship has a limited stockpile of explosives, which we should save for Zheng Yiguan's flagship and main force."
As the two spoke, the situation on the battlefield subtly changed. Zheng Zhilong lived up to his reputation as a powerful and ruthless figure who had dominated the seas, and his men were seasoned pirates who had fought countless battles. Although they had suffered a crushing defeat and considerable losses, they quickly regained their composure and launched a counterattack according to Zheng Zhilong's orders.
The bulky, slow-moving troop transports lowered their sails and slowly withdrew from the front lines of the battlefield. Countless large blue-headed ships, each about four hundred tons in size, rushed forward aggressively, attempting to approach this deadly battle line. To reduce the probability of being hit by cannonballs, these large blue-headed ships did not form a fleet but instead dispersed, scattering like beans across the sky. Under the cover of Zheng's main fleet, nearly a hundred smaller, older ships were pouring oil onto their holds, preparing to set themselves ablaze and perish when the enemy lost their composure.
This counterattack was exactly what Gao Jie had expected, just like the Battle of Liaoluo Bay – gunboats providing cover, fireboats charging, and finally boarding and hand-to-hand combat. Under the existing conditions, Zheng Zhilong could only use these few tactics over and over again.
Seeing the small gunboats approaching fiercely, Gao Jie estimated the distance and ordered: "Maintain the formation, fire three rounds of cannon fire, then switch to the charon cannons to fire grapeshot!"
The order was relayed to the other warships by the messenger using flags. Captain Van Bommel of the Guangdong had the advantage of being close to the guns and launched the first attack, followed by the Shandong, then the Lingao, Danzhou, Chengmai... "Boom boom boom," the cannons roared again, and a series of orange-red flames flickered in the gun ports. From a distance, it looked like a long string of fireworks spreading from the middle to both ends, which was quite a sight, but these were fireworks that brought death.
Thanks to their dispersed formation, the probability of these charging ships being hit was much lower than when they were ambushed before. However, the barrage was too dense, and quite a few ships were still hit head-on. Some ships had their masts broken by the impact, their sails fell off, and they lost power and spun around in place. Some ships had gunpowder barrels on their decks hit by hot shells, which exploded and caught fire, billowing thick smoke, and they were forced to withdraw from the battle.
Commanding these large blue-haired boats was Zheng Lian, Zheng Zhilong's cousin and Zheng Cai's elder brother. After Zheng Hongkui was sidelined, the two brothers quickly rose to power, one taking over his lucrative position in the Japanese trade, and the other taking command of the gunboat fleet. To demonstrate his bravery in leading from the front, Zheng Lian stood at the bow and shouted, "Tell the brothers not to be afraid of casualties! The head of the fleet has offered a reward of fifty taels of silver for those who die in battle. If we can hold back these large, flat-bottomed boats and create an opportunity for the fire ships, each brother on each boat will split three hundred taels of silver! Charge forward and fire hard with the short cannons! Once we get close, big ships and small ships are no different!"
The high reward boosted their morale, and they roared as they charged forward under heavy artillery fire.
Gao Jie's estimate was very accurate. After three rounds of shelling, at the heavy cost of more than twenty ships withdrawing from the battle, these big blue-headed slugs finally got close. The distance between the two sides was less than two hundred meters, which was already within the effective range of the Caron cannons.
The Zheng family sailors gritted their teeth as they loaded cannonballs, preparing to retaliate against their opponents. The cannons on the Qiongzhou side also ceased firing, cooling their barrels with cold water, while the Caron cannons were ready to fire.
"Boom boom boom," after a brief silence, both sides opened fire with their calon guns. On the sea, which was more than a hundred meters wide, slugs flew back and forth like raindrops, and the dense barrage blocked out the sun.
The Zheng family's gunboats, attempting to salvage their reputation with artillery fire, found themselves in a precarious position during this exchange of fire. Due to the vast difference in tonnage and size between the two sides, the Daqingtou, comparable in size to the Wuxiang-class patrol boats, had open gun emplacements on its decks. The impact points of its horizontal shots were only slightly above the waterline of the Wuyi-class warships, making it difficult to reach the enemy's deck and unleash the devastating power of its combination of caron cannons and grapeshot. As for the Yongle-class warships, several stories high, the Zheng family gunners could only look up, unable to even see the deck. Most of the Zheng family's grapeshot struck the hull, leaving deep craters, before falling into the sea. Only a very few stray bullets managed to enter through the gun ports, killing a few gunners.
On the Qiongzhou side, the cannons were firing shrapnel at the enemy with ease and pleasure, reaping their lives. The gun deck, located in the middle of the ship, was parallel to the enemy's open deck. There was no need to adjust the firing parameters; the cannons were simply leveled and fired. It was as simple as a routine live-fire exercise.
In a shotgun salvo, both sides would be on equal footing, with the Zheng family even having the advantage—solid shot could simply hit the opponent's waterline; once a hole was created and seawater flooded in, it would be enough to cause serious trouble. But now it was a shotgun salvo. After a round of bombardment, more than half of the Zheng family's gun emplacements were destroyed, the gunners were riddled with bullets, and many ships were instantly rendered combat ineffective.
Sweating profusely, Zheng Lian ducked beneath the ship's railing to avoid the rain of bullets, his earlier bravado completely gone. An experienced subordinate beside him advised, "Boss, we can't use grapeshot; it'll put us at a huge disadvantage. Switch to solid shot?"
Zheng Lian suddenly realized, "Right, right, switch to solid shot!"
The Zheng family finally realized what was happening and switched to solid shot. Although the Caron cannon's armor-piercing capability was not as good as that of a cannon, the solid shot, weighing 30 jin (approximately 15 catties), still had good penetrating power at short range. Although the Qiongzhou naval warships were designed specifically for artillery warfare and their hulls were far thicker than the Zheng family's amateur gunboats, and even surpassed the Dutch's armed merchant ships used for both trade and warfare, some ships still had their sides penetrated after being hit by multiple shells in succession.
After the ship was damaged, the carpenters quickly took materials and tools down to the gun deck and repaired it under fire. Fortunately, no solid shot landed on the gun deck and ignited the gunpowder or even the explosive shells. Now, at the start of the war, the Qiongzhou Battalion was finally facing a real threat.