Chapter 397 The Boiling Parana River (Second update, please subscribe)

On the morning of February 27, 1870, the breeze from the Paraná River, the second largest river in South America, mixed with autumn moisture, blew in my ears.

On the nearly five-kilometer-wide river, the two fleets were like two long snakes, sailing towards each other.

Sitting in the command tower of the "Dreadnought" gunboat, Du Guofeng looked calm. After giving the order to fight, the "Dreadnought" led the twelve gunboats of the same class of the second dispatch team upstream.

The "Dreadnought-class" gunboat has a displacement of only 97.52 tons, and a full load of only 155 tons. It is 38 meters long, 4.04 meters wide, and has a draft of 2.4 meters. The maximum speed is 21.7 knots, the endurance is 500 nautical miles, and it can carry 15 tons of coal. There are only 30 people on board. This small, high-speed gunboat is actually designed according to the torpedo boat plan. Due to confidentiality, in addition to the fixed launch tubes at the bow, the twin torpedo tubes installed on the rear deck are not installed. Although it is called a gunboat, it actually only has four 20mm Gatling machine guns on the side of the ship. In order to provide cover for the army, two mortars were temporarily installed.

Twelve gunboats, with a total tonnage of less than 1,200 tons, rushed towards the Brazilian fleet with a total tonnage of more than 6,300 tons. The difference in strength between the two sides was more than five times. As for personnel, there were 462 officers and soldiers on just one "Amazon".

Facing the autumn sunshine, the "Dauntless" led the way, and the other "Flying" followed closely behind.

On alert, the gunners operated the Gatling machine guns with resolute expressions and firm eyes.

Behind them was a fleet that was landing, and in front of them was a fleet that was ten times larger than their own. Once the battle started, the flames of war would surely dye the sky red. The ship was moving very slowly at this time. The sailors were waiting in silence.

At 9:12 in the morning, the silence on the Paraná River was broken with the sound of a cannon from the "Excellent" coastal defense ship.

“The Brazilians are firing!”

Although the shells were fired at the land, at that moment, the heart that was originally in his throat fell down. Almost at the moment he saw the smoke, Du Guofeng shouted loudly.

“Full speed ahead!”

The gunboats, which were originally sailing slowly, began to speed up. Amid the roar of the steam engines, they were like sharp arrows on the water, jubilantly sailing towards the Brazilian fleet.

"They are so fast!"

Surprised, Admiral Inacio shouted loudly from the command tower.

"Gentlemen, let us show our courage in answering them with our cannons!"

The speed of 20 knots was not only amazing in that era, but also brought another effect. The Brazilian gunners found it difficult to aim at it, but despite the difficulty, they still fired at the gunboat that was coming at high speed.

The naval battle began with the opening fire of the "Amazon".

When the two sides were 2.5 kilometers apart, the Brazilian fleet opened fire first. The deafening sound of artillery fire echoed on the Paraná River. Twelve ships, like sharp arrows, dragged white waves towards the huge fleet, and white water columns exploded from time to time around the speedboats.

When the water column, which was as high as ten meters, exploded, the water would always fall on the sailors, but they just wiped off the water and did not feel the threat at all.

"Notice!"

Li Tao, who was soaked all over, roared, the ribbon behind his navy cap fluttering, and his eyes stared at the enemy ship through the aiming ring.

"One armor-piercing round, two explosive rounds, adjust the magazine!"

While the ammunition operators were adjusting the shells in the magazines, the Brazilian fleet continued to fire. However, because their shells were all time-delayed, the shells would often sink to the bottom of the river before exploding. The explosion overturned the river mud, making the originally clear river surface muddy.

"Sir, their gunboats are too fast, our cannons can't hit them at all!"

It is almost impossible to intercept these high-speed gunboats with a firing rate of one round per minute. Inacio, who once defeated the Paraguayan Navy on this river, gave a direct order.

"Use shrapnel, sail at full speed, and carry out ramming operations!"

Just like when he defeated the Paraguayans on the Paraná River five years ago, Inacio once again chose to ram. His arrogance was not only because the enemy ship had a small tonnage, but more importantly, the "Amazon" used an iron keel as the core of the wooden hull. Compared with the wooden keel, its hull was extremely strong.

When the Brazilian fleet accelerated and tried to sink these small boats with ramming tactics, their gunners were not idle either. They directly replaced the explosive bombs with shrapnel shells. For the extremely slow-firing recoil guns, shrapnel shells and cannonballs are the best choices for dealing with high-speed small targets.

The whistling shells exploded one after another in mid-air. In the smoke of several explosions, thousands of shotgun shells whistled towards the front, and the shotgun shells splashed water on the river surface like raindrops. As the shotgun shells hit the water, the sound of metal collisions was heard on the gunboat. As the shotgun shells hit the hull, some sailors were directly pierced through the body by the shotgun shells. For a moment, the deck was all red.

"Medic, medic..."

Amid the shouts, medical soldiers moved around the deck, treating the injured sailors.

Even though a shotgun shell had almost flown past his scalp, Du Guofeng still stood motionless on the command tower.

In naval battles, commanders must overcome their fear of death in order to calmly command their warships.

"One round of bombardment per minute..."

For the iron-hulled "dreadnought", apart from causing some casualties, the threat of shotgun shells is almost negligible. What is the biggest threat?

Gatling gun!

Brazilian warships also have Gatling machine guns. They may be made in the United States or in South China. Who knows?

The Gatling gun may not sink the dreadnought, but it can certainly wash the deck! Clean out the sailors on the deck.

Moreover, the Gatling guns on those large ships are located high up, making them perfect for washing the decks.

But...the range of a cannon is definitely longer than that of a machine gun!

When there was still a distance of 800 meters, Du Guofeng, who was leading the way, raised the corners of his lips and revealed a somewhat cruel sneer on his face.

"Concentrate your firepower and aim at the Amazon!"

The gunners, who had been waiting for a long time, aimed at the "Amazon" frigate that was rushing in the lead with the help of the shoulder gun stocks and shook the handles.

Amid the rapid roar of artillery fire, the steel shells whizzed out of the gun barrel and flew towards the enemy ship eight hundred meters away in a nearly straight trajectory.

Despite the long distance, the Gatling machine gun can attack large targets like the Amazon frigate, which is 57 meters long and ten meters wide, without even much aiming.

Amid the rapid sound of artillery fire, a intensive barrage of shells hit the bow of the "Amazon" one after another. The moment the shells hit the bow, clusters of debris exploded in the 20-centimeter-thick side plates.

But in just a blink of an eye, the bow of the ship, which had been hit by hundreds of gunshots, became riddled with holes, and the bowsprit in front of the bow was directly broken in the successive explosions.

Some whistling shells passed through the broken bow, passed close to the deck and hit the mast, railings and even rigging. When they exploded, the flying shrapnel immediately set off a bloody storm on the deck, and the whistling fragments tore pieces of flesh and blood on the deck and in the cabins.

Some shells hit the waterline squarely, which is the most fatal blow to a warship.

Although the projectile of the 20mm high-explosive shell weighs only 130 grams and the charge is only 10 grams, the shell will explode immediately once it touches any target after it is fired. Although the hull of the "Amazon" is made of tropical hardwood that is more than 20 centimeters thick, the 20mm shell is very effective when it hits the wooden planks, breaking the planks. When the shell that penetrates into the wooden planks explodes, it creates bowl-sized holes on the side of the ship, and the river water immediately pours into the bow.

Although the holes looked small, they were numerous. In just a blink of an eye, hundreds of holes were opened on the bow of the Amazon.

The Brazilian sailors were really scared when the explosions like raindrops sounded on the hull.

“They actually have cannons!”

Not only does it have a cannon, but it also has an extremely fast firing rate!

What kind of guns are on their ships?

Or a gun?

"Damn it, the South Chinese actually violated international law and manufactured small artillery shells..."

Admiral Inacio, who was stunned by this round of intensive artillery fire from the South China gunboat, no longer had his previous calmness. After all, the bow of his ship had been smashed to pieces.

It's clearly my advantage.

How did it become like this?

It must be because of their weapons!

For this reason, he even accused Nanhua of violating international public law. In December 1868, the great powers signed an agreement in St. Petersburg, Russia, prohibiting the use of explosive projectiles weighing less than 400 grams.

However, it is nonsense to accuse South China of violating international public law now - South China is not a signatory at all. It does not need to abide by the so-called international law at all.

In just one encounter, the bow of the frigate "Amazon", which had been rushing at high speed and with great momentum, was smashed to pieces.

Although the power of the small shells could only blast holes the size of a bowl on the ship's planks, the river water continued to pour into the cabin. Under the impact of the explosion of the shells and the water flow, the densely packed small holes turned into large holes. The bow of the "Amazon" frigate, which was flooded with a lot of water, had already sunk a little in just a few minutes.

The high-speed "dreadnought" did not stop firing. Li Tao, with his left shoulder against the shoulder rest and shaking the handle with his right hand, adjusted the firing direction as the target moved. Amid the deafening sound of the artillery, 20mm shells hit the deck of the "Amazon" frigate like a battering ram. Although the Brazilian damage control team tried their best to rescue the warship, the armor-piercing shells that penetrated the ship's board set off a bloody storm among the sailors...

(End of this chapter)