The Japanese fleet has quickly left the port.
Twenty large warships and fifty gunboats.
The name of this gunboat sounds nice, but in fact, it is just as Longze explained before.
The so-called gunboat is just a ship slightly larger than a fishing boat, carrying one or two cannons.
This kind of ship does not have much power. A single shot can cause the hull to shake continuously. If there is another wave, it may be able to capsize it.
Zhang Dingbian narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the Japanese fleet: "This place is too close to the Japanese port. If the Japanese are at a disadvantage in this battle, they will probably send other warships to reinforce them immediately."
After hearing this, the young general beside him said, "There's nothing wrong with that."
"Let's first destroy the Japanese fleet in front of us. We don't necessarily have to annihilate them completely, as long as we win. If the Japanese fleet at the port comes to reinforce, we will run away."
"Wouldn't it be better to lure them into the Empress's pocket?"
After hearing this, Zhang Dingbian nodded slightly and said, "That's right. This way, we can expand the results of the battle."
"Before the decisive battle, it is still necessary to try to destroy some of the manpower of the Japanese fleet."
…
Speaking of the five Ming warships lined up in a row, the soldiers on them were actually very nervous. After all, they had trained countless times, but this was their first time in actual combat.
But while they were nervous, they were also excited.
After all, they were fighting for their country and could contribute to the country's destiny. Everyone was staring at the Japanese warships closely, and the gunners on the ships all stretched out their thumbs to measure the distance to the Japanese warships.
In a tense atmosphere, all the gunners aimed their cannons at the Japanese warships.
Finally, an unknown gunner who could not contain himself was the first to fire the artillery under his command.
With a loud bang, a solid iron egg, a circle larger than a fist, was blasted out.
The sound of the cannon came a little earlier than Zhang Dingbian expected, but Zhang Dingbian didn't care, because the cannon had already been fired, and this sound of the cannon represented the beginning of this battle.
What is certain is that the warships of both sides are very large. It is difficult to miss such a large object as long as it is within the range.
The first cannonball after the war broke out flew like a meteor towards a large Japanese warship.
Although the range is a little far, this shell has a certain effect.
When the shell was about to fall into the sea, it finally hit the Japanese warship, almost cutting into it along the sea surface.
The solid iron shells destroyed the Japanese warships in an instant, and wood chips flew everywhere. Because they were cut into the ship close to the sea surface, as the ship swayed, a large amount of seawater rushed in.
Following closely, hundreds of artillery shells achieved almost the same effect.
"Hurry, reload."
The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could not make mistakes in this kind of uniform movement even with their eyes closed. For them, it had almost become a mechanized action. Although they were a little flustered, the more flustered they were, the faster they were.
In the first round of salvos from the Ming army's artillery, at least half of the hundreds of shells directly hit the Japanese warships.
"Water is coming in, water is coming into the cabin, block it up quickly."
In the Japanese Navy, countless soldiers were roaring.
However, at this moment, Man Kojima, the commander of this battle, also gave the order to fire.
However, the Japanese warships were charging head-on at this time, and most of their artillery were under the decks on both sides of the hull.
This is inevitable because the ship must be built like this. If too many cannons are placed on the deck, then a wave will hit and the sea water will soak the cannons, and everything will be ruined. Therefore, the cannons on the warship must be placed below the deck, which is equivalent to the second floor.
And because of the problem of firing range, the Japanese warship was rushing directly at this moment, and how many cannons could be mounted at the bow? Most likely, there were only two, and no more than four that could have a firing angle.
Therefore, when Kojima Mitsuru ordered the artillery to fire, only thirty or forty shells were fired.
Moreover, these thirty or forty shells all fell into the sea.
Kojima Mitsuru widened his eyes: "Baga, what's going on?"
"What's going on?" Xiaodao Man roared. After roaring twice, he understood the reason. The range of the Ming army's cannons and the cannons of his own warships were completely different.
Not to mention the quality of gunpowder and artillery, just the location of the two sides' artillery is a big deal. Because the Ming Dynasty's warships are tall and large, the Ming army's artillery must naturally be installed at a higher position.
This is what is meant by "stand high and hit far."
But this is only one of the reasons. Another reason is that the Ming army's artillery, whether in terms of quality or range, is indeed a level higher than that of the Japanese even under the same circumstances.
Just as Xiaodao Man was cursing, the Ming army's second round of artillery fire began.
More than a hundred shells whizzed in, but this time the distance was closer. Several of the Ming army's shells even landed directly on the deck of the Japanese warship.
The solid iron shells created a big hole when they hit the Japanese warships. For a moment, wood was shattered and scattered on the Japanese warships, and screams were heard one after another. It was obvious that the second round of artillery fire by the Ming army had caused substantial casualties to the Japanese army.
Listening to the screams that came one after another, Xiaodao Man looked back. He never expected things to turn out like this.
His own warships were charging in a V-formation. The warships at the back had not suffered any serious casualties, but the leading warships had all suffered varying degrees of bombardment, especially his command ship, Kojima Man.
In order to show his bravery, Mitsuru Kojima actually led his command ship to charge at the Ming army warships. His courage was commendable, but it was also a bit stupid. If the command ship was sunk, then who could command the twenty warships? If they fought on their own, they would probably be slowly annihilated.
Xiao Daoman thought for a moment and said: "Pass the order, the command ship stays where it is, and let the other warships speed up and rush forward. Even if we have to collide, we must sink those Ming warships that are blocking the way."
Since the war broke out, let’s not talk about what happened before. Let’s just talk about now. Kojima Man’s command ship actually stopped. It was already within the coverage range of the Ming army’s artillery. Why did it stop?
It’s better to charge forward in one go.
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