Chapter 399: The River of Territory (Second update, please subscribe)
Following the flag signal sent by the Dreadnought, the twelve dreadnoughts drew a "V"-shaped formation on the wide Paraná River like twelve sharp arrows, as if foreshadowing victory, and as if like a pair of scissors, pressing up from both wings of the Brazilian fleet.
The blade of this sharp pair of scissors is the 20mm shell whizzing out of the muzzle.
"Shells, shells, load the shells quickly..."
The gunners on the gun positions kept shouting loudly, even ignoring their caps that were blown off by the wind. The gunners were completely in a state of madness, shaking the handles like crazy, completely ignoring their fatigue. Whenever the shells were empty, they would howl and shout "shells".
As they shouted, the ammunition operator immediately inserted the magazine into the ammunition well. The 20mm shell entered the chamber under the action of gravity and rotated into the firing position as the handle turned...
“Boom…Boom…”
The dull sound of the gunfire seemed to be continuous, with about three or four rounds per second. Although a magazine only had 20 rounds, it could only sustain the firing for a few seconds. However, those shells were extremely deadly to the wooden hulled ships of the Brazilian fleet.
The four Gatling machine guns on the twelve dreadnoughts that were forming a V-shaped formation towards the enemy were pointed at the Brazilians from both sides of the ship. The rain of bullets from forty-eight Gatling machine guns created puffs of smoke on the sides of the Brazilian warships. In the continuous explosions, thousands of holes the size of bowls were blasted in their ship's planks, and the small holes became big holes, and the big holes shattered into pieces.
In an instant, the Brazilian fleet, which had been so aggressive, was attacked from both sides, like a prey caught in a spider web, and had no power to fight back.
The Brazilians did not stop resisting. They used their cannons to fiercely bombard the speedboats on the water. Four Brazilian gunboats even rushed to the wings of the "Amazon" desperately. They tried to protect the flagship with their own hulls, while the Brazilian sailors on the ships also desperately fired at the "Dreadnought" with rifles. The machine gunners also operated Gatling machine guns to try to suppress the artillery fire of the South China Army.
"Knock out their machine guns!"
Without the captain's order, Li Tao lowered the gun tail, aimed at the smoke on the top of the mast and shook the handle. Amid a burst of rapid gunfire, 20mm shells whizzed towards the top of the Brazilian warship's mast. Although many shells were fired, the machine guns on the top of the mast were still swept away in the dense rain of bullets.
Under the bombardment of both sides, the water in the river seemed to boil, and thousands of shotgun shells and rifle bullets hit the river, creating white waves.
In the whistling hail of bullets, the sailors on the "dreadnought" were killed or wounded. Facing the Brazilian sailors standing on the side and firing continuously, Li Tao directly adjusted his aim and fired at the side.
"ah……"
Amid hoarse roars, a hail of bullets swept past the side of the "Amazon", immediately setting off a bloody storm. The Brazilian sailors who were hit by the shells were shattered into pieces like broken porcelain. If they were hit in the abdomen or chest, they would be broken in half. If they were hit in the head, their heads would be shattered into pieces like eggs.
"Oh my God!"
Admiral Inacio could hardly believe the horrific sight he saw. The deck had completely turned into a slaughterhouse with mangled bodies everywhere. In his military career, he had never seen such a tragic scene.
At this moment, he seemed to understand the despair of the Paraguayans in these waters five years ago. At that time, he had relied on his strong ships and powerful guns to use his sturdy hull to sink one Paraguayan warship after another into the river.
And now?
Amid the "boom, boom" sounds of explosions, the ship's planks were blown to pieces. In the fierce battle, the distance between the enemy and us was unknowingly shortened to within two hundred steps, and the accuracy of the artillery shells became even greater.
The four gunboats that tried to protect the flagship with their flesh and blood could not withstand the dense rain of bullets. The whistling shells cut the Brazilian sailors on the deck in half in large numbers. Amidst the flying blood and flesh, the shells that hit the hull tore plate-sized holes in the thin planking. In the smoke of the explosion, the small holes were blown into large holes, and the surging river water immediately poured into the cabin. Even more deadly were the armor-piercing shells that penetrated the planking. Although the solid steel armor-piercing shells had no explosives, they easily penetrated the wrought iron boiler of the steam engine after penetrating the planking. The leaked high-pressure steam instantly enveloped the entire bottom hold. The Brazilian sailors who were desperately shoveling coal or plugging the gaps with canvas to rescue the warships did not even have time to shout before their skin was directly scalded by the high-temperature steam. The injured sailors all tried desperately to escape from the bottom hold.
After the bottom cabin was engulfed by the high-temperature steam, the small gunboat, which had lost its damage control capabilities, could only passively take the hit. The turbid river water poured into the bottom cabin unhindered from the hole.
But in just a moment, the gunboat tilted to the side, and the deck was raised high to one side. At the same time, shells hit the deck like raindrops, and the Brazilian sailors on the boat fell into the water one by one like dumplings. Then the Brazilian gunboat was torn into pieces by the shelling and sank to the bottom of the river.
The smoke from the roaring guns and the smoke coming out of the chimneys obscured the entire river surface, making it impossible to see the situation on the river clearly. However, amid the smoke, cannon fire and gunfire, the river was filled with cries for help. Although the Brazilian gunboats were only a few hundred tons, each gunboat was equipped with nearly two hundred people. They had both sailors and riflemen. In their fierce battle with the Paraguayan fleet, these riflemen even carried long knives and axes to fight on the side of the ship. Now, as four gunboats sank one after another, the scene on the river was simply horrible.
Hundreds of people struggled desperately in the water and shouted for help.
Some people were swept directly into the icy river bottom by the whirlpool caused by the sunken ship.
Many people were hit by the shells that fell into the water, and the sailors who were cut in half turned into pieces of meat floating on the water.
The red blood spread rapidly on the surface of the river. In a blink of an eye, the entire surface of the river was dyed red.
On the red river surface, the fierce battle continued, and flames from the explosions continued to rise from the sides of the Brazilian warships.
Under the flames, hundreds of mutilated corpses floated on the water.
On this river that looked like the River Styx, there were more struggling sailors. They grabbed onto the floating wood chips and tried to swim to the shore. Despair was written all over their faces.
On the hellish Styx, the battle continues...
I was so dizzy from typing yesterday that I got the chapters wrong.
(End of this chapter)
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