Duke of Goa.
Fleet commander Domingo was on the deck, escorting the drunken pirate leaders off the ship. He followed the Ming Dynasty etiquette, crossed his arms and clasped his fists, and repeatedly said polite words like "I'm sorry for the poor hospitality" and "Come and play again, sir" in a strange tone.
This was one of many mistakes Domingo made tonight, seemingly small but causing great damage.
Because whether in the Ming Dynasty or in Europe, the act of the host seeing off the guests itself meant that the servants could clock out and go home.
The sailors, who had been busy all night, were already very tired and naturally relaxed when they saw this. Those on the weather deck were better, yawning repeatedly but still trying to stand.
On the gun deck where the commander could not see, the sailors collapsed and began to snore loudly.
Even the Portuguese officer turned a blind eye, left his post and ran to the stern porthole to smoke.
So much so that when they heard the shout of 'Ataque', they thought someone was talking in their sleep.
Just as they were about to laugh at him, a deafening sound of cannon fire rang in their ears!
Everyone on the Duke of Goa couldn't help but change their expressions. Commander Domingo looked up blankly and saw the orange-yellow flames flickering in the thick fog.
The sea lords only felt a slight tremor under their feet, followed by a loud bang, and banging sounds came from the artillery deck, along with screams from many people.
Lin Daoquan was so scared that he immediately lay down on the deck. He looked again and saw that Zeng Yiben and others had all hid in the blind spot where the artillery could not reach.
"You don't have to do this. Western sailing ships are not afraid of cannons..." Lin Hongzhong still wanted to save face for his master.
Before he finished speaking, another cannon shot was heard. And this time it was not only from the port side, but also from the starboard side.
Domingo also saw clearly that his flagship was being attacked from the left and right by two large sailing ships. As their ships slowly crossed with the Duke of Goa, more and more cannons began to roar, and thick white smoke rose.
"What are you standing there for? Fight back, fight back!" Domingo roared at his confused men.
The officers and crew on the open deck woke up from their dreams and quickly opened the gun ports to load shells. The gunpowder man ran down to get the gunpowder barrels.
For safety reasons, the Portuguese warships separated their ammunition. The shells could be placed in boxes next to the cannons, but the propellant had to be kept separately - usually in the safest part of the warship. The gunpowder compartment of the Duke of Goa was located one level below the gun deck, in the center. It was not vulnerable to attack and was also convenient for the gunners on the gun deck to use.
The gunpowder men were all nimble teenagers of about thirteen or fourteen years old. They rushed down the weather deck like the wind, but before they could go to the next level, they were stunned by the tragic situation on the gun deck.
I saw that there were several holes as big as washbasins on the oak hull on both sides, which was several feet thick.
Moreover, wherever a shell hit, the ground was in a mess, and everything was smashed to pieces. The flesh and blood of the crew and gunners were no exception, with broken limbs and internal organs scattered all over the ground, and even the roof of the warehouse was splattered with blood.
How is this possible? The boys were extremely shocked. In their minds, the double-layer thick oak hull should be extremely strong, and shells fired from a long distance could not penetrate it at all. Even shells fired from close range could only make a hole as big as a bowl in the hull. The crew could usually lie down to avoid it, and rarely got hurt.
Fortunately, shells continued to come in, answering their questions on the spot.
The sharp-eyed boy noticed that after the huge shell broke through the hull, it would not only destroy everything in its path, but also have the effect of a grapeshot scatter attack. Lying on the ground would be useless as one would still be shot into a pulp.
What the hell is this weapon?!
~~
This kind of weapon is called Super Hongxi Cannon!
When Mr. Zhao decided that the Coast Guard would mainly use artillery, he ordered Zhao Shizhen to design and manufacture three types of cannons:
The Yongle Cannon was modeled after the Big Napoleon Cannon; the Xuande Cannon was modeled after the Small Napoleon Cannon; and the Hongxi Cannon was modeled after the Carronade Cannon.
The Hongxi Cannon has a large caliber and a short barrel, and looks very funny. Its shells are heavy and powerful, but because the barrel is too short, the range is too short, and the trajectory is very random, it is naturally unable to attack long-distance targets. Therefore, it has always been used as a close-in defense gun in the Coast Guard Fleet to attack enemy ships that attempt to approach the boarding. It can also fire grapeshot or shotgun shells, and cooperate with the big Portuguese machine gun to clear personnel on nearby enemy ships.
Therefore, this short heavy artillery did not have a high status in the Coast Guard at first. Even Zhao Shizhen clamored that the Yongle Cannon was the best cannon and there was no need for a larger caliber.
It was not until they obtained two large Western sailing ships through the "hunting operation" and saw the oak hulls that were tens of centimeters thick with their own eyes that they realized that there were times when the Yongle cannons were not enough...
The shooting test conducted by the 00 Institute found that among all the types of artillery at that time, when facing the side guard plates and hulls of large sailing ships, the best performance was the Hongxi cannon - it could shatter within 50 meters and penetrate the hull of a large sailing ship within 20 meters.
Although the Yongle Cannon can also do this, it is equivalent to a gun at this distance. Shooting accuracy is just a passing cloud. The larger the caliber, the greater the power!
Therefore, under the strong request of Wang Rulong and other maritime police generals, the Xishan Island Arsenal began to cast the larger caliber Yongle cannon - the Hongwu cannon, and the larger caliber Hongxi cannon - the super Hongxi cannon!
The latter's caliber reached a terrifying 161 mm, and a solid shell weighed 28 kilograms!
Moreover, Wang Rulong also used an extremely perverted double-shot bullet!
The so-called double-shot means loading two shells into the gun barrel at the same time, such as a solid bullet and a grapeshot. When fired, the solid bullet first penetrates the hull, and then dozens of lead bullets fly in from the bullet hole, sweeping across the deck in a fan-shaped manner. Its power is extremely terrifying!
However, this would further shorten the already pitiful effective range of the Hongxi Cannon. Even the Super Hongxi Cannon could only guarantee damage within 50 meters, and would be useless beyond that.
The problem is that normally, the Portuguese, with their terrifying firepower and superb ship-handling skills, would never let the enemy ship get so close. With the half-sized galleons of the Coast Guard fleet, they would probably be riddled with bullets before they even got within a hundred meters.
Therefore, Zhao Hao never forced the Coast Guard Fleet to destroy the Spanish galleons. He just asked them to act accordingly and save themselves, as long as they could contain the enemy.
But how proud was Wang Rulong? How sturdy were the captains from the Qi Family Army? How could they be satisfied with such a minor harassment?
They had been holding back their efforts from the very beginning, wanting to completely destroy these four large sailing ships!
Therefore, Wang Rulong has been waiting, waiting for the opportunity to 'put the muzzle of the gun against the enemy's belly'!
Now that the fleeting opportunity has finally appeared and has been seized, let's gamble our honor and lives and fight to the death!
The short heavy guns on the upper and lower decks of ships 102 and 103 roared at the same time! One after another, solid shells continuously hit the belly of the Duke of Goa. Because the initial velocity of the shells was low and the weight was large, the power was actually close to the fragmentation effect. Each shell would dig a hole as big as a washbasin, clearing the way for the grapeshot behind!
As the two ships continued to advance, more and more artillery fire joined in. At first, there were a dozen egg-sized projectiles, followed by dozens, hundreds, and hundreds of grapeshot, sweeping everything on the gun deck from both sides without blind spots.
The only downside was that because these two ships were half-sized galleons, even the upper deck guns could not hit the Duke of Goa's weather deck. So the two decks were actually hitting the other side's gun deck... which was the second deck from the top. This could completely destroy everything on the gun deck, but it could not completely destroy the Duke of Goa's combat effectiveness.
Then, with a unique whistling sound, one Oda City rocket after another took off into the sky, shooting directly at the upper deck of the Duke of Goa, the branch-like mast, the spider-web-like rigging, and the rolls of sails.
The two sides were so close that they could even throw Chacha grenades, but unfortunately they were no longer able to do so...
~~
Suffering a sudden and horrific blow, the Duke of Goa was in complete chaos.
"Pull the anchor! Pull the anchor!"
"It's on fire! Put it out!"
"Where's the gunpowder? Why haven't you brought it yet?"
"My leg is gone, doctor, doctor..."
Screams and shouts were heard, and people were running around like headless flies. From time to time, rockets with long tail flames were fired, which instantly turned the huddled sailors into a string of candied haws.
Domingo shouted desperately, trying to calm his crew. But the enemy would not die with him. Lin Hongzhong had quietly escaped into the officers' dining room. This guy was very cunning and knew that the enemy's ship was short and it was safest to be high up.
In order to avoid the whizzing rockets, he even hid under the dining table.
Who would have thought that when I lifted the tablecloth and went in, there were already people hiding underneath.
Lin Daoquan, Zeng Yiben, Jiaohuo Lao, Zhu Liangbao and other sea lords had already moved here.
"Excuse me, make some room." Lin Hongzhong squeezed in while smiling awkwardly, his arrogance no longer visible.
At such a dangerous moment, Lin Daoquan and his friends were in no mood to make sarcastic remarks, so they made room for him.
~~
At this time, ships 102 and 103 passed the Duke of Goa and headed towards the Regales which was a few dozen meters away.
The pressure on the Duke of Goa was relieved. Domingo immediately took the opportunity to gather his men who had suffered heavy losses and quickly restore their combat effectiveness.
The three most urgent things at the moment were to put out the dozens of fires caused by the rockets and rescue the sails; to quickly pull up the anchor and get the battleship back into action; and to get the damn gunpowder!
Domingo had just assigned tasks to the captured officers when the sound of artillery fire rang out again...
"It's never going to end..." Domingo felt like crying when he saw two more warships approaching.
The 104 ship was on the left, and the Zhenwo was on the right, and they once again clamped the already hollowed-out Duke of Goa, spewing out orange-yellow flames!
The gun crews of the two ships have pushed the tail screws of all the guns to the highest position, allowing the muzzles to be pressed down as much as possible to shoot, in an effort to penetrate the waterline of the Duke of Goa!
As for why the muzzle is not raised, what if the projectile hits our own people on the opposite side?
This is a cannon...
p.s. Keep writing.