When Wang Rulong returned to the deck, the fog on the sea disappeared, and the vision suddenly became good. He could see the warships fighting ten kilometers away.
The sea was filled with smoke. The coast guard warships, which had already occupied the leeward position in advance, blocked all the Spanish sailing ships in the strait and began the final slaughter.
It seems that the situation is crushing everywhere...except for the Kaiyuan which has to face five enemy ships alone.
"Commander-in-chief, we are going to have a fierce battle!" Meiling put on a half-body steel plate armor with a neck guard for him, and replaced his helmet with a phoenix-wing helmet that could provide better defense.
"Hahaha, Xiaomei, I'll inconvenience you a little today. How about being my navigator?" Wang Rulong was in surprisingly good condition, with all the vigor and vitality he had in his youth.
"As long as you don't call me Xiaomei, we can discuss anything." Meiling said depressedly.
"Okay, Xiaomei." Lao Wang nodded.
"Shit..." Mei Ling rolled his eyes and announced loudly: "The commander-in-chief takes over Kaiyuan!"
"Yes, sir!" The morale of more than 400 officers and soldiers was boosted immediately after hearing the order. It's not that Meiling is incompetent, but Wang Rulong is the spirit of the Coast Guard!
New recruits may not understand the significance of this order, but veterans are more excited because they know this is the commander-in-chief's farewell performance!
One by one, the old hands stopped their slacking off and kicked the young people off their jobs, rolling up their sleeves and taking on the tasks themselves.
You must perform at your highest level to be worthy of being the commander-in-chief's final battle!
Kaiyuan's artillery sergeant Chu Liuxiang is no exception. This model figure of the coast guard has not fired cannons himself for many years. Many young people only know that he is the first sergeant in the coast guard force. Many police officers will take the initiative to salute him when they see him. He is an outstanding veteran.
But few people know that he was once a famous artillery king of the Coast Guard.
Chu Liuxiang has been working hard silently. After studying hard in the artillery major of the Coast Guard School, he regained the title of the number one long-range shooter!
Moreover, not only can he shoot accurately himself, he can also lead others to shoot accurately. The entire artillery deck of Kaiyuan is under his command!
"Sergeant Chu Liuxiang!" At this time, the messenger with red armbands, holding a copper trumpet, shouted loudly at the hatch: "The commander-in-chief ordered you to shoot at the enemy ship at nine o'clock. If you can paralyze it from a distance of one thousand meters, you will be awarded a plaque of "God of Guns"!"
Amid the laughter of several surveyors and artillery commanders, Chu Liuxiang responded loudly: "Please rest assured, commander-in-chief, I will ensure that the mission is completed!"
Then he turned around and yelled, "What are you doing? Just stand there!"
"Hey, hey." Several surveyors quickly started to do the surveying work themselves.
As the artillery of the Coast Guard has developed, the role of surveyors has become increasingly important. Their task is to determine the target's direction and distance at any time, as well as the impact point after shooting.
The direction is simple and can be determined directly using the steering wheel.
Distance is more difficult. The thumb distance measurement method commonly taught by artillery instructors is convenient, but not accurate enough and too dependent on experience. Therefore, the Xishandao Optical Research Institute developed a one-meter rangefinder for them.
With this device, combined with simple trigonometric functions, the target distance can be quickly determined, greatly improving the reaction speed and observation accuracy of the gun crew, and it is very popular among marine officers and soldiers. However, the one-meter rangefinder is listed as a special controlled material, with only four equipped on battleships and two on cruisers. Moreover, it is recovered upon landing and kept by the Equipment Department, and is not allowed to be leaked.
With the help of instruments, the surveyors quickly calibrated the direction and distance of the enemy ship, and then substituted the parameters into the pre-established shooting table to obtain the specific shooting parameters.
However, whether or not you can hit the target still depends on luck. There is no such thing as hitting the target 100% of the time. The significance of these observations and calculations is to improve the hit rate.
Without these technologies, the artillery's hit rate at a distance of more than 1,000 meters is close to zero. With these technologies, the hit rate for fixed targets can be half, and the hit rate for moving targets can also be 10% to 20%. If you think the hit rate is not high, then be more efficient and try to fire more shots. The hit rate will naturally go up.
In addition, experienced or talented gunners can significantly improve their hit rate.
For example, Chu Liuxiang, through studying at the Coast Guard School, already knew why he was more accurate than others in firing cannons. It turned out that he not only had extraordinary eyesight, but also had a strong sense of three-dimensionality. This gift of "physical perception" made him naturally know how to send the damn cannonball to the target.
Of course, one must be familiar with the characteristics of each gun and have a good understanding of the performance of different amounts of propellant. It is no wonder that the gun commander earns a high salary, because it is not only dangerous, but also requires talent and hard work.
When the 800-ton Spanish galleon entered the maximum effective range of 1,500 meters, Chu Liuxiang ordered the odd-numbered gun positions on the port side to conduct test firing in sequence.
As for the even-numbered gun positions, they are all equipped with Hongxi cannons, so they will not join in the fun.
The gunners had already adjusted the muzzles according to the shooting parameters. In order to achieve a better observation effect, they fired a shot at an interval of 5 seconds. After all 10 shots were fired, they found that none of them hit the target.
But it doesn’t matter, the purpose of this round of firing is to see the splash.
Chu Liuxiang listened attentively to the surveyor loudly reporting the impact point he had measured, which was roughly the same as his, so he walked back from the front of the deck with a serious expression. When he came to a gun position, he reported two numbers to the gunner, who quickly turned the bolt to fine-tune the muzzle height and direction.
"Fire!" After the last gun was adjusted, Chu Liuxiang felt the shaking of the deck and gave the order in a deep voice at the most appropriate time.
The gunners pulled the gun ropes at the same time!
Amid the rumbling sounds of cannons, the gun deck of Kaiyuan began the second round of port side firing.
The observer who was standing upwind quickly called out the number of bullets hit:
"One missed the target to the left! Three missed the target by one point! Five hit the front sail! The hook hit the forecastle! The hook missed the target to the right, and One missed the target by two points to the right..."
The so-called near miss means that the impact point is very close to the target. Although it did not hit the target directly, it cannot be expected to be higher, so when calculating the hit rate, it is considered a hit. In the era of spherical shells, it is so humane...
As a result, three shots hit the target and three missed the target in this round of shooting!
The gunners cheered. Today was a real eye-opener. They shot at a moving target at a very long distance, and after one round of test firing, they had a 60% hit rate. They really deserve to be called the artillery king!
Chu Liuxiang still had no expression on his face. He walked from the stern to the bow and issued a new round of instructions to each gun position.
At this time, the two sides were 1,200 meters apart.
After the gunners made adjustments, they fired the third salvo with a loud bang. Before the smoke cleared, cheers of "Niu Boyi Niu Boyi" were heard from the weather deck.
Sure enough, this round, three out of six were near misses!
Moreover, one of the shells hit the foremast of the sailing ship, breaking it in two!
The cheers were naturally due to the collapsed mast.
Chu Liuxiang continued his efforts and commanded the artillery crew to launch the fourth round of salvos at 1000 meters. This time the result was even more astonishing: eight hits and two near misses!
Every shot hits its target!
Looking at the Spanish sailing ship, it had lost all its upper masts, most of the rigging of the lower masts had been blown away, and the main sail had been torn into strips by the cannonballs, and it had almost lost its ability to move...
Chu Liuxiang then breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his forehead, at least he did not embarrass himself.
~~
On the command platform, Wang Rulong couldn't close his mouth for a long time. In fact, what he meant was that he started shooting from a distance of 1,000 meters, but he didn't expect that Chu Liuxiang would be able to finish it at a distance of 1,000 meters.
"Haha, good, full of energy! These are my soldiers!" But he was immediately overjoyed and shouted, "Today's weather is fine, with no wind or waves, perfect for firing cannons! What are you kids still standing there for? Fuck them!"
The gunners, unwilling to be outdone, roared and fired at the enemy ships within a thousand meters. Although they did not have the magical skills of the cannon king, their hit rate within a thousand meters was still decent.
Orange flames continued to spew out from both sides of the Kaiyuan. Wang Rulong commanded the warship to calmly adjust its course so that the artillery on both sides could be in a favorable shooting position and give a head-on blow to the approaching enemy ships.
At 7:30 in the morning, he maneuvered the warship through the middle of the 1,000-ton "Florence" and the 800-ton "San Lorenzo". Both sides fired at the same time, and the fierce longitudinal fire turned the Florence into a wreck. In less than half a minute, more than 200 Spaniards on the Florence were knocked down.
The San Lorenzo was a little further away and was not harmed by the Xuande cannon, but one and a half of its three masts were broken. What was worse was that the mast fell on its deck, and the sails and rigging fell all over the deck, killing several crew members on the spot. The scene was in chaos and it was impossible to sail.
Just as Wang Rulong was about to command the warship to approach and beat the San Lorenzo into a coffin, the lookout suddenly shouted excitedly: "The enemy flagship was spotted at ten o'clock!"
Everyone looked to the left at the same time, and saw a red flag with a yellow cross hanging on the foremast of the thousand-ton galleon a kilometer away!
Because the morning sun was too dazzling, the lookout could not see the flag clearly until now.
It's really like searching for him everywhere, and when I turn around, he is standing in the dim light!
Wang Rulong pondered for a moment, but ignored the San Felipe. Instead, he ordered the ship to continue turning and go around the stern of the San Lorenzo.
Mei Ling asked in confusion: "Commander-in-chief, why don't you care about the red-haired ghost's flagship?"
"Xiaomei, remember, you must always put yourself first on the battlefield and not be led by the enemy." Wang Rulong said calmly, "The red-haired ghost's flagship is coming for us. Will it turn around and leave just because we ignore it?"
"That won't happen." Mei Ling suddenly realized, "Could it be that they have other ideas?"
"It's hard to say." Wang Rulong pointed to another thousand-ton galleon, the Queen Isabella, and said, "But don't you think its location is awkward?"
"Really! How did it go off track?" Mei Ling pondered for a moment, then slapped his forehead and said, "I see! Once we rush towards the flagship, it will be able to easily stick to our stern from the upwind side."
"That's right." Wang Rulong nodded and said, "Don't touch the tiger's butt. We can't let them succeed."
He said with a sinister smile: "Let them come to us!"