Chapter 1562 Sir, Times Have Changed

In any case, the Spaniards' favorite melee rhythm finally arrived.

However, the high side of the Liu Daxia, the eternal sinner, became an obstacle in front of them. Even standing on the bow turret of the Gallese, it was still more than ten feet away from the lowest part of the Liu Daxia deck.

"Ladder, find a ladder quickly!" the Spanish infantrymen who were preparing to board the ship shouted.

Well, the boarding battle turned into a siege battle again...

Soon, facts proved that even if the naval battle turned into a land battle, the advantage was still on Liu Daxia's side.

Lin Feng and her subordinates not only have the advantage of defending the city from a high position, but also have a variety of defensive means at their disposal, such as the large Portuguese swivel cannon, Hongxi short heavy cannon, Gatmu thunder gun, Oda City rocket, Chacha grenade, boiling water and boiling oil.

The firepower output was much stronger than the previous exchange of fire from a distance of several hundred meters...

The Spanish infantry still had to attack from above and climb ladders to get to the deck. What's the difference between this and delivering food?

Although they also fought back with muskets, the firepower was far from enough and they were suppressed by Lin Feng's subordinates and could not raise their heads.

Groups of Spaniards were shot and fell into the water, and the lifeboats couldn't rescue them...

The sea surface was soon dyed red, and from a distance it looked like the sea was bleeding.

The Spanish soldiers could not withstand such a terrible blow and rushed from the upper deck to the lower deck for refuge like water draining from a bathtub.

Although they were both serving in the colonies, the fighting spirit of the soldiers serving in America, a place that had been conquered for a long time, and the soldiers who went to Luzon to open up new land thousands of miles away were obviously not on the same level.

The archers in the high mast hanging baskets suffered a heavy blow. The Ming army used revolving cannons to shoot them into sieves. Several hanging baskets were directly destroyed by chain bullets, and the five archers inside and their heavy matchlock guns were cut into several pieces, turning into a rain of blood that fell on the faces and heads of the soldiers below.

The remaining four Spanish warships that did not catch up with the first wave of impact originally wanted to insert themselves into Liu Daxia from another angle, but they were frightened by the one-sided massacre and did not dare to get close. They turned around and prepared to chase the other four Ming warships.

No matter that the other person has been gone for almost two hours, where are you going to chase him?

Well, I just want to escape. Anyway, it's important to go home safely... The money belongs to your Majesty, but your life is your own.

The four escaping warships, in turn, undermined the will of the eight warships that surrounded and attacked Liu Daxia...

The term "gang-beating" here means that eight people form a circle and are beaten by one person.

So the captains ordered the white flag to be hoisted, requesting a ceasefire. At the same time, the oarsmen rowed backwards with all their might, and the Spanish soldiers used their spears to push against the hull of Liu Daxia's ship, trying to pull out the ram as soon as possible so that they could retreat.

Lin Feng had no intention of killing them all, so he ordered the firing to stop.

First, although she would treat people to wonton noodles, she was not bloodthirsty.

Second, any further firing would be a complete waste of precious ammunition.

This is a battle fought in a place 60,000 miles away from home. Replenishing ammunition is extremely difficult, and the quality is far inferior to the ammunition they carry with them. So how can we not be careful with our money?

Then a funny scene appeared. The two groups who were fighting to the death just now stopped at the same time and worked together to help the paddle boat pull out the ram.

It was not until the evening that the last paddle boat's ram was finally pulled out with a "pop" sound...

The Spanish army claimed to be the world's hegemon, so they still had to keep their word. Since they had surrendered, they stopped chasing south and turned their ships to the west coast of Cuba, withdrawing from the battle...

In fact, the main reason was that they suffered too heavy losses. Not only were more than half of the soldiers killed or wounded, but the ship was also leaking badly. If they didn't quickly find a harbor to repair the ship, it would sink very quickly.

Here, the Liu Daxia was in tatters. Although the hull was not seriously damaged, the only remaining rudder was broken just now and it urgently needed to drop anchor for repairs.

However, the water in the strait was too deep and too fast, and the wind was too strong. Even if the anchor cable was lowered to the head, it was impossible to stop the boat. How could the carpenter be asked to complete such a difficult task?

This did not bother Lin Feng, so she simply decided not to repair it. She asked someone to tie the broken rudder with a rope to prevent it from being lost. Then she lowered four small boats, but did not untie the moorings.

In this way, when the boat needs to turn left, all the boats are rowed to the left. All the crew members on the boat stand on the port side to act as counterweights, which can make the boat tilt slightly to the seat, so that it can slowly turn the direction.

An excellent captain can overcome any difficulties and bring his crew home. This is even more basic for Lin Feng.

~~

Liu Daxia, who had a lame leg, was walking slowly behind, while the people in front were already two hundred miles away.

The chase ended only when it was completely dark.

But the Spaniards knew that the Ming pirates would not let them go. They would definitely continue to follow them in the dark and come out again at dawn tomorrow.

On the flagship of the escort fleet, Colonel Tiago dared not even turn on the lights. In order to hide his tracks, he was not allowed to cook for dinner. He himself only ate white bread with ham, Spanish cheese, and of course, sherry from his homeland.

Although it was far less than the sumptuous dinner last night, his appetite was surprisingly good. He had consumed too much today.

He used all his skills and utilized the galley's flexibility and maneuverability to the extreme, and protected the four treasure ships at great risk.

But the price paid is also heavy.

While they were eating, Lieutenant Colonel Aguero came in to report the damage.

"At the moment, there are only five Gallican warships left, including the flagship, and all of them are injured. The schooners and galleys in the fleet were also sunk or rammed by the Ming devils..."

Although we still don’t know what the situation of the rear team is, once we are separated by the vast ocean, we can’t expect to reunite at sea. So it is very likely that these five Calais boats will still fight tomorrow.

The colonel immediately lost his appetite. After a long while, he took the wine glass and drank it all, washing down the food in his mouth. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and sighed in the darkness: "I can't imagine that such a situation with a great advantage in military strength would lead to such a result..."

"Your Excellency, don't blame yourself." Aguero said half comfortingly and half seriously: "If any other naval commander of the empire were to come, there would be no better result."

"What's the problem?" the colonel murmured. "How can we fight for a whole day and not even achieve any results?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you, sir." Aguero sighed and said, "I think this is not a problem of command, nor is it related to the quality of the soldiers. It's just that maybe our tactics are outdated. Or maybe the Portuguese, who we have laughed at for so many years, are right..."

"..." The colonel listened to him in silence. This topic was too sensitive. As a steady noble, he should not rashly express his opinion like a civilian officer.

"In fact, the tactics of the Ming people are full of the shadow of the Portuguese... Their captains and sailors are skilled in driving their ships to form a single column, concentrating the use of the cannons on one side of the ship, and replacing boarding battles with long-range artillery fire. This is what the Portuguese have advocated and practiced for many years!"

Aguero opened up and became more and more excited as he spoke: "We have always laughed at them for being afraid of death! We insisted on and immersed ourselves in the melee mode, using the galleys only as a means of transportation and fire support. We used the galleys to charge in formation at sea under the cover of the galleys' artillery, just like the army!"

These words made the colonel's face turn red. If he didn't know Aguero's character well, he would have dismantled the treasure ship's broadside cannons just because this lowly civilian officer was accusing him in a veiled way.

"Someone has also raised the question of what to do if the Portuguese keep their distance and fire at us. The answer is that we can only pursue them in vain, and it is very likely that we will end up with a draw and fail to win the favor of the goddess of victory." The lieutenant colonel sighed again.

"But no one has ever thought about what would happen if the enemy's artillery skills were greatly improved and could cause damage at a long distance? Today, this question is before us, and we have the answer..."

He said word by word: "Sir, times have changed! Tactics and strategies based on the old times will be useless even if we replace them with the latest weapons. The Empire... must change our naval tactics!"

"Have you said enough?!" Colonel Tiago finally couldn't help but scolded, "I just think that what you said today was nonsense because of the heavy casualties. Don't mention it again in the future! Otherwise, if someone hears it, my family will not be able to protect you!"

"..." The lieutenant colonel was immediately struck as if by a heavy blow, and smiled bitterly: "I know that after the Battle of Lepanto, the generals in the Mediterranean are in their heyday, and the royal family is also proud of the current tactics."

"That's right." The colonel said in a slow tone, "Don't be the one who spoils the fun at a party full of laughter and joy."

The lieutenant colonel was not a young boy. In Spain, where class was rigidified, even with the support of the nobles, it would take a lot of hardship for a commoner like him to become a lieutenant colonel in the navy. What else did he not understand?

But he was still a little unwilling, because people of his age had almost grown up on the road to Spanish greatness. He was really proud of the empire and didn't want the empire to go the wrong way.

The lieutenant colonel lowered his head and muttered to himself: "Are we just going to watch the empire go further and further down the wrong path?"

"Are you worthy enough to worry about such a problem?" Colonel Tiago said sarcastically, and then he thought about how he still had to rely on the other party, so he laughed at himself and said, "Of course I am not worthy enough. So let's think about how to get through tomorrow's level."

"Yes." Lieutenant Colonel Aguero put away his thoughts a little discouraged, and said with all his strength: "I think maybe we should avoid it and hide."

"You mean?" the colonel suddenly asked, "Guantanamo Bay?"

"Yes." Aguero nodded and said, "It's less than two leagues away. If we hide inside overnight, we will definitely be able to get rid of those pirates!"

"At the same time, send another clipper ship to Santo Domingo for help." The colonel's eyes lit up and he said, "Wait for the main fleet to come to support us!"

This is indeed the safest way now. As I said before, for a noble officer like him, as long as the treasure ship is not in trouble, everything is a small problem.

He turned his head and looked out the porthole. The night sky was clear and visibility was very good.

"Okay, pass the order quickly!" The colonel made up his mind and ordered in a deep voice.

ps. Next update will be in ten minutes.

(End of this chapter)