Chapter 440: Battle of Hangzhou Bay 1
"Do we have hope, brother?" Zheng Zhifeng asked.
"There is still hope. Shi Lang's fleet is not well coordinated. Our people have been fighting on the sea for many years and have a tacit understanding of cooperation, which is something Shi Lang's fleet cannot compare with. Tell my commander! Gather all the small boats and attack them with fire. Divide the fleet into two routes. You lead the team in a big circle and attack Shi Lang's fleet from behind." Zheng Zhilong said.
"Yes!" Zheng Zhifeng had no choice but to agree to his elder brother's order. He knew his elder brother's idea was to recreate the tactics of the Liaoluo Bay Battle.
Shi Lang's fleet was under repair. The crew was not proficient in operating the new ships, and the coordination between the ships was not tacit. It was all thanks to the advanced weapons on the ships. Otherwise, if the old ships and weapons were used, his fleet would have been wiped out by Zheng Zhilong yesterday.
Shi Lang stood on his flagship, the Zheng He, and stroked the cannons, which were superior to Zheng Zhilong's fleet in terms of range, accuracy, and power.
The artillery, in particular, not only had a long range and great power, but also had a gun aiming device. With this in hand, and after previous training by Wan Shan and General Zhou, these artillerymen were the reason Shi Lang dared to lead these new recruits into battle against his old employer.
Yesterday at Chongming Island, it was clear that Zheng Zhilong's fleet could have been surrounded, but due to improper operation of the ships, a gap was left for Zheng Zhilong, allowing them to escape.
After finally intercepting them in Hangzhou Bay, Shi Lang said to the messenger, "Send the order immediately. Arrange the fleet in a circle. Small ships on the outside, medium ships on the second, and the giant warships at the end."
"Yes!" The messenger immediately rushed out of the operations room and conveyed the flag signal to each ship.
Shi Lang's fleet immediately moved like a machine, with each ship beginning to maneuver, some forward, some turning around, and some back. It was both clumsy and orderly.
Zheng Zhilong's fleet had already begun to attack, and Zheng Zhifeng ordered: "Fireship fleet! Attack!"
With flags waving, those jujube-shaped speedboats rushed towards Shi Lang's fleet at the fastest speed.
Zheng Zhilong brought hundreds of these fireboats, and large ships often carried four or five, specifically for the purpose of using fire attacks.
A fireship usually consisted of five people: a captain and the other five were rowers. The captain directed the ship, set the fire, and then ordered the ship to be abandoned and the crew to flee back to their own fleet.
Moreover, the fire ship had long nails on the front. If it approached other warships, it would use the impact of the ship to drive the nails on the bow into the enemy ship. Then the flammable material on the bow would quickly ignite the enemy ship.
On a fireboat, a small captain of the Zheng army commanded his small fireboat fleet to attack Shi Lang's fleet.
The four oarsmen on board rowed vigorously, shouting slogans as the fireship slowly began to set sail. As their speed increased, the fireship also began to speed up. Eventually, it became faster and faster, and it seemed that Shi Lang's fleet was about to complete its formation. They slipped through the gap between the two ships and arrived at the second level of the medium-sized warships.
The captain saw a warship spewing flames and immediately said to the rowers behind him, "Charge to the ship in front of you on the left!"
The four oarsmen began to paddle hard in that direction. The fireboat was getting faster and faster, but more and more bullets were fired from the opposite warship. One of the bullets hit the arm of one of the oarsmen, and the oarsman immediately fell into the water.
The rower fell into the sea injured and bleeding, and was basically dead. His blood would attract sharks, and he would soon be eaten by the fish.
Seeing that the fireboat was about to rush to the enemy, the captain immediately ignited the fuel at the bow and shouted to the three remaining rowers at the back: "Retreat!"
The team leader jumped into the sea first, and the other three rowers followed suit. After diving a long way into the sea, they finally emerged from the water. The team leader smiled and looked back at his achievements.
The imagined scene of the fireship clinging to the enemy ship and setting it ablaze did not occur. Instead, the enemy ship's hull, near the surface, was pierced with numerous small holes, from which protruded countless iron rods. His fireship was blocked by these iron rods. The sailors on board threw grenades from below, which sank the fireship in a few seconds.
The sailors on Shi Lang's fleet took advantage of the large number of people on board, and dozens of them threw grenades at the fireship together, and there were always a few grenades that hit the fireship.
But not all the fire ships were kept out. Many of them had their bows stuck into Shi Lang's ships, and the fire spread rapidly.
But the sailors on the ship did not panic. A fire-fighting team immediately came with the foam fire extinguisher that Zhao Xiaofei bought from the 21st Century and rushed towards the burning fireship and their own ship.
The foam immediately extinguished this primitive burner made of petroleum or animal fat.
However, two ships were unlucky and were pinned down by several fire ships at the same time. Even with fire extinguishers, they could not put out the fire. The captain had no choice but to order the abandonment of ship!
"Hurry! This ship cannot be saved, abandon ship immediately! Abandon ship immediately!" the captain shouted.
The sailors on the ship immediately jumped into the sea from the area where there was no fire, splashing like dumplings.
Shi Lang's fleet was thrown into chaos by Zheng Zhilong's fireships before it could form a formation.
The first round of fleet lost ten small warships, while the second round of fleet completed the formation change at the cost of five warships.
Then Shi Lang's fleet artillery began to show its power. First, they used small cannons to shoot at the attacking fire ships on the sea, knocking these small fire ships into the sea one by one.
Zheng Zhilong took advantage of the chaos in Shi Lang's fleet and immediately seized the upper hand. He began to approach Shi Lang's fleet rapidly and then fired intensively.
The rumble of artillery fire echoed between the fleets, and ships from both fleets were occasionally hit. Shi Lang's fleet was only damaged in a few places, while Zheng Zhilong's warships were hit by Shi Lang's artillery, and they suffered heavy casualties.
Because Zheng Zhilong's artillery used solid bullets, while Shi Lang's fleet had a wider range of artillery shells, with powerful shrapnel shells being the basic configuration, as well as incendiary shells and chain shells.
However, even so, due to insufficient training and coordination among the officers and soldiers of Shi Lang's fleet, Zheng Zhilong's fleet still approached the outermost circle of Shi Lang's fleet.
The two sides engaged in a boarding battle, which was the specialty of Zheng Zhilong's navy.
Even if Shi Lang's fleet had long hooks on board, they would not be able to stop these desperate bandits.
"Kill!" A Zheng soldier jumped onto the enemy ship, raised the scimitar in his hand and chopped off the sailor's head with one stroke.
Blood spurted from the sailor's neck, and he fell to his knees on the deck. Led by the Zheng soldier, they rushed towards the other sailors.
Captain Shi Jun drew his sword and ordered the musketeers on the ship to fire at Zheng's army.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, a burst of fireworks passed, and a large number of the fierce Zheng army fell. Soon, the Zheng army soldiers who jumped over were killed.
"Don't panic, the muskets in your hands are not fire sticks, shoot! Throw grenades at the enemy ships!" the captain shouted.
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