Chapter 609: Fighting the Joint Fleet

It turned out that the fleet discovered by Shi Lang was the English and Portuguese fleets.

The mission of the warships of these two countries is to attack Huangming Island.

Shi Lang didn't know their destination. After all, there was no direct conflict between the Ming Dynasty, so he asked Zheng Chenggong for advice.

Zheng Chenggong received the information that the Spanish and the Netherlands were the combined fleets of Spain and the Netherlands, and he did not know that they also included the Portuguese fleet.

The British warship did not hang the national flag, and Shi Lang was not aware of it.

"Shi Lang, which national flags they all hang? How many warships are there?"

Shi Lang raised his telescope and looked carefully:

"Governor, the three warships did not fly any national flags, but the other two warships were flying the Portuguese flags, and four armed merchant ships all hung the Portuguese flags."

Hearing that the other party had only five warships and four armed merchant ships, Zheng Chenggong said:

"Shi Lang, what we are facing now is the 100 warships of the Spanish and the Netherlands Combined Fleet. Don't provoke warships from other countries for the time being. Just nine ships cannot pose a major threat to any island with garrison in the Ming Dynasty. Ignore them and implement them according to the formulated tactics."

"yes"

Now that the fortifications of the South China Sea islands have been completed, Zheng Chenggong is not worried about the safety of other islands. His top priority is the upcoming joint fleet.

Even though the Ming Dynasty was an iron-armored warship, Zheng Chenggong did not dare to be careless in the face of more than 100 joint warships and ordered Shi Lang to let go of the Portuguese warship that did not cause trouble.

As soon as I finished talking to Shi Lang, a report from the observation post came:

"Governor, the joint fleet is nearly two nautical miles away from our fleet."

"Received, continue to pay attention."

After finishing the call with the observation post, Zheng Chenggong immediately sent an order:

"This governor Zheng Chenggong, all warships should be careful and quickly prepare for combat formations and prepare for the upcoming Red Hair Fan."

"yes"

The 15 Ming warships immediately began to turn their rudders and soon lined up horizontally on the sea surface, with shells loading, and black-hole muzzles protruding out of the cannon door.

At this time, the observation post of the Xihe Joint Fleet also found that the Ming army warships had entered a state of combat. They did not have the advanced communication equipment as the Ming army as the Ming army, so they hurried to the command cabin to report:

"Report to the colonel, two nautical miles ahead, more than a dozen Ming army warships have entered a state of combat."

Spanish commander Garcelo was stunned:

"Oh, it seems that the Ming army has received news of our joint fleet a long time ago and is actually waiting here.

"Transfer to my order, twenty Spanish warships and twenty Dutch warships advanced rapidly, and arranged an array of 800 meters away from the Ming army. The other warships and soldiers were divided into two groups and left and right, but the warships were attacked."

"yes"

Under the command of the Spanish colonel, the joint fleet quickly formed a fan formation and quickly Bao Cao at the Ming fleet. They wanted to rely on the number of joint fleets to launch a fierce attack on the Ming warships.

The two colonels of the Joint Fleet also walked onto the deck, raised their telescopes in their hands and looked at the Ming Fleet. When they saw the Ming Iron Armored Giant Ship, their hearts were beating wildly.

"Where are their sails for such a large warship?"

This was the first time they saw an iron-armored warship. Of course, in the eyes of the Spanish colonel, the Ming warship was just armor, that is, the kind with iron plates wrapped on the outer layer of the warship.

But Colonel the Netherlands knew that the Ming Dynasty was a real giant iron-armored ship and did not use sails at all. This was also the reason why he was willing to exchange command for Ming warships.

Crui turned around and whispered to the adjutant beside him:

"Send a signal to the left-wing Dutland warships, so that they can get as close as possible to the Ming army as possible. It is best to fight the Ming army directly. We must capture two Ming army warships. Remember, as long as we can capture two Ming army warships, this victory or defeat does not matter to the Netherlands."

"yes"

The target of the joint fleet's attack this time was Luzon, which was a Spanish colony, not Batavia. Colonel the Netherlands knew very well which was important.

Before the battle was fought, Colonel Dutland had begun to be distracted. If the Spaniards knew about it, Garcelo would probably be dizzy.

At that time, although the range of naval guns could reach about three kilometers, the actual effective range was only about one kilometer, otherwise it would be difficult to hit the opponent's warship.

So during naval warfare, the West would dock warships at about 800 meters to bombard, and the same is true for the Joint Fleet today.

The forty warships of the Joint Fleet began to adjust the sails to turn the rudder when they were one nautical mile away from the Ming warship.

But as soon as their warship was halfway through, the naval guns on the Ming Iron Armored Battleship began to spit out anger.

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

Eight of the fifteen iron-armored warships of the Ming Dynasty began to violently bombard the Combined Fleet warships, and more than 400 solid bombs flew rapidly towards the Combined Fleet warships.

"Bang bang bang..."

Many shells fell on the sea around the Combined Fleet warships, picking up huge water columns, and of course some shells bombarded the warships.

The combined fleet warships were immediately bombarded with wood chips flying, and many large holes were bombarded on the warships. Many sailors who adjusted their sails on the deck were also crushed and killed by solid bullets.

The naval guns on the second and third decks were smashed a lot, and the gunners also suffered heavy casualties in the Ming army's bombardment.

However, before the joint fleet could counterattack, eight warships ended and warships began to turn rudders, while the guns on the other seven warships began to roar.

"Boom..."

"Bang bang bang..."

Hundreds of shells attacked, and the warships that rushed in the front were almost siege-shaped. Western warships generally had no sealed cabins, and the cabins began to enter water.

Both colonels of the Joint Fleet were shocked. They never expected that the Ming army's artillery fire was so fierce and its effective range was even further than theirs.

The Spanish commander of the Joint Fleet hurriedly sent an order:

"Hurry, fire me back."

"Boom..."

"Boom..."

After all, more than 100 warships participated in the battle. After the warship turned rudder, it immediately began to bombard the Ming warships.

Suddenly, the naval guns of both sides bombed violently, and many shells even collided by chance in the air, but most of the shells fell into the sea, splashing continuous huge water columns.

During a round of gunfire, two Combined Fleet warships were sunk, while the Ming warships were hit by hundreds of Combined Fleet shells, making continuous loud noises, but they were not seriously injured.

There is no way, after all, there is too much difference in number. Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty was all armored warships, otherwise they would have been beaten and sunk soon.

Zheng Chenggong sat firmly in the command cabin of Dayu. Although his opponent's advantage was obvious, he was not nervous at all. Instead, he kept using a telescope to observe the opponent's battleship's style of playing.

Soon Zheng Chenggong discovered that the firepower of the opponent's warship was too strong, and the artillery attacks of the Ming army warships were too scattered, making it difficult to sink the opponent's warships, so he immediately sent an order:

"I am Zheng Chenggong. The captains of the Ming Dynasty warships obeyed the orders. The three warships concentrated their firepower to bombard one of the opponent's warships, and tried to sink them as quickly as possible."

"yes"

The captains of the fifteen warships communicated and immediately selected a target to bombard the shelling according to Zheng Chenggong's order:

"Boom..."

"Bang bang bang..."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!