Chapter 55: Fireboat (I)

Because this time, all three submarines of the Yangtze River Fleet were dispatched, with a total of nearly a hundred warships, it was impossible to just line up in a column. Huang Zhen had ordered that all the cruisers, destroyers and frigates in each submarine were concentrated, and a column was formed with one cruiser, five destroyers and fourteen frigates. As the main force, the rest of the warships formed a column according to their respective formations. One, one, three, and three, a total of four columns were formed.

Huang Zhen used the cruiser Tianquan as the flagship to command battles in the formation of the First Squadron. Another cruiser Tianwei, as the flagship of the Pioneer Fleet, was led by He Jin, the captain of the First Squadron, to command the Pioneer Fleet to fight.

He Bin is 33 years old this year. He was originally from Danmin. Although he was not old, he had already gone out to sea with his parents' fishing boats since he was in his infancy. It can be said that he had been running for many years. Of course, this is also a portrayal of Danmin's life. When the Merchant Army formed the Navy, he was persuaded by his fellow villager Wu Quanfu and defected to Shang Yi's troops. He basically participated in all the battles since the establishment of the Navy and made many military achievements. In addition to training, he also participated in literacy training classes, learned to read and read, and became a senior general of the Navy step by step. When the Yangtze River Fleet was established, Huang Zhen also called him to serve as the commander of the First Squadron. In this battle, he served as the commander of the vanguard fleet.

After the fleets of both sides met, because the Tianwei was ranked first in the vanguard fleet, He Bin stood on the deck and saw it clearly that the Qing army's formation was lined up horizontally on the Yangtze River, almost cutting off the Yangtze River. Moreover, they were basically small boats of about 200 materials, with three ships as a group, connected by iron locks, each ship was about seven or eight feet apart, and there were about twenty groups in the first row, with a total of three rows of warships, all of which were like this. Behind these three rows of warships, some large ships of four or five hundred materials could also be seen.

Although He Bin felt that the formation of the Qing army was very strange, such a line-up was obviously very beneficial to the merchant army, because the Qing army had arranged the target and allowed the warships of the Yangtze River Fleet to practice shooting. Therefore, He Bin immediately ordered the vanguard fleet to immediately change from straight to oblique, sailing in the shape of "zhi", approaching the Qing army's fleet. The naval guns of each ship were also ready to fire.

Then the vanguard fleet gradually pulled into a diagonal line on the Yangtze River, and the leading Tianji number was getting closer and closer to the Qing army's horizontal formation.

Huang Zhen, who was watching the battle behind, also believed that the current situation was very beneficial to the merchant army. As long as it entered the range of the merchant army, it could launch a bombardment without hesitation. It is estimated that after each ship opened fire, nearly half of the Qing army's warships should be sunk. But I don't understand why the Qing army used iron chains to connect all the warships. I heard that the Manchus like to read [Romance of the Three Kingdoms] and it is so difficult that I don't understand the disadvantages of Lianzhou? However, the Qing army only had three ships in one company, which was different from [Romance of the Three Kingdoms], but why is this?

But before Huang Zhen could think clearly, the battle began. The Tianwei first launched an artillery bombardment on the Qing army. The Tianwei was a medium-sized warship of about 800 tons, equipped with a total of 72 artillery pieces, including twelve heavy artillery pieces, divided into three layers of plywood, and the twelve artillery pieces on the first layer of plywood fired together, launching a fierce attack on the Qing army.

Of the twelve shells in the first round, four hit the targets, hitting two boats, smashing the cabins and ships on the boat to pieces, while the remaining shells fell into the river, causing several feet high to soaring water columns. However, the shells fired by heavy artillery did not hit, so they did not cause a fatal blow to the Qing army's warships.

Immediately afterwards, the twelve artillery on the second deck also opened fire and launched an attack on the Qing army. Moreover, several destroyers following the Tianwei also entered their range and began to launch artillery attacks on the Qing army's fleet.

Suddenly, in the Qing army's array, water columns kept soaring into the sky. At least ten warships had been shot. Three of them were hit harder and began to sink into the water. The speed of the two ships connected to them was slowed down.

The start of the Yangtze River Fleet was very successful, so the soldiers and sailors on each ship were also very happy. Many people even cheered, but He Bin, who was commanding the battle on the Tianwei, found that something was wrong, because after a few minutes, there were more than ten warships of the merchant army that could open fire to attack, but the Qing army had not launched a counterattack, as if they were really a living target, and they were still sailing towards the merchant army with constant speed.

At this time, the group of serial ships closest to the Tianwei was less than fifty steps. Of course, at this time, the warships of the Qing army could not be kept in a straight line, and each group of warships was also fast and slow. Moreover, the second and third groups of warships followed, and the entire queue was all dispersed. In addition, at this time, He Bin also discovered that the Qing army's ships did not seem to be equipped with any weapons, and there were not many sailors and soldiers.

This situation is obviously abnormal. He Bin thought it was difficult to make the Qing army want to collide with him? But although a cruiser is only a medium-sized ship in the Merchant Army's navy, it is definitely a giant compared to the Qing army's warships. Even if the Qing army bumps three times, it may not be able to hit one. Once it gets closer, the Merchant Army's naval guns will play a greater role. They can sink a ship with almost one volley.

Therefore, He Bin also reminded the soldiers and sailors on the Tianwei to be careful, but they are careful of everything. In fact, even He Bin himself can't figure it out.

At this moment, a group of fire on a chain of ships opposite, and most of the hull spread in a blink of an eye. Xiongxiong's flames immediately soared into the sky, and the sailors on the ship gathered at the stern and dived and abandoned the ship and fled. However, the speed of this group of ships remained unchanged, and they rushed towards Tianwei.

"Switch the rudder, turn the rudder, turn the rudder quickly."

He Bin couldn't help but feel a little panicked at this time. Only then did he realize that the purpose of the Qing army was to use fire attack on the merchant army. In fact, fire attack was a common tactic used in water wars in this era. In the past, Zheng Zhilong relied on this move to defeat the Dutch fleet repeatedly. In the Battle of Greenwif, Britain defeated the Spanish Invincible Fleet, it also used fire ship attack as the last blow to the Spanish fleet.

In fact, the Qing army's tactical intention of using fire ships to attack was very clear. If it was an experienced naval officer and soldier, it would be estimated that the Qing army would use fire attack from the beginning when they started fighting. However, the merchant army's navy was not established for a long time, and there was not much actual combat experience. Moreover, in the past naval battles, there was never a chance that the enemy had used fire attack. Therefore, it was not until the Qing army lit a fire on the ship that they discovered this.

Under the urging of He Bin, the sailors of Tianwei tried hard to turn the rudder, adjust the sails, and change their direction. Fortunately, most of the sailors were from Danmin, and He Bin himself could be said to be the ones who grew up on the ship, all of whom were experts in the boat. With the efforts of everyone, the hull of Tianwei was changing direction bit by bit, and the three fired warships of the Qing army were gradually approaching towards Tianwei.

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, and the soldiers and sailors on the Tianwei could feel the scorching air waves. The soldiers at the bow of the boat kept stomping their feet and shouting loudly: "Hurry, hurry, hurry up!"

However, under the desperate control of the sailors, the Tianwei finally changed its sailing. The fire ship was directly driven by the center of the group of fire ships and collided with a fire ship on the left. Fortunately, the Tianwei was much larger than the other party, so it broke the fire ship by more than one meter away. Then both sides almost passed by. The flames were jumping, rolling onto the Tianwei, lit the sails on both sides.

But the gunners on the lower deck were not so nervous because they could not see the whole body. At the same time, they seized this opportunity. The guns on the two decks fired together. Under such a close attack, almost every gun hit the ground. The fire ship was immediately broken and the river water kept pouring into the hull. When the two ships passed by, the entire hull had sunk more than two or three feet.

He Bin then wiped the cold sweat from his head and said to himself: "So Xuan, so Xuan, I almost hit a solid one." Then the deadly sailors were about to turn the lit sails down, but it was too late at this time, because several groups of fire boats appeared directly in front of the Tianwei and in front of the Tianwei. Some sailors on the fire boat had jumped into the river to escape, while others were adjusting the direction of the fire boats and looking for the target.

He Bin looked to his left and right, and saw more than a dozen groups of fireboats passing by him and colliding against other warships behind him. A destroyer, the Angri Chicken, was hit by a group of fireboats because he could not dodge. The other two fireboats connected by iron chains quickly came up from both wings. The three fireboats were in a "gent" shape, clamping the Angri Chicken firmly in it, and the fire quickly spread to the Angri Chicken, the deck, sails, and the ship tower, and they were all burning one after another.

At the same time, other warships were also a little panicked. After all, in the previous battles, the fleet of the Merchant Army had not yet encountered the enemy's fire attack. Some warships began to turn and were ready to retreat, while some were still advancing, and some left the queue to avoid the fire ships. The entire vanguard fleet suddenly became in chaos. Some fire ships crossed the vanguard fleet and collided with the three columns behind.

Of course, He Bin knew that if he turned now, it would be too late and he would be hit by other fireboats. Therefore, the only way was to continue moving forward, try to pass through the gaps between the fireboats, and then find an opportunity to turn back. Therefore, He Bin gritted his teeth and immediately ordered to move forward at full speed. Adjust the direction and pass through the gaps between the two groups of fireboats.
Chapter completed!