The second officer, Würberg, came up and said, "Captain, this is the fleet of Li Zhi, the general of the Ming Kingdom, who has been transporting peasants to the colonies north of Formosa. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Their ships were full of peasants and no sailors, so they couldn't engage in broadside battles, so they had to use artillery to point at us, trying to use artillery to determine the winner. ”

First mate Caron said, "Yes! There were only peasants on their ships and no sailors. We rushed up to the broadside and captured their ship! Research and study why their boat doesn't need sails! ”

Forreston nodded.

Although Zheng Hui killed more than 300 people during the attack on Hsinchu in January, Forreston had a lot of looting in western Formosa in recent months. The headquarters of the United East India Company in Batavia valued Forreston and replenished its staff in March. The headquarters replenished him with three hundred high-morale Dutch sailors and two hundred strong Javanese sailors.

Today there were 1,200 sailors on nine ships in Foreston. If he engaged in a broadside battle with a Ming ship carrying only peasants on the opposite side, Forreston believed that he would be able to win the battle.

As for Li Zhi's cannon, Forreston didn't pay much attention to it. Although the warships of this era were equipped with a large number of guns, the decisive role was often played by gang jumping. It is believed that before the jump of their own fleet, the enemy's artillery will make a few holes in the ships of the combined fleet at most.

"Pass the order! All the ships rush towards the enemy fleet and fight for the overboard! ”

The heralds hung colorful flags on the flagship's mast and transmitted Forreston's orders to the other eight battleships through the flags. Nine battleships hung their sails and aimed at the eight gunboats lined up in the front row by Li Zhi, ready to rush up for hand-to-hand combat.

With the southerly wind, the Dutch ships sailed very fast, at least seven or eight knots. An eighteen-gun Galen ship rushed to the front, heading directly for Li Zhi's flagship, the Nova.

Li Zhi's eight gunboats were loaded with charges and ready to fire.

The gunners grabbed a handful of propellant from the powder keg with a medicated spoon and poured it into the chamber. Then the gunner used a wooden spoon to solidify the gunpowder, put in the flowering projectile, and then pounded it again; After loading, the gunners pushed the muzzle out of the gun, and the gunner poured a small amount of gunpowder into the fire door at the end of the cannon as a firing charge.

Nine Dutch sailing boats rushed in a line, each no more than a hundred meters apart. The Galen ship at the front was three, two, and one mile away from the Nova, and Li Zhi's Nova opened fire.

The gunners adjusted their muzzles to aim at the approaching Galen ship, and with a sharp pull on the flintlock trigger, they lit the black powder on the fire door with flint. The sparks instantly spread to the bottom of the cannon, igniting the black powder inside. The black powder exploded with a bang, turning into flames and smoke, and firing sixteen-pound shells fiercely.

The nine guns on the port side of the Nova fired from front to back, one after the other. Black smoke immediately exploded on the left side of the ship, like black flowers. The whole steamer shook and shook, and pressed to the right and again, and a row of sprays pressed on the surface of the sea.

Not only did the Nova fire, but the three ships next to the Nova also opened fire at the same time. The roar of artillery fire was deafening.

Thirty-six shells whizzed towards the Dutchman's Galen, and two of the shells hit the Galen and smashed into the bow of the Galen.

One of the two shells fired into the bow of the ship entered the third deck, breaking through the two inner bulkheads and stopped, and the other entered the second gun deck and came to a halt with a twenty-four-pounder gun.

The Dutch were in a stable mood, after all, these Dutchmen had never seen Li Zhi's flowering bombs. According to the power of solid shells of this era, even if it was hit by a dozen shells, the Galen ship would still sprint unharmed and unabated. At most, that is, the iron shells that rushed into the ship killed a few sailors. Or the flying wooden blocks brought out by the cannonballs when they smashed the planks of the ship and stabbed a sailor to death.

But the development of events made the Dutch stunned.

Two shells, after being stopped by an obstacle, exploded in the middle of the Galen ship. Huge shock waves burst out on the second deck and the third deck, respectively. The third deck is fine, this is the rest area of the sailors, there are not many people at this time. And the flowering bullets that fell on the second deck set off a storm of iron and blood. Countless iron projectiles burst out of the cannonballs and into the bodies of the dozens of gunners operating the guns on the deck, killing them in an instant.

Not only that, but the blast wave from the explosion of the shell burst through the hull and deck of the ship. From the point of view of the Nova gunner, the shell blew up the wood chips in the hull of the Galen, like two flowers, and blew two huge holes three or four feet in the hull.

Before the Dutch could react, the remaining four steamers opened fire, and a second wave of thirty-six shells was fired at the Galen.

This time three shells hit the target, shooting into the hull.

The horrific explosion was sent out in the hull again, and sparks and iron projectiles swept through the cabin like a storm, blowing up the second and third decks, killing an unknown number of people inside. One of the last shells to explode rolled down the large hole in the deck that had exploded in front of it into the lower deck, and with a thud blew the bottom of the ship open.

The water gushed out from the bottom of the ship like a fountain, devouring the entire Galen ship with such speed. The sailors and sailors on the Galen ship panicked, and if the bottom of the ship leaked, the ship would sink. They were all standing on the top deck ready to engage in broadside battle, but one by one they dropped their weapons and rushed to the lower deck, desperately trying to block the gushing sea water with wooden planks.

On the flagship of the Dutchmen, Captain Forreston looked at the Galen ship at the front in astonishment, and opened his mouth wide and was speechless. After a long time, he stammered, "Oh my God, Mingguo... Will the shells of the Ming Kingdom explode? ”

The first mate, Karon's face turned pale, and he murmured, "My lord, I have never seen such a cannonball. ”

The second officer, Würrberg, had lost the confidence to continue the battle, and said: "Captain, the shells of the Akito will explode, and our ship will be sunk by the shells if it rushes like this!" ”

Forreston sneered, "So what to do... Artillery can't shoot at them... Is it only to escape? ”

"But Li Zhi's ship is faster than ours..."

Foreton felt a little weak, and his face became whiter and whiter as he held on to the side of the ship.

On the Galen ship at the front, dozens of sailors desperately blocked the water with wooden planks and sealed the hole with nails, and it took a few minutes to finally seal the big hole in the bottom of the ship.

However, the bad luck has only just begun.

The Nova led eight gunboats with paddlewheels and tail rudders and quickly turned around and headed north. The surging power of the steam engine worked on the paddle steamer, allowing the eight steamers to sail faster than the downwind Dutchman. The eight steamers pulled some distance, turned their hulls again, and opened fire on the Dutch with their starboard cannons. (To be continued.) )