The ten ironclad ships turned their bows and rushed towards Zheng Zhilong's fleet at full speed. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoEach ironclad uses two large steam engines, and the propellers have been fully installed after five months of debugging, and the efficiency is comparable to that of paddle wheels, and the speed of the ironclad can reach ten knots when it starts at full speed, which is equivalent to a speed of eighteen kilometers per hour, which is an absolute high-speed ship in this era of sailing.

The steel ramming angle at the front of the ironclad ship broke through the sea, forming two waves on both sides of the ship, and crashed towards the Zheng family fleet with great momentum.

The gunboats of the Zheng family's fleet were lined up in the back, and a large area in front was crowded together with fireboats. The fireships that had been chasing Li Zhi's fleet were overjoyed when they saw the ironclad ship coming. What they were worried about was that Li Zhi's fleet had sunk all the fireships here in the distance, but they didn't expect ten ships to suddenly come to the door.

Although they also saw that the ironclad ships were all wrapped in ironclad. But they don't have any experience fighting ironclads, and in their concept, as long as it's a ship, it can burn.

On the front of the Yangwei, the pirates on a two-masted sand ship cheered loudly, grabbed their oars and rowed hard, rushing towards the Yangwei as fast as they could.

But it wasn't until the Yangwei got closer that they realized something was wrong. The Horn was too heavy, and it was going too fast, and the waves stirred up by the sharp striking angles were a foot high. If a more than 10-meter-long fireboat collides with it, it will only be sunk.

"Turn the rudder! Kill! Turn the rudder! ”

"Get out of the way!"

The pirates panicked and shouted loudly in Hokkien to avoid the helmsman of the rudder.

However, it was too late for them to react at this time, and although the fireship turned hard to the left to avoid the sharp impact angle of the ironclad, it was still hit by the starboard side of the Yangwei. The fireship, which was panicking to avoid the ironclad, failed to aim its bow at the ironclad, and the impact occurred on the starboard side of the fireship, and the sharp steel spikes in the bow did not pierce the ironclad's hull.

The fireboat was loaded with high dry firewood, and its center of gravity was so unstable that it was completely crooked when it hit. The 500-ton Yangwei did not move, but the fireship of several tens of tons overturned on its side and subverted in the waves. More than a dozen pirates fell into the sea, and several pirates were even crushed into the sea by the overturned hull and never floated again.

Not only this fireship, but also the other fireships in front of it could not adapt to such a high-speed collision of ironclads. In this era, the fortune ship did not exceed seven or eight knots even downwind, and the speed was slower when crosswind and headwind, so how could there ever be a high-speed collision with a speed of ten knots? At first, the fireships in front of them all rushed towards the Yangwei, but when they rushed closer and saw the sharp ramming angles of the Yangwei, they panicked and dodged one after another.

But how easy is it to turn around when sailing at sea?

The Yangwei rampage through the middle of the fireships, sinking three fireships in a short time, completely naked. Not only was the Yangwei committing violence, but the other nine ironclad ships were also swept through. Ten ironclad ships are like ten giant elephants rushing into the middle of a pack of jackals, whether you have sharp teeth or not, anyway, I will trample on them at will.

The pirates of the Zheng family were a little frightened when they saw the ten ironclad ships that were menacing. The pirates were weak and no longer paddled hard.

Just when the pirates were discouraged, the cannons on the ironclad opened fire again. Except for the guns on the stern tower, which had no targets, the other thirty-one gun emplacements of the ironclad ship were fired. At this time, the muzzle of the cannon was a hundred meters, or even dozens of meters, from the fireships on both sides, and it was almost accurate for one cannon.

The cannons on the left side of the Yangwei opened fire one after another, and the recoil applied to the hull, which pressed to the left little by little in the roar of cannon fire, and pressed a wave on the sea. Then the cannon on the right fired again one after another, and the hull of the ship was righted again in a violent tremor, and finally fell slightly to the right.

Blossom shells exploded one after another on the two-masted fireship. The nearby Zheng's fireboats seemed to be controlled by Li Zhi, and they were ignited one after another. The Yangwei fired only one round, and twelve fireships around it burst into flames. Some of the Zheng family pirates also had their clothes burned, screaming and jumping into the sea.

The great flame lit up the eyes, comparing the bright sunlight to the brightness. It was like a whole forest burning around the ironclad.

Ten ironclad ships sank or ignited at least a hundred fireships before Zheng Zhilong's flagship reacted.

The long horn in the Zheng family's fleet sounded, three long and three short, and Li Zhi didn't know what it meant.

Hundreds of shells came from the Zheng Daifuku ship behind, and probably dozens of them hit the target, clattering on the armor of the ironclad ship. However, except for one heavy artillery shell, none of the other shells could penetrate the inch-thick iron armor. The only heavy artillery shell also lost kinetic energy after hitting the armor and did not cause major damage.

But the sound of the trumpet inspired the pirates on the fireship. The pirates howled and rekindled their fighting spirit. They aimed at the side of the ironclad and paddled with all their might, hoping to pierce the steel spikes in the bow of the fireship into the ironclad.

In front of the Yangwei, more than 20 fireships rushed from the front left and the front right, as if they had surrounded the Yangwei.

Li Zhi sneered and shouted, "Turn the rudder!" ”

The Yangwei turned its bow slightly, abandoned the fireship on the right, and ran over several fireships on the left. The sharp angle of collision broke through the hull of the first fireship almost without hindrance, and pressed downward, cutting the small boat of several tens of tons into two parts. Then the hull behind the ramming horn pressed up again, crushing the wreckage of the fireship into the sea, which had been cut into two sections.

More than a dozen pirates died in the belly of the fish at once.

As soon as the Yangwei turned to the left, the dozen or so fireships on the right could not keep up with the speed of the Yangwei, and they became farther and farther away. Most of the dozen or so fireships on the left also turned into facing the Yangwei, unable to hit the Yangwei's belly. The Yangwei continued to turn to the left, and two more fireships were knocked over by the heavy ironclad ship.

Only the two fireships on the far left were still angled, and they rushed up at high speed, smashing the steel spikes in the bow into the iron armor of the Yangwei.

If the pirates on the fire ship can burn and sink a steamship, Zheng Zhilong will give the ship of pirates a reward of 800 taels of silver. When the pirates on the fireship saw that the steel spikes had been fixed to the iron armor, they were so excited that they seemed to have seen the silver with white flowers, and immediately lit the thatched dry wood on the fireship.

The thatched firewood had already been poured with oil, and some black powder was wrapped in it, which burned violently when it came into flames. The fire soon engulfed two small fireboats. The port side of the Yangwei burst into flames, and the two fireships turned into two huge fireballs. The flames breathed, scorching the armor of the ironclad.