In the helm of the Hector, Cesario held a telescope in his hand, and a look of ecstasy appeared on his face, "These stupid Orientals have actually given up the advantage of the upper wind and rushed straight towards us!" And it's divided into two teams! ”

But when he saw the closest Daming warship to him, his smile immediately froze.

An extremely large battleship suddenly appeared in the objective lens of the telescope! Although he couldn't see the number of gun windows on the side of the ship because it was facing the bow of the ship, he immediately judged that it was a huge ship with at least fifty guns, based on his rich experience in naval warfare.

A giant ship on par with the Dordrechet!

In order to achieve a surprise effect, the Daming Sailor deliberately let the Shaoxing drive on the back of other warships, and the Helan people never saw its size clearly. It wasn't until the decisive battle was about to begin that it was finally revealed.

The Ming people actually built this ship so quickly?! Cesario's eyelids jumped a few times, and according to his guess, it would take at least three or five years for the Orientals, who had no experience in building Galen ships, to master the relevant technology.

In fact, almost all the Helan people also thought the same way, and in their battle plan, they never considered that the enemy would have a huge ship with fifty guns.

“God！ What's that?! The first mate on the side obviously also saw the Shaoxing.

The standard-bearer ran into the helm in a panic and said to Cesareo: "Captain, the Companion has sent a message, and it has seen that the enemy's flagship is loaded with fifty-four guns!" ”

The Partner was at the tail of the battle line, and from its angle the starboard side of the Shaoxing could be seen.

His words immediately caused an exclamation, "Where did the people of the Ming Kingdom get such a big battleship?!" ”

"Fifty-four guns! I'm afraid the Hector will be hard to beat......"

"Oh my God, it's coming!"

The Hector only had thirty-four guns, which was a whole grade worse than the giant ship of the Ming army.

You must know that 54 guns vs. 34 guns is not only a difference in the number of cannons, but the caliber of cannons carried by larger warships must also be larger, and the hull is thicker. In other words, when the sailors are close to each other, the two face each other, and the Hector has no hope at all.

Cesario angrily scolded him, "You are professional soldiers, calm down!" He pointed in the direction of the Great Ming Naval Division, "No matter how powerful the warship is, if it is operated by a layman who can't fight, it is just a target."

"And now, we have a good chance to hit the T-shaped crosshead!"

His words made the helm compartment instantly quiet, yes! Isn't the enemy's giant ship facing the entire battle line with its bow without cannons?

Cesarneo was very satisfied with the reaction of his subordinates, and said to the herald: "Tell Schmidt, aim and hit me!" ”

Schmidt was his third mate and was responsible for directing in the gun deck.

At this time, the entire Helan fleet was gearing up, ready to "harvest" the Orientals sent to the bow of the ship.

Only Bes, who was standing on the foredeck of the Dordrecht, had some doubts in his heart, the Ming warship was very neatly formed and uniform, not like it was undertrained.

So why did they rush over so hastily? His brows furrowed together.

……

Shaoxing.

"No cannons!" Zheng Chenggong's adjutant shouted to the lower gun deck, "You are absolutely not allowed to fire until you have cut into the enemy's battle line!" ”

"Yes!"

The commander on the two-tier gun deck immediately repeated his orders to the soldiers.

All the soldiers clenched their fists tightly, and their hearts beat extremely fast as they listened to the sound of the rushing water.

Overhead, the watchman's shout was faintly heard, "Nine hundred yards!" ”

This is the distance between the Shaoxing and the battle line of the Helan fleet. For the sail battleship, once it gets close to this distance, it means that it can only fight to the death - with the turning speed of the Galen ship, the side trying to turn around may have been shot into a sieve by the enemy ship before it has turned 90 degrees.

"Eight hundred yards!"

"Seven hundred yards!"

"Six hundred yards!"

"Five hundred yards!"

Everyone's heart was in their throats, and this was already the distance at which they could start shooting.

Sure enough, the command flag on the Dordrecht shook one after another, and from the thirty-gun S? The Graflan began, and the ships of the battleship were lit up with red flames, and then black smoke enveloped the entire battle line.

The Shaoxing and Guangzhou, which were at the forefront of the two charging queues of the Ming army, were shocked almost at the same time.

The quality of the sailors of the world's first navy today is really not covered! At a distance of five hundred yards, a twelve-pounder gun hit the front left side of the Canton, but the shell jumped away from the north because of the distance.

Another eighteen-pound shell slammed into the bow of the Shaoxing, but the nine-inch-thick nanmu hull had no way to slide into the distant sea.

When the column of two battleships of the Ming army rushed to a distance of three hundred and fifty yards from the enemy, more ships on the Helan battle line followed suit and opened fire.

The muffled sound of a thump kept coming into the Shaoxing cabin, and everyone knew that it was the sound of a whistling cannonball hitting the hull.

Occasionally, there was a click or two of explosions, and the hull of the ship was pierced by a shell.

The medic shouted and quickly carried the wounded covered in pieces of wood into the bilge, blood flowing along the way, and soon stained the deck red.

But every soldier gritted his teeth and stood motionless at his post, waiting for the commander's order.

"Admiral, it's too dangerous here!" The first mate of the Shaoxing stood in front of Zheng Chenggong and persuaded in a loud voice, "You better go to the lower deck first, and I will report to you immediately if there is any situation." ”

Zheng Chenggong pushed him aside, stared at the enemy's battle line with his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "If even I hide, how can I expect the soldiers to not be afraid of life and death......

There was a crunch, and a hole appeared in the top of the helm compartment, and splinters of wood splattered. Apparently a cannonball had passed through, but fortunately the trajectory was a little higher, and only a few planks were removed.

"Lord Admiral, are you alright?!"

"It's fine."

"Your Excellency!" Glancing out the window, "Less than a hundred yards from the enemy, in case there are shells ......"

Zheng Chenggong smiled slightly and pointed to the top of the cabin, "Aren't all shells avoiding me?" He turned to the second mate and asked, "What about the damage?" ”

"Back to the Admiral, a total of fourteen cannons have pierced the hull. The two sides lost six gun emplacements. The bow sail was wrecked. There was a hole on the left side of the bow, but it was far from the waterline, so it was fine. In addition, there were heavy casualties on the open deck, and the sail operators lost thirty or forty people. ”

Then there was another trembling. Soon a soldier said a few words to the second officer, who saluted Zheng Chenggong and said: "Another shot on the starboard side, eighteen pounds, broke the nineteenth rib." In addition, the mainsail broke two holes. ”