645 artillery bombarded the city, fortified fortress

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The castle of San Domingo, built by the red-haired ghost, is located on the north bank of the Tamsui River estuary northwest of Ryukyu Island.

At this time, after decades of construction by both the Spaniards and the red-haired ghosts, the scale of the freshwater port at this time is not small, and it is almost comparable to the Haizhou Port built by Li Zixiao.

The 30 vanguard fleets led by Hong Zhen took the lead in sailing into the Tamsui River, sealing the mouth of the Tamsui River and ensuring that none of the ships inside could escape.

"General, Hong Zhen has sent news that they have blocked the mouth of the Tamsui River, and after sending people to investigate, they found that the Tamsui River is unobstructed, and the main force of our fleet can completely pass through."

At this time, Lu Yuan, who was still floating on the sea in the northwest, also received the news sent back by Hong Zhen in front of him, and Lu Hai personally reported.

"Very good, Hong Zhen did a good job, ordered the main force of the fleet, immediately sailed into the Tamsui River, lined up along the river, and aimed the muzzle of the cannon at the castle of the red-haired ghost."

Lu Yuan was also very excited at this time, and immediately ordered the fleet to sail into the Tamsui River.

Boom Boom!

At this time, near the mouth of the Tamsui River, bursts of artillery rang out.

Lu Yuan walked out of the cabin, came from the deck of this flagship, looked in the direction of the estuary, and said in a condensed voice: "This should be the fort where Hong Zhen began to shell the red-haired ghost." ”

"Well, normally, it should be." Lu Hai, who was standing behind, answered.

"Fire!"

Thundered!

At this time, the thirty warships led by Hong Zhen did bombard the fort set up by the red-haired ghost on the shore at the mouth of the Tamsui River.

The red-haired ghost apparently also attached great importance to the port of Tamsui, and on the north and south banks of the mouth of the Tamsui River, there were a total of five forts, three to the north and two to the south, guarding the castle of San Domingo.

Hong Zhen's 30 warships carried a total of more than 200 guns, of which the largest caliber gun was a 64-pounder gun on the three-masted gunboat where Hong Zhen was.

This kind of artillery that the White Dragon Army Army cannot carry at all in land warfare, but the navy's three-masted naval gun can carry one.

Boom Boom!

At this time, Hong Zhen commanded thirty warships, and after blocking the Tamsui estuary, he launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the five batteries of the red-haired ghost on the north and south banks of the Tamsui estuary.

Bang!!

A lighthouse on the north bank of the Tamsui River was innocently injured when it was hit by a missed shell, which collapsed and fell to the ground with a bang.

Just as Hong Zhen's vanguard fleet shelled the forts on both sides of the red-haired ghost at the first moment, all the personnel in the port of Tamsui River fled.

Compared with the thirty sea ships and more than 200 artillery pieces on Hong Zhen's side, the five batteries on the north and south banks of the Tamsui estuary are only about 30 guns in total.

Whether it is in terms of caliber or quantity, Hong Zhen's vanguard fleet has crushed the five batteries of the red-haired ghost.

What's more, the position of the fort is fixed and immovable, making it easier to hit, and Hong Zhen's warship is at the mouth of the Tamsui River, so it moves slowly and shells the turret of the red-haired ghost, which is extremely difficult to hit.

By the time Lu Yuan led the main fleet and also entered the mouth of the Tamsui River, the battle between Hong Zhen's side and the red-haired ghost fort was basically over.

In the artillery bombardment of both sides for half an hour, the red-haired ghost was destroyed by the artillery fire of the Hongzhen vanguard fleet in five batteries on the north and south banks of the Tamsui estuary.

On Hong Zhen's side, there were only six warships, unfortunately they were hit by shells, three were slightly injured, two were seriously damaged, and they could not sail, and one sank, and the crew abandoned the ship and fled to other warships next to it.

The three warships lost were all 2,000 seagoing ships, and their own ability to resist the blow of artillery shells was poor.

If a shot hits the center of the hull and breaks the keel of the ship, one shot is enough to bury a ship.

It's just that the artillery of this era is really not accurate, and whether the shells can hit the target or not depends on the will of God.

Therefore, in this case, it is basically impossible for the five batteries of the red-haired ghost to sink more warships of the Hongzhen Pioneer Fleet.

Such a result is actually very good, but Hong Zhen's face is not good-looking, he is not very satisfied with such a result.

"The order was sent to the general, and it was said that the five forts set up by the red-haired ghost on both sides of the estuary had all been destroyed, and the fleet could safely sail into the Tamsui River."

"Let the three wounded warships immediately repair the warships, and the two seagoing ships that were heavily damaged, immediately sail into the freshwater port and dock, and don't let them sink in the estuary."

"The rest of the ships continue along the river, going inside, aiming for the castle of the red-haired ghost."

Immediately, Hong Zhen issued orders to the first mate behind him, which was clearly organized.

"Report Colonel, all of our five batteries at the mouth of the river have been destroyed by the enemy, and we have sunk and wounded six of the enemy's warships, killing and wounding an unknown number of enemies.

And at this time, the other party's fleet has entered the river and is encircling our castle. ”

At this time, in the castle of San Domingo on the north shore, a red-haired ghost soldier ran up to Brian and reported loudly.

"The battery was destroyed? What was expected, but unfortunately only achieved such a small result. Brian said with a little pity.

"Captain Claire led more than a hundred soldiers guarding the fort, did he retreat? What about casualties? ”

Henry, who was next to him, asked the red-haired ghost soldier at this time.

"Most of the more than 100 soldiers and more than 300 servants guarding the fort were brought back by Captain Claire, but there were still 34 soldiers and more than 100 servants, and they could not return.

Among the personnel who returned, there were still thirty-one wounded, but fortunately, they were all slightly wounded, which did not affect their fighting. ”

"The loss is acceptable, and now we look like we're going to have to give up everything outside the castle." After listening to this, Henry nodded slightly and said.

"Henry, rest assured, my city of San Domingo is not the castle of San Salvador on Buck's island of Chicken Coop to the east.

In the past ten years, we have expanded and repaired the castle five times, and the walls of the fortress are strong enough to withstand the continuous bombardment of hundreds of millimeter guns.

The Zheng family wants to build our castle, which is simply a fool's dream. ”

At this time, Brian, in order to reassure Henry, confidently introduced the firmness of the castle of San Domingo to him.

"Well, I'm sure I've been around the castle all this time, and I know very well how strong this fortress is.

I think the Zheng family is carried away, thinking that by sneaking up on the city of San Salvador on the island of Jicoop, Bake will be able to take us.

When the Zheng family soldiers come to attack, let's teach them a good lesson, and let these despicable yellow-skinned monkeys know how powerful our Dutch soldiers are. ”

Henry, as confident as Brian, said with a relaxed face at this time, and the two of them decided that the enemy would not be able to defeat their strong fortress.

However, the composure of Brian and Henry soon changed as more and more warships appeared on the surface of the Tamsui River.

Boom Boom!

Soon, the twenty-seven warships of Hong Zhen, who were the first to take their positions and enter the Tamsui River, and slowly drove east along the river, were the first to bombard the castle of San Domingo of the red-haired ghosts.

Lu Yuan didn't have the slightest intention of sending people ashore first to recruit the red-haired ghosts in the castle of San Domingo.

According to Li Zixiao, if these red-haired ghosts are not subdued and cornered, they will not give up this castle easily.

At this time, sending people ashore to surrender will not have any effect at all, in this case, then send people to talk nonsense with them, just start fighting.

On the battlefield of the naval fleet of the White Dragon Army, the artillery equipped at this time was mainly cannons, supplemented by howitzers.

After all, in naval warfare, cannons can be used for flat fire, which is more effective for sinking the opponent's warships, but when it comes to lethal strikes against land targets, it is obvious that howitzers are more effective.

The more advanced howitzer-type artillery developed by the White Dragon Army is now only available on the battleships that have been launched within the latest six months.

Thundered!

Some of the shells fired from the guns of the White Dragon battleship bombarded the walls of San Domingo, and some fell into the castle and exploded.

The shells bombarded on the city wall were mainly solid iron bullets, the purpose of which was to blast the city wall, and there were no armor-piercing shells at this time.

With the help of howitzers, the White Dragon Army shot into the cannonballs in the castle of San Domingo, mainly explosive bombs, mainly hoping to kill and injure more red-haired ghost soldiers in the castle.

"Haha, Henry, see no, the Zheng family's cannonballs hit our city wall, and they can't shake it at all."

At this time, Brian looked at the city wall that had just been hit by an iron bullet, leaving only a slight depression there, laughing, and said to Henry next to him.

"Well, I saw it, as we expected." Henry, who was next to him, was also smiling.

However, at this time, after more than a dozen explosive bombs that bombarded the castle exploded, it caused the cost of minor injuries to five soldiers of the red-haired ghost.

"Order our artillery to return fire!" Brian said calmly.

"Brian, the caliber of the artillery on our castle is much smaller than that on the turret, and it is very effective against the attacking foot soldiers.

If this is used to bombard those warships on the sea, the effect may not be satisfactory! ”

"It's okay, I just want to boost the morale of the soldiers, it doesn't matter if I can achieve results or not."

Thundered!

The shelling never ended.

Lu Yuan brought enough ammunition this time, so that his warships could let go of the fight, as long as he could capture the red-haired city of San Domingo, it would be worth the amount of ammunition consumed.

Flood Zhen's vanguard fleet bombarded for a full ten minutes, firing thousands of shells, but the damage to the walls of San Domingo was minimal.

In fact, at this time, the ordinary warships of the White Dragon Army were equipped with eight pounds and twelve pounds, and twenty-four types of artillery, which were not powerful enough to break through such a strong fortress as San Domingo.

Twenty-four pounders could barely break a castle, but it wasn't enough to break it open.

It's a pity that at this time, Li Zixiao has been letting Jiangbei research the new artillery shell, that is, the impact artillery shell, which has been unable to be successfully developed for a long time, and is limited by the technology of the times.

The only thing that caused the slightest damage to the red-haired Castle of San Domingo was a cannonball fired from the sixty-four-pounder gun on the three-masted gunboat where Hong Zhen was.

After hitting one of the castle's walls, it directly collapsed, and even smashed the city wall into a long crack, running through the city wall.

This is also the first time that Brian and Henry have changed color since the shelling began.

It's just that the firing speed of a 64-pounder gun like this is too slow, and he needs a lot of time to reload and clear the gun, and in these ten minutes, he only fired a total of three shots.

Moreover, the accurate head did not say that the three cannons were hit by one shot, and the crack caused by it was still insignificant for the entire castle defense.

"This turtle shell cultivated by the red-haired ghost is too strong, our artillery bombarded it, it doesn't work at all!"

At this time, Hong Zhen stood on the deck of the three-masted gunship, held a clairvoyant mirror and looked at the castle of San Domingo on the shore, and said in surprise.

"It's normal, it's similar to the test effect we saw at the army training ground before."

Hong Zhen was standing behind his first mate, and he was not surprised at this time.

"That's right." Hong Zhen also nodded.

Before they went to sea, they had gone to the White Dragon Army Army training ground to watch the destructive tests of various types of artillery on the fortress.

There is basically not much difference from what they have seen now, the actual bombardment of the castle of San Domingo by their warship artillery.

"Fortunately, the lord is wise and prepared, otherwise it would be very laborious for us to blast open the turtle shell of this red-haired ghost."

Hong Zhen said with a smile.

"Well, captain, stop the shelling, the barrels are already red, wait for the general to bring the main fleet into the river, and then listen to the general's orders."

"Okay, let's order a ceasefire." Hong Zhen listened to his first mate.

Thus, the shelling, which lasted almost twenty minutes, ended like this.

"Haha, the shelling of the Zheng family's fleet is over, and it seems that they also realize that their artillery can't help our castle at all."

Henry couldn't help but laugh when he heard that the artillery fire of the White Dragon Army fleet had stopped.

"Well, but the Zheng family won't give up so well, they must have other ways to siege the city."

Brian on the side regained his composure again after joy, nodded and said.

"What are you afraid of, since their sea ships can't blast our castle, their soldiers will be even more wanted to attack, and attacking us on the ground is basically equivalent to suicide now."

Henry said confidently.

However, in this era, a strong fortress like this, which was difficult to be suppressed by artillery in the era of World War II, was indeed the attacker's biggest nightmare.

In this era, the advantage of dealing with such a strong bastion and defending it with a musket in its hand is too great, and the crowd tactics are simply suicide.

Perhaps, the only way to conquer such a fortified fortress at this time was to bombard them with large-caliber guns like the sixty-four-pound guns carried by warships until they broke through their walls.

Another way is to get close to the castle on land, and use mortars to blast down their walls.

As long as this turtle shell of San Domingo can be broken, the attacking side will basically win the battle.

(End of chapter)