Although it feels like the two battleships that are besieged, they simply don't look like the combat troops of the Xuan Army, which makes people feel incredible. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

However, Kanshu still had to go to the rescue.

If you win, you will raise a glass and drink together, and if you lose, you will save each other desperately.

This is one of the concepts of governing the army that Chen Xin constantly emphasized, and he has stayed by Chen Xin's side for more than three years, and his words and deeds have also been deeply influenced by Chen Xin, and this concept is also engraved in his bones.

Kan Shu immediately turned around and rushed towards the enemy's encirclement from the right side.

Since the enemy is approaching the second and third ships of the Sea Shark class in an encirclement, then, that is to say, the enemy no longer maintains a dense formation, then, his own opportunity has come.

Kanshu drove the ship quickly close to an armed merchant ship in the easternmost part of the enemy, ignoring the fire of more than a dozen artillery guns on the opposite side, and directly rushed into the range of the opponent's fire, reaching a position more than 100 meters away from the enemy ship.

The reason why the previous rounds of high-explosive bombs did not explode has been found, and it is really the mistake of his captain.

In the past, during training, the artillery groups liked to extract ammunition from the nearest ammunition depot and practice gunnery.

Under normal circumstances, there are about one to three gunnery exercises per month, ranging from about 5 to 20 rounds each time.

And when the training is finished and the shells are replenished from the shore, the shells that were used before will be refilled.

It's such a small detail that I didn't notice myself. The shells closest to each artillery group are always used and updated.

However, the shells in other warehouses that are a little farther away have been in a backlog and have not been updated.

This small detail, if I hadn't just checked the production date inscription on the shell, I am afraid that I would not have known it until I died.

Just now, Kan Shu spot-checked a few high-explosive shells and wiped off the layer of grease that was wrapped on the outside, and the inscription on them clearly indicated that the shells were produced the year before.

Under normal circumstances, the shells filled with black powder inside the Xuan army have a shelf life of more than three years.

According to the experience of the Army, the carefully ground granules of black powder are not susceptible to moisture, so even the soldiers themselves did not feel that there was anything wrong with doing so.

However, everyone has forgotten that the navy is different from the army, and the humidity at sea is very large, and there is no problem on the road, which does not mean that there is no problem at sea.

The kind of greasing means used by the army to store ammunition was much weaker at sea.

Not to mention the water that seeps up from the deck, but the fog that the sea experiences every day, that's a big problem.

For long-term storage, whether there is special maintenance, then, at the critical moment, the high-explosive bomb does not explode, it is a matter of course.

The grenades on the ship have been shot out, and most of the high-explosive shells have also lost their effectiveness and can only be used as solid shells.

Kan Shu rubbed his head in distress, "If you can survive this time, you must tell the general well, the navy also needs to be supervised by the general in person like the army, without the general's intervention, the navy is really not good now." ”

However, although there was no big killing weapon, the comrades-in-arms still had to rescue, and in desperation, Kanshu could only desperately get close to the enemy's fire range and shoot at the enemy's waterline position at close range.

This is also the best way to do it in this situation.

Otherwise, with a solid bullet, you can sink a wooden ship in the Year of the Monkey.

The crew of the Sea Shark-class No. 1 ship tried to get as close as possible to the place where there was an armor belt, and then, in the confrontation with the enemy's solid shells, kept getting closer.

When the predetermined position is reached, with the command of the gun commander, all the guns adjust the muzzle angle to a negative angle in unison.

This is also a major advantage of the breech-loading rifled gun compared to the smoothbore gun, because the shell is smaller than the muzzle, so when the muzzle reaches a negative angle, the shell will fall to the ground.

Smoothbore guns with smaller caliber can also put a barrier in front of the shell to prevent the shell from slipping out.

However, those guns of more than six pounds, because the shells were so heavy, could not be stopped by planks or cotton cloth.

At present, Kanshu is to use this characteristic of its own rifled guns to strike below the enemy's waterline in the midst of a confrontation with the enemy's armed merchant ships.

Sure enough, at a distance of more than 100 meters, the muzzles of several guns were slightly lowered, and they were aimed exactly at the enemy's waterline.

As all the artillery roared in turn, the shells continued to smash on the water.

Although some of them were distorted by the surface of the water due to the angle, even if only one shell hit, the enemy ship should not be happy.

What's more, more than one shot was fired.

The armed merchant ship that had been targeted was shot through several large holes at the waterline, and a large amount of seawater continued to pour into the enemy's ship.

The enemy ships quickly tilted, and the artillery returned fire with a lot of laughter.

Kan Shu knows that it is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt his ten fingers. So he was even more unforgiving, and drove the boat through a circle, so that the side of the reloaded gun was once again aimed at the enemy ship.

Another round of bombardment.

The enemy's inclined part was again heavily damaged, and a large amount of seawater entered the ship through a new breach.

The enemy's backwash was also very fast, and in order to save themselves, the supplies on the inlet side were constantly thrown into the sea, and the sailors and officials who were able to move all began to plug the leaks.

Unfortunately, Kanshu would not give them a chance, and another round of shelling, the solid bullet smashed into the vicinity of the hole that was being plugged, and several large holes were connected together, and in the heart-rending cry and curse of the enemy, the whole ship overturned and was caught on the sea.

A gap was opened in the encirclement.

The Sea Shark-class No. 3 ship inside immediately rushed out of it like a frightened rabbit, and the steam engine was running at full power, and it didn't even completely put away the anchor.

Then, stunned, the chimney of the third ship continued to emit overwhelmed black smoke and headed away from the enemy.

The sailor beside Kanshu asked puzzledly, "This, that ship, why did it run away?" ”

Kanshu came back to his senses and scolded loudly, "Do your own thing." ", and then began to continue the attack on the next enemy armed merchant ship.

The other Sea Shark-class No. 2 ship in the encirclement was in a critical season at this time, because two enemy ships had already docked the No. 2 ship and were ready to jump into the gang.

As mentioned earlier, in this era, except for a few national-level naval battles, in most cases, they are accustomed to gang-hopping operations.

This is because in the small-scale naval battles of this era, the artillery of one or two small ships completely destroyed a wooden ship of the same level.

It is also because people who go to sea in this era have a dream of making a fortune.

Sinking a ship is basically not profitable, and it is likely to waste a lot of artillery and iron projectiles, which is all money.

On the contrary, once you jump into a gang and fight and capture a ship, it is a large amount of income, not to mention the cargo on the ship, artillery, and captured prisoners, just say that the ship is a large amount of income.

In this era, sea boats are really the most extravagant things, and many merchants and merchants cannot buy a sea boat in their lifetime.

As for the sailors who died in the battle of the jumping gang.

In this era, human life is the least valuable thing.