Fuerbao, the second mate, came forward and said," Captain, this is the fleet of the Ming Kingdom's General Lin Feng. They have been transporting farmers to the colonies in northern Formosa. *. Their ships are full of peasants and no sailors, so they can't engage in a boarding battle. They can only aim their cannons at us and want to use artillery to determine the winner.”
"Yes!" said Chief Officer Karon. There were only farmers on their ships, not sailors. Let's charge up and seize their ship! Why didn't they need sails?”
Forrest nodded.
Although Zheng Hui had killed more than 300 people during the attack on Hsinchu in January, the looting in western Formosa in the past few months had been fruitful. The Batavia United East India Company headquarters attached great importance to Forreston, and in March, they had added more manpower to Forreston. The headquarters had replenished him with 300 high-spirited Netherlandish marines and 200 strong Javanese marines.
Currently, there were 1,200 marines on the nine ships of Forrest. If he were to engage in a head-on battle with the Ming Kingdom's ships that only carried farmers, he believed that he would definitely be able to win.
As for Cannon, Foreston didn't take it to heart. Although the warships of this era were equipped with large amounts of cannons, the decisive factor was often the guild war. He believed that before his fleet jumped out of the gang and fought, the enemy's cannons would at most make a few holes in the ships of the alliance fleet.
"Pass down the order! All ships, charge towards the enemy fleet and fight for a boarding battle!”
The messenger hung a colorful flag on the mast of the flagship and sent the order to the other eight warships. The nine battleships had their sails fully set, and they aimed at the eight gunboats in the front row, ready to charge up and fight.
With the help of the south wind, the Netherlandish boat sailed very fast, at least seven or eight knots. A Galen ship with 18 cannons was at the forefront, charging straight at the flagship, New Star.
The eight gunboats loaded their ammunition and prepared to fire.
The cannoneers grabbed a handful of gunpowder from the barrel with a medicine spoon and poured it into the cannon. Then the gunner pounded the gunpowder with a wooden ram, put in the blossoming bullets, and then pounded it again. After loading, the cannoneers pushed the muzzle out of the cannon hole. The cannoneers poured some gunpowder into the fire door at the end of the cannon as a shot.
The nine sailing ships of the Dutchman rushed over in a line, and the distance between each ship was less than a hundred meters. The Galen ship at the front was three miles away from the New Star. Two miles, one mile. The New Star opened fire.
The gunners adjusted their muzzles and aimed at the Galen ship that was charging at them. They pulled their flintlocks and ignited the black gunpowder on the fire door with flint. Sparks instantly spread to the bottom of the cannon, igniting the black gunpowder inside. The black gunpowder exploded with a bang, turning into flames and smoke, shooting out the 16-pound cannonball.
The nine cannons on the starboard side of the New Star fired from front to back. Black smoke immediately exploded on the left side of the ship, like black flowers. The entire ship shook again and again, pushing to the right again and again, creating a row of waves on the sea.
Not only did the New Star open fire, but the three ships beside the New Star also opened fire at the same time. The sound of artillery fire was deafening.
Thirty-six shells whistled towards the Dutchman's Galen ship. Two of the shells hit the Galen ship and smashed into the bow of the ship.
Of the two cannonballs that hit the bow, one hit the third deck and broke through two of the ship's inner barriers before stopping. The other hit the second cannon deck and stopped after hitting a 24-pound heavy cannon.
The Dutchman's mood was very stable. After all, these Dutchman had never seen Li Zhi's Flowerball. According to the power of the solid shells in this era, even if it took a dozen shells, the Galen Ship would still charge forward unscathed. At most, the iron cannonballs that charged into the ship would kill a few marines. Or the flying wooden blocks that flew out when the shells smashed through the ship's deck would kill the sailors.
However, the development of the matter left the Dutchman dumbfounded.
After the two shells were stopped by obstacles, they exploded in the middle of Galen's ship. A huge shock wave exploded on the second and third deck. The third deck was still alright. This was the resting area for the marines, so there weren't many people there. The Flower-Opening Bullets that fell on the second deck set off a storm of blood and iron. Countless iron pellets shot out from the cannonballs and into the bodies of dozens of cannoneers operating the cannons on the deck, instantly taking their lives.
Not only that, but the shockwave from the explosion also destroyed the hull and deck. From the perspective of the New Star's gunner, the cannonball had blown up the hull of Galen's ship, causing wood chips to fly everywhere. It was as if two flowers had bloomed, and two three to four-foot-wide holes had been blasted into the hull.
Before the Dutchman could react, the remaining four ships opened fire. The second wave of 36 shells was fired at the Galen ship.
This time, three shells hit their targets and entered the hull.
A terrifying explosion occurred in the hull again. Sparks and iron bullets swept across the cabin like a storm, blowing up the second and third decks. No one knew how many people were killed. The last shell to explode rolled into the lower deck through the hole in the front deck, exploding the bottom of the ship with a bang.
Seawater gushed out from the bottom of the ship like a fountain and quickly swallowed the entire Galen ship. The sailors and marines on Galen's ship panicked. If the bottom of the ship leaked, the ship would sink. They were originally standing on the topmost deck, ready to engage in a boarding battle. At this moment, they threw down their weapons and rushed to the lower deck, using wooden planks to desperately block the surging seawater.
On the Dutchman's flagship, Fleet Captain Forston looked at the Galen ship at the front in surprise. His mouth was wide open and he could not speak. After a long time, he stuttered,"Heavens, Ming Country…The Ming Country's artillery shells will explode?"
First mate Karone's face was pale as he muttered,""My Lord, I have never seen such a cannonball.”
Fuerbao, the second mate, had already lost the confidence to continue fighting. He said,"Captain, the cannonballs will explode. Our ship will be sunk by the cannonballs if we rush up like this!”
"Then what should we do?" Forrest said embarrassedly. The cannons couldn't even hit them…Can we only escape?"
"But Lin Feng's ship is faster than ours…"
Forrest felt a little weak. He held onto the railing, his face turning paler and paler.
On Galen's ship at the front, dozens of sailors desperately blocked the water with wooden planks and sealed the hole with nails. It took a few minutes to finally seal the big hole at the bottom of the ship.
However, the bad luck had just begun.
The New Star led the eight gunboats to turn around quickly with their paddle wheels and tail rudders, heading north. The surging power brought by the steam engine acted on the paddle wheels, allowing the eight ships to move faster than the Dutch with the wind. The eight ships pulled back a little, turned around, and fired at the Dutchman with their starboard cannons.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。