Chapter 869

In 1558 A.D., Tang Shunzhi of the Ming Dynasty compiled the book "Wu Bian", which recorded in detail the construction and deployment method of a "underwater mine", which was used to combat Japanese pirates who invaded China's coast at that time.

This is the earliest artificially controlled and mechanically fired anchor mine. It uses a wooden box as the shell, putty glues the seams, and puts black powder inside.

A Sevastopol rope is thrown under the wooden box and there are 3 iron anchors to control the depth of the mine body in the water.

In 1590 A.D., China invented the earliest drifting mine - the "Underwater Dragon King Cannon" with burning incense as the timing fuze. Nine years later, Wang Minghe of China invented the "Underwater Thunder" with a rope as the touch line.

In 1621 AD, the "Underwater Dragon King Cannon" and "Underwater Thunder" were improved to trigger drifting mines for touch-line fuzes, and they damaged enemy ships in naval battles many times.

It was not until the eighteenth century that Europe and the United States began to use sea mines in actual combat. During the North American War of Independence, North Americans attacked British warships moored at the mouth of the Delaware River in Philadelphia. On January 7, 1778, gunpowder and mechanical fuzes were packed in small beer barrels to make mines and drifted down the river.

Although there was no warship at that time, it exploded suddenly when it was scooped up by British sailors, killing and injuring some people. It was known as the "Keg War" in history.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the Russian B.C. Yatubi invented the electrolyte-triggered anchor mine. In the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856, Tsarist Russia used this trigger anchor mine in the harbor defense battle. .

Since then, various types of mines have been continuously developed and improved, and have been widely used. In the American Civil War and the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, mines achieved good results.

Since then, countries have paid more attention to mine warfare and invested a lot of manpower and material resources to research and manufacture various mines. In World War I, the two sides deployed a total of 310,000 mines of various types, sinking 148 surface ships, 54 submarines, and 586 merchant ships, totaling 1.22 million tons.

In modern naval warfare, mines are an indispensable weapon. An old-fashioned mine that costs little is enough to kill a modern warship costing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

What the Mediterranean Fleet deployed in the waters of Gibraltar this time was the trigger-type "Underwater Dragon King Cannon" and "Underwater Thunderclap" brought by Ouyang Shuo. There were thousands of them, and the inventory of the War Preparation Department was emptied.

The mine manufacturing technology is in the same line as the firearms manufacturing technology of the Ming Dynasty. After being improved by the No. 7 Research Institute, the explosion power is stronger, the trigger is more sensitive, and the deployment on the sea is more secretive.

These secret weapons, Shanhai City, have been kept secret. One is that after it was developed, the Great Xia Dynasty did not have any large-scale naval battles; the other is because of the need for secrecy, it is used as a strategic weapon.

After provoking the Moroccan national war, in view of the complicated situation in the Mediterranean Sea, Ouyang Shuo decided to launch the "Underwater Dragon King Cannon". He used it in this sea battle, and it really hit him with one blow.

Although the western technology tree is ahead of the eastern ones, it lags behind in mine technology. Therefore, neither Casillas nor Alexander Farnese expected to be attacked by mines.

This carelessness, or arrogance, has produced bitter fruit.

Although Alexander Farnese urgently ordered the battleship to stop advancing, the sailing battleship sailing at high speed couldn't stop just by saying stop.

The sound of explosions was still heard.

A large number of warships were attacked by mines, and those seriously damaged were slowly sinking.

To make matters worse, in just a short while, the two formations of the Mediterranean Fleet quickly approached, arranged in a line, and began to fire on the Spanish Armada.

The two formations, one south and one north, fired at full force, aiming at key parts such as sails, masts, and muzzles of enemy ships.

As mentioned earlier, it is difficult for simple sail battleships to bombard each other to achieve decisive results in a short period of time. The only way is to break the mast.

A battleship without masts and sails is like a tiger without teeth.

Alexander Farnese was by no means an idler. He quickly calmed down and commanded the fleet to fight back. The brave man wins when they meet on a narrow road. After all, the Armada has a numerical advantage and is not without power to fight back.

It's just that if the bombardment continues like this, the Mediterranean Fleet will have the advantage in formation after all, and attack from both sides. If it is two against one, the Spanish Armada will be crippled even if it is not destroyed.

The accident happened to Casillas, and Casillas, who was slightly relieved, was terrified. Looking around, the Armada had sunk nearly 30 main battleships in a blink of an eye.

This loss made Casillas pale.

The Armada is the property of the whole of Spain, and it must not be defeated all at once.

"No, you can't fight like this."

Casillas immediately reacted, if the Armada really suffered heavy damage in this battle, then the Gaul fleet and the Roman fleet would never give Spain a second chance to enter the Mediterranean.

Waiting until then is really desperate. After all, the matter of face is small and the matter of profit is great.

"Retreat, retreat!"

Casillas found Alessandra Farnese and gave the order to withdraw the troops.

"What did you say?" Alexander Farnese couldn't believe it.

I don't want Casillas to be firm, and he said firmly: "General, at this juncture, protecting the fleet is the top priority. You don't know the delicate situation in the Mediterranean Sea, do you?"

Alessandra Farnese listened, his expression was silent, and he understood everything. Although he was not reconciled, Alexander Farnese had to admit that what Casillas said made sense, he gritted his teeth and said, "Then withdraw!"

"withdraw!"

Soon, the order for the whole team to retreat was conveyed.

Unfortunately, even if the Spanish Armada wanted to withdraw, not all warships could withdraw. Whether it was hit by a mine or the mast was smashed by the Mediterranean Fleet, they couldn't leave.

Such warships actually accounted for one-third of the entire fleet.

Furthermore, the Armada had already entered the depths of the minefield, so it stopped hastily at this moment, and it was very difficult to turn the bow of the ship. In the process, he inevitably encountered a mine laid in the sea again, and was hit again.

Misfortunes never come singly.

Fortunately, the Spanish Armada is a well-trained and mature fleet, from the commander to the generals, and even the sailors and crews are all experienced.

Therefore, despite repeated accidents this time, they were panicked and not chaotic. The warships completed a magnificent turn amidst the bursts of artillery fire, and the collective U-turn was completed. In the process, you can also fire back.

The background of the old maritime empire should not be underestimated.

Alvaro saw that the enemy was about to withdraw, so he naturally would not let it go easily, and ordered the fleet to avoid the minefield and continue to pursue. Relying on the territorial characteristics of the Great Xia Dynasty, the Mediterranean Fleet is a little faster than the Armada Fleet.

Coupled with the fact that the warships of the Armada were more or less attacked by mines, they were more likely to be caught up by the Mediterranean fleet and encountered constant bombardment.

Cannonballs flew across the sky and exploded on the deck, causing people to be thrown off their feet.

This time, both Casillas and Alexander Farnese had a headache.

"No, we can't just withdraw like this. If the consumption continues like this, the fleet will have to be consumed slowly." At the critical moment, Alexander Farnese made a decision, and immediately ordered twenty warships to turn their bows again and link them end to end. With the momentum of the iron chain across the river, it blocked the pursuit route of the Mediterranean fleet.

The remaining battleships took the opportunity to flee in embarrassment.

When Alvaro saw him, he sighed, with a complicated expression on his face, and said, "Forget you escaped!" After all, he was originally from Spain. Although he is now his own master, he couldn't bear to face his old club again.

It's just that no matter how unbearable it is, the fight should still be fought.

…………

An hour later, the Spanish Armada, which had lost its arm, finally got rid of the pursuit of the Mediterranean Fleet, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar again, and withdrew to the country in embarrassment.

It is really sad to die before the battle.

The entire battleship was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, and Casillas was ashamed. Thinking of the bold words before departure, and seeing the strange eyes cast by other Mediterranean lords, Casillas could hardly lift his head. Shame on these allies.

Seeing that the Spanish Armada was deflated in front of the two formations of the Mediterranean Fleet, more than half of the warships were damaged, and their strength was suddenly reduced. These Mediterranean allies were really shocked, and their expressions were different.

From this point of view, the already weird situation in the Mediterranean Sea is about to become turbulent again.

As for the two Moroccan lords, Caroline and Rainier, their faces were ashen. They knew better than anyone else that Morocco's last chance to win was completely ruined in a big explosion just now.

Rainier had a strong temper and committed suicide on the spot, and went to the Palace of Reincarnation in Wangcheng.

After all, Caroline didn't have the courage to kill herself, so she locked herself in the cabin and never saw anyone again. She was just waiting for the moment when the system pronounced the death of Morocco, and went to the place of trial together.

At this moment, another warship sailed to the sea ahead, which was the fifth formation of the Mediterranean Fleet stationed in Base Point City. According to the plan, the fifth formation is naturally responsible for intercepting the Armada.

Compared with Alessandra Farnese, Álvaro still has better skills and precise calculations.

With the current remnants of the Spanish Armada, they are not afraid of the provocation of the Fifth Formation, and are even sure to win the battle. It's just that Casillas, who was still in shock, didn't want to fight anymore. He was worried that the fleet would be dragged down by the enemy, and then be caught up by the other two formations chasing behind.

At that time, under the attack from both front and back, the Armada may be doomed.

So seeing the fifth formation, Casillas didn't even think about it, and directly allocated 20 warships to intercept it again, while the remaining main force escorted the flagship, took a detour, and fled back to the country in embarrassment.

The proud Casillas was completely terrified by the Mediterranean Fleet this time.