Chapter 400: Battle at Sea

Now it was the Dutch's turn to fire at them.

At this time, there were no big waves on the sea, and the ship's posture was relatively stable, which was very conducive to shooting and aiming.

The Dutch sailors began to retract the sails to stabilize the ship's posture, and the gunners aimed the muzzles at the sails and masts of Liang Yao's fleet, and then pulled the cannon and fired.

It must be admitted that the crews of the Dutch East India Fleet cooperated very well and executed orders very efficiently.

The first round of Dutch artillery fire was actually chain bullets!

This was unexpected by many crew members of Liang Yao's fleet.

Hundreds of chain bullets were ejected from the muzzles and swept towards the snow-white sails.

The sails that were hit were quickly torn into holes by the Dutch chain bullets, and there were leaks everywhere.

The power of a sailboat comes from the sail, and the sail is the engine of the sailboat.

The Dutch's purpose of attacking the sails is self-evident. They hope to damage the sails and even the masts of Liang Yao's fleet, paralyze their power systems, and then block the shooting blind spots of these sailboats that have lost their maneuverability, use these sailboats as target ships, and then eat these sailboats.

The Dutch gunners' artillery skills are very superb. After two rounds of shooting, the mast of a clipper ship was even directly broken by the Dutch.

The broken mast tore the ropes and fell down like a big tree cut down by a lumberjack, and fell into the sea.

Liang Yao secretly rejoiced that his fleet had enough steamships. The four main warships and 11 loach-class ships were all steamships. This tactic of the Dutch was not effective for all the ships in Liang Yao's fleet.

If Liang Yao was leading a pure sailing team at this time, the victory or defeat might have been decided.

The technical advantage also brought Liang Yao a higher tolerance rate.

The Dutch's maritime strength should not be underestimated. The crew of the colonial fleet has such a high tactical quality.

Of course, the Dutch bombardment was not easy. The Sacramento guns had a very fast firing rate, especially the naval guns on Liang Yao's ships were still 6-pound small guns. Although the power was not good, the firing rate was amazing.

After each round of bombardment by the Dutch, the clipper and loach boats could often fire at least three rounds of bombardment.

With the technical advantages of naval guns, Liang Yao's fleet temporarily had a slight advantage over the Dutch East Indies Fleet in the artillery battle.

In the distance, the British Governor of Hong Kong, Bonham, observed this naval battle at the turn of the sailing age and the steam age from afar.

Major newspapers in Europe spread that the Sinop Battle between the Russian Empire's Black Sea Fleet and the Ottoman Empire Fleet, which broke out in the Black Sea in November last year, would be the last swan song of sailing warships.

The naval battle that broke out in front of him now was also a rare duel between the cutting-edge steam warships and the old sailing warships.

As a former rival of the British Empire, the Netherlands still had remarkable maritime strength.

This emerging force rising on the west coast of the United States was able to fight back and forth with the East Indies fleet of the Dutch colonial authorities, which surprised Wen Xian.

Although Liang Yao's fleet performed well, in Wen Xian's view, it was still a group of naval rookies.

Liang Yao's fleet had relatively low organizational ability and tactical literacy. If it were not for the technical advantage of more steam ships, Liang Yao's fleet would probably have raised the white flag or slipped away.

If the British Royal Navy's crew had fought this naval battle, the Dutch would not have been able to maintain a situation of equal strength with this fleet, and they might not even have the upper hand in the first round.

Liang Yao's maritime force still lacked actual combat experience after all.

The most embarrassing thing at this time was the Guangdong Navy and pirates who came to show off their strength and support the scene.

They couldn't compete with the Dutch in terms of mobility, and they couldn't compete even more in terms of guns.

In addition to the three loach-class boats, the rest of the small sampans older than Hong Mingxiang in the Guangdong Navy could not withstand one or two rounds of bombardment from the Dutch.

"General, we are just here to support the scene, there is no need to fight to the death."

The cruelty of the naval battle has exceeded the imagination of the officers and soldiers of the Guangdong Navy. Hong Mingxiang's deputy general Kang Enze suggested that Hong Mingxiang withdraw from the battlefield to preserve his strength.

"Withdraw! Liang Yao still owes us the final payment of 50,000 US dollars! If I withdraw now, how can I have the face to ask Liang Yao for the final payment later!

The pirates didn't run away, so our officers and soldiers ran first. You can afford to lose this person, but I can't! Anyone who dares to talk about retreat will be shot on the spot!"

Hong Mingxiang picked up the Colt revolver at his waist and shouted.

"Guangdong Navy, listen up! All ships, approach the Red Devil's ships, prepare the grappling hooks, and prepare to board the ships! I haven't robbed the Red Devil's ship yet, so I'll rob one today! The first to board will be rewarded with 200 taels of silver and 30 acres of paddy fields! Follow me!"

After saying this, Hong Mingxiang commanded the Guangdong Navy's ships to rush towards the nearby Dutch ships.

If you can hold one, it's one. This is the only thing Hong Mingxiang can do for Liang Yao at present.

As for whether they can win, it depends on Liang Yao. After all, his Guangdong Navy is just a supporting role.

Liang Yao is the protagonist of this naval battle.

When the pirates saw the Guangdong Navy boarding the ships, they also bit the bullet and locked onto the nearby Dutch armed merchant ships, prepared the grappling hooks and prepared to rush up and fight the Dutch.

This is not because they are very loyal, but Liang Yao also owes them the final payment, and they are waiting to find Liang Yao to settle the final payment after the war.

The sound of cannons on the sea of ​​Java is endless, and the smoke is filled.

From the time the HMS Bold fired the first shot until now, the two sides had been engaged in a fifty-minute artillery battle.

Both sides suffered heavy losses. A fifth-class Dutch sailing warship was sunk, which was the only Dutch sailing warship Liang Yao had sunk so far.

The sunken sailing warship was the Agamemnon, which was paralyzed at the beginning of the war after Roland penetrated below the waterline and lost its maneuverability.

In addition to the Agamemnon, the Dutch also sank two armed merchant ships.

Liang Yao had a loach-class ship sunk by the opponent's flagship Rotterdam, and another ship was penetrated below the waterline and was about to sink.

The losses of the clippers were even greater. The Dutch directly sank three clippers, and the masts of two clippers were only one mast left by the Dutch, basically losing their power source.

The three Dutch armed merchant ships are continuing to besiege the two powerless clippers of the bombardier. It is only a matter of time before these two clippers sink.

Fortunately, Liang Yao's four main warships, because of the iron sheet hull, withstood the Dutch's multiple rounds of shooting, did not suffer fatal injuries, and were able to continue fighting.

As long as these four main warships can continue to fight, Liang Yao still has hope of victory.

Although Liang Yao can afford to lose this naval battle, he does not want to lose.

Once he loses, he will not be able to organize a decent naval force in the short term to seize the sea control in Southeast Asia and project his land power to Borneo.

Once the Chinese resistance forces on Borneo are eliminated by the Dutch-Indonesian authorities, it will be difficult for Liang Yao to get involved in the East Indies.

Although the exchange ratio is ugly and completely beyond Liang Yao's expectations before the war, Liang Yao believes that the Dutch East India Fleet is not easy to fight, and the casualties are not necessarily less than his own.

The shells fired by Liang Yao's fleet are mainly explosive bombs, which are more inclined to kill the enemy's living forces in order to achieve the purpose of reducing the combat effectiveness of the enemy ships, rather than directly sinking the enemy ships.

Three or four hundred meters away, a double-deck, fifth-class sailing warship of the Dutch East India Fleet maneuvered to the firing position, exposing its belly to the Bold, and the ship's guns fired at the side of the Bold in turn, trying to penetrate the side of the Bold.

The Dutch gunners' gunnery was very accurate. The fifth-class sailing warship that fired at the Bold fired a total of 19 shots, 15 of which hit the side of the Bold.

Fortunately, the side of the Bold was wrapped in cast iron, and the exposed wooden hull area was very small.

Most of the shells fired by the guns of the fifth-class sailing warship hit the cast iron armor of the Bold, and did not cause much damage to the Bold.

The deputy gunner on the Bold quickly responded, and three 76mm secondary guns quickly fired a torrential rain of metal bullets at the double-deck sailing warship that had exposed its belly.

The side of the fifth-class ship was soon smashed by the three secondary guns on the Bold along the gun window, leaving a large hole with a diameter of more than one meter.

"Why shoot at the gun window! Shoot below the waterline with your belly exposed! Shoot below the waterline! You idiots!"

The gunner ran over from the main gun turret and hit a deputy gunner's shoulder with the scabbard of his sword.

Seeing that they missed the opportunity to shoot below the waterline of the enemy ship, he cursed these deputy gunners as idiots.

The enemy had exposed the hull below the waterline, but these green hands did not directly shoot at the hull below the waterline of the enemy, but shot at the gunners in the gun window of the enemy.

As long as the hull below the waterline of the enemy is penetrated, the enemy ship will at least lose its maneuverability for a short time, and will have to dispatch personnel to pump water to block the water. At that time, the enemy's firepower will be much weaker and become a live target.

These green hands can't figure out such a simple truth.

The gunner was very angry at the behavior of these deputy gunners, but now was not the time to be angry.

Although the enemy ship dropped its sails and accelerated to escape from the shooting range of the Bold,

But the guns of the Bold were all installed on movable turrets, and the gunner hurriedly ordered the deputy gunners to aim directly below the enemy's waterline and fire.

The trajectory of the Sacramento gun was straight, and at a distance of three or four hundred meters, it basically hit wherever it was pointed.

The three secondary guns quickly smashed three holes as big as bowls below the waterline of the enemy ship.

These deputy gunners could vaguely hear the shouts from the enemy ship.

The loaders of the secondary guns quickly completed the loading and prepared for the second round of shooting.

However, the psychological quality of the enemy ship's crew was so strong that they could calmly operate the sails and control the rudder to quickly leave the Bold's firing range even when the ship was leaking.

Lin Sen, the captain of the Bold, did not rashly order a pursuit when he saw this, but only ordered the gunners of the tail guns to shoot at the fleeing enemy ship.

The rotation angle of the Bold's secondary gun turret was only 135°, but the two main gun turrets at the bow and stern could rotate 360°, with basically no blind spots for shooting.

Therefore, although the enemy ship that attacked by surprise escaped the firing range of the secondary guns of the Courageous, it did not escape the firing range of the main guns. The main guns on the Courageous were still able to attack it.