Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 218 Is there anyone who can breathe?

Sure enough to be a senior naval warfare expert, the battle process is as the British Observer Group officer said, the Queensland fleet is divided into two ships, one left and right along the edge of the fire circle cut into the outside of the sailing fleet to shoot the dead zone, and then a beautiful flick and turn. Fire violently.

After only four rounds of shooting coverage, it hit a hapless Dutch sailing ship for the first time. Thousands of wooden thorns were blown away by artillery shells, and half of the gusts passed over the deck, causing great secondary damage. The crew of a sailing ship brought a **** wind.

  In the beginning, the "Utrecht Warrior" sailing warship, which served as the flagship, tried to maintain a one-time bombardment array, commanding all 7 sailing warships to turn as a whole, and use double-sided sideboard artillery to meet the enemy.

  This kind of futile effort quickly failed, because the Queensland fleet was faster, which was reflected in the fast starting speed, fast turning speed, fast acceleration, faster sailing speed, and the violent catharsis of gunfire in the shooting dead zone.

  After a hapless warship was hit, the flagship "Utrecht Warrior" desperately discovered that compared with the fast and flexible steam frigate, the inherent shortcomings of the sail warship were infinitely magnified.

Every turn of a sailing warship requires the captain’s experience in precise control of the sails, the cooperation of many sailors, and the timely cooperation of the helmsman, whether it is shaking the winch to adjust the fore mast, turning sharply to retract the reverse sail, and waiting until the ship’s hull is full of the sea breeze. It takes time to start accelerating.

  The steam frigate only needs the steering wheel to deflect, and the heading changes immediately, and the effect is immediate, as if a fish shuttles around the sea to release artillery fire.

In addition, the 7 sailing warships were scattered in the 1.8-nautical-mile in-line artillery array. The front line was stretched too long and the bomb surface was too wide. As a result, the artillery hit rate of the two ends of the attack was greatly improved, and the Queensland fleet only flicked and turned vigorously. After the fourth round of the salvo, they hit a hapless sailing warship.

  Damn, why are these Queenslanders so difficult?

As a last resort, the flagship "Utrecht Warrior" disbanded the formation, splitting the seven sailing warships into two fleets, each fighting each other.

   While the enemy ships are being regrouped

The albatross, flamingo, pelican, and heron bombarded the four warships with full shelling, and successively achieved two hits and two near-missing bullets. One of the 239mm shells hit the stern of the flagship "Utrecht Warrior". A large part of its rear was collapsed on the spot.

Since this 239mm shell exploded after it penetrated the stern of the ship, it did not cause fatal damage to the 1,700-ton second-level sail battleship "Utrecht Warrior", but killed and injured more than 20 crew members. Able to persist in fighting.

  After the Dutch disbanded the artillery array, they paid a heavy price to form their own squadrons, and the threat to the Queensland fleet suddenly increased.

  The mutual shelling on the sea turned white-hot, and countless shells roared through the air, covering the enemy ship area severely.

  The two sides gradually formed two battle groups, fighting each other with scorching shells, and the battle became white-hot.

  The fierce battle lasted for more than an hour, about 3:50 pm

The flagship "Albatross" was hit by two shots from the Dutch flagship "Utrecht Warrior" during the interspersed. A 120mm shell penetrated the bow of the ship. Although the strong blast wave was blocked by the main battery blast wall, it still caused the front. Many people were killed and injured in the main battery.

  One of them was stabbed in the head by shrapnel and died on the spot. One was vomited to death by a shell that was about to be loaded. Three people were severely injured by the shock, and the rest were slightly injured.

  A 95mm shell hit the tall steel foremast above the driver's tower, and blew the fore-mast down on the spot in the flames. The top of the driver's tower was scorched and partially distorted.

  The iron flakes brought by the explosion flew horizontally, forming a **** wind on the left side of the hull, causing more casualties.

  The officers and soldiers on the two 120mm semi-open secondary gun positions on the left were hit hard. Six died and four were seriously injured. The rest were slightly injured. The two secondary guns suddenly went silent.

  In the cockpit, 7 officers and soldiers including the fleet commander He Fang were all knocked down by the violent blast shock wave, and heavy smoke filled the cabin.

  Because there was no steering, the "Albatross" rushed straight to the squadron led by the "Utrecht Warrior".

This squadron consists of three sailing warships that are still capable of combat. Among them, the "Utrecht Warrior" was slightly injured. They were working hard to output artillery. The next round of shelling shot two rounds near the "Albatross". The water column provoked by the explosion is as dense as raindrops.

  The commanding officer of the "Albatross" suffered heavy losses and was in an extremely dangerous situation.

  If you don’t maneuver in time to avoid the densely covered area of ​​artillery, it will only be a matter of time before you get hit again.

  With the precise artillery skills of the Dutch, this good opportunity will definitely not be missed.

  "Captain, Captain..."

   No. 3 deputy gunner Zheng Dashan pulled open the cockpit door with all his wounds, the heavy smoke of gunpowder rushed into his face and his vision was blurred.

Zheng Dashan groped and rushed in, stepped on a soft body under his feet, and quickly leaned over and picked it up. It turned out to be the captain who was stunned by the bomb explosion. He roared and shook it twice and did not wake up. The nautical leader can only be leaned against the wall temporarily.

  The cockpit was filled with black smoke, and you could not see your fingers. The short-circuiting of the wires produced a thick burnt smell, accompanied by the flickering of the flames.

   After touching two people who were stunned by the shells, Zheng Dashan finally pulled Captain He Fang under the bridge and opened the door on the other side.

  In the eye

The two sub-turrets on the port side have been completely stained red with blood and corpse remains. Large splashes of blood plasma with ground meat stuck to the walls. The gunners were lying down and out, and the seriously injured uttered a miserable cry.

  Now the battle is in heat, and there is no extra manpower to rescue the gunner, and we can only wait until the end of the battle.

  By then, I am afraid that the blood of the seriously injured has drained.

"Captain...when you wake up, you wake up!" Zheng Dashan watched the captain's face covered with blood, with panic and horror in his heart, and hurriedly stretched out his hand and touched him around, but found nothing. What other traumas.

   should have been stunned by the shock wave of the explosion, so Zheng Dahai patted He Fang's cheek with his hand and shouted loudly; "Captain...The fleet needs you, and we also need you to direct the battle. You wake up!"

  At this time, the "Albatross" rushed straight toward the enemy fleet like a warrior looking at home. Only the rear main battery and the starboard secondary battery continued to fire.

   But in the face of the rain of cannonballs that were crushed by the black pressure, the firepower seemed so weak.

  The Dutch fleet fired this round and once again shot a very dangerous near-missing bullet, just like the footsteps of death lingering on the head of the "Albatross". It is only a matter of time before it will be sent to the bottom of the sea.

  The officers and soldiers of the "Heron", which was a little behind, from top to bottom were anxious and had to distance themselves from the "Albatross" to avoid the extremely dangerous shelling area.

  "Heron" kept sending out semaphores, asking the fleet commander's safety and whether he could continue to fight?

This extremely dangerous near-missing bomb exploded on the sea near the front of the ship's port side. The huge water pressure squeezed the bulkhead and creaked, and the "Albatross" was pushed away by the violent surge. The water column set off by the explosion poured head and face.

Zheng Dashan suddenly fell over coldly, but he pulled the captain hard at the end, and the two fell heavily to the ground. Where did they hit Zheng Dashan’s chest, which almost knocked Zheng Dashan out of breath. go.

  Then the overwhelming sea water poured down, drenching the two of them.

  The sea was tumbling and surging on the bulkhead, and in a blink of an eye it had been dyed into dazzling blood, swept a small piece of meat into the sea, washing the entire bow of the ship.

  The open flame in the pilot building was instantly extinguished by the sea water, and the short-circuited wires sent bright sparks in the shaking. The captain He Fang was awakened by the violent bump, his eyes briefly confused.

  The cannon rumbling, the driving building swayed constantly.

  He Fang didn't know where he was for a while, and suddenly heard a loud roar in his ear; "Captain, you are awake, great, please continue to lead us to fight."

   "Where am I?"

   "Captain, we are fighting the Dutch fleet. Brothers need your command."

   heard this

  He Fang woke up abruptly, his eyes revealed a determined look, he got up with great difficulty and took a look, and he saw an extremely tragic sight in front of him.

Several officers and soldiers in the former main gun position fell on the gun position without knowing their life or death. There were large splashes of blood everywhere, and the other wounded were struggling painfully. The rear main gun position was still insisting on firing back the gun. Many officers and soldiers had blood stains on their bodies. NS.

  The two 120mm semi-open secondary battery positions on the left side are messed up, and they have completely lost their combat ability.

  The battleship Albatross went straight to the enemy fleet, and was trapped in a dense artillery coverage area, and the situation was critical.

The warm blood from the wound on the head gushed out, blurring He Fang’s eyes, wiped it with his hand, completely ignored, and rushed to the steering platform to turn the steering wheel, causing the "Albatross" battleship to turn sharply during its high-speed voyage. The violent side leaning deduced high-speed sideslip on the sea.

Almost between the front and rear feet, dozens of hot artillery shells fell into the track just ahead. If they didn’t make a large turn and dodge, they would inevitably be hit by one or more shells. Xuan escaped this disaster.

"Three gunners, call me all the people who can wake up in the driver's building, damn, as long as there is one breath, give me a fight to the death." At the critical moment of life and death, where did you burst out? Have had the domineering.

   "Captain, they are all unconscious and can't wake up!"

"Slap me hard until I wake up." He Fang spit out blood and saliva, suddenly thinking of something, took off the short knife decorated on the bulkhead, and threw it to the third gunner. , Shouted; "If you don't wake up anymore, just use a knife to pierce me. Don't worry, I won't die. I will be responsible if something goes wrong."

   "Yes, Captain." Zheng Dashan was also stunned by He Fang's fierce expression, and he couldn't be merciful anymore.

   "Is there anyone else, is there anyone who can breathe?" He Fang shouted while manipulating the steering wheel.

   "Captain, I am the gunner Aquan."

  "Report the position of the gun."

"Yes, two deaths and three serious injuries in the front main battery position, one serious injury in the rear main battery position, and slight injuries in the rest. With two minor injuries in the gun position, he was still able to fight."

   "Go call me all the active people in the engine room, kitchen, signalman, and watchman to join the battle. Go."

"Yes."

After a few minutes

  All the gun positions of the "Albatross" roared again, like a scarred warrior brandishing a saber, throwing himself into a **** battle again.

  (End of this chapter)