Lu Ming

Chapter 238 Peeling Onions ([-])

Departing with the main fleet were five logistics fleets with hard sails.

The configuration of the logistical fleet follows the consistent style of Transit: a "new lock ship" equipped with electronic equipment is the flagship, leading the rest of the ships.

The "new lock boats" that are still very rare at present are the Taijiang Shipyard version of the mixed-race old lock boats mentioned above.This type of ship is huge, with a length of 45 meters, a width of 8.5 meters, a draft of 5.3 meters, and a rated displacement of 400 tons.In the eyes of the wise, this is a big ship of 400 materials. You must know that the most common 100 materials Fuchuan on the ocean usually has an actual displacement of less than [-] tons.

Since the western-style "U"-shaped bottom is adopted, multiple side cannons can be installed on the deck of the new lock ship.Of course, this kind of armament is actually meaningless-their main function is to transport supplies, and usually only need to install a Napoleon 6-pound gun on the bow for self-defense.

And as the main force on the surface of this battle: the hand-to-hand combat + musket brigade composed of 30 Fuchuan ships is still staying in the Maweishui camp for training at this moment, and did not go out with the team immediately.

……

As soon as the slow transport fleet left the mouth of the Minjiang River, it was left far behind by the main fleet.Right now is the south wind season, so the fleet sailing south from Fuzhou belongs to sailing against the wind.

Without the help of turbines, the speed of the two Youguang-class destroyers is actually not high, only 8 knots, and this is still in the case of tailwind.Therefore, as soon as the fleet left the mouth of the Minjiang River in the early morning, the two destroyers compensatoryly started part of the turbines to keep the speed of the ship at about 10 knots.

10节就是每小时18公里。而福州到厦门的海路是多少呢？200公里。所以当12个小时过去后，下午6点半，舰队已经来到了距离金门以东20公里的外海处。

After reducing the speed of the ship to only 3 knots, the fleet began to circle on the sea surface—the crossing people were waiting for the night to come, and by the way, they were preparing for the battle.

The first thing to prepare is food.Since this mission is an offshore operation with supplies, there are plenty of fresh ingredients on board: the dinner is Yangzhou fried rice.

Fried rice is perfect for this situation because the rice can be steamed ahead of time, as can the diced peas and radish.When it’s time for the meal, the chef only needs to throw vegetable oil, eggs, peas and diced vegetables into the big pot and stir fry... Of course, the most important diced salt pork, commonly known as ham, is indispensable here.

Heavy oil and heavy salt, fried rice with a lot of egg flower and diced bacon is the soldiers' favorite.After gulping down the rice in the iron rice bowl, each person will be given a pot of black tea with sugar.Soldiers would shake the rice jar gently, and then drink the black tea and the oil and water at the bottom of the jar.

After the meal, the deck department began to clean up and bundle up all items that hindered the battle in accordance with the combat regulations, including the key departments such as gun crews and engines, and were also making their own pre-war preparations.

After all the preparatory work was completed, it was already dusk when the sun was setting.At this moment, the burning clouds in the distance covered the sky, as if foretelling that there would be a flame rising above the sea tonight.

When the fleet came to the sea off the east side of Jinmen at a low speed, the sky was already completely dark.

The dark night is a friend of the time traveler.The fleet with all kinds of electronic equipment was like a god in the dark night of the 17th century.

……

In Zhangzhou Bay right now, there are a total of 3 pirate forces assembled in large numbers.

The largest number of people is naturally Li Kuiqi's gang.The Li Kuiqi Group, which is based in Xiamen Zhongzuo, has been recruiting scattered stocks and integrating teams these days, so its strength is now expanding: there are already more than 500 warships in the gang, and the number of troops has reached more than 2. .

The Pirate Pioneer Group stationed in West Bay of Kinmen consisted of Zhong Bin, who was recently separated from the big gang, and the soldiers of several outside shopkeepers.

Zhong Bin's troops were only recently transferred to Jinmen.As Li Kuiqi's most powerful ally, Zhong Bin stationed his troops here. The first purpose was to monitor the fleet of the Zheng family in Weitou Bay in the north, and the second purpose was to serve as the commander in the upcoming looting operation. Pioneer, drink soup—this is also the hidden benefit that Li Kuiqi gave to several allies.

And the third force in Zhangzhou Bay is the Zheng family soldiers who are currently entrenched in Weitou Bay.The Zheng family who were driven back to their lair are now weak and confused about the way forward; after losing their leader, they no longer pose a threat to other forces, so the cross-travelers plan to clean up these gangs at the end.

In this way, the main target for tonight is very clear: Jinmen Zhongbin Group, which is the outermost berth.

The shape of Kinmen Island is a horizontal dumbbell shape with two big ends, a thin middle, and a missing piece on the left.The location where Zhong Bin's fleet is berthed at the moment is on the left side of the Golden Gate, in the gaped bay opposite Lieyu.

When the crossing fleet came to the sea area 5 kilometers away from the Golden Gate, the ships that were already in a state of silence began to lower their sails, and the fleet completely switched to the propeller power mode-the upcoming battle is likely to require large-scale maneuvers on the sea at night , Can't keep up with the frequency of wind direction conversion, and the sail outfit that increases the complexity of the ship has become a burden at this time.

After lowering the sails, the fleet began to adopt a low-speed propulsion method with relatively low noise.When the pointer on the watch was at 8 o'clock at night, the fleet had quietly arrived only 2 kilometers away from the enemy.By this time, a large area of ​​fishing fire in the bay has clearly caught the eyes of the sailors.

……

At this moment, in the Nakajima of the flagship Youguang, the passers-by who have just detected the number of enemy ships through radar and night vision goggles are discussing the battle plan.

In front of the crossing crowd, there are nearly 200 berthing ships in the bay.

A little closer to the south are 50 elite ships lined up in two columns.This part of the ships is the core strength of Zhong Bin and outside shopkeepers like Chen Zhongji, and they are all elites.

The remaining 150 miscellaneous ships of various colors were crowded closely next to the large fleet, forming a square 4-row team.

A large number of pirates on the ship are living their night life in the cabin with oil lamps on at the moment: some gamble, some stand on the bow and sing opera at the top of their voices, and some are drunk and carry wine jugs from house to house. In addition, There were quite a few people picking up soap in the dark cabin. In short, there was a lot of noise in Pirate Bay.

"I don't think there are many enemies here? Why don't you go directly to Xiamen?" Wang Xiaohui, the chubby fleet chief of staff, looked up after reading the information.

"That's not much? No wonder you're fat, your appetite is really good." Sha Zhengming pointed at the radar screen: "There are at least 200 ships, and one-third of Li Kuiqi's strength is here, how little? "

"If you go to Zhongzuo Institute, won't you be able to handle the two-thirds?"

"Not necessarily. The pier in the middle left is east-west, and now the wind is blowing south, so our big move is not effective." Sha Zhengming said with a finger on the screen from top to bottom, and said with a smile : "The boat here is north-south, just right."

Although he accepted Sha Zhengming's analysis, Wang Xiaohui still smacked his lips: "Oh, I'm always a bit unwilling."

"Come on, hurry up and order."

The next moment, a frigate at the end of the fleet slowly raised its position.

……

The "big move" that Sha Zhengming and the others talked about for a long time is true: this 150-ton Taijiang-class frigate named "Helang" is a hidden big move for the fleet.

At the stern of the heat wave, there is a multi-stage high-pressure oil pump spray gun system from Siemens.This system can inject the gasoline stored in the stern to 14 meters away at a pressure of 150 MPa.

In the distant Miaosu, most of the barrels of black crude oil carried down the mountain by savages and the 2 tons of gasoline extracted from the first batch were used here... Human beings will do everything in order to slaughter their own kind. Terrible.

And Wang Bo, the captain of the crossing crew on the Heat Wave, started to act after confirming the order with Sha Zhengming through the walkie-talkie.Under the watchful eyes of everyone on the 7 sister ships, the Heatwave began to slowly start the turbines and headed north at a low speed.

The departure point of the Heat Wave is in the south of Pirate Bay.The ship's driving route was to draw a circle from the left side of Pirate Bay, through the strait between Jinmen and Lieyu, and circle to the north of Pirate Bay.

The low-speed detour is because I don't want the pirates to be disturbed by high-frequency noise.And to launch an attack from the north, because it is now a southerly wind, the oncoming sea breeze will blow the gasoline sprayed by the Heat Wave from the stern behind, instead of blowing it on itself in a funny way.

...It took 40 minutes to slowly move to the Heatwave, which was 1 km north of Pirate Bay, and launched an attack after confirming the order with the walkie-talkie for the last time.

With the increasing sound of screeching turbines, the Heat Wave, whose flammable parts were covered with ceramic fireproof cloth, began to rush towards the enemy while increasing its speed.

In just a few minutes, the charging knight increased the speed of the ship to 12 knots.At the same time, it was the noise of the engine that was getting louder and louder in the silent night wind.

The pirates reacted quickly. After all, not everyone is drinking in the noise: it is the hottest August of the year, and there are also a lot of people who come out to enjoy the cool air on large sea ships, so many people are drinking from the noise at this moment. The bow of the ship stood up and looked towards the north where the strange noise was coming from.

Then they saw the sun.

The Heat Wave, which had already reached the position 200 meters north of the ship array, had no scruples at this moment, and immediately turned on the searchlight on the bow.

Accompanied by a bright white beam of light passing through the night sky, the position of the formation of more than 100 Chinese ships was clearly illuminated at this moment.And those unlucky people who were staring north were all dazzled by the bright beam of light, covering their faces one by one, jumping and shouting.

It's too late to say it, and the distance of 200 meters is just a few seconds for a frigate with a speed of up to 12 knots.The next moment, according to the enemy's position illuminated by the searchlight, Wang Bo, who was at the helm himself, guided the ship to slide steadily from a position 100 meters in front of the enemy ship.

At the same time, Wang Bo saw that the stern of the ship was already parallel to the opponent's ship, and a smile finally appeared on his thin face: "I order, launch!".

Chapter 239

Following Wang Bo's order, the stern of the Heat Wave, which was already in a parallel position with the enemy ship, instantly sprayed out a column of gasoline as thick as a water pipe.

The gasoline column is like the fire water gun commonly seen on TV in later generations. It was in the form of a column at first, and when the spray distance exceeded 70 meters, the oil column turned into a strong mist in the sea breeze and washed over the pirate ship.

The next moment, the oil mist detonated by more than N oil lamps at the same time ignited all the ships at the tail of the team within one second, and a large area of ​​flames evaporated. Engulfed by the rising light.

And a certain arsonist who was running for his life at this moment naturally didn't dare to delay for a moment - with the high-speed advancement of the Heat Wave, the sea wind blowing on the face became very strong, and the oil column shot from the stern slanted across the sea. Behind him, a fire dragon spouting bursting flames appeared on the ocean.

In less than a minute, the high-pressure spray gun sprayed more than 1 ton of No. 1 gasoline (primitive refining process) over a distance of just a few hundred meters, and the battle was over.

And behind the figure of the arsonist running at high speed, there is a boat dragon that was skewered.

At this moment, none of the 200 sailboats moored in Pirate Bay slipped through the net, and all of them ignited raging fire.At the same time, the flowing gasoline has ignited the sea surface... The spectacle of half sea water, half flame finally appeared in Pirate Bay;

Fewer than one in [-] survived.Those enjoying the cool air standing on the bow were the only ones who had a chance to dive—the sudden flame spread rapidly in seconds, so there was no possibility of survival for those in the cabin.

In the end, only those with the quickest reaction can plunge into the water at the first time, swim to the shore with the flames floating above their heads, and reinterpret Arnold Schwarzenegger's classic lens in the 17th century.

At the same time as the pirate ship was detonated, on the ship 2 kilometers away, the people who were watching the big show with binoculars also exclaimed at the same time: the effect is just as shocking as the napalm bomb dropped by the bombers of later generations.

"Oh, it's a pity, it's a one-time big move, so it's just used up." Wang Xiaohui, who was holding on to the railing of the bridge, licked his lips while looking at the fire scene in the distance, with a look of dissatisfaction.

"Come on, this is already a crime against humanity, isn't it too little?" Sha Zhengming glanced at the rejoining Heat Wave, and then patted Wang Xiaohui on the shoulder: "Let's go, let's go around the center left office."

At 11:[-] in the night, the arsonists began to turn around and headed towards the left center in the west, leaving behind the red clouds all over the sky.

……

Now that the hidden big move of fuel injection and burning the ship has entered the cooling time, it is time for the artillery to show its power.

This cooling time does not mean that the gasoline reserves are insufficient, but that when the enemy is prepared, this kind of close-fitting charge can no longer be used.

The easiest way: the defenders only need to set up a warning network of tattered small boats around the berth, so that the Heat Wave will not be able to accelerate its charge while circumnavigating the plum blossom pile.Without speed, the attacker will put himself in danger.

Therefore, this big move is like a holy warrior, and it will not work the second time against the same enemy.

And just as the attackers turned into hungry wolves and drove towards the center left with murderous aura, their target was also alerted and sent out a sentry in the direction of Jinmen.

The Pirate Bay where the fire broke out was less than 20 kilometers away from Zhongzuo Institute in a straight line, so when the sky was full of flames, a large number of pirates at Zhongzuo Institute had already discovered the vision in the eastern night sky.And Li Kuiqi himself, who received the alarm, sent a small boat to the east in the dark to check the situation as soon as he saw the fire cloud when he left the cabin.

"Brother, I still don't feel relieved. Let me see for myself." Seeing the fiery red sky in the distance, Zhong Bin, who had just put on a robe and ran from the Chinese military tent, was jumping his feet anxiously.

"Brother, you are confused! The enemy's situation is unknown, and it's night again, should you go out to feed the fish? Don't worry, just wait for the report!" Li Kuiqi glared at the chaotic Zhong Bin, and then ignored him.

No wonder Zhong Bin jumped: Jinmen has [-]% of his strength. If something happens, he will fall from the position of the company's second shareholder in an instant. Who can bear it?

However, the major shareholder Li Kuiqi couldn't care less about comforting his allies at the moment.In his analysis, the firelight shining through the distant sky is bound to not be a natural phenomenon.In addition, since this flame can be seen by myself far away in the middle left, it is impossible for someone to accidentally smash the lamp oil—ten boats cannot burn such a big fire.

Therefore, there must be an enemy attack.

As for who is coming?As far as Li Kuiqi's immediate feeling is concerned, he still thinks that the Zheng family in the north of Kinmen is the most suspicious: the Kinmen soldiers and horses who are only 20 kilometers away from Weitou Bay by sea pose a huge threat to the Zheng family.In addition, the Zheng family lived here for a long time, and they are familiar with the sea conditions and terrain, so adventurous night voyages are also possible.

Thinking of this, Li Kuiqi had some idea in his mind: No matter what the Zheng family did tonight, the whole army will be mobilized tomorrow morning, and they will take over the Zheng family's lair in Anping.

However, things are unpredictable, and after only half an hour, he knew that he had guessed the wrong opponent just now, because the sound of rumbling guns came from the sea.

The sound of cannons from far to near clearly marked the direction of the enemy's voyage, and it also threw Li Kuiqi's previous speculation about the Zheng family into the sky - there is no doubt that any Chinese pirate has no ability to fight at night.

However, at this moment, Li Kuiqi couldn't care less about playing guessing games anymore. He had to send troops to fight, even if the pirates under him couldn't even tell the direction at the moment, it was better than waiting for death in the port!

So Li Kuiqi decisively began to give orders, and then a large number of pirates were kicked awake from the cabin, and the entire Zhongzuo Port suddenly fell into chaos and noise: the sailors began to try to use torches and oil lamps to illuminate the deck, raise the sails and raise the anchor.

However, the night boat is not so easy to open.Half asleep and half awake, the dizzy sailors quickly fell into gourds on the fragmented deck, and some people with night blindness fell into the water one after another. The fleet like headless flies collided and rubbed against each other in the darkness and chaos, cursing The sound filled the entire port.

The next moment, the uproar suddenly stopped for a while: a thick water column hit the water surface of the port, splashing a large amount of water.

It seems like a moment has passed, and it seems like a long time. Accompanied by the sound of the rumbling guns, the people in the port not only calm down at this moment, but also collectively look to the east... 1.5 kilometers away, a man with sparks and lightning The enemy has appeared.

……

At this moment, the penetrating fleet has changed from its previous wretched form. The lights of the 8 ships on the sea are fully turned on, and the light bulbs on the top of the 44 forts illuminate the whole ship brightly. Bright searchlight posts cut the night into pieces. The surface of the water reflected like a broken mirror, like a divine ship sailing from the Tianhe River.

Ignoring the noise in the distance, the fleet was heading towards the center left at a steady speed of 6 knots, and the small shrimps encountered along the way were all sent to the bottom of the sea.

Starting from the limit distance of 1.5 kilometers, accompanied by the first test firing, 44 artillery pieces started 10 rounds of coverage shooting in the following time.

Since it is a night battle with extremely low visibility, the fleet can only rely on the infrared rangefinder and low-light rangefinder installed on the flagship Youguang to jointly solve the sighting and ranging at this moment.

After all the parameters are collected, the cross-travelers can use a small program on the notebook or ipad to calculate the shooting parameters, and then the information is notified to each ship by the walkie-talkie, and then notified to the fort by the tweeter or the separate speaker on the gun emplacement .

After hearing the shooting elements repeatedly coming from the loudspeaker behind him, the gunner began to quickly adjust the height machine and direction machine in a bright cone-shaped light like that on the stage of an opera house.

At the same time, the second gunner has already selected the specified amount of ammunition and shells from the open-close lift cabinet behind the gun position according to the information in the loudspeaker.When he returned to the muzzle, the three gunners had finished processing the bore with the cannon brush, and then the two cooperated to "poke" the ammunition pack and shells into the bore in order.

Then it's the gunner's job.First, the gunner will insert a special sharp cone through the gun door to puncture the charge pack, then he will insert a pull fuze into the gun door, and then connect the pull rope, and the whole gun crew will start to cover up. Ears to wait—the order for the fleet salvo will come from the loudspeaker.

The whole process of loading and preparing will not take more than half a minute, and the shooting frequency tonight is once a minute, so the members of the artillery crew are actually relatively leisurely, and they have time to enjoy the scenery outside the ship.

Of course, because of the spotlight, they can't actually see objects outside the ship.This situation was maintained until the fleet arrived at a distance of 500 meters before Zhongzuosuo Port: the dense lights in the port and the small flames lit up from time to time illuminated everything around, and the soldiers could now clearly see the surrounding area. Condition.

The crossing fleet that arrived at the gate of Zhongzuo from 1.5 kilometers away had already fired a full salvo of 10 rounds of shells, pouring a total of 440 iron balls on the large group of pirate ships gathered together.

Then comes the second round of blows.

Under the command of those passing through the bridge of Youguang, the fleet began to divide into two groups and shoot separately.

Relying on the convenience of sighting equipment and communication equipment, the two destroyers commanded a total of 20 guns and divided them into 4 gun groups, and began to shoot at the ships struggling out of the port one after another.

The remaining 6 frigates kept their targets unchanged, and fired rapidly at the gathering area of ​​enemy ships that were already within visual range.

It's time to test the effectiveness of the usual training: After the gun crews on each battleship gave the order of "free rapid fire" through the tweeter, the gun crews took off their coats one after another, roaring and starting the shooting competition.

These black men, who were fed with various proteins by the crossing, finally burst out with all their energy at this moment.During the 10-minute shooting time of the second round, the most efficient artillery group fired an average super rate of 3 rounds per minute, pouring most of the shells in stock on the pirates.

Chapter 240 Trapped Beast

During the Civil War, most Napoleon gun batteries could easily fire two rounds per minute.

And in the plane of crossing the public, due to the addition of various black technologies, such as the most important gun well that "does not need to move after firing", the maximum speed of a three-man gun crew can reach 3-4 per minute. send.

The only thing that can restrict the performance of the gun crew is the sloshing deck and the hot barrel.

And during the 10-minute rapid-fire period that night, the fleet actually reduced the speed of the ship to 2 knots to reduce deck shaking and cooperate with the gun crew - due to the existence of turbine power, the fleet can surround a large number of enemies at any time Speed ​​up before leaving.

As for the gun barrel, the quality of the Napoleon cannon produced by the precision wrought iron + cutting process used by the fleet has far exceeded that of similar products in history, and a round of rapid fire has no effect on the barrel.

In short, technology changes everything.Facing a fleet armed with high technology, the primitive pirates in the 17th century had no ability to fight back except for being beaten.