Chapter 1321 Formal Encounter
The war atmosphere deliberately created by the military is actually the same as the mission Liu Shang is currently performing, with the purpose of calming the people's hearts. Of course, after so many coastal defenses and troops have been deployed with so much effort, if a fish really escapes the net and breaks through the naval blockade and attacks the port, then these defensive measures will definitely have a certain impact. Not to mention the use of artillery, the thousands of muskets of the coastal defense forces alone are enough to turn a small group of landing enemies into a hornet's nest.
Liu Shang also saw scenes in war-torn areas when he was in the Ming Dynasty. Once there was news that a war was about to break out somewhere, the first reaction of the people nearby for dozens of miles was often to pack up their belongings and flee. Even if his ability is limited and he cannot escape too far, he must at least escape into a nearby city first. But he did not see a similar scene in Sanya. Although Haihan officially issued a war warning, the local people did not seem to have any intention of fleeing, let alone flocking to the Victory Fort to seek asylum. How should they live their daily lives? Pass.
Regarding the upcoming war, the public's mood is relatively stable, and it seems that this is just another topic to talk about after dinner. And according to what Liu Shang knows, the issue that most people care about is not the outcome of the war, but how many days it will take the Haihan Army to defeat its opponents this time, and how many prisoners will be escorted and paraded through the streets of Sanya in the end. wait.
During this period, there were also some well-known business people who sent food, medicine and other supplies to the garrison in the name of the labor force with great fanfare. But Liu Shang suspected that the statements made by these upper-class people were more or less prompted and instigated by the authorities, and they were consciously doing some superficial tricks to stabilize the emotions of the local people. Most of those who are worried about the war situation are foreigners or new immigrants who have just arrived in Sanya. These people do not fully understand the strength of Haihan and will worry about being affected by the war. Only when they see a large number of Haihan Only when soldiers set up defenses everywhere in the port area can they relax a little. Therefore, the tough stance taken by the Haihan military in Sanya still played a certain role in stabilizing people's hearts.
On September 17, Tao Donglai and Johnson each led a fleet to leave port to fight the Spanish fleet that was about to arrive in this area. The military and political affairs of Sanya were temporarily taken over by Yan Chujie, Ning Qi and others.
For the Haihan military, this is the first time in recent years that it has carried out a combat mission in its own waters, and its opponent is an established maritime empire like Spain. When the two powers meet, the outcome of this battle will most likely determine the future hegemony of the South China Sea. Belong. Although Tao Donglai and others have great confidence in victory, they do not dare to be careless at all. After all, in terms of experience in naval battles, the enemy they face this time may be better than the Haihan Navy. If you leave an opportunity for your opponent to take advantage of, it will be impossible to achieve a complete victory.
At the same time that the Haihan fleet left port, the Spanish fleet had arrived on the ocean about a hundred nautical miles southeast of Sanya. After getting rid of the tracking of the Haihan reconnaissance ship, the fleet has been sailing at sea for more than a day, and the last leg of the voyage is basically entering the final sprint stage before launching the attack.
Pinto has put his previous unhappiness behind. Those small sailing ships cannot prevent his fleet from attacking Sanya. As long as he can break through the outer defenses of the port and achieve landing, Pinto believes that he will still have a relatively high degree of confidence in defeating him. The local defenders and captured Fort Victory, which is said to contain a large amount of wealth and advanced manufacturing technology.
But unfortunately, his wishful thinking did not come true. After a quiet day at sea, Pinto once again received the news from the observation position on the mast, and found several sail shadows on the distant sea, which seemed to be similar to It is very similar to the Haihan reconnaissance ship that has been encountered before.
Whatever he was afraid of, Pinto hoped that this was just a misjudgment by the lookout, but soon he knew that his luck was really bad. The few sails that appeared on the sea were exactly the same as the ships he had seen the day before. Small sailboat.
However, the several ships encountered this time did not seem to have any intention of accompanying them. After confirming the identity of the Spanish fleet a few nautical miles away, they immediately turned around and headed north. At the same time, one of the ships sent a shot straight into the sky. Flare. Bright orange fireworks rose over the sea, flew into the air and exploded with a bang, leaving a large cloud of orange smoke in the air. On a clear day like this, the presence of this warning smoke can be noticed at least twenty nautical miles away. Obviously, the opponent is sending warning signals to the rear through such means.
Fortunately, the wind on the sea was strong at this time, and the smoke did not remain in the air for long before it was blown away by the wind. After Pinto saw this scene, instead of panicking because his opponent noticed the movement, he felt relieved - his opponent used this method to report to the rear, and it was obvious that he did not have the magical communication technology that Louis said, so The few small sailboats that followed the fleet the day before yesterday were probably just playing tricks. At this time, even if the news of the Spanish fleet's attack was transmitted back to Sanya through signal flares on the sea, it would probably be difficult for the local area to organize decent defense measures in time.
But Pinto soon realized his omission. Why did the Haihan reconnaissance ship appear in this sea area? You must know that in order to avoid exposing the route and target, the Spanish fleet has spent more than a day making a large circle on the sea. The route it is currently traveling is no longer the original plan. If Haihan sensed some signs in advance and sent out a reconnaissance ship to search the sea, it should be the main target of the sea route when he last encountered the reconnaissance ship. How could he have the spare capacity to deploy so many fast sailing ships in the southerly waters? ?
Is it a coincidence? Of course Pinto had such expectations, but he did not dare to take any chances. After all, the other party was very determined in releasing the signal flares. They obviously regarded the Spanish fleet as a threat, which showed that the mission of these ships was to guard the sea. And this place is at least a hundred nautical miles away from Sanya. How can Haihan's daily maritime defense range be so large? Or is it that the opponent has long been wary and has made similar deployments in all directions in the waters near Sanya?
This last possibility is very risky for the Spanish fleet. Pinto is still surprised and uncertain after thinking about it, but several small ships in the distance have already turned back to the north, retreating to a point where the fleet cannot catch up. distance, obviously there is no intention to exert any resistance to the Spanish fleet here.
At this point, there was no room for any thoughts of looking back, so they had to go to Sanya first to find out what was going on. After Pinto briefly exchanged opinions with Louis through flag signals, the two decided to go directly to Sanya. The Haihan people Whether it is a bluff to raise suspicion or whether it has been forewarned and prepared, you will know when you go to the local area.
With an uneasy mood, the Spanish fleet continued to move northwest, but both commanders issued instructions to their subordinates, requiring all ships to enter combat status. Although there are currently no clear signs that Haihan will set up an ambush ahead, the closer he gets to his destination, the stronger his sense of uneasiness becomes.
Although the Haihan reconnaissance ship did not take any hostile actions against the Spanish fleet after that, this uneasy mood continued in the fleet for a whole day. Everyone gradually realized that the battle might start at any time, even the most popular The joking sailor had also shut his mouth. At this juncture, the only thing the crew and sailors could do, apart from wiping their swords and guns, was to pray to God for the good luck to survive. Pinto put on full equipment after lunch. Although the battle on the ship did not require full-body armor like knights fighting face-to-face, the half-armor and helmet that protected the vital parts of the body still had to be worn to avoid fighting for each other in the melee. Injured by stray bullets and blast fragments. In addition to a knight's sword, he also has a flintlock handgun made by skilled craftsmen in Spain. Although the range is not long, it is also a weapon that can kill the enemy and save his life in close combat.
"Let's see how many enemies we can kill with my old friend this time!" Pinto has been fighting all over the world for many years, and he is also a decisive person. Even when facing powerful opponents, his determination remains firm, not because of the previous sea. The repeated appearance of Han ships was too affected. He knew very well that his mission during this trip was to inflict as heavy damage to Haihan as possible, firstly, to avenge the loss of the Taipei stronghold, and secondly, to curb Haihan's rapid development. When it's time to be ruthless, he will never show mercy to anyone.
That afternoon, everyone in the fleet thought that today was uneventful and the battle would begin tomorrow after arriving in Sanya. A scout ship sailing at the front of the entire fleet hung a conspicuous red flag on the top of the mast, which represented What's more, there may be an enemy attack ahead. Pinto and Louis received the warning almost at the same time and immediately ordered the fleet to enter combat mode.
After a flurry of fuss, Pinto saw a few sail shadows appearing on the sea in the distance on the bow deck, heading towards his own fleet. Obviously, this time it will no longer be the kind of small sailing boat sneaking around in the distance. It is most likely the legendary Haihan Navy.
As the distance between the two got closer and closer, the red and blue sails hanging on the mast of the sailboat in the distance were clearly visible. Sure enough, they were the fleet from Haihan. Pinto noticed that there were not many ships in the fleet opposite. It looked like there were only a dozen ships, but looking at the size of the ship, he was not at a disadvantage. The largest warship was almost his flagship "Valentin" twice the size. Being able to build such a large warship, this kind of engineering construction ability has already reflected Haihan's maritime armed strength from the side. Pinto had also heard various rumors about the powerful firepower of the Haihan fleet before setting off. He did not dare to overestimate it at the moment, so he still sent out a signal to separate the Manila fleet led by Luis from the American fleet under his command, trying to separate the Haihan fleet on the opposite side. Caught in the middle for bombardment.
Pinto believed that no matter how powerful the Haihan warship's firepower was, the ship was only so big after all, and the number of naval guns that could be deployed on the ship would not be that large. The two fleets of our own camp combined have more than 40 combat ships, while the opponent's fleet only has more than ten ships. If it can attack from both sides and attack from both sides, how can the Haihan fleet withstand such an intensity of bombardment?
Before the fleet set off from Manila, the two commanders had repeatedly deduced various naval battle tactics that might be used. Therefore, the fleet commanded by Louis also quickly provided cooperation. The two fleets divided one on the left and one in the middle. He opened a gap of several hundred meters and aimed right at the Haihan fleet approaching in a column.
"The Spaniards think simply. Do they expect us to step into such a big bag?" Tao Donglai had already confirmed the opponent's movements through the telescope and immediately ordered the course to be adjusted.
This Spanish warship is not as fragile as the pirate ships that the Haihan Navy has fought before. Not only does it have a large number of artillery, but it also has a large number of experienced military personnel. Tao Donglai will not rush into the opponent just because the fleet's firepower is strong enough. Fight head-on in the fire net set up. What's more, the fleet he leads has more than half as many ships as his opponents, and the difference in total tonnage is at least one-third. It does not have much advantage in terms of firepower. If he really wants to fight head-on, he will suffer a loss. It is very likely that it is the Haihan fleet.
Although Tao Donglai was not from the Navy, he had also put a lot of effort into the tactics of sailing battleships, and he already had a set of tactics in mind. After some adjustments, the Haihan fleet turned left from the southeast route on the sea about two nautical miles away from the Spanish fleet. Judging from the relative speeds of the two sides, the Haihan Fleet was just able to aim its broadside at the Manila Fleet and sweep past its bow. If the distance between the two sides was close enough when they crossed, then the ship at the forefront of the Manila fleet would probably have received a full round of broadside bombardment from the Shanghai and Han fleet.
The response of the Haihan fleet did not surprise the Spaniards, and this was considered a relatively normal countermeasure. However, Louis noticed that the maneuverability of these Haihan warships was very good. The trajectories they drew on the sea showed that their turning radius was very small, which was obviously better than their own warships. This was not a good sign.
Louis also immediately issued an order, and the Manila fleet also turned in the same direction as the opponent, so that after completing the turn, it could advance parallel to it and not suffer any loss in side firepower. Seeing the situation, the American fleet led by Pinto also turned around, trying to bite the tail of the Haihan fleet from behind.
Although the two sides have not fired a single shot, they have already fought for two rounds before officially engaging in battle, and they have a preliminary understanding of the enemy's strength.
(End of chapter)