Chapter 1324: Doomed
Luhuitou Peninsula has been a military-controlled area since Haihan established his power in Sanya. This place not only has Haihan Army Base, cadre training center, immigration camp and other important facilities, but the mountainous area at the southern end of the peninsula also provides an excellent lookout overlooking the South China Sea. point. However, this place is not open to the public on weekdays. This time, officials invite people from all walks of life to Linhai Highlands to watch the game, which is a special move that has never been done before.
Although Liu Shang was a temporary employee, his status as a Youth League official gave him a lot of conveniences. Yu Xiaobao asked him to come to assist with the work of the Propaganda Department, so Liu Shang, with a work badge hanging around his neck, also entered this area smoothly. . After he arrived at the scene, he discovered that his job was actually to help guide the audience to their seats. There was no technical content at all. It was just that almost all of the invited people were the middle and upper classes of society, and their status was relatively noble. In order to maintain confidentiality and safety, Due to this consideration, there were basically no ordinary people on site. They were almost all personnel belonging to functional agencies with similar status to Liu Shang.
What Liu Shang is most concerned about is not the bold decision of Haihan's senior management, but how the military can be sure that the enemy's fleet will enter the sea area on time and accurately today, and can not shy away from Haihan's A head-to-head fight began with the Haihan Navy at the doorstep of their home. If the Spanish fleet is suspicious and moves elsewhere, or deliberately avoids the Haihan army fighting at home, wouldn't it be in vain to hold such a large-scale watch event?
In fact, the military is not 100% sure about this, but since the Spanish fleet's march route is already under surveillance and its purpose is very clear, it would not be their style if the Spanish retreat without fighting. , so the military is certain that even if the Spaniards know that Haihan is prepared, they will still fight head-on with Haihan's navy. Otherwise, if they slip away at the gate of Sanya, what record can they get back to compete?
Sanya's local social leaders were invited to watch the battle in Laihai Highlands. If the Spaniards were intimidated after entering this battlefield, it would not be a waste of time. At least the audience could see the embarrassment of the Spaniards retreating without a fight. At that time, public opinion in various countries will naturally regard Spain's retreat as a sign of weakness towards Haihan, which will also help Haihan's international image to some extent. If the Spaniards choose to fight, it will be in line with Haihan's wishes. The original intention of the military in organizing this event is to fight a local war that can fully demonstrate Haihan's naval strength in front of the world.
No matter how many military exercises are organized, it is impossible for a real battle to shock people. If Haihan wants to become a true hegemon in the South China Sea, he must remove the stumbling block of Spain. Defeating the invading Spanish fleet with dignity on the battlefield is undoubtedly the best way to achieve this goal.
Liu Shang really didn't expect that Haihan had specially cleared a relatively flat site on this highland near the sea, and even built a terraced stand with an awning. However, the soil under the stand was still new, and it was obvious that it had just been built. It's just a completed temporary project. Thinking about it, Haihan was probably the only one with such formidable engineering and construction capabilities, because as far as he knew, the stand had only been built yesterday afternoon by transporting materials up the mountain, and then built it overnight with torches. Just to transport these building materials to a highland with a vertical drop of more than 200 meters from the coast, the engineering department used thousands of migrant workers. It can be said that this temporary project was completed at all costs and time.
However, the number of spectators who came after hearing the news today has actually exceeded the planned plan. Many of the invited people came with their families, and it was impossible to keep their relatives and friends out. Therefore, in addition to the hundreds of people sitting in the stands that have been set up, there are also many people sitting on the ground in the area that has been cleared nearby. Liu Shang made a rough estimate. The audience in this area alone is at least a thousand people. . It is said that the Luhuitou Peninsula is not the only venue Haihan has arranged on the Linhai Highlands. There is also a viewing area open to ordinary people. There must be more people who are lucky enough to witness this naval battle today than the total number of combatants from both countries combined.
Although the viewing environment, which is open to the wind on all sides, is really simple, the enthusiasm of the audience is very high. Everyone knew about today's "special program" when they came. For them, this was nothing less than an adventure in their lives. Even those specially invited viewers who have served or are currently serving in the military are full of curiosity about the current real combat power of the Haihan Navy. There are also people in the audience, like Liu Shang, who just watched the Haihan military exercise in the Beibu Gulf a few days ago. If the content of the military exercise is to hit targets that are unable to fight back, then today's actual combat is the real deal. It's a big scene where the two strong men meet and have a showdown.
When the Haihan fleet lined up in battle formation from Victory Port and slowly sailed into the open sea, Liu Shang even faintly heard the huge cheers coming from the Yulin Peninsula - it is said that that is the area where civilians were arranged to watch the battle. Although it is far away from the battle waters, it is located at the key entrance and exit channel of Victory Port, and every Haihan warship in the battle can be clearly seen. Such a scene is undoubtedly quite exciting for the people of Haihan who are unlikely to be exposed to war.
If the Spaniards opposite knew the role they were playing, what would they think? Liu Shang remembered that during his previous trip around the island, he had heard a senior Haihan official say during the banquet that Westerners would put warriors and beasts into an arena to fight, and the nobles and people in the stands would fight for them. Shout and cheer. Today's scene in the South China Sea seems to be similar to it. This sea area is the Colosseum set up by Haihan, and the role of the Spaniards who came from afar in this scene is to be hunted by warriors. The opponent is a beast.
Although the Spaniards may not hear the shouts of audiences like Haihan, or even be aware of their existence, they have indeed become the prey in this game. Although Liu Shang was not in the same camp as Spain, he still felt a trace of sadness for the death of a rabbit and a fox for some reason.
Pinto and Luis did not realize how pathetic their current situation was. Their minds were now full of thoughts on quickly defeating the Haihan fleet in front of them, and then rushing into the harbor of Sanya to plunder the Haihan people's wealth and destroy their Capital City, arresting their top officials, it would be best to completely strangle this emerging country.
Of course, before that, we still have to deal with this fleet, which doesn't seem to be that easy to deal with. The Spanish commander noticed that the Haihan fleet approaching from the opposite side was constantly accelerating. Judging from the smoke rising from the rear of its hull, there was no doubt that these ships were also equipped with that terrible auxiliary power device. The scene of the battle with the Haihan fleet the day before yesterday was still vivid in my mind. This device that could increase the speed made the Spanish warship quite passive when fighting. At this time, seeing Haihan resorting to this trick again, the crew members couldn't help but feel anxious. Shen.
However, at this time, the dark sailing ship next to Haihan's flagship suddenly accelerated out of the fleet array and rushed towards the Spanish fleet. It seemed that he was planning to act alone. "You want to lure us into dividing our forces again? You're too naive!" Pinto saw the ship rushing out alone and did not regard it as a threat. This ship is extremely fast, and I am afraid that the opponent has specially arranged it to lure his own troops into pursuit. However, they had already suffered losses in the battle with the Haihan fleet the day before yesterday. This time Pinto and Luis were determined to maintain the fleet's formation and remain unchanged in response to any changes. Anyway, our own armed sailing ships are much more than our opponent's warships. If it really turns into a melee, even if the opponent's ships have superior weapon performance, it's hard to say how much strength they can exert by then.
Neither of the two Spanish commanders had any special reaction to this sailing ship acting alone. They just settled on the mentality of watching a show to see what you can perform. When the ship was still about one nautical mile away from the Spanish fleet, it turned its direction and headed west. It seemed that it did not intend to ram into the Spanish fleet's array from the front.
"As expected!" Seeing that the ship had chosen to turn "rationally" to avoid the direction of his own fleet, Pinto believed that his judgment was accurate. The ship's route was obviously intended to slip past the edge of the fleet under his command, hoping to attract a wave of firepower, but the intention of this operation was too obvious, and Pinto believed that the other party's commander was too insincere. Just send such a ship and expect to divide your troops? This is the majestic Spanish Empire's American Fleet. It has fought against opponents of all levels around the world. How could it be fooled by such low-level methods used to deal with rabble.
Pinto had already made up his mind to deal with the main force of the fleet in front of him. As for this strange sailing ship that slipped by, he had no intention of allocating his energy to deal with it. He had already seen that the ship was extremely fast. If he divided his forces to deal with it, 99% of the time he would be led by the wrong direction, so he simply ignored it. If this ship were to come close and start a fight, given its limited tonnage, it probably wouldn't be equipped with many cannons, so the damage it could cause to the fleet wouldn't be too serious.
However, what happened next shocked the crew of the American Fleet. This inconspicuous black sailboat actually opened fire at an unreachable distance. This is not so much an attack as it may be a misfire, because at this distance, the naval guns equipped on the ship cannot reach such a long range - at least this is the perception of the Spaniards. .
"Is this crazy or a salute?" Pinto was slightly surprised when faced with such a scene. He felt that the Haihan Navy's performance in terms of combat capabilities was no less than that of the navies of Western countries, but this operation seemed too much. You are no longer an amateur. Do you want to use the sound of cannons to gain your attention?
Before Pinto could dissipate this thought from his mind, a large sailboat in the fleet suddenly exploded on the port side, and the shattered shipboard flew dozens of meters away under the force of the explosion. It seemed that the ammunition stored on the ship exploded, but how could it be such a coincidence? As soon as the ship fired, there was an explosion on the ship here.
Pinto frowned. Before he could figure out the connection, the strange ship fired again. Along with the sound of cannons, another ship of the American Fleet also exploded, also on the port side close to the strange ship, and even the power of the explosion was similar!
This is no coincidence! Pinto suddenly realized that his previous judgment was wrong. This strange ship was not firing cannons, but was actually attacking his fleet! As for why it acts alone, this is probably not a low-level method to induce it to divide its troops, but because this ship can run fast, have a long range, and can hit accurately. It can single-handedly attack the enemy without resorting to the cover of the fleet. Mission accomplished.
Haihan actually hides such an unheard-of weapon of war! The moment Pinto realized the truth, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. The other party sent a fleet to the distant sea to be on guard, leaving a fleet to defend Sanya. The reason for such a large amount of support was probably because of the existence of such powerful warships. ?
Fortunately, judging from the appearance, there is only one such warship, and judging from the frequency of shelling, it seems that the number of artillery pieces equipped on the ship is extremely limited. The lookout soon gave an accurate answer. The only things visible on the ship were two cannons on the front and rear decks. But the strange thing was that the cannons deployed on the front and rear decks seemed to be installed on a rotatable turret. The firing range of the door cannon is much larger than that of the traditional broadside cannon.
Before Pinto could come up with a reasonable solution, the strange ship was still bombarding the Spanish fleet at a fixed frequency, and almost every bombardment was accompanied by a bomb blast on the side of a certain warship. If the flagship "Valentin" hadn't been located relatively inward and there was a layer of warships on the outside as a bunker, it might have been hit by this time.
The Spanish warships closest to the ship no longer needed Pinto's orders and opened fire on their own to fight back. It's just that the naval guns they were equipped with were obviously far inferior to their opponents in terms of range. This counterattack was more like a bluff intimidation. The shells only flew less than half the distance before they fell into the sea with all their strength, and they were not even connected to the opponent's Not even half of it touches the edge.
Chase? Anyone with a discerning eye can already see clearly that the speed of this ship is far greater than that of the Spanish warship, and the two sides are heading towards each other. If they want to turn around and pursue the ship, I am afraid it will not be an order that can be put into effect immediately. Moreover, the power of this ship's naval guns is so terrifying. If there are fewer ships chasing it, it can only be used as a living target while flying kites. If there are too many ships, wouldn't it just follow the opponent's wishes and divide the troops? Pinto found himself in a dilemma instantly.
(End of chapter)