Chapter 1327 Ignorance of Current Affairs
Even before being baptized by gunfire, it would be difficult for Spanish warships to pose a substantial threat to the ironclad "Warrior". This ship is very fast, and its guns have a long range. It can launch artillery attacks beyond the range of the Spanish warships. However, many Spanish warships are seriously damaged and cannot run fast at all. The cannons of the "Warrior" His mouth was almost like a fixed target, and he called the names one by one with almost no miss.
If it only takes one or two more shells, most Spanish warships can still withstand it. After all, the tonnage is there, and the hull damage that one or two shells can cause to a ship of several hundred tons is still relatively limited. But the problem is that the "Warrior" ship's naval guns not only have a long range, but also have high accuracy. At this time, they are specifically chasing the Spanish warships that have been severely damaged. As long as the stern rudder is hit, The navigation performance of the entire ship dropped by more than half. And it was difficult to carry out effective defense and resistance from this angle. The Spaniards could only watch helplessly as the rotating turret of the "Warrior" fired at their ship from all directions. In addition to praying to God to let the opponent's shells miss, they also There was no other way to think of it.
"The Spanish fleet... is about to end!" Philip, the Dutch representative who was sitting on the high seaside watching the occupation, couldn't help but sigh. Although he was only a maritime merchant and had limited knowledge of military matters, anyone who was not blind should be able to tell which one was stronger and which one was weaker based on the current trend of the war. Under the cover of Haihan's artillery fire, it was almost difficult for the Spanish fleet to make effective resistance. Although it seemed to be firing back continuously, the actual effect was that the thunder was loud and the raindrops were light, and the number of times it could hit the Haihan battleship was extremely limited.
The "Warrior" was hit by several cannonballs as it shuttled between ships, but the layer of iron armor covered by its hull played a significant protective role, and all the cannonballs that hit the hull were bounced into the sea. The Spanish warships did not have such powerful protective measures. Their shipboards were basically useless in front of the cannonballs fired by the "Valiant". In a short time, the sterns of three or four ships were shot, losing the ability to turn. .
Philip really didn't understand why the Spanish wanted to send a fleet to Sanya to die. Is it just for the two strongholds on Taiwan Island that were snatched away by the Haihan people? That's true. The Spanish's vision and tolerance are a bit too narrow. I think the Dutch East India Company also suffered great losses at the hands of the Haihan people. If it hadn't been flexible and flexible, the stronghold of Taiyuan Port in Taiwan and the entire Northeast Asia route might have been destroyed. It had long been taken away by the Haihan people. These Spaniards took retaliatory measures more than two years after the incident. Do they think they can catch the Haihan people off guard?
How childish! Philip sneered at this behavior of the Spaniards. He was in Sanya and knew very well that the Haihan people had implemented martial law at the port a few days ago, and all departments, including the garrison, had entered a state of preparation for war early. The Haihan people had already laid a dragnet, and the Spaniards thought they could sneak attack Sanya, but they didn't know that in the end they were the ones who were caught off guard. Moreover, with the consistent style of the Haihan people, they never hold back after gaining an advantage on the battlefield. The Spaniards will definitely be in bad luck this time.
Of course, as a colonist who also came from Europe, and as a poor man who had also been defeated by Haihan's powerful ships and cannons, Philip still felt more or less sad about what happened to the Spaniards. The Netherlands and Portugal spared no effort to establish colonies around the world during the Age of Discovery. The aborigines were never the ones they were afraid of, but they encountered a monster like Haihan in the Far East.
This small country is very similar to the European seafaring countries. It relies on its extremely limited land to develop strong navigation capabilities and armament levels, and it controls many strategically located colonies in the ocean outside its homeland. And the most terrible thing is that Haihan's armed strength is much stronger than that of the European countries that have entered the Far East. This makes the colonists who can take the initiative around the world feel very uncomfortable, but they have to compromise and settle for peace. in exchange for trade opportunities in the Far East.
Philip was not the only audience with similar thoughts. Thomas, the Portuguese envoy to Haihan, who was also from Europe, was also here to watch the battle, but he did not have the same overflowing sympathy as Philip. Thomas had dealt with the Haihans much earlier than Philip, and had a deeper understanding of the Haihans. In fact, he no longer regarded the Haihans as natives of the Far East, but as the same as the European powers. maritime power.
Thomas believes that the awareness of Haihan as a country about navigation is far ahead of other major countries in the region. When superpowers like the Ming Dynasty were still undecided about international trade through sea transportation, Haihan had already regarded sea trade as a It is an important national policy, and the purpose of foreign wars is almost always to control trade routes and expand trade scope. This is also surprisingly consistent with the current foreign policies of European countries.
And this characteristic is not only reflected in Haihan's domestic and foreign policies. Among the senior officials of Haihan that Thomas came into contact with, many of them can speak a little bit of English. The Commerce Minister Schneider, who is of mixed Eastern and Western descent, Even French, Spanish and German are spoken. They are no strangers to the geographical environment and political conditions of Europe. If it were not for the obvious physical characteristics of Orientals, Thomas really doubts that this group has lived in Europe for a long time. Otherwise, how could their consciousness be so close to this era? European countries?
Of course Thomas could not imagine what it meant that these people had four hundred years of experience more than their contemporary politicians, but from these characteristics alone, it was not difficult for him to infer what kind of attitude Haihan would have towards colonial countries from outside the region. A global colonial country like Spain would just stay in Manila and run its own colony. Maybe Haihan wouldn't have much interest in traveling across the entire South China Sea to raid their home base. After all, Haihan has been developing all the way north in the past two years. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the focus of Haihan's development is on the coast of the Ming Dynasty. As long as Haihan is not attacked, peace can be maintained in at least a few years.
This Spaniard is really ignorant of current affairs. He failed to learn his lesson after a big setback in Taipei two years ago. This time he is afraid that he will lose everything in Sanya. But for Thomas, he hopes that the Spaniard's stumble will be as big as possible. After all, Spain and his native Portugal have always been in a state of opposition, and in recent years, there have been more and more calls in Portugal to break away from Spanish supervision. The bigger the situation, the Spanish are suffering in the Far East at this time, which will definitely have a certain impact on their national strength. Thomas is naturally happy to see the results.
At this time, the Spanish commander on the battlefield was already so overwhelmed that he could not even think about why he planned such a military operation with no chance of winning in the first place. At present, at least more than one-third of the ships in the Spanish fleet have lost part or all of their combat effectiveness, and most of the remaining ships have been hit by several shells.
Pinto looked back towards the direction of Port Victory, and could see several Spanish sailing ships on the sea with only half of their hulls still floating on the water. Many crew members jumped into the sea from the sinking ships in despair, but they It was impossible to catch up with the retreating large forces, and there was basically no chance of escaping from this battlefield. The coastal defense guns near Victory Port have gradually stopped firing, and several sailing ships are sailing out of the harbor - they are not here to pursue the Spanish fleet, but to clean up the battlefield and deal with those who were left on the immobile broken ships and those in the harbor. Crew members struggling to survive in the sea. Seeing such a scene, Pinto couldn't help but feel his heart twisting. The most severely damaged warships were all at the front. Many of the crew members were his old subordinates who had followed him all over the world. He had fought on all continents without incident, but he didn't expect to end up in this place. Although earthen jars are inevitably broken at the wells, generals are inevitably killed in battle, and being broken on the battlefield is the fate of sailors, when faced with this situation, Pinto still couldn't hide the sadness in his heart.
However, the Haihan fleet did not show any intention of letting them leave, and specifically focused on the severely damaged warships and slow-moving supply ships, and repaired them without mercy, often with two or three ships. The Han warships gathered around and bombarded the stern or near the waterline. If the surrounding Spanish warships wanted to rescue them, they would inevitably slow down and fight with them, but this happened to take advantage of Haihan's wishes.
Johnson raised his hand and glanced at the time. The battle had been going on for an hour and a half. It could be said that the situation had clearly tilted towards Haihan's side. Although the Spanish fleet still maintains a considerable amount of combat effectiveness, it is obvious that their will to fight has collapsed, and they are no longer interested in fighting, and are completely escaping from the battlefield in an attitude of escape. There is no pressure in fighting a battle like this. All you need to do is look for the loopholes and cause more damage to the enemy.
As for annihilating the enemy, although Johnson has this idea, it is not the best time yet. If the Spanish are forced to jump over the wall, the Haihan Navy will inevitably have to pay a certain price to retain them. Johnson and Tao Donglai had originally agreed on a rough meeting time. One of them would be responsible for guarding the port, and the other would be responsible for outflanking them from behind. After Sanya discovered the appearance of the Spanish fleet, Johnson immediately sent a telegram, summoning the fleet commanded by Tao Donglai to return to defense as soon as possible.
But I didn't expect that the Spaniards' way of launching the offensive was not sloppy at all, and they launched an attack on the Port of Victory without even a symbolic test. What was even more unexpected was that the Spanish fleet collapsed at an alarming speed under the attack of coastal fortifications. The Spanish had already chosen to turn around and retreat before the fleet commanded by Johnson returned from the sea.
This happened as quickly as it came. The fleet commanded by Tao Donglai was still on its way back to Sanya, but the Spanish fleet was already defeated. The encirclement operation plan that was supposed to be jointly implemented by the two fleets was now supported by Johnson alone. Fortunately, the losses suffered by the Spanish fleet under the firepower of the shore defense were so heavy that they simply couldn't muster up the energy to fight with the Haihan fleet again. Otherwise, if Johnson alone commanded these more than ten ships, he would have to pay a high price if he wanted to stop the Spanish fleet, which was several times larger than his own.
Although the combat performance of the Haihan battleship is far superior to that of its opponents, its number is relatively small after all, and it can only stop one at a time. Johnson also knew that this kind of thing could not be done reluctantly, so he had better enjoy the victory steadily first and did not issue a more radical combat order. Even so, several Haihan battleships had gotten too close to the enemy ships because of their eagerness for success. They were bombarded by Spanish warships' artillery fire after they got close. Casualties were definitely inevitable.
Just when the main force of the Spanish fleet finally succeeded in breaking through the interception of the Haihan fleet, some sail shadows appeared on the southern sea, and the fleet led by Tao Donglai finally rushed back from the outer sea. Although the timing is slightly late, it can also relieve some of the pressure on the other fleet.
Of course, Pinto and Luis noticed the appearance of this fleet, and quickly recognized that it was an enemy force they had fought against before. The Spanish fleet is now located between the two Haihan fleets. It no longer has an advantage in the number of warships, and its morale and fighting will are at an obvious low. It would be unwise to continue fighting with its opponents. What's more, when they evacuated from the port battlefield just now, they had already abandoned some of the severely damaged ships with the attitude of a strong man breaking his arms. If he continued to fight with Haihan at this time, the previous sacrifices would be in vain.
It was Louis who made the decision first and flagged an evacuation to the east on the flagship. After seeing this, Pinto made no other plans and also gave the order to turn around and withdraw from the battlefield. Although the Haihan battleship is faster, the Spaniards have noticed that the high speed of the fleet they just fought can only be maintained for a very limited time. By the end of the battle, there will be basically no advantage at all, otherwise their fleet would not be able to so easily Break through the interception.
Although the principle of this is not clear, the Spanish commander can roughly imagine that the high speed of the Haihan battleship cannot be maintained for a long time, so as long as it leaves the battlefield, there is still a high chance that it can escape the enemy's pursuit. As for how many ships can escape, it really depends on each one's destiny.
The Spanish fleet's turn at sea had already indicated its intention. Tao Donglai estimated the distance. If he followed the turn immediately, calculated the course and rushed over to intercept it, it was not impossible, but in this case he would have to turn the steam drive on the ship to full speed. This can only be achieved by running at high speed, and it is very easy to cause mechanical failure due to overheating. The high-speed mileage is estimated to be halved.
(End of chapter)