Survival in the Late Ming Dynasty Chapter 19: The Battle of Dongting Lake III Chapter 19: The Battle of Dongting Lake III

Zhou Fuchen's wishful thinking was very good.

But it's not that easy to win.

Huang Chaoxuan is not a fool, and although Xia Jun's execution ability is good, not everyone can achieve this kind of tactical change.

After all, war is not a computer game, just swipe the mouse.

Any tactical action must be broken down into small steps and completed by a famous sailor.

There are all kinds of accidents. It can even be said that accidents are normal in this situation. There is no accident at all, but it is an abnormal situation.

Therefore, although most of the ships carried out Zhou Fuchen's orders, there were still more than a dozen warships that were surrounded by Ming army ships.

Ropes with iron hooks were thrown across a few feet of space. They were suddenly hooked on the Xia army's ship. Several Ming army ships immobilized the warship.

I can't even run away.

However, Xia Jun's ability to engage in broadside combat is actually not bad.

If there had not been that heavy rain in the battle of Chenglingji, the Xia Navy would not have suffered so many casualties.

At this moment, Xia Jun's advantage was revealed.

The sides of the warships of the Xian Xia army were relatively high. When they were built, they thought about this situation, so the sides of the ships were thickened and raised. They were at least half a foot higher than ordinary ships.

Although it is not very high, this height difference alone brings a great advantage to the Xia army's ships.

"Boom."

An open boat with very good maneuvering skills was directly aligned with this vessel. Dozens of jumping helpers, holding sharp knives and pulling ropes, were about to rush up.

However, various small cannons fired an unknown number of scattered bullets.

There was a "boom", and countless iron nails and stones were scattered everywhere, just like the goddess scattering flowers. Several cannons were fired at the same time, and they were able to clear the area immediately.

I don’t know how many people turned into a hornet’s nest.

It's better to be dead, but to be half-dead is to suffer the consequences.

However, the damage is mutual.

When the Xia army used their firearms to the extreme, it also meant that the Ming army could also use the power of their firearms to the extreme. After all, the Ming army had few firearms, but it was not without them.

Countless messy things were fired at, like cannonballs, etc., which were normal. Poisonous fireworks and fireballs, fire dragons coming out of water, things that could be used or not, effective or not, all of them were used.

Zhang Xuan has always despised those kinds of smoking firearms, which are like poisonous smoke and fireballs. In Zhang Xuan's opinion, using firearms with explosive power to hurt people is the right way. Shooting a firearm that only smokes is the wrong way.

But there are some crooked ways that are still quite useful.

Zhang Xuan did not expect this.

These poisonous fireworks and fireballs look like big grass dumplings, and you don’t know what’s inside.

No matter what the ingredients are, after igniting it, it doesn't burn violently, it just smokes continuously.

There are many irritating smells in this smoke, which makes people unbearable when they smell it. They can't help but cough violently.

The Ming army also took the opportunity to cover their mouths and noses with wet cloths and rushed forward.

In an instant, they were caught in a fight.

Although the poisonous smoke and fireballs were powerful, they were not enough to break down Xia Jun's resistance. After all, they were just poisonous smoke, not poisonous gas bombs.

No matter how uncomfortable it was, these Xia army soldiers continued to hold on with all their strength. They lined up and fought with firecrackers and fired them with crackling sounds. The Ming soldiers who had just rushed forward were knocked to the ground in an instant.

There are also some hand grenades.

Hand grenades were a weapon that Zhang Xuan had popularized in the army for a long time. As a soldier under Zhang Xuan, Zhou Fuchen was also familiar with this kind of firearm and naturally brought it into the navy.

When the distance is too close, firearms cannot be used, and hand-to-hand combat begins.

No matter what, Xia Jun has undergone formal training.

The first ones to join were the fishermen from the Huaihe River area in Runing, and they have been joining the navy for several years. Although hand-to-hand combat is not often fought, it is definitely not impossible.

It seems that Xia Jun is not good at hand-to-hand combat because they are so good at firearms. Compared with firearms, they are not good at hand-to-hand combat.

And the Ming army looked very capable in hand-to-hand combat. But that was just because they could only use hand-to-hand combat.

Generally speaking, if you besiege a Xia army warship and capture it, you will have to pay at least three times or even four times the casualties.

Even with such heavy casualties, it may not succeed.

Because Zhou Fuchen was not a fool, nor were the generals at all levels of the Xia army. Once a ship got stuck in the Ming army fleet, someone would immediately come to the rescue.

With luck, he will be rescued soon.

If you're not lucky, a whole ten ships can be trapped.

But besieging one ship and besieging ten ships are two completely different concepts.

The ten ships covered each other's firepower and supported each other. It was difficult for the Ming army to exert its numerical advantage during the siege. This group of ships was like a fish bone stuck in the throat. It could not be swallowed and could not be spit out.

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Moreover, although the Ming army had some numerical advantage over the Xia army, this numerical advantage was not obvious.

When the Ming army surrounded the Xia army's ships with most of its ships, the Xia army's ships had a numerical advantage on the periphery.

The Ming army seemed to be chasing them aggressively, but it was just a wave of recklessness. But after surrounding many Xia army ships, they could no longer be aggressive.

Seeing that the Ming army could no longer pursue them, Zhou Fuchen gave the order and began to counterattack.

More than a hundred warships were on the periphery, as if peeling off their skin, and countless artillery shelled the ships on the periphery.

He sunk each ship one by one.

Several warships besieged one ship, and more than a dozen guns opened fire

The cannon can release more than a dozen shells in one breath, and it only takes a few rounds to release more than a hundred shells.

Very few ships can survive hundreds of cannonballs and remain indifferent. Even if they do not sink, they have become floating objects on the water and have completely lost their ability to maneuver.

He even took out the new gadgets that Zhang Xuan had made in Xiangyang and fired them with rockets one after another.

However, the rocket was not filled with explosives at this time. After all, the quality of gunpowder in this era, a dozen kilograms of gunpowder may not cause much damage to the ship.

Instead, it is filled with tinder, and when it hits the ship, it becomes a fire head.

However, the problem of rockets being difficult to control already exists.

When the artillery fires out, there is still a rough range, but when the rockets fire out, you can only leave it to fate. There was even a rocket that shot out over a long range, passed through the entire battlefield, and then fell into the water.

The only thing I can be thankful for is that at least the rocket won't hit one of our own people around the corner.

This fighting lasted for more than an hour, and something changed on the battlefield. A Ming army ship ran desperately to the east, because not far to the east was the east bank of Dongting Lake. After landing, not far to the north,

It's Yueyang City.

When Huang Chaoxuan saw this situation, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "The big thing is over."

By this point in the war, Huang Chaoxuan had already lost control of the situation.

Huang Chaoxuan is an amateur in water warfare.

He can lead the fleet and give general command, which is already quite good.

Because commanding an army at any time requires not only a general, but also a corps of officers. Even though Huang Chaoxuan was extremely talented and quickly learned how to command operations, his brothers did not have that many talents.

As for commanding the fleet with ease.

Sorry, even Zhou Fuchen can't do it. There are very few Suijun generals in the world who can do this. Even if there are a few, they are probably among the Zheng family navy.

If Zhou Fuchen could do this, dozens of ships would not be surrounded.

We must admit one thing, that is, there are some things in the world that we cannot do. Huang Chaoxuan has done the best he can.

But it's not enough, far from enough.

At this moment, the Ming Navy's navy has also revealed its shortcomings, which is that it was hastily established. Many sailors were fishermen and sailors half a year ago, and some even did business in Dongting Lake without capital.

It's okay to let them fight against the wind, but they don't have enough tenacity to fight against the wind.

The Xia army has been established for a long time anyway, and the backbone of the officers has already aligned with the interests of the Xia Dynasty. Many people are thinking about making a knight. Even if they cannot make a duke, getting the lowest viscount or baron is enough.

The ancestors are honored.

They have this spirit in their hearts and can persevere better than the Ming army.

So when the first ship escapes, the overall situation collapse is inevitable.
Chapter completed!