Chapter 1376 Peninsula Naval Battle 2
"General, look!"
The captain pointed forward suddenly and said loudly.
Xie Zhongyuan looked in the direction of the captain's finger and saw at a glance that the Spanish fleet, which was fighting for the upper hand with his fleet, suddenly divided its troops. Two fast warships in the Spanish fleet emerged from the large fleet, and followed several armed merchant ships and rushed towards the direction of the Ming Navy with great momentum.
"Play this for me? Good guy!" Xie Zhongyuan immediately laughed. He was a long-time navy general, and the Spanish fleet could see clearly at a glance.
The other side's commander General Godoy planned to use this method to restrain the Ming fleet and buy time for his side.
It would be better if these warships and armed merchant ships could be used to assault and disrupt the Ming navy's fleet. However, it would be fine if it didn't work. As long as you buy yourself a certain amount of time, the Spanish fleet will gain the upper hand before the Ming fleet and thus occupy a reasonable position.
Wang Dong used this tactic before, but it was during the battle between the South China Sea and Portuguese warships.
However, Wang Dong used this tactic back then, because regardless of the size of the warship or the firepower, the Ming Navy could not compare with the Portuguese Far East Fleet at all, and could only use the fire attack tactics that seized the upper hand to win a glimmer of hope.
But one time and another, the Ming Navy is no longer the navy of the past, and the Ming warships are not the army that was finally pieced together.
Now, the Ming Navy has one of the best ships and cannons in the world, and the opponent you are facing is the Spanish fleet. Compared with the Ming fleet, General Godoy's Spanish fleet is not strong at all, so there is no need to use such dangerous moves in combat command.
But who would have thought that General Godoy also used this trick to deal with the Ming fleet now, which made Xie Zhongyuan laugh.
"Transfer to Weiyuan to let him resolve the battle as soon as possible and then encircle the enemy's retreat, and the other ships continue to seize the upper hand!"
"yes!"
The order was soon transmitted to the Weiyuan through the flagship communication. The Weiyuan battleship, which received the order, immediately brought several other warships from its headquarters to leave the course and headed directly towards the Spanish warship that was rushing past the Ming fleet.
As for the other warships, they continued to gain the upper hand under the command of the flagship, and did not care about the fierce Spanish warships at all.
Soon, the battleship Weiyuan and its own warship stopped the passage of the Spanish warships. At the same time, with the sound of cannons, the Ming warship began to fire at the Spanish warships first.
When the Ming Dynasty warships opened fire, the Spanish warships were not willing to fall behind and also fought back with artillery fire. And while fighting back, these Spanish warships still pulled their sails and tried to break through the obstacle without hesitation.
On the Spanish flagship, General Godoy, the commander of the Spanish fleet, tried hard to let his fleet gain the upper hand, and on the other hand, he stared at the battle that had begun in the distance.
Although General Godoy knew very well that the warships he sent were almost to die, there was still a glimmer of hope for luck in his heart.
Naval warfare is not the same as land warfare. In naval warfare, luck is something that can determine the outcome. In some naval warfares where the enemy is strong and we are weak, victory is often ultimately due to the battle with people with better luck.
There are such examples in naval battles in European countries. Among them, the demise of the Spanish Invincible Fleet was one of them. General Godoy, a member of the Spanish Navy, certainly knew this allusion, so he hoped that God could stand on his side and bring good luck to his devout people.
The Ming Dynasty warships were indeed powerful. The warships divided into troops were much stronger than those of Spanish warships in terms of size and artillery strength. But if you were lucky, the opponent's shells did not bring a fatal blow to the Spanish warships. Instead, their own warship hit the key points of the Ming Dynasty warships with a few or even one shell. Perhaps the result of the battle situation would have completely changed.
Unfortunately, although the Spanish had the attachment of God, the gods in the Ming Dynasty seemed not afraid of the Western God, so God did not bring any good luck to the Spanish, and the miracle that General Godoy expected in his heart did not appear.
More than ten minutes later, an armed merchant ship in Spain was first hit by a fatal blow. Under the accurate and powerful artillery attack of the Ming warships, the armed merchant ship first lost its combat effectiveness, and then the mast was interrupted, and a raging fire ignited on the ship.
When the flames ignited the powder barrel on the ship, the armed merchant ship with a capacity of 750 tons exploded violently. The solid hull was torn apart like a piece of paper, and countless wreckage flew in all directions, and then fell into the sea with fire.
The crew members on the ship who had not died in the explosion jumped into the sea like dumplings, watching their ship sink into the sea in a very short time.
Seeing this scene, General Godoy turned his head in pain. He grabbed the bottle in his hand and took a big sip into his mouth. He couldn't help but cough because he was drinking too quickly.
"Your Excellency!" The adjutant next to him hurried forward when he saw this.
"I'm fine!" General Godoy raised his hand to stop the adjutant's movements and tried to stabilize his emotions.
"We don't have much time to speed up each ship!"
"As for orders, Your Excellency!"
General Godoy turned his gaze from the war on the right to the front. Now his only hope is to gain the upper hand before the Ming Navy. As for the final outcome of the warships that were divided, and the fate of the sailors, he was powerless to do anything and could only hand it over to the kind God.
"Lord! Bless your subjects, let your majesty and glory cover the world, and let those pagans feel your anger, benevolent Lord! Your subjects will fight for you and give you all, loyalty, courage, blood and even life..."
General Godoy prayed silently, perhaps because his Lord heard these prayers, or perhaps because the goddess of luck finally stood on the side of the Spanish fleet.
After he finished praying, the wind direction on the sea surface changed a little, although this change was not big, and it had no effect on the normal sailing ships.
But now, this little change in the wind direction has brought hope to the Spanish fleet, and it is precisely because of this that General Godoy happily issued his own fleet that had gained the upper hand.
"Thank you, merciful God, thank you, the Almighty Lord!"
Chapter completed!