With a "boom", the bottom of the mortar boat on which Major General Barbosa was riding had landed on the soft sand of Kinmen Beach.

Before the mortar ship could stop, the Spanish veterans on board were all shouting and jumping down. Barbosa, the rear admiral, also jumped down with the big guys. In this era, only the Ming Dynasty has "

"Shameless Navy". In Europe, the boundaries between the navy and the army are not clear. Some famous navy generals are also famous land generals!

Moreover, the navies of all Western countries are good at hand-to-hand combat. Only the late-comer Ming Navy does not like to engage in hand-to-hand combat and gang warfare. It is only good at bombarding the opponent's warships and merchant ships with incredibly destructive explosive shells.

"God bless Spain! God bless us!"

Barbossa heard the cheers of God's blessing in his ears, and he himself shouted with everyone and waded forward together.

The people who jumped off the ship with him were all veterans. Although they had never fought in a landing battle, everyone knew what to do at this time.

They did not form a team, nor did they stop. Instead, they shouldered their muskets, spears, and drew their swords. They stepped on the water that was almost up to their waists and worked hard to move forward. They had to rush out of the Kinmen Fortress before the Chinese infantry and cavalry could.

Previously, a modified Spanish phalanx was formed on Kinmen Beach to cover the mortar boats that successfully washed up the beach.

These mortar boats were washed ashore by the rising tide. Once the tide went down, they would rest directly on the beach. If there was no army to protect them, the defenders of the Golden Gate Fortress could easily capture them.

"boom!"

Barbossa then heard a thunderous noise, and Barbossa knew it was the mortar gunboat behind him firing!

He quickly stretched his neck and looked forward. After a while, he saw a huge fireball suddenly rising into the sky, and then there was another roar. With the help of the rising fireball, Barbossa finally saw the outline of the Golden Gate Fortress clearly.

This is a huge bastion. The outer wall seems to be gray-white. I wonder if it is repaired with granite? If so, it is really strong enough.

However, no matter how strong the fortress is, it cannot withstand the approaching bombardment of 15 36-pound mortars!

The shells fired by these mortars are basically unable to destroy the fortress, and they will greatly interfere with the firepower of the fortress's forts, which is enough to cover the French, Dutch, and Spanish fleets as they rush into the Golden Gate Strait.

"Boom!" Two more roars came from behind Major General Barbossa, and the 36-pound mortar was still firing. Two giant shells were blasted into the air by the mortar, and then drew a perfect trajectory in the air.

, and then suddenly landed near the Golden Gate Fortress. One of the shells exploded and turned into a giant fireball.

Although the fortress was not hit, the Spanish soldiers who had rushed to the beach still let out bursts of cheers!

Because everyone knows that it is only a matter of time before a hit occurs. After all, if you are in a fortress and you don’t know how to hide, how can you still stand upright and be bombarded?

However, there are also cannons on the Golden Gate Fortress, and these cannons are not just for free! Some of them quickly pointed their muzzles at the stranded mortar boats and began to fire nail-head shells. But it was night now,

The targets of these mortar boats are not large, so it is still a bit difficult to hit them.

The cannonballs from both sides came and went and quickly became a mess. Most of the cannonballs fired from the Kinmen Fortress fell into the sea or the beach, and could not even be heard. The cannonballs fired from the mortar boats fell one after another.

Around the fortress, one or two more shells hit the fortress, and most of these shells turned into huge fireballs.

So if you look from a distance, you will find that the Golden Gate Fortress has been shrouded in fire.

"We are finally victorious!" Tourville stood on the stern deck of the Lorraine, putting down the telescope in his hand, with tears in his eyes.

The uneasiness that was still hanging over his heart just now has completely dissipated. He turned back and said to the fleet commander, Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, now we can rush into the Golden Gate Strait. Tonight, God stands

On the French side!”

Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne nodded: "Let the fire fleet go in first, and the other ships will follow the fire fleet towards the Kinmen Strait!

God bless France, God bless the Sun King!"

Lieutenant General Abraham Duquesne's first trump card was the mortar boats, and his second trump card was the twenty-five arson boats.

They have two tasks. One is to attract the firepower of the Golden Gate Fortress to bombard the warships. Of course, they must pursue sinking. Injuring ten ships is not as good as sinking one!

Therefore, if the defenders on the Kinmen Fort hit several warships trying to rush into the strait, they would definitely concentrate their firepower and continue bombarding them in order to sink them in one fell swoop!

As long as a few "fire ships" become live targets for attracting ammunition, the main force of the combined fleet can rush into Kinmen Bay.

In order to make the fireship look more like a battleship, Abraham Duquesne also spent a lot of money and requisitioned 25 medium-tonnage armed merchant ships.

After entering Kinmen Bay, the fire ships that have not been set on fire will look for the fleets of the Ming Dynasty and the United States of New Zealand, and then launch a wave of fire ship attacks!

For the fleet at anchor, the fireship tactic is very effective.

So tonight's surprise attack has been successful!

The question now is how big are the results?

…

The defenders of the Golden Gate Fortress were obviously well prepared.

Although they were surprised by the mortar fleet commanded by Barbossa and bombarded continuously by 15 large-caliber mortars, when the fleet of 25 arson ships began to attack the strait, they were still bombarded immediately.

boom!

The 12-pound bronze long cannon fired. For a wooden-hulled battleship, the power of 12-pound or 12-pound nail-headed shells was enough.

Therefore, every naval power in the world has chosen this level of artillery as their main gun type. However, some are long guns and some are short guns. The former has a longer effective range, while the latter has a shorter effective range.

Those placed on the Kinmen Fortress to bombard the sea are long cannons with a longer range, 18 in total.

If it were daytime, these 18 cannons would be enough to turn any enemy battleship trying to pass through the strait into a floating torch!

Even at night when visibility was poor, the 18 cannons capable of firing 12 pounds of nail-head explosive shells were not easy to mess with, and they quickly turned the seven or eight "battleships" that rushed into the strait into fire ships!

The deadweight tonnage of these "warships" is actually not large, but they are old-fashioned galenic ships with a carrying capacity of three to four hundred tons. They are all relics of the "galleon trade" era. They are very dilapidated and can no longer travel across the ocean.

However, their bows and sterns were very tall, and they were full of sails, and there were many flammable debris piled on the deck. Therefore, after being hit by explosive shells, the fire intensity was very alarming, and it also caused great damage to the defenders on the Golden Gate Fortress.

An illusion, thinking that I have caught a "big fish"!

All the firepower was concentrated on the seven or eight "battleships" that had been set alight, and they fired desperately.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, dozens of other coalition warships and fireships all rushed into the Kinmen Strait. Tonight was a night battle and a port raid, so there was no formation, and the fireships were generally maintained.

With the formation in front and the warship behind, just charge eastwards. : :

The "Lorraine" aboard Lieutenant General Duquesne and Tourville has passed through the entrance of the Golden Gate Strait without any damage!

The two French naval commanders stood on the stern deck of the battleship, holding their breath and staring straight ahead, their hearts twitching again.

What they fear most now is that Kinmen Harbor is empty!

If the Chinese fleet goes out, the subsequent coalition landing fleet will be in danger.

"Boom boom..."

Suddenly, a ball of muzzle flash flashed in front, and then there was a continuous roar!

"They are Chinese battleships. There are at least...seven to eight of them. They should be the old battleships parked at the Kinmen Naval Pier!" Tourville let out a sigh and said to the commander beside him, "China

Will, they are all here!"
Chapter completed!