Chapter 1648 Desperate

The tonnage of the Haihan Majesty-class battleships is more than 1,700 tons, which is almost half the size of the "San Diego". The maximum number of naval guns deployed on a single side of the ship can reach twenty-five, which is also more than the "San Diego".

It was twice as many. As for the performance and power of the naval guns, Haihan's side clearly had the advantage. The two majesty-class battleships sandwiched the "San Diego" from the left and right sides, and then bombarded it head-on.

There are still some tactics that need to be paid attention to in such a naval and artillery bombardment battle. For example, the Haihan battleship's tactics are to focus fire on the opponent's gun position first, striving to weaken or even eliminate the opponent's counterattack capability in the shortest possible time. If you are lucky,

If you hit the gunpowder barrel near the gun position, you will get twice the result with half the effort. As for the Spanish side, the only thing they can do now is to pray that they will not be hit by a shell next moment, so that they can still have a chance to attack the enemy.

Fire again.

The twelve-pounder guns deployed on the deck of the Majestic-class battleships mainly fire grapeshot, targeting the deck personnel of the enemy ship, while the large-caliber naval guns deployed on the lower deck are used to attack and destroy the opponent's gun emplacements and

Hull. In a very short exchange of fire, the shells fired by the battleship Haihan destroyed more than half of the guns on the "San Diego". Several very large gaps were blown up on the hull, as if it had been bitten by some monster.

It looked like a piece had fallen off.

Juan was lucky to be alive. He didn't even have any injuries on his body and could still command the battle. However, the people around him were not so lucky. Two of his adjutants were unfortunately shot and killed in the enemy ship's gunfire.

.So he could only temporarily promote his orderly to adjutant and let him convey his orders. However, at this time, there were too many casualties on the "San Diego", many positions on the ship were unmanned, and the situation was about to get out of control.

status.

However, at this time, Juan was already red-eyed and did not think about how to evacuate the battlefield. He just ordered the remaining crew members on the ship to fill the positions of the naval guns as much as possible and continue to fire at the enemy ships at all costs.

But converting fighting determination into combat effectiveness can not only be achieved with a burst of blood. Although most of the Spaniards on the "San Diego" are not afraid of death, the current situation of the ship is not enough to support them.

The battle is determined. Of the more than 20 artillery pieces on the ship, less than ten can still maintain normal operations at this time. Perhaps after the enemy ships on both sides carry out two or three more rounds of bombardment, the remaining firepower output will also be

Declare the end.

Sure enough, the few remaining artillery pieces were quickly called out by the Haihan battleship and turned into dumb guns. Knowing that this battle might be inevitable, Juan ordered the distribution of muskets to the crew in preparation for the final resistance. However, Juan knew that this battle might be inevitable.

At this time, as if a miracle occurred, the two Majesty-class battleships actually sailed away from the "San Diego".

"This must be God hearing our prayers!" Some crew members were puzzled by this sight and could only attribute it to a miracle.

But Juan didn't think so. He had never heard that the Haihan people had any special religious beliefs. Can praying to God really have an effect on these vicious pagans? Then he had already prayed once before the war. God

He should help him defeat them early, instead of waiting until the last desperate moment. Moreover, Juan had a bad feeling in his heart. The two warships' voluntary departure may not mean that the "San Diego" is out of trouble.

Knowing that although this place is not far from Manila Port, there is no way to get cover from shore defense firepower, so the other party has no reason to let him go.

Sure enough, Juan's premonition was immediately verified, because some crew members discovered that the demonic black battleship was coming quickly from behind the "San Diego", and saw that the distance between the two ships was shortening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

.It seems that the two Haihan battleships left voluntarily just now, just to free up positions that are easier to attack for this ironclad ship.

This ironclad ship that left a deep impression on Juan never really joined the battle group in today's battle. Instead, it cruised around the periphery, cooperating with other Haihan warships to carry out the final attack on those Spanish sailing ships that fell behind or were severely damaged.

One blow. Obviously, its current target is the "San Diego".

If the "San Diego" was intact, Juan might try to fight. After all, the coast of Manila Port could be vaguely seen in front of him. If he struggled and rushed into the port, he would have a high chance of being saved. But at this time, the "San Diego"

The ship was already devastated, with more than half of its crew dead or injured, and the artillery on the ship had completely lost its ability to continue fighting. What else could Juan do to resist the enemy ships pursuing him one after another?

"Aim at the stern rudder of the ship in front and hit until they can't move."

On the "Black Shark", Wu Sen issued the order with a stern face. He had killed several Spanish sailing ships today according to Wang Tom's deployment, but in comparison, the flagship of the Manila Fleet was definitely the most important.

Wang Tom's order to him was to keep the ship instead of sinking it. Wu Sen understood that this was probably Wang Tom's intention to capture the important people on the ship, so he did not intend to take direct action. As for the situation on the ship at this time

Whether the important people in the family are still alive is not a problem that Wu Sen needs to worry about. Life and death are determined by fate. If the target that Tom Wang wants to capture fails to survive this disaster, it is also a matter of fate.

After the "Black Shark" caught up with the "San Diego", it stayed behind the starboard side of the ship, about 200 meters away, and directed the two naval guns at the front and rear to fire at the stern rudder. Only two rounds were fired, and then

One shell directly hit the tail rudder, knocking off about two-thirds of the entire rudder propeller, and immediately lost the ability to turn flexibly at sea.

Then the "Black Shark" suddenly accelerated and caught up with the "San Diego" in a parallel position. Two naval guns concentrated fire and attacked its main mast. This time, eight shells were used, hitting the part where the bottom of the mast is connected to the hull.

As the main mast slowly fell amidst the roar of gunfire, the "San Diego" also lost most of the power for its forward movement. Its speed quickly dropped to a level close to zero, and it was left only two meters away from the Port of Manila.

On the sea surface of the sea.

Although it was very close to the harbor, this distance was a distance that the "San Diego" could no longer complete. Juan watched the ship slowly stop, but the black battleship had already passed from the starboard side of the "San Diego"

He drove past quickly to pursue a Spanish sailing ship in front of him.

Escape? The flagship has lost its forward momentum. If it lowers the lifeboat and rows to the coast, it will not be able to reach the shore for a while. Fight? There are no artillery on the ship, so it relies on issuing these muskets to the crew to fight against the enemy's ironclads.

Shoot, it would be quicker to order everyone to shoot themselves.

If he had died on the ship before, Juan would no longer have to worry about whether he fought or surrendered. But now that the surviving crew members on the ship were looking at him, waiting for him to give an order, Juan was hesitant. Of course he could give the order.

Fighting to the death, but for the "San Diego", fighting to the death has no meaning in the end. The Haihan people don't even need to get close to the ship. They just need to fire a few more cannons from a distance and make a few large holes in the hull, allowing the ship to escape.

Slowly sinking the ship will break down all means of resistance. As for why the Haihan people showed mercy, Juan knew very well that the other party just wanted to capture the commander of the "San Diego" alive.

An expedition-class warship slowly approached the "San Diego". Someone on the ship held a tin trumpet and shouted in Spanish, asking all personnel on the "San Diego" to immediately put down their weapons and surrender. They would disarm and not kill the injured.

They will receive treatment. Otherwise, what awaits them is the fate of being completely sunk.

After all, people have a desire to survive. Once the battle is over and the defeated party knows that they still have the possibility to live, the will to resist is often not so firm. This is exactly the situation on the "San Diego" currently.

All surviving crew members gathered on the deck, waiting for the verdict of fate - a word from Commander Juan would determine their next life or death.

Juan looked around and saw hope and reluctance in the eyes of these familiar crew members, but lacked the determination to fight. He knew that there was nothing he could do to save himself. These crew members wanted to live, not for this time of the Spanish Empire.

Defeated and buried.

Juan took a deep breath and announced his decision to everyone: "Do as they say! We surrender..."

After saying this, Juan sat down on a box of cold artillery shells, hung his head and never gave any other orders. The boxes of chain bombs that were just shipped to the ship last night did not have time to be used in the battle.

When it came in handy, the battle was over. Juan felt that his mood was colder than the cold steel. Although he had anticipated the outcome of defeat before the battle, when this moment came,

He still found it difficult to accept.

The combat goals that Juan set before the war were to destroy or severely damage the armored sailing ship, and to delay the attack of the Haihan fleet. However, after this battle, neither goal was achieved, and the one who suffered heavy losses was

The Manila fleet under his command. Although the fleet had tried its best to fight, Juan had to admit that the gap between the two sides in ship performance and weaponry could not be made up by fighting determination. His fleet had been constantly fighting throughout the battle.

In a passive state, it can be said that there is no chance of victory at all.

Since the last battle off the coast of Sanya, Juan has actually been preparing for war, but the preparations he can do are limited by many objective conditions. The size of the fleet entering the battle at home this time is far smaller than that of the previous raid on Sanya.

, so the defeat was actually what was expected. But it was such a clean and complete defeat that Huan couldn't help but feel desperate. He even doubted whether the enemy's weaknesses he thought really existed, and why the Haihan fleet had no

Because of the unfamiliarity of fighting in unfamiliar waters, why did the opponent widen the fighting distance throughout today's battle and not give the Manila fleet a chance to use chain bombs at all.

The number of ships that the Manila fleet finally fled back to the port was only half of the number when it set off, and all of them were damaged to varying degrees. The remaining combat effectiveness could only be greatly reduced. On the sea outside Manila Port, the Haihan fleet had already begun to clean up the battlefield.

There were more than 200 prisoners fished out of the sea alone.

This naval battle was very fierce, but it did not last long. It took less than two hours from the arrival of the Manila fleet at the fishing port of Pasay Town to the time when Wang Tom ordered the troops to retreat. The Haihan side took the credit for the "Black Shark"

Wei, the number of enemy ships damaged and sunk in this battle reached double digits. Although most of them were last-minute hits, they all completed their tasks extremely well, especially those against the Manila Fleet flagship "San Diego".

The pursuit was flawless, allowing Heyhan to capture his fleet commander Juan Luis.

According to incomplete statistics after the war, the Haihan Navy destroyed a total of eleven enemy ships in this battle and captured as many as 500 enemy sailors. As for the number of casualties of the Manila Fleet in this battle, preliminary estimates are at least

There were about five to seven hundred people. Although a few ships could barely sail on the sea when they were captured, after Haihan plundered the people and materials on the ship, they all sank into the sea. These Spanish sailing ships all need to be overhauled.

Before they could be put back into use, Wang Tom was not interested in taking them all the way back to Sanya for repairs.

The battle damage situation of Haihan was naturally much better than that of the Spaniards, but casualties were inevitable. A total of thirty-five sailors were killed in the battle, and more than 140 were injured to varying degrees, which can be regarded as nearly a year.

This was the battle with the highest number of casualties for the Haihan Navy in the past year. However, in the eyes of senior generals such as Wang Tom, this casualty number is still within an acceptable range. After all, during the battle, the two sides used naval guns at close range many times.

Operation, death and injury are bound to be inevitable.

The damage situation of the ships is a bit grim. Two expedition-class warships suffered serious hull damage during the artillery battle and basically lost their ability to continue fighting. They must return to port to wait for repairs. Others, including a majesty-class warship, were

The seven combat ships inside all suffered varying degrees of damage, which had a certain impact on their combat effectiveness.

But the good news is that this battle almost broke the backbone of the Manila fleet. The local Spanish army has no other organic maritime weapons available. The Haihan fleet should not have similar combat missions in the future.

The stage for the next performance will be given to Haihan Army.

The captured Spanish prisoners were transported to the Port of Cavite at noon that day. The former garrison was now a place where they were imprisoned. This was a great irony for the Spanish. And Juan finally arrived here.

He met his opponents, Haihan Defense Minister Yan Chujie, and Navy Commander Wang Tom. However, this was not an equal dialogue between the generals of the two countries, but a live interrogation of the defeated prisoners by the victor.
Chapter completed!