Chapter 1327 Ignorance of current affairs

Even before being baptized by artillery fire, it is difficult for Spanish warships to pose a substantial threat to the ironclad "Warrior". This ship travels very fast and has a long range of naval guns. It can launch an artillery attack beyond the range of Spanish warships.

, and now many Spanish warships were seriously damaged and could not run at any speed. They were almost like fixed targets under the muzzle of the "Warrior", and they were called out one by one with almost no shots.

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 entire ship will be hit.

The ship's navigation performance 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" launched bombardments at their ship from all directions.

There is no other way to think of except praying to God to let the opponent's cannonball miss.

"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, the current trend of the war situation

, anyone who is not blind should be able to tell which one is stronger and which one is weaker. Under the shroud of Haihan artillery fire, it is almost difficult for the Spanish fleet to make effective resistance. Although it seems to be constantly firing back, the actual effect is thunder and rain.

If it is small, the number of times it can hit the Haihan battleship is extremely limited.

The "Warrior" was hit by a few 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 hulls 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 really the case. The Spanish's vision and tolerance are too narrow. Think about it back then.

The Dutch East India Company also suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Haihan people. If it had not been flexible and flexible, the stronghold of Taiyuan Port in Taiwan and the entire Northeast Asia route might have been taken away by the Haihan people long ago. These Spaniards have been taking over the situation in the past two years.

They took retaliatory measures only after a long time. Do you think that this way you 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

They set up a dragnet, and the Spaniards thought they could sneak attack Sanya, but they didn't know that they were the ones who were caught off guard in the end. Moreover, with the consistent style of the Haihan people, they never left anything behind after gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.

Damn it, 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 was also defeated by Haihan's strong ships and cannons, Philip still felt more or less sad about the Spanish experience. The Netherlands and Portugal

In the Age of Discovery, they spared no effort to establish colonies all over the world. The aboriginal people 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 relied on its extremely limited land to develop strong maritime strength and armament levels, and it controlled many geographically important colonies in the ocean outside its homeland. And the most important thing is

What is surprising 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 exchange for peace.

own trading 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 sympathy as Philip. Thomas spent more time dealing with Haihan than Philip

It was much earlier, and he had a deeper understanding of the Haihan people. In his mind, he no longer regarded the Haihan people as the natives of the Far East, but as a maritime power like the European powers.

Thomas believes that the awareness of Haihan as a country about navigation is far ahead of other major countries in the region. When superpowers such as the Ming Dynasty were still hesitant about international trade through sea transportation, Haihan had already regarded maritime trade as a

It is an important national policy, and the purpose of foreign wars is almost always to control trade routes and expand the scope of trade. 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,

They can even speak French, Spanish and German. They are no strangers to the geographical environment and political conditions of Europe. If it weren't for the obvious physical characteristics of Orientals, Thomas would really doubt that this group had lived in Europe for a long time.

Otherwise, how could their consciousness be so close to the European countries of this era?

Of course Thomas could not imagine what it meant that these people had four hundred years of experience more than their contemporary politicians, but based on 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 South China Sea to raid their home base. After all, Haihan has been all the way in the past two years.

Developing north, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the focus of Haihan's development is along 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 suffered a big setback in Taipei two years ago and has not learned his lesson. This time he is afraid that he will lose everything in Sanya. But for Thomas, he is eager for the Spaniard.

The bigger the fall, the better. After all, Spain and his motherland, Portugal, have always been in a state of antagonism. In recent years, Portugal’s domestic demands for independence from Spanish supervision have become louder and louder. At this time, the Spaniards are suffering in the Far East.

It will definitely have a certain impact on its national strength, and Thomas is naturally happy to see this happen.

At this time, the Spanish commander on the battlefield was already too overwhelmed to think about why he planned such a military operation with no chance of winning in the first place. Currently, at least one-third of the Spanish fleet's ships have lost some parts.

Even with all their combat effectiveness, most of the remaining ships have been hit by a few cannonballs more or less.

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 large force that was evacuating, and there was basically no chance of escaping from this battlefield. The coastal defense guns near Victory Port had gradually stopped firing, and several sailing ships were sailing out of the harbor - they were not

They were not here to chase the Spanish fleet, but to clean up the battlefield and deal with the crew members who were left on the immobile broken ship and struggling to survive in the water.

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.

I have fought on all continents without incident, but I didn't expect that it would break in this place. Although the earthen jar will inevitably be broken at the well, the general will inevitably die on the battlefield, and being broken on the battlefield is also the fate of the sailors, but when we really face this situation,

At that time, 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 severely damaged warships and slow-moving supply ships.

The Han warships surrounded the ship and fired at 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. Although the Spanish fleet still maintained a considerable amount of combat effectiveness, it was obvious that their will to fight had collapsed.

If you have no intention of fighting, you are simply escaping from the battlefield in an escaping manner. There is no pressure when fighting a battle like this. It is enough to 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 Spaniards 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 also agreed

At the approximate time of the meeting, one of the two sides was responsible for guarding the port, and the other was responsible for outflanking the ship 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 launched the offensive in such a flawless manner that they launched an assault on the Port of Victory without even a symbolic test. What was even more unexpected was the speed at which the Spanish fleet collapsed under the attack of the coastal fortifications.

It was astonishingly fast that before the fleet commanded by Johnson returned from the sea, the Spaniards had already chosen to turn around and retreat.

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 has now become

Johnson supported it alone. Fortunately, the losses suffered by the Spanish fleet under the firepower of the shore defense were so heavy that they simply could not muster up the energy to fight with the Haihan fleet. Otherwise, Johnson alone would be able to command these more than ten battles.

If you want to stop a Spanish fleet that is several times larger than yours, you will have to pay a high price.

Although the combat performance of the Haihan battleship is far superior to that of its opponents, after all, the number is relatively small, and it can only stop one after another. Johnson also knows that this kind of thing cannot be done reluctantly, so it is better to gain the victory steadily first, which is not the case.

No more radical combat orders were issued. Even so, several Haihan warships had already gotten too close to enemy ships out of their eagerness for success. They were bombarded by Spanish warships' artillery fire as they approached. Casualties were certainly 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. The fleet led by Tao Donglai finally rushed back from the outer sea. Although the timing of arrival was a little late, it was still

This can relieve some of the pressure on the other fleet.

Of course, Pinto and Luis also noticed the appearance of this fleet, and quickly recognized that it was an enemy force they had fought against before. The Spanish fleet was now located between the two Haihan fleets, and the number of warships was no longer

With an advantage, but morale and fighting will are at an obvious low, it would be unwise to fight head-on with the opponent. What's more, when they evacuated from the port battlefield just now, they had already left behind some of their sufferings with the attitude of a strong man cutting off his wrists.

If the ship is seriously damaged and the fight continues with Haihan at this time, the previous sacrifices will be in vain.

It was Luis who made the decision first and raised the flag on the flagship to evacuate to the east. After seeing this, Pinto made no other plans and also issued the order to withdraw from the battlefield. Although the Haihan battleship was faster, the Spanish

It has been noticed that the high speed of the fleet that they fought just now can 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 break through the interception so easily.

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 of being able to escape the enemy's pursuit. As for being able to run away

How many ships there are, it really depends on each one's fate.

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 to intercept it head-on, 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.
Chapter completed!