Chapter 805 Strength Gap

Shooting at a stationary target at a distance of about a hundred meters is not a difficult subject for the gunners on the Haihan battleship, not to mention that the combat environment at this time is a relatively calm river surface.

Instead of being on a rough sea, the difficulty of shooting is greatly reduced.

Four Haihan "Exploration-class" sailboats lined up in a row, facing the north bank of Tamsui River with their starboard sides. Twenty artillery fires were fired one after another without restraint, bombarding several small boats docked at the dock on the shore. These boats were originally civilian ships, and the hulls were

There was basically no defensive means. After the cannonball hit, sawdust flew everywhere and the mast fell. Soon, a ship was flooded and capsized because the ship's planking near the waterline was punctured.

Of course, when performing this kind of mission that focuses on destruction without worrying about enemy counterattacks, the navy will not expose 100% of its capabilities to the enemy. The firing frequency is much slower than the normal combat level.

More energy is put on the pursuit of hit rate. After all, accurate shooting is what gunners can be proud of. Who would show off simply by shooting fast.

Although the Spanish side entered the city early for safety, there were no casualties in this round of unilateral bombardment, but Lopez, who was watching the battle on the city wall, still had a face as black as the bottom of a pot. He at least learned from the Haihan people's display of power.

I saw two things. First, the Haihan people did not intend to leave any escape route for them, so they destroyed all the ships on the shore before the official war started. This fully proved that they had bad intentions; secondly, the Haihan people did not intend to leave any escape route for them.

The hit rate and firepower intensity displayed by the Han warships in the bombardment were beyond his expectations. The only thing that made him feel lucky was that these artillery were deployed on the ship instead of on land. Otherwise, he would now have a headache on how to deal with the opponent's bombardment.

Already.

But Lopez then thought about it, I am afraid that there are not only a few warships sent by the Haihan Army here, and the warships' artillery configuration is so deadly, how can the army be worse? There is no discovery outside the city yet.

There are artillery positions deployed by the opponent, probably just because the time has not come yet. If the enemy really launches artillery outside the city later, how should you respond?

Haihan's bombardment did not last long, only about ten minutes. However, several Spanish ships on the shore had been riddled with holes and seemed to have been basically scrapped. This was not enough for the city.

For the defenders watching the battle, the visual stimulation and psychological oppression were very strong. Among the enemies the defenders had dealt with in the past few years, no armed force had the strength of Haihan. Even though

The Dutch were able to compete with Spain with their maritime weapons. The number of artillery pieces equipped on the armed ships they originally sent here to fight was far less than that of the Haihan warships.

"Perhaps we should think about how to ask for help from Jilong Port..." Before the battle officially started, Lopez had such a thought in his mind.

However, he soon came to his senses. The enemy's posture outside the city did not look like they would let loose. If they wanted to send people out to ask for help, it would be unlikely to break through the enemy's encirclement. At least the waterway would definitely be impassable.

"Come here, let Delgado from the reserve team come to see me immediately." Lopez gave the order with a stern face. Although the hope was slim, he decided to give it a try before giving in.

The ancient surname Delgado comes from the Santander Mountains and means "thin" in Spanish. However, the Delgado in Lopez's mouth is not a Spanish, and does not even have any Spanish ancestry.

The owner of this name is actually a Bondu native who was born in the mountains of northern Luzon Island. Because his father's generation worked for the Spanish colonists, he also received a Spanish title as he inherited his father's legacy.

Delgado is now also a member of the garrison in Santo Domingo. However, because of his blood relationship, his unit is only an auxiliary army rather than a regular army. He usually spends more time doing farm work than military training.

Delgado is a bit similar to the guardsmen in some areas of the Ming Dynasty. Logically speaking, his status is not enough to gain the attention of the local top commander, but compared to other soldiers of the auxiliary army, Delgado has a special unique skill

.

Delgado was a jungle hunter before serving for the Spanish. He was very good at hiding his tracks in the woods, and this skill did come into play after he joined the army. He had two encounters in the city of Santo Domingo.

During the attack, he lurked out of the city and crossed the Yangmingshan Mountains to Jilonggang to seek help. Although the straight-line distance between the two places was less than 40 kilometers, considering that there were many indigenous tribes in this mountainous area who had feuds with Spain,

It is indeed not easy for Delgado to travel through this area safely.

Due to the experience of two successful rescue missions, when the city of Santo Domingo was once again invaded by foreign enemies and found difficult to defeat, Lopez naturally thought of this hunter who was good at crossing the mountains and forests. If he could successfully cross the mountains again

If we go to Jilong Port to ask for help, then maybe the situation can be salvaged. Otherwise, everyone will just wait to die together in the castle.

However, this time Delgado looked embarrassed after listening to Lopez's order: "Sir, maybe you haven't noticed that these guys are holding rifles, not bamboo arrows and spears, and they are all deployed on several main roads.

Near the passage, if you ask me to leave the city, it is very likely that I will die before I enter the mountain."

"Delgado, you are a soldier, you cannot act so cowardly!" Lopez did not expect that his subordinates would question his decision, and his face became even more ugly at the moment.

"Sir, I am not afraid of fighting, but I don't want to lose my life needlessly." Delgado defended himself: "No matter which direction I leave the city from, I will be discovered by the enemy. There is no chance for me to pass through the encirclement."

"Then what do you want to do?" Lopez asked, feeling that there was something in his words.

"I need ten to fifteen people, divided into five teams, waiting to leave the city after nightfall, and break out in different directions at the same time. I will arrange their marching routes to avoid the enemies outside as much as possible." Delgado proposed as expected.

own thoughts.

"As long as one of the teams can go out, maybe the news can be sent to Jilong Port." Lopez thought for a while and felt that Delgado's method made sense, so he immediately agreed to his proposal: "Then you

Now go pick your manpower, you can choose the people from the reserve team."

This plan seems feasible, but Lopez is not stupid. Of course, he can imagine that Delgado probably wants most of them to be cannon fodder to cover his own escape. However, he will not reveal Delgado's thoughts in person.

This selection must be controlled to prevent this guy from selecting a group of Spanish soldiers to die. This kind of loss is not something Lopez can bear, and Mr. Gesman will never agree. As for those in the reserve team, they are all colonial

The natives can be recruited as many as they die anyway, so Lopez doesn't particularly care.

Of course, Lopez also knew that the defenders had to hold on to their defenses before that, and this might last for several days. According to Delgado's previous record, it would take one to two days.

After crossing the mountainous area and arriving at the destination of Jilong Port, the local garrison spent a day or two gathering troops to prepare supplies, and then hurriedly rushed from Jilong Port for rescue. It would be at least four or five days later, and this was already in the process.

The ideal situation for any delay. If the rescue organization is delayed due to weather or other objective reasons, it is possible that the reinforcements will have to wait ten days and a half to arrive.

If it were his previous opponent, Lopez would indeed have the confidence to defend until reinforcements arrived, or even repel the enemy on his own. But this time, the opponent who reached Tamsui River was not as easy to dispatch as before.

During the formation and tactical arrangements, Lopez could feel that the opponent was well prepared and tightened the noose step by step, without leaving any opportunity for the defenders to counterattack. If you don't cheer up, be careful.

To deal with it, Lopez was not sure whether he could delay the arrival of reinforcements.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, three 12-pound guns with lighter barrels finally arrived at the front line. Takahashi Minami, who was anxious and angry after waiting, immediately ordered the artillery to be deployed to the predetermined positions in preparation for launching an offensive.

Since the city of Santo Domingo is located on a hillside, the artillery of the special operations battalion can only be deployed in a slightly lower place, which is relatively disadvantaged in terms of range. But this time Lopez did not look at the city leisurely.

If the opponent moves outside, immediately order the artillery in this direction to fire at the area where the opponent is deploying gun emplacements.

Sun Zhen's infantry platoon was fortunate enough to undertake the task of escorting the artillery soldiers into the combat position. As soon as they entered the predetermined position, the artillery on the city in the distance roared. He raised his head slightly and saw an artillery shell whizzing through the air.

, and smashed towards where he was.

Although I also received infantry-artillery coordination combat training during the training period and heard the explosions of artillery fire at close range, it was my own firepower after all. I knew in my heart that the artillery shells would not hit my head. This was different from the enemy's current situation.

The feeling of the whizzing shells was completely different. Sun Zhen believed that he had killed people in troubled times before joining the army, and he was considered a brave person, but at this time he still felt that his knees were weak, his mouth was dry, and his mind was confused.

.

"Are you just standing there like a target?" It wasn't until Platoon Commander Wang kicked him in the butt that he was brought back from his distracted state.

The artillery shell falling from the sky did not hit him, but landed about ten meters in front of him on the right. After two bounces, it stopped in the grass with green smoke. At this distance, it was almost the limit range of the defender's artillery.

, if Lopez wants to make the cannonball hit farther, the only way is to reload more gunpowder, which is a huge risk. Of course, Lopez may not have the courage, and extreme reloading is a dangerous behavior that can easily cause the barrel to explode.

Both artillery and gunners are important resources that the city of Santo Domingo cannot afford to lose.

However, even if Lopez makes a desperate attempt, he may not cause real trouble to the attackers. Due to the limitations of weapon manufacturing technology, the artillery of this era is not very accurate at the extreme range. Whether it can hit the target is completely left to chance.

Look at the face. Lopez ordered the firing. In addition to frightening the attackers, it was more or less just to try his luck and draw a prize - what if he hit the target?

However, God was not so kind to the Spaniards. The four artillery guns on the city wall in this direction fired four consecutive rounds without hitting a single hit. The nearest one was still about ten meters away from the target area, not even a hair on the attacker's body was hit.

There was no injury. Lopez had no choice but to do anything about this result. Since he did not have the conditions for regular artillery training, he only had the opportunity to fire artillery once every year and a half, so he could not demand the performance of the gunners.

But Lopez couldn't show discouragement and uneasiness on his face yet. The people under his command were all watching his performance. If he lost control of his emotions and panicked first, then those people under him would probably have no intention of fighting.

"Don't stop, keep shooting!" Lopez ordered with a straight face.

At this time, Gesman's servant appeared in front of him again: "Captain Lopez, Sir Gesman wants to know the reason for firing and the current battle situation."

"Tell Lord Gesman that the situation is under control. The enemy has been blocked by us from the range of the artillery..."

Before Lopez finished blowing the gun, there was a roar from the Haihan artillery position in the distance, and a black dot was ejected from the muzzle and flew straight towards the city wall.

The people on the city wall watched with their mouths open as the cannonball whizzed past about three meters above their heads, and then smashed into a wooden house in the city. It was obvious that the trajectory of the cannonball was due to the opponent's firing angle being slightly higher.

Some of them even jumped over the city wall and smashed into the city. Of course, as long as you are not particularly stupid, you will realize that the range of the opponent's artillery is much farther than your own. If someone hits a high place from a low place, it is better than

It is still farther to hit a low place from a high place, and the gap in weapon performance is immediately highlighted.

Lopez's heart sank a little more. Before he could think of words to explain, Gesman's servant said optimistically: "Although the enemy has cannons, they don't look very accurate!"

Lopez forced out a smile and chimed in, and quickly sent the stupid servant down the city wall. This guy probably had never experienced an artillery battle at all, and he didn't understand what this phenomenon of artillery cross-fire meant.

In order to avoid disturbing the morale of the army, it is better to send him away as soon as possible. As for how he will report to Gesman after he returns, Lopez no longer cares so much. Although the opponent has only deployed three artillery pieces, but

He was already a little panicked and secretly prayed that the sky would darken quickly.
Chapter completed!