v2 Chapter 152： The first naval battle

When the first rays of morning light fell, the roar of the artillery broke the calmness of the sea.

The first shot was the Spice Boat Happiness in the distance. They saw their last hope shattered when they saw the black flag rising from the opposite Jackdaw.

In order to ensure the safety of the cargo as much as possible, Happiness chose a relatively unpopular route, and did a good job of keeping the route secret. It has been safe for more than a month since leaving Hong Kong. Frequent danger zones, I did not expect to eventually fall short.

After dawn, they can finally see the appearance of the Jackdaw on the opposite side. Although they have made some psychological preparations, after confirming that the ship that has spent the night with them is indeed a battleship, everyone's face is still involuntary. There was a touch of despair.

The tragedy that took place in Charleston two months ago has already spread among the colonies. The two governors and a senior naval general died tragically on the same night. At the same time, the city of Charleston was also heavily bombarded. This is probably the empire in recent years. In addition to the worst losses in the New World, there are also rumors that the Navy lost a frigate that night, but compared to what happened earlier, there were not many people concerned.

Now when we see the Jackdaw in front of us, everyone on the happiness is involuntarily remembering this rumor.

What's worse than meeting a group of pirates is meeting a group of pirates on a warship.

However, the men who can beg for food in this area are not cowards, knowing that their side is absolutely inferior in firepower, but in this way everyone bows down and confesses.

What's more, the value of the cargo on board was enough to make them desperately for one time, so the twelve artillery on the Happiness launched the attack on the Jackdaw that came over without hesitation.

As a result, most of the shells in the first round of the attack were missed. Only one shot flew across the side of the ship. A new gunner next to him suddenly became nervous and asked the figure in black not far away, "Captain, are we going to fight back?"

"Wait a second." Zhang Heng shook his head, looking at the Happiness in the distance.

Now Jackdaw has just entered the opponent's range, although it is theoretically possible to fire back, but the hit rate will definitely not be too high, and the power of the shells too far away will not be enough. With the firepower of Jackdaw, as long as The distance is close enough to snooze the target in one round, avoiding a long tug-of-war.

However, in this case, you need to withstand the first few waves of attacks, but with the solidity of Jackdaw, this is not too much trouble.

Soon, the second wave of Happiness arrived. With the previous test firing, the landing point of the shell was obviously more accurate this time. It can be seen that the gunner on the opposite side was also very experienced, of which three shells hit the ship's side. There was another hitting the sail, which didn't matter much, let the pirates breathe a sigh of relief.

But the third wave of attacks was not so good. At this time, the Jackdaw was not far away from the Happiness, and even the opposite figure could be seen. Several shells from the sky smashed several holes on the deck, and another It just landed on the place without the protection of the iron sheet. The seawater poured into the bottom cabin immediately, and the carpenter on the boat saw the tool and immediately rushed to repair it.

At this time, the sound of the ship's request for firing gradually increased, and even Billy couldn't help looking at Zhang Heng, but the latter still said nothing.

Although Zhang Heng has participated in many battles on the Sea Lion, this is the first time he has personally led a sea battle. It was not the same as before. At that time, he basically only needed to protect himself and wait for the opportunity to solve the nearby threats. If he had the strength, he would save some companions in distress by the way, even if the task was exceeded.

Except for the need to pay attention to the situation on the field when grabbing the Scarborough, most of the time his vision was limited to a short distance around him, which is similar to his mode of action in the Soviet-Finnish war, but now he Commanding a whole ship, what needs to be considered becomes how to win the next battle with the least cost.

The firepower on Jackdaw is undoubtedly far better than the happiness on the opposite side, but the level of the gunner is exactly the opposite. This will be more obvious when shooting at a long distance, and the accuracy of the two sides can be improved as the distance approaches. The gap will be reduced, after all, as long as it is close enough, even a novice is difficult to miss.

Therefore, Zhang Heng chose to rush to the front of Happiness with the fire, but when the fourth wave of attacks fell on the deck, some people began to be injured. Zhang Heng himself was bruised by a flying piece of wood, but his face remained the same. Without any expression, he continued to hold the telescope to observe the movement on Happiness until he saw the opposite gunner quickly fill the shell into the barrel, preparing for the next round of salvo, and Zhang Heng finally issued a new order.

"The sails slowed down and the rudder was full."

The pirates waited for this sentence for too long. After hearing the words, they immediately retracted the sails on the ship at the fastest speed. The Jackdaw avoided a new round of attacks by abruptly slowing down, and at the same time the hull also swung www.novelhall.com ~ Eventually it became parallel to Happiness.

Although some sailboats of this era will also carry bow and stern guns, they are more often used in emergencies, and the firepower output is mainly based on side guns. Therefore, before launching an attack, you need to face the ship side to the target. This is why Zhang Heng must let the Jackdaw drive close enough to fight back.

Because once in combat, it is very difficult to adjust the distance again.

The pirates have been bombarded by the unilateral bombing of the fire on the Happiness long ago. When Zhang Heng gave the gunners an immediate counterattack, the artillery on the ship opened fire, although nearly half of the shells fell. Into the water, but the rest caused a lot of damage to Happiness.

One of the 24-pound shells also fortunately hit the lucky mast, which broke off, hitting the deck and crushing two sailors directly, and the sails on it also covered three artillery pieces.

After seeing the power of the artillery on the Jackdaw, the sailors on the Happiness were caught in a panic at this time. Although some people still tried to fight back, they were soon drowned by the overwhelming shells. The gunners on the ship were required to increase their angles, fearing that the Happiness would be hit hard after the second round of salvos.

The battle was similar to what was expected. After the two rounds of artillery, the opposite side clearly realized that the fight would only increase the casualties. Although they were still unwilling, they could only choose to surrender at the first time.

Zhang Heng wasn't as excited as everyone else on the boat, because he knew that the next most dangerous time would be. According to Karina's information, there were thirty sailors on Happiness, and even more troublesome was a group of ride-hailers. There are about twenty naval trainees, all of whom are strong young men.

Together they have surpassed the number of pirates on Jackdaw.