Chapter 262： Artillery Age (1)

Marin hurriedly boarded the 2501 dungeon, and began to observe the four pirate ships passing by with his telescope. Through the telescope, Marin saw that the other four pirate ships were not large and the displacement was not more than 100 tons. However, the four ships were full of sailors, piles of piles on the deck.

These people have dark skin, like black people. But in reality, these people are not black, but white. However, the sunshine here in Morocco is so good that these pirates have been tanned, much like the black and white mixed races of later generations in the United States. Although it is dark, it is not very dark.

The sailboats they use are all Arabian dhows, because they are small and flexible. Moreover, they are also very clever, instead of heading for the 250 formation, but driving like the southwest direction, intending to stop in front of the 250 formation to go south.

The sea area where the 250 fleet is located is awkward, because it is north of 30 h, so it belongs to the westerly zone. Southwest wind is blowing in front of me. It stands to reason that the fleet is heading against the wind. Therefore, the two ships did not continue to hoist European cross-sails, but replaced them with spinnakers to facilitate sailing against the wind. Because Hengfan is not easy to use in the headwind area.

However, the Canarian cold current ran from north to south. Therefore, sailing southward is also convenient. Following the Canary cold current southward, even if the wind was up, nothing was going on. What's more, the jib can still flexibly maneuver through the "Z" shape and use upwind.

The 250 fleet sailed southward, not directly downstream, but used spinnakers to maneuver westward, then, after a certain distance, turned to the rudder and sailed southeast. Due to the thrust of the Canary cold current and the lateral thrust of the southwesterly wind, in fact, sailing east to south is the fastest. Because, under the combined effect of the Canary cold current and the southwesterly wind, the direction to the south of the east is the most stressed direction.

However, it is Morocco in the east, Marin, naturally they will not sail to Morocco. Therefore, the direction is generally controlled, first southwest and then southeast. In this way, the direction of sailing south is generally maintained.

This is a situation where the wind is strong enough. If the wind is weak, the ship may lower the sails directly and follow the Canary cold south.

She Marin looked at the four pirate ships across from them, and found that the four Arabian dhows would definitely not be able to catch up with their own two ships if they were downwind. However, when the wind is upwind, because the ship is small, it is more conducive to sailing than the two bulky Spanish galleons. Therefore, in the end, these four Arabian sailing ships were able to reach the south of their fleet.

Actually, Marin didn't want to fight this battle. Because, the sailors don't have any combat at all, so there is no battlefield experience. There are only 50 guards brought by him, who have experience in battlefield killings. However, his 50 men only had experience of killing on land, not experience of killing on board.

I must know that to kill on the ship, we must not only have good martial arts, but also have a good enough balance. Because the ship is constantly shaking at sea. Without good balance, killing on board is problematic. And those sailors selected from the children of the fishermen may not have any problem in controlling the ships, but when it comes to naval battles, they are all the first.

You know, Marin has estimated that there are at least 200 Moorish pirates across the 4 ships opposite. The 2501 riding on his own is okay, with 50 martial arts high-strength men protecting it. If 2502 were jumped onto the deck by the Moors, they might be slaughtered. Because none of the sailors over there were good at fighting.

Therefore, the first thing Marin has to do is to try to prevent his fleet from being jumped on by the other pirates ...

So, Marin wanted Captain Kidd on the side to order:

"Captain Kidd, notify 2502, no longer sailing side by side with 2501, but in a 'one' array ..."

"What is the" one "?" Captain Kidd hesitated.

Marin had a row of heads, remembering that Europeans didn't know Chinese characters, of course, they didn't know it for a while. So he put it another way:

"Just make 2502 line up with us, we are in front, they are behind ..."

"Understand!" Then, Captain Kidd found a loud voice and used the earth trumpet to start shouting towards 2502 sailing side by side with 2501 ...

"I forgot the semaphore, but I still use shouting, so I'm behind!" Marin shook his head and was not very optimistic about the way he opened his throat and shouted at the sea. Therefore, when Columbus returned, Marin decided to develop a semaphore to facilitate command and communication between ships at sea.

杂 Because the wind and waves are heavy on the sea, the noise is very loud. Through shouting, you may be able to communicate with the ship that is closer, but going further, shouting and breaking your throat is useless. And, once the artillery began, all the shouting was futile. Because, all the sounds are covered by the rumbling cannon ...

2502 slowed down quickly and came behind 2501. They also understood that Marin was going to perform a volley of sideboard artillery.

战术 This tactic has been tried several times on the Atlantic Ocean west of France after passing the English Channel. Although not very skilled, everyone knows how to do it. But no one expected that the practical application of this new tactic came so fast.

At this time, the sailors on the fleet were very nervous and morale was not high. After all, none of these sailors had participated in a real battle. Moreover, the fishermen's children are also a bit afraid of pirates.

However, Marin put his 2501 in front and has already demonstrated his attitude. He is an earl, and he is charging ahead. What else can others say? If Marin keeps the 2502 in front, chances are the sailors on the 2502 will lose their breath ...

In fact, Marin was also very nervous at this time. This is the first time he has commanded a naval battle. He had never had a similar experience before. At most, I just played big sailing games, went to forums and watched a few movies.

However, through the naval warfare movies I have seen, Marin knows two main points-the first is that in sailing naval warfare, he must seize a favorable position to facilitate the maneuver of the ship ~ www.novelhall.com ~ this way, even if you ca n’t beat it, you can escape; Second, the side guns are volleyed, preferably near enemy ships. The closer the artillery is, the higher the accuracy ...

The battleship gun is different from the fortress gun on land. The base of the fortress gun is firm and stable, and the firing angle is stable. Basically, as long as you aim, the hit rate is still relatively high.

The naval gun is mounted on the ship, and the "base" of the artillery, the ship itself, is constantly shaking. Do not underestimate this sloshing. The range of the artillery is long. As long as the hull swaying a little, it may lead to firing errors of tens of meters or more.

Therefore, the later British navy began to salute only when the distance between ships was within 500 meters. Otherwise, the distance is too long to hit.

Even in the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson directly brought his own carrier close to the French warship and let the artillery directly fire the enemy ship. However, because it was too bold, Nelson himself hit the bullet fired by the French sailor's musket. So he hung up ...

If Marin wants to use artillery salvo tactics to defeat the pirates in front of him, he must do two things-the first is to try to pull the distance to within 500 meters and then fire; So as not to be entangled in the opposite ship and jumped on board by the other pirate.

Because, the pirates on the opposite side are accustomed to jetty chopping, although their tactics are backward. In terms of melee combat, every surviving pirate is not a fuel-saving lamp. In order to fight against them, Marin's group of sailors are not opponents at all, and they can easily be "chopped melon and vegetables".

However, according to Marin's observation, the pirate ship on the opposite side did not have any artillery at all. Therefore, as long as Marin's fleet is not jumped on board by the other pirates, the other party is exactly the target of the artillery ...