Dominate the Country

The gun test has always been the prelude to a naval battle. Chen Han's sailors have almost seen the eager red-haired sailors loading hexagonal shells into the gun barrels, slowly raising the gun barrels and pointing them maliciously.

However, the Chen Han sailors who had happily eaten a "sumptuous" meal yesterday evening could only spit and curse "Damn it", and then prepare to bear the painful blow that is bound to come.

They had a big meal yesterday evening, and now it really feels like a tit-for-tat. Even the situation they are facing is so similar!

At this time, most of the sailors are praying to gods and Buddhas, either Mazu or Dragon King. These are the two most widely believed gods in the Chen Han Navy, the latter can account for 60%, and the former is about 25%. As for the remaining 15%, they only believe in their own defenders.

In fact, after experiencing several dangers and gunfires, the sailors will change from believing in Mazu and Dragon King to believing in themselves.

The medical soldiers carefully poked their heads out of their cabins, holding the medical box in their hands, ready to attack, taking a deep breath waiting for the fearless blood of the imperial soldiers to burst out, war is inseparable from blood and fire.

With a loud bang, the first hexagonal shell that hit the Silver Shark fell into the sea between the Silver Shark and the White Shark, scaring a few seabirds. The logistics soldiers in the battleship, the damage control soldiers and engine soldiers in the bottom cabin, all felt the tremors of war at this moment, but they also knew that this was their fate as soldiers, and the highest honor of soldiers - fighting for the country - has come!

The enemy's test gun was over, and it was normal that the first shot missed. There were not many god gunners like Zhang Bao in the entire Chen Han Navy. Even if this guy couldn't read a word, he could still get a high-ranking sergeant with this skill.

The guns of the Surut paused for less than two minutes, and a row of white smoke bloomed one after another, covering the entire battleship. Amid the roar of the guns, hexagonal shells flew over. The Silver Shark was not God's illegitimate child. Even if it could avoid some of the shells, it would eventually be hit. This was indeed the case. The Silver Shark was hit by five shells this time.

The only lucky thing was that one of the shells hit the stern turret and did not cause substantial damage. Two shells tore the sails, which was no big deal. Only the last two shells penetrated into the cabin of the Silver Shark, killing and injuring five sailors.

Since the Europeans had already opened fire, all Chen Han could do was to fight back.

Although the European fleet is large in number, there is a long distance between the warships. There are only four warships in the front that can chase the Silver Shark in a short time. Not to mention that they are stronger than Chen Huacheng's fleet, their combat effectiveness is weaker than that of the Silver Shark. The only advantage of the latter is the support behind them. Relying on the large fleet behind them, they only need to entangle Chen Huacheng and his men, and this battle will be stable.

In the previous battle, Chen Huacheng also took advantage of the mentality of the Europeans and chased them from behind and bombarded them continuously. The battle was resolved from 11:20 in the morning to sunset in the afternoon. If it weren't for the continuous bombardment for several hours before, it would be impossible for Chen Huacheng to take down half of the opponent's warships [three ships] without any damage to all five motor sailing ships in the final "decisive battle".

On the command platform of the Silver Shark, a sailor held an instrument and carefully measured the distance between the two sides. Although the instrument was not very accurate, it could estimate an approximate distance - 800 meters to 1000 meters.

When the Silver Shark completely turned around, the distance between him and the Surut was only this short.

"Md!" After hearing this number, Chen Huacheng cursed fiercely. This fog really hurt them.

...

On the Qin Shi Huang, Ye Tingyang didn't know Chen Huacheng's current predicament. He hadn't closed his eyes for two days, but Ye Tingyang didn't feel sleepy at all. He sat in front of the nautical chart and played military chess again and again.

Ye Tingyang couldn't sleep at all now, he wasn't sleepy at all. The excited nerves made his brain extremely clear, and everything was waiting for the next battle. If he won, Ye Tingyang could go to bed boldly, he could sleep until he woke up naturally; and if he failed, Ye Tingyang felt that he could sleep forever.

Of course, the possibility of neither winning nor losing is greater.

Ye Tingyang didn't have the confidence to defeat the enemy. Yes, he was more cowardly. The decisive battle was about to begin, and as the main general, he didn't have the determination to defeat his opponent, but he didn't need to really defeat his opponent. Even if he fights to the point of both sides being hurt, that's fine.

During the Chinese New Year, the emperor awarded the Grand Fleet with a reward, and also gave Ye Tingyang a secret letter.

Chen Ming did not require Ye Tingyang to defeat the enemy, and Ye Tingyang could also fight to the point of both sides being hurt, because that would be enough.

Chen Ming did not intend to completely invade Europe, but he had to make the Europeans give up the idea that their navy was awesome.

The latter has become a pillar supporting the Western world after the European army has half-knelt. After all, in Western history, it is not the first or second time that the weak defeated the strong in naval battles, not to mention that in terms of comprehensive strength, Europe is indeed stronger in naval battles.

Some people in Europe even believe that Chen Han vigorously promotes motor sailing ships and steam ships in order to eliminate their gap in sailing warships.

After all, once the status of steamships was recognized, sailing warships became backward. This is just like the "Carrack" type sailing ship of the Spanish Invincible Armada was eventually eliminated, just like the paddle boat was eliminated by the sailing ship. It is inevitable.

Many people in Europe are aware of the superiority of steamships, but their current level is temporarily not as good as that of China, and they can still rely on sailing ships. With the deliberate connivance of some big men, the battle between sailing ships and steamships in European society has been going on, and in terms of momentum, sailing ships generally suppress motor sailing ships.

…

"Brother Ye Zhang, Brother Ye Zhang..." In a daze, Chen Huacheng suddenly heard someone calling his name, but when his consciousness became a little clearer, the first thing that came to his brain was a piercing pain from all over his body.

His head, arms, chest and abdomen, as well as his left and right legs... God, he felt that every part of his body was in pain!

Chen Huacheng couldn't make a sound, and it was even difficult to open his eyes. He used all his strength to open his eyes, but could only vaguely feel a glimmer of light.

What happened to me?

Chen Huacheng was neither surprised nor anxious. His brain could only work until the glimmer of light appeared, and then he fainted again. If Chen Huacheng's brain could continue to work at this time, he would definitely think of the three ultimate questions of life: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?

"Brother Ye Zhang... Brother Ye Zhang..." I don't know when, the voice came again, and Chen Huacheng was awakened from his coma again.

It was a male voice, and it sounded familiar, but who was it? Chen Huacheng couldn't remember it for a while.

After shouting twice, the voice didn't sound again. The environment here seemed very quiet, but a rumbling sound of a machine could be heard faintly.

As he thought about it, a pain came from his forehead, and Chen Huacheng lost consciousness again. Or more precisely, he fell asleep again.

The more he wanted to hear what the other person was saying, the more anxious he became. He fainted in a hurry. When Chen Huacheng woke up for the third time, the previous severe pain all over his body was clearly transmitted to his brain. At that moment, Chen Huacheng's consciousness was completely awake. He had been unconscious for a long enough time before. It was the body's self-protection mechanism. Now that this protection mechanism has been lifted, it can be said that Chen Huacheng's life has been saved. At the same time, he was fully conscious and could clearly feel the pain before.

Chen Huacheng was not panicked by the pain coming from his body. He was lucky enough to survive the explosion. This was already a great fortune. He still remembered the scene of the command desk being destroyed and himself being thrown up and thrown out.

The sky was full of flames, and countless fragments were splashing in the explosion. That was Chen Huacheng's last memory.

After the explosion, Chen Huacheng never thought that he could survive. His only regret was the destruction of the Silver Shark...

Chen Han was not the Red Dynasty. He would not regard the ship equipment as more important than human life. Chen Han could easily produce ten or eight warships like the Silver Shark if he wanted. But the lives of the three or four hundred officers and soldiers on the Silver Shark were extremely important. These were elite soldiers with real combat experience. And this explosion was enough to kill most of the officers and soldiers on the Silver Shark...

When being chased by the Europeans, the Silver Shark was placed at the end of the entire "escape" team by Chen Huacheng. Chen Huacheng fought with them for two or three hours. Then the battle between the two sides came. As the commander of the motor-sail fleet, Chen Huacheng bravely led the Silver Shark and led the motor-sail fleet to kick the Europeans' asses.

The motor-sail fleet is not suitable for interspersed division, which is a great waste of their excellent maneuverability. The best use of motor sailing boats is to chase the enemy's stern and kick their asses. This will force the enemy's entire fleet to change.

When the Silver Shark exploded, the naval battle was not over yet. Chen Han gained some advantages, but the advantages were not great. Because the Europeans had many small and medium-sized warships, in fact, the Silver Shark was "dead" in the hands of those small and medium-sized warships.

How the battle was won or lost was what Chen Huacheng wanted to know most urgently now.

But he clearly opened his eyes, why was it still pitch black in front of him?

"Uh... Is there anyone?" Chen Huacheng tried to utter these syllables. This was not like his usual voice at all. It was too dry, like the words of a person who had been thirsty in the desert for a month, but he didn't have the energy to think too much at this time.

"Brother Ye Zhang, you finally woke up! Goddess Mazu bless you!" The voice from the side was not loud but seemed very excited. After a while, a figure slowly appeared in front of Chen Huacheng. It was Guan Tianpei!

Guan Tianpei, a close friend of Chen Huacheng, called him "Little Chen Huacheng" partly because he was very close to Chen Huacheng.

"Zhong Yin? When did you arrive?"

Guan Tianpei was going to the north for guerrilla warfare, when did he meet up with the fleet?

"You've been unconscious for six days." Guan Tianpei explained the reason in one sentence. Six days is enough time for many things to happen.

"How was the naval battle? Where is this?" Chen Huacheng's mind was a little confused, and he didn't know which question to ask first.

"You are on the Bian Que." This is the best medical ship in terms of logistics for Chen Han. "The military doctor has treated your wounds. Although you have broken a lot of bones all over your body, except for the penetrating wound in the abdomen, the injuries in other places are not serious! Do you know? I was afraid that you would remain unconscious. Long-term coma is very dangerous. Now you are awake, it's all right!" Guan Tianpei said a lot in one breath, filling Chen Huacheng's brain, which had just been restarted, so that he had to spend more time than usual to understand these words. Moreover, Chen Huacheng also discovered the injuries on Guan Tianpei's body. One of this guy's arms was hanging in front of his chest, and his leg was also in plaster.

Obviously, Guan Tianpei's experience was not so wonderful. But Guan Tianpei was able to return to the fleet alive, which means that the Egret was not lost.

"The big fleet should have won. We sank eight red-haired battleships, including a real big one with four gun decks. Fifteen small and medium-sized battleships were also sunk. The number of enemy troops killed is still uncertain, but the number of prisoners has long been known, there are 1,600 people!"

"Two of our motor sailers were sunk and destroyed, and four other battleships sank. Huo Qubing and Di Qing were seriously damaged. Huo Qubing caught fire, and the explosion blew away the upper gun deck." In other words, Chen Han also lost eight battleships [combat power], but two of them had not sunk, so it looked a little better. But in fact, the loss ratio of the main battleships of both sides was eight to eight, because Huo Qubing and Di Qing were obviously finished, and they might not be worth repairing, so the two sides fought a tie.

"The seven small and medium-sized warships that went into battle were completely wiped out." This was not beyond Chen Huacheng's understanding. The Europeans had too much advantage in the number of warships. After the battle began, their small and medium-sized warships directly surrounded the rear of Chen Han's fleet, just like the motor sailing fleet kicking the Europeans' butts. Chen Han's seven small and medium-sized warships blocked the eye, and their fate was the same as their counterparts in the European fleet - the Europeans' small and medium-sized warships were also destined to block the eye. It is not surprising that the whole army was wiped out.

"Two motor sailing ships and five sailing warships need major repairs..." This means that seven more battleships have lost their combat effectiveness.

Major repair, that is the word used when the warship goes to the shipyard. If the carpenters on the ship can repair it by hammering and banging, then the word "major repair" will not be used.

"We lost at least 3,000 people."

This is just the price paid by the large fleet. If Cai Qian's fleet and the sacrifices of the previous five squadrons are counted, it is not surprising that the number of casualties will double.

"I don't know what happened to General Cai. After passing the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan, we quickly dispersed. The Egret was not lost, but the Seagull was lost a long time ago..."