Father can be an enemy to the country

Soon, the pirates from Fang Bu also responded to Chen Bu with horn blasts.

So the remaining two thousand large ships of the two groups of pirates, leading countless fast ships, launched a charge towards the commercial fleet from all directions.

Although the morale of the Ming army officers and soldiers in the city fleet was greatly boosted, they did not dare to be exaggerated at all. These veterans all know that the enemy is outnumbered and that if they are not careful, they will be doomed.

They took the time to cut the cables connecting the enemy ships and remove the frames supporting the crossbars to restore their ship's mobility.

At the same time, the sailors shouted slogans and pulled the sail cables desperately to let the battleship's sails rise again.

Even the newly released prisoners, regardless of their physical weakness, helped turn the windlass and slowly raised the four-claw iron anchor from the bottom of the sea...

Finally, with the concerted efforts of the soldiers, the cables were cut off, the wooden frames were dismantled, and the horizontal beams fell into the sea.

As the anchors left the seabed one by one, the sails were raised one by one, the sea breeze stirred the sails, and the ships finally began to move.

Yu Tongyuan stood on the deck of the flagship stern building, calmly directing the helmsman to adjust the direction. The herald will also use semaphores to convey his orders to the warships behind.

Then, one ship after another, the entire fleet must make adjustments according to the order in order to keep the battle line neat and tidy without chaos.

This was the main subject of their previous training. Even on the way here, they were practicing against the clock, and they barely reached the point where no matter how the flagship changed direction, the rear ship could always maintain the long snake formation and follow closely behind.

Although Yu Tongyuan and Liao Dingguo have been scolding the people below for their stupid heads, they have always failed to cooperate. But Lao Liu was dumbfounded. He could basically master the battle lines in such a short time. The quality of the Chaohu navy was already beyond imagination.

~~

However, the level of the pirates was not low, and they managed to encircle the Ming army before they could escape.

Then they launched an attack on the Ming army from all directions, trying to crush it with absolute numerical superiority.

And there are cannons on their ships, but only two cannons are installed on the bow... And only the two thousand ships are equipped with two cannons. The other fast ships are equipped with at most one cannon, and many ships are not even equipped with one.

After all, not everyone can build a cannon. Moreover, iron cannons are severely corroded at sea. If you do not pay attention to maintenance, their service life will be very short. It is extremely rare that the pirates can maintain their current firepower.

But these twenty or thirty iron cannons were completely inadequate compared to the more than three hundred bronze cannons installed on ten commercial warships.

As they entered range, both sides fired. Amidst the rumbling sound of cannons, the first naval battle in human history in which artillery was used to determine the outcome - the "Battle of Flower and Bird Island", reached its climax.

This was a seriously unfair battle. The side with an absolute numerical advantage was beaten dizzy by the side with an absolute numerical disadvantage using superior firepower——

The city's fleet formed a battle line, constantly pouring out terrifying firepower. There were even battleships that were attacked on both sides, firing from both sides at the same time!

The Ming warships opened fire, and the shells they fired fell around the pirate fleet, continuously stirring up water jets. Every moment, pirate warships were hit by artillery shells, and the ship was in a mess. Some sails were torn off by cannonballs and lost power. There was also the unlucky guy's boat, which was shot at the waterline and flooded directly... The casualties were even more insignificant.

The pirates also knew that fighting each other would lead to death, so they desperately tried to get close to the Ming warships, regardless of the huge losses, so that they could fight hand-to-hand.

Moreover, the remaining seven ships are equipped with return guns, and they can be launched at a suitable distance.

But the Ming warships formed a long snake formation, constantly changing directions, and they were as slippery as a snake. He would always stay away from the pirate capital ships before they approached them, always keeping a safe distance from them, and use his artillery to cause damage from a long distance.

However, there were too many ships of the pirates, and the city fleet could only avoid those two thousand large ships. There were still large and small speedboats approaching, braving fierce artillery fire, desperately trying to get on board.

For such warriors who are not afraid of death, the soldiers of the Ming army naturally have to treat them well - with a wave of shotguns and a close-to-face output, the enemy ships are basically finished... There are even some small boats that were beaten into sieves on the spot and directly entered the water and sank. .

But the pirates also had some tricks. They discovered that there was a gap of hundreds of breaths between the Ming army firing two artillery shells.

There was nothing we could do about it. After all, the Ming army's artillerymen were all novices, and they fired too few cannons. Only by doing more real cannonballs can you strengthen your posture level and increase the speed of your cannonballs.

No matter how fast you practice your hand speed by just simulating sex, you will still be in a hurry when it comes to actual combat. Either he forgot to put the gunpowder or he forgot to stuff the shells, so he couldn't get up faster even if he wanted to.

Therefore, the pirates deliberately used small boats to consume the Ming army's artillery fire. Then use the safe time before the next shell is fired to pick up the ship!

There was nothing wrong with this plan, but they forgot that not only did the army install cannons, but they also changed their ships... There were pirate speedboats that kept docking with the army's warships, but most of the pirate ships were behind the 2,000-ton army ship. In front of you, you can only attack from behind.

Not to mention facing those two giant ships with 4,000 materials, attacking the deck is almost as difficult as attacking a city. The pirates could only set up ladders and climb up.

But on rough seas, climbing a ladder from one boat to another is no different than doing acrobatics. The Ming soldiers above did not need to overturn the ladder. As long as they shook the ladder vigorously, the pirates above would fall down like dumplings.

The two sides fired at each other with bows and crossbows. But the condescending side still has the advantage, and the exchange ratio is still terrible.

Therefore, in naval battles, the bigger the ship, the greater the advantage, and the smaller ships can follow suit. Be the main force? Do you understand if you don’t have the ability?

As a result, until a hundred breaths passed and the Ming army was reloaded, no pirates could attack the Ming army's deck.

Then, the clippers that came up were subjected to the next round of shelling.

The world is completely quiet...

This is also the reason why the Ming army dared to fight one against ten. The large ships of the Bao Shipyard gave them the confidence to ignore the small ships.

After losing the combat effectiveness of the pirates' ten large ships as soon as the war started, they only need to pay attention to the remaining fourteen ships with two thousand materials. As long as these ships are not allowed to approach, they are basically safe.

Even the small pirate ships rushing ahead would act as a substitute for the city fleet and block the approach of the larger pirate ships.

These favorable factors appeared together on the side of the Ming army, which was not simply due to luck.

It was the commander of the Ming Army who had deduced it countless times in the ‘war game’ invented by His Royal Highness the King of Chu before he came up with this combat plan that could create many favorable conditions!

Therefore, His Highness the King of Chu’s confidence in using less to defeat more is not unreasonable arrogance...

In this way, the ten warships of the city fleet always maintained their formation, constantly interspersed among the enemy formations, and continued to use artillery to cause damage to the enemy ships.

Gradually gaining the absolute upper hand!