New Ming Empire mixed in America

Although this was not the best time for a naval battle, the commander of the British expeditionary fleet was not worried at all. He believed that his men would be able to completely defeat those Easterners after dark.

They had not experienced night battles before, not to mention the appearance of those Eastern fleets here was a surprise.

Otherwise, no naval commander would choose to appear in front of the enemy fleet when the wind direction is not conducive to him or at a time that is not suitable for naval battles.

Soon, the British expedition fleet was ready for battle, and the merchant ships following the fleet also consciously retreated from the battle area.

Under the command of the flag, the expedition fleet led the British troops and quickly headed towards the small fleet of the Xinming Empire.

Seeing the four armored battleships converted from sailing battleships rushing at the front, the commander of the British expedition fleet had already been mentally prepared.

"I didn't expect that Easterners would have such a level of shipbuilding. It's really surprising."

The commander looked at the warships that were much slower than his own fleet, he shook his head and said:

"It is not wise to blindly pursue defense. Speed ​​is everything on the sea."

The first mate also intervened at the right time and said: "Obviously those Easterners are more interested in tortoise shells, otherwise they would not have such thick armor on the warships."

When they first saw the Oriental warship through the telescope, the two of them were really shocked, because the thick armor on the outer shell of the opponent's warship made them very difficult.

But judging from the fact that the opponent still doesn't dare to open the gun window, it seems that the opponent wants to rely on its own defense power to launch a close attack.

But have they never thought that if they only have defense but are not as fast as others, they will be very passive?

Now the commander of the expedition fleet is extremely confident of victory.

By far surpassing the opponent's speed, one's own fleet is already invincible. Now all one has to think about is how to crack the opponent's turtle shell.

"Don't underestimate the opponent's armored gunboats. I heard that the hull of a sail warship of the Northern Federation was broken open by this kind of gunboat."

The first mate was very rational. Before setting off, they collected all the information about the Oriental warship.

Including speculation on appearance and speed, basic information on several naval battles, etc.

"It is also said that their artillery has a relatively long range and can stop outside the range of the Peruvian fort for bombing..."

The first mate was still reminding him, but was stopped by the commander with a wave of his hand.

"You have also seen the coastal defense guns in Peru. The range of those broken iron pipes is not to mention warships. I feel that even the naval guns of merchant ships can shoot farther than the opponent."

It wasn't like they didn't do anything when they stayed in Peru. They had already fully understood the news about the Xin Ming Empire's warships.

He sneered at the Peruvians' claims that artillery had a long range.

Because in his opinion, those old coastal defense guns on the Peruvian fort should have been sent to the steel factory for reprocessing.

Although there are also several relatively advanced coastal defense guns, the commander understood everything after seeing the layer of armor on the Oriental warship.

With this kind of armor, even coastal defense guns can withstand a few rounds. But the fort will definitely suffer when facing their broadside naval guns.

But now they are facing Daiying's expeditionary fleet. In terms of artillery, their fleet is equipped with many 68-pound Armstrong breech-loading guns that are now the most advanced in Daiying and even in the world.

Not to mention speed, looking at the thick black smoke spewing from the chimney on the opponent's deck, you can tell that the opponent has tried his best, but his slow appearance cannot pose any threat to his fleet at all.

In terms of quantity, our battleships alone are several times that of our opponent's, not to mention those steam gunboats equipped with 15 to 20 artillery pieces.

"Hey, the opponent's navy has pretty good basic skills. It can predict our fleet's intentions..."

The commander put down the telescope and ordered: "Turn right, let's make a big circle to surround the opponent, and then we just need to slowly crack open the opponent's turtle shell..."

Speaking of this, the commander's telescope unexpectedly showed another fleet of the same type as the Orientals, led by four armored ships and followed by dozens of armored gunboats.

"Those Easterners actually have two fleets. Damn it, this was not mentioned at all in the intelligence. Are those damn intelligence officers all bullshit?"

After cursing angrily, the commander decisively ordered a part of the fleet to separate and head towards the opponent.

"Turn the helm now. We can't continue to engage in encirclement tactics. Who knows if these Easterners have more warships? Seize the T and focus fire on the other side!"

The battleship commander finally became serious this time. The appearance of the second fleet of the Xinming Empire made him feel some pressure.

Although it was difficult to see the models of the opponent's warships from a long distance, it could be seen from the blurry images of the telescope that they were four warships that were no less than the capital ships of the Easterners' first fleet.

Therefore, it is better to fight quickly. The advantage now lies with me. With the wind direction and my own speed, the commander is confident that he can defeat one of the opponent's two fleets before they merge.

Soon, relying on the advantage of speed, although the Eastern warships turned decisively several times, they still allowed them to grab the "T".

After all the gun windows of the battleships were opened, the commander took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and raised his eyebrows unconsciously.

There is less than an hour left before it gets dark, so the plan to completely annihilate the Eastern fleet this time may not be realized.

Those Eastern warships could definitely escape from the battlefield during the night and then hide back in their forts.

Although this will not have much impact on their next battle, it is a pity that they cannot completely annihilate the opponent this time.

"Don't be lazy, hurry up and load the cannonballs. Look at the speed of Medes and his team. They are half a minute faster than you. You are just a bunch of shit!"

Seeing that his own gun crew was the last one to signal that reloading was complete, the gun crew leader felt that his face had been humiliated by all this shit.

"Check the gun's traction rope again, I don't want to see our gun take longer to reset after a shelling!"

During the final waiting time, the gun crew leader loudly ordered the gun crew members to check again.

Try to regain all the face you just lost in the second round of shooting.

But he soon saw a scene he would never forget in the gap between the gun window and the muzzle.

The speed of those Eastern warships actually increased a lot when they were about to enter the range, and they became faster and faster.

Not only the four armored battleships in front were like this, but also the armored gunboat behind them also began to accelerate.

The Eastern battleship formation was under their noses. They used the sea as a drawing paper to draw a beautiful arc and disappeared from their eyes.

"Oh my god, have those Eastern warships been kissed by God?"

The first mate watched dumbfounded as the Eastern warship turned from their firing range and directly cut into their side.

"We were deceived by them. Their speed is much faster than our battleships!"

At this time, the commander also reacted and quickly started to move his fleet again.

But it is easy to slow down, but it is not so easy to increase the speed immediately.

Moreover, the fleets on both sides were not stationary when they were preparing for the bombardment just now.

Scenes of stopped ships and artillery battles are rarely seen in naval battles. Usually, they are shelled quickly as they pass by.

Don't mention the tactics of waiting for the opponent to stop his ship to prepare for bombardment, and then suddenly accelerating to ram the opponent's flagship.

It is really difficult. The fleets of both sides are constantly moving during the battle, so it is very slim to seize that fleeting opportunity.

When the British expeditionary fleet started to speed up again, the disadvantages of inconvenient transmission of orders were exposed.

By the time the flagman notified all the battleships of the flag message, the first formation with the 'Reserved King' as the flagship had already moved to their flanks and was ready for bombardment.

"The battleship with the Union Jack flag on the outermost side of the target, prepare to fire!"

After hearing this order, the gun crew members on the "Reserved King" quickly opened the gun windows.

Except for those artillery pieces with special gun mounts loaded with armor-piercing bullets, ready to attack the steam engine position at the rear of the opponent's battleship.

The rest of the artillery is loaded with explosive shells. Against these British warships whose armor is not particularly thick, the lethality of explosive shells is more economical than armor-piercing shells.

Although there may be many artillery shells that cannot penetrate the opponent's armor as expected, as long as one of them achieves its purpose, it can cause heavy losses to the opponent.