Chapter 1502: They're All Here — Every Last One!

With a boom, the bottom of the mortar ship carrying Rear Admiral Barbosa grounded onto the soft sand of Golden Gate Beach.

The mortar ship had not even come to a stop before the Spanish veterans packed aboard were already shouting and leaping overboard. Rear Admiral Barbosa jumped down with the rest of them — in this age, only the Great Ming possessed a "navy without shame"; here in Europe, the line between navy and army was not so clear-cut, and some famous naval commanders were equally famous on land!

Moreover, the navies of the Western powers all excelled at close-quarters fighting. Only the late-developing Great Ming navy disliked boarding actions and melee, preferring instead to pound enemy warships and merchantmen with devastating explosive shells.

"God save Spain! God save us!"

Amid the cheers of "God save us" ringing in his ears, Barbosa shouted along with everyone else and waded forward through the water.

The veterans who had jumped overboard with him had little experience in amphibious landings, but every man knew what to do at a moment like this.

They did not form ranks, nor did they pause. Instead, shouldering muskets and pikes and drawing their swords, they pushed forward through seawater that rose almost to their waists — they had to form an improved Spanish square on the Golden Gate beach before the Chinese infantry and cavalry could charge out of the Golden Gate fortress, in order to cover the mortar ships that had successfully beached.

These mortar ships had beached themselves on the rising tide; once the tide ebbed, they would be stranded directly on the sand. Without army protection, the garrison of Golden Gate fortress could seize them with the greatest of ease.

"Boom!"

Behind Barbosa came a thunderous roar, and he knew it was the mortar ship behind him opening fire!

He hastily craned his neck forward. Before long, he saw an enormous fireball suddenly leap into the sky, followed by another roar. By the light of that rising fireball, Barbosa finally made out the outline of Golden Gate fortress.

It was a massive bastion fort; its outer walls appeared grayish-white, though he could not tell whether they were faced with granite. If so, then it truly was solid enough.

But no fortress, however solid, could withstand the close-range bombardment of fifteen 36-pounder mortars!

The shells from these mortars could not destroy the fortress outright, but they would severely disrupt the fire of its batteries — more than enough to cover the great fleets of France, Holland, and Spain as they charged into the Golden Gate Strait.

"Boom! Boom!" Two more roars, again from behind Rear Admiral Barbosa — again the 36-pounder mortars firing. Two enormous shells were lofted into the air, traced perfect arcs across the sky, and then slammed down near Golden Gate fortress. One of them burst with a tremendous explosion, blossoming into a giant fireball.

Though it had not struck the fortress, the Spanish soldiers already charging up the beach let out wave after wave of cheers!

For everyone knew that a hit was only a matter of time. After all, a fortress that big could not dodge; standing there stiffly and taking the bombardment, how could it possibly fare well?

But Golden Gate fortress had cannons too, and these cannons were no idle mouths to feed! A portion of them soon turned their muzzles toward the stranded mortar ships and began firing spiked explosive shells. But it was night, and the mortar ships were small targets, so hitting them was still somewhat difficult.

The shells from both sides flew back and forth, and the exchange quickly became a confused melee. Most of the shells fired from Golden Gate fortress fell into the sea or onto the beach without so much as a sound. The shells from the mortar ships, meanwhile, fell all around the fortress, and one or two actually struck it. Most of these shells burst into enormous fireballs.

Seen from a distance, Golden Gate fortress appeared to be entirely wreathed in firelight.

"Victory at last!" Tourville stood on the quarterdeck of the Lorraine, lowering his telescope, his eyes brimming with tears.

The unease that had gripped his heart only moments before had now completely dissipated. He turned back to the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Abraham Duquesne, and said: "Admiral, we may now charge into the Golden Gate Strait. Tonight, God stands with France!"

Vice Admiral Abraham Duquesne nodded: "Send the fireship squadron in first; all remaining ships will follow the fireships and advance into the Golden Gate Strait!

God save France, God save the Sun King!"

Vice Admiral Abraham Duquesne's first trump card had been the mortar ships, and his second was twenty-five fireships.

Their mission was twofold: first, to draw the fire of Golden Gate fortress — when bombarding warships, the goal was of course to sink them; wounding ten ships was not as good as sinking one!

Therefore, if the garrison on the Golden Gate batteries set aflame several of the warships attempting to charge into the strait, they would surely concentrate their fire and continue pounding them, seeking to sink them in one blow!

As long as a few "fireships" became live targets drawing ammunition, the main force of the allied fleet could charge into Golden Gate Bay.

To make the fireships look more like ships of the line, Abraham Duquesne had spared no expense, requisitioning twenty-five medium-tonnage armed merchantmen.

After entering Golden Gate Bay, any fireships not yet set ablaze would seek out the fleets of the Great Ming and the United Provinces of Xinzhou, and then launch a wave of fireship attacks!

And against a fleet at anchor, fireship tactics were extremely effective.

So tonight's surprise attack had already succeeded!

The only question now was how great the results would be.

……

The garrison of Golden Gate fortress was clearly prepared.

Although they had been taken by surprise by the mortar squadron under Barbosa's command and were being continuously bombarded by fifteen large-caliber mortars, the moment the squadron of twenty-five fireships began its charge into the strait, they came under fire at once!

The guns that opened fire were still 12-catty bronze long guns. Against wooden-hulled ships of the line, the power of 12-catty or 12-pounder spiked explosive shells was quite sufficient.

That was why every naval power in the world had chosen this class of gun as its primary artillery type. Some were long guns, however, and some were short guns; the former had a longer effective range, the latter a shorter one.

The guns mounted on Golden Gate fortress for engaging targets at sea were all long guns with greater range — eighteen in total.

In daylight, these eighteen guns would have been enough to blast any enemy ship of the line attempting to pass through the strait into a floating torch!

Even on a night of poor visibility, eighteen guns capable of firing 12-catty spiked explosive shells were not to be trifled with, and they quickly set seven or eight of the "warships" charging into the strait ablaze, turning them into fireships!

The cargo tonnage of these "warships" was actually not large — they were merely old galleons of three or four hundred tons burden, relics of the "galleon trade" era, extremely dilapidated and no longer fit for ocean voyages.

But their bows and sterns were both tall, they were under full sail, and their decks were piled with all manner of flammable debris. So once struck by explosive shells, the fires were spectacular — and gave the garrison of Golden Gate fortress the illusion that they had caught a "big fish"!

All fire was concentrated on those seven or eight "warships" that had already been set ablaze, pouring shot into them with desperate fury.

Seizing this opportunity, the other dozens of allied warships and fireships all charged headlong into the Golden Gate Strait. Tonight's battle was a night action and a port raid, so there was no need to maintain any formation; roughly keeping the fireships ahead and the warships behind, they simply surged eastward.

The Lorraine, carrying Vice Admiral Duquesne and Tourville, had already passed through the entrance of the Golden Gate Strait without a scratch!

The two French naval commanders stood on the quarterdeck of the ship of the line, holding their breath, staring fixedly ahead, their hearts clenching once again.

What they feared most now was that Golden Gate harbor would be completely empty!

If the Chinese fleet had put to sea, then the allied landing fleet coming up behind would be in grave danger.

"Boom, boom……"

Suddenly, flashes of muzzle fire burst out ahead, followed by an unbroken roll of thunder!

"It's the Chinese warships — at least…… seven or eight of them. They should be those old ships of the line anchored at the Golden Gate naval pier!" Tourville let out a long breath and said to the commander beside him, "Admiral, they're all here!"

That's right! They're all here — every last one of them!

(End of Chapter)