Chapter 998: Advance and Do Not Retreat, the Lord Protects (Please Subscribe)

"New Spain, hard to starboard!"

At Admiral García's command, the New Spain, flagship of Spain's Eastern Invincible Armada, suddenly turned to port when it was still more than 2,000 paces (over three thousand meters) from the Jiangnan, the allied fleet's lead ship of the Flying class. Its course changed from due north to due west. The purpose of the turn, of course, was to pass across the bow of the Jiangnan, which was sailing due south, so that the New Spain, with nearly eighty guns, could concentrate one broadside on the Jiangnan.

The captain of the Jiangnan was Chen Shangchuan, transferred from the Henan, and he also commanded the First Division. The First Division consisted of seven warships, its main strength being the two Flying-class ships Jiangnan and Fujian, while the other five were all galleons of the English East India Company — English ships were sturdier than Dutch ships and less ostentatious than French ones, so they had been put in the very front.

Following behind the First Division was the Second Division, built around the flagship Feixiang and the Jiangbei. Besides those two ships, the Second Division also had five warships of the Dutch East India Company.

The Third Division was built around the Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and was additionally assigned three French warships and two Dutch warships.

The Fourth Division was built around the Shandong and Henan, plus one English warship, one Dutch warship, one French warship, and one Portuguese warship. Because the Henan had not been fitted with bombardment guns, this division was the weakest and so brought up the rear of the whole line.

Four divisions, twenty-seven warships in all, sailing from north to south, charged toward the entrance of Kagoshima Bay — Kagoshima Bay was, on the whole, a wide-bellied bay; its entrance was somewhat narrow, only a little over twenty li wide, while most of its interior was more than forty li across.

For an allied fleet hoping for close action and a melee, the natural plan was to bottle the enemy up at the bay's entrance.

The position where the Spanish fleet began its turn to port was right at the entrance of Kagoshima Bay. The Spanish fleet had been advancing along the west coast of the Ōsumi Peninsula; after turning to port, it headed straight toward Ibusuki Hot Springs (at the tip of the Satsuma Peninsula).

The allied fleet, meanwhile, lay between the Satsuma and Ōsumi Peninsulas, near the centerline of the sea, so it also had room to swing westward.

Seeing the Spanish fleet turn to force a crossing of the T, Chen Shangchuan immediately followed suit so as to keep on the same course as his opponent — his two Flying-class ships carried a total of ten 24-jin short-barreled guns, but none of them could fire forward, so he had to present his broadside to the enemy.

"Commander, the range is still too great — our bombardment guns can hardly hit anything!" Zhang Guanghui, the Jiangnan's first mate, was a gunnery expert of the navy and the chief officer responsible for putting bombardment guns aboard ships; he knew all too well the shortcomings of bombardment guns once they were mounted on a ship.

Whether 24-pounders or 24-jin, they were all heavy guns. And the Flying class, at 800 tons burden, was still too light for such heavy guns, so the hull rolled violently when they fired, and accuracy dropped sharply. At the same time, five bombardment guns per ship gave too low a density of fire to make up for the poor hit rate.

So the best way to use these bombardment guns was to blast away at close range!

"I know — I've read the Bombardment Gun Manual. But the Spanish aren't fools. They're a bit mad, but they are absolutely not stupid!" Chen Shangchuan said loudly. "They won't easily let us get close. But no matter — we can fight a sea battle without relying on the bombardment guns! We have eight Flying-class ships, plus twelve medium galleons of over 500 tons, and far more guns than the Spanish! We can first damage part of the Spanish warships, slow them down, and then destroy them with the bombardment guns!

Don't be impatient — we have all the time in the world!"

"The commander speaks most wisely!" Zhang Guanghui nodded. "Then shall I have the bombardment guns make ready to fire?"

"No need. We'll fire chain shot from the 12-jin long guns at the New Spain's sails and masts! This time, whatever happens, we are not letting her get away!" Chen Shangchuan paused. "Hoist the decisive-battle flag! Great Ming — advance and do not retreat!"

The Great Ming Advance-and-Do-Not-Retreat flag was the Ming navy's decisive-battle flag, an idea thought up by Zhu Cilang. The design was very simple: on a red banner were four Chinese characters — Advance and Do Not Retreat!

The moment this red flag was raised, it meant the decisive battle had begun!

"Admiral, the enemy has turned and is sailing on the same course as us!"

"Understood! Fire chain shot from the guns — aim for the sails and masts of that lead Flying-class ship!"

"Aye aye, Admiral!"

Aboard the New Spain, Admiral García likewise chose to fire chain shot at the Jiangnan's sails, because he too understood perfectly well that the most critical factor deciding today's battle was speed!

And the speed of northwest-European galleons could not match that of Dutch- and English-style galleons — not only was there a gap in design standards, but Spain's naval combat doctrine differed from that of Holland and England. Spain preferred boarding actions, and so tended to design tall forecastles, while the Dutch and English navies preferred gunnery duels — their guns were more advanced, after all!

There was another reason, too, that reduced the maneuverability of Spanish warships: the Spanish ships carried too many holy images and religious ornaments. Unless they received the Lord's blessing, these things were all dead weight in a sea battle.

Boom, boom, boom...

The first to open fire were the twenty 12-jin long guns on the Jiangnan's starboard side!

After the bombardment guns were added, the Flying class's single gun deck had been somewhat reduced in area, and the number of guns it could carry (not counting the bombardment guns) had fallen from the original 54–48 to 40 (45 with the five bombardment guns added). At the same time, however, the original 12-pounder bronze long guns had been replaced by 12-jin cast-iron long guns.

And 12 jin was heavier than 12 pounds, so the range was longer and the power greater.

Even so, the Jiangnan's first salvo fell short — the distance between the two sides was too great, already more than three li. On land that distance would have been nothing, but on a rough, wind-tossed sea it was still a bit too far.

Boom, boom, boom...

The thirty-odd guns on the New Spain's port side then roared out as well, but they likewise scored no hits!

Both sides' first salvos had all missed.

"Hold course, keep firing!" Chen Shangchuan was not concerned, because he knew the New Spain was Spain's foremost ship in the western Pacific!

The Jiangnan only needed to pin down the New Spain; even if she lost in the end, the victor of the great Battle of Kagoshima Bay would still be Great Ming!

"Keep at it, keep firing! Don't be impatient..." When García said this, he was in fact very anxious inside.

Because only a few of his ships were armed with 12-pounders; most carried 6-pounders. Six-pounders against twelve-pounders — what a disadvantage! If the New Spain could not quickly beat off that Flying-class ship, then his side was certain to suffer.

Boom, boom, boom!

The Jiangnan fired another broadside. Though it again missed, the shells landed very close to the New Spain, and the spray they kicked up even struck García in the face!

Boom, boom, boom...

The New Spain then fired its second salvo, and the shells likewise fell near the Jiangnan, throwing up sheets of spray!

"Almost hitting..."

Cold sweat was already breaking out on García's forehead. The next exchange of fire would likely decide their fate!

O Lord! Surely you will protect Spain...

Boom, boom, boom... Riiip...

The sound of cannon fire and the sound of sails being torn rang out almost at the same instant!

"Damn it!" García knew that a chain shot from the enemy's third salvo had struck his sails!

Boom, boom, boom... Crack, crack...

What Chen Shangchuan heard was the sound of splintering timber. He quickly turned his head toward the masts, but saw no mast broken or falling.

"It hit the hull planking — truly the Bodhisattva protects us!"

Chen Shangchuan also breathed a sigh of relief, but then immediately knitted his brows again: "Keep at it, keep firing..."

After three rounds of exchanging fire, both sides' skill had shown itself — evenly matched! With dozens of guns blasting away like this, and skill not low on either side, hitting a vital spot was only a matter of probability.

Chen Shangchuan also began murmuring in his heart: "Amitabha, Boundless Heavenly Venerable, Lord protect us... Sage Confucius protect us!"

Boom, boom, boom...

The guns roared once more!

A plug for the great author Yaoli's new book, The Great Song Emperor — a very interesting premise; you'll see once you read it. A great author is a great author! So time-travel can be played this way! Why not give Da Luoluo's Chongzhen a try too?

(End of chapter)