Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 77: Eliminating the Naval Threat
The three gunboats immediately approached the Nuwa ship. Lin Fei stood on the mast and saw the actions of the three gunboats clearly, but Lin Fei did not panic, because the Spanish gunboats did not have the advanced rangefinders and fire control computers on the Nuwa ship. Now the distance between the Nuwa ship and the three gunboats was about 1,500 meters. The hit rate of the three gunboats at this distance was definitely not as good as that of the Nuwa ship.
The three Spanish gunboats did not turn their bows towards the Nuwa ship and then sail over, because that would take a while to turn, and the hit rate of firing during the turning process would be very low, so they approached the Nuwa ship at an angle, which meant that they would approach the Nuwa ship very slowly, and the Nuwa ship would have plenty of time to attack them.
Lin Fei loudly ordered: "All gun positions, prepare, correct the distance change rate to 56 meters per second, and launch an attack on the lead ship in the enemy fleet sequence!"
The first ship in the enemy fleet sequence is the Trajan. This gunboat is closest to the Nuwa ship, and when it fires it will hit the Nuwa ship first, so Lin Fei ordered to attack it first.
The four gun positions fired again, and the shells flew towards the enemy ships again. Four high-explosive bombs splashed water columns on the water surface. The Trajan ship was not to be outdone. It turned the two twin-mounted guns at the bow and stern towards the Nuwa ship and fired back. Unfortunately, the Trajan ship was equipped with 75mm caliber naval guns. Naval guns of this caliber could only bully the wooden warships of the Muslims. It was simply a pipe dream to hit steel warships at a long distance.
Weapons are operated by people, and the human factor is crucial to how effective the weapons can be. The Spanish fleet was at a disadvantage in this regard. Lin Fei had long regarded the Spanish fleet as his number one rival and knew that there would be a battle with them, so he paid close attention to the training of the sailors.
The sailors’ instructors were all sailors on the Zhiyuan. The Zhiyuan had the most rigorous and hardest training in the Beiyang Fleet, and the quality of the sailors was very high, so the quality of the sailors trained was also not low.
In contrast, the Spanish fleet had long lacked an equally powerful opponent, and corruption was rampant in the military, with everyone from officers to soldiers pursuing pleasure. This led to the low combat quality of the Spanish sailors. Take tonight's battle for example, the Spanish gunners were unable to accurately estimate the lead time needed to shoot at the Nuwa ship in the dark, resulting in the shells either falling in front of or behind the Nuwa ship.
After three rounds of bombardment, an armor-piercing shell finally hit the hull of the Trajan ship. The shell entered from the port side of the hull and came out from the bottom of the ship. The sea water rushed into the cabin from the two large holes.
Captain Antonio whispered to Commander Banderas, "Commander, I think we'd better retreat as soon as possible."
Commander Banderas was shocked and asked in astonishment: "What did you say? Retreat? Why?"
Captain Antonio said: "Didn't you notice? The shells of the mysterious warship on the opposite side can hit us, but we can't hit them. We fired five rounds of artillery fire, but the opposite warship was not affected at all!"
Commander Banderas frowned in thought. At this moment, another armor-piercing shell hit the Trajan. This shell hit the bow of the ship and passed through the ammunition depot. If it was an inch off, the shell would hit the ammunition depot directly. The exploded ammunition depot could blow the entire Trajan ship in half.
Although the Trajan ship avoided the fatal explosion, they could not escape the turbulent sea water. The sea water poured into the ammunition depot, soaking all the shells and propellant, leaving the main gun at the bow without any bullets.
The hull of the Trajan began to tilt, and Commander Banderas had to ask the captain of the Trajan to order the ship to be abandoned. The captain of the Trajan was quite principled and resolutely chose to sink with the Trajan, leaving Captain Antonio with a face full of shame.
Trajan's ship lost its combat effectiveness, and the Spanish fleet only had two gunboats left. One of the two gunboats was named "Hadrian" and the other was named "Charles I". "Hadrian" and "Charles I" are both famous figures in Spanish history. Hadrian was one of the five wise kings of the Roman Empire and was born in Spain; Charles I was the monarch of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, which once dominated Europe.
The Hadrian was behind the Trajan. Logically, all the people who abandoned the ship should have been rescued by the Hadrian. However, after seeing the Trajan begin to sink, Lin Fei ordered the Nuwa to turn around and attack the Hadrian. The Hadrian was soon hit by two bullets and the hull began to tilt.
So Captain Antonio, Commander Banderas and some sailors passed by the Hadrian and were rescued by the Charles I. Commander Banderas saw that they had lost a protected cruiser and three gunboats after a night of fighting. He knew that the mysterious warship was too powerful and his fleet could never compete with it, so he ordered the Charles I to retreat.
When Charles I's ship was retreating, Lin Fei was still ordering the Nuwa ship to attack Hadrian's ship and had no time to take care of it, so Charles I escaped.
The Hadrian also sank under the attack of armor-piercing shells, and the sea finally returned to calm. It was already three o'clock in the morning of the next day. After several hours of fierce fighting, the Nuwa ship sank a protected cruiser and three gunboats of the Spanish fleet, but it itself suffered no damage.
At 3:30 in the morning, the Nuwa ship simply cleaned up the battlefield, and Lin Fei immediately used the megaphone to announce to the entire ship: "We won this battle!"
All the sailors on the ship cheered loudly. After several days of fighting, the Nuwa ship sank a protected cruiser, an unprotected cruiser, and five gunboats. The Spanish Navy in the Philippines only had two unprotected cruisers left, unable to threaten the transportation lines of the Chinese Empire. It would take at least four months for the Spanish Navy in the mainland to be transferred over, and they also had to defend their homeland, so it was impossible for all of them to be transferred over. Therefore, the threat of the Spanish Navy was completely eliminated!
Liu Daming laughed at Lin Fei and said, "Old Lin, if only we had some wine now, we could drink to our heart's content!"
Lin Fei said calmly, "When we get back to Samar Island, I'll make sure you drink enough wine."
Seeing that Lin Fei didn't look excited at all, Liu Daming couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you? Isn't it worth being happy about defeating the Spanish fleet?"
Lin Fei forced a smile and said, "Happy, of course I'm happy!"
Liu Daming sulked and said angrily: "If you still consider me, Old Liu, your brother, then tell me what's in your heart."
Lin Fei sighed and said, "We won this battle very reluctantly, don't you think?"
Liu Daming was stunned and asked, "Just barely? What do you mean? We sank four of their warships without any damage ourselves. Can this be considered just barely?"
Lin Fei shook his head and said, "Among the four battleships we sank, the Casillas was old and vulnerable, and the other three gunboats were too small and had poor anti-sinking capabilities. That's why we won. Look at the naval powers in the world, such as Britain, France, and Russia. They are equipped with large warships with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons. Armor-piercing shells and high-explosive shells can sink small battleships, but it is extremely difficult to sink large battleships!"
What Lin Fei said was true. Large warships, especially those with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons, were extremely resistant to sinking. If the shells could not hit key parts such as ammunition depots, they basically could not be sunk. In the naval battles of Lin Fei's era, only a few large warships were sunk by shells.
After hearing Lin Fei's words, Liu Daming's face was full of disdain, and he said, "So that's why you're crying ."
Lin Fei frowned and said, "Our navy is too weak right now, how can I be happy?"
Liu Daming laughed and said, "Don't worry, if the fleets of those countries come, I will row a small boat with torpedoes to attack them. There are torpedoes on the Nuwa ship. I can do my old job once, even if I die, it will be worth it."
After Liu Daming said this, he went out to celebrate with others. His words made Lin Fei's heart move, and then he thought, torpedoes are indeed the killer weapon for attacking large warships, but the torpedoes of this era have too short a range and too poor a hit rate, so they cannot be used at all. So can I use my abilities to improve our torpedoes?
Lin Fei disassembled the various parts of the torpedo in his mind and analyzed the technology inside one by one. At this time, Zhang Chuang walked into the command room and said to Lin Fei: "Captain, what should we do with those Spanish prisoners of war?"
Lin Fei frowned and said, "They killed Chinese men and raped Chinese women. There's no need to keep them alive. Kill them all."
Zhang Chuang replied "OK" and turned to leave. Yu Zhe came in and said to Lin Fei, "Captain, these Spaniards are guilty of unforgivable crimes and should be killed. But wouldn't it be better if we imprisoned them and let them work as laborers for us?"
Lin Fei shook his head and smiled, "There are only a few dozen of them, too few, and they are not very useful as laborers. After all, they are sailors, and they will definitely want to escape. I still have to guard against them, so it's better to kill them all. Zhang Chuang, go ahead. Brother Yu, what do you want?"
Yu Zhe said: "Your men defeated the Spanish fleet in one fell swoop. I think it would be better to go directly to the island and occupy the Sulu Sultanate. I know the terrain of the island and can serve as your advisor."
Lin Fei laughed loudly and said, "I didn't bring the army with me this time. Later, I will definitely take over the Sulu Sultanate! Let's go back now."
Zhang Chuang led his men to kill all the Spanish prisoners of war, and the Nuwa ship began to return. After sailing for three days, the Nuwa ship crossed the Bohol Sea and returned to Samar Island. Lin Fei did not have a radio yet, so he could not inform the people on the island of his return in advance. However, Lin Fei set up a watchtower on a high mountain on Samar Island. The observer on the watchtower discovered the Nuwa ship and Pangu ship and immediately notified the people on the island.
Everyone rushed to the dock to greet them. The Nuwa and Pangu ships docked at the dock in front of everyone. Lin Fei got off the warship and suddenly saw Ling Xue squeeze out of the crowd. She grabbed him and said nervously, "City Lord, hurry up and follow me."
