flstandardbreds Chapter 112 Naval Battle (3)
Chapter 112 Naval Battle (3)
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When the shell hit, chaos erupted inside the cabin. It was no longer safe to hide there, so many people rushed to the upper levels and jumped into the sea with a series of splashes.
By the light streaming through the smashed hole, Zuo Wuwei saw the cannonball, perfectly round and smooth, deeply embedded in the wooden planks on the opposite side. It was the best-cast cannonball he had ever seen, still stained with bits of flesh and blood. Looking into the cabin, he saw that the trajectory of the cannonball was littered with mangled corpses.
The cannon had already breached the thick hull and was still capable of injuring people; its power was simply terrifying. Zuo Wuwei knew without a doubt that this must be one of the Bo Fu bandits he was tasked with eliminating. "Sharp firearms" was an understatement; the difference in firearms between the two sides was like heaven and earth, utterly incomparable.
On the general's ship, He Rubin saw the large ship getting closer and closer. He couldn't care less about his commander's demeanor or the general's style. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Turn the rudder! Turn the rudder! Get out of the way of this big ship!"
Without his orders, the captain had already directed his men to turn the rudder and steer the ship to the left of the fleet to avoid the ships that were about to sink under fire and escape the enemy's large ships' gunfire.
Perhaps He Rubin was destined to survive. After continuous firing, the cannon barrels on the Wuyi-class warships were now glowing red-hot. Although the superior materials ensured there was no risk of barrel explosion, many gunners suffered burns to their hands while loading shells. The gunner in charge ordered the barrels to be cooled down, otherwise the excessively high temperature could ignite the gunpowder and cause an accident. The gunners, panting heavily, put down the heavy shells, picked up small buckets, and used brushes dipped in water to clean the gunpowder and gunpowder residue from the inside of the barrels. They then poured cold water on the outside of the barrels to cool them down.
The temporary halt in the shelling allowed He Rubin to escape unscathed. Although he was unable to turn his ship around in time, he avoided the sinking vessels ahead and broke away from the convoy on the left side. Seeing the flagship disengage, the ships behind immediately followed suit, turning their rudders and following behind.
William, standing at the bow directing the operation, shook his head regretfully. Although the enemy was powerless to retaliate, their numbers were simply too great. Even when slaughtering pigs, having over three hundred pigs laid out for you to kill would dull even the sharpest blade and exhaust even the strongest butcher.
Looking at the ships that had broken away from the formation and fled, and then at the heavily damaged ships that had fallen behind, William weighed his options and decided to concentrate his firepower to completely destroy the enemy ships that had lost power. Although he didn't know the Chinese proverb "It's better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten," he understood the principle. He couldn't bite off more than he could chew; his own fleet was limited. Rather than hastily chasing after the fleeing ships and inflicting limited damage, it was better to consolidate the gains at hand.
After this round of shelling, more than a hundred ships were damaged to varying degrees. Some ships had begun to sink, while others were still barely able to drift south with the wind. Corpses were floating everywhere on the sea, and occasionally, a few survivors were still struggling and calling for help.
Liang Xiaoming hesitated for a moment when he saw the drowning person calling for help. Considering that Liu Ye needed more people and soldiers, he ordered several sampans to be lowered to salvage the person, and the fleet turned around to bombard the other side.
The port gun emplacements, already eager for action, began their jubilant roar, and the immobilized fleet was once again subjected to relentless bombardment. Some officers and soldiers, in despair, closed their eyes and awaited death, while others plunged into the water, hoping for a miracle of survival amidst the surging waves.
The Zuo Wuwei's ship was relatively less damaged. The captain struggled to maneuver the ship to the left side of the fleet to avoid a direct collision with the larger ships, and drifted south with the wind.
The immobilized government ships became a natural barrier, blocking the enemy's cannon fire. Amidst the deafening roar of cannons and billowing smoke, the Zuo Wuwei ships slowly drifted past the wreckage of the fleet, gradually moving further and further away from the large ships.
The survivors on the ship rejoiced, finally escaping this deadly place. Zuo Wuwei, more level-headed, scolded, "Don't be too happy. At this rate, the bandits will catch up with us sooner or later after sinking those ships. We need to find a place to dock to truly save our lives!"
He was the highest-ranking military officer on the ship, and most of his subordinates were from the firearms battalion. Upon hearing this, he calmed down and quickly urged the captain to dock.
The boat captain said with a mournful face, "Sir, I also want to reach the shore, but the rudder is broken and the sail is burned down to half. It's good enough that we can just drift down. Right now, we can only drift wherever we can until we run aground before we can get ashore."
Hearing this, the group had no choice but to hope for land to appear ahead. However, things didn't go as planned; two hours passed, and all they could see was a vast expanse of sea. The outline of land was faintly visible to the right, but they could only watch helplessly, unable to approach it.
After an unknown amount of time, the sun slowly set in the west, and suddenly it started to rain again.
The captain said worriedly, "This is truly a double whammy. Judging from the looks of it, there's going to be a storm. Even if the big ship doesn't catch up, we'll all be dead." The consequences of a sailboat that has lost most of its power encountering a violent storm are unimaginable.
Zuo Wuwei stared at the increasingly heavy raindrops, thinking to himself: Am I really going to die in the belly of a fish without knowing why? I'm so unwilling to accept this.
A deathly silence fell over the ship. The officers and soldiers removed their armor and slumped onto the deck, awaiting the judgment of God.
At this moment, the captain suddenly shouted excitedly, "We're saved! We're saved! There's an island ahead. Let's find a way to crash into it. As long as we run aground on the beach, we can escape this storm."
Everyone perked up and stood up. Sure enough, a dark shape appeared ahead. As they got closer, they could see that it was an uninhabited deserted island, not very large, probably only a few miles in circumference.
They were lucky; the island was right in the path of the drifting boat. Without much effort, the boat crashed into the beach, its bow plunging into the sand. The boat jolted violently and then came to a stop.
Led by the boat captain, the group jumped off the boat, waded through the shallow water, and stepped onto solid ground. Exhausted from the journey, everyone collapsed onto the sandy shore, letting the raindrops fall on them, too weary to move.
They had thought they were the only people left on the island, but unexpectedly, fate had sent them companions. Just as they lay on the beach like dead fish, another loud crash came from the wind and rain, and a ship ran aground not far away. They looked and saw that it was one of their own.
A group of people jumped off the ship with a splash, and seeing that there was another stranded ship on the other side, they ran over. When the two sides met, they found that they were all comrades from the firearms battalion. Having escaped death, the group of grown men couldn't help but burst into tears and hugged each other.