After seeing the Ming army warships turn together, Rouen instantly understood that the Ming army did not want to play a squad with them, but understood that their gunners were too good to compete with them in skills, so they had to compete with bayonets at close range.

Rouen originally wanted to order the firing first, but just now the Flying and the Pony had just fired a salvo. At this moment, the gunners were busy cleaning the barrel and loading ammunition. They didn't have time to fire. They wanted to turn to use the cannon on the other side to fire, but it was too late. He was so scared that he shouted loudly with all his might: "Turn quickly... the right rudder!"

Logically speaking, this order is correct. Pointing the stern and bow of the ship with the smallest area at the enemy will help reduce the area of ​​ammunition, but this order was issued too late. How could the Ming army, who had been preparing for a long time, missed this opportunity? In the artillery warehouses of the three warships, Qingyuan, Liaoyuan and Ningyuan, several officers wearing red vests shouted out almost at the same time: "Fire the gun!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

"Bangbangbangbang!"

Accompanied by a thick white smoke and loud noise, dozens of twelve-pound solid bullets flew out of the cannon chamber and flew towards the Dutch warship a hundred meters away. At the speed of the projectiles more than 400 meters per second, they only flew in less than one second.

"Baoba...baoba..."

Fire at such a close distance is almost no different from firing against the other party with a gun barrel. If the opponent fails to hit the other party, the Ming army's gunners can wipe their necks together.

Rouen and Encos, who were standing on the deck of the Flying, felt the deck under their feet shaking, and then something was broken and came with a shrill scream. Rouen knew without looking at it that his warship must have been shot.

Sure enough, when Rouen rushed to the side of the ship to investigate the situation, he could see at a glance that the location of the left cannon cabin on the Flying Rouge broke several holes as big as a washbasin. He could even see several gunners lying on the ground and wailing.

"Rescue the wounded, the gunner fires a gun and fights back immediately!" Rouen, with a gray face, issued an order to fight back.

"Fire the gun...Fire the gun..."

After being shot, the gunners of the Flying and Pony were shocked and angry, and soon they fired counterattacking artillery fire.

“Bangbangbang…”

“Bangbangbang…”

After a volley, the Dutch also poured several shells onto the Ming people's warships, and made several big holes in the opponent's warships.

"Counterattack...Counterattack..."

At this time, Lu Guangbiao had long since disappeared from the position of the Navy Admiral on the deck of the Qingyuan. At this moment, he kept giving orders like a irritable veteran, and said one by one from his mouth.

"Stop the front sails and hang the sails!"

"Left Ruler Five!"

Under Lu Guangbiao's command, although the sailors on the three warships were all a group of rookies who had experienced the war for the first time, neither their experience nor proficiency could be compared with the Dutch who dominated the ocean at this time, the officers and soldiers of the Fujian Navy did not collapse, but still gritted their teeth and worked hard to execute the various instructions issued by the officers.

The sailmen climbed up and down the mast in the rain of bombs flying everywhere, while the gunners worked hard to load the shells and fired at the target.

In the lower artillery of Qingyuan, dozens of gunmen were constantly being kept cleaning the cannon for the smoke-burning cannons, while others were busy resetting the cannons. After the gunbore was cleaned, a loader stuffed the medicine bag and a long barrel-shaped projectile wrapped in thin iron into the cannon, poked it with a few strands and said loudly: "Report, the cannonballs are loaded!"

The artillery officer, who had been anxiously waiting, raised the small red flag in his hand high, and then waved it vigorously: "All gun positions, fire!"

At this time, not only the Qingyuan, but also the Ningyuan and Liaoyuan behind them also sounded the sound of artillery firing one after another. This was a little strange, as if it was a coughing sound made by a patient during a cold competition.

"Bobo..."

"Bobo..."

Lieutenant Colonel Rouen, who was only more than 100 meters away from the Ming army's warship, immediately noticed it, and his face changed immediately, and he said in a lost voice: "No, the Ming army's launch chain is bounced, let the young men avoid it!"

Lieutenant Colonel Rouen said it was right that the Ming army fired not solid bullets, but chain bullets this time.

The so-called chain bullet is to use chains to connect two small shells smaller than the caliber of the barrel together. After firing, one shell will drag the other shell and fly out centrifugally, so it will pull a big hole in the sail or tear the rigging. If you have good luck, you can even pull off the mast and paralyze the enemy ship.

The rapidly rotating chain bomb can easily cut the enemy (mainly the sailors on the ship) and is a terrifying weapon. However, because its function is more reflected in the killing of masts and canvas, and the range is very close, it is usually rarely used in naval battles. However, the current situation is different. Now the warships of both sides are only more than 100 meters apart, and this distance is the best killing distance for the chain bomb, so Lieutenant Colonel Rouen's face changed immediately.

"Smack!"

Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Rouen heard a strange tearing sound from his warship.

He turned his head and saw that his Flying Rouge was indeed hit by a chain bounce. A section of guardrail near the bow of the ship on the right side of the deck had been broken by a chain bounce, and the deck was full of splattered wood chips. Lieutenant Colonel Rouen could clearly see the blood on the deck. Less than ten meters away, he saw a corpse with only a lower body, but his upper body disappeared. He estimated that the upper body of the corpse had been swept directly into the sea by the chain bounce. The power of the chain bounce was indeed, and there were a long list of gaps wherever it passed.

Due to the damage caused by the chain bomb, the sailors of the Dutch Navy near the mast and deck were all staring at the place where the chain bomb was broken in horror, and were quite confused and at a loss. The power of the chain bomb was indeed extraordinary. It would be better if it was not hit, but if it was hit, it would definitely be a tragedy on earth.

Looking at the deck full of corpses, Lieutenant Colonel Rouen was trembling with anger. He shouted without hesitation: "Tell me my order and immediately change the chain bullet!"

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, it's too late." The first mate on the side said sadly: "Our artillery has just been loaded, and everything is loaded with live ammunition."

"Bastard, why not replace grape bullets or chain bullets?" Rouen was so angry that he wanted to hit people. Logically, as a well-trained navy, there were strict regulations on which type of bullets to use at any distance, and the commander did not need to order them in person. However, at such a close distance, the gunners below even used the farthest strike distance but were not as powerful as the live ammunition of grape bullets and chain bullets. This really made Lieutenant Colonel Rouen a little crazy.

The first mate said noddedly: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, you just said you wanted to capture three Ming warships, so the gunners below did not dare to use chain bullets, just because they were afraid of destroying the warships on the opposite side."

"I……"

Lieutenant Colonel Rouen no longer knew what to say. At this time, he vaguely remembered that he had indeed issued this order. At that time, he thought it was very wise, but now he realized that he had done something stupid. Although it was only the time for a round of artillery attacks, on the ever-changing battlefield, sometimes seemingly inconspicuous mistakes would lead to huge mistakes.

"Idiot, let them fire quickly, and then immediately replace me with chain bullets! I want to destroy all their warships!" Lieutenant Colonel Rouen made a roaring sound from his mouth.

“Bangbangbang…”

“Bangbangbang…”

The Dutch warships fought back, rows of projectiles flew towards the Ming army opposite, and several more projectiles hit the Qingyuan. One projectile passed by less than two meters away, hitting a sailor on the deck. After the projectiles as big as a fist flew over, the sailor's upper body disappeared immediately, and the sailor's lower body was still in its original posture for a few seconds before it fell on the deck. Soon a large pile of blood was condensed around the broken corpse.

However, at this time, Lu Guangbiao was no longer interested in these things. Standing next to the helmsman, he just kept giving orders to turn. The huge Qingyuan was moving quickly like a flexible big fish under his command.

“Bangbangbang…”

Qingyuan carried out another volley, and this launch was a little different from the previous one. After this volley, the sharp-eyed man actually saw a large group of dense black spots flying quickly towards the Dutch warship like raindrops.

"Not good, it's a grape bomb!"

A shrill shout rang on the Flying Crew.

Grape bullets are actually loading several or even dozens or even hundreds of spherical iron or lead bullets in a shell (usually wrapped in a round barrel or thin iron sheet) and then firing them out. However, the earliest grape bullets were not wrapped in shells, and the gunners strung the lead bullets together and then fired them out. The shells looked like a bunch of grapes, so they were called grape bullets. The principle was actually the same as shotguns, but they were called differently.

Compared with live ammunition and chain bombs, grape bombs like scattered flowers are obviously easier to hit the target. Therefore, Lu Guangbiao decisively ordered the use of grape bombs. This weapon, in terms of image, is a bunch of hail, which is overwhelming and has no way to avoid it at such a close distance. The only thing the opponent can do is to seek blessings and pray to God to bless himself to avoid the overwhelming rain of bullets.

"Bobobo!"

The raindrops fell, and a dense sound came from the deck of the Flying, which sounded like a wave of hail. For a moment, many black iron balls embedded in wooden boards appeared on the deck of the Dutch, and some iron eggs rolled drippingly on the deck.

These iron balls are generally the size of a thumb, and even smaller even the size of a little finger. Although they are inconspicuous, they are much less powerful than live ammunition. They basically cannot cause any damage to the decks and solid hulls made of oak, but they are extremely harmful to personnel. As long as they are hit, they will definitely be fatal. They will definitely be injured and killed by scratching. No matter how many layers of armor you wear, the result will be the same.

What's more, this thing is a bunch of them, and it takes dozens or even hundreds of iron balls in one shot. Its power is so scary when it falls like a scattered flower of a goddess.

"ah!"

On the Dutch warship, the sailors screamed continuously.

It is obvious that many sailors were hit by grape bombs. Their screams were just now, with shrill and desperate. It was like a duck screaming suddenly cut off their throats by someone. The bullets that were only the size of fingers were too powerful, and many sailors' screams came to an abrupt end as soon as they were sent.

Some people say that the only equality of human beings is when they die, and this sentence seems to be quite reasonable now. In front of the projectiles flying all over the sky, Lieutenant Colonel Encos and Lieutenant Colonel Rouen, who were standing on the deck, were not spared.

Just as the Ming army warships fired, Major Encos happened to hide behind a thick mast. Fortunately, he avoided the wave of bullets, but Lieutenant Colonel Rouen was not so lucky.

After the bomb rain, when Major Encos trembled out his head to observe the battle situation, he saw a scene that terrified him.

There were two corpses less than three meters away from him. The corpses could no longer see their faces. However, Encos could barely recognize their identities from the corpses' clothes. The one in the red uniform was the first mate, and the other in the blue uniform, with a sabre hanging next to the corpse was not Lieutenant Colonel Rouen.

However, Rouen was no longer as elegant as usual. At this time, he lost half of his head and twisted together in a strange posture. Not only did he get one leg off, but his whole body was beaten like a broken sack by several projectiles. He could only be described as a pool of rotten meat.

Encos turned his head and looked around and found that the bodies of more than ten sailors had been lying down on the deck around him. Each sailor looked terrible. If the vicious grape bullet was not hit, it would be a group of dead or injured. When he saw this, Encos was simply thankful for God's favor. He was near Lieutenant Colonel Rouen, but he was not hit by a projectile falling like raindrops. What is this not God's favor? But the only thing that was not bad is that Lieutenant Colonel Rouen died. What should he do next?

The sound of cannons around him was still roaring, causing Encos' ears to hurt a little. Encos was stunned by the bloody scene, and he was stunned. He was in a stalemate and didn't know what to do. He knew that there was a burst of rapid screams in his ears.

"Mr. Major!"

"Mr. Major!"

Encos, who slowly came to his senses, turned his head and saw an officer with a bloody face standing beside him, holding his arm and shouting hard.
Chapter completed!