Marin thought very well, but in this era, even the Europeans themselves, who began to equip artillery on warships, were not very sure about the effect of artillery.
Strictly speaking, the first large-scale use of artillery by Europeans in a naval battle was the Diu naval battle fought by the Portuguese in India. Prior to this, the Venetians and the Genoese had fought many times in the Mediterranean, but most of them were in the old mode of boarding.
In the Battle of Diu, the Portuguese fleet relied on artillery superiority to destroy enemy ships with heavy artillery at a certain distance. When the enemy ship is approaching, use the musket to block the enemy's sailors from jumping the ship. Then, throw grenades to kill enemy ships...
"Grenade... oops, how did I forget this..." Marin patted his head, regretful.
When the two ships approached, one side threw a grenade at the other ship, which was definitely enough to kill. Although it is said that the grenades of this era still use black gunpowder which is not very powerful. However, the explosion of the grenade also produces a burning effect incidentally. And the burning effect is very fatal for wooden boats. Moreover, even if the explosion power of a grenade filled with black powder is not enough to destroy the enemy's wooden ship, it can still kill and injure the sailors on the enemy's deck.
As the ships on both sides gradually approached, Marin had no time to think about it. Although Captain Kidd has rich sailing experience, he is a complete layman when it comes to using artillery in naval warfare. Because, remember what the captain once learned, it was just boarding. Nowadays, when the number and quality of fighters are at a disadvantage, it is absolutely courting death to fight with an opponent. Therefore, Marin simply took over the command and began to use his ability to "talk on paper" to direct this naval battle...
Under Marin's yelling, the two ships lined up and aimed their guns at the four approaching pirate ships...
Marin was actually very strange, why such a large group of pirates appeared on the sea of Morocco. You know, in the era when the great voyage was not yet prosperous, gathering 4 pirate ships and 200 pirates definitely belonged to a large-scale pirate organization.
In this era, the main market for pirates was actually the Mediterranean Sea. Because the shipping trade on the Mediterranean is relatively developed. As for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, although shipping is also very developed, there are two maritime overlords here—Denmark and the Hanseatic League. Under the suppression of the two overlords, there are fewer pirates. The Mediterranean sea area is too large, and although Venice is strong, it is not capable of controlling such a large Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, in the Mediterranean Sea, pirates are still rampant.
However, before the opening of the Indian route, the pirates in the Atlantic Ocean had no money at all...
What Marin didn't know was that these pirates were actually a group of pirates officially supported by Morocco. The purpose of their existence is to block the Spaniards and Portuguese.
Because Spain and Portugal built strongholds along the coast of Morocco, engaged in colonization, and encroached on Morocco's territory. In retaliation, the Moroccans specially recruited a group of ferocious Moorish pirates. With the secret support of the Moroccan royal family, they cruised the Atlantic Ocean to the west of Morocco, specifically intercepting Spain from going to the Canary Islands, or Portugal from going to the coast of West Africa for trade and colonization. merchant ship.
Unfortunately, Marin's two ships were targeted by four pirate ships this time. The pirates believed that two such large ships must be trading merchant ships, and the profits must be huge. Therefore, this gang of vicious pirates obviously regarded Marin's two boats as two fat sheep...
Seeing that the two sides were getting closer and closer, at a distance of 1,000 meters, Marin, who was impatient, ordered to start firing...
The 12-pound cast iron gun on the ship, although the range exceeds 1000 meters. But, shooting at a distance of 1000 meters, the hit rate is really impressive... Plus, half of the gunners on board are apprentices...
So, one by one, the iron balls hit the front or back of the pirate ship, splashing water one by one...
The pirates were taken aback by the roar of the artillery on Marlin's two ships at first, but seeing the unreliable hit rate of the Marin fleet's artillery, they were relieved and moved on.
In fact, Marin ordered the firing in advance, not entirely out of nervousness. Instead, the gunners have to find their feelings first. The early rounds of shelling actually had the meaning of school shooting.
However, no matter whether it is a new gunner or an old gunner, they are not proficient in how to fire a gun on a warship. For example, the gunners who used to serve in the Thorenche and Odesshild forts were very uncomfortable with the sideways swaying of the ship. Because the lateral swaying of the deck will seriously affect the shooting accuracy.
Before, when manipulating coastal defense guns, even at a distance of 1,000 meters, they had a high degree of confidence that they could hit the enemy's warships. Cannons can be fired on a ship, and at a distance of 1,000 meters, even these veteran gunners are completely inaccurate.
"Turn the rudder, sail southeast, and try to be perpendicular to the enemy fleet! Be careful to keep a distance, don't be stuck by the enemy, we will test the artillery, and we will not fight on board!" Marin shouted from the poop.
The sailors on the ship were greatly relieved when they heard that they would not fight the pirates. These unskilled sailors are most afraid of fighting those pirates who are smooth with knives.
And Marin, together with the gunners, began to think about how to shoot more accurately. Of course, in order to prevent the artillery from exploding, Marin kept shouting beside the gunner:
"After firing the gun, be careful to cool the barrel with a wet sponge to extinguish the sparks!" If sparks remain in the barrel, the gunner is prone to accidents, killing or injuring himself the next time he reloads. The wet sponge can not only extinguish the residual sparks in the barrel, but also cool the barrel to prevent the barrel from overheating and causing the chamber to explode. This point was specifically mentioned by Marin in his previous life when he watched BTV's translation of Laomei's military program.
After the first shot is fired, the naval gun will slide backwards due to recoil. The base of the naval gun is different from that of the land gun. The land gun has two wheels and a bracket at the back. Naval guns generally have four wheels, and the shape of the wheels is also very special-not round, but hexagonal or octagonal. Such wheels have a lot of friction and are difficult to roll. But once it rolls up, the unloading effect is also great. Moreover, behind the four-wheeled gun cart, a rope was tied before firing. When the cannon retreats due to recoil, it must not only overcome the resistance of the four wheels that are not round enough, but also overcome the resistance of the rope. Generally speaking, the cannon cart will break the rope. However, in the process of breaking the rope, the recoil force of the artillery was also relieved a lot. In this way, the retreat distance of the four-wheeled artillery vehicle becomes limited, and the reset work of the artillery is also easier.
After the first shot was fired, the gunners began to work together. First, the first person holds a wooden pole with a wet sponge and stirs it in the barrel to extinguish the sparks and cool down the barrel. Then, the second person still sweeps the tail with a wet sponge. Then, after the third person cleaned the inside of the gun barrel with a dry sponge, he began to charge the gun. After that, put the iron ball into the gun barrel, compact it, and put a seal on the fire transmission hole... In the end, naturally, all the artillery team worked together to push the artillery car back to its original position.
The naval guns on the gun carriage have almost no elevation angle, and they are all laid flat ahead of time, trying to hit the enemy ship on the horizontal line. It's just that because the ship swings sideways frequently, it is very difficult to shoot and aim.
After entering the range of 500 meters, the first few rounds of shelling were still inaccurate, and the iron balls fell into the sea...
In fact, the firing of naval guns requires a lot of skill. Cannons should not be firing while the ship is rocking from side to side. Because, if the shaking artillery can hit the enemy ship, it would be a real step on the dog.
Experienced gunners generally pay attention to the lateral shaking of the ship under their feet. For example, when the ship has just returned to a horizontal position, it is the best time to fire. From this angle, the probability of the artillery hitting is the greatest.
However, even knowing this principle, it is very difficult to control the timing of firing. Because, even if you master the time law of the shaking of the ship, it is not enough. In addition, the gunner also needs to master the burning time of the seal. It would be best if the ship just swayed to a horizontal position at the moment when the seal was burned out...
But in fact, even if these two points are achieved, it may not be accurate. Because there may not be only one artillery on a ship. If other artillery fires first, the recoil caused by it will change the time when the ship shakes. The timing that the gunner calculated before may become wrong.
Therefore, in naval battles, in the era of smoothbore guns, the probability of naval guns hitting enemy ships is very low. Even at a short distance of 500 meters, it is difficult for ordinary gunners to achieve a 10% hit rate. If you want a higher hit rate, then learn from Nelson, boldly leaning against the enemy ship, leaning together...
However, doing so is dangerous. Even if the men are all well-trained sailors. For example, Nelson himself, accidentally belched...
Of course, Marin was not willing to take this risk, because his men's experience was still very poor, and many sailors lacked courage. So, he chose to swim with the enemy, and then gambled on the hit rate of the artillery...