"What are you panicking!" Lorist drew his sword while grabbing Genorio and pulling him behind his back.
"噢噌噌..." Lorist fired more than a dozen feather arrows in a row, but a series of screams sounded from the deck below and the adjacent whaling ship. Feather arrows. The unmasked artillery firing team and the catapult operators had no place to hide. Nearly one-third of the casualties were in this sling attack...
It made a mistake, and Lorist's heart sank. Because he was at sea, all the family soldiers on board took off the family-standard armor and put on a piece of light and buoyant water animal leather armor to avoid accidents caused by accidentally falling into the water. Misadventure. Moreover, Lorist believes that with the long-range attack power of the bronze cannon, the enemy will be wiped out two or three hundred meters away, and there will be no chance for the enemy to come close to the side. Therefore, this water animal leather armor is more like a life jacket, and it cannot How much defense is added to the wearer.
But I didn't expect that the Armada Fleet would drag people into the water when they were dying. Regardless of the fact that more than 60 or 70 large armed warships in the front line had been destroyed by chain bombs and flint bombs, instead of evacuating, they used the burning warships in front as shields , taking advantage of the opportunity that the view was blocked by the smoke and fire, the fire boat continued to rush forward with the wind and the current, and successfully narrowed the distance between the two sides to within 150 meters, and then launched the first attack with a longbow The counterattack brought a lot of casualties to the Norton family fleet.
Arrows rain down...
Lorist never thought that the longbow would be so powerful in a naval battle. No one on the deck could launch catapults and artillery. The soldiers were hiding in places looking for shelter. There were white The arrow feathers are densely packed, as if a large piece of undergrowth grew on the deck.
This kind of longbow lob shooting can only be played by the Armada relying on a large number of ships. Back then, Lorist also installed a large steel crossbow on the ship, with a range of nearly 300 meters, but it was abolished due to its poor attack power. In naval battles, crossbow bolts are not as good as artillery, and they cannot blast a big hole. Ordinary ships can still run as fast as a hedgehog after being hit by crossbow bolts. However, the Armada used numerous sailors to lob their longbows to cover a sea area, which brought great threats and casualties to the Norton family.
"The enemy ship is 120 meters away! Uh..." The dedicated watchman fell from the mast to the deck with a few feathered arrows stuck in his body, struggled twice and then remained still.
Lorist jumped off the slipway: "Joe, protect Genorio."
This side strode forward to a catapult, grabbed the twisted arm and bent the lever to reset the long arm of the catapult, and Ovekis rushed over: "Your Highness, let me do it."
With a sword in one hand, Lorist dialed the incoming arrow rain and shouted, "Go to the cabin and get me some gunpowder packs, then let the artillery fire and destroy those fireships in front!"
Ovekis rushed into the cabin under the rain of arrows, and soon the bronze artillery below the deck burst into rumbling thunder again. Although the burning warships were difficult to be destroyed by the artillery at once, they were hit by several iron projectiles. More than half of the burning and burning parts on the upper part of the ship were shaken into the sea. Once the fire lessened and the smoke was blown by the sea wind, a large armed battleship of the Armada with half-open sails behind it was revealed, as well as Sepp behind. The giant ships of the sea castle of Nim, from a distance, the bows of these warships are all archers with bows and arrows.
Lorist kicked the engine of the catapult to the front gear, which was the mark of the nearest effective throwing distance of the catapult.
"Put the gunpowder bag on the throwing spoon, pull out a matchlock beside it, cut off half of it, light it up, quick!" Lorist yelled at Ovekis who came out of the cabin with several gunpowder bags.
Without scissors, Ovekis cut off half of the match with the sword in his hand, just as a rocket landed beside him, he grabbed it and ignited the match. Lorist snapped the launch rod, and the long arm of the catapult rose into the air, and the gunpowder bag was thrown far away.
Soon the gunpowder bag turned into a small black dot, and just when it was about to fall into the group of shooters on the enemy battleship, suddenly there was a flash of fire, and a thunderbolt came from a distance, and all the bows of the ship where the gunpowder bag fell were seen. Almost all of the shooters were wiped out.
Lorist was overjoyed: "Quick, let's continue!"
Alvekis stood in front of Lorist: "Your Highness, let us come, you command..."
At the same time, the surviving operators on the deck were called to come quickly, and soon the second gunpowder bag also flew into the sky. There were still seven or eight groups of catapult operators without casualties. Lorist arranged for one group to go to the cabin to carry the gunpowder packs, while the other six groups got together to launch the catapults. Lorist and Ovekis held swords on the left and right. Protect them from the rain of arrows.
After a mess of throwing and explosions, the middle of the front was spared from being attacked by the rain of arrows, but the formation of the Armada's charge had changed from a convex shape to a concave shape, and the distance between the two sides of the Norton family's horizontal formation was less than 100 meters. up.
All the artillery was firing desperately, but the effect was not very good. The main reason is that the fire ships in front of the Armada became the natural shields of the follow-up warships. These burning large armed warships are not those merchant ships with thin hulls. No matter how hot the fire is on the top, the hull below is still not affected. In addition, the cabins of these charging large armed warships are filled with bags full of flour. To buffer so that they did not fall apart or sink after being bombarded by these fierce artillery fires.
…
Viscount Penelope felt very ashamed. As the commander-in-chief of the Armada, he had fought in the sea for decades, but he was not as courageous as a young man who was ten years younger than his son. The sixty or so large armed warships charging in the front row had their masts broken and were trapped together with the warships in the second row, and were attacked by stone throwing. Viscount Penelope was in a panic when the fireboat arrived. His first thought at that time was to evacuate as soon as possible.
Although it was in the name of preserving the vitality of the Armada, Viscount Penelope was really scared at the time. Moreover, none of the top fleet executives who were together opposed the evacuation proposal. Everyone was frightened by the unimaginable sharp long-range attack of the Norton family fleet. It was hard to figure out a way to make the artillery of the Norton family fleet lose its maximum effectiveness, but the catapults equipped by the enemy were more powerful, and the range and power of the stones thrown were greater than the catapults newly equipped by the Armada. No one could have imagined that the sixty-five large armed fleets lined up in the front line would be finished so quickly in such a short period of time...
Can't withdraw! A firm voice stopped Viscount Penelope's imminent evacuation order. At the critical moment, Master Thurliham stepped forward, and it only took a few words to make the fleet executives change their minds about retreating. He gritted his teeth and wanted to fight the Norton family fleet to the end.
Evacuate now, says Master Thurliham, if you can escape today but not tomorrow. The armed warships of the Norton family have already blocked the way to Tibetan Gold Bay. After everyone evacuated, they also sent the artillery fleet to harass us. , and he has found a chance to win.
What chance? The senior commanders of the fleet looked confused.
"It's very simple..." Seliham said. Before the battle, he refused to deploy sea stormtroopers on the large armed warships in the front line to avoid casualties and test the power of the Norton family's fleet artillery. Although most of the damage from the shelling was blocked, the Norton family still had such a powerful trebuchet, which turned the battleships in front of them into burning fireships.
But these fireships have also become the best cover for the follow-up fleet. Although we lost dozens of warships in the front line, we still have more than a hundred large armed warships. Let's go up, use these fireships as shields, lower half of the sails to avoid premature discovery by the enemy, and slowly lean over. Today, the wind is smooth and the current is in the same direction as the wind. The right time and place are on our side.
And now we are less than 200 meters away from the enemy, as long as we get closer to 50 meters, we can organize people to use the method of longbow hanging to give the enemy a powerful look. If it is closer to 100 meters, then the long-range attack on our battleship Weapons will also have a place to use, which can suppress the enemy's artillery and catapult attacks. We can even make those fireships that stand in front of us become our weapons, to go over and burn down the enemy's warships...
Seliham's words strengthened the confidence of the top commanders of the Armada Fleet in victory. When the organized shooters launched a counterattack with a longbow lob and heard screams coming from the front, all the senior fleet commanders cheered. It's not easy, but it finally brought casualties to the enemy. Even a small casualty is still a great victory.
However, it didn't take long for everyone to be happy. The sparkling packages thrown by the Norton family fleet exploded on the bow and the sea, and the sailors who gathered at the bow and shot arrows were almost wiped out. Viscount Penelope turned pale with shock: "What is that?"
Master Thurliham replied with a stern face: "Don't worry about what it is, after all, it's another new trick of the Norton family. Now we only have one way, and we have to rush over the 100 meters as soon as possible, taking advantage of our numbers Rush to the opponent's battleship to seize the ship and win the final victory! My lord, there is no time, order Zhang Manfan to charge, and order the small fast collision ship behind us to get ready, and launch a charge at the last fifty meters, not only can you Disperse the enemy's firepower and provide us with cover!"
The resonant horn blew. This was the last charge, and it was also the signal for a decisive assault. Cheers of "Wan Sheng" erupted from almost all the battleships that were still intact, and all the half-sailed sails were quickly slammed down. As it rose, the speed of the fireboat in front also increased a lot. The brave sailors, regardless of the plight of the archers at the bow, operated all kinds of long-range attack weapons to attack the Norton family who were less than a hundred meters away. The fleet launched a fierce attack.
The artillery of the enemy fleet was also firing desperately, and the solid hull felt violent vibrations from time to time, as well as the whistling sound of those sharp iron bullets passing by the ears. But no one is afraid of this, even if the companion around him is unlucky and suddenly loses his head or has a big hole in his chest and abdomen when he is hit by a shell. The sailors still fired various long-range attack weapons at the enemy indifferently.
…
A stone the size of a human head hit Lorist's side, bounced off the thick deck, and flew in another direction. Lorist glanced at the stone indifferently, then turned his gaze to the Armada in front of him.
"Quick, quick, get ready for the chain bombs..." Schwader kept urging, only four of the ten land combat artillery on the deck were still firing. When attacked by the longbow, the artillery firing team The damage was serious, and now all the injured have been rescued from the cabin. It took Schwader a long time to assemble four semi-intact launch groups.
"My lord, the chain bomb is gone..." This is bad news.
Schwader looked at the enemy ship that could not be seen at a distance of 100 meters, and sighed: "Prepare the shotgun, and then prepare weapons for everyone. I think we may have to fight in close combat."
As soon as the words fell, there was a loud noise from the whaling ship next to it, and flames and black smoke flashed. It was a violent explosion at a window that was being shelled on the second floor, and a big hole was blasted in the deck along the way. A land combat artillery on the top was thrown high into the sea together with its frame...
"Bastard! Why are you so careless!" Schwader was furious. It must be that the firing team made a mistake in their busy schedule. Either they stuffed too much gunpowder or they put the gunpowder bag too close to be attracted by the fire. Such a critical mistake at this pass is too much. Morale down.
There was the sound of whimpering conchs again from the Armada, and there was a burst of cheers, and faintly through the burning fireships and smoke, one could see those large armed warships flashing behind each ship with a thick There are also sharp and shining small-scale fast-ramming battleships with cold-light giant spears. These small fast-ramming battleships are like a centipede with legs, with twelve paddles stretched out on both sides to paddle across the waves, and quickly pass by the battleships in front of them. , passed through the gap between the burning fireship and the smoke, and shot towards the whaling ship like arrows...
"Strike the battleship! Lower the muzzle, fire the shot, aim, fire!"
All the artillery launch teams are no strangers to the small fast-ramping warships of the Armada, because they have heard the artillerymen of the Thunderbolt fleet brag more than once about how they deal with those small fast-ramming warships. Shotguns are the best weapon, one shot can kill a whole boat with one shot. It's just that they forgot the most important point, the Lightning Strike Fleet has never let the small fast impact warships approach within fifty meters.
The sound of cannons sounded one after another, and patches of blood mist appeared from time to time on the more than a hundred small rapid-impact warships that were approaching rapidly on the sea, but there were less than thirty small rapid-impact warships that were shot, and more collision warships had already been fired. The final sprint was launched after approaching a distance of less than twenty meters!
Soon one after another, the ramming warships rammed into the whaling ship, and the sound of bang bang bang kept ringing. When the whaling ship was violently shaken, flying claws were thrown up from under the ship one by one, hooking the side of the ship. . The sailors on the crashing battleship quickly climbed up along the wall of the ship, grabbing the rope of the flying claws with their daggers in their mouths.
The sound of killing came from the left side. Lorist looked around and saw a giant ship of the Seppnim sea castle of the Armada collided head-on with a whaling ship, and the whaling ship was hit head-on high. The height was raised, and the bronze cannons and catapults on the deck rolled and fell to the other side. And countless heavily armed sailors appeared on the giant ship of Seppnim Sea Castle, and they were climbing on the ropes and rushing towards the whaling ship.
There are six artillery firing groups on the whaling ship next to them. Under the command of Jim, the deputy commander of the artillery battalion, they turned their guns and fired shotguns at the whaling ship that was hit and the giant ship Seppnium. Bursts of blood mist burst out from the armed sailors in mid-air, the scene was very bloody...
Lorist turned his gaze back indifferently: "Genorio!"
"Your Highness, I am here."
"Send the order, let the medium-sized armed fleet on the right attack. Go to the waterline position where the enemy ship can be bombarded at close range. Order the guards in the cabin to attack, and follow me to counterattack the enemy ship!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
…