Chapter 612 The Arrival of the Iron Age 5
"Are you sure?" Major General Hall looked at the subordinate with the eyes of an invertebrate with only instinct and no IQ. This guy was either an idiot or a fool.
Seeing his boss looking at himself with such eyes, the lieutenant colonel was angry and wronged, but he still adhered to the courtesy of a subordinate to his superior. Yes, I can be 100% sure, Major General Hall.
At this time, the loud call of the scout on the watchtower sounded again in the gap between the gunfire. This time, Major General Hall also heard it clearly, but this made him even more confused. There was only one possibility that the thick smoke on the enemy's warship with thick smoke was rolling on the warship, that was on fire.
The burning enemy warships are rushing this way. What are they doing here? Say hello or do you want your warship to help them with firefighting? Major General Hall felt that his head was going to have a cramp. Tyson, I remember we didn't send a squadron to attack in that direction, did we?
"Yes, sir, there is no our warship in that direction." As Major General Hall's adjutant, Captain Tyson's answer was clear and powerful.
"Damn it, give me the telescope. Do these Orientals kill each other by themselves? Or did they just have a fight with the Spaniard before? Major General Hall's brain was full of countless questions.
Through the telescope, Major General Hall finally saw the Eastern warships that had revealed their true face from the horizon. There were not many warships, probably more than 20 of them. According to their height and hull, they should belong to the fourth-class battleships, which should belong to a force that can't be seen, but Yes, the color of the hulls of these warships is very strange. In addition, they are all smoking thick smoke, and what is even more difficult for Major General Hall to understand is that the speed of these smoking warships is really unbelievable. Even if the intact warships are still a little difficult to run at such a speed.
"Tell Colonel Mario to lead a squadron to intercept, and don't let them approach our main fleet. Maybe the Orientals want to use fire attack. However, this is not a narrow sea lane, and we are not stupid sea beginners. Out of caution, Major General Hall gave an order that was impeccable in the eyes of any naval commander in this era.
The squadron led by Colonel Mario has a total of 15 warships, including one third-class battleship and the rest are fourth-class battleships. This Colonel Mario is an excellent private fleet commander in the United States of America. Major General Hall has great confidence in his naval capabilities.
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And the squadron led by Colonel Mario soon stripped out of the main fleet formation and greeted the smoky eastern warships.
Colonel Mario stood confidently on the stern of the warship. The military emblem on the beautiful boat-shaped hat was shining, and the beautiful naval uniform made him look more majestic and majestic. Most of the officers and soldiers in the squadron he led are his old subordinates, and their cooperation is very smooth, not to mention interception. Even if he defeats such an opponent, he is 70% or 80% sure.
The squadron of the United States of America cut through the waves and drew a beautiful arc on the sea. A gun was pushed out of the gun window, and the gunners in the gun deck made orderly preparations before the launch under the command of the artillery.
On the deck of the warship, many soldiers have surged up, holding flinfire guns in their hands, arranging standard formations under the orders of officers at all levels.
"What do they want to do? Unexpectedly, they didn't slow down. Do these guys really want to die?!" Colonel Mario can see the outline of the coming ship without a telescope at this moment. However, the behavior of the other party's warship made him a kind of humiliated anger. Yes, the other party seems to have a fleet that is not weak and has arranged a shooting formation as if it has nothing, and still keeps rushing at a high speed.
Just as Colonel Mario scolded his opponent, the other party's warships suddenly began to change direction. Yes, about seven warships began to change direction, while more than a dozen other warships were diagonally inserted into the rear of the fleet led by Colonel Rio.
It can be seen that the other party wants to enangle his fleet with the seven warships, so that the remaining warships can rush over and directly into the main fleet formation of the United States of America.
This approach not only made Mario admire the opponent's courage, but also extremely stunned by the opponent's stupidity, because his squadron completely occupied the upper wind, and the other party's direction was equivalent to completely putting himself in the headwind. The warship, let alone moving forward, could not be blown back by the wind.
And all the open sail leaves of the other party fell at this moment, but their speed did not slow down at all, and they were still approaching quickly, which made Mario and a group of American naval officers and soldiers a little confused. The sail warship put away the sails and could still maintain the speed. This scene was completely beyond their minds. Dimensional category.
"What the hell is that?!" At this time, a naval officer woke up the people around him with the sad screams of his parents' remarriage. There is no sail at all, the whole hull is dark black, and the strange warship with thick smoke above reveals its true appearance that is different from all warships after the change of the battleship in front of it.
"Those warships are also wrong. You see, the outside of their warships seems to be wrapped in copper skin!" Someone shouted loudly, but even if he didn't shout, almost everyone saw that the smoking warships were really wrapped in a layer of yellow copper, shining under the dazzling sun.
Looking at the Oriental warships wrapped in a thick layer of copper, Colonel Mario's face turned a little blue. Although he did not understand why these strange warships emitted thick smoke and why they could run fast after lowering the sails, it did not prevent the excellent naval commander from doing what he thought was the most right. The exact order: "Fire, fire with all your strength, and beat all the strange boats of those yellow ghosts into the sea!"
Wrap copper outside the hull of the warship is naturally to improve defense, but Colonel Mario does not think that this turtle warship will become a magic weapon for the Orientals to win. Order all ships to shoot with solid bullets and chain bullets!"
Boom! At this moment, the front battleship of the team has opened fire on the eastern warship that has entered the range, and the strong smoke of gunpowder with the roar of the shell began to scatter on the sea.
The main function of solid shells is to destroy the hull of enemy ships, and after these Eastern warships are wrapped in a layer of copper outside the hull, the medium-sized artillery of the United States of America's fleet on the upper two artillery decks not only sweeps the superstructure of the Eastern warship, but also leaves one after another on the copper skin on the hull. Outside of the depression, it can't cause any serious trauma.
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As the artillery bombardment began, Colonel Mario's expression became more and more ugly. The other party's turtle shell-like protection made it difficult for the enemy's naval guns to destroy the opponent's warship, and the other party's sails had been completely closed. The speed and movement of their warships were still very fast, and there was a main mast of an enemy ship. It was blown up in the first round of shelling, but the speed of the warship was not affected at all. It acted flexibly and fought back.
"Colo. Colonel, your Excellency asked if you need reinforcements." Tyson reported the latest situation to Colonel Mario loudly.
Mario did not answer Tyson's words, because at this moment, his gray-green eyes were staring at the black sailless ship that showed its true face. The strange ship ran so blatantly directly to the center of the battleship's formation, with no intention of slowing down at all.
Although Colonel Mario has never seen such a strange ship, this strange ship makes him feel very dangerous out of his keen sense of life and death. Open fire and let the Reader and Patriot fire at the strange ship with all their strength.
The dense gunfire suddenly exploded in the middle of the fleet, and dozens of solid bullets roared at the strange ship. The adjutant Tyson's eyes were also attracted by the target of the shell. I have to say that the gunners of this squadron were very powerful, and nearly half of the dozens of shells were hit on the strange ship. However, Mario's smile had frozen in the corners of his mouth before it rippled.
A sound of gold and iron could not be covered up even by the roar of artillery. The dark and strange warship was undamaged at all and still rushed straight towards the squadron. Tyson's eyes stared out. Whether it was a fast warship or a defensive battleship, after being hit by dozens of shells, he had to break a few big holes, just like those outsourced warships that rushed to entangled the squadron, which had already cracked several holes under the bombardment of heavy artillery. But Tyson saw with his own eyes that the shells were ejected by the hull of the strange ship, and not even a dent fell.
Just as these people were stunned, the handle of the pot on the front deck of the strange ship, which was like an iron pot with a handle, suddenly spewed out a flame. Before anyone could react, the hull of the Reading, which had just opened fire on the strange ship, suddenly trembled, and then there was a bursting explosion. When it exploded, the body of the reading suddenly collapsed, and a red and black flame stretched out the hull like a powerful demon god, stretching out the upper deck, and the collapsed debris even scattered on the sea dozens of meters away.
A terrible and ferocious hole appeared in the middle of the hull of the Reading... "My God, what is this? Is it the devil's warship?!" Adjutant Tyson's mouth trembled like a fallen leaf in the wind. The binocular in Colonel Mario's hand accidentally hit his boots and did not feel any pain. His mouth opened like the blue whale to eat, and his face was gray like a lime-pickled cucumber.
(to be continued)