Li Junwei boarded the battleship Zhiyuan and saw the naval officers' favorite artillery - the 36-pound short and heavy artillery. This caliber cannon was a heavy firepower that the first two generations of the Empire's battleships could not even imagine. In that era, the strongest artillery of the Imperial Navy was the 32-pound artillery.

The reason why the thirty-six-pound cannon dares to use the open-air deck is because this cannon is lighter. The thirty-six-pound short-sized cannon weighs only about 1.5 tons, which is the same weight as the twelve-pound cannon. In fact, there is also a 64-pound short-sized cannon among the new Imperial Navy guns, but it was not used on a large scale by the navy. On the Zhiyuan, only four guns with front and rear are this kind of thing, and they are mainly used to splash shotguns.

The reason for this is that the sixty-four-pound artillery shells are too heavy, which will reduce the firing speed of the artillery. However, the Imperial Navy's intelligence mastered by the European Navy found that although the number and caliber of the navies of these countries used for the battleships, the defense of the battleships did not make much progress.

For example, the tonnage of the first-class battleships of the Imperial Navy generally exceeded 3,000 tons, while very few European Navy first-class battleships had a displacement of 2,000 tons.

The Navy believed that using faster artillery cannons is more effective when they can ensure breakdown within the range of effective shooting. However, the Navy's senior management proposed to use 24-pound short heavy artillery, but was rejected by middle-level naval officers, especially those captains. The captains did not like the artillery used by their ships smaller than those of the enemy, while 36 pounds was the largest artillery in the European Navy, and only used by France. The British Navy once had 42-pound artillery, but it was quickly revoked.

The short-heavy gun has a fast firing speed, light weight and easy to use, but lightness also has its disadvantages. Because it is too light, the recoil is surprisingly large. When the short-heavy gun is just used, the recoil often breaks the rope and hurts the gunner. There is even a situation where the recoil cannon fires the cannon into the sea on the other side when the open-air deck is used.

When the Navy refused to lower the charge, it was not appropriate to use a four-wheeled gun cart. Therefore, the Navy simply canceled the gun cart at the beginning and directly placed the short heavy gun on a thick square wood. The friction increased and the recoil was solved. However, the gun was reset to a very slow speed. After several tests, there were two round gun cars, with two steel wheels in front and square wood in back, which solved the recoil problem.

But there is one problem that cannot be solved, that is, the range, because the barrel is shortened, and the range of short and heavy artillery is generally very low, only 200 to 300 meters. However, the captains believed that this was not a problem, because the Imperial Navy has always been known for its courage to take the initiative to attack. Naval ships have fast speeds and flexible speeds compared to their opponents. Since the establishment of the army, they have established a tradition of rushing and fierce attacks. The effective combat distance of naval battleships is within 300 meters, and the Imperial Navy will even pounce to 100 meters before firing.

Because of this, the Imperial Navy battleships and heavy patrols have generally been equipped with short and heavy artillery, and only some cruise ships still use long cannons, or some use long cannon configurations. However, as the Imperial Navy directly participated in the European naval warfare, this firepower configuration also came to a wake-up call.

On June 4, 26th year of the empire, the coast of Peru.

The Lima fleet used the southeastern trade wind from the mainland to sail in zigzag on the coastline of Peru. On the flagship Santa Fe, the fleet commander Raphael stood in the stern building, looking at the vast Pacific Ocean, with helplessness written on his firm face.

In Spain, he was established as a hero who fought against oriental pagans all his life, but only he knew the pain of being an enemy of China for the rest of his life. This pain lies in the fact that no matter how hard he tried or how hard he tried, the gap between the two sides was getting bigger and bigger. Raphael still remembers that when he first encountered the Chinese more than 40 years ago, they only had a few ships, which were not worth mentioning than a Philippine governor's district. But now, they are so powerful that the whole of Europe dare not be an enemy. The sea area in front of them is named the farthest place from China. In the corner of the world, they are still chasing them.

Raphael, who was seventy-one, fought all his life. Now he has no words to talk about victory over the Chinese fleet. He just wants to do his best. If the result is a failure, he is willing to die on the Santa Fe ship under his feet.

"General, please go and have a rest. I will be responsible for the duty." The young captain appeared beside Raphael. Raphael shook his head slightly and said, "I haven't seen our enemies for a long time. If possible, I hope that the first person to see them is me."

The captain knew that Raphael had been doing this all his life, and he could not refuse, but said, "The Governor had such a big problem for the Lima fleet, just for his selfishness."

"This is helpless, at least he hasn't stopped us from leaving the port yet," said Raphael.

The trade in the first half of the year was completely over, and the entire Peruvian team had returned to the port. Both the merchant ships and the Lima fleet were preparing for ships. After all, after spending three months in tropical waters, the hull was already quite bad. Raphael only had eleven ships, including six heavy gunboats, and the rest were cruise ships, because the other ships were repaired and prepared in the shipyard.

But this is not the most desperate, and what is even more desperate is the news brought by the Peruvian fleet. After learning that the Chinese attacked the Chilean region, the entire Peruvian Governor's Governor's District, from the Governor to the Tribunal, all agreed with one opinion, that is, only the navy can protect the Peruvian coast, and to regain Chile, there must be a strong army. Therefore, the Peruvian fleet headed north to Panama, in addition to trade, was more about seeking aid.

Peru needs army troops, and it is a real army. Governor Pedro demands support from both the local and the Governor General of New Spain, but the result is hopeless. Spain is facing the challenge of France, and one soldier cannot be dispatched, and even the fleet in August this year may not be able to be sent out, because Spain is blocked by the French fleet.

The Governor of the New Spain Governor's District also refused because their greatest cooperation with Peru was to declare war on the north, but the result was that the Governor's District of New Spain was not enough. In the end, the Peruvian fleet did not bring back one soldiers and one soldiers with external support. They just drew some regular troops from the Governor's District and the Tribunal District in the north to Limalay, with the purpose of defending rather than regaining Chile.

Governor Pedro will be taken over by the new governor from the local area in October. Without the support of the army, he is even more unwilling to provoke a war. However, all forces in the Peru Governor's District support Raphael who is willing to take the initiative. Pedro can pat his butt and leave, but the interests of more people are in Peru, so everyone agrees that only by attacking the navy and eliminating the Chinese cruise fleet can Peru be foolproof.

"His Excellency Raphael, the enemy only has a few cruise ships. I firmly believe that under your command, we can defeat the pagans, especially my Santa Fe, invincible in this sea area!" The captain said to Raphael seriously.

Raphael glanced at him with relief, but did not say anything. Raphael was also the captain of a cruise ship when he was young. He was well versed in the combat skills of cruise ships. The Lima fleet in front of him could not defeat the enemy ships, and those who could beat the enemy ships could not catch up. Apart from attacking the port along the coast of Chile, Raphael could not think of any other major results that could be achieved.

"First forward, the Chinese fleet, visually confirmed!"

On the mast plate, the lookout hand whispered a warning. Raphael smiled and said to the captain: "Young man, go back to your post. The next thing is the game of cat and mouse, and we have to spend a lot of energy."

The captain also understood that fighting an agile cruise fleet often had to go through more pursuit and entanglement, and harassment that lasted for several days and nights was very common. Raphael immediately issued a combat order, and the cruise fleet left the main fleet and sailed towards the Chincha Islands and Paracas Bay.

It was a bay located south of Pisco City, and the Chincha Islands were also called Bird Island, where millions of birds gathered. Islands and bays could provide a hidden place for the cruise fleet. According to Raphael's plan, the cruise fleet was hidden behind the archipelago and bays. The main fleet was seducing the Chinese fleet to head north. After reaching the northern part of the Chincha Islands, the cruise fleet attacked and entangled with the Chinese fleet. The main fleet turned back south and annihilated the Chinese fleet.

The reason why the plan is so complicated is that the southeast trade winds are prevalent in this sea area, which leads to the headwinds of sailing south, while the north is the sailing boat’s favorite tailwinds (the sailing boat’s favorite wind is the wind blowing from a 45-degree angle on the side).

This plan is Raphael believes that the only opportunity that may hit the Chinese fleet hard, and it will never happen if it is lost.

One hour after discovering the Chinese fleet, the two sides approached less than fifteen nautical miles apart. The dry climate on the Peru coast made the weather very clear, allowing the Rafis to clearly see the full picture of the expeditionary fleet when they stood at the bow. However, when Raphael saw it clearly, he could not believe his eyes at all. He even climbed up to the front mast regardless of his old body and observed it. Finally, he determined that the six warships in front of him were not heavy artillery cruisers in the mouths of the Chilean defeated soldiers, but six completely battleships.

The six battleships spread out all their sails, including the top sail and the wing sail, were sailing at full speed of more than eight knots, like six unparalleled ancient beasts.

Raphael soon walked out of shock. He returned to the deck and stood with his hands behind his back. His tough face was a little solemn. Almost all the officers were waiting for him to give orders. The officers' faces were full of uneasiness, because the intelligence they received was that the Chinese had less than ten cruise ships, six were large, and the rest were small. The six cruise ships had more than forty heavy artillery, of which there were thirty artillery decks.

But now it has become six battleships, at least two-deck battleships. If the bottom artillery deck is still thirty artillery, then the battleship in front of you will have sixty-two heavy artillery pieces on the gun deck alone (the Empire's battleships generally have the largest number of middle artillery decks, one more than the lower artillery, except for the flagship).

"General, it is not any battleship known in the picture album. This may be a new Chinese battleship. It is hard to imagine how this type of battleship passed through the Strait of Magellan. Do we know that they came from the north? "Captain La Oroa no longer had the confidence he had just now, and his face was full of distress.

All Spanish naval officers, including La Oroa, knew that even the weakest Chinese battleships had sixty-four heavy artillery, which were comparable to the Santa Fe. Although this new type of battleship faced its own side, it was impossible to count the gun doors clearly, it could be judged from the height of the mast that was not comparable to the third-level battleship.

Obviously, in terms of the comparison of main battleships, the two sides are one-on-one, but their strengths are much different. If they fight according to the original plan, can they still win? When dealing with cruise ships, Spanish cruise ships can also serve as a force to change the balance of the battle situation, but when dealing with battleships, those guys with less than thirty artillery are simply not worth mentioning.

"The enemy ship was discovered in the southwest and south!" While Raphael was hesitating, the lookout hand on the mast plate of the Santa Fe issued a warning again.

Raphael stopped thinking and immediately asked, "What kind of ship is it?"

"The distance is too far to see clearly." The lookout hand responded.

"Bastard!" La Oroa cursed, and regardless of the danger, he climbed up along the main mast's quiet rope. He came to the mast plate that was more than 40 meters high and looked at the prayer point reported by the lookout hand. In the distant sea, he saw several ships vaguely, but at the junction of the water and sky line, the enemy ships were very blurry and appeared from time to time. Not to mention the type of ship, even the number of ships is difficult to identify.

La Oroa gritted his teeth, hung the telescope around his waist, climbed along the rope to a higher place, and looked carefully, but the Chinese ship seemed to turn a little, and it was even more difficult to see clearly.

Raphael anxiously called out to La Oroa. La Oroa went down to the open deck and said, "The enemy ship disappeared on the horizontal line. What is certain is that there are at least five ships and three masts, but it is impossible to see clearly whether it is a battleship or a cruise ship. They intend to avoid us."

"It must be that cruise fleet, they are going to cut off our backs or ambush us," said an officer.

Although Raphael believed that there was no evidence to prove this view, he still issued an order: "Immediately turn to leave, turn back to Kayao Port, retreat with all sails, and leave the battlefield."

In any case, the number of Chinese ships has exceeded that of themselves, and retreating is inevitable. Only by assembling the Lima fleet can you be qualified to fight the enemy in a decisive battle.

On the Zhiyuan.

"The Spaniards retreated..." an officer walked into the war room and said to everyone.

Li Junwei laughed: "I won, General Zhao, a silver coin, everyone, a silver coin, don't be stolen, don't be stolen."

As he said that, he extended his hand to all the officers of the Expeditionary Fleet Command. No one dared to Lai Yu's account, but everyone's face was not good-looking, because the Expeditionary Fleet lost the opportunity to divide and annihilate the enemy. Although everyone was full of confidence in the decisive battle of the fleet, they obviously preferred the victory.
Chapter completed!