Zhao Longcheng came to the deck and carefully observed the situation opposite him, but the scene in front of him really made him confused.

In front of Zhao Longcheng, the Lima fleet has gradually been arranged, and the battle lines are gradually level with the expeditionary fleet. But the problem is that the battle lines of the Lima fleet are very strange. Generally speaking, the battle lines composed of sail warships should be as neat as possible, on a line, and as close as possible, so that the command flag words on the flagship can be more conveniently seen.

But the Lima fleet in front of us is not a bit crooked, and the distance between ships is different. If the Lima fleet is divided into avant-garde, backbone and guard three squadrons, the internal squadrons are tight and sparse, it is still a thing of the past, but the Lima fleet in front of us is obviously not in this situation. You must know that the three squadrons in the battle line should also be divided equally as much as possible, at least the difference between the avant-garde and guards will not be too big.

More importantly, some ships are in the wrong state. The Santa Rosa, which is arranged at the end, is obviously tilted to the left, and the speed of each ship is not exactly the same. The open-air decks of all ships are messy. Logically speaking, the other party has been arranged in battle lines, with as few people as possible on the open-air deck, and more people should be sent to operate the artillery.

However, Zhao Longcheng felt a strange feeling in his heart. The scene in front of him seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

"How come we are in Valdivia..." a young staff officer muttered.

Zhao Longcheng asked: "What did you say just now?"

"Damn it, but you shouldn't complain..." The staff officer was startled and immediately admitted his mistake.

Zhao Longcheng had a stern face: "Major, repeat what you just said."

The Major Staff's face turned red, and he could only say in front of everyone: "General, Bei Zhi said just now... The Lima fleet is a bit like we did when we were training in Valdivia."

When Zhao Longcheng heard this, he immediately woke up. No wonder he felt that the messy Lima fleet in front of him looked familiar, because he had seen such a fleet, just like when he was transformed into a battleship three months ago, after the heavy patrol of the Expeditionary Fleet was converted into a battleship, he conducted battleship tactical training.

Because of ship transformation, everything that sailors are familiar with has changed, and the fleet is a little uncomfortable. Speed, steering, sailing, artillery, etc. have all changed. Zhao Longcheng even dared not train in the safe area of ​​Chiloe Island, because the waterway routes there are too complex, and the officers and soldiers of the Expeditionary Fleet are almost equivalent to operating a new ship.

Therefore, the expeditionary fleet headed north to the Valdivia area for training. At first, everyone was not familiar with the new ships, and the battle lines arranged were also in such a chaotic manner.

Thinking of this, Zhao Longcheng said firmly: "Obviously, this is not a conspiracy, it is Raphael who encountered difficulties."

As Zhao Longcheng expected, Raphael had never encountered such difficulties in front of him. Although the rocket attack in the night before and the second half of the night did not destroy the Lima fleet, allowing most of the heavy gunboats to be preserved, the sailors and soldiers who were resting in the dock area and barracks at that time suffered a devastating blow. When he realized that if he did not leave the port, the Lima fleet would definitely be destroyed, because when he forced the port to go out to fight, he found that the situation of the Lima fleet was bad to the peak.

The ships with the ships that were equipped with cruise ships were severely damaged, and the heavy gunboats could not be gathered. The flagship Santa Fe, which was the best, was only half of the people. Many ships were only one-third of the original ships. In desperation, Raphael allocated the surviving sailors on the ship to other ships, and forced some civilian ships and civilian sailors to board the ship.

Although there are enough people, it is not suitable for use. Especially many sailors are unable to operate skillfully in the face of completely unfamiliar ships and sail cables. Many ships are still injured. It is good that these civilian sailors can drive the ship.

Raphael didn't even have time to ask about the situation of each ship, and could tell from the flagship Santa Fe. The current Lima fleet is strong on the outside and has an advantage on the main ship, but in fact it is not like that at all. Therefore, Raphael could only pretend to be calm and comfort the internally and show strength to the outside. His only plan in his mind was to go north, find a safe port to rest, and restore the combat effectiveness of the entire fleet.

Raphael stood on the deck of the stern deck in his gorgeous military uniform, which was a very conspicuous position. This was the tradition of the Spanish fleet. The commander should stand in the most conspicuous position like a peacock in battle to inspire the morale of the entire army. In Raphael's view, the commander's courage was an advantage of the Spanish to the empire.

The commanders of the Chinese fleet were timid and did not dare to stand on the deck. This was the inherent impression of the navies of various countries dealing with the Imperial Navy. In fact, it was similar. Li Mingxun proposed that when the large fleet was formulated, the commander should stay in a safe command room and replace the flagship at any time according to the flagship war damage. When there were unfavorable situations such as platoon battles, masts broke, and huge casualties, the flagship Marine Corps commander would take over the command of the fleet to protect the safety of the fleet's command level.

The reason for these regulations is that the Imperial Navy never feels that the outcome of the naval decisive battle lies in the courage of the commander alone. On the contrary, no matter how stupid a naval commander is, it is much better than not without a commander. At least this idiot will issue orders to retreat. The decisive battle of battleships is a complex naval warfare issue and requires a complete command organization. Although the decisive battle of the large fleet generally has a secondary flagship, it is in hardware facilities and personnel are not backed up.

But what Raphael didn't know was that similar naval regulations could not control the expeditionary fleet. The reason was that although the Zhiyuan class of the expeditionary fleet was configured according to battleships, it was a cruise ship in the Imperial Navy, and the cruise ship tactics were very flexible. It can be said that there were only military laws and regulations on the cruise ship.

Zhao Longcheng is another naval general with a very charming personality. Not to mention appearing on the command deck during the decisive battle, before officially joining the navy, this was the first guy to jump into the gang in the battle.

Zhao Longcheng not only stood on the open-air deck, but also reached the highest point of the stern building, waving the imperial flag, which triggered the voice of the whole expeditionary fleet to shout long live, suppressing the Spanish arrogance. However, Zhao Longcheng was not only brave, he was also very wise. After confirming that the Lima fleet was in a bad condition, Zhao Longcheng immediately issued an order, the vanguard fleet sailed forward, and the vanguard fleet accelerated to make up for the placement.

"Speed ​​is our greatest advantage, and this is the one that should be used the most." Zhao Longcheng said to all the officers.

"Look at General, the Chinese are moving." Laonia, the captain of the Santa Fe, pointed to the direction of the expeditionary fleet and shouted uneasy.

"Shut up, you are an officer, stay calm." Raphael scolded Laonia and carefully observed the situation of the expeditionary fleet.

The Expeditionary Fleet has always maintained a trend of advancing with the Lima Fleet. This is because the Lima Fleet has the upper hand and the main battleship has a numerical advantage. If it falls behind the battle position, it is easy for the Lima Fleet to seize the T-head, completely disrupting the battle line of the Expeditionary Fleet. When advancing together, even if the Lima Fleet has the initiative in offensiveness, if you want to play the numerical advantage, you must accelerate the last three heavy artillery fleets and attack the Expeditionary Fleet.

The Lima fleet also maintained the same speed as the Expeditionary Fleet and prevented the Expeditionary Fleet from seizing the T head. The reason is that both sides are advancing along the coastline. Once the Expeditionary Fleet grabs the T head, the Lima fleet has no choice but to approach the battle. Turn right and go upward, and can only hit the reef or strand. Raphael knew the situation of the fleet and did not want to fight with the Expeditionary Fleet.

But the scene in front of him exceeded Raphael's expectations. The Empire Expeditionary Fleet was obviously grabbing speed. They first opened the distance (to avoid the sails being destroyed by the Spanish with chain blasts, shotguns, rod blasts, star bombs and other ammunition), and then quickly raised all the sails. Not only did the cross sails rise, but the wing sails were all used completely. However, this was only the vanguard fleet, including the flagship. The three ships of the Guard fleet only raised all the cross sails, and did not set aside and did not advance at full speed. It seemed that they just wanted to make up for the vacant space formed by the acceleration of the vanguard fleet.

"What are they doing?" asked Laonia.

Raphael said: "Test."

"How to test?" Laonia didn't understand. If it was a test, it should be close to shelling.

Raphael said: "Their vanguard fleet is moving forward at full speed and distances from us, so that they can rush ahead of us, then slow down and insert the vanguard fleet between us and the coastline, so that the vanguard and the defender fleet can attack our three ships with all their might.

But obviously, I will not allow such an unfavorable situation to happen. In order to avoid it, I can only go to the final battle."

In fact, Raphael knew very well that fighting speed was not as good as the Chinese. This was a common experience summed up by all enemies during the rise of the Chinese Navy. When everyone used bloated merchant ships as warships, the Chinese built special warships. When everyone used heavy gunboats and main battleships, the Chinese used slender battleships.

The sails, wing sails and top sails were all first used by the Chinese. When the European Navy followed suit, the Chinese took the lead in installing copper skins on the bottom of the battleship ships, which made them faster. Not to mention the bloated heavy gunboats under Raphael, even the latest European battleships could not escape.

Laonia also understood why Raphael had to say temptation. If the decisive battle was not approaching immediately, then within two hours, the three warships of the vanguard fleet would be destroyed. In order to avoid being attacked, the Lima fleet could only turn left. Not to mention whether the current Lima fleet could still complete such a high-level steering battle, even if it could be completed, the advantage of the upwind direction would be given up.

If you lose the upper direction, your speed is not as fast as your opponent and your firepower is not as good as your next fleet of Lima will become a flock of sheep targeted by wolves and will be swallowed up in one mouthful, and the Chinese may not lose a single ship.

Instead of falling into such a desperate situation, it is better to pounce on it and fight to the death.

Raphael was still hesitating, and Raonia asked, "Dear Commander, what should I do now?"

"What do you think you should do?" Raphael asked back.

Laonia pulled out his sword straight away and said without hesitation: "If it were me, I would ask to turn to approach immediately and fight the enemy in a decisive battle. Now there is nothing to hesitate, so I can only get closer and use courage to win. If God blesses us, everything will turn around."

Raphael said lightly: "If God bless us, there should be fog now! Damn, there is obviously a lot of fog in this season, why is there no fog today?"

At this time, there was a Peru cold current along the Peru coast where the fleets of both sides were located. In addition, the southeastern and southerly winds caused by the southeast trade winds were prevalent, causing the hotter sea water on the surface to flow towards the ocean under the blowing of the sea breeze, while the cold sea water in the middle layer spread to a sponge, making the sea water temperature more than seven degrees Celsius lower than the land. Warm and wet air flowed through the cold water surface and gradually cooled down, and advection fog would easily form. This is the foggy day that often occurs along the Peru coast around winter. Because of this, Raphael dared to go north immediately after being attacked in the port of Cayao.

Unlike other places where the wind blows away the fog, the wind along Peru will be accompanied by fog. When there is wind, the ship can move. When there is fog, the vision between both sides will be limited. Once the fog is thicker to a certain extent, the battle will naturally end.

Laonia said firmly: "God will help those who seek justice and follow Him, the noble Lord Raphael, perhaps God is looking at us, whether we really seek justice, and true justice is to destroy the evil pagan in front of us."

After hearing this, Raphael finally made up his mind that he had failed many times with the Chinese, and he didn't care about this more time, and... this time, there would be no next time. Raphael picked up the knife in his hand and said, "Okay, let's do what a devout believer should do, attack the enemy. If this is the last moment of my life, I will also make it the most brilliant moment..."

"Give the order to attack the whole army." Laonia waved his sword loudly, which triggered cheers in the Lima fleet.

The southeast wind brought the enemy's cheers to Zhao Longcheng's ears, and the enemy's ship was turning toward him. Zhao Longcheng laughed and said, "The enemy is completely crazy now and has chosen the simplest way of fighting."

"Then how should we deal with it?" asked the Chief of Staff.

Zhao Longcheng said: "The more crazy the enemy is, the more you don't fight against him. You can order the entire army to prepare to deal with it and maintain the battle line. You can avoid it first, and then the enemy's morale will be declining and then exhausted. Then fight again."
Chapter completed!