At this time, Zhou Jian can basically make the decision without the need for fleet commander Chen Zhan¡¯s orders. Everyone likes to beat up a drowned dog. Many novices in the white army and navy began to mature slowly by beating up drowned dogs.
With the loss of more than a dozen warships in a row, the morale of the British was naturally greatly affected. This caused a lot of confusion when they retreated. Originally, the British Navy was quite well-trained. In terms of pure training intensity, they are second to none among all the Western powers, unmatched by anyone. Strict training makes any of their combat actions as accurate as clockwork, with few mistakes.
In the past, even when the battle situation was unfavorable, the British Navy's retreat was orderly and unhurried. There are very clear rules for who retreats first, who retreats last, and who is responsible for breaking up the rear. But this time, the British Navy was in unusual chaos. Everyone scrambled to escape. No one wants to be left behind. No one wants to stop.
In order to compete for escape routes, many captains don¡¯t care about other people¡¯s feelings at all. They only care about themselves. They used their actions to block the escape routes of other warships. This naturally aroused the anger of other captains. They were supposed to take evasive action, but in anger, they stopped evading and collided directly from behind.
Two large British warships collided fiercely as they competed for the retreat route. The tilted battleship made the two tall main masts entangled with each other and could no longer be separated. The observation posts and sail handlers on the mast were all violently impacted and fell down like catkins. Some fell straight onto the deck and died on the spot. Some fell into the sea, their life or death unknown.
"Oh my God!"
"I must have sinned against God!"
Rafidi huddled in the corner of the cabin in pain, muttering to himself.
He calculated countless things, but still missed the most crucial point. That is the morale of the British Navy, which has fallen to the bottom. The once invincible British Navy has now become a little wife who has been raped by countless men, leaving only panic and helplessness.
Under such circumstances, their retreat was simply too dangerous. Retreat is not a rout, nor is it a rout. However, in the current situation, it was clearly a rout and a defeat, not an organized retreat at all. All orders and military laws have completely lost their effectiveness. Driven by the thought of escape, all restraints were shattered.
Rafferty could not judge how many British warships would be able to escape safely from the fighting waters. Maybe, there are only a few ships? In such a chaotic situation, even if they were fools, the white-clothed navy would pounce on them crazily and bite them to death. What's more, the navy in white clothes are not fools at all.
The British Navy is dead this time, absolutely dead.
There is no doubt that when he returns, the military court will definitely sentence him to death. Even if he had a great reason, the ministers of the Admiralty Department would not let him go. He has lost so many battleships and it is impossible for him to continue to survive in this world. He has become a scapegoat across Europe and the target of British anger. What awaits him must be the most severe punishment. There can be no other punishment than death.
¡°That¡¯s it, that¡¯s all, let¡¯s continue being pirates!¡±
Rafidi sighed helplessly and ordered the flagship to immediately turn around and escape to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Since the only way to go back is to die, Rafidi can only wish for happiness. Fortunately, staying a pirate is also a good option. Before the White Army Navy defeated the Western United Fleet, the pirates were relatively safe. If he can no longer continue to be a pirate, he will take the wealth he has accumulated and run to a remote corner to spend the rest of his life in silence. No matter how powerful the White Army is, they can't chase them to the ends of the earth and kill them all, right? To be honest, there is no personal grudge between him and the white army navy!
"Be a pirate!"
¡°Let¡¯s go back and be pirates!¡±
Most of Rafidi¡¯s men are pirates. They all quite agreed with Rafidi's decision. Under current circumstances, the future of being a pirate is much brighter than being a navy. The combat effectiveness of the white army's navy is so powerful that the navies of the Western powers are no match at all! If we continue to fight like this, it might be over one day.
Those hesitant guys, after pondering for a moment, also decided to join the pirate army. Between saving their own lives and serving the country, most people choose the former. In fact, it is not difficult to choose.
"The commander ran away!"
¡°The commander¡¯s flagship is heading to India!¡±
Soon, Rafidi¡¯s actions attracted the attention of other British warships.
At that time, Europeans still liked to call America India, and the real India was called East India. The direction in which Rafferty retreated happened to be the route to America. Therefore, all British sailors believed that Rafidi was preparing to withdraw to America. As a result, some British warships followed Rafidi without hesitation.
However, most of the British warships still wanted to escape back to their country. They despised Rafidi's retreating behavior and only wanted to send Rafidi to a military court. It's a pity that they can't do this. The top priority right now is to escape as much as possible and save his own life.
The British warships escaped in front, and the Fourth Fleet of the White Army Navy chased behind.
To the north, we are driving against the wind, so the speed cannot be very fast. Most of the British warships used triangular sails. Compared with the square square sail, the triangle sail has more advantages when the wind is against the wind. The famous North Sea spinnaker clipper is famous for its spinnaker. It was this advantage that allowed British warships to dare to escape against the wind.
The battleships of the White Army Navy are relatively balanced in terms of sails. The top and edge of the mast are usually jibs. But other sails are basically quadrilateral sails. Therefore, when there is a headwind, the driving speed is not very fast. However, the British warships needed to turn around to escape north. This will definitely waste some time. Therefore, it is not easy for British warships to get rid of the warships of the White Army Navy all at once.
Seizing this rare opportunity, the white navy warship launched an attack. Taking advantage of the fact that they didn't need to turn, they moved towards the north and kept firing. Under the fierce artillery fire, another British warship was damaged as expected. The morale of the British Navy had already hit rock bottom. At this time, it became even more depressed.
Later, the distance between the two sides gradually widened, and it was obvious that the warships of the White Army Navy could not catch up. Therefore, each warship of the White Army Navy extended the range of the howitzer to the farthest and continued to fire. Even if they cannot achieve brilliant results, they still have to keep the courage of the British in their throats and not dare to relax at all.
During the pursuit, the Fourth Fleet sank five more British warships. To be honest, these five British warships had really bad luck. In fact, they are not the slowest ones. They run away pretty fast. It's a pity that the white-coated navy's cannonballs didn't have eyes, so they just happened to land on them, and they had no choice but to be finished.
It is a pity that after these five British warships were destroyed, the other British warships have relied on the advantage of the triangle sail to distance themselves from the Fourth Fleet. It is no longer possible to aim and shoot with the naked eye.
"Stop chasing!"
Chen Zhan immediately ordered to stop the pursuit.
"Turn! Southeast! Spanish battleship!"
Chen Zhan waved the red flag in his hand and continued to issue orders.
The British warships have retreated, and there are still Spanish warships near the battlefield!
Rough statistics show that in the previous battles, the Fourth Fleet sank a total of nineteen British warships, and then sank a few Spanish warships. Today's results can be considered a great success. In one day, twenty or thirty enemy warships were sunk, which was indeed a good record. Coupled with the achievements of other fleets, a small amount adds up to a large sum. It is estimated that not long after, the hundreds of warships of the Western United Fleet will all be consumed.
The Fourth Fleet immediately turned around and pounced fiercely on the Spanish fleet.
At this moment, the Spanish fleet was entangled by the 15th Fleet of the White Army Navy. Their observation post clearly noticed the arrival of the Fourth Fleet and issued a sharp warning. Unfortunately, the entangled Spanish warship had no way to escape. In desperation, they had to fall into a difficult situation where they were attacked from both sides.
The Fifteenth Fleet of the White Army Navy is a relatively young fleet, having been established for less than three years. Their combat experience is not very rich. Their tactics are relatively dull and belong to the typical textbook series. Their fighting courage and fighting will still need to be cultivated. And combat flexibility is even lacking.
The fleet commander of the Fifteenth Fleet is called Wu Yunfeng, and his military rank is rear admiral. He is the first batch of graduates from the Naval Academy and received a relatively traditional and formal education. When the battle began, he took up his position and faced the Spaniards face to face. He never thought about breaking up the enemy's ranks as quickly as possible, then outflanking them from both sides, and annihilating them in one fell swoop. The Spanish took advantage of this and fought with the Fifteenth Fleet.?
It¡¯s not that Wu Yunfeng¡¯s decision was wrong. After all, the Fifteenth Fleet does not have much combat experience, its officers and soldiers are relatively weak in handling emergencies, and have major flaws in their overall quality. However, naval warfare requires a high level of comprehensive ability of every seaman and sailor. Everyone must frequently deal with certain emergencies. Those who are accustomed to waiting for orders in everything and all the time are definitely not suitable for the navy.