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Chapter 1680 Night Ship

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    At 5:30 pm, the sun sets.

    Because there is Leyte Island with rolling mountains to the west of Leyte Gulf, there is no transition and it gets dark as soon as possible.

    Although it is not possible to see the shadow of the ship clearly at once, in the dim light of the lower gun emplacement, it is no longer possible to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy.

    The two sides had to cease fire one after another, or in other words, the coast guard warships had to stop killing.

    Leyte Gulf is still filled with the lingering smell of blood and gunpowder smoke, and there are raging fires burning on many ships, of course they are basically Spanish galleons.

    Under the light of the fire, you can see broken sails, ship planks, barrels, and floating corpses floating everywhere on the surrounding sea surface.

    Many ships could not be saved, so the crew had to abandon the ship and row the lifeboats to find their own ships to join.

    In fact, it is not difficult to find, because dozens of Spanish galleons that have lost power, suffered serious damage, or suffered heavy crew losses have already hoisted white flags, anchored in place, and announced their surrender.

    The coast guard warships followed the advance orders and ignored the surrendering enemy ships.  Anyway, these severely damaged Spanish galleons could not go back against the wind and current, so the coast guard fleet only had to move forward overnight and reach the Surigao Strait first, so that they could catch the turtle in the jar and wipe out all the enemy forces!

    The same is true for those Spanish galleons that can still move. As long as they pass through the Surigao Strait first, they can enter the vast Bohol Sea and escape.

    So both sides unfurled their sails and decided to sail downstream all night long, risking being stranded on the rocks.

    Where are the battle lines and formations?  More than two hundred sailboats were mixed together, sailing towards the Surigao Strait in the dark.

    Fortunately, there is almost no rain in Luzon during this season. The night sky is cloudless, the stars and the moon are bright, and the silver light shining on the sea surface is much better than when it was dark.  At least you can see the shadows of boats about 300 meters around, so that they won't collide with each other.

    However, neither side had any intention of fighting at night under the moonlight, and no one knew what the situation was three hundred meters away.  What if there are enemy ships all around and the cannons are fired to attract the enemies?

    The Spaniards were afraid of the fierce artillery of the coast guard, especially the Xuande cannon. Shooting them in the face was really devastating.

    The coast guard is also afraid of the Spaniards engaging in a broadside battle. Who is willing to fight to the death with a bayonet to solve a problem that can be solved with cannon?

    Therefore, both sides had a tacit understanding that they would not fire a single shot all night long, but no one was idle, and they were all busy repairing the battle damage throughout the night.  The carpenters and crew on the deck were busy knotting ropes, mending sails, repairing masts, and replacing rigging.

    The shipwrights and sailors in the cabin were busy plugging leaks and draining water.  The artillery crew members stayed at the gun position all night to prevent a night battle that might occur at any time.

    In the infirmary, ship doctors and health workers worked all night to rescue the wounded and treat their wounds

    Everyone on both sides is too busy to eat, so dinner can only be delivered from the kitchen to various posts.

    It¡¯s just dinner for sailors on both sides, but it¡¯s a world of difference.  Although they were not allowed to eat hot meals due to the blackout, each of the Coast Guard officers received a canned meat, a canned fruit, and a pack of pickled mustard; they also had 500 grams of high-calorie staple food, moon cakes, biscuits, or rice balls, and a large bottle of Yilan salt soda.  .

    There are also candies and tobacco chewing sticks after meals. If you don¡¯t smoke, you can exchange them for small snacks such as preserved fruits.

    Fighting at home this time, Mr. Zhao must of course try his best to make his soldiers eat better.

    Looking at the Spaniards on the other side, in addition to the usual 'stale bread' smelling of maggots or weevils, and water with green moss, because it was during the battle, the commanders and noble officers were very merciful.  Each person was given a few dried peas and a slice of Spanish cheese as thin as an icicle.

    This has already moved the crew and soldiers so much that they feel that today's battle was not in vain

    So, happiness often comes from ignorance.  Once people start comparing, they are far away from happiness.

    ??~~

    The same thing is going on on the Kaiyuan, the flagship of the combined fleet.

    In this afternoon¡¯s naval battle, although the reserve fleet did not play the leading role, it also experienced a brutal naval battle.

    This can be seen from the half-remaining hatch of the war room.

    With a creak, Captain Mei Ling of the Kaiyuan opened the door of the war room and saw the fleet commander Wang Rulong, wrapped in a large cloak, sitting on a chair and taking a nap.

    He hurriedly moved lightly to exit, but Wang Rulong had already been awakened.

    "Am I asleep?" Wang Rulong stretched himself, his face showing fatigue.

    Mei Ling quickly picked up the fallen cloak, put it on him again and said, "Commander-in-Chief is too tired today. Let's take a nap first."

    &nbs??, a speedboat must be dispatched immediately to convey this order to our nearby warships!  above!  "

    "Yes!" the combat staff quickly recorded it, and then repeated it according to the regulations.

    Wang Rulong listened carefully, confirmed that it was correct, and signed the draft.  The combat staff hurriedly wrote formal orders.

    Lao Wang then ordered Mei Ling: "Send all the lifeboats out to deliver the order!"

    "Aren't you going to leave a spare?" Mei Ling asked bravely.

    "If you don't stay, Kaiyuan has a watertight cabin inside and an iron hull outside. It won't sink even if it hits the rocks!" Wang Rulong said without any doubt: "Go quickly!"

    "Yes!" Mei Ling quickly put her legs together and went out to give orders.

    Wang Rulong slumped on the chair exhausted, his face turned pale. He wanted to pick up the tea cup and drink water, but he couldn't lift his hand.

    The orderly quickly picked up the tea cup for him and took out the pills that Chen Shigong had prescribed for him.

    Wang Rulong went under the water, and after a while he regained his composure and laughed at himself: "This is so shameless" (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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