Night Raid (2)

The colonial cruisers' firepower was actually quite weak, with only one 75mm gun each at the bow and stern. For secrecy, these guns were usually not even used with recoil-operated mechanisms. However, the mission this time was relatively important, and considering the possibility of providing land cover, all three colonial cruisers in this operation were equipped with recoil-operated 75mm guns. This increased their firepower efficiency several times over. Even so, because they were immobile and the warships themselves had no armor, the France had to ensure that the first shot was successful. Otherwise, the Britain could easily cut in front of the bow and, with their twenty guns' broadside firepower, still gain an overwhelming advantage.

The gun emplacements of colonial cruisers, in particular, lacked turret protection, consisting only of a shield. This shield could barely stop rifle bullets (and was unreliable at close range), and was mostly ineffective against grapeshot from Britain warships. Fortunately, the Britain had likely not yet spotted them at this point. Edmondo believed that the first one or two shells would be decisive.

Edmondo was a gunnery officer by training, having served as one for a considerable period before becoming captain. So this time, he simply shed his hat and personally took charge of the guns at the bow.

The Saldanha Bay lies in the westerly wind belt, bordered to the west by the vast Atlantic Ocean. Due to the influence of the westerly winds, westerly winds blow here year-round. However, at night, the air temperature drops faster over land than over the ocean, resulting in significantly higher air pressure over land. Therefore, from a microclimate perspective, air should flow from land to sea. The result of this interplay between macroclimate and microclimate is that the Saldanha Bay is calm and still at night, resembling a large lake.

Such sea conditions are certainly ideal for long-range artillery fire. If it weren't for the poor lighting at night, which rendered the gun scope unusable and forced Edmondo to rely solely on visual rangefinding, he would be absolutely certain of a first-shot hit. However, for now, whether the first shot would hit or not remains a matter of luck and faith.

If the first shot misses, the follow-up shots become crucial. Therefore, Edmondo chose a semi-armor-piercing incendiary tracer shell specifically designed for night battles. This type of shell leaves a long trail of light after being fired, clearly showing the trajectory of the shell. This would, of course, expose the ship, but considering that the sound of the cannon and the muzzle flash had already inevitably given away its position, adding a trail of light was actually not a big deal.

With the shells loaded, Edmondo glanced at the enemy ship again. Unfortunately, the enemy ship was heading in an unfavorable direction, leaving him with only the bow guns available. Otherwise, firing both the bow and stern guns together would have given him a better chance of success.

Captain Edmondo adjusted his aim again, then prayed to God once more, before closing one eye and waving his hand.

With a loud bang, a long streak of light shot straight out, heading towards the Britain sailing frigate "Lucky".

The "Lucky" was clearly unlucky at this moment, as the shell hit it. However, relatively speaking, amidst its misfortune, it was also fortunate. The shell didn't hit any vital parts, but rather struck a small storage compartment at the bow. The shell did ignite the storage compartment, but the fire wasn't particularly large and wouldn't immediately have a significant impact on the warship's combat capabilities.

In contrast, if the shell had deviated slightly further back and entered the gun compartment, the semi-armor-piercing incendiary shell, infused with solidified fuel, would not only have caught fire quickly (the gun compartment is more spacious, well-ventilated, and has more air), but it would have also rapidly produced a large amount of toxic fumes—which would have been truly deadly.

The shelling revealed the cruiser HMS Tradewind in the darkness, but although the Britain spotted it, it would take them a while to take aim.

"Quick, load the ammunition!" Edmondo's open eye was almost blinded by the muzzle flash and shell tracer light, so he quickly opened his other eye and shouted.

A soldier pulled the handle, and a brass shell clattered onto the deck. Another soldier, who was already prepared, deftly shoved a cannonball into the breech and then closed the breech.

Captain Edmondo gently cranked the handle with his right hand to fine-tune the gun muzzle, then closed his still-visible eye again and waved his hand.

A soldier yanked the firing cord, and another shell flew toward the "Lucky".

The shell struck the gun emplacement of the "Lucky" and exploded inside, scattering dozens of sparks throughout the emplacement. One of these sparks landed in an already opened powder keg, and a fire immediately broke out.

"Alright, it's done!" Edmondo shouted. "Where's the other ship?"

Just as Edmondo was shouting with joy, a series of flashes appeared on the side of the "Lucky"—the Britain had loaded every cannon when they entered the bay. Now they realized what was happening and launched a counterattack.

Lucky had 20 guns on one side. Because they were unsure of the armor protection of the France colonial cruisers, they used what they considered the most armor-piercing spherical shells. Since the gun emplacements were already on fire and the fire was spreading, the Britain counterattack was relatively hasty, and the salvo was not well-coordinated, resulting in an Edmondo's gun. However, because the two sides were only about 300 meters apart, and the Britain fired a large number of shells, quite a few still hit HMS Tradewind.

Although the Tradewind's thin hull was made of metal, its defensive capabilities were actually inferior to those of the British Army sailing frigates. As a result, these iron balls easily penetrated the Tradewind's hull and caused considerable casualties to the crew who were preparing to light the boilers.

However, the Britain shells were far too outdated, their destructive power incomparable to the France tracer armor-piercing incendiary shells. So, although the France only managed to hit the Britain with two shells, while the Britain were hit by more than ten, France damage caused by the France shells was significantly greater. The fire on the Lucky had now visibly spread. Flames were bursting from several gun ports, illuminating the ship instantly.

The booming cannon fire also alerted the other ships. The passenger and cargo transport ship "Atlantic Transporter" was the first to react. The "Atlantic Transporter" was a steam-powered ship, and of course, it had already shut down its engine. There was no time to restart it. However, new steam-powered ships often had something that older sailing ships did not have—arc searchlights.

The steam engine wasn't running, so the ship's small generator naturally couldn't operate either. However, the ship had batteries, which could still power the searchlights for a while.

Captain Aguero, a retired French Navy officer now captaining ships for the Europa Shipping Alliance, was operating a ship employed by the government of the Dutch Republic, flying the Netherlands flag (which resembles the France). When the cannon fire rang out, he immediately realized what was happening. He rang the alarm bells, roused the crew, and ordered them to abandon ship.

The order came suddenly, seemingly too soon. However, the crew didn't intend to question the captain's command; they weren't far from shore, they could swim there, and besides, abandoning ship sooner meant sooner safety, right?

The sailors lowered the small boats, and some of the more impatient ones simply grabbed a wooden barrel or something and jumped in. Captain Aguero, however, went to the searchlight himself.

The searchlight came on, its white beam piercing the darkness like a sharp sword. Aguero knew where his ships were anchored, and he carefully maneuvered the searchlight, guiding the beam away from his own vessels and sweeping it across the dark sea in order to locate the other Britain warship still hidden in the shadows.

As the beam of light swept across, a warship suddenly emerged from the darkness. It was another Britain warship, the sailing frigate HMS Miracle. At that moment, she was preparing to circle around from another direction and then give HMS Tradewind a big surprise with her broadside guns at extremely close range.

But a beam of light illuminated her, thwarting her plans. Moreover, because the searchlight was so bright, the British Army on the "Miracle" couldn't even make out what kind of ship the "Atlantic Transporter" was. But even a fool could tell that the ship that would make such a move at this time was undoubtedly a France warship!

The Britain understood perfectly well that the semi-armor-piercing incendiary shells equipped on France warships were practically the bane of wooden warships; the incendiary effect of these weapons far surpassed that of the old, red-hot iron balls. A single hit or two, and with the worst of luck, could wipe out the entire ship. So the "Miracle" immediately made a sharp turn, not only to escape the searchlight beams but also to align its side with the "Atlantic Transporter," even though the intense light obscured its outline and made precise targeting impossible. Nevertheless, they quickly opened fire on their estimated location.

Like the HMS Lucky, the HMS Miracle also used solid shot, and because they couldn't see the "enemy ship" at all, their hit rate was even lower than that of the HMS Lucky's salvo.

However, the Miracle was luckier. Although it only hit a few shells, one of them hit the coal bunker and ignited the coal.

If there were still crew members on board, such a small fire could be easily extinguished; coal doesn't burn very quickly. Of course, once it really starts burning, it's very difficult to put out. However, to minimize crew casualties, Captain Aguero had them all disembarked, so damage control was out of the question. But for the time being, the flames in the coal hold weren't enough to destroy the ship.

Just as the "Wonder" was firing wildly at the "Atlantic Transporter," two other France colonial cruisers also began to point their guns at the "Wonder."