"David, are the Chinese launching rockets for help?"

"Yes, Major General...... It seems that my students are smart enough to know that they are in the thick of a strong enemy. But it doesn't matter, even if the two escort detachments converge, they are still not our opponents! ”

On the slightly raised aft stern of the Sealand Provincial Council, Major General Trop was working with David. Colonel Jones discusses the battle situation. Because David. Jones, the reason for this China expert, Rear Admiral Tropp is now carrying the flagship flag on the Sealand Provincial Council, that is, the battleship is his own flagship.

The Sealand Provincial Council is also a "council" class, with a deadweight tonnage of more than 950 tons and 130 tons larger than the Ying Tianfu class, but it is faster and more agile. The Dutch chose a formidable 40-pounder short-barreled bombardment gun for a giant ship of this class, with an effective range of up to 2000 yards, which could easily penetrate the protection of any known battleship at a distance of 1500 yards.

In the same way as the Ying Tianfu class, the "Council" class also abandoned the design of placing 40-pounder cannons on the upper deck, and all 14 40-pounder guns were placed in the "belly" of the battleship, and in order to prevent fire from causing chain explosions, Dutch ship designers also designed 7 artillery compartments for this kind of warship, each compartment can hold two cannons.

In addition, the Dutch placed the bomb bay under the gun compartment, and hoisted the shells up from below through a lifting hole during the engagement. It's a hassle, but it's as safe as possible.

In addition to the strong firepower, the Dutch, like the Chinese, adopted the concept of key protection, strengthened the side panels of the gun compartment and bomb bay, and chose ultra-thick oak wood, so that the gun bay and bomb bay can resist the impact of heavy shells to the greatest extent.

But no matter how strong the protection is, the "parliament" class is still a wooden ship after all, and it is still very difficult to withstand 30-pound and 40-pound shells.

So there are also fears in the Dutch Navy that these expensive heavy warships will become "disposable" weapons, that is, they will be incapacitated in a confrontation with a warship of the same class - being hit by a 40-pound flowering bullet that will explode, with or without explosive ammunition, the warship will be almost half scrapped!

Therefore, some naval officers also proposed to take the route of fighting for numbers, building as many bombardment boats as possible, and appropriately reducing the number of bombardment ships in terms of protection, speed, and deadweight tonnage.

There are also some officers who put forward the opposite opinion, believing that the protection should be further strengthened, and even the issue of designing ironclad ships should be studied!

Since at present there are only three countries capable of building large bombardment battleships: Ming, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and until not long ago, no war broke out between these three countries, so there is no actual combat to test the design of bombardment battleships, and no one knows how this kind of new warships with excess firepower and insufficient defense capability should be developed.

But Trop and Davy. Jones knew that after today, the bombardment battleship would find its direction...... For the Navy, a new era is soon coming.

"Rear Admiral, our reconnaissance ship is also firing rockets!" A Dutch naval officer shouted.

"Your students are here!" Trop vs. David. Jones smiled, then pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time, 2:15 p.m.

He put away his pocket watch, "It's time to teach them a good lesson with the cannon!" ”

......

"The lookout post has spotted the Dutch fleet, numbering more than five, all light ships, pursuing our sea sentry ships!"

At around 2:30 p.m., the Wuhan's lookout post spotted the light ships of both sides engaged in a chase. The Dutch dispatched five East India Company clippers, which were the main ships of the East India Company - the daily opponents of the East India Company were pirates and the small naval forces around Java, and large warships were not practical, so they were still dominated by small ships. The tonnage of this kind of small ship is also large and small, the large load is less than 300 tons, and the small one is only a few dozen tons. Now the five Ming army sentry ships are being pursued, all of which are large and medium-sized light galleons with a load of about 200 tons, and their speed is very fast and their firepower is not weak.

The sea sentinel ship was a two-masted sailing ship used by the Ming Dynasty navy for miscellaneous work, and Liu Guoxuan's formation had five such small boats, all of which had a load of about 100 tons, forming a small detachment to patrol in front, but they collided with six Dutch caravels that were larger than them, and of course they could only escape. And the purpose of the Dutch was only to follow them to find the Ming army's fleet, so they didn't chase too closely, so that they could join Liu Guoxuan's detachment unharmed.

Seeing the return of the five sea sentinels, Liu Guoxuan was a little more relieved, with these guys here, he didn't have to worry about the Dutch using arson boats to disrupt his formation.

The Strait of Malacca is located in the equatorial windless zone, and most of the time it is calm, although not completely windless. Every winter and spring, under the influence of the northeast monsoon, the strait is often seen by easterly winds, and the sea water also flows from east to west. In summer and autumn every year, under the influence of the southwest monsoon, westerly winds are common in the strait, and the sea water also flows from west to east.

It is now the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and the strait is under the influence of the southwest monsoon, and there is a small southwest wind blowing at this time, which is very conducive to navigation - the strait is in the southeast and northwest direction, so when the southwest wind blows, whether it is sailing to the southeast or southwest, ships can use the wind power.

And because the wind and waves are not big, and it is conducive to the observation and shooting of gunners on both sides, it is really a good day to fight a naval battle!

"Command, the first ship detachment turned and retreated!"

The report of the staff officer of the detachment sounded again, and Liu Guoxuan, who was standing on the command platform of the bow of the Wuhan Fu, raised his telescope again, and at this time he could clearly see from the telescope a column of six Dutch caravels turning to the left on the sea.

"The main fleet of the Dutch should be nearby, so I don't know how many ships there are......" Zheng Jing spoke again, his voice a little dry, and he looked a little nervous.

If you see the enemy, you will be destroyed! Either the enemy is destroyed or I am destroyed, can Zheng Dagongzi not be nervous? He is the heir of the "Yiguan Party", the richest man in the future Ming Dynasty!

Liu Guoxuan put away the binoculars, turned his head to look at Zheng Dagongzi, and suddenly asked: "Captain Zheng, has the Wuhan Mansion test-fired the new 15-kilogram cannon and nail head bullets?" ”

"I've tried......" Zheng Jing replied.

Liu Guoxuan smiled and said, "That's our grasp!" Our Dutch teachers don't know yet! ”

Hearing Liu Guoxuan say this, half of the panic on Zheng Jing's face disappeared, and it was replaced by an expectant look.

Because he already remembered the scene three months ago when the Wuhan Mansion test-fired the nail-head bullet of the newly equipped troops!

The so-called nail head shell is equipped with a pointed steel drill before the wooden tray blooms the shell, making the shell look a bit like a nail.

And the role of this steel drill is, of course, to puncture the enemy's battleship's side guard. In those days, there were no steel bulletproof steel plates, they were all wooden boards. The wooden board may be able to withstand the impact of the round head bullet, but it must not be able to carry the steel drill of the nail head bullet, and it is unscientific to be able to carry it. Even if this nail head bullet cannot break into the plate entirely, it can be firmly nailed to the side of the battleship with the help of the steel drill...... It's going to explode, and all kinds of planks are going to break!

The planks of the ship are about to be blown apart, and the inside of the cabin will immediately become a hell of earth where pieces of wood are flying everywhere!

"Enemy ship brigades found! More than twenty-five ships! ”

The report of the enemy situation that came again made Zheng Jing's nerves that had just been relaxed suddenly tense, if not counting those miscellaneous boats, Liu Guoxuan's detachment had a total of 11 warships, and the number of opponents actually exceeded 25...... That's more than twice the advantage!

Zheng Jing turned his head to look at Liu Guoxuan, and found that the face of the commander of the detachment was also a little solemn, 11 to 25 or more! It's a bit of a hanging!

"Commander, how are we going to fight?" Zheng Jing asked again.

Liu Guoxuan said: "Let's play according to the book...... The column meets the enemy, opens fire from 800 paces away, keeps a distance from the enemy as much as possible, and avoids broadside combat.

Raise the Battle Flag! ”