Since November, the wind direction in the Gulf of Siam has changed to northeasterly, and the current in the bay has been circulating in a clockwise direction, and two Zhenghe-class battleships and seven Wuchang-class battleships from Cam Ranh Bay have anchored in the harbor of Pattaya.

Three battleships of 8,000 tonnage and nine battleships of 5,000 tonnage were neatly placed in the Gulf of Siam, and although this combination was inferior in tonnage to the tonnage of forty Dutch battleships, it was far superior to the Dutch battleships in maneuverability and firepower.

After all, Pattaya is not a military port, not even a port, at this time it is just a small fishing village, so many battleships are moored in this area, there are more than 68,000 naval officers and men who need to eat, this logistical problem is highlighted.

The only solution to the logistical problem is to plunge into naval warfare as soon as possible, and the longer it drags on, the more difficult it will be to supply logistically.

The preparations for war were carried out in such detail that the naval staff had a clear picture of the situation of the Dutch battleships.

Of the twenty battleships in Johor, three were in the Gulf of Siam, and three were tasked with securing the passage of Dutch merchant ships into and out of the Chao Phraya River, and three were in the vicinity of the island nation, and three were tasked with protecting the East Asia branch of the East India Company in Hirado, which had been the only island nation in East Asia since Zheng Chenggong drove the Dutch out of Taiwan.

Due to the rise of the Chinese navy, the Dutch did not set up a naval base in Hirado, and they were very afraid of touching the nerves of the Chinese navy in East Asia, and they had to retreat from China because of the lesson of Taiwan's failure, so they only sent some warships to protect the merchant ships in Hirado. According to reconnaissance, only three battleships have been sent from the Johor naval base at the moment.

In this way, there were only fourteen battleships left at the Johor base and near the base.

Gao Junshan decided to adopt the tactics of surprise attack and undeclared war on the Dutch.

In fact, there is no question of declaring war on the Dutch, and the battle of Huaxia to recover Taiwan is already a declaration of war against the Netherlands, but for so many years, there has been no interaction, and due to the rapid development of the Huaxia Navy, the current situation has been formed, and they have met in this part of Nanyang.

Such frequent military movements in the Gulf of Siam must have aroused the vigilance of the Dutch, so the sooner the better to adopt the tactics of surprise attack.

With "Zheng He No. 1" as the flagship, Gao Junshan led twelve battleships, using the speed of a steam engine battleship to set sail for Johor under the cover of night.

The operation was codenamed "Bright Sword of the South China Sea", and the specific content was: 12 steam engine battleships attacked the Johor Naval Base first, and 200 sail battleships arrived later to carry out auxiliary attacks; All the hundred sail warships that had reached the Gulf of Siam were dispatched to deal with the three battleships in the Gulf of Siam and their merchant ships, and to assist our attacking forces by land; At the same time, the Southern Fleet was to be brought into battle, and the warships of the Southern Fleet were responsible for destroying the three battleships in the island's waters and ending Tohira's East India Company; A thousand transport ships are responsible for the transportation of supplies and land assault forces.

The sea breeze had a great impact on the navigation of the sail battleships, but the impact on the steam engine battleships was limited, so this huge steam engine battleship headed straight for the Dutch naval base at a speed of twenty-one knots.

A direct voyage is a point-to-point voyage, although there will be some small wind and waves, which is not a matter for 5,000-ton and 8,000-ton battleships, plus at this time it is a northeast wind, which happens to be smooth, and there is only a section of water of more than 100 nautical miles, which is in a state of headwind.

It was about six hundred nautical miles from Pattaya to the naval base of the Dutch, and this time the plan was to attack in the early morning of November 15, because it was a Sunday, which was the rest day of the East India Company, and this day was the third day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar, and the moon was in the state of the first quarter of the moon, and it was the time of the lowest visibility at sea at night, and the fleet was advancing at a speed of twenty-one knots, which was of course during the day, and at night it was only able to sail at a speed of sixteen knots, because of the influence of visibility, in the upwind phase, The default speed of the fleet is eighteen knots.

By calculation, it took thirty-four hours of continuous sailing for the fleet to reach its destination, that is, the fleet had to set sail at six o'clock in the afternoon of November 13 to be able to reach the Dutch military base exactly at about four o'clock in the morning on November 15.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon of November 13, Gao Junshan was in the private room of the battleship "Zheng He No. 1", the battleship sounded the whistle of departure, and Gao Junshan sat on the Taishi chair and could feel the shaking of the battleship.

"Let's go!" Gao Junshan said in his heart.

Before the departure, Gao Junshan's dinner in Pattaya's barracks was a dinner accompanied by Ruan Fangqing, this military operation Ruan Fangqing was still clamoring to follow, but was strictly ordered by Gao Junshan to stop, if it was an ordinary voyage, it was not a big problem to bring a woman, now it is going to war, and women are definitely not allowed to follow around.

Gao Junshan stood up from the Taishi chair, walked to the door, stretched out his hand to open the door, Li Derong was on duty at the door, Gao Junshan said to him: "Go to the cockpit!" ”

The cockpit is the command deck, and the rest cabin is separated from the cockpit by a hatch through which you will come to the cockpit.

Captain Deng Shijie was ordering up and down the command platform: "Pay attention to the speed, full rudder left, and adjust the course." ”

The helmsman repeated the captain's words while manipulating the rudder: "Pay attention to the speed, fill the rudder on the left, and adjust the course." ”

Deng Shijie replied to the helmsman: "Thank you! Keep heading. ”

On the command platform, in addition to the captain, Sun Dahai, Liu Wenxiu, Hong Pengju, Hui Yan and Tian Qiliang were all there, wearing straight naval uniforms, standing in front of the command platform with their heads held high, looking at the sea.

"How much wind?" Gao Junshan saw the waves rolling on the sea through the wide glass window, and he asked Sun Dahai beside him.

Sun Dahai said: "Back to my father, the wind power is currently level 3. ”

Gao Junshan asked Deng Shijie again: "What is the current speed?" ”

Deng Shijie said: "Now the course is being adjusted, and the speed is about nine knots. ”

Gao Junshan said to Liu Wenxiu again: "Order all ships to maintain their speed and course, and not to deviate from the fleet." ”

"Obey!" Liu Wenxiu turned around and went to give Gao Junshan's order to the signal.

At this time, the first mate who was in charge of calculating the course reported to the captain: "The course is correct, please speed up!" ”

Deng Shijie ordered: "Full speed forward, speed twenty-one knots!" ”

"Full speed ahead!" The helmsman repeated the captain's command.

The battleship turned on six 1,000-horsepower steam engines, which brought the thrust of the propeller to the highest speed, and by this time, the three large chimneys in the center of the battleship were already billowing smoke.

The speed of twenty-one knots must be maintained until eight o'clock in the evening, after which the speed will be reduced, the two steam engines will be turned off, and the night voyage will be entered, that is to say, at the speed of sixteen knots, until eight o'clock the next day.