Wang Hua found Zhang Guodong: "Chairman Zhang, our people in Manila have sent back news that the Spanish fleet in Manila has gone to sea and its course is unknown. ”

Zhang Guodong took over the information: "It seems that the Spaniards are out of the nest this time, Lao Wang, where do you think they will go, and where will the attack target be chosen." ”

"I think they're going to Batavia, because the whole of the South Seas is still the most powerful of the Dutch, and they should be assembled in Batavia." Wang Hua thought seriously for a while, "As for which they will attack, this is really not easy to judge, but I think it should be one of Singapore and Puliange." If the Westerners really made an appointment with Tao Min to start in May, according to the time calculation, they should not be able to reach Jinpu and Yulin Bay. ”

Zhang Guodong walked to the front of the map: "We only have four warships of the First Fleet in Singapore, and it is not certain whether the British will help, will they choose to do it in Singapore." ”

"Chairman Zhang, I have a suggestion." Wang Hua also walked to the front of the map, "Whether Westerners choose Singapore or Puliango, they will go to one place, which is the waterway between Sumatra and Bangka Island." It's very close to Singapore, about 500 kilometers away. We can assemble the Combined Fleet in Singapore and block them in this water. ”

Zhang Guodong looked at Wang Hua's finger for a while: "Old Wang, do you know the production of 24-pounder guns over there in Shen Daxing, if all our warships are now equipped with 24-pounder guns, it will work." ”

"I really don't know about that." Wang Hua replied, "But I think it's enough, Shen Daxing is now focusing all his energy on rifled guns." Our Canton and Fujian are each equipped with more than 40 24-pounder guns, and I'm afraid there are no extra cannons. ”

"The number of warships assembled by the Westerners this time will be two or three times that of ours." Zhang Guodong said with some concern, "And according to Zeng Guangxian, the range of their artillery is not much different from our 12-pounder gun now." Only three of our 13 battleships are armed with 24-pounder guns and 32-pounder guns, and six of them are 30-gunboats, so we don't have much advantage in a fight. ”

Wang Hua knew that Zhang Guodong was telling the truth, and there was nothing to do, so he stood silently behind Zhang Guodong and did not speak.

"Someone." Zhang Guodong shouted, "Go and invite Commander Zeng Guangxian and Commander Wang Zhaoxing here." ”

Zeng Guangxian and Wang Zhaoxing came to the joint headquarters together, and Wang Hua briefly introduced the news and his own ideas to the two of them.

"How?" Zhang Guodong asked, "Do you two have any good ideas?" ”

"If the ratio of Westerners to our warships reaches more than 2 to 1, even if we have the Pearl, I am afraid it will be difficult to fight." Zeng Guangxian commanded the Pearl to participate in the naval battle of Taiwan, "Although the Pearl is now the first warship in the Far East, the Pearl is a cruise ship after all, and its protection is still not good." If the Westerners adopt wolf pack tactics and more than a dozen ships fight around the Pearl, then the Pearl will not be able to carry it. And our 30 gunboats are now difficult to deal with Western warships even one-on-one, and the range and power of their guns have improved a lot compared with previous years. ”

"After I came back, I heard Guangxian say that Westerners have two 800-ton warships in Taiwan." Wang Zhaoxing said, "We don't know how many such warships they have in Batavia, if the Westerners' warships are like this, then I'm afraid we won't be able to fight this naval battle." ”

Wang Hua suddenly asked, "Guangxian, what if you send No. 777 over?" ”

"It's absolutely impossible." Zeng Guangxian said with a smile, "Don't talk about the fuel of No. 777 to Singapore, you have to stop when you leave Yulin Bay." ”

"Don't we have fuel now?" Wang Hua wondered why No. 777 couldn't move.

"The last batch of crude oil was sent back half a year ago." Zeng Guangxian explained, "After the fall of Yanchang County, there was no supply of crude oil. You don't know that our crude oil refining is too low, and the bit of diesel oil refined is basically loaded on the Pearl. ”

Several people discussed for a while, but they didn't come up with any good solutions, and Zhang Guodong finally said: "Everyone knows the situation, don't be discouraged, there will always be a way to deal with it." Let's have another meeting tomorrow to brainstorm ideas and come up with ideas together. ”

Everyone agreed and left Zhang Guodong's office, Wang Hua lowered his head and walked in the direction of the military academy while thinking about his thoughts.

"Lao Wang, Lao Wang." Xia Yang and two guards had just come out of the cement from the Industrial Bureau, and happened to see Wang Hua, "What's on your mind, you don't even look at the road when you walk." ”

Wang Hua stopped, looked at no one on the left and right, and told Xia Yang about the situation just now.

"No. 777 can't move, and the Pearl can't withstand the wolf pack tactics." Xia Yang asked, "How far can the 777 run at most?" ”

"Zeng Guangxian said that it was only 100 nautical miles, just out of Yulin Bay."

"100 nautical miles." Xia Yang asked again, "I don't know about ships, but if the Pearl only relies on steam power, can it tow the 777?" ”

"You mean to drag No. 777 to Singapore for war?" Wang Hua felt that Xia Yang's idea was a bit whimsical, "To be honest, I don't know much about the navy, but I think this method should be unreliable, which warship have you ever seen being dragged to war." ”

"I asked you because I didn't know." Xia Yang smiled, "You just treat me as a layman and say a layman's word, I'll go back to work first, there are still a bunch of things waiting for me to deal with at the Industrial Bureau." ”

"Don't, Lao Xia, don't leave yet." Wang Hua stopped Xia Yang again, "I don't think we have to wait for tomorrow's meeting, let's go to Zeng Guangxian and them immediately to see if your idea is feasible." ”

The five members of the joint command, Zeng Guangxian and Wang Zhaoxing, were all called to Zhang Guodong's office, and everyone was silent after listening to Xia Yang's thoughts.

"Drag 777 over and fight." Zhang Guodong was finally the first to speak, "Theoretically speaking, this method is not impossible, but there will be many problems in practice." ”

"Chairman Zhang, I'm a layman anyway, so you have the right to be a layman and talk nonsense here." Xia Yang said, "But if you talk about what problems there will be, I'll see if you can solve them with a layman's method." ”

"Old Xia." Zeng Guangxian said, "The maximum speed of the Pearl relying on steam power is only 8 knots per hour, and if it is dragged up to No. 777, I am afraid that the speed will not reach 5 knots per hour, which is too slow, and there will be problems in time." ”