Mr. McTon, who is now not only the plenipotentiary of the United States in the South but also the American minister to China recognized by China, took advantage of his familiarity with the intelligence of Great Britain and France and other Europe, and quickly obtained the information and leaked it to the government of the Chinese Heavenly Kingdom: "Yesterday, the home fleet of the United States has already sent two fleets to the Pacific Ocean, and even the fleet on the east coast has made a detour to pass through South America and rush here. ”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Huaxia Heavenly Kingdom immediately asked for more details, but he could not speak, only said that he was stepping up the dispatch of spies to infiltrate the north to capture espionage information, hoping to find out the number, tonnage, power, and personnel of the fleet coming to China.

When Luo Yang learned the news, he immediately ordered the army to mobilize, and convened a meeting of senior officers to discuss countermeasures.

Everyone had no choice, shaking their heads, because, all of them were army generals, and in the end, everyone's unanimous opinion was that regardless of the enemy's fleets clashing back and forth, the Huaxia Heavenly Kingdom only needed to defend the coastline.

Zeng Guoquan said: "China does not yet have a navy, especially steam warships, foreigners and ironclad ships, etc., it is estimated that the United States also has it. ”

His tactics were to hold the harbor, bombard the enemy with coastal artillery, protect the city and the coastline, and if the enemy fleet sent infantry to land, put up a little resistance, lure the enemy ashore, and then, attack it with a competent force.

The idea is good, it is a passive counterattack, an active defense, under normal circumstances, this is the only way,

Li Xiucheng suggested blocking the port and some inland waterways so that the enemy's fleet could not go on a rampage: "Once our army's port artillery fails to block it, it will be quite dangerous for the enemy's fleet to enter the mouth of the Pearl River and the Yangtze River in our country. ”

Both of them are veterans of a long war, with a lot of experience and a lot of ideas, but sitting together today, from sworn enemies to colleagues, it is really thought-provoking,

Luo Yang accepted their suggestion, and at the same time felt depressed: "Could it be that our army only has the method of defense and counterattack, and does not have an active sea battle." ”

At this time, the Huaxia Heavenly Kingdom already had a naval division, but they were all purchased from foreign countries in the pre-Qing Dynasty, but only eight small gunboats, that is, the Yangtze River naval division of the original Qing army under the command of Peng Yulin, also suffered heavy losses because of the attack of the Luoyang army, and now, the naval fleet that can be gathered is a few gunboats, dozens of wooden sailing ships, if it is against the American fleet, it is not the enemy's opponent at all, usually, an American cruiser, there are dozens of guns, It's basically a big battery, perhaps, a cruiser from the United States, it can sweep the coastal strip of China,

"Okay, let's dismiss, but be aware of each other's responsibilities."

For the entire strategic deployment, the government gave unified guidance, and then, the generals rushed back to their stations.

Of course, Luo Yang did not give up his battle strategy against the American fleet, he thought about it carefully, called the current commander of the special operations force, Aharon, to his official residence, and assigned him a task, asking him to think about how to fight the enemy at sea.

"It's a tough task." Ahran has a big head,

"Come to think of it, there are more solutions than difficulties."

The shift from land to sea combat is a fundamental change in the operational environment, which will naturally cause a great change in strategy and tactics, Luo Yang guided him, stressing that it is necessary to end the hegemony of the US Navy fleet with a special war,

"Okay, let's try." Aharon didn't dare to hold it up,

"Don't be afraid, as long as we think of a good way and organize it carefully, maybe, we don't have a navy, no warships, no cannons, and the American devils will all make it for us." Luo Yang's optimistic spirit made Aharan infected,

Luo Yang attaches great importance to the military defense of Tianjin and Shanghai, personally inspected Tianjin several times, and then went to Shanghai, he confirmed, these two places, even if the US Navy is rampant, can not land, once landed, the Chinese artillery and land forces that are waiting for them will make them suffer, now, the biggest weak link is, special warfare at sea,

Countless scenarios and plans were conceived, and in the end, they all boiled down to the navy of special operations forces, so an army and naval corps specializing in naval operations was quickly formed.

Most of the officers and men selected were members of the special operations units, and they were also required to have a particularly good water quality, so for this reason, the troops were also expanded to select personnel from the fishermen along the coast.

Within a few days, two special combat detachments with 200 troops were formed in the vicinity of Tianjin, and in Shanghai, there were also three special operations detachments with 350 troops, and in Fujian, there were also two detachments.

Fighting at sea, using wooden sailing ships and manpower to fight the enemy's warships, this is almost a mortal adventure, even if you can barely defeat the enemy, I am afraid that you will have to suffer heavy losses,

However, after careful study, Luo Yang personally took over the army and naval corps in Dagu, Tianjin, and trained rigorously, conceiving the scene of the future battle.

On 1 November, the US Navy's First Fleet had already arrived at the coast of northern China, on the edge of the Shandong Peninsula, more than 10 nautical miles from the mainland.

The U.S. Navy's strategy is to blockade China's coastal ports, attack and destroy the economy here, seize fishing boats, etc., and strangle China's possible reinforcements to the Americas on the way to the ocean.

At McTon's place, the Chinese government got relatively accurate information, and this time, the U.S. Navy almost went out of the nest, abandoning all the blockade of the southern part of the country, and shifting its main attention to China.

The First Fleet of the United States has two battleships, respectively in 5,000 tons and 6,000 tons, "Long Island" and "New York", with large tonnage and fierce firepower, and on each battleship, there are large-caliber guns, and the total number of artillery pieces is eighty.

There were also six cruisers, all in the fifteen-hundred-hundred-ton to two-thousand-three-hundred-ton class, three more coal carriers, two other ships,

At this time, the world's navy was still in the age of steam, and it was quite a good warship to be equipped with a steam engine as power, and the battleships Long Island and the New York battleships were iron-decked battleships, which enhanced their durability and durability.

By the way, there are thirteen small gunboats in the U.S. fleet, as auxiliary firepower for supervision, of course, in fact, they can be regarded as combat ships capable of landing or coastal water, capable of assaulting Chinese ports.

The US Second Fleet, with one battleship, USS Lexington, 8,000-ton displacement, ironclads, eight cruisers, fifteen gunboats, several other supply ships,

When the US president saw off the Navy fleet, he was full of confidence, "I hope that on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, you will strangle that evil country in the cradle." ”

Before the expedition, President Lincoln, the chiefs of staff of the three armed services, the commander of the navy and others had conspired with the specific strategy of the naval fleet, and had devised a variety of plans, such as attacking Tianjin Dagu and attacking Shanghai.

The United States poured all its efforts into this naval expedition, because the judgment was that the south was about to fail, and as long as the sea outlet of the Chinese Heavenly Kingdom was cut off, the American civil war would naturally subside, so the blockade of China's coastal areas became the top priority.