"Our motherland, the Chinese Empire, with a history of 5,000 years of civilization, is experiencing unprecedented challenges, just yesterday, the British Empire, which has powerful armaments, attacked Chinese warships in the area of the Strait of Malacca, and after being hit head-on, had to flee back to the Straits Settlements, and turned to shameless attacks and seizures of Chinese merchant ships in the passage, which is a blatant violation of the bottom line of human morality and the spirit of contract, and must be subjected to the fiercest counterattack from the Chinese people......"

On 2 July, the news of the Sino-British declaration of war had spread throughout China, and more than a dozen newspapers and media, including the "China Times" and the "Guangzhou Daily," launched overwhelming propaganda on war preparedness and mobilization.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin has taken place more than 10,000 people march, surrounded the local British Consulate, blocked the local British-funded companies, the British-funded railway company workers set off a large-scale strike and expelled the British management, in the past five years, British capital according to the "Sino-British Trade Cooperation Agreement" and access to China's railway industry in a good situation, almost overnight back to the Stone Age, British capital directly faced the situation of drifting.

In the face of the tide of anti-British actions, the police and reserve forces established by the new government over the past five years through the expansion of the retired military and reserve system have played an extremely resolute role, and the interests of all countries in China, except for British-funded companies, have been guaranteed the most basic security.

In the latest issue of the newspaper published that afternoon, opposition to British interference in China remained the focus of the mainstream media, but. Maintaining internal security and political stability has also become a priority. A group of thugs who appeared in anti-British demonstrations in various places were brought to justice. Of course, the explanation of the situation in the report is also very open and transparent, and these people will be tried in public by local courts later.

This was obviously only a superficial statement of the declaration of war against Britain driven by the Chinese government, and the deeper and direct fatal blow to the interests of the British Empire suddenly broke out on the 2nd, and the huge Chinese navy fought to create a long freeport sea area from the Sin Chau Strait in the south to Sakhalin Island in the north.

The entire sea area is a long sea border of 4,000 nautical miles (more than 7,000 kilometers) from north to south. The only area in the entire maritime frontier where British merchant ships could escape the control of the Chinese navy and customs was limited to the ports of the French in southern Vietnam, and to the north, the concession of the port of Kagoshima, which was sent free of charge by China during the Sino-Japanese War, could also supply the fleet, but ...... Once the war starts, it is estimated that the control of the port will have changed long ago!

Penang, the most important commercial port in the Straits Settlements. At the same time, it was also the most important British supply base in the Far East, July 2. Edward, the new fleet commander of the Far East Brigade, who has just arrived? After Vice Admiral Simon learned of the sinking of the cruiser Sturdy, he urgently convened a military meeting and forcefully used London's authorization to declare war on China.

Edward? In the past two weeks, four reinforcements from the Mediterranean Fleet and the Home Fleet have arrived in Penang, and the new flagship is naturally the Sovereign-class battleship Hood, which Simon personally commanded, and the other two new Sovereign-class warships, the Counterattack and the Ramiris, are also on the list.

In addition, in the Far East Fleet stationed in the Straits Settlements Sin Chew (Singapore) Port, in addition to the flagship battleship Collingwood, the Admiral-class battleships Camper and Anson have also been merged, which means that he can now directly mobilize 3 Sovereign-class battleships, 3 Admiral-class battleships, plus the Savage and Iron Duke ironclad ships, which is already enough to destroy the country in Europe.

Vice Admiral Simon, as the commander of the Grand Fleet, naturally understood the armament of the Chinese Navy for a long time, and the only thing he was slightly worried about at present was the battle cruiser Xuanyuan, which set off an arms race between Britain and Germany.

Second Secretary of the Navy Fisher strongly recommended this type of battleship, and suggested to First Secretary of the Navy Bridgman to speed up the construction of the battlecruiser, but because the hundred-man and majestic-class battleships were already under construction, First Secretary of the Navy Brejiman did not agree to the plan of immediate construction, but suggested that the construction be delayed for 1-2 years. Henry? Sir White succeeded in convincing the Cabinet to agree to the plan.

But the problem is that the slipways of the Navy's Plymouth Shipyard and the Navy's Devonport Shipyard have long been lined with Sir White's deterrent force, the Majestic-class battleships, and the cheap first-class protective cruisers, the Edgar-class cruisers, and since the Sino-Russian naval war three years ago, the Royal Navy has pioneered the construction of extremely advanced and cheap Edgar-class cruisers.

Therefore, although the naval battle cruiser construction plan was approved by the cabinet and completely suppressed the Kaiser class of the German Empire with a scale of 8 ships, it was at least 2 years before the outfitting was really completed. Vice Admiral Simon is worried about the new battleship that is a headache for the Chinese!

On the 3rd, the Royal Navy warships had already poured into Penang. Vice Admiral Simon personally chaired the Far East Fleet Operations Conference, and he proposed a strategic idea called "Sustained Strike", which the Royal Navy naturally did not need the help of any external military force, but also considered the huge sea territory and the extremely important Far East Free Port area that the Chinese government now controls, and the Royal Navy must be supported by the ports for its continued operations.

Therefore, the seizure of ports and the support of other colonial ports in the Far East were crucial in the overall Far East operation, and in this regard, the Chinese navy had earlier suddenly attacked and seized the Dutch-administered port of Bintan, apparently out of the same strategic considerations, and now Vice Admiral Simon had finally given his tactical order.

"Immediately launch a counterattack from the Sin Chau Strait, first destroying the port of Bintan Island occupied by the Chinese, and then attack south along the Sumatra coastline to seize the vital island of Bangka, and the key to this is to capture the strategically valuable port of Bangka Penang, once the island is captured." The Royal Navy cooperates with the Marine Corps. It can easily cut off the connection between Sumatra and Java and South China. Gain strategic superiority, and at the same time, the navy can directly threaten the most important military port of Pontianak in Chinese, forcing the Chinese to engage in a decisive naval battle...... Or, blocked in the harbor by my mighty navy! ”

Vice Admiral Simon's order was warmly applauded by the Royal Navy officers, and it was clear that Vice Admiral Simon was not a blind optimist about the war. Rather, he was pragmatic and aggressive in tactics, and in this respect his strategy was recognized by officers in London and at the front.

At this moment, on the vast sea 10 nautical miles away from the Sin Chau Strait, the Second Pacific Fleet departing from Pontianak had already arrived at its destination after sailing overnight, and the eight Shanghai-class destroyers and six small minelayers of the Second and Third Destroyer Squadrons rushed from Bintan Harbor were deployed on the periphery, while the destroyers Jiangzhou and Lanxi, which served as outposts, had already begun to enter the Sin Chau Strait to intercept British patrol boats......

"General, an important telegram has been sent from the Intelligence Department that the British fleet has completed its build-up. At present, 8 battleships and large ironclads including the Sovereign and Admiral-class are stationed in Penang and Sin Chau Harbor, and the Intelligence Department reminds us at the same time. Since yesterday, the Straits Settlements Telegraph Office has been under the control of the British military, which is an important warning before the British military action! Chief of Staff Shi Biao took the telegram and commented very calmly.

"Well...... Staff Officer Shi, is there any news on the Jiangzhou and Lanxi's pursuit of the enemy? Fleet Commander Chen Ying stood in front of the chart, and on the chart in front of him, several red arrows representing the strength of reconnaissance were pointing to the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sin Chau.

"The Jiangzhou sank an unprotected British gunboat and was deepening, and the destroyer Zhenjiang, which had departed from Sugi Island, had already reached the eastern section of the Strait of Malacca and had not encountered a British naval warship...... This is a bit strange, but it is also expected, and our actions are not at all expected by the British! ”

"Mine-laying situation...... How much has it been confirmed! "This is obviously what Chen Ying is most worried about, the second squadron can be described as a collection of meritorious warships in the Pacific, Huangshan, Yuheng, Dingzhen, with the rapid development of naval technology, now it is no longer possible to talk about the leading technology, but these are all warships that have participated in the naval battle between China and Russia in the previous founding of the country, and they have achieved brilliant results, and from Chen Ying to the officers and soldiers at the grassroots level, their confidence in their own skills and tactics makes the combat effectiveness of the entire detachment not inferior to that of the first fleet.

When Chen Ying was worried about the threat on the offensive route, the Jiangzhou ship, which was slowly advancing in the Xingzhou Strait, was under a huge threat that the Shanghai-class destroyers had never encountered, and the captain Wu Tiexin stood on the bridge of the ship, observing the surrounding situation everywhere, the Xingzhou Strait was far narrower than the Malacca Strait, and the shadows of the mountains on both sides of the strait could even be seen in the position where it was now.

Of course, his current task is to find out the situation in the strait, especially the mine-laying situation, the fleet is going to enter the port of Xingzhou, which is the most realistic threat to the military port battery, and it can even be said that it is more serious than the battery threat, after all, the fleet has the experience of attacking the military port many times, even if it is a large military port like Vladivostok, it has not been finally conquered, but for mines, any naval officer knows the stakes.

"In the past, there were two German merchant ships and one Italian merchant ship, Colonel, I don't think the British laid mines, after all, this is their important financial route!" The officer in charge of recording on the side had already made a basic judgment, and this was basically the same as Wu Tiexin's thoughts.

"Immediately inform the flagship, and we continue to probe...... It is necessary to provide the most accurate information for the operation of the fleet, these merchant ships are sailing on the main channel, the channel on both sides cannot be confirmed yet, keep observing! Wu Tiexin thought about it for a moment and made his decision, but at this moment, an unexpected situation appeared.

"Battleship...... The shouts of officers were heard from the lookout microphone of the British battleship ......", and at the same time, the alarm bell of combat readiness sounded, and a minute later, at the end of the distant channel, a British flag was clearly visible!

This is not a small gunboat of several hundred tons encountered before, the system of the light mast and the position of the flag, let Wu Tiexin conclude that it must not be a small boat, he immediately issued an order for combat preparation, the bilge steam engine room has been fully pressurized, ready to deal with emergencies at any time, and a few minutes later, when the British battleship completely appeared on the sea level, he was still surprised.

"Former main gun duplex...... Caliber unknown...... It looks like a turret...... Seeing the 3 forward ear forts, looking at the layout, there are at least 4 secondary guns on the central ironclad fort...... "Shi Biao smashed it on the side, smashed it and smashed his mouth, and he had already told Wu Tiexin all the topics in his heart, this layout and design. It is completely inferior to the various types of warships of the Pacific Fleet.

Next, Wu Tiexin Station went to measure the distance from the observation. The result also shocked him. Although the distance between the two sides is more than 8,000 meters, the probability of error in the speed measurement is not large, but for the first speed measurement, Wu Tiexin, who was born as a gunnery officer, measured the relative speed of the opponent of no less than 20 knots...... This made his brow furrow immediately.

"Report ......" The report of the officer running in from the lookout station immediately confirmed Wu Tiexin's concern, "Colonel, the other party is approaching at a speed of more than 20 knots, and has observed more than 10 guns in the ironclad fort. The opening of the board number BL! ”

"Twin main guns, 10 secondary guns, this is the configuration of a quasi-battleship, BL ......" Shi Biao immediately took out a booklet bound with various papers from the table, and after quickly flipping through it, he said with some surprise: "According to the list of British warships provided by the Intelligence Department, only the Blake and Blenheim classes of the new warships start with BL...... These two battleships alone did not appear in the sequence of battleships that we were aware of! ”

"Staff Officer Shi...... Obviously, the British have something to hide...... This is not surprising, but this must be reported to the fleet immediately! Our task seemed to be a bit of a hassle to complete, so we turned to it immediately. Prepare to return! "With such a strong opponent appearing, Wu Tiexin didn't plan to fight hard with the other party. That's not the way smart people do, take the fat sheep back and hand it over to the Grand Fleet to solve it, that's the right thing to do.

But the firepower of the enemy on the opposite side still exceeded Wu Tiexin's estimate again, the two sides were nearly 6,000 meters apart, and the main guns and ear batteries on the British battleship had already opened fire one after another, and Jiangzhou and Lanxi, who were turning around, immediately counterattacked with the front and rear main guns, and after 4 rounds of fierce fighting, Wu Tiexin found that the distance could not be opened smoothly.

Moreover, in the counterattack just now, the opponent has been hit by 1 cannon, but the 120mm rapid-fire cannon obviously did not have any effect of blocking the opponent, and then in the sixth round of mutual fire, the opponent's secondary artillery far exceeded the advantage of the Shanghai class, and a shell hit the back of the Jiangzhou command tower, which broke through the armor and caused a fire.

The result of this cannon made Wu Tiexin immediately see the great danger of continuing the confrontation, and in the fierce battle just now, the exploration of the enemy had been basically completed, and he immediately ordered to speed up the evacuation with all his strength!

After receiving the report, Chen Ying immediately issued a combat order, Yuheng, Taishan, and Dingyuan to move forward, and four Shanghai-class destroyers carried out flank coordinated operations to ensure the safety of Jiangzhou and Lanxi.

And the news of the new British warship, Chen Ying is even more interested, the commander of the Jiangzhou destroyer Wu Tiexin is a fierce admiral, the last Sino-Russian war was quite brilliant, in the destroyer gunnery competition, this is also the favorite to win the bid, although the space for the battleship in the Xingzhou Strait is slightly smaller, but the speed of the Shanghai-class destroyer is nearly 23 knots, which is enough to deal with any predictable threat!

Now, the British came out to tell the cruiser that although the artillery configuration was quite different from the Xuanyuan battle cruiser, it was very similar in terms of the basic principle of high-speed and dense firepower configuration, and Shi Biao quickly found the information of the British battleship.

According to the current information, the British battleship is obviously the Blake-class first-class protection cruiser that was started under the auspices of Sir White in 1888, and a total of two are built, which are extremely powerful large armored cruisers with a displacement of 9,200 tons, and use two turret-type twin 243mm, 32 times diameter main guns, 10 150mm and 40 times diameter secondary guns, and 16 3-pounder rapid-fire guns......

What's even worse is that it is said that the Blake-class cruiser has tested the atmospheric speed of more than 20.5 knots, with an extremely amazing 13,000 horsepower, and the speed is close to 22 knots under ventilation and strong pressure, and the only drawback of this type of battleship is said to be only one, that is, it is expensive, and it is the cheap Edgar-class cruiser that is ready to replace the Blake class in British shipyards.

In the evaluation of the Blake-class battleship by the Intelligence Division, it is very pertinent to discuss the purpose of the appearance of this type of battleship, and it is of great significance in the history of cruisers in the Royal Navy.

Now in front of Chen Ying, is a very difficult problem, the appearance of the Blake-class cruiser, is already a huge trouble for the Shanghai-class destroyer, although the Shanghai-class destroyer still has a slight speed advantage, but under the fierce firepower of the opponent, the stall caused by a slight damage will be a fatal threat, and the Shanghai-class destroyer's operation against the enemy, but because of the opponent's strong protection, the effect is greatly reduced!

The British Navy invested in the Far East, and when the battle was imminent, the commanders of the Pacific Fleet were surprised, and the heritage of the Royal Navy should not be underestimated, and the huge scale of the 10 battleships that was originally expected to be a headache was enough, and the British even larger cruiser formation, such as the Blake class comparable to the battleships, once again buried a lot of trouble for the continuation of the battle! (To be continued......)