"I think there is a problem that the General Staff has to fully consider in judging the movements of the British Navy...... If Lieutenant General Simon was not at all reconciled to such a defeat, he might turn around and head north into the South China Sea, and if the French were moved by the British to supply them with fuel, they could even extend the front to North Vietnam, Hainan, and Canton! ”

Qin Kai understood Lu Han's worries, as the chief of the Admiralty, Lu Han's consideration was obviously more about the overall strategy, and he specially found himself to discuss this issue at this moment, obviously not on a whim, but based on Xu Shoushan's surprise attack on the Straits Settlements and the results of the battle.

In fact, an earlier series of information suggests that the original purpose of the British intervention in the war in the Dutch East Indies in the Far East was to demonstrate the intent to protect the Netherlands, and at the same time, it also provided an opportunity for the British Royal Navy to weaken the growing maritime power of China in the Far East......

Qin Kai even got the news that British Minister Bauer had visited Zeng Jize and suggested that the Chinese Navy should not engage in war with the British Navy to avoid the escalation of the military conflict between the two countries, of course, in that case, the interests of Sumatra are obviously not guaranteed, and more seriously, the British may even directly plunder the interests of Java Island, and Bauer said that the two sides can negotiate the interests of the Dutch East Indies, but this was directly rejected by Zeng Jize.

Therefore, Lu Han's speculation about the combat intentions of the British should be in line with the facts to a large extent, but the British were severely hit before the war, and it is difficult to imagine as the commander-in-chief of the front. That Lieutenant General Simon remained calm. Meticulously continue to implement the previous strategic plan...... In that case. Lu Han's worries became very necessary.

After the two of them carefully studied the hanging map in the study, Lu Han, on behalf of the Admiralty, sent a telegram to Xu Shoushan, commander of the Pacific Fleet, pointing out that the Tianping Ocean Fleet must be prepared to deal with it.

While the telegram was being sent, the Pacific Fleet, which was heading for Kuching Port north of Pontianak, had already discovered something peculiar: in the past two days, both fleets had apparently been deliberately concealing their respective cruising positions, but the warships of the two sides had engaged in more than 40 long-distance engagements or tracked each other.

On the vast sea of this era. The opportunity for ships to meet each other is not easy to be honest, not to mention that the British still rely on the old notification ships for long-distance contact, and under this system, the scope of the British fleet is not too large, so the peripheral destroyers are in contact with the British, which obviously means that the main force of the Royal Navy is not too far away......

Xu Shoushan stood in the bridge of the flagship Dayu. Looking at the twilight in the west, there was also a hint of anxiety in his expression. The four reconnaissance airships sent out have so far failed to find the main force of the British, but they have only observed four warships of the British detachment near the Badas Islands, which are 120 kilometers away from the port of Pontianak and less than 180 kilometers away from their own position.

The question that caused his anxiety was obviously not the British detachment that was discovered, 4 warships, which was enough to stuff his teeth...... Due to the increasing frequency of contact between the warships of the two sides in the last 4 hours, he had to consider whether there would be an unexpected Grand Fleet engagement......

"Report! Word came from Airship No. 2 and received a telegram from the port of Pontianak that the port batteries were engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the British fleet! At this time, the officer in the telegraph room walked in briskly and reported the latest news.

Fleet staff officer Tang Hong took the telegram, looked at his pocket watch, pondered for a moment, and then said to Xu Shoushan: "General, 4 British battleships are shelling the batteries on the north bank of Pontianak, and the War Department has sent the 3rd Brigade of the capital to reinforce it, and the first exchange of fire is at 4 o'clock in the afternoon!" ”

4 p.m. ...... Xu Shoushan raised his wrist and looked at his watch...... Pontianak, as the capital of South China and the anchorage point of the South China Detachment, used both sides of the bay and the islands in the middle to build three batteries in the south, middle and north to guard the channel into Pontianak Port, equipped with 30 10-inch heavy guns and more than 40 150mm shore guns.

He turned to look at Tang Hong, "Staff Officer Tang, the British don't seem to have the habit of fighting in the field at night, right...... You say that they shelled the Pontianak Port Fort at this time, what kind of trick is this? ”

Tang Hong smiled, stood in front of the chart and looked at it, "General, I think we hurt the British, they want to take revenge...... And the most suitable point for the whole Nanyang is undoubtedly Pontianak, the capital of South China...... However, this is a hard bone, although the Capital Brigade went to some Java, but the elite are there! ”

"Staff Officer Tang, I've been thinking about a question for a while...... If we had so many Iron Tortoises from the British, how would we implement the encirclement strategy! Xu Shoushan did not make any direct statement, but changed his words and jumped directly to the grand strategic issue of double development.

Tang Hong snorted, stood in front of the chart and looked at it, and then said: "If we have so many battleships and such thick turtle shells, we can directly block the two ends of the Straits Settlements, and then slowly crush into it, the best strategy is to advance by land and water, and the British's army, it will be easier to fight than our navy!" ”

Xu Shoushan smiled, this tactic is really safe, the Straits Settlements is really suitable for the army to outflank, but it is too troublesome to replenish, and it must be supplied from the southern coastline of Malaya, but in general, it is much easier than using the navy to encircle the port, but the current situation is not like that!

He came to the chart and drew a large square in the Bernos Islands, the Bardas Islands, Pontianak, and the port of Yamaguchi, "If I were a British commander, this sea area would be a very good place for battle...... The shelling of the capital of South China, whether we return reinforcements or not, as a military operation in response to the destruction of Sin Chew Port, this will be the subject of their hype! ”

Speaking of this, Xu Shoushan pointed to Sumatra on the other side of Pontianak, "The British should have made a temporary fuel supply point, and the Bangka Island Harbor on the other side of the river...... Although it was a small commercial port, the battleship may not be able to supply directly, but at least there is a way to refuel...... I guess the British should have supply ships similar to our Zhanjiang-class, and the possibility of supporting short-term sustained combat exists! ”

"The British want a naval decisive battle with us on this side of the Java Sea!" Tang Hong smashed his mouth, and continued with some disdain: "They take it for granted...... General, do they have other plans besides the attack on Pontianak Port? ”

"Although I dare not say that there must be ...... However, the intentions of the British are obvious, they also want to destroy our main forces...... Or to destroy part of our main force, there is no other way than the decisive battle of the Grand Fleet! And they chose to attack Pontianak instead of Batavia, which should be a good proof of this! Xu Shoushan nodded, and also stood in front of the chart to ponder, and the eyes of the two quickly focused on a few sea areas on the map.

"Keep in touch with Pontianak by telegram...... Immediately order the airship reconnaissance unit to reconnoiter the British fleet, and it is necessary to find out the location of the British detachment! Half an hour later, Xu Shoushan got a telegram from Beijing, and after thinking about it, he immediately gave an order.

At the same time, Vice Admiral Simon, commander of the Royal Navy's Far East Fleet, was also worried about the big trouble ahead, and he took the initiative to attack Pontianak, the capital of the Republic of South China, instead of liberating Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies.

The devastating blow to Sin Chew Harbor and the huge losses shocked him, and in a strategic sense, this was undoubtedly a fatal defeat, which shortened the Royal Navy's attack range by at least hundreds of kilometers, while the Chinese were able to attack deeper into the strait, and carry out comprehensive defense, which was not originally included in the Royal Navy's combat plan.

However, now it seems that the Chinese have once again greatly exceeded their expectations for the fortification of Pontianak, and before the evening they tried to attack, 16 warships, including the flagship Hood, the same Sovereign-class battleship Counterattack, the Admiral-class battleship Collingwood, and the Barbarian and Iron Duke, carried out a fierce shelling of the North Bay battery in Pontianak Port.

The 343mm heavy guns of the Admiral-class and Sovereign-class battleships of the Royal Navy obviously have amazing firepower, and the giant high-explosive shells of more than 400 kilograms continue to hit the North Bay battery, and each violent explosion makes the earth tremble terribly, even on the battleship Hood, which is more than 7,000 meters away, Vice Admiral Simon can feel the earth-destroying energy from the terrifying black clouds that explode on the mountains.

The choice of such a distance for artillery bombardment is also the conclusion reached by Vice Admiral Simon after many encounters with the Chinese Navy, the vast majority of the caliber of the Chinese Navy's naval guns are 254mm 10-inch heavy guns, while the heavy guns of the Royal Navy battleships are almost all 13.5-inch 343mm heavy guns, and the 12.5-inch heavy guns are more used for large armored ships, of course, those medium-sized armored ships are built for escort purposes, and they are more inclined to choose 9.5-inch heavy guns.

However, the army of Nanhua, a small confederation of China, burst out with a fierce fighting spirit that surprised him, and after more than an hour of shelling, although the whole battery was full of smoke and the trees on the hill were burning into the sky, the fierce counterattack from the fort never stopped.

A large number of shells of various calibers swept over the battle line of the British fleet, and the battleships Counterattack and Collingwood were both hit by two 10-inch naval guns, but the battleship's nearly 18-inch main armor belt exerted amazing protection, and the heavy guns of the batteries did not cause serious damage, while the counterattack of some 150mm rapid-fire guns could only produce deck lethality at this distance.

However, the brave counterattack from the Pontianak North Bay Fort made Vice Admiral Simon's attempt to extend the artillery fire into the harbor obviously frustrated, and before nightfall, the British battleship chose to sail to the open sea in order to prevent possible torpedo attacks, however, in the Pontianak harbor, a real counterattack was already in the making. (To be continued......)