A thunderstorm that is the most common in the South Sea Islands has swept across Mindanao. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info!.. Arthur. Vice Admiral Hood stood on the bridge of the Ironclad Rage, looking at the thick dark clouds in Sarangani Bay, ten nautical miles north of sea level, and the faint thunder of dendritic lightning, like the roar of artillery fire on the battlefield. For a fleet commander from a naval family, the scenery on the sea is always the most spectacular.

This Hood comes from the illustrious Hood family in British naval history, and there are four British Royal Navy warships named after the surname "Hood" in history, including the battlecruiser "Hood", which made the battleship Bismarck famous. And Arthur. Hood now holds the position of Commander of the British Eastern Fleet, commanding a formidable maritime force formed on a temporary basis. The current British Navy does not have a permanent Eastern Fleet, because the "East" belongs to the Ming Dynasty and is not something that Britain can touch. The fleet used to block the Strait of Malacca is a detachment of the British Indian fleet, and if necessary, the entire Indian fleet will go to the Strait of Malacca to fight the Ming Navy! While cruising in the Dutch East Indies was a detachment of the British-Australian fleet.

The British Indian fleet and the British Australian fleet were actually used to block the Ming Dynasty. And now by Arthur. The Eastern Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Hood, consisted of key ships drawn from the American, Indian, and Australian fleets. Arthur. Hood himself rose from his position as Chief of Ordnance of the Admiralty to become commander of this vast fleet. Initially, his mission was to deter the Chinese invasion of the Philippine Islands – and even to command a fleet and a Chinese navy ironclad if necessary. The British Royal Navy is very confident in defeating the Chinese Navy, because the Chinese Navy is actually a student of the British Royal Navy, and how much they are capable of. The British Royal Navy is clear.

Although thanks to their strong steel industry and shipbuilding industry. The Chinese have 10 ironclad ships with very good performance. In particular, the protection and speed and seaworthiness of the three "Emperor" class are superior to those of the British "Ravage" class, and the unladen displacement is also nearly 800 tons larger.

However, the Chinese Navy also has its fatal weakness -- its tactical thinking is completely inherited from the era of sail battleships, and there is no innovation at all. Moreover, they did not even fully master the various naval combat tactics of the era of sail battleships, and only learned the two tricks of facing the enemy in columns and seizing T-shaped positions.

The Chinese Navy does not give a damn about all the new tactics of the ironclad era. Therefore, all their warships are also designed to adapt to this single column tactic. The main gun turrets are arranged on a single central axis - so that all the main gun fire can be concentrated on one side. It is also not heard of any Chinese warship with ramming angles. Not even a single Chinese admiral considered the possibility that one warship could ram and sink another. Even more than a decade ago, in the North American War and the Balkan War (Russia, Austria vs. Turkey), there were examples of ironclad ships ramming and sinking wooden warships......

The British Royal Navy, on the other hand, has formulated many advanced tactics in response to the outdated tactical thinking of the Chinese Navy. Including "horizontal team shock" and "fleet chaos". In several exercises, the British Royal Navy used horizontal formations to break up the columns of the imaginary enemy in one fell swoop, and then used "chaotic warfare" to rely on the Royal Navy's unparalleled technology and fighting spirit to inflict heavy losses. Therefore, for this war with the Chinese Navy, the British Royal Navy is quite looking forward to it.

However, no one expected that the main force of the Chinese Pacific Fleet would actually go to Hawaii and transport tens of thousands of army officers and soldiers with them! Tens of thousands of troops carrying countless baggage supplies were transported thousands of nautical miles away to land...... Not to mention, China's shipping capacity is really not weak. It is worthy of being a "coolie country" that has transported tens of millions of people across the ocean in the past 20 years.

On the day the Ming army landed in Hawaii, the British Eastern Fleet was ordered to transport 5,000 British officers and soldiers from Singapore to occupy Mindanao, the largest island in the Philippine archipelago. This was the reaction of the British Empire to the landing of the Ming army in Hawaii...... The move looked a little timid. But it is the only more reliable means of counterattack. It is much more rational than to drive the main fleet all the way to Hawaii.

At this time, there was also a tense and hectic atmosphere on land, and although it was raining heavily, the British troops who landed were still braving the heavy rain to build positions and advance to nearby towns. There are still an unknown number of small boats on the sea that are carrying soldiers and supplies back and forth. The small number of Spanish garrisons and Philippine colonial troops on Mindanao had already surrendered after warning fire from the British fleet. There is no shame in this, the Spanish army has lost its former glory and the only thing that can be done now is to surrender. Surrender to the "invading" Franco-German forces in Spain, while to the north on the island of Luzon to the invading Ming army, and here to the British.

Arthur. Hood withdrew his gaze from the rain and fog and walked to the chart table, where the Fleet Staff had labeled Mindanao the British Empire, while Luzon to the north and Palawan to the west had been marked as Ming territory.

"Lieutenant Admiral, the 'Alexander', which is on guard in the Bohol Sea north of Mindanao, has called, and no Chinese naval vessels have been found." Rear Admiral Hopkins, chief of staff of the fleet and captain of the "Ravage", brought the expected good news. "It seems that the Chinese have abandoned Mindanao."

"They have to give up because they have no choice." Lieutenant General Hood propped his hand on the edge of the chart table and swept his gaze over the chart a few times. Mindanao is strategically important as a barrier between the island of New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, as well as a gateway to the South China Sea from the southeast. By building a few improvised docks and batteries in Sarangani Bay and turning it into a naval outpost, the Royal Navy would have one more access point into the South China Sea for a diplomatic mission. Although this location can't be compared to Hawaii, it is still in color.

……

"Father, did you really give Mindanao to the British like this?"

The crown prince asked quietly after Zhu Jishi, who was watching a giant sand table showing the situation in the Pacific region.

“…… What else? Your eldest brother has already agreed with the British, Pearl Harbor for Mindanao. Zhu Jishi said lightly. And the South Sea Fleet had only 10 armored cruisers and 10 fast cruisers, which could not beat the Eastern Fleet of the British. ”

He has always been reluctant to let the navy have too many first-line ships, because the shipbuilding technology of this era has advanced too fast, and the warships are outdated on the slipway rather than in naval battles. So the two oceanic fleets had a total of only 10 capital ships, 20 armored cruisers and 20 fast cruisers. In addition, there are some old ships that have been obsolete with sail and steam hybrids, which are not integrated into the two-ocean fleet, but are assigned to various bases as patrol ships.

"If only a few more ironclads were there." The crown prince said with some regret, "The location of Mindanao is too important. ”

"What's the matter?" Zhu Jishi sneered, "The victory or defeat of the world war cannot be divided in Nanyang or Australia. Even if it is all occupied by us, the British will not admit defeat, and the war will continue to be fought. ”

"Father, then how can we defeat the British?"

"India...... Or North America, take a British Empire and it's over. Zhu Jishi said lightly. But I'm going to take both of them! ”

"Father, North America can't be defeated by us and Donghua."

"That's why we have to fight India's idea." Zhu Jishi said, "Mathilde I understand, it is not that she does not want to help Juan, nor does she not want to expand the territory of the Bonaparte dynasty, but she is afraid of losing everything in front of her, as long as there is a sign of the collapse of the British Empire, she will definitely join the war without hesitation." If she doesn't join, a few little Bonapartes will drag her into the war. (To be continued.) )