The night is deep. The wind and waves gradually rose, and under the bright moon, a fleet was sailing, "Twenty nautical miles north of Hongjiaojia Island, because the fleet was in two columns, two long sailing wakes appeared on the dark and heavy sea, which were somewhat eye-catching in the moonlight.

The first warship in the fleet is the Chinese Navy's ocean-going large attack ship "Green Forest". No., and at this moment, it's in the "green." In the officer's conference room, a military meeting was taking place. The person who presided over the meeting was Lu Ping, commander of the Nanyang Detachment of the Chinese Navy, and the main topic of the meeting was naval warfare.

Just half an hour ago, the Nanyang Detachment received a telegram from the Admiralty, and according to this operational order signed by the President himself, just half an hour after the Nanyang Detachment received this telegram, China would formally sever all diplomatic relations with the Netherlands, and the diplomats would withdraw their flags and return to China. The specific target of the attack was determined by Lu Ping, commander of the Nanyang Detachment.

After receiving the order, Lu Ping immediately convened this military meeting to discuss the offensive with his subordinates, and in addition to the staff officers of the fleet, all the captains of the fleet participated in the meeting.

A few days ago, Lu Ping had ordered his staff officers to draw up an operational plan with a very strong target, and he had submitted it to the central authorities for examination and approval, and according to this operational plan, the Nanyang Detachment was officially designated as the "First Squadron of the Nanyang Squadron" and the "Second Detachment of the Nanyang." Thereinto. Once Lu Ping decided to attack, the First Fleet of the South Seas was responsible for attacking the Dutch warships on Bangka Island, and the Second Fleet of the South Seas was responsible for attacking the Dutch warships stationed in Palembang, and covering the attack of the Sumatra militia on the Dutch colonial forces stationed in the port area and disarming them.

This is only the first step in the battle plan. As for the second step of the battle plan, it depends on the outcome of the naval battle, if the Nanyang Squadron can defeat the Dutch fleet, the Nanyang First Squadron will rendezvous with the Nanyang Second Fleet, and then cover the collected civilian ships carrying the Sumatra militia to the south to attack Java Island, and land on Java Island, striving to conquer Batavia, the political center of the Dutch East Indies colony, and force the Netherlands to take the initiative to sue for peace.

It can be seen from this that the first step of this battle plan is very crucial, if it cannot defeat the Dutch East India Squadron and master the sea control in this area, then the second step of this battle plan will not be carried out at all, so Lu Ping and his fleet must fight this battle well and strive to defeat the Dutch East India Squadron overnight.

There are more than 3,000 large and small islands in the Dutch East Indies, and the Dutch has always regarded the East Indies colonies as the "emerald on the belt" of the Netherlands; Maritime defense of the East Indies has always been a matter of great importance. Although large warships were not stationed. However, there are quite a few small and medium-sized warships, and at present, according to the analysis of reconnaissance intelligence from various sides, the Dutch East India Squadron has been divided into two, and some warships are deployed in the waters of the island of New Guinea. It was used to monitor the movements of the Japanese fleet and garrison, and the other part was located off the coast of Sumatra. It is used to monitor the actions of the Nanyang detachment of the Chinese Navy. and deterring the situation in Sumatra.

The strength of the Dutch East India Squadron was now very dispersed, and it was a good time for the Chinese Navy's Nanyang Squadron to attack, and Lu Ping decided to seize the opportunity to eat the Dutch fleet off the coast of Sumatra first.

I'm not afraid that I won't be able to eat it, so I rely on the "Green Forest" and "Red Eyebrows." The combat effectiveness of the ship, these Dutch warships in the coastal waters of Bangka Island are not opponents of the same level at all, and Lu Ping is fully sure that the battle will be ended within a few hours, and the key is the Dutch fleet on the main island of Sumatra, because the main warships of the Second Squadron in the South Seas are all destroyers. And the Dutch fleet was made up of cruisers, therefore. What Lu Ping is most worried about now is whether the Second Squadron of the South China Sea will be able to complete the attack mission.

The most powerful attack weapon of a destroyer is a torpedo, and a torpedo attack requires the officers and men of the fleet to raise the spirit of close combat without fear of death, and to use the cover of night to carry out night battles.

In order to ensure the smooth completion of the task of the Second Squadron of the South Seas, Lu Ping decided that the Second Squadron of the South Seas would fire the first shot of tonight's naval battle, and when the Second Fleet of the South Seas attacked, Lu Ping would command the First Squadron of the South Seas to attack, and the main targets of the attack were the two Dutch Navy "Geldland"-class colonial cruisers that were swimming off the coast of the Belimian port on Bangka Island.

Now the military conference has come to an end. Lu Ping has already explained the things that should be explained to his subordinates, and the rest of the matter is to wait for the Second Squadron of the South Seas to send a telegram.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's battle is really about the entire Nanyang strategy, and you must not slack off, after this battle. The situation in the South Seas will inevitably change greatly, and China's strategic superiority will inevitably be strengthened. Now, each back to each ship, once the battle begins, "Green Forest, the number will fire first, and each ship will form a column, concentrating firepower to bombard the muscles." According to the provisions of the battle plan point, the enemy in the best of Zhejiang is there, and the dawn is scattered.

Lu Ping stood up, picked up the military hat from the table, put it on, then swept his eyes at his subordinates, announced the adjournment of the meeting, and all the officers immediately stood upright, saluted, and then exited the conference room in turn, everyone had serious expressions, they all knew that the battle was very important, and they did not dare to neglect it, and they began to think about how to fight after the naval battle began.

Most of the officers quickly walked out of the room. Lupin turned and walked over to the chart that hung on the bulkhead. Looking at the combat area on the chart, he continued to study the details of the battle plan, after all, this was the largest naval battle he commanded, only victory, not defeat, he knew very well that as long as tonight's naval battle was won, then the Dutch East India Squadron would not be able to survive, and even if the Dutch fleet stationed in New Guinea rushed back, it would not be able to turn the situation around, so this battle must be fought well, otherwise, even if he could return home alive. will also be court-martialed.

It is not a problem to annihilate the Dutch fleet in the waters of the Belli Ocean, the key is to reduce the losses of your own fleet.

"Report to the Commander! Palembang called".

An adjutant walked up to Lu Ping, stood up and saluted, holding a copy of a telegram in his hand.

Lu Ping was holding a pencil to write and draw on Hairan. When he heard the adjutant's report, he didn't turn his head. Just nodded and said, "Read!" "Yes!"

The adjutant picked up the telegram and read it aloud.

"The Second Squadron of the South Seas Fleet: Our unit is ready for battle at the time of the concave and is currently approaching the enemy fleet at a high level, and it is expected to attack in fifteen minutes!"

"Got it

Lu Ping nodded again, continued to take a pencil to write and draw on the chart, although he tried to maintain that calm, but his heart was a little excited, in the last Sino-Japanese Northeast Asian War, the navy did not come out on top, but this time against the Netherlands, the navy had to assume the responsibility of the main force of the war, which made Lu Ping's heart rise up a kind of pleasure in creating history.

Although the overall strength of the Dutch East India Squadron is not as good as that of China's South Sea Squadron, the Netherlands is a former maritime colonial power, and the "sea coachman" has long been reduced to a European settlement. But this shabby settlement still has a bit of a family background in the end, although the Dutch Army is a showmanship. But the quality of the Dutch Navy is really not to be reckoned with. Before going south, Lu Ping had carefully studied the Dutch Navy, and he believed that the military quality of the Dutch Navy would not be worse than that of the Japanese Navy, but due to the limitations of national strength, the Dutch Navy could not be equipped with more powerful warships, and it was precisely because of this that the Dutch Navy did not give a deep impression, but was only a security fleet used to maintain order in the colonies.

The Dutch government also seems to be aware of the inadequacy of the Dutch naval forces. Therefore, in the past few years, when the naval arms race between Britain and Germany was at its peak, the Dutch government also formulated an ambitious naval expansion plan, according to which the Netherlands would build nine 20,000-ton pocket dreadnoughts, and once these battleships were built, five of them would be deployed to the East Indies Colonies to strengthen their control over the colonies and prevent other naval powers from coveting the region. However, this naval expansion plan of the Dutch government was postponed indefinitely due to the outbreak of war in Europe, on the one hand, due to the British trade blockade, on the other hand, the financial constraints of the Dutch government, and in the end, the Netherlands now did not have a single ocean-going battleship available. The largest warship was the "Seven Provinces Alliance," a coastal defense battleship, with a displacement of only 6,500 tons and a maximum voyage of 16 knots.

Rupin also got the news that the Dutch Navy was in the "Union of Seven Provinces." The Nearshore Defense Battleship has now been incorporated into the Dutch Far East Task Force and is now on its way to the East Indies, but given the ship's voyage. I am afraid that before it reaches the East Indies, this Sino-Dutch battle may be over.

Judging from the confrontation at sea a few days ago, the officers and men of the Dutch fleet were enthusiastic and skilled, and in this case, Lu Ping had to be more cautious against them, in other words. He is now fighting the wild cat as a tiger, not afraid that he will not die, but he is afraid that he will not be sharp enough.

Like Lu Ping, all the officers and staff officers who were still standing in the conference room were somewhat anxious. From time to time, many people took out their watchlists to check the time, but no one spoke, just waiting for a telegram from the Second Detachment of the South Seas.

Finally, twenty minutes later, a staff officer hurried into the officer's conference room and handed a copy of a telegram to Lupin.

Lu Ping glanced at the telegram, then put it on the conference table, let out a long sigh, glanced at the officers in the conference room, and gave the battle order in a very calm tone.

"Now, I order, in five minutes, the lights will be controlled, the supply fleet will go north, the battle fleet will turn around, and the course will be south-southeast, aiming at the Belli Ocean, and all warships will be in a column, following the flagship action." It is said that the book is full of umbrellas