readx;?“ Fire! ”

Somewhere in the South China Sea, six scorching fiery clusters erupted from the two open turrets of the battleship HMS Queen, and six 16-inch (406mm) guns roared in turn at the four Saxony-class battleships in the distance. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"Commander, it's too far away for us to miss......"

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Before Aspen, chief of staff of the British Eastern Fleet, finished speaking, the 16-inch main guns of the Royal Oak and Remilis on the left and right sides of the Empress of India also roared angrily, and another 12 16-inch giant shells turned into small black dots under the thrust of gunpowder, and flew towards the four Chinese ironclad ships at a speed that was still visible to the naked eye. Twenty or thirty years from now, this distance would have been the best distance for battleships to exchange fire, but now it is a bit far. I saw more than a dozen huge water columns rising into the air, and then they scattered and turned into dots of water droplets.

"Commander, it's too far away, it's a complete waste of ammunition." "We can reach more than 4 knots faster than them, and we can reach nearly 7,400 meters in an hour. It would take another two hours to get rid of them all. ”

"Three hours?" Arthur. Hood smiled bitterly at the corner of his mouth, looked at the four Chinese ironclad ships in front of him, and shook his head, "We won't have an hour, they are not panicking, but deliberately luring us away from the battlefield!" It must be like this! ”

"But the shelling team didn't find anything?"

"That's the Chinese holding their breath!" Arthur. Hood said with certainty, "In fact, as soon as their main fleet appears on the battlefield, our artillery detachment can only retreat immediately." If we still want those steam sailboats. ”

"And we're going to fight?" Aspen asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" Arthur. Hood snorted. "Didn't I keep six ravage-class and Victory-class ships? There they are. Enough to cover the retreat of the main forces of the fleet, if the Chinese really ambushed a large fleet somewhere in the South China Sea. ”

He paused for a moment and showed a confident smile, "That's 6 10,000-ton capital ships, ready to have 16-inch cannons, Chinese, there are no capital ships that can fight with us." And according to reliable intelligence, they also did not have enough naval guns to penetrate the armor of any of our capital ships...... The Chinese's idea of developing naval artillery is a full-rapid-fire gun. This has been proven by the current engagement, they do not have any large-caliber artillery at all, and can only damage our ship, which is unlikely to cause the consequences of sinking. ”

"But the wound ...... Our shipyards in Singapore, Kolkata and Mumbai can't repair too many damaged ships, there aren't enough dry docks, and parts have to be shipped from Europe. ”

"I know, but we still can't afford to miss any opportunity to sink four of China's capital ships...... I want to be sunk, not wounded! "Arthur. "As for our losses...... It's a big deal to send it back to Europe for repairs, as long as there is no major damage to the 3 Indian Queen, 3 Ravage, and 3 Victory. I can still rely on them to defend Singapore for a few months. ”

The biggest weakness of the British Eastern Fleet was the same as that of the Chinese Army, which had penetrated deep into India, in that it did not have reliable logistics. If the number of battleships damaged is not much, it is better to say. If twenty or thirty ships were really badly damaged, I am afraid that more than half of them would have sailed back to Europe. Without a year and a half, these ships will not come back at all. If Britain still wants to maintain its supremacy in the South or Indian Oceans, it will have to let other ships replace them. But in this way, the English Channel and the Atlantic will be empty, and if the French treacherously become traitors to the white world, the British Empire will be suddenly killed!

So Hood's calculation was to inflict a real heavy blow on the Chinese Nanyang Fleet in this naval battle - to sink as many Chinese warships as possible, and it was meaningless for the British Royal Navy to damage Chinese warships in the Nanyang Theater. They will be able to go to sea for a month or two at most...... Arthur, who served as the British Navy's Ordnance Chief. Hood knows best how powerful China's shipbuilding and repair capabilities are!

"Ray, you must have heard Napoleon's famous saying that the essence of war is to make the enemy fearful and obey our will...... It seems to say so. We must now sink as many enemy ships as possible to make the Chinese feel fearful and give up sea supremacy in the South Seas. It has to be sunk! Just if they were injured, they weren't afraid at all! ”

……

"Commander, the British are getting closer!"

In the damaged command tower of the Yongli, the communications officer Zhu Guohui shouted again. The wound on his head was no longer bleeding, but it hurt to death all over his body, and I am afraid that many bones had cracked in the fall just now!

The elderly Yu Guibei's feet seemed to have arrived, and now there was no way to stand, so he sat on the floor in the command tower and commanded. Takehiro Enomoto was unharmed, and was now operating the ship himself to dodge the falling shells.

"How far is it?" Takehiro Enomoto asked.

"About 10,000 meters...... Three battleships of the British ran out at least 16 knots! The first mate of the Eiri replied, Hikonojo Uemura. He's a naval officer and a gunslinger now, because those two unlucky guys fell off the bridge and died!

"Commander, we can't run......"

"Boom ......"

The three British battleships fired another salvo, and one of the shells landed on the sea less than 30 meters to the starboard side of the Yongli, and the splash hit the deck of the Yongli.

"It's a death ......" Zhu Guohui thought of his mother, a woman who was conceived by Emperor Zhu and became a waiter, she only had one child of her own, and she had no illustrious family background to rely on, she was her hope, if she didn't have herself, how sad she should be!

Yu Guibei said weakly at this time: "How far are we from the Riau Islands?" ”

Hikoyuki Uemura checked the chart and replied, "Riau Islands? Less than 15 nautical miles, just to the southeast of us, commander, you mean...... Going to the Riau Islands? There doesn't seem to be our fort there? ”

The Riau Islands are a subsidiary archipelago of Borneo and are part of the province of Lan Phong (now the five provinces of Borneo have been redivided into four provinces, with Hung Minh to the north, Lan Fong to the west, Nanyang to the south, and Fong Bo to the east). Although the islands are close to the Strait of Malacca, their geographical location is very important. However, the Ming army's defense arrangement there was very sloppy, and no forts and military ports were built. It is not a dereliction of duty or a reluctance to pay for it, because this is not the time when aviation dominates the seas. There are very many seas that can be blocked by a battery, and the enemy fleet can easily bypass them.

Yu Guibei shook his head, "No, our four Saxony-class ships are batteries!" ”

……

"Report, received a telegram from the battleship Yongli that the Yongli, Longwu, Shaowu, and Hongguang are retreating in the direction of the Riau Islands, and the three Indian Empress class ships of the British are pursuing them! The current location is east longitude xx, north latitude xx. ”

In the command tower of the fast cruiser Tianjin, the communications officer reported the telegram he had just received.

"Commander, they're here." Zhu Guoguang quickly marked the location on the chart table. "It's about 15 to 20 nautical miles from the main war zone...... I guess we can plug in from the middle. ”

"Cut off the retreat of the British fleet?" Wang Boen tapped lightly on the map table, "Zixiu (Zhu Guoguang's font size), you have a lot of appetite." ”

Zhu Guoguang smiled, "The risk is not small, it is very likely to be attacked by the British!" He glanced at Wang Boen, "Commander, do you want to do it?" ”

"How not?" Wang Boen smiled, "You're not afraid of this prince, what is there to be afraid of my little marquis?" Even if the British three Indian empresses go north, won't we save four Saxony-class? And our ten Tianjin-class ships all have a high speed of 18.2 knots, so I'm afraid that we won't be able to go if we can't beat them? ”

Zhu Guoguang patted the chart table and laughed, "That's it!" Both of our admirals and admirals are watching this battle! This time, there will be a sinking result no matter what! (To be continued......)