With the defeat of Mandalay by the Qing Dynasty, the British army situation in Burma appeared very passive, first of all, all the roads from Yangon to the north and west were blocked by the Qing army, resulting in a serious shortage of supplies for the 70,000 colonial 18th Army trapped in northwest Burma

And the army that landed from Rangoon had to pay the price of blood for every step, not to mention that the enemy on both sides of the east and west did not dare to penetrate too deep In the case that the squadron did not take the initiative to attack, the British troops in Burma were surprisingly unanimous and chose to remain silent

So there was silence on the Burmese border, with only sporadic local fighting, and no large-scale organized group fighting

On the naval side, the British Hong Kong fleet, which is surrounded by the Chinese navy due to China's undeclared war, has never had the opportunity to retreat in the direction of Gapo

It is strange that the Chinese Navy only surrounded them on three sides in Vietnam, Taiwan, and Shanghai, and did not take the initiative to go out

In fact, they didn't know that before the outbreak of the war, Guan Xuqing had concentrated the most elite navy in Vietnam and was preparing to attack California, but the British defense in California was leaky and had never had a chance, so it dragged on until now without any conflict with the British Navy

Both sides were only defending their respective coastlines, but now the Qing army in Burma has won successive victories, and Guan Xuqing has also received information that Britain has wanted to unite France and Japan to attack the Chinese coast

Let's not talk about how terrifying the strength of the combined fleet of Britain and France is, even if Japan, which has not yet developed, attacks or lands on the coast outside the Kansai will be enough to keep the company busy

After all, there were not many troops in the north, and most of the troops were hit in the south and fought with the British, so Guan Xuqing couldn't wait to issue an order to the Dashimizu Division, and within a week, the British Navy Dashimizu Division in Gapo occupied the life route of Malacca, penetrated directly into the Indian Ocean, cut off the supply lines of the British army in Burma, and occupied the port of Yangon, Burma, and cooperated with the army to completely annihilate the British Army in Burma

The sea is as blue as blue, and from time to time there are black-backed birds gliding over the sea, and they pick up fish in the water but do not swallow them, but try to fly to the shore, where there are nests they have built, and there are small birds that need to be nurtured, although the north country has long been full of wind and snow, but in the southern country of the Red River port is still a beautiful scene

"Changsheng", "Undefeated", "Riding the Wind", "Breaking the Waves", "Weiyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Triumphant", "Juyin", "Nanji", "Nanxiang" and "Sailing" all pulled anchor and left Hong Kong, slowly sailed out of the Beibu Gulf, and prepared to go south to Jiapo

In Hong Kong, the four ironclad ships "Dingyuan," "Jiyuan," "Shengli," and "Yongwu," as well as the two cruisers "Nanhu" and "Nanwei," which were purchased from Britain early last year, and dozens of gunboats of the northern series that had just been launched, surrounded the British Hong Kong fleet

"General, is the Chinese Navy coming out of the port to meet the battle?" A soldier from a British observation tower galloped in

Stephen Hawking, commander of the British Hong Kong fleet, was a little at a loss and said in a panic: "How many are coming??" ”

"Nearly twenty warships, including two Saxony-class warships, two ironclads captured from France, two cruisers with a flight of 17.5 built for them by our British Royal Navy, dozens of gunboats"

"Huh? How likely do you think we are to break through, we only have one ironclad ship" Hawking is obviously in chaos Since the outbreak of the China-Burma War, he has been unable to eat or sleep in Hong Kong, living a frightened life, without the rescue of the British ** ship, he is unable to break through, and the Chinese Navy does not come to attack, and his nerves are in a state of high tension all day long

Now that the Chinese navy suddenly appeared in front of him, he didn't know what to do, especially after learning that the warships that came were so powerful, he even gave up the idea of resisting

"We ......"

“………………”

In Vietnam, a British-flagged ironclad ship in front of it emitted thick black smoke, and it was obvious that it had just experienced a fierce battle, and there were "riding the wind" and "breaking the waves" in the back in close pursuit

That's right, the smoky warship is the main ironclad ship of the Hong Kong fleet, the "Ewell", which is a product of the early 17th century, although the displacement has also reached 4,900 tons, but the 14-knot voyage makes him really have no reason to break through the encirclement of so many Chinese navies

However, he did see the "Ewell" staggering in the direction of Gapo, and kept waving the flag of rescue

The British Far East Fleet in Gapo finally discovered the warship of this compatriot

"General, 10,000 miles ahead, General Hawking's fleet was found, it seemed that it had been severely hit, and there was a Chinese navy chasing him with thick black smoke, and General Hawking sent us a flag for help."

The commander-in-chief of the Far East Fleet, Tesler, frowned, he did not receive the order to meet the Hong Kong Fleet to break through, could it be that the Chinese Navy attacked Hawking? But if the Chinese Navy attacks the encircled Hawking, he will have no chance to break out

After all, Testler is a veteran commander who has experienced many wars, and he has already countered the strangeness in front of him

"Tell the observation post to see if the warship is General Hawking himself, otherwise you can't let the warship come in"

"Yes"

Another 20 minutes passed

"Report to the general, the observation post has determined that General Hawking seems to have been injured a little on the warship, and the pursuing Chinese Navy has not dared to chase too close and has partially returned."

"Huh? God, how did Hawking do it? Quick, let the "Royal One" and "Royal II" leave the port to meet them, and the rest of the fleet will be ready for battle."

"Yes"

On the "Zhenyuan", the flagship of the Great Qingshui Division, Deng Shichang held a telescope and looked at the smoking "Ewell", it was obvious that his hands were trembling, whether he was nervous or excited, I am afraid only he knows

"General, should we get closer again?"

"No need, this will give General Yan a great danger, so that all the warships will rush forward to ensure the safety of General Yan's life as soon as the artillery fire in front of them hears the order," Deng Shichang said lightly

"Yes"

Finally, after the "Royal No. 1" and "Royal No. 2" warships of more than 10,000 tons were broken, the "Ewell" finally entered the port of Gapo smoothly

Unfortunately, although the warship flying the British flag was full of Isamu Oshimizu, only one captive, Hawking, waved his hands on the deck, trying to tell his compatriots inside

But the waving Hawking was considered by Taisler to be a celebration for the rest of his life after the disaster, after all, he was the only warship in a Hong Kong fleet that came back, although it was full of holes, and there was smoke coming out from time to time. Black smoke came from the deck, but there was no sign of shelling on the deck

Tesler had a vague feeling that something was wrong, and his sense of foreboding was fully verified by the sound of a cannon that shook the sky

Although the "Iwell" did not sail well, the power of the 240mm main gun was no worse than that of any warship, let alone at such a close distance

The "Royal Ranger", which was just about to come forward to respond, was directly pierced through the 107mm steel plate at close range, and the 3,900-ton strong defense cruiser was sunk by a single shot by a warship flying its own flag

Before most of the British warships could react, the "Ewell" sidestring guns and stern guns were constantly firing, and the gunboats in the harbor that had just pulled anchor were hit by so many guns at close range, and they caught fire one after another, some escaped from the port, some were sunk, and some hurriedly returned fire

It was only then that Tesler could see that there was a black lump of cow dung burning where the "Iwell" was smoking, and the gunners on the deck, although they were wearing Royal Navy uniforms, had betrayed their identity with their long braids and black eyes

But it was too late to find out, and in an instant, he had lost one capital cruiser, two gunboats, and two light defense cruisers with serious injuries

Outside the military port, the Chinese navy has concentrated the main fleets of "Changsheng", "Undefeated", "Riding the Wind", "Breaking the Waves", "Weiyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Triumphant", "Juyin", "Nanji", "Nanxiang", and "Yangfan" and "Sailing".

And "Chang Sheng", "Undefeated", "Triumphant", and "Juin", the first to rush into the military port, in the face of the British ** ships that had not yet had time to load shells, like wolves and sheep, attacked like wolves and sheep and directly sank four ironclad ships

Tysler bowed his head weakly in the Gapo military port, he really couldn't think of any reason to fail, he was deceived by the cunning yellow monkey, if he fought with real knives and guns on the battlefield, he believed that his Royal Navy was strong enough to defeat the Chinese Navy, but now, he was defeated and didn't even have time to react

It's all over

This battle completely opened up the life passage to the Indian Ocean, and wiped out the British naval forces in the Far East, and what made Guan Xuqing most happy was that his own side had zero casualties, and the sneak attack tactics were quite successful, and he also captured the two British main ironclad ships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, the "Royal No. 1" and the "Royal No. 2", which Li Hongzhang could not buy with silver