Although a night attack did not inflict heavy damage on the Anglo-Dutch fleet, it made General Howe feel a strong sense of crisis. Pen %Fun %Cabinet www.biquge.info his fleet could not fight at night, and apparently the Don had a way of fighting unknown to them, being able to spot them in the dark of night and carry out torpedo attacks. The torpedo was not too new to the British, who also tried to produce their own torpedoes, which would be equipped on the latest ships. Of course, the combat performance of these torpedoes is far from being comparable with Datang's torpedoes.

Admiral Howe said to Gambier, one of the captains of the fleet who relied on him, "We can no longer avoid battle in this way, the Dons rely on small frigates capable of firing torpedoes, and it is enough to attack us at night to inflict heavy damage on us many times." ”

In fact, this speculation is not correct, because even if the Tang Navy sent some torpedoes and shells to France and could replenish them, the fleet had to return to port and could not continue to stay at sea. Therefore, after the 2nd Guards Formation had fired a torpedo, it was temporarily impossible to launch another night attack.

Gambier hesitated a little and said: "Although we will not lose to the Datang fleet in terms of firepower, the speed of the Datang Navy ships is always beyond our reach. ”

Speaking of this, several British Royal Navy officers are a little envious, although now Britain has initially established its own industrial system, which can manufacture steam engines used in trains and ships, but their level is also relatively limited, and they are not even able to understand the level of foreign trade products of the Tang people, let alone further develop better models on this basis and apply them to warships.

General Hao sighed: "We need time to catch up with the Tang people, alas, this war should not be fought at all." ”

The people in the Royal Navy basically didn't know much about the baskets that British politicians were poking in the Qing Kingdom, or knew that Britain was friendly with the Qing Kingdom, but they didn't directly associate this with angering the Tang Dynasty. More people still think that the Tang Dynasty really went to war with Britain because of the defense of the republic.

Of course, in essence, the Tang Dynasty did not get involved in the war in Europe because of the alliance between Britain and Qing or because of the maintenance of the republic, and in the final analysis, it was a matter of national interests. At this time, Europe is equal to half of the world, and Europe is the world, and Datang is enough to take the lead in the global colony seizure by extending its influence in Europe. Moreover, Datang also hopes to stabilize several new pro-Tang countries and further develop the European market in this European war.

General Hao said calmly: "Fight, if it is very unfavorable, we will retreat immediately, and if we can't retreat, we will immediately raise the white flag, and after the war, we will find a way to redeem these warships, even if the battleships can't be redeemed, we must keep every sailor of the Royal Navy, they are the most important key to the formation of the Royal Navy." ”

Gambier couldn't help but be moved when he heard this, and he said, "Your Excellency, is your judgment so pessimistic? ”

General Hao shook his head and said: "I think we have a chance to win, but our opponent is the Datang Navy, although we are not happy to admit that the most powerful navy in the world is not our Royal Navy but them." So, for the sake of the development of the Royal Navy, for the good of Britain, we must be sane. ”

In fact, it is not simply cautious, but also not hopeless about victory. Perhaps before last night, General Howe thought they had some hope, but the surprise night attack of the Dons once again opened the British to a completely new field, which made them nervous. It's like a competition between two martial arts masters, one loses under the other's palm, and after going back, he practices his palm, thinking that he can get back to the field, but this time the enemy has learned profound swordsmanship, and when he goes back to learn swordsmanship, the opponent has practiced hidden weapons again......

General Hao couldn't help but write in his notebook: "If we keep following the route of the Tang people, we can only be surpassed by the new things of the Tang people when we have not caught up with the Tang people. ”

On the other side, Li Xianhua, the commander of the Tang and French fleets, received a communication that the Anglo-Dutch fleet was sailing westward, judging that it was taking the initiative to seek war.

Li Xianhua couldn't help laughing: "This Englishman is really easy to speculate, he was scared by our night attack, and now he jumped out directly and wanted a decisive battle." Okay, so let's have a good fight with them and show them what a world-class navy is. ”

If the person who is now in the commander's position is Bai Nan, he may be more patient, constantly taking advantage of the radar and speed of the Datang fleet, so that the Anglo-Dutch fleet cannot capture the power of the Datang Navy, and then launch night attacks and surprise harassing attacks on the enemy, and finally give the enemy a fatal blow after consuming the last bit of energy of the enemy.

But Li Xianhua, who likes to open and close, will not be this command style, Bai Nan focuses on strange maneuvers and as few losses as possible in combat tactics, while Li Xianhua is simple, rough and direct. Li Xianhua's idea is also very clear, that is, through such a decisive battle, he will destroy the self-confidence that the British have built up with great difficulty in the past ten years, and let them know that they still have an insurmountable gap with the Tang Navy.

At 1:25 p.m. on June 1, 1794, the outer frigates of the Anglo-Dutch fleet made contact with the main force of the Tang and French fleets, and the two sides were about twenty-five thousand yards apart.

Li Xianhua judged it at the first time: "The speed of the three frigates is the fastest in the Royal Navy, and they should not only come over to reconnoitre, but eighty percent should be decoys." ”

The operational staff officer asked: "So what do we do, stop following the enemy ships and continue to the east?" ”

Li Xianhua waved his hand and said: "There is no need for this, the angler should have this consciousness when fishing, and the bait that he put down may be a shark with greater strength than himself, and the shark will drag the angler directly into the sea and bite to death." ”

His judgment was not wrong, the Anglo-Dutch fleet coming from the northeast was using three frigates as bait for the capital ships, and in the case of being inferior to the Datang battleships, Richard? Howe used this strategy to make himself enter a favorable firing position faster and more actively when the war started.

When the Datang ship continued to sail eastward, the main force of the Anglo-Dutch fleet, which was more than 30 nautical miles behind the frigate, suddenly made a C-shaped turn on the left rudder, and the great advantage of this turn was that it directly made its fleet battle line in the T-shape, and most of the firepower was enough to output! (To be continued.) )