When Duan Qing complained that he didn't have a battleship to play, there were still people who were complaining, that is, Richard, the fleet commander of the British Royal Navy? Admiral Howe. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Richard? Hao is an old friend of the Tang Navy. More than ten years ago, the Royal Navy fleet he led was defeated off the coast of the United States by the Tang Navy warships that were still some treasure ships converted from some treasure ships at that time. Although he was defeated, General Hao's career was not affected, but the materials he carefully summarized after the war to fight against the Tang Navy were valued by the Royal Navy, and General Hao was promoted all the way.

Now that Admiral Hao is in command of the entire Anglo-Dutch fleet to face the Tang Navy, it would be completely deceptive to say that he is not nervous. But Admiral Howe was not entirely unconfident, and although the Anglo-Dutch fleet was smaller, the Royal Navy had more heavy artillery. And he believed that the French had abandoned the Navy for so long, by Villaret? The French naval fleet led by Jovajoz may only hold back the Tang Navy.

General Hao is very practical, he does not seek to sink many warships of the Tang Navy, nor does he seek to defeat the Tang French fleet, he only needs to hold the eastern section of the strait, prevent the Tang Navy from entering the North Sea, and launch a landing operation against the Netherlands. Of course, General Hao also knew very well that even if the Tang ground army could not land in the Netherlands, the Tang, French and German forces from Belgium would be able to push the Dutch flat. This did not mean that General Howe's work was any less important, but that he needed to work harder to protect the eastern part of the Channel so that the British Army, which had later withdrawn to its homeland, could return safely.

At this time, he looked at the buzzing seaplane in the sky, and his mood was simply terrible.

He said to his cronies: "Then remind me that I must write a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, that our warships must be equipped with weapons capable of shooting at high places, and that these nasty planes may not be able to kill our ships, but they will expose our position to the enemy, which is a terrible feeling." ”

But soon he added: "I heard that there are people in Manchester who are copying the Don's plane, and if we can succeed, we will be able to obtain this effective weapon." Alas, speaking of which, the pattern of naval warfare is changing at a speed that is unimaginable to us, and more than ten years ago, the sailors standing on the mast and pulling the cable could not have imagined that now we are burning coal and installing more than a dozen inches of heavy artillery on a giant ship with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons. Now that we see a new way of fighting, we old bones may soon be unable to keep up with the times. ”

The sun was setting in the west, and the orange light stained the sea and the Vengeance he was on, and General Howe, who had the sunset draped over his shoulders, was not depressed, but he smiled and said, "After nightfall, these damn planes will not be able to know where we are." ”

Seven hours later, on the eastern part of the English Channel.

"Call the second escort formation, this is the third ship, whether it has arrived at the operational indication area, over."

"Three, three, the second guard formation has entered the operational command area, waiting for the combat order, over."

"The battle begins!"

The gloomy night, even though the stars are shining, is still pitch black because it is only a crescent moon. A convoy formation of one light cruiser and five frigates was slowly approaching the unconscious Anglo-Dutch fleet in the shadow of night. The British and Dutch had used light control very much ahead of their time, but they could be clearly displayed on the radar of the Tang Navy warships. On the ships of the Second Escort Formation, which also carried out strict light control, the sailors used the first-generation low-light night vision devices to observe the Anglo-Dutch fleet that was getting closer and closer, and gradually became a little nervous.

Li Xianhua divided his fleet into four formations, the first cruiser consisting of the battleship Hawaii and the cruiser Jiyuan, 2 Pinghai-class cruisers and 2 Thunder-class frigates; the second cruiser formation consisting of the Jingyuan and 4 Pinghai-class cruisers and 2 Liberty-class frigates; The first escort group consisting of 1 Vancouver-class light cruiser and 2 Liberty Wind class and 3 Tempest-class ships; The second escort group consists of 1 Vancouver-class cruiser, 1 Rainstorm-class, and 4 Thunder-class. (Frigates of the fleet are redeployed)

Obviously, the two cruiser formations are the main combat force, while the escort formations perform more diverse tasks, such as escorting the main formations, reconnaissance, and now mine warfare sneak attacks.

The Anglo-Dutch fleet almost had no night combat capability, but the Datang Navy warships all had the ability to fight at night. Not only do they have radar, but they also have low-light night vision devices, which are very useful even though they are older.

Hu Zhen, the captain of the light cruiser Fuxing and the commander of the second escort formation, said, "Sure enough, the big fish is here, and the British and Dutch have grouped their fleets here." ”

Of course, Hu Zhen didn't think that the second escort formation would be able to eat all the enemy ships, and the battle he was actually arranged was very simple - sneak attack at night and run away after the fight.

After all, the capital ships of the British and those cruisers are also a bit scary, and the small body of a few frigates still can't afford to toss.

Entering the range of 6,000 yards, Hu Zhen took a deep breath, grabbed the intercom and shouted: "Torpedo, launch!" ”

A total of 36 torpedoes were thrown from the launch tubes of the six ships, which then dived into the water and swam towards the enemy ship. Although the appearance of the enemy ship in the night is not very clear, and the hit rate may not be very good, there will inevitably be more unlucky guys.

Hu Zhen did not delay, ordered the fleet to break away immediately, a 533 torpedo weighs half a ton, and there is naturally no such thing as a crane on a frigate with a small tonnage, and it can continue to load torpedoes in wartime, so it is a standard action to run immediately after a shot.

The Anglo-Dutch fleet sailed straight and at a constant speed at night, and the advance of the second escort formation was calculated without any problems, and a large number of torpedoes were silent like skilled assassins under the unwatched water, and then in the last moment, at a glance, a loud bang.

Standing in the bridge and watching the scene that happened over there, Hu Zhen counted excitedly: "One, two...... Awesome, hit 5 boats! ”

The lethality of the torpedo with a large charge was extremely terrible, and again, with complete unpreparedness, it clearly hit a battleship, two cruisers and two frigates. The most unlucky frigate directly ate four torpedoes and was directly cut into several pieces. The rest of the cruiser and another frigate were also hit multiple times and directly began to sink.

The pride of the British, the first battleship Warrior, also suffered a shot, hit the stern, and even injured the propeller, although it did not sink, but it was also heavily damaged, and it was basically impossible to participate in the subsequent battle. (To be continued.) )