"It will take at least 40 minutes for the enemy to get closer, and 40 minutes will be enough to make up for our mistakes......"

Admiral Howard's shock was fleeting aboard the British flagship, the Fury, and he issued a new order in an extremely calm tone, and once a new gap was torn open, the fleet burst in and went its separate ways.

The squire Sokelin looked at his commander with admiration, and the morale that had fallen to the bottom due to the appearance of Seris reinforcements was lifted again, the British navy will not fail!

Soklin obviously didn't see through the commander's disguise, and behind that calm face, there was endless remorse and great anger.

If you are more active and insert into the opponent's battle line to form a melee, even if the losses are greater, you will be able to crush the enemy in front of you before the enemy reinforcements arrive. Even if the fleet loses half of its warships, with eight ships against ten, it still has the strength to fight, at least it can control the undefeated situation.

But because of his conservatism and seeking stability, such an opportunity was buried in vain, and thinking that he might regret it for the rest of his life in the future, Howard was covered in cold sweat.

What made Howard even angrier was that the French, Portuguese and even Dutch had deceived him! Even if the Seris had not been dragged down by the feint to take away the other two battleships, plus the maximum four new ones, it would have been impossible to make up another eight battleships. According to the credible accounts of the Dutch, Seris only had docks in Siam and Whampoa that could build battleships, and in less than a year, how could it be possible to make up eight ships at once. Even Britain itself had to work hard to achieve this rate of expansion.

The Dutch and the intelligence traffickers of the other two countries would have cried out if they had heard Howard's heart, and the information they had provided to the Britons after the Second Battle of Ceylon was infallible. The Seris had already mobilized all the battleships to the Western Ocean, and there was not a single battleship in the other seas, according to their estimates, Siam and Whampoa must be building battleships, but for most of the year, no more than four could be built in two places. No more than two ships can enter service.

In this era when there were no telegraph telephones, and the countries of Europa did not have military espionage agencies in Asia, Howard had only sporadic intelligence from the mouths of businessmen, which was messy, contradictory, and grossly outdated.

It is hard for Howard to imagine that there are now six shipyards in Seris that can build battleships, and in addition to Siam and Whampoa, Luzon, Hong Kong, and Fuzhou have the capacity to produce two battleships a year. After the recovery of Jiangnan, the Jiangnan Shipyard belonging to the Wusong Manufacturing Bureau is a new type of sea ship base vigorously built by Yinghua, with the help of Japan's cold zone trees, the battleships of the Jiangnan Shipyard are better than the products of other shipyards in terms of protection.

If you run at full capacity at all costs. Yinghua can pile up nearly twenty battleships a year, of course, even if the silver can afford it, the artillery production of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau can keep up, but the crew is far from in short supply. Therefore, after the Second Battle of Ceylon, only eight battleships were launched into the sea by Yinghua and were sent to the Western battlefield by Xiao Shengquan.

Considering the lack of combat experience in large formations, and at the same time, I am afraid that the Britons will see through their own strength. Not daring to fight a decisive battle, and to run again, Hu Hanshan and Lu Hanshan formulated a strategy of dividing their troops. The main fleet was in Chittagong, and the detachment was in Malacca. After learning of the appearance of the British fleet, the two groups marched together, made an appointment for the time of convergence, and agreed: if the Lu Han and Shaanxi fleets met the enemy first. They retreated to the northeast and joined up with the main fleet.

Fortunately, the sea conditions have been good these days, and the convergence of the two roads is only a few hours worse than the original plan, and the Lu Hanshan fleet happened to seize the opportunity to sneak attack from the flank, which cannot but be said to be luck.

"Keep a distance, don't be dragged into the melee by foreign devils!"

Since God is also on his side, then you must not be polite. Hu Hanshan hurriedly beckoned the fleet to speed up and sail to the west. ..., both battle lines had already driven to the headwind position, and with the movement of the Cyris fleet, Howard's heart sank again, the enemy ship was yards away from him, and the light of hope in his heart dimmed a little.

The Sagath of the God of War is rapidly tilting towards the Seris. The speed of the battleship of Seris was at least two percent faster than that of the British battleship, and even if the battleline of Seris was messy due to maneuvering and there were several gaps, the British battleship could not catch up with the other side, let alone cut into the gap and fight closely.

"If the rifled guns of the Seris are more powerful, they can bombard us at least one nautical mile away with their high speed, even if the entire British Navy is here, it will only be their target, high speed, rifled guns, the future naval battle may be very different......"

Even when his emotions were low to the water line, Howard was still looking at the enemy with a professional eye, speculating about the future, and inadvertently, he had vaguely felt the laws of naval warfare in the next era. He also believes that after this naval battle, there will be great changes in the design of warships and the shape of naval warfare.

The battleship Cyris was moving away, the active captain single-ship pursuit, the conservative captain waiting for orders, and the messy situation of the British fleet's battle line pulled Howard's thoughts back. Sokelin reported that the captains had hoisted the flags requesting orders, but Howard was having a hard time.

At this time, any admiral, even a genius commander, will be embarrassed, and Howard is no exception.

He was hesitating whether to fight or retreat, and in front of the Cyris fleet, which had formed an absolute superiority, the final outcome was to retreat, so he had only the choice of retreating while fighting, or retreating immediately.

However, the prospects for both options were not good, and it was of course the best option to retreat immediately, but because of the previous conservatism, even arrogance, the British battle line went straight down from the upper hand, and after completing the turn, there was no adjustment. At present, the battle line has reached a headwind position, and the western retreat is blocked by the Cyriss fleet, which is also facing the headwind.

Not to mention the south, it is the southwest wind, although the east can seize the wind position, but it has to collide with the opponent's reinforcements, the north...... The Bay of Bengal does not have access to the western Indian Ocean.

So fighting and retreating while playing is a more realistic choice, but which side should you play? The enemy army in front can't catch up, so go and hit the back, that is to expose your ass to the enemy in front of you.

Howard's face remained the same, but his forehead sweated involuntarily, and at the moment he hated himself for being the commander of the Navy, not the commander of the Army. If it is an army, it is very convenient for him to divide his troops, leave a rearguard, and lead the main force to meet the reinforcements, which is the most secure strategy, and there is even a slight chance of victory. But at sea, or in wartime, it would mean a disaster. This is not a problem that can be solved by hanging up the flag.

After the little squire Soklin repeated the request again, Howard made a painful choice, "The whole army continues to pursue!" ”

If you can't catch up, you can also set up a retreating posture, and as for the cruiser on the battlefield on the other side, you can ask for more blessings.

The originally noisy battlefield was temporarily quiet, only the sound of rifled guns sounded sporadically, it was the retreating Huhan Mountain battleships bombarding the British battleships that had caught up with their tail rifled guns. By 4:20. The Lu Han Shaanxi army had chased half a nautical mile of the British fleet, and the roar of rifled guns suddenly doubled, and the battlefield boiled again.

Howard's hit-and-run strategy shattered, and the ship's speed was not only lower than that of the opposing party. Most of the battleships were wounded and unable to sail at full speed, and with the exception of another battleship that had lost its mast in pursuit and was left behind, the remaining twelve battleships were dumpled by Syris's twenty-six battleships.

"The whole army retreated, each fighting for ......"

When the battle situation reached its most critical, Howard calmed down and gave orders to the little attendant officer with a grief on his face. ..., how many ships can escape, this is Howard's greatest wish.

The blood-red twin dragon banner was pressed down from the clouds. The large, black-and-red hull of the drive is lined up as a wall of death from the left and right, gradually closing.

The British cross flag was toppled one after another in the artillery fire, and the battleships rushed in different directions, braving several times the artillery fire of their own, fighting incessantly. An indomitable captain, a brave officer. The well-trained crew is fighting not only for their own survival, but also for the honor of the British Royal Navy.

Howard's orders were not strictly enforced, and there was no shortage of fresh troops who rushed to the east with their own sacrifices in exchange for the retreat of their colleagues. The division of troops that Howard wanted to achieve before was completed by the captains' tacit agreement at the last moment.

The bravery of the Britons was evident in this battle, but their opponents were the Seris. It was the Seris who were ridiculed by the Britons as a "peasant nation". Their crews were so clumsy in maneuvering the sails, and their captains lacked imagination and spirituality in maneuvering their ships, but when it came to valor, the Britons would overwhelm the French or the Spaniards, but never the Serisians.

On the Bai Qi Trumpet, Hu Hanshan waved his saber with one arm. roared like a lion: "This is the kind of opponent who is worthy of my Hu Hanshan's lost arm!" Come on, sons! ”

On the Li Jing, Lu Hanshan's eyes were already red: "Don't think about living anymore!" Today is a good day for us to sink into the sea with the Britons! ”

Lu Hanshan's call sign is the voice of all the officers and men of the Anglo-Chinese Navy present, the Anglo-Chinese Navy has only been established for more than 20 years, the foundation is very shallow, and it is not reserved at all, compared with the British Royal Navy with a century-old heritage, it is barefoot against those who wear shoes, and the battle damage ratio is not too ugly to the heart.

More importantly, after defeating this fleet, it would be difficult for Britain to invest more in the Indian Ocean, and even if the British and Chinese Navy sank all these thirty-two battleships here, it would only be able to build another thirty-two in two years. Although the loss of talent is painful, but in addition to the newly restored Shaanxi, the population of 150 million in Britain and China, and the 20,000 officers and men of the navy are only a drizzle, and they can be made up for in three to five years at most.

"Fight! Fight to the death! ”

Behind the Lu Han and Shaanxi fleets, on the battleship Qi Jiguang, Li Kezai and his classmates clenched their fists and shouted loudly, but they were a full mile away from the British fleet, and only rifled guns were contributing on the ship.

Lu Hanshan's call sign was just a slogan after all, and of course it was impossible for the Prince Seat ship to rush to the first line, not only did Qi Jiguang fail to participate in the first line, but another battleship was also guarding the side. In order to protect the prince who had been trained in battle, he wasted the precious combat power of two battleships, which seems to be a very fucked up. But in fact, the officers and men of these two battleships are basically new and tender, and rushing to the front line is a living target, and the navy combines the protection of the prince and the training of officers and men, which can be regarded as taking into account both public and private interests, and even Li Kezai himself has nothing to say.

It was past 5 p.m., the sky was beginning to sink, and the sea was tormented by artillery fire for a long time, and the water vapor mixed with the smoke of gunpowder, and the battlefield was shrouded in a pungent and moist mist.

The sound of the Fury's cannons faded, and the crooked mast pressed against the helm platform, scarlet blood staining the brown planks. Sockerin emerged from the gap between the mast and the floor, and ran crookedly, looking for his commander on the helm.

He soon found that the commander's arm had been hit by the mast beam, and the whole person was crushed against the ship's plank, and if it weren't for the fact that his chest was still heaving, Sokelin would have thought that the admiral had died in battle like the previous commander.

"Hang the flag...... Surrender ......"

The commander groaned as he gave the order, and Sokelin wept bitterly, knowing that defeat was inevitable. There are probably not many people left on the Fury. It's a miracle that it hasn't sunk yet. ..., "The Crown and the Battler of Bedford have escaped, Your Excellency, I saw it with my own eyes......"

When Sokelin returned, he comforted the commander.

Admiral Howard closed his eyes in relief, then opened them suddenly, and his body lifted at the same time, and there was a small rattle, and he screamed in pain. Leaving half of the smashed arm under the beam.

"Help me up, Sokelin, we're going to meet with the guests soon, we can't be too rude."

Howard staggered to his feet. With one hand, he arranges his military uniform.

"By the way, we are the guests, they, the Seris, from now on, are the masters here......"

Then Howard realized that he had made a mistake and corrected it with a faint smile, with a hint of regret floating in his smile.

It wasn't long before the grappling hook was hooked up to the ship's side. One by one, the blue-clad soldiers went onto the deck and appeared in front of Sokelin, who was so nervous that he was about to faint, and Admiral Howard, who had lost too much blood and was still holding himself in a pose.

"This is His Excellency Admiral Howard, the British Prince, who has given up the war and asks to preserve the dignity of the soldiers......"

Seeing the blue-clad soldiers approaching with guns, Sokelin shuddered and made a surrender announcement.

"Admiral...... Doctors, hurry up and save people! ”

The blue-clad officer in the lead looked at the general, whose sleeve was not bleeding, and tilted his head to signal. Then he looked at Sokelin again.

"So, what's your name? Bub? ”

The Seris spoke very crappy Britannica, but Sokelin understood.

Thirteen-year-old Sokelin struggled to keep himself straight, "Mo, Maurice-Sockerin......"

The officer reached out to wipe the blood and gunpowder smoke from his face, and the murderous aura on his body also dispersed, and he smiled kindly at Soklin: "Okay, Maurice Soklin, I accept your surrender. ”

Thirty-three years later. Maurice Sockering, who was already a Colonel of the British Royal Navy and commanded a third class battleship, said to the thirteen-year-old lieutenant-in-waiting, who had just taken up his post as his attendant: "In my generation I may not see the British Navy return to the Indian Ocean again, and I hope your generation will do it." ”

The second lieutenant said suspiciously: "Uncle, the Indian Ocean has never belonged to us British. ”

Sokelin sighed regretfully, "yes, never. It's just that...... There used to be that opportunity. ”

The second lieutenant remembered his uncle's service history as a teenager and said confidently: "If Britain does not need it, the Indian Ocean will definitely be our British!" Although that would mean fighting against the most powerful of the Cyris navy. ”

Sokelin patted the second lieutenant on the shoulder: "Well said, Horatio Nelson!" The Royal Navy of Britain will not be inferior to the Royal Navy of Seris forever! ”

Thirty-three years later, Sockerin still remembers the surrender of that day, and what makes him even more unforgettable is that the crown prince of the Seris Empire actually received him, right on the battlefield, which made him a little more respectful and fearful of the mysterious Seris Empire.

The surrender of Admiral Howard and his squire Sockering was the end of the Third Battle of Ceylon, and the British Navy's navy suffered a defeat rarely seen in a large-scale naval battle in a century. Defeat is not terrible, after all, the Seris have twice their superior forces, but the battleships sank six, captured seven, and only escaped three, and the result of the fleet being almost completely wiped out still made the British royal navy feel humiliated. In contrast, the Cyris sank four ships and damaged four, forcing the royal navy to admit that the Ceris Navy had become one of the naval powers not only in terms of size and equipment, but also in terms of strategy, tactics and organizational technology.

The loss of India was more difficult for the King and Parliament than for the Navy, and Walpole's First Chancellor of the Exchequer was impeached and had to submit his resignation in December of that year.

Walpole's resignation was full of regret and reluctance: "We chose the wrong opponent, we thought that Spain, which was a lion, was just a sick cat, and Seris, whom we thought was a sick cat, was a lion." ”

He also gave diplomatic advice that was consistent with his usual position: "We must see the world clearly and realize that we cannot override the Cyris Empire and rule the whole world." Britain is in the west, Seris is in the east, and the two sides should maintain a long-term and friendly cooperative relationship. If we have lost the wealth of India, we must have the friendship of Seris. ”

But Walpole is the ousted prime minister after all, and whether Britain is willing to accept the rise of Seris will not be considered calmly and rationally until the following year or even later, when the term Seris reverberates more and more in Europa.