Before the fleet went to sea, Lin Zhe had already learned the details through telegrams, and at the same time, he also sent telegrams to Lin Dabiao, Shen Tongdeng and other naval generals on the front line before the war to boost the morale of the army.

However, after the fleet went to sea, due to the influence of backward communications and other factors, let alone Lin Zhe in Nanjing, even Lin Dabiao in Guangzhou could not learn about the situation of the fleet in time.

Since the Combined Fleet left the Guangzhou Military Port, Lin Dabiao, the chief of the Admiralty, had lost real-time contact with the fleet, and it was only after the fleet arrived in Hong Kong that he learned about the current situation through telegrams.

After the fleet left Hong Kong, Lin Dabiao completely lost the specific connection with the fleet.

On the day when the fleet went to sea to meet the British East India Fleet, many high-ranking naval officials were waiting for the specific battle report from the front line, and this was a full day, and it was only in the evening that Shen Tongdeng led the fleet back, but they did not enter Hong Kong Island, but went straight to Guangzhou.

This is because Shen Tongdeng's fleet is still seriously damaged, and most of the superstructures of many warships, mainly the sail system, have been destroyed, and some open-air rotating turrets and naval guns are also damaged.

Although Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui Port also has the ability to berth large warships, it does not have a large-scale shipyard and obviously lacks the ability to maintain large-tonnage warships.

Therefore, Shen Tongdeng's fleet passed through Hong Kong and did not enter, but only sent communication ships to Hong Kong, and then sent telegrams to Guangzhou and Nanjing.

The message was soon delivered to Nanjing through the telegraph network, and the message was finally delivered to Lin Zhe.

Looking at the message in his hand. Lin Zhe breathed a sigh of relief: he sank one large enemy ironclad ship and two wooden ships. Hit at least three or more ships.

The Snail and the Zhenbei are sinking!

Although the report is not too detailed, there is no mention of the course of the naval battle, as well as the specific number of casualties or prisoners. Because the Navy itself is not counted now.

But just seeing the Resistance that sank the enemy, then Lin Zhe was able to determine that this naval battle was undoubtedly the victory of the Imperial Navy.

At the cost of a small ironclad ship and an offshore ironclad ship of 1,800 tons, a large ironclad ship of more than 6,000 tons and two other wooden warships of the enemy were sunk.

It can be said that being able to sink a large ironclad ship of the British was beyond Lin Zhe's expectations.

Although Lin Zhe didn't know much about the navy, his understanding of the navy was not even an ordinary military fan in later generations. Knowing about aircraft carriers, knowing battleships and so on, but if you want him to talk about the development of the modern navy, you will definitely be blind.

It is impossible for anyone who is not specialized in the study of modern navy to know the development of the navy in this period from the middle to the end of the 19th century, and the navy developed very rapidly during this period, and the types and performance of warships changed every few years.

Lin Zhe's understanding of ironclad ships in this era. In fact, he still learned about it after arriving in this era, but he has some forward-looking cognition in later generations, so even if it is something vague, he can see what the navy wants.

He doesn't need to understand what kind of technology is the best. He just needs to let the navy develop along the lines of the warships of the First World War and the Second World War in history.

Therefore, to develop the navy, it is not necessary for Lin Zhe to understand the specific hull design. Shooting work of steam engines, naval guns. It is enough for him to know what kind of battleship represents the trend of development.

And what is the right trend?

Battleship!

There is no doubt that Lin Zhe has set only one development goal for the navy in the next 50 years. That is to develop towards the battleships of later generations.

Lin Zhe's own understanding of battleships, especially the naval tactics and battleships of this era, is not too good, at least it is incomparable with those predecessors who have brought Baidu or various system artifacts, but even ordinary people know that the British Resistance is more than 6,000 tons, and it is impossible to sink this battleship, with the current strength of the Imperial Navy on paper.

However, this seemingly impossible thing has become a reality.

This is a huge surprise for Lin Zhe!

What tactics were used in the naval battle and what kind of impact it would have on the subsequent naval battles, Lin Zhe didn't care much about these things, and naturally a large number of generals in the navy paid attention to these things.

What Lin Zhe has to do now is very simple!

That is to reward the meritorious soldiers of this naval battle!

There is nothing more than a reward to reflect his satisfaction with this naval battle, his satisfaction with the performance of the navy!

Immediately, he recruited the secretary of the secretariat: "Make a note, give Shen Tongdeng the title of baron, promote Lin Tongshu to colonel, and let the navy come up with the list as soon as possible and reward him!" ”

After that, he looked at the good news in his hand again, and it also mentioned that Guo Chengjing, the captain of the Nusnail, was martyred in the collision with the ship, and in thousands of years of ancient traditions, there is a tradition of the dead being the greatest.

Guo Chengjing's martyrdom naturally cannot be ignored, not only can it not be ignored, but it must be rewarded heavily!

Immediately, Lin Zhe said: "Posthumously award Guo Chengjing as a rear admiral, award a baron, make an exception to attack the knight generation, and the family should be appeased!" ”

Lin Zhe's posthumous teaching of Guo Chengjing is actually for those who are still alive, in addition to other soldiers of the military, but also for those family members.

In fact, when the secretariat personally sent someone to Guo Chengjing's home in Jiujiang Mansion, Jiangxi Province three days later, sent them a notice of death, and also read out the posthumous decree, Guo Chengjing's old father was full of expectations for the baron's title, even though he was full of tears.

The title of baron, even if it is posthumously, is not so easy to obtain, the title of nobility is basically the top honor in the empire, there are only more than 130 nobles in the whole empire, except for a small number of royal relatives who can obtain the title of nobility, the rest are either outstanding military achievements or outstanding founding heroes.

There has never been a precedent for an ordinary colonel to be able to obtain a noble title, let alone a grace that has never been granted posthumously, but it can be made in the generation of knights, which can be said to be rare in the empire in recent years.

Subsequently, the official of the inner room of the palace affairs department was given to Guo Chengjing's eldest son, who had just been admitted to the first grade of the naval officer academy last year, and Guo Baishou, who was only eighteen years old, was awarded the title of baron.

In this way, Guo Baishou has become the youngest nobleman in the empire except for a few young princes, and at the same time the only nobleman in the military with a military rank below the rank of major general, well, he is also the first nobleman to obtain a knighthood due to inheritance, and the most important thing is that he is unmarried, and he is also the only unmarried nobleman in the empire except for a few young princes.

At first, the Imperial Affairs Department only managed the affairs of the Imperial Family, and later also supervised the affairs of the nobility.

After all, the aristocratic system is different from the ordinary official system, this is an honorary title that belongs to a status and status, and has no direct connection with the official system.

The posthumous award of Guo Chengjing and the knighthood of his eldest son Guo Baishou are mainly intended to boost the morale of the army, show the royal concern for the naval officers, and say that the royal family will never let down the families of the martyrs, so as to relieve their worries.

These arrangements for dealing with the aftermath cannot be ignored, and to some extent, the generous treatment of the martyrs is far more important than the generous treatment of the existing soldiers.

And just when Lin Zhe was thinking about how to deal with the subsequent series of reward affairs, Lin Dabiao also set up dozens of banquets that night to celebrate the victory of the returning fleet!

During the banquet, surrounded by everyone, the most limelight was not Lin Dabiao, nor Shen Tongdeng, but Lin Tongshu.

The young face was flushed because he had drunk too much, but Lin Tongshu was able to become the head of the Combined Fleet Staff Group at a young age, and was actually responsible for commanding such a huge naval battle, in addition to his personal talent and ability, it was also related to his character and personality.

In him, you don't see the impulses peculiar to young people.

Even in the face of Lin Dabiao coming to toast in person, Lin Tongshu did not forget his pride and reserve as a naval officer.

This is a naval officer who looks kind on the surface, but is full of pride on the inside!

After a celebration banquet, some of the officers and men in the Guangzhou Military Port took a short vacation, but most of the officers did not have time to rest.

Some officers went to the shipyard and urged the shipyard to repair the warship, and at the same time, the staff team headed by Lin Tongshu also began to study how to prepare for the second attack of the British.

The British navy was extremely powerful, and although they defeated the East India Fleet this time, it could not be said that they had already defeated the British navy.

You must know that although the East India Fleet sent by the British this time has caused huge pressure on the Imperial Navy, for the British Navy itself, the strength of the East India Fleet is very limited, and the capital ships are only two ironclad ships of more than 6,000 tons, and the British have more than ten warships with better performance and stronger combat effectiveness than them, and they still maintain a speed of three or four or even more every year to launch and serve.

Even if the British lost the entire East India Fleet, it would not actually affect the strength of the British Navy.

Based on this, if the British continued to send warships to reinforce the East India Fleet, it would certainly pose a major threat to the Imperial Navy.

At the same time, considering that in the previous battles, the wooden battleships of the British and the small-tonnage offshore ironclad ships almost did not play any role, and could only be used as targets to be beaten, and the follow-up British will definitely reinforce the main ironclad ships.

At that time, if the British randomly dispatched two 10,000-ton ironclad ships, combined with the Hector and other ironclad ships of several thousand tons transferred by the British, it would bring a major threat to the Imperial Navy.

At that time, how will the Imperial Navy respond? (To be continued.) )