It's night, and I can't sleep in many ways.

In the Batavian military port, Arnhem, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, personally saw off Turner and Reyoz, and wished them success.

Turner watched Arnhem and Rayoz talk and laugh as usual, and his heart was full of incomprehension. He remembered Rejotz's words very well, but just now, Arnhem had said the same thing to him as Rejoz, except that he had been abandoned to a different person.

Before they got the treasure ship, they had already begun to plot against each other, and although they had seen this trick of crossing the river and tearing down the bridge many times, Turner still felt that it was very unpleasant.

Arnhem and Rejoz are both calculating like this, so it is conceivable that the calculations of the old foxes of those boards will be even more shameless and ruthless.

Shaking his head vigorously, Turner didn't want anything else, and boarded the warship by himself.

As the flagship Tara Jersey slowly made its way out of the port, the Dutch East India Fleet set sail for the South China Sea, preparing to intercept the treasure fleet of the Chinese Empire.

Hundreds of warships were dispatched, and their movements were obviously very large, and it was difficult to hide from the Chinese agents who were watching nearby.

The news of the dispatch of the Dutch East India fleet immediately reached the fortress of Matapura, a colony of Kalimantan of the Chinese Empire, on the other side of the Java Sea. The fortress of Matapura quickly lifted into the air and followed the Dutch East India fleet along the way.

At the same time, the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, which was on standby in the Arafura Sea, set off after nightfall.

Taking advantage of the cover of night, the Pacific Fleet made a detour to the Banda Sea, and then crossed the Maluku Sea and the Celebes Sea, and entered the Sulu Sea to stand by.

The colonies of Luzon and Kalimantan of the Chinese Empire were flanked on both sides of the Sulu Sea, and when the Pacific Fleet was in Guò at night, it was intercepted by the patrol ships of the coast guards of the two places for fear of exposing the target.

On the battleship Dingyuan, after Shi Jianfei got the report, he was angry.

"A few broken ships will stop our entire Pacific Fleet, how will you let Lao Tzu mess up in the future?"

Shi Jianfei threw his hat, and the adjutant was frightened.

Chief of Staff Wang Nan said at this time: "The coast guard and we are not subordinate to each other, and we have never dealt with each other. This time we entered the range of the Coast Guard's defenses, and it was reasonable for them to stop us without notice."

Shi Jianfei said: "Then sue them for our identity, why do we have to stop, we are on a mission, every second counts"

Wang Nan said: "The constitution stipulates that the National Guard must be notified of the movement of troops in the country, otherwise it will be regarded as illegal, and the National Guard has the right to seize it by force."

"But this is not domestic."

"The latest supplementary law, this condition applies to all overseas colonies of the Empire"

Shi Jianfei sighed and said, "Why don't you score so meticulously, making our army seem to be outsiders?"

Wang Nan said with a smile: "This seems to be unkind, but it is necessary for the long-term stability of the country." If you casually interfere in the domestic affairs of the former army, it is terrible to think about"

"Okay, okay, you have a lot of truths, I can't talk about you" Shi Jianfei waved his hand and said impatiently: "Hurry up and find a way to send them away, we still have to march in a hurry"

Shi Jianfei turned around and left, muttering in a low voice: "The entire fleet was stopped by two broken ships, and it was a big shame for Lao Tzu to spread it."

The people next to him didn't dare to answer, but they were also secretly happy.

Wang Nan smiled bitterly and shook his head, soldiers are most afraid of secretly performing tasks, and there are really a lot of grievances. In normal times, how could the two broken ships of the guard force dare to stop the naval fleet so arrogantly?

However, then again, several Coast Guard ships dared to intercept the Pacific Fleet, which showed that the Imperial National Guard was still doing its duty. It is much more reassuring that the people are protected by them.

Wang Nan went to talk to the commander of the guard warship, but because he could not divulge military secrets and the other party did not know, Wang Nan broke his tongue and admitted his mistake in a low voice, and the guard team lifted the alarm, gave up suing the command of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, and then let him go.

After a delay of more than 40 minutes, less than two hours before dawn, the Pacific Fleet immediately set sail and quickly entered the South China Sea through the Guò Sulu Sea.

News of the departure of the Dutch East India Fleet came from Batavia and into the Indian Ocean via the Cox Sea. A fast communications ship sent information to the Zhenyuan, the flagship of the Indian Ocean Fleet, at dawn to Commander Shen Yanghao.

"It's a miracle"

Shen Yanghao handed the information to the chief of staff Xu Hailong, and said: "This Dutch is really lacking in brains, and if we set them up, they will really drill into it."

After Xu Hailong read the information, he also felt the same way, and said: "I heard that Batavia is making a lot of trouble, I think it should be because the Dutch were driven crazy by us, and they had to move."

Then he said, "What are you going to do?" ”

Shen Yanghao looked at the chart, roughly estimated, and said, "According to the time calculation, now the Dutch East India Fleet has entered the Shankou Ocean. The treasure fleet will also leave Bangkok this morning, and the Dutch will either move in the Gulf of Siam or in the South China Sea"

Xu Hailong said: "Calculate the time, they will encounter it in five hours, do we want to act now?" ”

Shen Yanghao said: "Now that we enter the Strait of Malacca, the Dutch will immediately be alert, and send schooners to inform the Dutch East India Fleet that it will only take four hours, and they may abandon the operation." No, we need to wait an hour before entering the Strait of Malacca, and then even if the Dutch are alert and have already done it, they will not be able to stop it."

Xu Hailong nodded and said, "The strength of the Dutch East India Fleet is not weak, I think this hour, let's do pre-war mobilization."

"No need to mobilize, let everyone go and wipe the deck"

“……”

"Where are you going?"

"I'm hungry"

“……”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 16th, the treasure fleet left the port of Bangkok under the escort of the Luzon Coast Guard. Head northeast of the Gulf of Siam.

Three hours later, the treasure fleet sailed out of the Gulf of Siam and into the South China Sea.

According to the scheduled time, the South China Sea Fleet, the home fleet of the Chinese Empire, will send 20 patrol ships to meet them, but they have not been seen for a long time.

On the Dongting Lake, Li Yan and Li Zicheng looked at the sea. The weather was a bit gloomy, and it was noon, and the sun had not yet gotten up.

The sea was so empty that there weren't even fishing boats.

Li Zicheng asked: "Why hasn't the South China Sea Fleet come yet?" ”

Li Yan looked at the sky, looked at his pocket watch, and frowned: "I think the South China Sea Fleet should have been intercepted by the Dutch fleet."

"So the Dutch did it"

Li Yan nodded and said, "It stands to reason that we should have received a communication ship to report the situation this morning, but the communication ship did not come, obviously the Dutch have blocked the nearby waters."

"Reinforcements?" Li Zicheng said with a smile: "I didn't expect to be able to use this trick in naval warfare."

As he was talking, a guard suddenly stepped forward to report.

"Report, Lieutenant Colonel Zhao Xiang asked us to turn around and go back immediately"

Li Zicheng asked Li Yan and said, "What?" He got it? ”

Li Yan smiled bitterly: "I warned him this morning, but I didn't expect this guy to react until now."

Li Zicheng suddenly rolled his eyes and said, "I thought he was very brave."

The two discussed, and the tunnel decided to agree with Zhao Xiang's opinion, and the treasure fleet turned around and returned to Bangkok.

However, just as they were about to make a U-turn, a large number of warships appeared in the direction of the Gulf of Siam in the rear

The guard warships on the periphery were the first to discover the situation, and the alarm sounded suddenly, and soon spread throughout the entire treasure fleet and escort formation.

At this moment, Zhao Xiang's head was several times bigger, and he hurriedly ordered the guard fleet to form a battle defense formation and surround the treasure fleet in the middle.

The six cruisers were divided into two teams, guarding on either side of the treasure fleet, and the thirty frigates were divided into six teams, five in each direction, and the remaining two teams were patrolling the perimeter. All the guns of the whole fleet were opened, the shells were loaded, and all the guns were in place.

On the treasure ship, groups of Chinese Imperial soldiers rushed out of the cabin, carrying muskets and running to each deck.

At this moment, the outer guardrails of the treasure ship were covered with sandbags, which were repaired into the concave and convex shape of the women's wall, which served as infantry firing ports. Bands of infantry ran up and stood behind.

"Gun under the shoulder"

"Combat readiness"

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers quickly fired their guns, helped them behind the women's wall, and aimed their guns at the periphery.

Not far away, several hatches opened, and five infantry guns were pushed out and placed in a ring of sandbags.

Inside the treasure ship, all the moving items are put away and packed into boxes. All non-combatants are to take refuge in the cabin and are not allowed to enter or leave.

The sirens sounded for half an hour before they stopped, and as soon as they were ready, the Dutch fleet gradually approached.

Just as Li Yan judged, the 20 cruisers of the South China Sea Fleet that had come to hand over were stopped and exchanged fire by 40 cruisers of the Dutch East India Fleet in the northern waters of the South China Sea, and they could no longer arrive on time.

Similarly, the entire southern part of the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam were covertly controlled by the Dutch East India fleet before dawn. When the treasure fleet made its way out of the Gulf of Siam, it was completely blocked.

At this moment, the Dutch East India Fleet had surrounded the treasure fleet, and hundreds of warships surrounded the surrounding sea surface of more than 80 nautical miles.

The Dutch fleet's flagship, the Tara Jersey, circled around the treasure fleet, and by this time Turner and Rayoz had already figured out their prey.

The Luzon Coast Guard's left flank patrol detachment had five frigates on the outermost, and a mile away on the opposite side were large Dutch warships, and there were many of them.

Faced with such a situation, the armed police on duty on the guard ship still questioned the intentions of the Dutch warship without showing weakness, and forcefully ordered them to retreat.

"How unreasonable" Turner was very upset, and said, "At this point, you are still so arrogant? to tell them to surrender immediately"

At Turner's order, a frigate approached quickly, shouting and waving flags to inform the opposing guard ships. However, a more resolute response was received.

"Why are you so wordy, just shoot the cannon," Rejotz on the side asked incomprehensibly.

Turner replied, "I just can't get used to their arrogance, their navy is arrogant, and a mere coastal guard is so arrogant."

Rejoz smiled helplessly and said, "Do you think you can scare them?" Behind them is the existence of the superpowers, you let them surrender on their own initiative It's a fool's dream, don't waste time, let's kill them"

Unconvinced, Turner ordered a warning shot.

Knock knock

Three empty cannons rang out, which immediately escalated the tense atmosphere to a climax.

However, to Turner's disappointment, the opponent also fired three shots, but it was live. The Imperial Coast Guard of China defended their dignity with practical actions.

Watching the three jets of water lift, Turner's self-esteem was greatly hit.

"Raise the Battle Flag and Go to War"

Both sides raised the battle flags almost at the same time, and due to the small number of warships on the Chinese Empire's side and the fact that they were non-naval formations, Zhao Xiang decided to strike first, taking advantage of the fast firing speed of his own warships and guns.

Knock knock

The five frigates patrolling the outermost part were the first to open fire, kicking off the naval battle in the Gulf of Siam.

There is a huge disparity in the number of troops, and on the side of the Chinese Empire, the firepower reserve of more than 30 warships of the Coast Guard is quite acceptable, but the combat effectiveness is prominently insufficient. The main reason is that the coast guard is not a first-line naval formation, and it is okay to deal with pirates, but it is not enough to conduct large-scale naval battles.

The Dutch East India Fleet, in turn, was large in number and formidable. The total number of warships reached more than 500, of which the number of capital battleships and cruisers reached more than 150 and more than 70.

As soon as the battle began, the artillery fire of the Dutch East India Fleet was very fierce. A group of more than a dozen warships, besieging the city in several circular formations, took turns shelling, causing uninterrupted firepower.

After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the waters of the sea were boiling and thick smoke was billowing.

The Guard warships were able to strike enemy ships at the beginning of the engagement due to the speed of their guns, but as the large Dutch warships continued to approach, the weak frigates could not withstand the powerful battleship fire salvo and suffered heavy losses.

Twenty-three minutes into the fierce battle, 17 heavy artillery shells were fired in the starboard side of the Flying Fish 407 frigate, the waterline belt was shattered, and a large amount of seawater poured in, and the ship turned right and sank in an instant.

In the next seven minutes, the Exocet 306, Exocet 317 and Exocet 235 were shot one after another, the hull of the ship was damaged, the crew suffered heavy casualties, and basically lost its combat effectiveness. Among them, the Exocet 306 ship sank by itself, and the ship 317 withdrew from the battle sequence, and was hit and sunk by a Dutch warship on the way to the west. The frigate No. 235 was caught between two Dutch warships and was boarded by a jumping gang, and seventeen men below the captain were captured, and the rest were killed in the battle.

In the first half hour, due to the full resistance of the coast guard, the Dutch fleet was forced not to get too close, but only diffuse from a long distance.

As the warships of the Guard were heavily damaged one after another, and after a number of battleships were sunk, the Dutch fleet became emboldened and kept shooting closer.

As a result, the warships of the guard force were inferior in firepower and number to the other side, and suffered a great loss, and the ships were shot one after another and were scarred.

On the Dongting Lake, Li Yan and Li Zicheng stood on the bridge tower, quietly watching the battle around them. Since the Dongting Lake is as tall as a city, there is no need to worry about shells hitting the deck. Because most of the elevation angles of naval guns in this era could not reach this height, the two were not worried.

Both of them witnessed a naval battle for the first time, and they were excited and nervous at the same time. It is natural to be excited to go to the naval battle, but it is very painful to see your own warships being sunk by enemy ships one after another.

The cannon roared, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air. The sea water is boiling fiercely, and the sea and the sky are inseparable.

Fighting at sea was not at all easier than fighting on land, but more brutal, and Li Zicheng felt this for the first time, and he no longer wanted to make fun of the navy.

"It looks like Zhao Xiang lasted less than two hours."

The coast guard sank many warships one after another, and Li Zicheng's heart suddenly had no bottom.

Li Yan shook his head and said, "The sunken ones are all small frigates, have you found them?" Zhao Xiang has always carefully protected the six cruisers, and as long as they are still there, they can still delay time. ”

Li Zicheng looked around, and sure enough, he saw that the six cruisers always hid on the side of the frigate, firing again whenever the frigate staggered the angle, and hiding on the side of the frigate again after a salvo, so that the Dutch battleships could not hit these six cruisers.

"Zhao Xiang, he's too shameless, how can he let the small frigate be beaten outside, but the big cruiser is hiding next to him"

Li Yan smiled and said: "Then you have wronged Zhao Xiang, this is called tactical frigates with weak firepower, use them as meat shields to attract and consume enemy firepower, and cruisers take the opportunity to attack enemy ships, this is the best tactic, don't underestimate people."

Hearing Li Yan say this, Li Zicheng seemed to understand a little. In fact, when the army is fighting, isn't it also the soldiers around him who serve as a meat shield? Obviously, this principle is universal, and the same applies to naval warfare.

At this time, the Dolphin 93 cruiser suddenly passed by the Exocet 533 frigate next to it and approached a Dutch cruiser. The Dutch cruiser had just finished firing, and the second fire would have to wait a few minutes. The Dolphin 93 cruiser quickly approached the opposing side, and when it was about 200 meters away, the port side guns fired a salvo, and more than 20 shells were all fired into the interior of the enemy ship. Shooting at such a close range, the shells of the Shenmu cannon, which has powerful attack power, instantly shattered the starboard side of the enemy ship, and several shells even penetrated the enemy ship and shot through from the other side.

"Good fight" Li Yan can't help, but it's still okay to come on. However, seeing that the starboard side of the enemy ship was broken, the sea violently poured into it, and it instantly tilted to the right, and sank imminently.

At this time, another Dutch battleship quickly arrived and was preparing to retaliate against the Dolphin 93. I saw that the Exocet 533 next to him quickly turned left, and it blocked the firing range of the Dutch battleship, making it impossible for him to shoot the Dolphin 93. And the Dolphin 93 cruiser did not stop, quickly turned to the right, retreated to the other side, and organized the next fire salvo.

Seeing that the Dolphin 93 had escaped, the Dutch battleship had no choice but to dump shells on the Exocet 533, which resulted in heavy damage to the Exocet 533 and caused a large fire.

Li Zicheng only understood at this time, and he was secretly ashamed, but in his heart he admired the Coast Guard soldiers in the fierce battle below.

"They are in the most unfavorable situation, to achieve the goal of killing the enemy to the greatest extent," Li Yan sighed: "If Zhao Xiang had transferred the only six cruisers to the outermost periphery at the beginning, I am afraid that they would have been sunk in the first place, and the remaining frigates would be cannon fodder at all, and it would be impossible to sink the enemy's large warships."

Li Zicheng was noncommittal, although he sank an enemy cruiser and two frigates, but no matter how desperately Zhao Xiang's coast guard fought to the death, the overall battle situation was still pessimistic, thirty frigates were sunk in the second hour and a half Seventeen, the rest were all incapacitated, Zhao Xiang had allowed them to withdraw from the battle sequence, hoisting a white flag and surrendering. V