The British Chinese fleet was independent from the East India Fleet in 1864, although there were a lot of warships, but the performance was not very good, most of them were some small tonnage gunboats, only a few sail steam wooden warships, as for the medium and large ironclad ships did not have a single one.

Of course, this is not to say that the British have inferior naval strength in Asia and the Indian Ocean, in fact, the British naval power in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia is still not weak, but most of it is concentrated in the East Indian Ocean Fleet, including the two large ironclads that the British have recently sent to the Indian Ocean.

Why didn't the British send the latest large ironclad ships directly to the Chinese fleet stationed in Hong Kong?

Because Hong Kong is too close to China, if this one is not done well, it will be attacked by the Chinese navy, and then it will sink inexplicably, but it will suffer a lot of losses.

Therefore, in recent years, Britain's main warships in the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean have mainly been concentrated in the East Indian Ocean Fleet, while although the warships in the Chinese fleet are not small, they are mostly small and medium-sized warships, and there are no cutting-edge ironclad ships.

Generally speaking, when tensions began, the British would send warships from the East India Fleet to reinforce Hong Kong, and they would not have too many warships stationed in normal times.

But the Empire's military action against Hong Kong was too fast, and it took only a few days to learn that the situation in Hawaii had changed, leading Lin Zhe to resolve to expand the conflict with the British and regain Hong Kong.

And because of the power system of the empire, once Lin Zhe decided to recover Hong Kong, the military's swiftness was very quick to complete the preparations.

When the British found out that the situation was not good. The Empire's land and sea forces were already ready, and when the British began to draw warships to reinforce Hong Kong. China has already officially launched a landing operation against Hong Kong.

There was so little time for this whole process, so little that the British did not have enough time to react.

In this case. The British army in Hong Kong could only fight alone.

In the face of China's landing operations, especially the situation of the Chinese navy pouring out, without the support of large-tonnage ironclad ships, the Chinese fleet of the British Royal Navy could not stop the attack of the Imperial Navy at all, and on the day of the landing, the British Navy also gave full play to the fearless spirit of the British Navy and took the initiative to counterattack, but the Imperial Navy did not need to dispatch the first fleet, so it used the second and third fleets to crush the attack of the British Chinese fleet, and sank four British warships.

After that, the British simply abandoned the battleship. Directly evacuated all the crew to the shore, and moved all the naval guns that could be moved to the land, ready to abandon the defense at sea and directly stick to the reinforcements.

The British were helpless at this move, and their current fleet stationed in Hong Kong could only be regarded as vain, most of the warships were gunboats of several hundred tons, and the few cruisers that were only a few hundred tons of cruisers were also wooden warships, which were enough to deal with in normal times, but in the face of the Imperial Navy that poured out. There is simply no way to resist.

Therefore, after trying to attack the enemy, they decisively gave up the sea and tried to hold on to Hong Kong Island, waiting for reinforcements from the East India Fleet.

As long as the East Indian Ocean Fleet arrives. Then relying on the strength of the East Indian Ocean Fleet, it will have the confidence to confront the Chinese Navy.

If the British had drawn more warships from Africa or even from the Mediterranean Sea and other seas for reinforcements, they would not need more. If one or two large ironclad ships of six or seven thousand tons are sent over, then they can easily have the advantage of numbers and performance on the warship.

However, it all takes time. The British reinforcement fleet would not arrive for a while and a half, and it would take as long as half a year. At least two or three months.

And will they be able to hold out on to Hong Kong Island for three months or even more for half a year?

It's not very likely!

Relying on the combat effectiveness and number of the Chinese Empire's army, as long as they land on Hong Kong Island, then the army is sure to gain the advantage in a few days and capture the island, and according to the military's estimates, the battle will be ended in half a month at the longest.

And this prediction is not the arrogance of the Army, but the fact!

In the first round of landing operations alone, the army put in a mixed brigade and a garrison battalion, and the navy also sent a battalion of marines to help in the battle.

The total number of land troops that landed in this way reached more than 6,000 people.

The British troops stationed on Hong Kong Island were only more than 1,000 people, so if you add the sailors who retreated to the shore, the total number is only more than 2,000.

In terms of numbers, the Chinese army has an absolute advantage.

As for the difference in combat effectiveness between the two sides, it is not too big, the weapons of both sides are similar, they both use breech-loading rifles, and the performance and number of artillery are also similar.

Not to mention, the Chinese army has been reforming towards a modern army over the years, and the tactics in all aspects are completely different from the era of line columns, while although the British army is equipped with new weapons such as rear-loading rifles, its tactics are still stuck in the American Civil War period, and line tactics are still their main tactics.

After analyzing these situations, we can find that the Chinese army still has a very big advantage.

On the 19th, the Chinese army landed on Hong Kong Island and began to attack the many positions guarded by the British army.

On the 20th, Lieutenant General Zhu Jianjia, commander of the 21st Division and also the commander-in-chief of the Hong Kong landing operation, set foot on the beach of Hong Kong Island and began to personally direct the landing operation to launch a fierce attack on Hong Kong Island.

Lieutenant General Zhu Jianjia, who joined Yu Sheng's army in 1853 and was gradually promoted, was a colonel in 1858, and participated in the Battle of Shanghai with the British and French forces in 1858 as chief of staff of the Seventh Army.

After the war, he was promoted to major general and transferred back to the Supreme Command, and in 1860 the military reformed its establishment, and all units were changed to the standard establishment of the 1st Division, 2nd Brigade and 4th Regiment, and he returned to the field unit as the brigade commander of the 36th Brigade.

In 1864, along with many other major generals of the army, he was personally promoted to lieutenant general by Lin Zhe, first serving as the commander of the 16th Division of the Army, and last year he was transferred to the 21st Division as the division commander.

His promotion and tenure experience is a very typical and normal path, not fast, but not slow.

Not long ago, the military decided to land on Hong Kong Island ahead of schedule. The 21st Division deployed in Huizhou Prefecture naturally became the first batch and the most important troops to participate in the war. He personally led the 21st Division to the Kowloon Peninsula.

Now the 42nd Brigade that landed in the first batch is his command, and the 41st Brigade under his command is also on standby on the Kowloon Peninsula. It can be reinforced, Hong Kong Island at any time.

Lieutenant General Zhu Jianjia fought once with the British and French forces in the Battle of Shanghai, and later stationed in Guangzhou for many years, and his main task was also to guard against the British, French and other armies that landed from the sea, so he has not relaxed his study of the British, French and other armies over the years.

Now, the research of the past is finally put to use, this time in the Battle of Hong Kong Island, he Zhu Jianjia is bound to let these British know that the Chinese army can defeat them once in Shanghai, and now they can defeat them on Hong Kong Island for the second time!

When Zhu Jianjia led the 21st Division to land on Hong Kong Island. While the British forces on the island were engaged in a fierce battle, the First Squadron and the Second Squadron of the Navy had quietly withdrawn from Hong Kong and began to return to the port of Guangzhou for rest and replenishment.

Be prepared to meet the British fleet!

On March 23, the Chinese living in Singapore saw a large fleet arrive in Singapore, and a secret telegram was sent to the naval headquarters in Canton.

The Cheung Chau Military Port in Guangzhou, which was the headquarters of the Imperial Navy's Nanyang Fleet, was also the most important military port of the Imperial Navy on the southern coast, and the third largest shipyard in China, and the Shanghai Shipyard. The Qingdao Naval Shipyard, together with the Guangzhou Shipyard that built warships for the Imperial Navy, was also here.

Here, an unprecedentedly large fleet is moored, with thousands of tons of huge ironclad ships neatly lined up, and a constant stream of naval soldiers on the docks replenishing these warships with coal, cannonballs, and other supplies.

Due to the tense situation. The combined fleet of the Imperial Navy must be kept in perfect condition at all times, and as soon as the British fleet arrives, it will immediately go to sea to meet it.

So in the huge conference room of the headquarters of the South Ocean Fleet headquarters. The senior admirals of the Imperial Navy were almost all gathered together, and the admirals sitting at the rectangular table were discussing how to meet the British fleet.

Lin Dabiao served as Minister of the Admiralty. Admiral, naturally, sat at the top. But he didn't interject in the current tactical discussion.

It's not that he wants to discuss directly with his subordinates because of his high status, but because today's discussion is beyond his ability.

Lin Dabiao was born in the army earlier, and in 1854 he took hundreds of army landlubbers to change careers to run a naval division, expanding step by step from the Yusheng Army naval division battalion, and finally purchased the existing belongings of the imperial navy.

The importance of their people within the Navy is self-evident.

But this importance is not reflected in his tactical or strategic ability, in fact, Lin Dabiao has been running the navy for so many years, and he has never really commanded even a naval battle, and he has at most heard a little about some naval battle tactics, and can listen to and speak, but it is too reluctant for you to let him do it.

The role of this person within the navy is to compete for military expenses as a representative of the navy and be responsible for the overall development of the navy, as for how the navy fights a war, to be honest, he really doesn't understand!

His relationship with the Imperial Navy is similar to the relationship between Li Hongzhang and the Beiyang Navy in history, this navy was developed by him, but in fact he is not proficient in naval warfare.

Therefore, in today's meeting, although he was the highest and sat in the main seat, he was very self-aware and did not speak, but just listened to the naval officers below.

In fact, it's not just him, in fact, most of the other senior admirals are also keeping their mouths shut and not opening their mouths easily, well, the reason is similar, the tactical quality of these senior admirals is actually quite average, especially now after entering the era of ironclad ships, it is more and more difficult to keep up with the development of naval warfare tactics.

The role of these three or four vice admirals and admirals is used as signboards within the navy and to compete for military expenses; as for how the navy fights wars and even how it trains, in fact, it is the responsibility of a group of middle- and low-ranking officers who were inconspicuous in the past.

And these middle and junior officers, especially those who have returned from studying in England in recent years, are the actual heads of the contemporary Imperial Navy.

It can be seen from the occasion of today's meeting that among the many people present were one admiral, three vice admirals, and eight rear admirals, but it was the five or six officers who were debating various tactics and discussing how to meet the British navy.

Among these people, a lieutenant colonel who was a little too young was particularly eye-catching! (To be continued.) )