[The cruiser is currently working in Yinchuan, and it will only be able to go back early next month, so I will take the time to update more in the past few days and try to make up for the chapters that I have owed recently. 】

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As the flagship, the Tara Jersey was at the forefront, and Turner naturally wouldn't give up the entire fleet and go after the two ships that had dropped out of the battle sequence.

However, Turner didn't care about any gentleman's war, he had to sink these two warships of the Chinese Empire. In particular, the Fuwei, as the flagship of the Fuzi sub-fleet, sinking it was undoubtedly important for the morale of the Dutch East India Fleet.

As a result, Turner ordered his team to continue to keep an eye on the remaining eight ships of the Fuzi, while at the same time transferring four more warships to pursue the Fuwei and Fuxiang.

After the loss of two warships, the Fuzi detachment became less and less firepower than the Dutch fleet, and soon it was scarred and the situation was worrying.

Since the ammunition reserve of the Beiyun-class battleship was only in the fourth gear, there were less than three bases of ammunition left, and after being ordered to serve as a blocking fleet, it has been meeting the battle with full firepower, and the tunnel soon ran out of ammunition.

The battle is getting better and better, which makes Turner very proud. The next moment, however, he became nervous, as the sky grew darker and darker. At the same time, the main forces of the Pacific Fleet had been pulled back and were engaged in battle with the second and third echelons of the Dutch East India Fleet.

Nearly 100 warships on both sides entered a white-hot battle as soon as they met, and although there were only 41 warships of the Pacific Fleet, their firepower was strong. The firepower of eleven first-class battleships alone inflicted heavy damage on the Dutch East India Fleet.

Turner thought that investing fifty fourth-class battleships could effectively block the reinforcements of the Pacific Fleet, but in the telescope, he saw the tremendous power of the eleven first-class battleships of the Pacific Fleet when they fired at full firepower.

Rejoz asked, "Don't they know that they are running out of ammunition without caring about the pouring fire?" ”

Turner also wavered in his judgment at this moment, he really couldn't believe that the Pacific Fleet dared to output full firepower at this time.

"It seems that their self-sustaining power is still very strong, could I have misjudged?"

Rejoz added: "Maybe they're making a last ditch effort"

Turner said fiercely: "No matter how they play tricks, the ammunition reserves are definitely insufficient, I think as long as they last half an hour, it will be time for them to pay off their debts."

Rayoz nodded, secretly crying out in his heart, hoping that the Pacific Fleet would suddenly run out of ammunition and be obediently captured by them.

However, the situation did not develop according to Rejotz's idea, and more than a dozen Dutch battleships responsible for fighting against the first detachment of the second echelon of the Tianzi sub-fleet of the Pacific Fleet lasted less than ten minutes before they were beaten and bruised, and the second echelon of the Dutch fleet had to replace eleven warships of the second detachment to replace them.

However, the Pacific Fleet did not seem to let go of the delicious food in his mouth, Shi Jianfei sat down and commanded the first team of the Tianzi to bite the scarred enemy first detachment in front of him, and ordered the second team of the Haizi and the third team of the Fengzi to block the reinforcements of the Dutch fleet, and the intention of annihilation was quite obvious.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the commander of the second echelon of the Dutch East India Fleet hurriedly called for reinforcements from the third echelon. The third echelon is now entangled by the fourth division of the Pacific Fleet, both sides are fourth-class battleships, and although the Dutch side has a numerical advantage, it cannot be brought into play. Because the fourth division of the Pacific Fleet is fast, it always wanders around the periphery, maneuvering to meet the enemy, and does not give the other side a chance to encircle. It was difficult for the two sides to eat each other for a while, and the third echelon tunnel transferred five warships to reinforce the second echelon to fight.

At 7:42 a.m., while the first division of the Pacific Fleet opened heavy fire on the first detachment of the second echelon of the Netherlands, it suddenly made a bold right turn, and eleven first-class battleships violently attacked the enemy fleet laterally.

On the opposite side, the ships of the first detachment of the second echelon of the Netherlands were evading the fire attack of the Tianzi sub-team, and all the officers and men were hiding behind the women's wall and covering their ears, not daring to come forward. The sentries on the mast shouted loudly, informing them that the Pacific Fleet was changing tactics and rushing laterally, but under the fierce suppression of the artillery fire, the cannons drowned out the shouts of the sentries, and the sailors below could not hear them.

A few minutes later, when the gunfire had stopped, the officers and men of the ships poked their heads out, and the captains were informed of the Pacific Fleet's change of tactics.

"Stop Them"

"Open the gun"

The sudden lateral approach of the Pacific Fleet immediately made the Dutch highly nervous, because their battleships were only fourth-class, and if the opponent's first-class battleships were allowed to get close, the fate could be imagined. In front of the first-class battleships, the fourth-class battleships were very weak and vulnerable.

The thunderous sound of cannon resounded in the sky, and the first team of the Son of Heaven braved the rain of bullets fired by the Dutch warships. The hot shells fell into the icy sea to the left and right of the battleship, and exploded instantly, stirring up waves several meters high.

The sea is boiling, the waves are splashing. Shi Jianfei commanded the first team to attack the Dutch fleet with all its might, with the aim of inflicting heavy damage on the Dutch fleet in the shortest possible time before dark.

In order to seize the horizontal position of the "T" prefix of the ships of the enemy fleet, the ships of the Tianzi squadron made an "L" maneuver and attacked the column where the first detachment of the second echelon of the Dutch fleet was located in order to seize the horizontal position of the "T" prefix of each ship of the enemy fleet.

The Dingyuan took the lead, followed by the other ten Tianqiong-class battleships, the bow splitting the waves several meters high, and heading straight for the Dutch fleet not far away.

As the first team approached quickly, the destructive power of the Dutch battleship's naval guns also increased dramatically.

I saw the enemy ship's shells whizzing, instantly piercing through the armor of the battleship and smashing many holes in the hull. The iron sheet cracked, the broken wood flew, and the green smoke billowed out.

On the deck, shells whizzed, and despite the sandbags strapped around the various buildings, the Dutch shells were able to penetrate them and cause great damage to the ship's superstructure. Although the officers and men of the ships of the First Squadron had been prepared for a long time and evaded the attacks of the enemy's artillery shells, they still caused many casualties.

Fortunately, the guns of the Dutch warships took too long to prepare, and when the first squadron of the Pacific Fleet rushed over, they were only attacked by about one round of shells from the other side. Subsequently, the ships of the First Squadron sailed between the ships of the enemy ship formation, cutting the enemy fleet into several sections, and achieving the tactical goal of dividing the enemy fleet.

As the ships of the First Squadron rushed into the enemy fleet, the artillerymen hiding behind the anti-gun walls of the gun decks on each floor rushed out one after another, entered their respective gun positions, and quickly adjusted the angle of their guns to prepare to attack the enemy ships that entered the line of sight.

After the formation of the first detachment of the second echelon of the Netherlands was destroyed, the orders of the flagships could no longer be handed over to the captains of the ships behind, so the captains of each ship independently chose the best orders that were in line with their respective warships.

The first division of the Pacific Fleet is all first-class battleships, and the Dutch second-echelon ships are all fourth-class battleships.

Naturally, the thirteen battleships of the second echelon of the Netherlands could not wait to be beaten, nor would they willingly drive their warships straight under the guns of the warships of the Chinese Empire, so they ordered their respective warships to turn urgently to the right when the battleships of the Pacific Fleet were approaching, so as to avoid being snatched by the enemy ships rushing over to grab the "T" cross.

However, no matter how the Dutch battleships evaded, the warships of the Chinese Empire still steadily grabbed the best firing position.

"Prepare - Open the cannon"

When the first enemy ship appeared within the starboard firing range of the Dingyuan, the starboard guns of the Dingyuan opened fire quickly.

Suddenly, the cannon roared like thunder, and thick smoke spewed out like a cloud.

Fifty guns on the starboard side of the battleship Dingyuan opened fire one after another, and shells were fired one after another at the bow of the enemy ship.

In an instant, he saw huge columns of water set off one after another on the sea near the bow of the enemy ship on the opposite side, and the blast wave of the explosion slammed the enemy ship violently with the waves, causing the enemy ship to shake violently from side to side.

Knock knock

The guns on the starboard side of the Dingyuan continued to fire, and the first dozen shells hit the sea, but after the seventeenth shell hit the bow of the enemy ship, more than a dozen shells hit the enemy ship one after another. The bow of the enemy ship was punctured through several holes, the most severe of which was the one near the freeboard, from which waves poured directly into it, causing the bow of the ship to begin to sink.

After a round of shelling, the Dingyuan failed to sink the enemy ship. However, the bow of the enemy ship had a strict draft, and it had to slow down, otherwise the impact of the waves when the battleship was galloping would aggravate the sinking of the bow.

"Left Full Rudder"

The order was given, and the Dingyuan made a sharp left turn and made a "Z" tactical maneuver.

"Preparing for port side gunfire"

With the completion of the Dingyuan "Z" tactic, the port side seized the "T" prefix horizontal position of the enemy ship. The enemy ships were not willing to be beaten, and carefully turned left to avoid it, but the speed was obviously too slow, and they were powerless, so they could only watch the Dingyuan ride on their heads again.

"Open the gun"

The flag waved, and fifty cannons on the port side opened fire quickly.

Suddenly, the shells were fired at the enemy ship one after another, and the bow of the enemy ship, which was already scarred, was again fiercely attacked by dozens of shells, and the bow of the ship was shattered in an instant, and many holes were connected into a huge gap. Then, the sea poured into it fiercely, and the Dutch sailors in the bow suffered heavy casualties, and were no longer able to repair the gap, and the guide battleship sank rapidly at the speed of the eye.

At the same time, the other ten battleships of the Tianzi also achieved brilliant results, and of the thirteen battleships of the first division of the second echelon of the Dutch fleet, five were sunk and five were heavily damaged, and the remaining three enemy ships turned around and fled before they could catch fire.

In the middle of the battle, the Pacific Fleet's Haizi and Fengzi successfully sniped the reinforcements of other Dutch second-echelon detachments and the third-echelon, and in the exciting battle, as a third-class battleship of the Sea Lion class, they successfully sank two Dutch warships and severely damaged six of them.

As a fourth-class battleship of the Beiyun class, the Fuzi team was comparable in strength to the enemy ships, and only severely damaged three Dutch battleships, but it successfully repelled the Dutch battleships that encircled and suppressed the Fuwei and Fuxiang, and broke through the blockage of the third echelon of the Netherlands, and joined the rest of the ships of the Fuzi and the Chenzi team.

Here, Turner's position is in disarray. When he saw through his telescope that the second echelon had been heavily damaged by the main forces of the Pacific Fleet and that several battleships had been sunk, he had already lost his self-confidence.

In order to reinforce the second echelon as much as possible, Turner intensified his attacks on the fifth and sixth divisions of the Pacific Fleet.

However, the ammunition of the Fu and Chen teams has been exhausted, and they are no longer suitable for sniper missions. At the same time, the reinforcement of the Luzi squadron brought the order that 'the combat mission of the whole fleet has been completed, and it will retreat quickly'. Therefore, when Turner was about to go all out to defeat the Fu Zihao and Chen Zihao teams, the other party had already turned around and fled.

Turner burst into a rage and ordered the fleet to pursue. However, by this time it was already dark. The northeasterly winds that blew in the night helped the Pacific Fleet to withdraw from the battlefield.

The ships of the Pacific Fleet were generally faster than those of the Dutch East India Fleet, so the difference in speed between the two sides would be quite noticeable once sailing downwind.

Turner knew this, so he urgently dispatched the patrol convoy to intercept the Pacific Fleet, while he followed closely with the remaining capital ships.

Night fell quickly, and in the blink of an eye the visibility was less than two miles. Turner led the fleet in pursuit of the Pacific Fleet behind, but the line of sight became more and more blurred.

A convoy sent by Turner intercepted the Pacific Fleet in front, but the convoy was already frightened and did not have the courage to intercept the Pacific Fleet with all its might, and only opened fire from seven or eight hundred meters away. In order to give Turner an explanation, the firepower of the convoy was quite fierce, and it was like lightning and thunder in the night. However, the thunder was heavy and the rain was small, and the guns of the Dutch frigates were all short-barreled close-range guns, and the hit rate of more than five hundred meters was almost zero.

The ammunition reserves of the ships of the Pacific Fleet were already less than one base, and they thought that they would spend their efforts on this Dutch convoy, but unexpectedly, the other side was just pretending to be in formation, so that the Pacific Fleet saved its strength.

Shi Jianfei commanded the Pacific Fleet, and then the northeast wind went all the way south, and soon rushed out of the Gulf of Siam into the depths of the South China Sea.

Turner led the main force of the Dutch East India Fleet in hot pursuit, but because the speed was generally lower than the opponent's record, the tunnel was left behind as a whole.

The duck flew like this, and Turner obviously didn't feel a good sense of it, and ordered the fast schooners of the various patrol fleets to follow them all the way.

The night was getting darker and darker, and soon it was impossible to see things clearly from a distance of several hundred meters, and it was dark.

The sea breeze is howling and the waves are rolling. The ships of the Pacific Fleet set their sailing routes and then turned off their lights and sneaked away, so that even veteran sailors could not tell the direction in which the fleet was walking.

Turner led the Dutch East India Fleet in pursuit for more than two hours, but it was getting farther and farther away. The schooners sent out were initially able to pursue the Pacific Fleet, but as the Pacific Fleet mobilized a number of fast communication ships to block them, the Dutch schooners were gradually driven away and eventually lost their purpose.

It was okay for the Dutch schooners to set fire, but there was no artillery system. And the fast communication ships of the Chinese Empire were equipped with a 150 mm caliber main gun, which could easily destroy simple schooners. Turner was unable to get news from the Pacific Fleet after receiving a report from the last schooners an hour later.

On the other side, on the way back from the two treasure ships of the Chinese Empire, the sailors of the Kingdom of Siam arrived to reinforce them and protect them safely back to the port of Bangkok.

After careful consideration, Turner decided that the form in front of him had changed, and the appearance of the Pacific Fleet disrupted all his plans. It was possible to grab the two treasure ships with all their might, but once the Pacific Fleet was restocked, the Dutch East India Fleet would certainly not be able to safely escort the treasure away.

Unexpected events forced Turner to abandon his plan to loot the treasure ship and instead seek out the Pacific Fleet first, destroy it before it could be rereplenished, and then turn around and loot the treasure ship. This was the only way, so Turner had to continue searching for traces of the Pacific Fleet.

The vast sea was dark, the sky was overcast, and there was not a trace of stars and moonlight. On the vast expanse of the ocean, the Pacific Fleet could go in either direction, so Turner had to rely on his sailing experience to predict the next position of the Pacific Fleet.

"The treasure ship is stuck in the port of Bangkok, and the Pacific Fleet will definitely come back to escort it," Reyoz said, "If it comes back, it will inevitably have to be resupplied with ammunition first, so I deduce that the Pacific Fleet must go to a nearby naval base to resupply"

Turner nodded and said, "The nearest ones are Cam Ranh Bay, Matapura and Singapore Singapore are under our strict surveillance, and the Pacific Fleet does not dare to go over." Cam Ranh Bay is to the north, Matapura is to the east, and the Pacific Fleet's last direction is to the south, so they should go to Matapura Naval Base to resupply."

"The small size of Matapura Harbor does not supply the entire Pacific Fleet, and if they are really there, we will have no trouble destroying them," Rejoz said.

Turner said, "You mean they won't necessarily go to Matapura, or even turn around and head north to Cam Ranh Bay for supplies?" ”

Rayoz nodded and said, "There is this possibility, the vast sea, surprise is also a tactic." Just going north against the wind, it will take at least two days for the Pacific Fleet to arrive at Cam Ranh Bay and then resupply back. The longer it takes, the more detrimental it will be to the treasure fleet, so I'm not sure."

"To the north, we also have a cruising fleet that is intercepting the South China Sea Fleet, the home fleet of the Chinese Empire, and if it is not bad, that South China Sea Fleet has been wiped out or repulsed. If the Pacific Fleet sneaks around and goes north, we'll know soon"

Then, Turner finally decided, "Let's search south and go to Matapura."

If he can't find the Pacific Fleet, then Turner can only give up the operation and go straight back to Batavia to make another plan.

In the Battle of the Gulf of Siam, the Dutch East India Fleet lost nearly 200 warships, of which four second-class battleships were burned, thirteen fourth-class battleships were lost, and the rest were old cruisers and frigates. The Chinese Empire lost only one coast guard, and the Pacific Fleet suffered only two Fuzi 4th class battleships, which were relatively insignificant.

Turner left a convoy of more than 30 ships to clean up the battlefield, tow away the damaged warships, rescue the Dutch sailors who fell overboard, and at the same time guard the Gulf of Siam and monitor the movements of the treasure fleet.

Turner then commanded four second-class battleships, twenty third-class battleships, and forty fourth-class battleships to continue their parallel southward advances, searching for traces of the Pacific Fleet in the darkness of the night. V