Wang Youling's meaning is very clear, that is, to give priority to the preservation of warships and avoid warships into the Yangtze River, no matter how many warships of the European powers are, they will be restricted from entering the Yangtze River, and supplemented by the assistance of shore artillery and mines, may not be able to teach the combined fleet to suffer a big loss.

As for the base, it can be guarded, and if you can't hold it, you still have a chance to rebuild it in the future.

I have to say that this is a safe method, Sheng Xuanhuai, Lu Dayou, and even Hong Xuanjiao nodded.

It's just that Wang Feng didn't express his position, and retracting the warships back into the Yangtze River is equivalent to giving up the initiative, and the combined fleet will advance and retreat freely, and it is not up to him to decide whether to fight or fight.

A few years ago, when the East India Company came to attack, Wang Feng did not have any water power at hand, so he could only take a defensive position and look for opportunities to counterattack, but today, he has more or less some warships in his hands, is it just shrinking into the Yangtze River? That's not his style!

Ding Daquan's eyes also flickered, as if he was thinking about something.

At this time, a member of the Black Hawk team hurriedly came and saluted: "Commander-in-chief, there is a Shanghai telegram." ”

The telegraph was erected along the railway line, but the speed of the telegraph line was obviously not comparable to that of the railway, and at present the railway only opened the section from Shanghai to Changzhou, while the telegraph had been erected along the planned railway line to Nanjing.

In addition, the railway line from Shanghai to Hangzhou via Suzhou, the Nanjing-Hangzhou railway from Hangzhou to Guangzhou via Ningbo and Fuzhou, and the Nanjing-Hangzhou railway from Nanjing to Hangzhou are also planning exploration routes.

"Read!" Wang Feng commanded.

The Black Hawks took out a piece of paper and read: "Shanghai Telegram: Receiving information from Lanfang, there are thirteen new Hope warships in Singapore. There are more than 50 troop carriers. ”

Sheng Xuanhuai suddenly changed color and said: "The Netherlands and Prussia are here again, and maybe there will be new ones joining later." The enemy's strength is getting stronger and stronger, Wang Feng. I know you're not willing to back down, but if you take a step back, you'll always have a chance to take revenge in the future. ”

Wang Feng asked Zhang Wanchang: "How many torpedo boats do we have?" ”

Zhang Wanchang showed a hint of shame and said: "Because there are still technical problems, the current rate of torpedo engines is too high, and the yield rate is only two or three percent, so so far, there are only twenty-one, each equipped with two torpedoes." ”

Fuel engine. For this era is a new technology, although Wang Feng gave a full set of technical drawings, and explained in detail, but its structure is much more complex than the steam engine, some parts with lathe processing accuracy is not enough, must rely on hand-made, naturally there will be differences, but also to be both waterproof and exhaust, to be honest. It has only been a year since the construction actually started, and it is not easy to have two or three floors of finished products.

The key is to be too hasty, if there is enough time to slowly debug the experiment, and then make further improvements to the lathe. The yield rate will not be so low, Wang Feng can also understand.

In fact, until the First World War, torpedoes were a luxury item in naval warfare. For example, German submarines, in the face of merchant ships and small ships that pose little threat. I'd rather go to the trouble of floating up and open artillery bombardment than firing torpedoes. Torpedoes were used only when large and medium-sized warships were captured, and the main problem was that torpedo engines were difficult to manufacture with the level of technology in World War I.

As for the First Sino-Japanese Battle of the Yellow Sea, China and Japan fired many torpedoes at each other, but in fact there were very few torpedoes in the modern sense, and the vast majority of them were torpedoes powered by compressed air with a range of only 700 meters.

This kind of torpedo has no meaning in Wang Feng's eyes, because under the cover of the lack of gunboats, the torpedo boat alone wants to get close to 700 meters to launch the torpedo, but the result can only be broken into pieces.

Nodding, Wang Feng asked again: "How long will it take to build a torpedo now?" ”

Zhang Wanchang was a little afraid to face Wang Feng, and said unnaturally: "It takes an average of three days to make a shot, otherwise arrange more robot hands, the base is large, and the number can always be more." ”

Wang Feng groaned slightly, then waved his hand and said: "Then double the amount of work, tell the workers not to be anxious, and to explore slowly, too impatient will further reduce the yield rate." ”

As he spoke, Wang Feng asked Ding Daquan again: "What do you think?" ”

Ding Daquan muttered: "In this war, we need to link the naval battle with the army, although our strength on the sea is very far behind the European powers, we must not give up lightly, otherwise, if the European powers are allowed to blockade the Yangtze River for a long time, our troops in Jiangbei are likely to gradually fall into the predicament of running out of ammunition and food, because our limited industrial base is basically in the south of the Yangtze River, and the main source of coal is the Huainan coal mine located in the north of the Yangtze River.

Judging by the intelligence, it is likely that the number of European warships that will eventually attack us will be a staggering hundred, which is more than a thousand guns on average of ten guns each, or even more.

With the firepower of the foreigners, our river defense shore artillery is obviously at a disadvantage, and as for the mines, I think that after so many years, the foreigners should also have an effective way to deal with them, and although the torpedo is our killer weapon, the number is too small, and it can only be used in a decisive battle.

To sum up all of the above, if we blindly retreat, not only will the arrogance of the foreigners become more and more arrogant, but also the long-term blockade of the Yangtze River will bring us irreversible consequences, so I believe that we should make good use of the limited warships in our hands instead of hiding them in the snow, and cooperate with the ground forces to create opportunities for counterattacks. ”

"Looks like that!" Sheng Xuanhuai changed his tone and echoed: "Our steel plant and wharf are all by the river, it seems that they can't be saved, they were built with hard work, and what a pity it was blown up, but how to fight back?" ”

Wang Feng shrugged helplessly: "From next month it will be the typhoon-prone season, and the European fleet has not yet been assembled, so according to me, he will not be able to drive until October at the earliest, and the ground forces of the Qing army should also launch a general offensive at the same time, and we still have four months."

During this period, we must fully organize workers to work overtime in production, and in addition, starting in September, we will transfer personnel and important equipment to the interior, and at the same time store weapons, ammunition, steel spare parts, and all necessary materials to Jiangbei as much as possible, so as to ensure that there will be no shortage of weapons, ammunition, and necessary materials for the Jiangbei troops within half a year, and we must be mentally prepared to be blockaded for a period of time, and we must tighten our belts and live a hard life. ”

Hong Xuanjiao was stunned and said, "So anxious? Shanxiang gave birth to a big fat boy for you, why don't you go home and see your son first? ”

"This" Wang Feng showed a look of struggle, and then said: "Come back and see, I won't stay in Xiangshan for a few days, come back as soon as I arrange it." ”

"Alright then, Shanxiang should understand you." Hong Xuanjiao also said helplessly: "Wait a minute, I'll find someone to arrange for you, you take the train to Shanghai first." (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the two monthly passes~~~~