Episode 45 The Defeat of the Battleship

Batavia shook the mountains and hugged Qiu Yu to Xiaoqiang, his back against the wall under the windowsill, and he only felt that every few seconds, the ground under his ass trembled.

Qiu Yun's head was pressed into his arms, and every time it exploded, she would tremble. Xiang Xiaoqiang touched her back, his heart was beating wildly, and he still said close to her ear:

"Autumn Stream...... You're a ......."

Another loud bang interrupted him. After the loud noise, Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"You're a Navy ......"

Another shell exploded, and it exploded relatively close, Xiang Xiaoqiang only felt a suffocation in his chest, and only spoke after a few seconds:

“…… If you're a naval officer, a warship can ...... you with a gun."

There was another explosion, and Xiang Xiaoqiang simply didn't say anything, anyway, in this kind of shelling, it was a matter of thought to say a complete sentence.

Instead, Qiu Yu raised his head and shouted close to his ear:

"Open your mouth wide!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang remembered that if you can't block your ears in the loud noise, it's best to open your mouth wide. I wanted to hold Qiu Yu with both hands, so I could only open my mouth wide. Xiao Nizi is comfortable, her head is in her arms, and she doesn't have to cover her ears at all......

Xiang Xiaoqiang opened his mouth wide, and sure enough, the next few explosions made his chest and ears feel much better.

Slowly, there was a lot more dusty taste in the mouth. Spit a few mouthfuls of spit on Xiaoqiang, raised his head, and saw that the lights in the room were flickering on and off, and it was already dusty.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled, turned around and looked out on the windowsill, only to see a gray-white blur outside, as if the whole of Batavia was completely shrouded in gunsmoke and dust. Buildings, buildings, mosques and nothing in the distance can be seen, only the flash of an explosion can be seen through the smoke and dust.

The door opened suddenly, and Consul Nuremberg appeared in the doorway with a pale face, and there was another explosion, and he held on to the door frame to stand firm. Nuremberg was still in his dressing gown and with a monocle, and before he could catch his breath, he nervously spoke a string of German. Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Yu looked at each other, but they couldn't understand. Seeing this, Nuremberg slowly spoke English again. It wasn't until he was interrupted three times by the explosion of a cannonball that Xiang Xiaoqiang understood that he was asking if there would be anything wrong here.

Xiang Xiaoqiang hurriedly replied in English with a three-legged cat:

"It's okay! Don't be afraid! It's going to be fine here! Our Navy has a map! ”

Nuremberg understood, nodded, squeezed out a relaxed smile, took a large roll of duct tape from his pajama pocket and handed it to him, pointed to the window, and gestured. Xiang Xiaoqiang understood that he took the tape, and the three of them pasted the window glass of this room in an X-shape together to reinforce it and prevent it from being shattered and injured by the shock wave.

Then the three men took tape to the other rooms to reinforce the glass for the rest of the mission. Xiang Xiaoqiang then remembered that as a leader, he should care about the "masses" of the delegation at this time, especially the three respected old gentlemen. But fortunately, two of them were military attachés stationed abroad before they retired, and one was deputy director of the General Administration of Military Industry of the Ministry of National Defense before they retired. When Xiang Xiaoqiang came to visit them and put a window on them, they were sitting together drinking coffee. Although the hand holding the cup will tremble with the explosion outside the window, it looks much better than Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Yun hugging each other.

It's really hard to talk during the shelling. Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't figure out how the density of shelling could be so high just for those few warships. But if you think about it, you understand. The Gonggong alone has 8 305-mm main guns, and there are more than a dozen secondary guns of more than 100 mm. In addition, there were two light cruisers with a total of 155 mm guns and 16 guns. These thirty or forty cannons could be fired from ten nautical miles away to Batavia. This, combined with the high rate of fire characteristic of naval guns, was enough to plunge Batavia into a non-stop blast of artillery.

Suddenly, the sound of the cannon thinned out, and soon the dense explosions outside became very sporadic, and then the sporadic explosions also disappeared.

Batavia fell silent again.

After a while, a few people crowded the window and looked out.

Outside, the gray smoke and dust gradually thinned out, revealing the face of the city after being shelled. The nearby consulate district was better, with few shells, but a few streets away, in the distance, the slums where locals had gathered, were miserable.

Black smoke rose from the ruins, and some of the more humble wooden and bamboo houses were either in pieces or on fire. Broken tropical trees, palms and plantain branches littered the streets, and the corpses and severed arms of locals were everywhere on the streets.

When the shelling stopped, the city fell silent, and the screams and cries were heard from far and near. It's all in the local language, and I don't understand a word.

A big fat pig was blown off its entire hind leg, dragging its bloody half of its body and squirming on the road, pulling at its throat and screaming heartbreakingly, which could be heard for a mile.

Farther away, the mosque, which was usually tall, now has a large black hole in its large dome, like a volcanic crater, with black smoke floating outward.

Of course, this shelling was far less severe than the Qing army's shelling of Nanjing. There were much more artillery pieces involved in that shelling than that, and the shelling took much longer. But Xiang Xiaoqiang was not immersed in the scene that time, and when he looked at it afterwards, the north and west of Nanjing City were already a scorched earth, and there was nothing left. And this time, although the degree of destruction is very low, it is close at hand, and it feels alive.

Looking at the tragic situation in front of him, Qiu Yun grabbed Xiang Xiaoqiang's arm tightly and didn't say a word behind him. Consul Nuremberg's face turned paler than it had been when the shelling had just begun. The sweat on his face slowly dripped down, he bit his lip, his right hand trembled slightly, he took out his handkerchief, took off his monocle and wiped it, and put it back on, as if he wanted to confirm everything in front of him.

At the time of the shelling, a large number of locals naturally hid in places where shells did not fall too much. There are mainly a few Chinese neighborhoods, as well as the consulate area here. The local Chinese keep their doors and windows closed and try not to have contact with the locals. The locals, who were in extreme fear, were uncharacteristically honest, holding on to their relatives, dragging their broken legs, and sitting in a regular manner at the door of the Chinese people's homes and under the steps, staring at frightened and sad eyes, as if they were satisfied with a place to stay.

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared out the window, looking at the locals covered in blood, his heart was very complicated, and he didn't know whether to relieve his hatred or bear it.

……

The shelling lasted only a dozen minutes, because from this ten nautical miles to the north, the Da Ming detachment fleet was attacked.

Not that it was attacked by shore artillery. The choice of this position for the artillery bombardment by the Gonggong detachment would have been very ideal. Ten nautical miles is almost 18,000 kilometers, and the range limit of the Batavia 150-mm shore gun is also 18,000 kilometers. For the 305 mm naval guns of the Gonggong, this distance is close enough to relatively accurately hit the shells into the target block, such a large target.

But after daybreak, the bombers and torpedo planes on the surrounding islands, this time after full preparation, were once again assembled, and there were a total of twelve dive bombers and eight torpedo planes. The group of planes assembled in the nearby airspace and launched an air attack on the Gonggong sub-fleet.

Although the pilots were still just as bad, this time there were more than three times as many planes participating in the air raid as yesterday, they pounced from three different directions, the anti-aircraft fire of the seven warships was dispersed, and this time the fleet was not arranged in a circular anti-aircraft formation, but in a one-line artillery formation, which was very unfavorable to air defense. In the fierce battle, four of the eight torpedo planes were shot down, and five of the twelve dive bombers were shot down. The remaining eleven planes managed to escape.

This time the Dutch group suffered heavy losses, but their only result was extremely valuable - the Gonggong ate a torpedo on the rear side of the port side.

The Gonggong was a battle cruiser, and the main armor belt at the waterline on the side was only 228 mm thick, and this torpedo caused a lot of damage to it, the waterline was torn open a large opening, and a large amount of seawater poured into the water compartment, and the hull was slightly tilted.

The wounded telegram was sent back to the headquarters of the South Sea Fleet in Zhanjiang, which in turn sent it to the General Staff of the Nanjing Navy.

For a thinly armored battlecruiser, it was a miserable thing to eat a torpedo, and although it was not fatal, there was no doubt that it could not continue the battle. The General Staff of the Navy consulted Zhu Yourong.

When Zhu Yourong received the call, his head "buzzed", and he couldn't speak for a long time. One of the three battle cruisers of the Ming Empire, the respected Gonggong, which was built before the war in Europe, was now seriously injured by several planes in the task of protecting overseas Chinese and shelling the natives in Nanyang.

Daming is one of the world's traditional sea power countries and one of the members of the world's artillery club. As the monarch of such a country, although Zhu Yourong does not understand the navy, he grew up in such an environment since he was a child, and he has a deep-rooted belief in the belief that warships represent the country's armed forces. As for airplanes, they are just a new gadget that has appeared in the last two decades, and in the time of the war in Europe, airplanes could not even affect the course of the war on land, let alone at sea?

She called Shen Rongxuan. Shen Rongxuan was also very surprised, and didn't speak for a long time. He thought for a long time and said to Zhu Yourong that if the General Staff of the Navy thought that the Gonggong could not continue to fight, then the only way to do this was to temporarily withdraw the detachment from the battlefield and go to the nearest port of a third country for repairs. Now is his business, to negotiate with Britain as soon as possible, and strive to get the Gonggong into the Singapore shipyard for maintenance. The injured part of the Gonggong was below the waterline and had to be repaired at a shipyard with a dry dock. Singapore fits the bill.

Zhu Yourong put down the phone and looked at the map in a daze, feeling troubled. At present, the only armed presence of the Ming Dynasty in the East Indies is this detachment, which has now been "repulsed" by others, and the face and momentum of the Ming Empire have been lost. This undoubtedly injected a boost into the desperate Dutch army, which made their morale even higher and their will to resist stronger.

She couldn't figure out how such a large battle cruiser could be defeated in the hands of a few small planes. The cost of the battle patrol is n times that of the aircraft, the firepower is n times that of the aircraft, and the protection is n times that of the aircraft, how can it not beat the aircraft! Then why do you spend so much money to build warships? Wouldn't it be nice to spend a fraction of a little bit to build some airplanes?

Obviously, Zhu Yourong forgot the most important point -- the maneuverability of the plane is n times that of a battleship.

Zhu Yourong remembered Xiang Xiaoqiang. Teacher Xiang's military class, every class made her understand a lot of things. A lot of very naïve ideas were suddenly opened by Xiang Xiaoqiang's words that could be said. But Xiang Xiaoqiang taught himself lessons, mainly from the army, emphasizing armored maneuvering, emphasizing air coordination, and it seems that he also attaches great importance to aircraft. However, naval warfare is rarely discussed, and the question of whether a battleship is powerful or an aircraft is powerful has never been studied.

Zhu Yourong called his "confidential palace maid" and dictated a telegram to Xiaoqiang, telling him that the Gonggong was injured and the detachment had to withdraw, asking him to observe the situation in Batavia and hold on, and also wanted him to answer the confusion in his heart.

……

Batavia, Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiu Yun all saw Zhu Yourong's telegram. Xiang Xiaoqiang heard that the shelling stopped not because of the mercy of the Ming fleet, but because he caused people to be seriously injured and escaped, and he was so angry that he was depressed.

Qiu Qiu's eyes also widened, and he was speechless in shock. It seems that she also cannot accept the fact that a few planes can repel a fleet.

Originally, I thought that the Gonggong Battle Patrol Squadron would be bombarded, and today it would be able to force the Netherlands to sign the treaty in its entirety. Now they are called to run away, and the aircraft carrier formation that departed from the East China Sea Fleet two days ago will take at least two days to arrive. That is, nothing can be done during these two days.

What was even more terrifying was that the news that the Ming fleet had been repulsed by the Dutch army would soon spread throughout Batavia. Those knowledgeable and literate Chinese and Dutch naturally knew that this was only temporary, and did not change the balance of power between the Ming and the Netherlands in Southeast Asia.

But the more ignorant locals don't understand this. They only knew that the Ming army was defeated by the Dutch masters, and they could follow behind the Dutch masters' buttocks and shake their prestige to the Chinese. They can be second-class citizens again, trampling the third-class citizens and Chinese under their feet and bullying them wantonly.

After a crackdown by the authorities and a bombardment by the Ming Dynasty, many of these local natives have lost their loved ones, and they have long been enduring anger in their chests. Now that I heard that the Ming army was defeated by the Dutch army, how could I not vent my anger on the local Chinese?

Although the Daming aircraft carrier formation arrived two days later, will Batavia set off another wave of intensified slaughter storms in these two days?

Xiang Xiaoqiang pinched the telegram, paced back and forth in the room, anxious, sighed for a long time, and thought that it was better to explain the doubts to that Nizi first, and then tell her her worries.

"Qiu Yun," Xiang Xiaoqiang stood up and ordered Qiu Yun, "send me a report." I said you remember. ”

Qiu Yu hurriedly took out a pen and paper and looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang paced and said slowly:

“…… His Majesty...... Does Your Majesty still remember that there was a pair of golden chain armor handed down by the emperors of the past dynasties, as well as those few patterned steel swords? The minister once couldn't put it down......"

Qiu Yu raised his head and said angrily:

"Xiaoqiang! What do you say? …… Those are the treasures of the palace, if you want to, you can't take advantage of the danger to blackmail Your Majesty! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang ignored her and continued to dictate:

"Armor, the best armor of all armor, the sword, and the best sword of all swords. This set of equipment worth hundreds of thousands of Mingyang is worn on a warrior's body, but it is no match for a child with a Shimingyang pistol......"

Qiu Yu said "ah", his face suddenly realized, thoughtful, blushing and burying his head in the record, no longer angry.

After Xiang Xiaoqiang briefly explained that it was normal for battleships to lose planes, and that it was the general trend for aircraft carriers to replace battleships, he then dictated his worries: how to let them suppress the natives and protect the Chinese when they were already at war with the Netherlands.

After pondering for a while, Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:

"Please allow your Majesty to issue a verbal warning to the Governor of Batavia in the name of the Commander of the People's Guard of the Ming Empire: If another massacre occurs in Batavia, the Ming army will swear to completely conquer the East Indies and will execute all Dutch officials, including the Governor, on the spot."

Qiu Yu was startled and looked up at him.

"Do you have a better way?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked her.

Qiu Yu was stunned and shook his head.

"That's not a quick memory."

……

The telegram was sent. It took more than an hour for Zhu Yourong's telegram to come back, allowing Xiang Xiaoqiang to act cheaply in Batavia.

Xiang Xiaoqiang pushed open the window and saw that the atmosphere of the street outside was no longer right. The Dutch national anthem was playing on the loudspeakers of the telephone poles, the Dutch police and soldiers were cheering, and the local police officers were even more frenzied, many of them took off their upper body police uniforms, brandished batons, and danced the savage war dance of the local tribe banon.

Groups of locals came out of their homes, and they poured into the streets, running, screaming, and wielding all sorts of things: knives, sticks, ropes...... And just two days ago, he was still going to be shot on the spot, and now the military and police on the street are also turning a blind eye.

Not a single Chinese person could be seen on the street, and they all hid in their homes in terror, closing their doors and windows. The horrific nightmare of a few days ago seems to be about to repeat itself.

Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart beat violently, and he felt that he couldn't wait any longer. He rushed outside the house and asked the secretary to call the governor.

"The phone doesn't work!" The secretary put down the phone in horror and turned around to wipe the sweat on his head, "The phone can't get through!" ”

"Keep fighting!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang gritted his fist irritably, listening to the deafening Dutch national anthem outside the window, and the increasingly boiling streets. The screams of the locals, and the savage war dances resembling those of the cannibal tribes of New Guinea, burst through the windows.

It took a while for the phone call to get through. The secretary asked in Dutch, then was silent for a moment, hung up the phone, and muttered:

"They said the Governor was bathing and couldn't answer the phone now......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang cursed fiercely and kicked the wall with his foot:

"Damn, that fat old man has healed his scar and forgot the pain, and now it's here again! …… Prepare the car, I'll go to the Doge's Palace myself! ”

Qiu Yu exclaimed:

"No!!"