April 1st, morning. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

In the Sulawesi Sea, which has become the Inland Sea, a large fleet rises and falls with the waves.

For Tan Xiaozeng, who is nearly sixty years old, this will be the next time he will fight with the fleet, from the former Fujian Navy Pipe Belt to the current Chief of Staff of the Chinese Navy, he has witnessed two different eras.

Beside him, the majestic battleships, when he was excited and arrogant, also made him understand that he was really a little old.

The Royal Chinese Navy is a different kind of force, even different from the navies of other countries in the world, and its structure and operational concept are completely marked by Li Mo's imprint from later generations.

The younger generation of officers has already risen, Ji Weishan and Le Fei are just their representatives, behind them, there are Ning Xiaochuan, as well as Dong Fei, Fang Jin, Liu Haitao, Zhou Cheng and a number of captains, plus Liu Buchan, Lin Taizeng, Ye Zugui, Sa Zhenbing, Lan Jianshu, Xie Baozhang, Wu Yingke and others from Beiyang, to paraphrase an old saying, it is not too much for heroes from all over the world to gather.

After the implementation of the naval regulations three years ago, the appearance of the navy has undergone a major change, in this case, Tan Xiaozeng knew that he should also abdicate and make way for Xian, so he took the initiative to find Long Guozhang and Chen Ping, and told them his thoughts, and then after the decision of the General Staff, he will leave the position of chief of staff after this war and retreat to the second line to concentrate on logistics support for the navy.

According to Long Guozhang's words, "From now on, I will always wipe my ass for these bastards."

”

Originally, he wanted to retreat before the war, but this battle was so important that it would be a lifelong regret for any navyman to see the "great coming" of more than 60 enemy ships if he could not witness it with his own eyes.

He had to stand up for the last shift, so even when he was old, he still held the teapot covered with tea dirt, sat in the communication cabin, and stayed up all night with the young non-commissioned officers in front of him.

The Jilin-class battleships and the Dalian-class heavy cruisers were the first capital ships to be designed specifically for radio communications, and they were also the first capital ships that were called initially electrified by the emperor.

This can be seen from the Jilin's wide and neat communications center, which is located under the command tower and protected by thick armor, with 20 fleet short-wave radios, four medium- and long-wave radios, and two radio stations, which can not only command 20 capital ships at the same time, but also directly contact the General Staff of Beijing from 10,000 miles away.

The progress of technology is unimaginable, so much so that even as the chief of staff of Haiyang, Tan Xiaozeng is still a little dizzy, which is why he considered taking a back seat, because he found that he was a little unable to keep up with the pace of the times. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. Learning Network)

A large number of radio and electrification equipment have high requirements for electricity, so the Jilin has four high-power steam generators to ensure the supply of the whole ship, and even for emergency purposes, it has also equipped two gasoline generators separately for the first time "as a backup emergency once all four power compartments are paralyzed."

The installation of various advanced equipment has also led to the extremely high cost of these eight capital ships, and the Zhonghua finally lost 12 million blue coins, and by the time it reached the Jilin class, it has been as high as 18 million blue coins!

Thinking that he would have to face these headache numbers at the end of this battle, Tan Xiaozeng couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Report to the Chief of Staff, the Golden Eagle has called, the Russian fleet has departed from Colombo."

Tan Xiaozeng's rapid result telegram, after looking at it, immediately drilled out of the communication center, and walked along the passage to the combat conference room located at the bottom of the bridge, which was already crowded with people.

After nodding and greeting the captains, he immediately walked to Long Guozhang, who was looking at the sea map on the bulkhead in a daze, and handed over the telegram: "The Russians have set off. ”

Although the voice was small, it made the conference center suddenly quiet" Long Guozhang pulled the telegram, and after reading it, his finger immediately pointed at the location of Colombo.

Colombo was a British colony "and one of the few places in the Indian Ocean where coal could be refueled, but after Colombo" the Russians would be faced with two choices.

Cross Malacca, or take a detour off the coast of Sumatra.

There is no doubt that at a time when Russia is no longer optimistic, Britain still opened the port of Colombo to refill coal for the Russians, not to make coal money, but to hope that Roger Stewinst, a fleet of as many as 60 warships, would cause some trouble for China, or at least sink some Chinese warships.

However, because of the agreement, he could not open any bases in the Far East to refuel coal with Russia, so after leaving Colombo, Roger Stewinster's choice became extremely important, because Colombo is also 3,000 nautical miles away from Borneo near China, and for Russian ships with short legs, it is impossible to guarantee the complete combat readiness of all warships in the decisive battle of the fleet.

So he had to add coal again!

In addition to coaling, there are routes to consider for Roger St Winster!

The British would never stop the Russian fleet from crossing the Strait of Malacca, but the exit on the South China Sea side of the Strait of Malacca was too narrow, and it would be a bitter battle if trapped, but a detour off the coast of Sumatra would increase the range and exacerbate the already serious coal crisis, so Roger Sterwin had to make a choice.

In his heart, Long Guozhang was inclined to put the decisive battle at the exit of Malacca, and according to the environment there, there was no need for battleships to be dispatched, so it was certain that he could rely on destroyers and powerful spears and torpedoes to take out at least half of the Russian capital ships, but the reality was that the British had already issued a warning asking China not to use Malacca as a war zone.

"Because it's an international waterway!"

International watercourses.

The British used this term to clearly warn themselves that if they did anything in the Strait of Malacca, it would cause concern for the safety of the waterway in other countries, and some compromises would be necessary in order to create a better external environment for China after the war.

Moreover, the British have also strengthened their control over Malacca, and the Far East Fleet, which had been absent for three years, has been stationed in Gapo last month, and the number of capital ships has increased to 12 again, bringing the size of the entire fleet to 37.

Long Guozhang is ninety percent sure that Britain will not intervene in the war, but if the war starts under the noses of others, will Britain take the opportunity to take revenge when it sees China's strong power?

It is impossible to say 100% victory in any war, especially in naval battles, even if the equipment exceeds the opponent by several times, especially the Battle of the Bass Strait, which illustrates the impact of weather and environment on the war, so as the commander, he must take into account every detail and ensure that the preparations are foolproof.

He can't gamble on the entire fleet with nine out of nine Britain not going to participate in the war, especially for Britain, which has already mastered the technology of Chinese-type battleships and extricated itself from Boer, the loss of another Far Eastern Fleet is not a big deal, but for China, even if it loses five or six main battleships, it will hand over the Pacific sea supremacy that has been painstakingly won for several years.

In the final analysis, the national strength is still too poor to consume!

So the battlefield he set was off the coast of Sumatra, and in that open water, the speed advantage of eight capital ships would be brought into play, but Roger Stewin would be willing to go to the Indian Ocean?

For any fleet that has sailed 15,000 nautical miles and is exhausted by the damage caused by the attack, it is probably a big idea to reach the destination and complete the mission.

According to intelligence, Nicholas II's request to Roger Sterwin was to use Dili as a base to attack Luzon and Borneo and then look for an opportunity for a decisive battle.

So to this day, he didn't move Dili under his nose, just to give Roger Sterwin a bait, if Dili was defeated, I am afraid that the Russian fleet would not have so much trouble, but went directly to Malacca, relying on the number and the environment where the narrow waterway could not be maneuvered, relying on the tonnage advantage to force the pass.

But this is just an assumption, relying on Dili as bait to lure Roger Stewinst to the Indian Ocean, but will the other side choose this?

No one can guarantee it, so he has to add one more weight, the weight of Roger Sterwinster to make the wrong choice!

An hour later, Lefei led three Polaris, three Vladivostok and all eight Jinghai-class ships, accompanied by four destroyers, to set off for the Linga Islands, which are exported from the South China Sea in the Strait of Malacca.

Long Guozhang was right, just as Le Fei set off, the Golden Eagle called again, and the two Russian cruisers broke away from the main formation, and three hours later, listening to the call from the Wind, they tracked the Russian cruisers Azov and Aurora were sailing along the Bay of Bengal.

Roger St. Winster also wants to go to Malacca!

Yes, after locking himself in the captain's room, Roger Stevenster was still looking at the charts in a daze, and although Wittheft sent another telegram saying that Dili was safe, and that he had stockpiled 50,000 tons of coal there, he was still not at ease.

Because he couldn't figure out why the Chinese navy would let Dili not attack for a year under his nose.

Are they disdainful of those small warships, or are they thinking about eating their own main forces first? Or is it just a red apple with a poisonous snake coiled next to it?

So he sent two cruisers to find out whether the Strait of Malacca was unblocked, and in his opinion, it was the best choice to really hit Malacca, reach Luzon at speed, and even go into the southern and central seas and go straight to the southeast coast of China, and blow it up with his own large number of cannons.

In addition to the choice of waterway, he also has a tricky problem, burning coal!

Damn the Germans, after being frightened by the two Chinese warships, actually withdrew all the coal carriers, although in Colombo again replenished each capital ship with 4,000 tons of coal, but the problem is that there are still more than 40 small warships, especially the Second Fleet brought by Nebogatov, which has become a burden, and the two large teacher battleships have a range of only more than 2,000 nautical miles, even if the Chinese Navy does not stop it, it will not reach Dili.

So it is also necessary to add coal again.

Roger Stwinst set his sights on the port of Tebanda Aceh, northwest of Sumatra, which is a Dutch-controlled territory and the demarcation point for the selection of shipping lanes, where to wait for reconnaissance and coaling。。!