"It takes time for the ironclad to be retrofitted with an advanced breech-fired main gun, and it takes time for our sailors to get acquainted with this main gun.

Mr. Governor

We also need to wait for the arrival of the sister ship "Iostein" of the "Seven Provinces" from the country, which the task force desperately needs to join.

As far as I know, the "Holstein" has just arrived at the German shipyard for mid-term reconstruction, which will take four months, so it will arrive in six months at the earliest. ”

Vice Admiral Jan Kork-Bulkhov knew very well what kind of fleet he had, and except for the best Dutch sailors in the world, the others were inferior in terms of tonnage, firepower, speed, and protection.

In doing so, he did not fail to take the opportunity to refresh the entire task force.

But his persistence angered many people.

Wenbeck, assistant to the political officer, stood up and said with an angry expression; "Mr. Vice Admiral, as a low-country country with a long maritime history, the Netherlands has the most experienced sailors in the world, and the ships that have sailed the seven seas have created a glorious history, and our opponents are nothing more than farmers who have just learned to sail, do you deny that?"

"Indeed, Mr. Wenbeck." Lieutenant General Jan Kok Bulkhov calmly answered the emotional young man, then turned his gaze to the Governor and said;

"I would like to remind you that the Dutch did have a centuries-old history of steering galleons, but that is all in the past.

Now the king of the sea is the steam ironclad battleship, and the Dutch's previous experience in schooner combat has all been reduced to zero, and in this respect we are on the same level as the enemy, and even have a slight disadvantage.

This is due to the fact that our excellent soldiers, who have never operated the breech to fire cannons, are completely unfamiliar with this new weapon, and the enemy has skillfully used it and captured the "Tulip" in battle, which is a real crisis for us.

Since the Industrial Revolution of Steam

The old times have returned to history, everything has to start anew, and a tenacious will to fight can lead us to final victory, but it is impossible to sink the enemy's warships.

Let's be realistic, the white man with a spear and broadsword in his hand is not much stronger than the natives, and the huge gap in weapons and equipment cannot be made up by courage and blood, and the same is true of rich experience. ”

It's really a naked slap in the face!

Faced with the undoubted facts, Wenbeck couldn't refute it, so he could only sit down with a red ear and a hot face, and honestly shut his mouth.

Governor Frederick S. Jacob was furious, believing that this was an opportunity for the Navy to raise the asking price, and that the reality was not so unbearable.

No one can deny that the Netherlands had some of the best sailors in the world, and that the colonial fleet was undoubtedly powerful when the new breech-loading guns from Europe were equipped.

Not only did it have a heavy cruiser with a displacement of 2,600 tons, but it also had a three-stage wooden sail battleship with a displacement of more than 1,700 tons, wrapped in copper below the waterline, equipped with more than 80 guns, and a displacement of more than 1,700 tons.

The Royal Navy Task Force has a tough background, and I can't afford to offend!

Governor Frederick S. Jacob forcibly suppressed his inner emotions, and a gentle smile bloomed on his face, and he nodded;

"Mr. Lieutenant Admiral's concern is very reasonable, and it is on this basis that the Cabinet of Ministers has transferred breech-loading guns of various calibers from Europe to make up for the weakest shortcomings of the fleet, and we will have sufficient new artillery to deal a heavy blow to the enemy, and there is no doubt about this.

The Batavia shipyard was fully prepared and recruited 86 blacksmiths from the city to reequip the ships as soon as the guns from Europe arrived in port.

Of course...... Of course...... Mr. Lieutenant General, I know your concerns about the Batavia shipyard, which is only a medium-sized shipyard capable of building wooden sailboats, and we will solve this problem. ”

Governor Frederick S. Jacob smiled and made a slight reassuring gesture to stop Mr. Vice Admiral, who knows what else he would say?

Mr. Governor must today keep this important meeting at his own pace, rather than settle the rattling of the Army and Navy, and then no decision can be made for another two months,he continued:

"According to the latest bulletin from the Kingdom;

Will we be able to intercept the two new ocean-going cruisers ordered by Queensland, which have crossed the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean and are ready to return to join the Earl of Queensland's fleet?

This is crucial for the next step of military operations, according to the latest intelligence from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom;

The Seagull II frigate has a displacement of 1,770 tons, a main scale of 103 meters long, a width of 10.8 meters, a draft of 3.2 meters, a design capacity of 68 people, a speed of 21 knots, and a range of 5,800 kilometers.

It is powered by four state-of-the-art reciprocating steam engines with single-shaft drive.

The main armament includes two German-made 239 mm main guns in the bow, which are arranged in a forward-to-back pannier arrangement, four 120 mm secondary guns on both sides of the hull, equipped with eight steam torpedo tubes, and the bow firepower is quite fierce.

If these two powerful cruisers are left alone, oh...... Gentlemen, this is a real cruiser, and not some damn coast guard cruiser.

According to accurate information from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom, the Seagull II has enough space in the stern and enough deck strength to withstand a hunched main gun crew, and even the gun base is installed.

That is, it can be transformed at any time, it can double the firepower of the main guns, and the threat to the Royal Task Force is self-evident, and we must do something about it? ”

As soon as this statement came out

The senior officers of the Royal Navy Task Force who participated in the meeting looked solemn, they knew too well what this meant?

On the contrary, some civilian officials did not think so, two German-made 239 mm main guns, plus four 120 mm secondary guns, the whole ship has a total of only 6 guns, and the double is only 12 guns, so what is there to fear?

In the corresponding Royal Navy task force, the 1,700-ton wooden sail warship has a total of more than 80 guns on the upper and lower floors, and 671 sailors on board, which is more than 10 times the number of ships and guns of the other side.

In fact, the account cannot be calculated like this, the difference is a millimeter, and the error is thousands of miles.

Since the 17th century, the capital galleons of the Anglo-Dutch War were all low-side, cross-sail, and broadside equipped with cannons, and many of these ships were lined up in a long queue to give full play to the firepower advantage of the two sides.

This is also the origin of the name "battleship", the Royal Task Force Wooden Sail 3rd class battleship did have more than 80 guns, mainly composed of five types of guns: 9-pounder, 12-pounder, 18-pounder, 24-pounder and 32-pounder, ranging in caliber from 104 mm to 159 mm.

The five guns were of similar length, all about 2.7 meters, and were divided into two columns, the upper and lower gun decks, but the weight varied greatly, with the 12-pounder gun weighing one and a half tons, the 24-pounder gun weighing two tons, and the 32-pounder gun weighing two and a half tons.

The range of artillery in the old period was not very far, take the 32-pounder gun as an example;

The range can reach up to 4 feet at an angle of 850 degrees and up to 8 miles at an elevated angle of 1.2 degrees.

In all naval battles since the Age of Discovery, the fleets of both sides often fired artillery shells at a horizontal angle of fire at a distance of one or two hundred meters, and the rate of fire was much more important than the range.

Only by pouring more firepower in the shortest possible time can the opposing fleet inflict more serious damage and achieve the final victory in the naval battle.

According to the excellent level of the Dutch gunners, it can reach a firing rate of one round per minute, which is twice that of the French Navy, slightly stronger than the level of the English Imperial Navy, and is the first for a while.

According to the calculation of five sailors in a gun crew, more than 80 guns need to be controlled by nearly 400 sailors, plus the control of complex sail cables, more than 1,700 tons of wooden sail battleships need more than 670 sailors.

Compare that to it

The Seagull 2 Ocean Cruiser has a similar displacement and needs only 68 crew members, which is only a fraction of a fraction.

The officers of the Royal Task Force Navy knew perfectly well that there was no point in obsessing over the number of artillery.

Unless there is a broadside battle or a ship-grabbing battle, there is no point in dwelling on the number of sailors.

The Seagull II ocean-going cruiser is equipped with a German-made 239 mm breech gun, which fires three rounds per minute and has a range of up to 8.5 nautical miles, with a very high hit rate at a distance of nearly 2 to 3 nautical miles.

If you're lucky, firing ten shells has a chance of hitting one or two shots, inflicting heavy damage on the Sail Battleship.

And at this distance, the breech guns equipped on the sail battleships were not of any threat, and modification was imperative.

However, that was a few months later, and the most serious problem now was that the two new warships had to be prevented from returning to the Irian Islands to become the core of the new fleet of all-steam ironclad warships, which was the most important thing.

Otherwise, the pressure on the Royal Task Force will skyrocket.

The lights in the conference room of the Governor's Palace remained on until late at night, and the senior officials who participated in the meeting showed unprecedented efficiency in the face of the crisis and actively participated in the formulation of the battle plan......

It was late at night

Batavia's old town was plunged into darkness, with only a lone gas street lamp flickering in a dim glow that illuminated a small area nearby.

On the Tang-style wooden building not far from the Governor's Palace, a high-powered telescopic lens peeked out of the open window, which was the latest optical technology equipment that would never appear on this old-fashioned wooden building, so abruptly.

Several men in the room of the wooden building looked solemnly at the entrance of the Governor's Mansion through binoculars, even if mosquitoes were buzzing around them all the time, and they did not dare to slack off for a moment.

"Attention, there is movement at the gate of the Governor's Palace, hurry up and record it, the time is now 1.40 in the morning, more than 20 heavily armed guards and 11 carriages at the entrance of the Presidential Palace.

Oh...... Now there is Wenbeck, assistant to the political officer, who is next to an army officer whose identity is unknown.

Inform the traffic team below to find out who this army officer is, where he lives, whether it is possible to set up a listening device, and whether it is possible to send our people in?

Wait a minute, there are several people coming out now......

OMG!

There was Governor Frederick S. Jacob, who was accompanied by four officers in the uniform of senior officers of the Royal Navy, who were greeting and saying goodbye.

I only recognize Vice Admiral Jan Kork-Bulkhov, commander of the Royal Navy, that's right...... There was only one vice admiral in the entire Dutch East Indies.

Wait a minute, there is another lieutenant general of the army, his identity has been revealed, it must be Lieutenant General Keitel of the Royal Army, this information must be transmitted back as soon as possible......" The man in black staring at the telescope said hurriedly.

Several other people were busy in the dim light, some were recording, some got up and left to deliver orders, and some gathered in front of the telescope to identify the important people attending the meeting, nervous and orderly.

In this dark night, the clouds moved in all directions, and they were nervously making preparations.

It is still unknown who will kill the deer!