Vice Admiral Jan Kork-Bulkhov, out of arrogance and prejudice, was reluctant to believe his subordinates' opinions, but he had to admit that they were very reasonable, and that they were almost the only feasible thing to do.

He suddenly stood up and walked to the armored gun room of the ship, stretched out his hand and gently stroked the hard breech cannon, as if he had gained infinite confidence from it, and suddenly looked back and said;

"Mr. Captain, the Dutch are the best sailors in the world, and I have no doubt that all the officers and men of the Royal Task Force will strike at the intruders and win glory with a brilliant victory, whether they are two ships or four ships."

"Of course, Your Excellency, I am convinced of this." Colonel Van Basten replied with a noticeable hesitation.

His heart has been cursed;

Fool, using 3 239mm guns on one ship to deal with 8 239mm guns on four ships is a gamble of life.

The Royal Task Force has 15 warships in the Strait of Malacca, including two ironclads and 13 sailboats.

Although there were a large number of warships, only one cruiser of the Seven Provinces had a German-made 239 mm breech main gun, and the others were mostly 150 mm, 120 mm and even 95 mm and 75 mm naval guns, and a large number of small gun barrels.

The power of this thing is not an order of magnitude at all, the 239-mm main gun hits a big crater, and if it hits, it will either kill or be injured, and the small cannon barrel will hit a deflated one, which will not play a big role.

The fastest sail warship in the Royal Dutch Task Force is at 17 knots, the main Seven Provinces is at 13 knots, and the four new warships on the Queensland side are up to 21 knots.

It shows that the power to fight or not to fight is in the hands of the Queensland fleet, although the narrow Strait of Malacca is conducive to the task force entangled with the opponent layer by layer, but the tiger also has a nap.

Naval warfare in today's world

Completely rely on the observer hand on the top of the mast to detect the enemy's situation, if the stars and moon conditions are good at night, the observer hand can distinguish the ship passing in a range of 4~5 nautical miles at most.

If the moon is dark and the wind is high, the observer can only distinguish a radius of 1~2 nautical miles with his eyesight, and there is nothing he can do if he is far away.

Such a small distance is almost a flash for a battleship moving at high speed.

Perhaps the Royal Task Force's sail warships had not yet lowered their mainsails, and the enemy ships had already plunged headlong into the dark night, with nowhere to be found.

I know this huge loophole, but I can't fix it.

From start to finish

Out of contempt for the peasants who had just laid down their hoes, Colonel Van Basten did not consider whether the other party dared to go head-to-head with the Royal Task Force.

This arrogance, which pervaded the entire fleet, was not peculiar to him alone, but infected all officers.

More than a month later

December 19, 1881

The southernmost port of Cochin in the Indian Peninsula

It was a completely commercial port, one of the key strongholds of the British East Indies Company, connecting the transoceanic routes from the Far East and Europe, where all transoceanic freighters would stop for a short time to replenish their coal and supplies, and the crew would stop by and have fun.

There is a row of four brand-new warships parked by the dock, they have exactly the same smooth and graceful line, and the wide and slightly fat bow is obviously floating, which has an excellent wave pressing effect, which is a typical ocean-going ship design.

These are the four Seagull II ocean-going cruisers ordered in Portsmouth, England, namely "Albatross", "Flamingo", "Pelican" and "Heron".

The second batch of battleships, the Pelican and Heron, arrived in late November, and the four cutting-edge warships have conducted five exercises off the coast of Cochin Harbor, including many difficult combat subjects.

And not far from them, there is always a high-speed light cruiser "Endurance" from the British Royal Navy, like a nasty stalker, who will be present at every offshore drill.

Today, the "Endurance" is parked not far from the four ocean-going cruisers, next to it is the ocean-going fast freighter "Tarzan", which is loaded with high-quality coal and supplies.

On the fast freighter "Tarzan".

In the luxurious cabin at the rear of the wheelhouse, a group of young naval officers gathered for a pre-war analysis meeting.

Whether it is a fight or a rush, the views of the two sides are fiercely opposed.

The meeting lasted for most of the day, and basically the advantages and disadvantages of the two sides were analyzed very thoroughly, but there were serious differences of opinion on the battle plan, and no one could convince anyone.

The only ones who did not express their opinions were the two military commanders of the fleet, Coast Guard Captain Geng Guigui and Temporary Task Force Commander He Fang.

Geng Guigui is the captain of the coast guard, and he is the commander of the temporary task force, and all four cutting-edge warships are under his command, and he has the power to make a decision.

He Fang is the only two-list jinshi in the entire Red River force, a native of Guangxi, and has served two terms as a seven-pin magistrate.

During his travels in Europe, he became interested in the navy and entered the Manchester Naval Academy.

In less than three years, He Fang not only mastered English and French, but also took the lead among the graduates of the class of 1881, and created several firsts since the establishment of the Manchester Naval Academy with the outstanding performance of the first place in various grades.

For the first time, a Chinese cadet won the Gold Award for Best Graduate of the Manchester Naval Academy.

For the first time, a student won the first place in the overall score and in all subjects, and there was no doubt about winning.

The first cadet was favored by the Royal Navy of the British Empire without graduation and took the initiative to extend an olive branch.

The first student published a high-value paper in the journal of the Royal Society, which attracted wide attention from all walks of life.

……

During his studies at the Manchester Naval Academy, He Fang also served as the naval representative of the client of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, responsible for supervising the construction of four Seagull II ocean-going cruisers, and negotiated with the British Navy Shipyard on behalf of the client on matters related to the construction and put forward 112 rectification suggestions.

If it weren't for the urgency of time, the representative of the difficult client would have put forward more suggestions for rectification.

It is precisely because of her outstanding talent that He Fang was particularly favored by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the United Kingdom, and she offered a high salary and favorable treatment to try to retain her.

It is precisely because of the outstanding work of He Fang that not only prompted the shipyard to work overtime to complete the outfitting work, but also officially delivered it to the receiving party on September 23 two days ahead of schedule.

In the construction of the ship with quality and quantity, 112 hidden dangers were found and rectified, which greatly improved the maturity of the ship in the sea trial, from mechanical and electrical facilities to steam engine pipelines, boilers and power systems, and weapons and equipment, no serious hidden dangers were found.

All of the above outstanding performances are impressive.

After graduating, he served as the captain of the "Pelican" and concurrently served as the commander of the temporary fleet, leading the second batch of "Pelican" and "Heron" warships to set sail and travel thousands of miles to the Indian port of Cochin to rendezvous with the first fleet that had already arrived.

Upon arrival at the port of Cochin, the fleet received the latest orders from the Red River Valley;

He Fang, the captain of the "Pelican", is hereby ordered to serve as the supreme commander of the provisional fleet, responsible for commanding the temporary fleet composed of four warships, Albatross, Flamingo, Pelican, and Heron, and to prime minister all war and affairs and give him the right to make decisions on the spot.

The signature is ~ Earl of Queensland Li Fushou issued on the same day.

One fleet has two leaders, will such an arrangement cause the Coast Guard Captain Geng Guigui to be repelled in his heart?

The Earl sent a secret order to Geng Guigui alone, and no one else knew the content, judging from Geng Guigui's performance, he unconditionally carried out the Earl's order, and there was no resistance.

in the conference room

The officers were discussing the charts fiercely, and suddenly there were a few knocks on the hatch, and Geng Guigui immediately stretched out his hand to make a silent movement, and the room fell silent in an instant.

Now that a confidential military meeting is being held, who will bother?

The hatch opens

The officer in charge of the guard walked over quickly, hesitated for a moment, and whispered in Where's ear.

He Fang's expression immediately became serious, and he commanded the officers; "Everyone continues to discuss, whether it is a battle or a breakthrough through the blockade line, we must come up with a specific discussion plan, and gradually refine and improve, please Zhu Qingxi Captain preside over the following military meeting, Captain Geng, please come with me."

"Oh, okay." Geng Guigui looked stunned, stood up from his seat, and walked out.

next to the cabin

He Fang and Geng Guigui saw the mysterious person, and the guard officer immediately left and closed the hatch, and there were only three people left in the room.

This mysterious man with a dark face, medium build, about 30 years old, wearing the national costume of the princely states of northeastern India, looking featureless, first took out his identity badge, and was the head of the black guard in Calcutta, codenamed "Green Pine".

Now that the identity of the other party has been verified, the rest of the matter is simple.

"Green Pine" said bluntly; "I come from for two purposes, first, in accordance with the wishes of the headquarters, the Indian station of the Black Guard will fully cooperate with the fleet's operations, providing everything from intelligence to all the help it can.

Second, this is a completely sealed box of classified documents entrusted to the fleet, because it involves a high level of secrecy, you have no right to open it, and someone will naturally come to pick it up after you reach your destination. ”

After saying that, Qing Song took out a delicate leather case from his robe like a trick, and saw that it had been completely sealed, and there must be some anti-peeping measures.

He Fang didn't care about this, but still asked; "Don't you have the right way to get the boxes out?"

"No matter how proper the channel is, there is no fleet security."

"Yes, I wonder how the Blackguard can help us?" There are still doubts.

Qing Song replied; "The Indian station has set up eyes and ears in Cochin long before the arrival of your fleet, and has screened relevant suspicious persons, with a focus on Dutch merchants and the telegraph office, and it has proved that we are in the right direction and have achieved remarkable results."

"Oh......" He Fang glanced at Geng Guigui in surprise, and then asked; Can you elaborate on that? ”

。