The reinforcement fleet arriving at the port of Banda Aceh from Europe was already late at night after completing the supply of coal water and fresh vegetables and fruits.

At the urging of the Governor-General of the East Indies and the Royal Task Force, the small task force set sail into the Strait of Malacca in the early hours of 15 May without making any further repairs at Banda Aceh.

The Strait of Malacca is 1,080 kilometers long, and it will take two and a half days to sail out of the Strait of Malacca and into the western Pacific region, based on the speed of the reinforcement fleet's long-distance voyage of ten knots.

Along the way, the British cruiser "Stubborn Stone" was always by his side.

Like an African vulture hovering in the sky, it is keenly aware of the smell of war and draws all the nutrients from it that can help to perfect the Navy's steam-ironclad strategy, which is an area of particular concern for the Royal Navy.

Neither the British nor the Dutch were aware that the Combined Queensland Fleet, which had briefly disappeared into the Surabaya Strait, was speeding at a speed of 18 knots in the direction of the southeastern entrance to the Strait of Malacca...... i.e. the waters off Singapore.

The European reinforcement fleet arrived at the port of Banda Aceh at 9:20 a.m., and at 12:45 p.m. the Combined Queensland Fleet in the Surabaya Strait received an urgent secret report, just three hours and 25 minutes later.

It was late at night after the European reinforcement fleet finished replenishing coal and water, and the fleet set off at about 5:00 a.m. the next day, heading in the direction of Batavia.

From 12:45 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on the second day, this gave the Combined Queensland Fleet 16 hours of valuable time to advance 520 kilometers at a high speed of 18 knots, winning valuable warplanes to intercept the enemy fleet in the waters near Singapore.

The detour from the Surabaya Strait to the waters near Malacca and Singapore is about 2,300 kilometers, and it takes 72 hours at a high speed of 18 knots, and there can be no deviation in the middle.

Therefore, time is a warplane, fleeting.

At about 10 a.m. on May 17, in the waters near Singapore

The Queensland Combined Fleet, which had been coming from a long distance, successfully arrived in the sea area, and the commander-in-chief of the fleet, He Fang, finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and he ordered six Type 1 warships headed by the "Haiyan" to lead the port to carry out coal and water replenishment operations.

The combined fleet, with the Albatross, Flamingo, Pelican, and Heron as the main force, led the remaining six Type 1 ships to hover over the nearby sea, waiting for the opposing fleet to be caught.

The Port of Singapore is an important node port of the European route of the Australian shipping company in the 19th century, where large ocean-going freighters will dock for replenishment, unload some transshipment materials, and use the spare space capacity to load the goods of other companies to Europe, the Normandy Trading Company has a large warehouse area here for transshipment of goods, and Huitong Bank also has a bank branch here to provide thoughtful banking financial services.

As a result, the Red River Valley has its own independent wharf in Singapore to supply ocean-going freighters and ships.

It didn't take long

The encouraging news came from the secret observation post in Singapore that the Dutch reinforcement fleet had left the port of Banda Aceh at about 5:00 a.m. on 15 May, and was expected to pass through the waters off Malacca at about 5 p.m. today, at an average speed of 10 knots, and it was now 10 a.m., which was enough time for seven hours.

After receiving accurate information, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, He Fang, ordered the Flamingo and the Pelican II ships to enter the port immediately to complete the supply, and the rest of the ships were still patrolling the sea, vigilantly preventing any accidents.

No Dutch-flagged freighter was allowed to enter the Strait of Malacca to prevent it from ventilating the Dutch reinforcements and letting the boiled duck fly.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon

Albatross and Heron II led the ships that had completed the second round of replenishment out of the port, and all 16 steam ironclad battleships lined up in a geese-shaped combat search formation and entered the Strait of Malacca at a high speed of 15 knots.

Just over 40 minutes later, the fleets of both sides came face to face.

On the sparkling sea, one after another tall steel triangular masts emerged on the sea level, the thick chimneys spewed thick black smoke, the sun shone on the tall steel hull with a cold sheen, and the 16 ships of the Queensland Combined Fleet lined up in a neat goose-shaped queue to cut the waves, with an indomitable majesty.

On the Dutch side, led by the 2,650-ton steamship "Holstein", the Dutch reinforcement fleet accompanied by two 1,470-ton light cruisers "Fury" and "Courage" suddenly encountered the enemy, and the piercing sirens sounded throughout the ship, and the formation was disbanded at the first time.

Two German-flagged munitions ships slowed down and left the formation, as did the two Dutch-flagged coal carriers, distancing themselves from the formation, and they had the option to surrender if attacked.

The "Holstein" took the lead, followed by the light cruisers "Fury" and "Courage" in a "one" formation, and black smoke came out of the tall chimney, which was noticeably thicker and was accelerating with all its might.

The enemy is currently blocked in a narrow strait. The northeastern strait, which is about 50 kilometers wide, has little room for maneuver, and the Dutch reinforcement fleet can only rush over with no other way.

The British cruiser "Stone", which accompanied the voyage all the way, silently turned and distanced itself from the Dutch reinforcement fleet to prevent accidental fire from the warring naval guns.

The Royal Navy of the British Empire made a deep impression on the Queensland fleet, and the ships of the so-called Queensland Coast Guard, which had experienced two bloody battles, showed extremely aggressive and bared sharp fangs.

And no matter how keenly it captures fleeting fighters?

A simple look at the spiritual outlook of the officers and men of the fleet shows that this growing navy is sassy and heroic, completely devoid of the old empire's stale atmosphere, and shows the danger that the emerging maritime force cannot hide.

The fleets of the two sides are rapidly approaching, and the Queensland fleet is also speeding up with all its might, evolving into a double "one" formation in the high-speed rush, with 16 ships against 3 ships, that is, bullying the small number of the opponent's fleet, taking care of their own left formation, not the right formation, and can do their best to output artillery fire to the enemy to deal a heavy blow.

This is a clear plan to bully more and less, and prepare for a group fight.

When the distance between the two sides was close to within five nautical miles, the Queensland fleet's 239-mm main guns took the lead and fired a round of test firing.

More than 20 heavy artillery shells splashed high columns of water on the water, and the latest one was only more than 700 yards away from the enemy ship, which was a certain threat.

The Dutch fleet counterattacked, and several large-caliber shells landed near the right queue that rushed violently, and the nearest ship was more than 300 yards away, showing that the Dutch officers and men were superior in skill and more accurate in firing.

But that's about it

As the two fleets continued to accelerate face to face, the distance was rapidly shortened, the Dutch fleet increased to the level of thirteen knots, and the Queensland army on the opposite side generally increased to a high speed of more than 20 knots, drawing a snow-white track on the sea, and the battle quickly became white-hot.

After several rounds of main gun test firing, the Quinlan fleet fired a close-in arrow round in the fifth round, and the distance between the two sides was also reduced to within 2.8 nautical miles, at which time the long-held Miss 95 artillery began to explode.

An overwhelming deluge of 95-millimeter shells blanketed the entire sea, stirring the calm sea like boiling oil in a hot pot.

In just ten minutes, more than 80 "Miss Australia" fired tens of thousands of shells, washing the Dutch pocket fleet countless times with steel rain and iron bullets, and simply raised the white flag.

When the continuous Miss Australia cannon stopped, the sea breeze blew away the thick gunsmoke, showing what a miserable scene in front of people's eyes.

The gunboat "Ichstein" was blown up from front to back, the fore and rear masts were burning, the wheelhouse had been completely destroyed, the commanders were all killed, and the sailors who could not resist raised the white flag.

Immediately after that, more than 20 shells were fired in the body of the "Fury", and the hull of the ship was scorched black, and there were shocking craters everywhere, and the entire hull was slowly sinking, and there was no way to save it.

The "Courage" was slightly better, barely able to float on the water, and only a few sailors were able to stand up in the rubble of the severed limbs, completely blown up.

The Queensland fleet, equipped with Miss Australia's fast cannon, was fierce and took only ten minutes to kill the opponent, at the cost of consuming a huge amount of ammunition.

Presumably, Lord Earl Queensland should be heartbroken again, these losers of the United Fleet have done tens of thousands of shells at once, which is all money spent in vain!

I don't know how many barrels have to be replaced, which is another lot of money.

The navy is really not an expensive toy that the poor can play with, even if it is the rich Earl of Queensland, the scalp should be numb when he sees the bill.

The Combined Fleet could not take care of this, and they happily sent two ships to accept the surrender and house the wounded prisoners, and the three warships together survived less than 100 men, most of them in the engine room, and the front-line command officers of the Royal Dutch Navy were almost dead.

More than 20 minutes later

The Fury rolled badly due to excessive flooding, and finally capsized with a "boom", shooting a high splash on the surface of the sea, and then quickly sank into the strait.

After the surrender of the captives, the Puffin fired two steam torpedoes, which blew them up and quickly sank in the Strait of Malacca.

The superstructure of the steamship "Holstein" was almost completely destroyed, and it could only be towed by a freighter sent by the Combined Fleet to the port of Singapore for emergency repairs, and only after it had become capable of navigating independently.

The Combined Fleet left behind two ships, the Puffin and the Petrel, to accompany the steamer Hip Gunboat "Iostein" to the port for repairs, and then return to the port of Jayapura a step later.

The main force of the Combined Fleet escorted two Dutch coal carriers, and the two German munitions ships returned to the port of Samarinda first, and the current war was not over, and the Combined Fleet had to keep a firm eye on the Royal Dutch Task Force hiding in the port of Surabaya to prevent him from sneaking out to make trouble.