Chapter 397: The French Far East Fleet
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Fifteen nautical miles southeast of Haiphong Harbor, a powerful fleet of eight steel warships is sailing like a storm and waves. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info The neat hull and the overall appearance of the soldiers show that this is a well-trained and powerful fleet.
Feeling the cold and hard steel texture of the railing under him, and looking at the blue and turbulent sea in the distance, Wang Jun's face couldn't help but reveal a strong color of excitement. He hadn't experienced this feeling in over two years!
As the first batch of naval officers trained by Huo Jiajun himself, he not only has outstanding theoretical knowledge, but also does not lack practical experience, otherwise he would not have been able to become the captain of the Sea Hawk-class frigate No. 1 as soon as he graduated.
If it weren't for the naval battle of Ngano Island in 1882 when Huo Jiajun fought with the Netherlands and Portugal for control of the islands in the South Seas, he disrespected military orders and led warships to participate in the battle without authorization, and was punished by the Admiralty to be transferred from the fleet and went to the Naval Ship Academy to be a teacher for three years, I am afraid that the current Wang Jun would have been a well-known captain in the Huo Jiajun Navy!
However, after three years of teaching, Wang Jun's military theories and various naval tactics and tactics have been greatly strengthened, and his military rank has also been promoted to colonel. Moreover, what made him even happier was that three years later, he finally received an order from the Admiralty, returned to the front line of the fleet, and took over as the captain of the 'Haixun No. 1' battleship!
The current 'Haixun No. 1' is no longer the Haixun No. 1 ship of the past. Instead, the original flagship of the captured Dutch, the "Seven Provinces Alliance", was converted into a full-load displacement of 7,650 tons after nearly two years of refitting. It has 6 203mm caliber naval guns, 10 152mm caliber secondary guns, 18 76mm caliber auxiliary guns, four three-expansion steam turbines, ten small water-tube boilers, 22,000 horsepower, and a powerful warship with a maximum speed of 18 knots. Of course, it is also within the current stage. The most powerful warship in the Huo family's army.
The built-in radio allows for a piggyback layout, with two in the front and one in the back. Three twin 203mm heavy guns Haixun-1 achieved a salvo. Of course, the most important thing in this is the use of hydraulic booster systems, otherwise even the Huojia Naval Shipyard, after the modification, replaced the heavy and cumbersome wrought iron with stronger protection. Doubled in weight of surface carburized steel. And after strengthening the hull keel with Huo Jiajun special steel, and using a small watertight compartment to reserve buoyancy, I am afraid that it will not be able to withstand the strong recoil formed by the salvo of six 203mm heavy guns.
The situation is similar to that of Haixun No. 1, which was modified from the capture of the flagship of the Portuguese fleet 'Queen Maria', with a displacement of 6,500 tons, the same 6 triple 203mm naval guns, and a maximum speed of 18 knots, so that it has a strong combat effectiveness that is not inferior to Haixun No. 1!
But the remaining six coast guards are much worse. With a displacement of less than five thousand tons, they were doomed, and within the Huojia army they could not reach the standard of battleships. Therefore, most of them were equipped with 152mm caliber naval guns, and after strengthening the speed and armor, they became cruisers with no weak combat effectiveness.
But even so, the total tonnage of these eight warships together is more than 40,000 tons, and it is a fleet with strong combat power no matter where it is placed in the world.
"What are you thinking, so obsessed?"
"Commander!" Turning to look at the middle-aged man who came out of the command tower, Wang Jun reflexively put his feet together, raised his right arm, and saluted a standard Huo Jiajun military salute.
After returning the salute, Xu Shoushan did not care about the white lieutenant general's uniform on his body, looked at Haiphong Port, which was already looming in the distance, and lay on the railing with some stains on his elbow.
"What's the matter? Still thinking about your laid-back days when you were teaching at the academy?"
"No, Commander! I just don't understand, we haven't received operational orders from the General Staff Headquarters and the Admiralty, so is it inappropriate to come here so blatantly to provoke the French?" asked Wang Jun.
"Bingchen (Wang Junzi), this is a world where the weak eat the strong, these Western powers will not tell us anything about benevolence and righteousness, let alone the slightest mercy, they believe in the law of the jungle and the theory of evolution, and they will be eliminated if they are backward. When dealing with weak and small countries, they will not talk about equality at all, but naked encroachment and plunder. Speaking of this, Xu Shoushan's words paused, and his face showed a complex look of memory, hatred, and relief, and it was obvious that he remembered that when he was in the Qing government, the country was poor and weak, and he was defeated again and again in foreign wars, and had to endure the exploitation of Britain and France, which were European powers.
After soothing his emotions for a while, Xu Shoushan continued: "This time, the French have concentrated more than 50,000 troops in the Far East, including the 5,915-ton Baya-class ironclad ships, the 'Baya' and the 'Baiwatt', the 5,698-ton ironclad ship 'Duwell', the 4,585-ton Lagazonia-class ironclad three ships, the 'La Galizonia', the Triumph and the 'Victory', and the 3,828-ton ALMA-class ironclad ship 'Atarante'. ”
"Three 2,363-ton La Perlouse-class cruisers, 'Destdam', 'La Perlouse' and 'Nielli', four 2,382-ton Ferrers-class unprotected cruisers, 'Ferrers', 'Forfit', 'Magon' and 'Roland', two 1,250-ton Limile-class cruisers, 'Volda' and 'Amirin', 2,017-ton cruiser 'Souni', 1,330-ton Bourayne-class cruisers, 'Dushave' and ' HMS Kaisheng, the 1,722-ton Rigaultgenouilly-class cruiser 'Scout', and the 2,042-ton Infer-class cruiser 'Chamberlan'. ”
"A total of 24 major warships, including the 3,479-ton cruiser 'Duguturuin,' the 1,191-ton Lea-class cruiser 'Lea', and the 1,820-ton Fort Renault-class cruiser 'Fort Renault,' plus 14 gunboats and torpedo boats, including the 'Yishibi,' the 'Belly Snake,' the 'Wildcat,' and the 'Rutin'. The entire French Far East Fleet has a total of 38 warships with a total tonnage of nearly 90,000 tons! It accounts for one-sixth of the total tonnage of the French Navy's warships. Such a powerful fleet was not sent to the Far East just for the Indochina Peninsula, which had almost zero navy. Xu Shoushan said indifferently.
"Could it be that the French still want to beat our attention?" said Wang Jun, raising his eyebrows.
The navy of the Chinese People's Army has been established for nearly five years, and although five years is not a long time, it is enough to change many things. After nearly five years of development, the total tonnage of the Huojiajun Navy ranks fifth in the world, second only to the United Kingdom, France, the Russian Empire and Italy, reaching a level of nearly 200,000 tons.
Although, because of the secrecy of the Huo Jiajun, the outside world does not know the real number of ships of the Huo Jiajun, but over the years, their naval strength on the surface has exceeded 100,000 tons, coupled with the experience of a series of naval battles with the Netherlands and Portugal, no one can underestimate this Far East maritime force that has been tempered by war.
"That is not certain, although the French made it clear that the chariots and horses were coming to Indochina this time, but what they really wanted to deal with was the Qing government, and this fleet also existed to destroy the naval fleet of the Qing court and fight for more Far Eastern interests for France. However, Hainan Island and Taiwan Island, which we control, are stuck in the sea route from Vietnam to the north, and their strategic location is very critical. In addition, these two islands have been developed by us for many years, with many factories, convenient transportation and abundant wealth. In addition, although we have actual control of these two islands, they are still the land of the Qing court on the surface, so it is inevitable that the French want to take advantage of the loopholes and occupy the two important islands. ”
"Do they dare?" they want to take Taiwan and Hainan with their Vietnamese troops?" said Wang Jun angrily.
For the early senior officers of the Huo Jiajun, Taiwan could not help but be the place where the Huo Jiajun rose, and it was the most important place for the Huo Jiajun now, because of the creation of the Huo Jiajun, the behind-the-scenes controller who had an irreplaceable role in the hearts of almost all the senior military and political officials of the Huo Jiajun, was on the island of Taiwan.
In addition, the largest shipyards, military factories, steel factories and the best universities in the Huojia Army are also on this island, and in terms of importance, the island is only 36,000 square kilometers, which is not inferior to Borneo, which is dozens of times its size and is the seat of the Huojia Military Administration.
Therefore, in order to defend this incomparably important island, in addition to the 20,000 people stationed here in an integrated division of the Central Guard Division, there are also two garrison divisions that are not inferior to the regular troops of the Huo Family Army in terms of equipment, training, and the elite level of the soldiers stationed on the island of Taiwan, which is a well-equipped force of 40,000 people.
In addition, the island of Taiwan, which has a permanent population of 8 million, has already completed the construction of its reserves, and it will really come to a critical moment, and it will only take two to three days to pull out hundreds of thousands of troops here. In addition, with the strong forts built by Huo's army along the coast, with the current military strength of the French in the Far East, even if they were all taken out, they would not be able to defeat any of the islands in Taiwan and Hainan.
Hearing Wang Jun's angry words, Xu Shoushan smiled and nodded, Wang Jun, who graduated from the Naval Ship Academy and then joined the army, may not be much inferior to him in naval military theory and actual combat experience, but compared to his understanding of Westerners, he is far inferior to himself who graduated from the Western teachers of the Fujian Naval Academy. (To be continued.) )