Chapter 152: The Cannon Stops!

At the moment when the cannon fire stopped, Henrik, who had been sitting in his chair as if thinking about something, suddenly opened his eyes!

Listening to the sound of the waves rolling under his feet, Henrik couldn't suppress his curiosity about the world's first large-scale ironclad battle that took place dozens of nautical miles away, which could be said to be the world's first large-scale ironclad battle!

"Captain, your coat!"

Taking the clothes in Baker's hand, Henrik put them on his body, the sea breeze at night is very strong, if you don't pay attention, even if he, the captain of the British Royal Navy ironclad cruiser, who is really stormy, will be sick if he stands outside for a long time!

"Baker, their battle should be over!" Henrik said slowly as he looked at the dark sky in the distance after getting dressed.

"It should be! I remembered four cannon shots before and after, and only this last one lasted the longest, more than half an hour! It seems that it should be the last battle of their two shots! Now, I just don't know what about the losses of the Dutch fleet?" Baker said with a thoughtful look as he looked at the rolling waves under his feet.

After listening to his words, Henrik glanced at his old friend lightly, as if inadvertently asked: "Beck, do you think that the Dutch will win?"

"Captain! Why do you ask? You must know that although the Dutch are inferior to us in the design of battleships, their century-old naval tradition has allowed them to maintain a good reputation in the design of battleships and the training of soldiers, and in Europe they are only worse than us, the French, the Russians, and the Italians! I don't think that those Chinese, who have only risen for less than two years, can defeat the five battleships of the Netherlands! Moreover, they still have an advantage in the tonnage of warships and the caliber of their main guns!" Baker gave him a strange look and said his own judgment on this war!

After listening to his words, Henrik nodded undeniably, although he knew that what his old friend said was indeed good, whether it was the strength of the battleship or the quality of the soldiers, the Netherlands occupied an incomparable advantage, but it always unconsciously appeared in its heart that the five slender warships, after encountering the interception of the Dutch, were divided into five different directions, and retreated unhurriedly! With his own years of experience in the Royal Navy! Even if the warship is intercepted and in the absence of its own advantage, it is enough to quickly retreat! There is no need to separate at all, and they are not fleeing! Moreover, in this era when the means of communication are not developed, leaving the channel and entering the sea area that they are not familiar with, it is easy to get lost if they encounter some fog and other sea conditions at night! Although these Chinese people's army and navy may not have been established for a long time, their experience may not be comparable to that of the European naval powers! But they believed that they were very clear about these basic nautical knowledge, so their intention to divide the troops was very strange! And this was a difficult question that had been bothering him for most of the day, but it was still difficult to find an answer to his satisfaction!

And I don't know why he was always a little unsure! Although he didn't know why, it made it difficult for him to agree with the judgment that the fleet of the Beck Dutch would be victorious!

"Let's go, Beck! Let's not guess here! I believe that in five or six hours, we will be able to get the answer we want! At that time, we can also get the information we want from it, and finally judge the strength of these Chinese navy!" Henrik tightened his coat, looked at his partner calmly, and after speaking, he turned around and walked towards the captain's lounge in the cabin!

After listening to his words, Baker nodded, and after one last glance at the dark night sky in the distance, he followed him and walked back to the cabin! Now the war between the two sides should be over! Instead of guessing here, it is better to save jīng strength, anyway, in a few more hours, they will get accurate information! At that time, everything that happened in this war will be completely clear!

The Germans and the French in the distance, and the Portuguese, who had not sent a single battleship, thought the same thing! Compared to them, the Dutch were much more anxious! At this time, the Cambridge of the Seven Provinces Union, the flagship of the Dutch convoy, was still brightly lit! Twelve oil lamps illuminated the wide conning tower!

Blake walked around the relatively spacious bridge with his hands behind his back! He really wanted to know the final outcome of this war! Five advanced ironclad ships were the largest and strongest combat power that the Dutch could handle, and even if he lost one, he would be distressed!

"How long has the cannon stopped, Verbeck!" Blake asked in a somewhat anxious tone, looking at the tall middle-aged man standing next to him, wearing the uniform of a commodore of the Royal Netherlands Navy!

"Thirty-four minutes have passed, General!" Welbeck looked at his pocket watch and reported with a serious expression! As the captain of the ironclad ship of the Seven Provinces Alliance, the most powerful warship of the Royal Netherlands Navy, he is the highest-ranking admiral in the Dutch escort fleet this time, except for the fleet commander Munch! In addition to serving as the captain of this powerful naval warship, he is also the deputy commander of the Dutch escort fleet!

"It's been half an hour, why is time passing so slowly!" Blake waved his hand a little irritably, letting the logistician, who had come to deliver dinner for the third time, retreat!

Welbeck frowned secretly, he didn't understand what was wrong with the usually calm and wise General Blake, why he was so calm, this was really very different from his performance towards Rì! While making his naval captain a little puzzled, he couldn't help but say: "General, we don't have to worry at all! The strength of our five warships far exceeds that of the enemy, coupled with our heroic soldiers, and the wise command of General Munch, we will definitely defeat those Chinese people's army that provokes the majesty of the Dutch Kingdom!" Now, I believe that General Munch is rushing back with the victorious battleship, and judging from the direction from which the cannon is coming, they should be 60 kilometers away from our north! With the speed of their battleship, it will take at least five hours to return here, and we will join us in victory! Therefore, what the general should do now is to eat a full meal first, and then prepare champagne to celebrate the victory of General Munch and all the brave soldiers on the five battleships!"

The confident and excited words in Welbeck's tone may have really comforted Blake's somewhat uneasy heart! Finally, after looking at the sea in the distance, Blake walked out of the bridge!

――――――

"Is Changshan all arranged?" Chen Jin looked at the old classmate who had just walked in and was excited, and couldn't help but ask with a smile on his face.

"We have communicated with them, and the task of tracking the Dutch and Portuguese convoys will be handed over to the Sea Eagle VI, Sea Eagle VII, and Sea Eagle VIII! Our five frigates will take the captured Dutch warships and officers and men on our way eastward, and we are expected to arrive in a day at the city of Padang in Xisha Province, where the navy will build a supply depot, where we will replenish ammunition, coal, fresh water, and other supplies, and hand over the captured warships and the Dutch to the garrison there! In addition, a small shipyard left by the Dutch was able to replace the barrels for us! However, the damage on our port side could not be repaired there unless we went back to New Taipei City or the nearest naval base!" Chen Changshan said with some headaches.