When Li Xiu led the expeditionary fleet to the sea off Xinjiapo, it was exactly the middle of the night. Far away from the city of Singapore, you can see the fire in the city. From time to time, one bomb after another can even be seen.

Without Li Xiu's order, the expeditionary fleet immediately entered a state of imminent battle.

The six main ironclad ships of Zhiyuan, Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, Laiyuan, Jingyuan, and Jiyuan are lined up.

Among them, Laiyuan, Jingyuan, and Jiyuan are all newly built ironclad ships. The design refers to the experience of the previous expedition and is built with the painstaking efforts of the fisherman. Twelve-inch thick armor was concentrated in the middle of the hull to protect machinery, guns, and ammunition depots, rather than being scattered over the waterline.

The skilled workers of Anshan Iron and Steel Plant creatively smelted the chromium produced in the northwest into steel. The resulting armor steel not only has increased hardness, but also has a much better toughness than the previous steel.

The three main ironclad ships with new armor can withstand almost all shells in this era, which is truly invulnerable. And the three ships no longer have only one boiler, but four.

Although this increased the size of the ship, it also greatly increased the power of the battleship. A giant battleship with a displacement of 7,800 tons can be called a real behemoth. Compared with its predecessors, which were only 5,000 tons, it is a whole circle.

Laiyuan, Jingyuan, and Jiyuan are at the forefront. Zhiyuan, Zhenyuan, and Dingyuan were slightly further behind to protect the transport ships carrying two Marine Corps divisions and the merchant ships carrying provisions.

The fleet spreads out in a sharp formation, and lookout sentinels search the sea like radar with binoculars in hand.

A dark shadow appeared in front of him, and a cannonball exploded at exactly then. Catching the brilliance of the artillery fire, Li Xiu saw that it was a large number of sailing ships. Although it was only for a moment, Li Xiu had already seen that those were flat-headed sailboats.

The ships of the Japanese people, how did they come here?

I don't know which warship fired a shot, and a Japanese warship was suddenly torn apart. The warship, which had just been intact, was now just a torch floating on the sea. By the light of the fire, you can see people crying for help on the surface of the sea holding wooden planks.

"Stop shooting!" Although Li Xiu wanted to kill all the things floating on the sea, he still ordered to fire and not to fire.

Put down a few small boats and salvage the surviving Japanese people who fell into the water, and when they saw the Daming Dragon Flag, they couldn't help crying.

Among the officers of the water army, there are many members of the Zheng family, and there are also many people who can speak Chinese. Under the inquiry, Li Xiao immediately became angry.

It turned out that at dusk, the British fleet raided the port of Xinjiapo. Many Ming ships in the harbor were sunk by the British fleet before they could lift anchor. The port of the Japanese was on the opposite side of the Malay, and the British fleet was too busy dealing with the Ming to take care of them.

These wooden warships of the Japanese Kingdom also used the most primitive Franc cannons. Of course, they were no match for the British fleet, and in order to keep the fleet, the Japanese had no choice but to flee in the dark.

Unexpectedly, the British fleet was in hot pursuit, and actually chased from Xinjiapo to the sea off Xinjiapo.

Ask the original Li Xiu clearly, and immediately let the warships of the Japanese Kingdom disperse to the left and right. Three capital ships crossed the hull and blocked the exit of the strait like a dam. When the first English battleship sailed out of the Channel exit, the gunfire from the distant ship was just a round of covering fire, and it turned him into a ball of fire.

It is still an old-fashioned five-masted ship, although there are many guns on this kind of ship, none of the guns have the power of the main guns of the Ming ironclad ship.

When the officers and men on the Laiyuan ship were still proud of their first hit, a cannonball crossed a beautiful arc and exploded directly on the foredeck of the Laiyuan ship. The huge explosion evaporated orange flames, and the entire ship trembled violently.

Captain Liu Quan was so shocked by the huge explosion that he sat down on the deck of the command platform: "Pipe damage!" Foredeck, pipe damage ......! Before he could get up, he yelled hoarsely.

The Laiyuan ship is a new ship, and if something happens in his own hands, Li Xiu will skin him alive. He also didn't understand how he was so unlucky that the enemy's first shell landed on his head.

He was helped up by his own soldiers and approached the huge glass window of the bridge.

In the dark, the foredeck was still burning. However, with the help of the firelight, he could see that the foredeck did not seem to have suffered much damage. The flames that were still burning were still on the deck, and it was clear that the foredeck had not been penetrated.

And the front main gun turret, which was hit directly, did not do anything at all except for some dents.

I have to say, the twelve-inch thick steel plate is really strong. Such a powerful cannonball actually just smashed a hole.

The loss keeper ran over like an ant, opened the hose and sprayed it on the burning foredeck. The fire on the foredeck was quickly extinguished and did not become a reference for subsequent shells.

"How?" Seeing the head of the tube running in, Liu Quan asked eagerly.

"The front main gun was dented in a large hole, and the foredeck was hit by shrapnel with a few holes, but nothing serious. The equipment below was also not damaged, and one gunner was stunned inside the main gun, leaving no casualties. ”

"Great! It's a sturdy boat. Liu Quan was overjoyed.

"Search the sea, see the son of a bitch who raised the cannon, and send them to the sea to feed the fish." The catastrophe is not dead, Liu Quan roared wildly.

There was no need for him anymore, and Jiyuan next to him had already discovered the ship that fired the cannon from the muzzle flame. With a salvo of the whole ship, the ship caught fire. Another five-masted ship!

With the help of flames, the fleet sank four five-masted ships in a row. The five-masted ships that were chasing the Japanese people just now were completely dumbfounded, and those five-masted ships that were invincible in Europa were beaten like children in front of the new ironclad ships. They didn't have much room to fight back at all, and even if they occasionally fired a shot or two, even if they hit, it would just tickle a few new ironclad ships.

There was even a shell that directly hit the main armor in the middle of the ship, and the shell was actually directly ejected, flying out more than ten meters diagonally before exploding.

The captains of the five-masted ships, who were proud of the British, were desperate, and originally thought that if they replaced with new guns, even if they could not defeat the Ming warships, they would not even have room to fight back. But now it looks like his own shells hit someone's armor, like throwing stones.

But when someone's shell hit their own wooden boat, it exploded at the first shot. If a shell ignites the ship's ammunition, a huge explosion can blow people into the sky at once.

Fortunately, there was no moonlight tonight, and the surviving five-masted ship quickly turned around and fled into the strait.

When fleeing, two battleships collided uncontrollably. As a result, the two ships entered the water almost at the same time, and the sailors, who had become frightened birds, immediately flocked to the deck and jumped into the water. Then they struggled to swim in the water, afraid that the whirlpool of the wreck would take them underwater.

The three main ironclad ships pressed into the strait like a mountain. The huge hull of the Jingyuan ship ran directly over the hulls of the two five-masted ships. After the battleship sailed by, all that remained on the surface of the sea were broken pieces of wood and desperate cries for help.

Li Xiu looked at his watch, it was already half past four. There was a touch of fish belly white on the horizon, and through the blue skylight, you could see that Xinjiapo City was billowing smoke, and some orange bright spots shone from time to time. Faintly, the explosion of shells can already be heard.

The British were attacking the city of Singapore, and Hong Chengchou did not surrender, but defended. It's hard to defend, but it's really defending.

This was somewhat unexpected by Li Xiu, and the prior intelligence showed that Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui had a hot fight in private. His son, Hong Gui, has been to Mumbai several times.

Capture the dock and allow the Marine Division behind to land. Supporting the defenders of the city, ironclad ships guard the sea and raise hot air balloons to lookout.

Orders were passed down one by one, and the fleet quickly dispersed. The three arsenal ships lined up, and the flames rose to the wail of the British troops on the shore.

As a surface kill weapon, the arsenal ship exerts its destructive power to the extreme. Rockets rain down from the sky, and there are almost no creatures in the coverage area. It was a real salvo that changed the world!

Among the three arsenal ships, there is also a heavy arsenal ship. From time to time, there are ordinary light rockets on it, but heavy rockets with great power. The charge of this rocket is 300 catties, and people within five meters of the explosion directly evaporate. All the people within 10 meters flew into the sky, and those within 50 meters were shocked to vomit blood, and at worst they were shocked to the point of bleeding and killed directly.

The arsenal ship was just a round of covering fire, and the ten-mile tidal flats from the beach to the new home of Pocheng immediately quieted down.

After a dazzling glow, there was a steaming smoke. Countless British soldiers were turned into dead souls and carried to the sky by the smoke of gunpowder.

The five-masted ships in the Ming fleet immediately sailed into the harbor. The machine guns and small-caliber guns on it fired wildly at the remaining British troops.

The sound of the heavy machine gun was as loud as a popping bean, and the number was not heard at all. The British were lying on the ground or hiding in cover, but to no avail. Because they were surprised to find that the bullets were actually falling from the sky as if it were raining down.

As for the return fire...... That's definitely overthinking.

The range of the rifle is simply not enough, and even if it does, it takes luck to win the lottery to hit someone. As for mortars, there is even more no way, they are taken care of by small-caliber artillery.

As for the larger caliber guns, they were already sent to God along with the gunners. To summon it back, you need to have a high-level summoner.

The Ming army occupied the pier without any casualties. Even the British did not have decent resistance!

A troop transport slammed into a burning British warship and approached the dock, the rope nets were lowered, and the Marines climbed down the ship like ants. The ship's heavy machine guns fired at all suspicious places, covering the landing of the marines.

Li Dingguo, as the division commander, led the team to the dock in the first batch. He immediately ordered his soldiers to come out on guard, and the mortar position was arranged in an inconspicuous corner. There are goods there, which can be used as bunkers. There is something in front, which has no effect on such a curved artillery as a mortar.

Zuo Liangyu's landing site is on the beachhead of five miles north of the pier!

Rockets ploughed through the beachhead like a plow, and now there was nothing left of the beachhead but smoke. When fifty dinghys landed with the marines, not a single British bullet came at them.

Even on the beachhead, they could see broken fragments of human bodies.

Countless rockets flew overhead again!

The arsenal ship had already turned its huge hull and began to attack with rockets on the other side of the hull. Under the extended artillery fire, the British troops who were besieging the city suffered a devastating blow. After the dense explosions, there seemed to be a moment of silence between heaven and earth.

The artillery fire that bombarded the city of Xinjiapo suddenly weakened, and the marines landed calmly and fearlessly. After organizing the realm, we began to search forward step by step.

Almost everything on the surface of the earth was black, dead people, dead horses, dead plants, animals, all black. There was not a speck of blood in sight, but the scene in front of me was extremely bloody.

No body is complete, human or otherwise. Under the rocket-covered shots, it is almost a dream to live. Many people were chopped alive by shrapnel, and the ground was stepped on, and the soft soil could reach the ankles. Grab a handful of dirt and you'll find one or two shrapnel inside.

Although everything seemed to be going very well, Li Dingguo and Zuo Liangyu still moved forward cautiously. The spearhead was released fifty meters away, and encountered wind and grass. As long as the spearhead crouches, there will be no one behind him.

The battle took place about two miles close to Xinjiapo City, and a bullet accurately penetrated the chest of the spearhead.

Everyone in the back lay on the ground, and the company commander shouted for mortars. Let them put the mortar in a heavy rocket crater very close!

The explosion of mortar shells rang out, a dozen shells fell down, and soon the gunners who were shooting quieted down.

The British began to come out in the city to counterattack, and they tried to rush out, apparently under mortar fire, followed by accurate and dense rifle bullets. There was a British soldier whose head was hit by three bullets at the same time and was instantly torn apart.

Li Xiu on the sea, carefully searching the sea. He didn't need to worry about the affairs of the Marine Corps, and there were arsenal ships for firepower, and two generals, Zuo Liangyu and Li Dingguo, for landing operations. If you mix it up yourself, it's likely to be bad. Since childhood, he has been wandering on the sea, and he has practiced the ability to sail. However, Li Xiu boasted that he was not as skilled as Li Dingguo and Zuo Liangyu in this knowledge of land warfare.

Professional things should be handed over to professional people to do, Li Xiao's words Li Xiu thought so.

The clock pointed to five o'clock, and it was already dawn. Half of the sun poked out of its head, and the remaining half was below the horizon. The hot air balloon hanging high in the air suddenly slid down a bamboo pipe along the fetter rope.

Li Xiu took the bamboo pipe and opened it, and saw that it was written. Ten miles to the northwest, five enemy ships.