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touched the golden lieutenant general's epaulette on his body, and a confident smile couldn't help but show on his face as a lone in military uniform. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In his opinion, this expedition was too easy. Whether it is the powerful French Far East Fleet in their own hands or the more than 50,000 elite Royal Army in Vietnam, it is not something that those thin Vietnamese monkeys and the Qing troops with pigtails and smoking big cigarettes can stop.

Guba believed that in half a year at most, or even less, he would be able to turn the whole of Indochina into a French colony in the Far East. Therefore, he regarded this sea expedition as a trip, which he had been able to complete in a month, but he walked for nearly three months.

"After this war is over, my rank will be promoted to the next level, and I will be a general of the Royal Army at that time!" he thought to himself with infinite excitement as he looked at himself in the mirror. A general can be said to be the pinnacle of a soldier's career, no matter which country, there are not too many high-ranking generals who can command large corps operations, although there are military ranks such as generals and marshals, but these two military ranks are more of an honor for a soldier.

"General, Haiphong Harbor has arrived!" Lieutenant Bells walked in and reported.

"Well, let's go! I already hear the majestic Marseillaise in the harbor!" stood up, straightened his straight military uniform, put on his red military cap, and got up and walked out.

The French Pacific Fleet has three main bases in the Far East, in addition to the Bay of Tonkin and the port of Shanghai. The port of Hai Phong, located in northern Vietnam, is their southernmost military port. Cam Ranh Bay, which has a better geographical location, was gradually built after the French Indochina fleet moved south after World War I. Now where is just a scenic beauty. And it's just a somewhat dilapidated fishing port!

The port of Haiphong, which today has only a few warships and is used as a commercial and fishing port for most of the time, has been put under martial law by French Army soldiers wearing red hats, dark blue shirts, and red trousers. Usually all over the docks, ragged. The port coolies and poor people with vegetables on their faces could only hide in the corners and secretly guess which of the big foreigners had come here, and actually put the entire port under martial law. Then he cursed this damn foreigner, they didn't have a livelihood for a day!

"General Loneba, welcome to the Far East!" said de Villere, the French governor of Indochina, with a smile.

As France's first civilian governor in Indochina, de Villeres put an end to the period of military attachés, or French naval officers, ruling Indochina. In French politics. The Republicans, in particular, have considerable influence and fame within them. (The current political parties in France are in addition to the French Workers' Party, which was founded in 1878.) There are no other political parties, but coalition factions based on political ideas and interests. For example, the Jacobins, the Montagnards, the Radicals, etc.)

Therefore, even if he is proud of being a vice admiral, he does not dare to slack off on the old man in front of him, who is wearing a straight suit and a top hat and has a kind expression. Moreover, the sun is warm and the sea breeze is warm. and the French expatriates and officials of the Doge's Palace who welcomed him on the docks, all of which pleased him.

"To be able to come here. I am deeply honored to lead the elite royal team to open up territory for France! Thank you very much to Monsieur Viceroy and all of you for your hospitality!" "In the face of de Villere, Gu Ba showed enough respect, and in the face of many French expatriates and businessmen who came to greet him, he showed enough gentlemanliness. All of a sudden, loud applause and cheers rang out on the wide pier, and the atmosphere was very enthusiastic.

At this moment, a loud and hurried bell suddenly rang from the French ** ship that was on guard ten kilometers away from the wharf.

"What's going on?" looked at the noisy crowd on the dock and became a little chaotic, and turned around and asked with an ugly expression.

"General, according to the watchman's report, the cruiser 'Volda', which we are on guard on the perimeter, has spotted an unknown fleet in the sea area twenty kilometers to the southeast, and is now heading towards Haiphong Port at a speed of 15 knots!"

The adjutant's report shocked Gu Ba's heart, "A fleet? Could it be the British?" Thinking of this, Gu Ba couldn't help but shake his head, although France and Britain have been fighting each other for centuries, and there are a lot of contradictions all over the world, but at this time, the most important thing for the British is to defeat the Egyptian Motherland Party and firmly control the Suez Canal, a strategic route connecting Europe and Asia. They will not be distracted by Indochina until this goal is achieved. This is very clear in his heart.

Then he thought of another great power, Qingguo, but he quickly dispelled this thought. The conservative and cowardly Qing people did not dare to scratch the beard of the Kingdom of France, the second largest country in the world.

At this time, he didn't think of the Huo Jiajun located in Nanyang, which was established too late and had relatively little influence. The other is that Nanyang is so far away from this era, the center of the world, that is, Europe, that any transmission of news will take a week even with the help of telegraphs.

Therefore, at this moment, in the impression of people who came to the Far East for the first time like Guba, Nanyang is still as backward and barbaric as advertised in European newspapers before, and the Huo family army that occupies Nanyang is only a relatively powerful among the natives.

There is no way, white people are so proud in their bones, even if the facts are in front of them, they don't want to believe it, only by really defeating him and hurting him, he is really willing to sit down and communicate with you on an equal footing.

"Order, all the battleships turn, form formation, remove the artillery jackets, and all the soldiers are ready for battle!" At this time, Gu Ba was still a little glad in his heart, glad that his fleet had just arrived in port, and the enemy came. If you wait for the fleet's boilers to stop, you won't have half an hour to mobilize these huge steel behemoths.

"General Guba, what's going on?" Devillell hurriedly asked, looking at the battleships and the busy sailors on the warships that were turning around and leaving the port.

"Mr. Governor-General, the cruiser 'Volda' has just reported that a fleet of troops approaching the harbor has been spotted twenty nautical miles southeast of us. Mr. Governor, you better get out of the docks as soon as possible, or after the battle, I am afraid that this port will also be bombarded by enemy artillery fire, which will endanger your life!" said Gu Ba with a serious expression.

"A fleet?" asked Admiral Loneba, with their banners?" asked Deviller.

"The lookout didn't see their flags, but this fleet has eight warships, two of which have a displacement that exceeds that of the Baya, and the remaining six are all over three thousand tons!"

"What, what you said is true?" "Lone Pull, who was standing on the side, couldn't help but ask first. He really couldn't think of how there was such a powerful fleet in the Far East. Eight warships with a displacement of more than 3,000 tons, and even two of them surpassed the flagship of the French Far East Fleet, the Baya, a fleet of this size that few countries in Europe could match.

After listening to the words of the lone adjutant, the expression on Deviller's face also became solemn, although he was the first Frenchman to serve as the governor of French Indochina as a civilian official, but he was still very familiar with the flagship of the French Far East Fleet, the "Baya" ironclad.

This class was built in Brest in October 1876, launched in May 1880, and was commissioned in 1882, with a length of 81 meters, a width of 17.45 meters, a draft of 7. meters, a displacement of 5,915 tons, equipped with 8 boilers, twin-shaft propulsion, an output of 4,400 horsepower, a speed section, and a coal load of 400-450 tons. The ship is armed with 4 M1870 239mm guns, 2 193mm guns, 6 140mm guns, 4 3-pounder guns, 12 1-pounder guns, and 2 356mm torpedo tubes. The ship's side armor is 152-254mm, deck armor is 203mm. The establishment is 451 people.

A total of two ships of this class were built, the 'Baya' and the 'White Watt', of which the 'Baya' joined the French Tokyo Squadron in 1883 after it was completed and put into service, and in August 1884 it was attached to the French Far East Fleet, and later participated in the Sino-French War, and even retired from active service in 1887. His brother 'White Watt' stayed in France, but I don't know if it was because of the butterfly effect of Huoshan, this time both warships were sent to the Far East and joined the French Far East Fleet.

"Admiral Lone, I think I know where this fleet came from?" said Deviller, looking up with a slightly ugly expression.

"Oh, Lord Governor, do you know where they come from?" asked Lone.

"Yes, with such a powerful fleet in the Far East, apart from us and the British, only the Chinese People's Army that defeated the Netherlands and Portugal and occupied almost the entire East Indies!" said Deviller with an affirmative expression.

"What? Chinese? Their naval strength is so strong?" Gu Ba couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"The general didn't know too well when he first came, the Chinese's naval expansion has been very rapid in recent years, especially after they defeated the Netherlands and Portugal, and Britain was dragged by Egypt, the Chinese's navy is the most powerful maritime power in the waters of the Far East, of course, the comprehensive strength of their navy is still far inferior to our French navy!"

"Is it? Listening to the Governor say this, I would like to see what is going on with the Chinese navy?" After Gu Ba finished speaking, he strode with his lieutenant and guards to the 'White Watt' ironclad ship that was already emitting a large puff of black smoke. (To be continued.) )