On the first day of May in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the Great Qing Expeditionary Force launched a surprise attack, and took the strategic places of the Strait of Malacca such as Johor Bahru and Malacca in one fell swoop, since the second day of May in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the English Army launched an uninterrupted attack on Johor Bahru with the support of the artillery of its cruiser fleet, however, the fierce attack did not advance an inch for four days, and the English Army that participated in the war suffered heavy casualties, and the 3,000 Army troops stationed in Shan Ma Xi lost more than half, and the offensive was forced to stop; On the 10th day of the fifth month of the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, an English merchant ship that escaped from Batavia, taking advantage of the cover of night, broke through the blockade of the Qing fleet blockading the waters of Bintan Island, and fled to Shan Maxi, in addition to bringing some supplies, it also brought a fatal news to the British army - the Dutch Far East Fleet was completely annihilated, Batavia fell, the Dutch Governor's Office announced its surrender, and all the territory of the Dutch Far East fell into the hands of the Qing Dynasty, and the British army completely lost any possibility of obtaining supplies. The dire situation forced the Far Eastern Fleet of England to convene another emergency military meeting to discuss countermeasures.

“…… According to reliable sources, the total strength of the Qing fleet that captured Batavia consisted of eight large warships, twelve medium warships, four small warships, and three supply ships. The Qing fleet blocked in the waters off Bintan Island was the first fleet of the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty, with a total of four large warships, eight medium warships, three small warships, and two supply ships; According to the information that our military first learned, the First Fleet of the Great Qing Dynasty had three sub-fleets, and their establishment was roughly the same, and each sub-fleet should be equipped with 10 large warships, 15 medium-sized warships, and 12 small warships. In addition, according to the report of the army attacking Johor Bahru, the number of Qing troops stationed in Johor Bahru has exceeded 2,000, and there are more than 10 rapid-fire guns with fierce firepower. Our army is no longer able to attack Johor Bahru again, and it has been ascertained that the Qing artillery does not belong to the Dutch standard, and both the rate of fire and the range are far beyond the Dutch standard weapons, and much stronger than the infantry artillery currently used by our army, so there is reason to think that the Qing army should have established a beachhead logistics center somewhere in the Malay Peninsula, and this place is most likely Kotarin, if this is the case. The Qing army should have a detachment near Kotadine, and it is even possible that the main fleet of the Qing army was there, and this is the case. "Winslet, Chief of Staff of the Far East Fleet in England; Major General Brown pointed to the huge charts on the wall and recounted in detail what he knew.

"Thank you, Major General Brown, for your statement. The white-haired Admiral Nadal nodded, motioned for Rear Admiral Brown to sit down, looked around at the generals, and said slowly: "Gentlemen, my Great England Far East Fleet has reached the most dangerous juncture. For the sake of the eternal glory of my British Empire, let me tell you what you have to do. ”

Cannet, deputy commander of the Far East Fleet in England; Vice Admiral Bradley shook his head and said, "Your Excellency Admiral Nadal, I have a different opinion on Rear Admiral Brown's analysis. The vicinity of Kotardine may be the logistics base of the Qing army, but it will definitely not be the location where the main fleet of the Qing army should be, and I thought that the main fleet of the Qing army should still be in the waters of Tammillan at this time. If the total strength of the First Fleet of the Qing Army, which I first understood in the military, is correct, then about half of the strength of the Qing Army has already been dispersed, and the main force of the Qing Army that can maneuver in the waters of Tamilan should still have 15 to 18 large warships, about 20 medium-sized warships, and more than 20 small warships, and the total strength is still much stronger than that of our army. However, the Qing army's division of troops to attack gave our army a favorable combat situation. Gentlemen, please see: this is Kotarin, only about half a day's voyage away from our army, assuming that the Qing army really established a logistics base here, then the Qing army will at least send part of the fleet to cover, but definitely not too much. Otherwise, it will not be able to hide the eyes and ears of the merchant ships coming and going, so that even if the blockade fleet on Bintan Island is added, its total strength will definitely not exceed half the size of our army, and I propose to first attack the weak enemy, first annihilate the Qing army detachment on Bintan Island and Kota Ting, and then take advantage of the mobilization of the main Qing fleet, our army will abandon Shan Ma Xi. The whole army went straight to Batavia. Defeated the second fleet of the Qing army and took Batavia. With Batavia, our army can hold on and wait for reinforcements, as long as it can survive until mid-July, when the storm season comes, the Qing army will not be able to continue the offensive, thus creating a favorable opportunity for our army to defend and counterattack. As soon as Vice Admiral Bradley's words fell, the room full of English generals suddenly burst into euphoria and coaxed as if they were going to do the plan.

Rear Admiral Connelly participated in the Battle of Black Island, and has a full understanding of the strength of the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty, especially the First Fleet's combat style of treating death as home, and he does not think that with the current strength of the English Navy, it can completely annihilate the two sub-fleets of Bintan Island and Kota Ting Land, even if it can be annihilated, the time and price to be paid are unbearable for the Far East Fleet of England. It's hard to say how many remnants of the Far East Fleet of England can be, and how to attack Batavia, but Vice Admiral Bradley is his immediate boss, and the too obvious objections of Rear Admiral Connelly are not easy to say, at this time, seeing that those colleagues who have just been transferred from Europe are talking nonsense, I can't help but get a little anxious, cough a few times, stand up and say: "Gentlemen, please be quiet, I think that His Excellency Vice Admiral Bradley's plan is perfect, However, we must not underestimate the Qing army's courage in combat, and I think my colleagues who participated in the Battle of Heidao should have experienced this, and Major General Reagan has also learned the Qing army's spirit of fighting to the death in the past few days, so since I believe that the main strategic goal of our army is to capture Batavia in order to obtain logistical supply, then there is no need for our army to entangle with those detachments of the Qing army, as long as the goal of mobilizing the main fleet of the Qing army can be achieved. ”

As soon as Rear Admiral Connelly's words fell, the English admirals, who were already excited, immediately divided into two factions and quarreled, the British generals who had generally participated in the Battle of the Black Island and some of the veteran generals supported Rear Admiral Connelly's opinion, while the young admiral who had just been transferred from Europe insisted on Vice Admiral Bradley's opinion.

Admiral Nadal pressed his hand and coughed a few times, finally suppressing the noise that filled the room. He glanced at Rear Admiral Connally and said, "Major General, in your opinion, what is the role of this Qing army detachment that blockaded the waters of Bintan Island?" ”

Rear Admiral Connelly nodded reservedly and said: "Your Excellency, the lower officer thinks that this is a decoy fleet, the purpose is to lure our army into battle, the reason is very simple: Batavia has fallen into the hands of the Qing army, and all the merchant ships that have not had time to escape, whether they are from our Great England or the Dutch, cannot come out of the Java Sea at this time." In the past ten days, not a single merchant ship from the direction of the Brunei Sea has been able to reach Shan Maxi, which proves that the main fleet of the Qing army must be in the waters of Tammillan, so that there is no need for the Qing fleet to blockade the waters of Bintan Island, so I think that this detachment is a decoy fleet, if our army goes to war, it will definitely fight and retreat, luring our army to advance in the direction of the enemy's main fleet. And I suspect that there may be some means of communication between the enemy fleets, so if our troops are entangled with the enemy's decoy fleet, they will fall into the enemy's trap. ”

"Oh. Admiral Nadal frowned and thought for a moment, then asked, "Then how do you think this battle should be fought?" ”

"Your Excellency, the lower officer thinks that it is enough to follow the plan of Your Excellency Lieutenant General Bradley. It's just that our army doesn't need to completely annihilate the enemy's two sub-fleets, as long as the goal of mobilizing the enemy's main fleet is achieved. Ladies and gentlemen, please see: When our fleet goes to sea, it must first pass through the waters of Bintan Island, and once it leaves the waters of Bintan Island, our army enters the ocean. At this time, the enemy's decoy fleet will definitely retreat in the direction of Tamilan, but our army does not have to chase after it, on the contrary, our army turned to the Kota Ding sea area and made a posture of attacking the Kota Thamin enemy landing fleet, so that the enemy will not be able to tolerate the landing fleet being completely destroyed by our army, so the escaped decoy fleet can only desperately intercept our army and Kota Ding in addition to sending a distress signal to its main force. When the battle opened, our army suddenly turned its bow and advanced towards the Java Sea, at this time the enemy decoy fleet was in the rear of our side, and it was too late to stop the advance of our army, and the enemy's main force received the enemy's decoy fleet after receiving the enemy's decoy fleet for help. It is bound to accelerate in the direction of Natuna Island towards the Kota Ding Sea. By the time they came to their senses, our troops had long since moved away from the waters of Basta. After that, as long as our army can defeat the Qing fleet in Batavia, there is hope of taking Batavia, even if it fails, our army can land in Batakan Port and take Kalimantan Island can also solve the problem of logistics supply, and at that time, the Qing army will no longer be able to use siege tactics to trap our army. ”

"Your Excellency, how do you judge that the various fleets of the Qing army have means of communication with each other, you must know that the sea is vast, even if you send fast cruisers to maintain contact with each other, it will take a long time, and this time is enough for our army to destroy the two detachments of the Qing army, why let the results that may be obtained be lost in vain, and besides, since the enemy army can land in Kotarding and surprise attack Johor Bahru and Malacca, then why can't our army follow suit?" Lieutenant General Bradley said unceremoniously.

Rear Admiral Connelly couldn't answer this question, his face suddenly turned red for a while, and after a while, he shrugged his shoulders and said: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, I just intuitively believe that the Qing army should have a means of contact with each other, otherwise the Qing army has no reason to spread the fleets so widely, isn't this clearly to let our army break through?" I don't think the commander of the Qing army would be so stupid. ”

"Think? Your Excellency, this is war, not child's play, and your intuition should be put away by yourself. Lieutenant General Bradley simply looked down on Connery, who was only a major general in his fifties, and coldly reprimanded.

Major General Connelly is Admiral Nadal's henchman, and this dog beating depends on the owner, right? Seeing Bradley's arrogant face, Admiral Nadal was greatly dissatisfied, and waved his hand and said: "Gentlemen, there is no need to talk more about the issue of intuition, whether the Qing army has the means to communicate with each other or not, it has little to do with our army, the main goal of our army is to obtain a logistics supply base, not to fight with the main fleet of the Qing army, I think everyone has no doubt about this, right?" Regardless of whether our army can destroy the two Qing fleets, it will have no obvious effect on changing the balance of strength between the enemy and us, if we cannot rush into the Java Sea, all temporary victories will be an illusion, and as for the landing in Kotarding to take Johor Bahru and Malacca, it is a joke, which of us has the ability to command a siege battle, Major General Regan, do you have the ability? ”

Major General Reagan has been frightened by the Qing army in the past few days, and when he heard that he was going to command his remnants to attack Johor Bahru and even Malacca again, the end shook like a rattle, and he didn't even open his mouth, as for the admirals present here are laymen in land warfare, who dares to say that he can take Johor Bahru and Malacca in one fell swoop, the entire war room immediately fell silent, and everyone looked serious but kept silent.

"In that case, well, I think it will be carried out according to Major General Connery's plan, I order!" Admiral Nadal glanced at the generals and gave a battle order with a serious face: "The whole army must be ready to set sail today, and set sail on time at six o'clock in the morning tomorrow, and the troops will be sent to the Java Sea!" ”

"The meeting was adjourned, and Major General Reagan stayed. Admiral Nadal unceremoniously threw out all the admirals, leaving Rear Admiral Reagan behind. Just when Rear Admiral Reagan was at a loss and didn't know what to do, Admiral Nadal got up and paced in front of him, and said with a calm face: "Your Excellency, Rear Admiral Reagan, in the name of the commander of the Far East Fleet in England, I order you to be the commander of the single Marcy garrison, and your troops must stick to the single horse and protect the way back for my expeditionary fleet. ”

"Ahh Major General Regan's face turned pale when he heard that he had been treated as an outcast, but before he could make a protest, Admiral Nadal had already left......

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