As the naval battles in the smoke of gunpowder continued again and again, Lord Su's mood became more and more calm. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

On this day, the Chinese and British fleets again set up a position, shooting at each other with bang bang, so it was not lively. Suddenly, Su Jinnian pricked up his ears and said in surprise, "I heard the sound of artillery on the opposite side and it seems to be gradually becoming thin, and I think the ammunition reserves can't keep up?"

Ji Aojian nodded slightly, "Congratulations, my lord, you have learned to judge the situation on the battlefield from the density of the sound of gunfire." ”

Su Jinnian was about to nod her head, but she heard the other party say again, "But it's better for you to come to this kind of scene less in the future, so as not to suffer from tinnitus and deafness when you are old." ”

"Where can this official take care of this?" Su Jinnian choked for a moment, still said with great interest, "The enemy's offensive should no longer be able to last, right?"

"It seems so. ”

"Haha, the level of naval warfare of the British is also very ordinary. Su Jinnian was triumphant, "I really don't know where they got their confidence, with a detachment fleet, they want me to bow down to the Great Tomorrow Dynasty?"

Ji Ao said, "Because in the eyes of the great powers, a medieval country like ours with backward armaments, as long as they show their strong strength in ships and artillery, we will surrender without a fight." ”

Su Jinnian was surprised, "They have such an arrogant mentality?"

Ji Aojian said leisurely, "There is a saying in later generations that reflects this situation well. ”

Su Jinnian asked, "What words?"

"Gone are the days when Western colonizers used only a few cannons to occupy a country on a coastline in the East for hundreds of years. ”

"This ......" Su Jinnian chewed on this sentence for a while, "Although it is quite vivid, I think there are still some exaggerations." ”

"It's an exaggeration. Ji Aojian nodded, "At least in terms of our lower limit, the Italian Navy has not succeeded in showing off its might, and we have also overturned the French in land warfare." ”

"And what about our ceiling?"

"As long as the British can't eat us, the Ming Dynasty will be the hegemon of East Asia. ”

"Hahahaha-" Su Jinnian was happily intoxicated for a while, as if he had seen the prospect of the upcoming victory, and suddenly his face was straight again, "To be honest, I don't think the strength of the British Navy should be so good." ”

Ji Aojian looked at her with interest, "What do you think?"

"According to you, the hallmark of a naval power is a draw in the smoke of gunfire. Su Jinnian pondered, "But if the British Navy can only fight with other maritime powers, then how can they occupy the commanding heights of the world's sea power and establish the top position among the world's navies?"

That's a good question. Ji Aojian said unhurriedly, "In the process of the British dominating the world's sea power, of course, they defeated one naval power after another, and stepped on their corpses to ascend to the throne. ”

"Yes, how did the British overcome the enemy from the situation of artillery fire? That should be their real strength. ”

"The British have their own tactics that have proven to win. To put it simply, the two fleets were originally shooting in parallel at sea, and the British would use a part of the battleships as assault groups, diagonally inserting into each other's arrays, and the fleets in the rear would follow in parallel, forming a favorable situation of two attack breads sandwiching one attack surface, and according to the Lancaster equation, the firepower advantage of the besieging side would be increased geometrically. ”

Su Jinnian listened attentively, "And then?"

"Then you can quickly crush part of the enemy's fleet, and then repeat the operation to break the enemy's fleet individually. ”

Although he didn't know what the Lancastrian equation was, Master Su still understood the military principles of each defeat very well, and immediately said, "This does sound very effective, so why don't the British use this tactic against us now?"

Ji Aojian said with a smile, "The so-called high return must be accompanied by high risk. Although this tactic can indeed cause a favorable loss ratio for our side and win the final victory in the naval battle, for those warships that act as assault charges, leaving the safe position of distant gunpowder smoke and firing closely, forcibly charging close to the enemy ship for close firing will also lead to the risk of sinking themselves and greatly increase the casualties on board, so this must be carried out with a very resolute spirit of sacrifice and courage to launch this kind of charge. And in order to encourage the fleet to use this dangerous tactic, the fleet commander of the British Navy usually had to stand on deck and command, and in the end, it was often the naval battle that was won and the commander fell. ”

Su Jinnian nodded frequently, and then guessed, "You mean to say that the commander of the British Navy on the opposite side now lacks the spirit of heroic sacrifice and is unwilling to use this tactic?"

Ji Aojian said lightly, "Maybe they feel that we are too backward, not on the same level as the noble Royal Navy, and are unwilling to exchange lives with us in this kind of hand-to-hand combat." ”

"You don't make sense. Su Jinnian said, "Since the British are the strongest navy on the surface, any opponent will appear to be backward in front of them, so they will never be willing to use this kind of assault tactics?"

"That's different, the British are fighting against the European powers in a battle of national fortunes. ”

Ji Aojian explained, "In fact, the only advantage of the British is the strength of the navy, and their army has no hope of victory in the face of European powers, so the victory or defeat of the naval battle determines the fate of the entire United Kingdom, which forces the British navy to dare to sacrifice and pursue victory." On the other hand, the navies of those European land powers are a strategic victory as long as they can delay and consume the British navy, so they will not take the initiative to change the tactics of long-range counter-fire in naval warfare, and compared with the positive performance of the British, they appear to be conservative and rigid. ”

Su Jinnian sighed and said thoughtfully, "This British fleet came to East Asia only to deter us and obtain distant interests, and it does not involve the life and death of their own country, so they are not willing to fight hard, and they will not use that kind of bayonet-like aggressive tactics." ”

Ji Ao bowed his sword, "And because they are far away from the homeland to fight, the number of fleets is limited, and the loss of one is one, and it cannot be replenished in time." Even if that kind of charge tactic is launched, with a small amount of losses in exchange for greater results, there is no practical significance, as long as the Ming Navy cannot be completely annihilated, after all, the final victory of the war cannot be obtained. In that case, why take the initiative to make senseless sacrifices?"

"You're right. Su Jinnian rejoiced, "Fortunately, the base camp of the British is far away in Europe...... No, they also have a base and a fleet in India, but after all, they are far from quenching their thirst. If Britain had already built a naval base in the waters of East Asia, it would be a big problem for us. ”

Ji Aojian thought for a while, "Actually, there is something in their planning. ”

Su Jinnian was stunned, "Where?"

Ji Ao Kendo, "Britain is an island country, and it is very good at offshore balancing. In their vision, they were supposed to support Dongying, help it industrialize, and then balance China, and even fight against the Rakshasa kingdom that has reached out to the coastline of East Asia. ”

Su Jinnian said suspiciously, "With Japan's size, even if it is engaged in a little industry, what is the threat? Besides, they are the followers of our Chinese civilization, can they still catch up and go further on the road of modernity than us?"

Ji Aojian looked at her, "Do you think Japan is really not enough to be afraid of?"

Su Jinnian was right, "Of course!"

"You don't think there's a threat if there's no threat. Ji Aojian didn't want to argue with her, "Anyway, Dongying is already in the sphere of influence of the Celestial Empire, as long as he guards this place, there will be no variables." ”

Su Jinnian said, "As long as it is a vassal under the protection of the Ming Dynasty, we naturally regard it as our own people. If an external power intervenes, we also have the responsibility to defend the territory. ”

Ji Aojian snorted, and was about to say a few more words, when suddenly his face changed, and he turned his head to stare at the curtain of cannon fog on the sea.

Su Jinnian didn't know why, and asked, "Great Grandmaster, what's wrong?"

Ji Aojian's little face sank, and he said slowly, "The British have launched a surprise attack. ”

"Impossible!" Su Jinnian's first reaction was disbelief, "We have analyzed it well, and there is no reason for the British to do such a risky thing that cannot change the overall situation." ”

Ji Aojian rolled his eyes and said angrily, "No matter how good the theory is, can you ignore the facts?"

"Their commander is so heroic?" Su Jinnian muttered to himself, "No, no, no, that must be a madman who has lost his mind to make such a mess!"

Ji Aojian shook his head, "They do have the corresponding confidence to do this." ”

"What confidence?"

"See for yourself. ”

Su Jinnian grabbed the telescope and looked into the thick smoke screen with all his eyes.

A hazy black shadow seemed to slowly separate from the mist, then grew larger and clearer, turning into a strange battleship, while spewing smoke itself.

"What kind of ship is this, and why does it have three masts and two chimneys?"

Su Jinnian suddenly realized, "Oh, this is a dual-powered warship equipped with a steam boiler and sails. ”

Ji Aojian shouted, "That's not the point, pay attention to the hull material!"

"The hull?" Su Jinnianzai looked at it carefully for a long time, and exclaimed, "Why, the entire hull of this ship is made of steel?"

"Because this is an ironclad ship, the world's first armored battleship!"

Ji Aojian's voice was cold, "Master Su, hurry up and order a retreat, how many warships can be saved." ”

Su Jinnian was not convinced, "Why do you want to withdraw? This ship is just wrapped in a layer of iron, what can be terrible?"

"What's so scary?" Ji Aojian snorted, "Frankly speaking, with the eruption force of black powder in this era and the poor projectile structure, it can't break the thickness of this ship's armor at all. Therefore, this ironclad ship will lead a few warships over a little, and it will be enough to suppress our artillery fire in a non-destructive state, and when the opposing fleet approaches in parallel and carries out a two-sided attack, our battleships will be reduced to one-sided abuse. ”

"Why?" Su Jinnian's expression turned pale, "Our soldiers have been fighting tenaciously with great courage, and they have also begun to adapt to the rhythm of fighting against a powerful navy.

"There's no way, this is called technical crushing. ”

Ji Aojian was a little helpless: I didn't expect that an ironclad ship would appear in 1851, didn't it wait until nearly ten years later to come out? Sure enough, the history of the later generations that I deduced was not very reliable.

He took a long breath, "My lord, you go and arrange the retreat, I will block this ship for a while to buy you time." ”

Su Jinnian was taken aback, "What are you talking about, what kind of ironclad can you block?"

"Give it a try. Ji Aojian's expression was very calm, "At this time, I can only do my best." ”