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Over the past few months, the war on the southeastern coast has intensified.
Under the fierce attack of the 10,000 army led by Han Xiu, the enemy retreated to Taipa Island and Hengqin Island. As a result, the army could only feel helpless.
The East Sea Fleet and the North Sea Fleet assembled all their warships and fought with the Dutch-led combined fleet for more than ten years. Although they suffered losses on each other, they never achieved a decisive victory.
The enemy is very cunning and has begun to try to avoid a decisive battle with the Royal Navy of Great Qin. Instead, it keeps leading the Royal Navy to the sea in circles; and then sends some warships to attack various places along the coast. Not only does the navy struggle, but even Han Xiu's army has to fight everywhere. Divide your troops for defense and be very passive.
Neither the navy nor the army could withstand the huge political pressure of being breached in coastal states and counties. Now many villages along the coast have been raided, which has already made both the navy and the army miserable.
This time the dignity of the navy and even the dignity of Great Qin were seriously challenged.
The arrival of a typhoon a few days ago forced the Qin army's offensive plan to be delayed. This makes everyone very impatient.
The South China Sea Fleet fought with the enemy all the way from Luzon back to the coast of Guangdong. Both warships and soldiers suffered heavy losses, so half of the North Sea Fleet was required to go over to support them.
In order to prevent enemy attacks on coastal states and counties, Gu Rong and his three fleets were divided into two. Gu Rong used Kowloon Bay (Hong Kong) as a temporary anchorage, and Zheng Sihai used Leizhou Bay as an anchorage. Macau was sandwiched between two sides to prevent them as much as possible. The enemy expanded the front line.
After repeated naval battles, Gu Rong still had 32 gunboats and 130 small and medium-sized bluff ships, eagle ships, and sand ships. Zheng Sihai had 22 remaining gunboats and 98 small and medium-sized warships.
The combined fleets of the Netherlands, Britain, Portugal, Sulu, Boni, and Cochin Zheng still have 14,800 troops, 41 large warships, and about 360 small and medium-sized warships, mainly Sulu, Boni, and Cochin Zheng. His small ship. Not equipped with artillery.
But one thing cannot be ignored. Most of the Qin army's gunboats are equipped with 22 cannons, while the number of single-ship cannons on large Western warships is usually more than 40.
While the number of gunboats was not much different, the number of artillery pieces of the Qin army was actually less than half.
However, the Qin army's bluff ships, eagle ships, and sand ships were much larger than the small ships of Sulu, Boni, and Zheng, and their weapons and equipment were not of the same level. Therefore, although the number was more than a hundred less, if they were alone, In a battle, they would have an overwhelming advantage. However, fighting alone is only an ideal situation and is almost impossible to happen in reality.
In the harbor of Taipa Island, hundreds of warships of the United Fleet are dotted around, and the sea breeze blows from the vast Pacific Ocean. The land is blown day and night, the waves are constantly lapping at the coast, and the waves are splashing.
Seeing that the typhoon that had been raging for three days was about to pass, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Calante, quickly held a combat meeting. His subordinates, McCos and Wilson, the Portuguese Governor of Macau, Vacchi, and military commanders Carres and Jadí You, British Admiral Nadal, General Envoy Croswell, Sulu General Sanyanli, Boni General Bao Bao, and Jiaoyu Zheng General Zheng Weixing all participated.
Kalant first said: "After the continuous attacks on the coast some time ago, as expected, the Qin fleet was forced to be divided into two. They were divided into Jiulong Bay and Leizhou Bay. The effect we wanted has been achieved. Now, it is It’s time to take advantage of the enemy’s scattered forces and annihilate them one by one.”
Jadir said: "Your Excellency, Commander. Based on my understanding of the Qin Navy, I believe they are seeking a decisive battle with us. Because their Emperor is a proud man, and the war drags on for a long time, and someone will make them The emperor is very angry. Under strong pressure, Qin's navy will soon be forced to attack our seaport, and we can wait for the enemy to come and hit them hard. "
Portugal is a small country, and now it is like an orphan in Europe.
After they broke away from Spain, they have been seeking acceptance from France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, but they have never been able to do so. In particular, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom also wanted to take the opportunity to annex Portugal's overseas colonies.
This time Portugal can join the Dutch and British combined fleets, which is equivalent to joining one of the two major European ruling groups. This is what Portugal dreams of.
But they were unwilling to give up Macau, which they had operated for a century, so Jadir made such a suggestion.
Kalant said: "Captain Jadir, although I have not taught in the Qin Navy like you, but from an objective perspective, we can know that if the war drags on for a long time, the Qin Navy will certainly be under tremendous pressure. , but even more detrimental to us;
Our supplies will soon be in short supply. The Qin army is so large, their troops will be continuously mobilized, warships will be launched continuously, and their strength will become stronger and stronger, so we cannot delay it for a long time.
For us, control of the sea is the most important. As long as we control the sea, we can force Qin to compromise. To gain control of the sea, we must first annihilate Qin's fleet. Now that the Qin Navy wants to seek a decisive battle with our army, we can just take advantage of their eagerness to fight and defeat them one by one. "
The British have eight warships participating in the war this time, and have already lost one. According to the agreement, their war dividend is to share the southern part of Luzon Island as a colony, but they must defeat Qin before they can get this dividend. They agreed with Kalant's plan to defeat the Qin navy as soon as possible and force Qin to compromise.
As for the three parties of Sulu, Boni and Zheng, although they have the majority of troops, their weapons are backward and they do not have much say.
Nadal asked: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, what specific battle plan do you have?"
Kalant said: "Now Qin's coastal defenses in Fujian and Zhejiang are empty, and they are relatively close to Nanjing. If our army goes north to attack these places, the whole country of Qin will be panicked, and the pressure on Qin's navy will also be greater.
Now Qin's navy is divided into two, Gu Rong is in Jiulong Bay in the east, and Zheng Sihai is in Leizhou Bay in the west. Our goal is to first annihilate the enemies in Jiulong Bay in the east.
Now ask Captain Jadir to lead a squadron to the west to attack Yangjiang and hold back Zheng Sihai. I led the main force to the north. Gu Rong was worried that if we attacked the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang, he would definitely pursue and intercept us with all his strength. I will lead him all the way north, and once he is far away from Zheng Sihai, I will use all my strength to annihilate him. "
Nadal immediately said: "Your Majesty Commander, this is really a good plan, I completely agree."
Carres, Jadir and others could not raise any objections, so Calant immediately ordered Jadir to be the commander of the squadron, leading 4 Portuguese warships and 60 Sulu warships to set out to attack Yangjiang and be responsible for holding back the enemy. Zheng Sihai.
Calante led the main force, totaling 37 large gunboats and 300 small warships, to go north.
Both sides were in a state of first-level combat readiness these days. As soon as Calante's order was issued, the huge fleet in the harbor quickly raised sails and anchored, and sailed out of the harbor in a mighty manner.
Off the coast of Macau, the Qin Army's reconnaissance ships have been monitoring. As soon as the enemy's combined fleet left the port, they were immediately discovered. The reconnaissance ships rushed back to Kowloon Bay to report to Gu Rong.
The distance from Macau to Kowloon Bay (Hong Kong) is about 150 miles. At the speed of a scout ship of about seven knots, it would take more than five hours to cross the Lingding Ocean and return to Kowloon Bay.
Kalant had no intention of concealing his movements. As soon as he led the huge fleet out of the port, he headed towards Lengding Island and sailed northward in a mighty way.
At noon, Gu Rong and Zhang Mingzhen did not dare to wait for a moment after receiving the news. They immediately ordered the fleet anchored in Kowloon Bay to raise sail and anchor and sail to the open sea.
Gu Rong and the others may not have realized that they would be facing a bloody decisive battle this time when they went to sea, but they were preparing for the decisive battle all the time.
The storm of the previous two days had just ended, and the wind was still very strong at sea. 32 gunboats and 130 small and medium-sized hawk ships, eagle ships, and sand ships were sailing in the wind and chopping the waves.
The small ship responsible for reconnaissance continuously reported back the whereabouts of the enemy fleet. Among them, an urgent message from land made Gu Rong and Zhang Mingzhen very happy. A fleet led by Navy Commander Di Zhongxing is heading south.
"Great!" Gu Rong shouted with his fist, "The time has come for the decisive battle!"
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ps: I was wrapped in a quilt and struggled to get up to code this chapter. My head was dizzy and it was very difficult, but I finally coded it... Please give me some recommendation votes. (To be continued...)
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