Regarding the opinions of his subordinates, Lieutenant General Jan Cork Burhoff, who was reluctant to believe it out of arrogant prejudice, had to admit that it made sense and was almost the only feasible move.

He suddenly stood up and walked to the armored cannon room of the ship, reached out and gently stroked the hard-textured breech cannon, as if he had gained infinite confidence from it, and suddenly looked back and said;

"Mr. Captain, the Dutch are the best sailors in the world. I believe it deeply. Regardless of whether the visitor is two or four, all the officers and soldiers of the Royal Task Force will attack the invaders and win honor with their brilliant victory."

"Of course, I believe in this, Your Excellency Commander." Colonel Van Basten obviously hesitated when he answered.

His heart was already cursing;

Idiot, using 3 239mm main guns for one ship to deal with 8 239mm main guns for four ships, this is simply a life-long gambling.

The Royal Task Force gathered in the Strait of Malacca, including 15 warships, two of which were ironclad ships and 13 sailing warships.

Although there are many warships, only one cruiser, the Seven Provinces, has a German 239mm breech main gun, and most of the others are 150mm, 120mm, even 95mm and 75mm naval guns, and a large number of small cannon barrels.

The power of this thing is not an order of magnitude at all. The 239mm main gun hits a large pit, either dead or injured when hits it, and the small cannon cannon can't play a big role.

The fastest sailing warship in the Royal Dutch Task Force is 17 knots, the main seven provinces is 13 knots, and the four new warships in Queensland have a speed of up to 21 knots. What does this mean?

It shows that the power of fighting or not fighting is in the hands of the Queensland fleet. Although the narrow Strait of Malacca is conducive to the task force entangling opponents layer by layer, tigers also have times to doze.

Naval warfare in today's world

The enemy situation is discovered entirely by the observation hand on the top of the mast. If the stars and moon conditions are good at night, the observation hand can identify the ships traveling 4 to 5 nautical miles at most.

If it is a dark and windy night, the observer can only distinguish between 1 to 2 nautical miles by his eyes, and he will be powerless if he is far away.

Such a small distance is almost instantly passed for the warships driving at high speed.

Perhaps the sailing warship of the Royal Task Force had not yet put down its main sail, and the enemy ship had already penetrated into the dark night and had nowhere to look for it.

Knowing that this huge loophole cannot be compensated.

From beginning to end

Out of contempt for the peasant who had just put down his hoe, Colonel Van Basten did not consider whether the other party dared to face the Royal Task Force.

This arrogance that permeated the entire fleet was not unique to him alone, but was contagious to all officers.

More than a month later

December 19, 1881

The southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula, Cochin Port

This is a completely commercial port, one of the important strongholds of the British East Indies Company, connecting trans-ocean routes from the Far East and Europe. Any trans-ocean cargo ship will stop here for a short time to replenish coal and supply, and the crew will go ashore for fun.

There are four brand new warships parked by the dock. They have exactly the same smooth and beautiful line shape, and the wide and slightly thick bow is obviously floating outside, which has excellent wave pressure effect. They are typical ocean-going ship designs.

These are the four Seagull II ocean-going frigates ordered in Portsmouth, England, namely the Albatross, the Flamingo, the Pelican and the Heron.

The second batch of warships, the Pelican and Heron, arrived in late November. Four new warships have been practiced five times outside the coast of Cochin Port, including many difficult practical subjects.

Not far away from them, there was always a high-speed light cruiser from the Royal Navy, "Patient", which was like a disgusting stalker. Every offshore drill will be held, and every scene will not fall.

Now, the "Tangpai" is parked not far from the four ocean-going patrol ships, next to it is the "Tarzan" ocean-going express cargo ship full of high-quality coal and supplies.

The "Taishan" express cargo ship is on the

In the luxurious cabin behind the driving tower, a group of young naval officers gathered together, and a pre-war analysis meeting was being held.

Whether to fight or fight, the two sides confront each other fiercely.

The meeting lasted for most of the day, and the advantages and disadvantages of both sides were basically analyzed very thoroughly, but the differences in opinions on the combat plan were serious and no one could convince anyone.

There were only two fleet military chiefs, the Coast Guard Captain Geng Baogui, and the temporary task force commander He Fang.

Geng Baogui is the captain of the Coast Guard. He is superior to the position and the commander of the temporary task force. All four new warships are under his command and have the power to make a decision.

He Fang is the only two-rank Jinshi in the entire Honghe force, a native of Guangxi, and has served as two seventh-rank magistrates.

When traveling to Europe, he became interested in the navy and entered the Manchester Naval Officer School.

As expected, He Fang is worthy of being a top student. In just under three years, he not only mastered English and French, but also ranked first among the 1881 graduates. With his outstanding performance in all grades, he created several firsts since the founding of the Manchester Naval School.

The first time a Chinese student won the best graduate of the Manchester Naval Officer School.

The first time a student won the first place in total scores and all subjects, winning no suspense.

The first time the student was favored by the Royal Navy of the British Empire before graduation and took the initiative to extend an olive branch.

The first time the trainee published a high-value paper in the journal of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, which attracted widespread attention from all walks of life.

...

During his further studies at the Manchester Naval Officer School, He Fang also served as the representative of the entrusted man Fang Navy entrusted manufacturing company, responsible for supervising the construction of four Seagull Type 2 ocean-going patrol ships. On behalf of the entrusted manufacturing company, he negotiated with the British Navy yard on related matters during construction and put forward 112 rectification opinions.

If it weren't for the urgent time, He Fang, the difficult client representative, would put forward more rectification suggestions.

It is precisely because of his outstanding talent that He Fang was particularly favored by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the UK, and offered high salaries and generous treatments to keep him.

It is precisely because of He Fang's outstanding work that not only prompted the shipyard to work overtime to complete the outfitting work, but it was officially delivered to the pickup party on September 23 two days in advance.

During the ship's quality and quantity construction, 112 hidden dangers were found and rectified, which greatly improved the maturity of the ship's trial voyage. From mechanical and electrical facilities to steam engine pipelines, boilers and power systems, and weapons and equipment, no serious hidden dangers were found.

The above outstanding performances are impressive.

He Fang refused the warm invitation from all parties. After graduation, he served as the captain of the Pelican and also served as the commander of the temporary fleet. He led the second batch of the Pelican and Heron warships to set sail, traveling thousands of miles to the Port of Cochin, India to meet with the first fleet that had already arrived.

After arriving at the Port of Cochin, the fleet received the latest order from the Red River Valley;

He Fang, the captain of the Pelican, was appointed as the supreme commander of the interim fleet, responsible for commanding the interim fleet composed of four battleships, albatross, flamingos, pelicans and herons. The Prime Minister will grant the right to make decisions on the spot for all wars and matters.

The signature is ~ The Earl of Queensland Li Fushou will issue it today.

Two leaders of one fleet. Will this arrangement cause the Coast Guard Captain Geng Baogui to be repulsed?

The Earl sent a secret order to Geng Baogui alone, but no one could know the content. Judging from Geng Baogui's performance, he unconditionally executed the Earl's order and did not see any resistance.

In the conference room

The officers were discussing fiercely at the chart. Suddenly, a few knocks came from the cabin door. Geng Baogui immediately reached out to make a silence, and the room suddenly became silent.

A confidential military meeting is being held now, who will disturb you?

The hatch door opens

The officer in charge of the guard walked over quickly, hesitated for a moment, and whispered in He Fang's ear.

He Fang's expression immediately became serious and ordered the officers; "Everyone continues the discussion just now. Whether it is fighting or rushing through the blockade line, they must come up with a specific discussion plan and gradually refine it. Please Captain Zhu Qingxi presided over the military meeting below. Captain Geng asks you and me."

"Oh, OK." Geng Baogui was stunned, stood up from his seat, and walked out.

In the cabin next to it

He Fang and Geng Baogui met the mysterious visitor, and the guard officer immediately left and brought the cabin door, with only three people left in the room.

This mysterious man with a dark face and medium figure, about 30 years old, was wearing national costumes in northeastern India and looked uncharacteristic. He first took out his identity badge, which was the person in charge of the Black Guard in Kolgoda, code-named "Qingsong".

Since the other party's identity has been verified, the rest is simple.

"Qingsong" said bluntly; "I have two purposes. First, in line with the intention of the headquarters, the Black Guard India Station will fully cooperate with the fleet's operations and provide assistance from intelligence to all the best.

Second, this completely sealed confidential document box is entrusted to the fleet. Because it involves high confidentiality, you have no right to open it. After you arrive at your destination smoothly, someone will naturally come to pick it up."

After saying that, Qingsong took out an exquisite suitcase from her robe like a magic trick. It was completely sealed, so there must be some measures to prevent peeping.

Who was not concerned about this, but asked, "Do you have no suitable channels to send the box?"

"No matter how appropriate the channels are, they are not as safe as the fleet."

"Understand, I want to know which aspect the Black Guard can help us?" He Fang still has doubts.

Qingsong replied, "The Indian station had arranged eyes and ears in Kochi before your fleet arrived, and screened relevant suspicious people, focusing on Dutch merchants and telegraph offices. The facts proved that our direction was very correct and we had achieved remarkable results."
Chapter completed!