Chapter 647? Warships can also compete with bayonets! (Please order, please vote)

December 20, 1858 Palembang, Sumatra.

Lieutenant General Van der Wilder's fingers crossed the Sunda Strait on the chart, and his nails left deep dents on the parchment. The cabin of the "Seven Provinces Alliance" was filled with cigar smoke, and six heads of steam cruisers sat around the long conference table, their eyes swept across the islands scattered with the baton over the Karimata Strait.

According to the information just received, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's large fleet had entered the Java Sea through the Makassar Strait and entered the Surabaya Port in the eastern part of Java Island!

"The Chinese's main ship speed is no more than twelve knots," Lieutenant Colonel De Jung knocked on the model of the ship under the glass cover. "Their teak hulls cannot withstand the direct strike of the sixty-eight-pound cannon." The base of the model is engraved with the three Chinese characters "Shanghai-class", which is the intelligence exchanged by the Dutch spies from the craftsmen of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau with 500 Spanish silver dollars.

"But they have pico shells!" Lieutenant General Van De Howen, the former commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, interjected, "Our hulls can no longer withstand the bombardment of 24-pound pico shells, which are 32 pounds or lighter."

"How big is the most powerful artillery in the 'Shanghai-class'?" asked Lieutenant General Van De Wilder.

"It's 24 pounds," said Lieutenant Colonel Basten, a fleet intelligence officer. "It is a seven-year-old 24-pound front-mounted rifled gun produced by the Gangnam Manufacturing Bureau. It was obtained by imitating similar British artillery, with an effective range of only 2,400 yards."

Lieutenant Colonel De Jung said: "Our 68-pound gun has an effective range of 3,300 yards, which is 900 more yards! As long as we maintain a distance of 2,500 yards to 3,000 yards from the enemy's 'Shanghai Class', we will be unbeaten!"

"Mingming...

,

The roar of steam whistles from outside the port interrupted the ongoing meeting. Lieutenant General Deville walked to the porthole and went out to take a look.

It turned out that another "Seven Provinces Alliance" class is entering the port.

"It's the "Nedlands"," Lieutenant General Deville laughed, "We now have three "Seven Provinces Alliance" levels!"

The 1980-ton giant ship is coated with moth-proof asphalt above the waterline, and the shooting holes on the double-layer gun deck are as dense as arthropods.

Lieutenant General Wilder then remembered the hungry banquet of the Navy Minister Tropp when he left the country. All the dishes used spices and sugar from the Dutch East India!

It is these spices, white sugar and other specialties from the Dutch East India that supported the most glorious years in the Netherlands.

His Excellency Troll, the Minister of Navy, pointed to the dishes that exuded an attractive aroma and said to him: "If the Netherlands wants to be great again, it cannot lose the spices of the Dutch East India, sugar and other resources and markets, otherwise the Netherlands will become a dish for the future European powers to compete for hegemony!"

"Develop a combat plan!" Lieutenant General Deville instructed, "The key is the distance... we have to be at 2500

Code-3000 yards to shatter China's dream of maritime overlords!"

At this moment, in the sultry bottom cabin of the "Seven Provinces Alliance", Dutch sailor Jan Defries was stroking the silver cross on his chest with his trembling fingers. The second son of the Rotterdam fisherman had just turned seventeen and had never seen a steam engine when he was enlisted. At this moment, he was curled up in a hammock. Listening to the sound of rapid footsteps from the deck above his head, the old sailor Hendrick in the next bed suddenly spoke: "Someone fell ill and was carried away again.::::. It's too hot here, it's not what white people should come!"

Sishui Port.

More than 20 warships and armed merchant ships with the banner of the Taiping Army have appeared in this harbor that is firmly controlled by the Javan Kingdom.

Taiping Army Flagship "Suzhou" war room.

Wang Yan's fingers were poked heavily on the chart, and a copper nail pierced the mark of Palembang. "The main force of the Dutch was huddled at the mouth of the Musi River, hiding in the shell like a turtle... and starting from this turtle shell, whether it is the Strait of Malacca or the Sunda Strait, they are under their control! And their army in Banten does not have to worry about logistics at all. The pro-Holland indigenous troops on Java Island can also receive continuous assistance from Europe through Banten!"

This Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Navy's Nanyang Fleet Admiral was actually not a professional naval force. He was a "big disciple" of Luo Yaoguo. After joining Luo Yaoguo's disciple, he first managed the "lecturer class" to help Luo Yaoguo train cadres. Later, his literary management was too divided into places, local government construction, and conference construction of the Datonghui. Later, Luo Yaoguo's navy began to grow bigger and needed effective cadres to take charge of naval construction, so he transferred his senior brother to the navy.

Although this senior brother doesn't know much about naval business, he has a young professional officer from the naval school, such as Zhang Bao, Ding Xianda, Tan Shaoguang, Du Yongkuan, Zhou Wenjia, Fan Ruzeng, Huang Chengzhong, Ji Qingyuan, etc., which does not have the advantage that young professional officers from naval schools have a very strong sense of overall situation.

He knew very well what it meant to the rebirth of the Dutch Navy in the Java Sea to the rebirth of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?

Only by winning this battle can the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom become a real maritime power and have to a certain extent the maritime power of the Pacific!

Only by taking over the maritime power in the Pacific Ocean can the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom export overpopulation at a faster speed and export commodities exported after the arrival of the industrial age.

If you don’t take this Pacific sea power now, it will only be more difficult to pick it up in the future!

He glanced at the cabin: Chief of Staff Zhang Bao was measuring the route with an angle ruler, Deputy Admiral Ding Xianda wiped the Taiping knife given to him by Luo Yaoguo. This was awarded to him to reward him for sinking the Dutch sail battleship, while the three leaders of the merchant fleet were smoking dry cigarettes.

"We can force ourselves to enter the Sunda Strait and act like we are going to transport troops to the west coast of Java Island to land on the west coast of Java," Chen Yongsheng, the leader of the merchant ship from Tiandihui, slapped the table, "The red-haired ghost is definitely unwilling to let us take the Wandan, and it will inevitably come out in full!"

The scar on his face looked red under the whale oil lamp. He was a pirate from Borneo and was pulled into the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by Luo Dagang. When Luo Dagang competed with the Dutch for Borneo, he robbed the Dutch's transport ship on a pirate ship.

"The Dutch are not easy to deal with," Li Guofu, who graduated from the first phase of the Naval Academy's Merchant Shipping Department, shook his head. "Their 68-pound cannons can hit 3,000 meters, 800 meters away from our 24-pound cannons." The captain of the 'Jianghai class' analyzed, "We must find a way to get close to the red-haired ghost to win-""

"How do you get close?" Wang Yan saw Li Guofu looking at him but stopped, "Tell me quickly... The King of Wu has already explained that we must win this battle, and we must win at any cost!"

Li Guofu gritted his teeth and said, "We can let the merchant fleet disguise as the main fleet and the troop transport ship and move towards the Sunda Strait.

Attract the Dutch to intercept. After encountering the large Dutch fleet, the merchant fleet immediately turned around and fled to Batavia or Semarang, luring the Dutch to pursue. The eight "Shanghai-class" sneaked into the coastal areas of Java Island during the night before, waiting for the merchant fleet to attract the Dutch, and then circled behind the Dutch, picking up the slower sailing ships to force the Dutch back to help. At that time, the Dutch were eager to rescue and would not care about keeping a distance from us!"

"The Dutch have at least two "Seven Provinces Alliance" class, and there are 8 steam cruisers and steam gunboats...::.. Can your 17 merchant ships withstand?" Wang Yan frowned, "Don't let the 8 "Shanghai Class" be explained before that time!"

"Senior Brother," Zhang Bao suddenly interrupted at this time, "I have a way!"

"What method?" Wang Yan asked.

Zhang Baodao: "We have 8 70mm caliber Armstrong rear-load guns, their effective range is more than 6,000 meters.

The rate of fire is much faster than the front-loading gun. You can remove 4 doors and install them on the ship's deck."

"Give all 8 70mm cannons to the Jianghai class!" Wang Yan said, "The key to this battle is that the merchant fleet can hold it up... and our 8 Shanghai-class ships dare to see the heat from the Dutch bayonets!"

Ding Xianda reminded again: "The Shanghai-class comb pole is too tall and will be discovered by the Dutch reconnaissance ship from afar. It is better to temporarily remove the mast, so it will be easy to hide."

Wang Yan pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, let's follow this plan! All 8 70mm cannons were removed and installed on the Jianghai level, and all 8 Shanghai-level masts were removed.

On the night of the 22nd, we set out from Sishui...::.. The merchant fleet is responsible for seducing the enemy, and the main fleet is responsible for raids. Remember, we must win at any cost in this battle. Only by winning can our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom be considered a real power that can be served on the table and have a meal!"

December 22, 1858, Port of Sisai.

The night was as dark as ink, and eight "Shanghai-class" cruisers were preparing to sail out of the port quietly at night. The sailors disassembled the sail masts with brown ropes and tied them on the deck, and then covered the cannon windows with soaked thatch. Zhang Bao stood on the bridge of the "Suzhou" and looked at the blurry shadows of ships under the moonlight. These usually majestic warships seemed to shrink twice and be as inconspicuous as they had shrunk.

Zhang Bao, who was also the commander of the fleet, turned to Wang Yan and said, "Admiral, the disguise has been completed-but the comb pole has been removed,

The maximum speed is only nine knots left."

"It's okay... the wind in the Java Sea is very small, and the wind direction may not be the same. We can't lose much speed."

Wang Yan's fingers crossed the shallow water area on the north shore of Java Island on the chart: "Xiaobao, let's hide in the coral reef group here. When the Dutch chased the merchant fleet, we will stab them in the waist and hole! Thrust hard!"
Chapter completed!