After Zhao Xin's order, the first thing that started moving was the base of the North Navy in Ganlingo.

Since Hoi An temporarily borrowed it from Nguyen Phuc Ying, it was only used as a distribution center for material procurement and immigration to the south, and Gan Ling O on the south side had to invest a lot of effort. Today's Gan Ling Peninsula has changed completely compared to the desolate two years ago.

On the top of Yun Peak, which is 400 meters above sea level in the southernmost part of the peninsula, there is a 20-meter-high lighthouse and a 30-meter-high communication triangle tower. There is also a communication transit station on the hillside. At present, the telegram exchanges between Bacheng and Beihai Town pass here, and then pass through the routes of Ryukyu, Nanjiuzhou and Jeju Island in turn.

As for the Navy Base of the Northern Navy, it is located in the Nei Bay, which is the southwest corner of the Ganling Peninsula. A large shipyard is built here, which can accommodate ten thousand-ton gunboats and related ordnance and material warehouses.

In addition, a large training ground that can accommodate 5,000 people for queues and shooting training was also specially opened ten kilometers north of the harbor. In addition to the minion army recruited by Beihai Town from the miners of Sendai island countries, there are also some troops from the Nguyen Phoeing regime in Guangnan.

In order to build the Ganling Base, Deng Fei first recruited more than 3,000 workers from Hoi'an, and later recruited more than 2,000 people from Jiangping, Haiyang and other places that had previously wiped out pirates in the West Mountain. In addition, hundreds of engineering machinery personnel were dispatched from the Northeast to operate the engineering machinery purchased by Zhao Xin.

At the beginning, the peninsula would shoot fire almost every day. Cao Peng's two apprentices were having fun blowing it up, and dozens of tons of ammonium nitrate explosives were used alone. The rumbling explosion scared the fishermen and villagers along the mainland coast, and hurried back to burn incense and kowtow, and soon spread throughout the two prefectures and four counties in Qinghe Province.

Speaking of which, Nguyen Phucing had sent some food to send over. After seeing a small hill collapsed in a blink of an eye, the general was frightened to death. After returning, this guy actually told Nguyen Phucing that Beihai Town had the ability to manipulate ghosts and gods, and could invite Thunder Lord from the sky to help move mountains and fill the sea, which made King Guangnan very thunder.

After receiving the telegram at Ganlingao Base for several months, Zheng Wenxian went over and over again and again. The first time he couldn't read it in his mind and could not believe the content. Then his heart pounded wildly, his cheeks began to get hot, and then he read it word by word with an extremely serious expression. When he was convinced that he had become the commander of the First Squadron, he suddenly felt endless excitement and joy in his heart, and he couldn't help but open his mouth and laughed.

The weather in June was already very hot. Even when standing in the shadows of the trees, the scorching air coming to face was still like fire, which made people sweat quickly. However, Zheng Wenxian felt that it was not stuffy. He even felt a light in the air that cleansed all the heat and discomfort.

After six years of joining the Northern Navy, he was finally able to lead a fleet to fight naval battles! After he had laughed enough, he said to the orderly soldiers around him: "Order the captains of each ship to gather in the conference room!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't call me sir!" Zheng Wenxian's chin was almost tilted to the sky, and his loud voice scared the orderly soldiers. "Call me commander, it's commander! Hahahaha!"

The fleet is going to Nanyang to fight the Dutch!

From the early morning of June 17, the military supply terminal located at the Ganlingao base was busy, and carriages transporting weapons, oil, fresh water and fresh food were shuttled back and forth between the warehouse and the terminal.

In addition to the several cranes on the dock that kept rising and falling, dozens of small boats came and went back and forth in front of the moored warships and docking steps, carrying boxes of shells and buckets of diesel. Several small boats were loaded too much, and the edges of the ship were almost flush with the water surface, so they moved very slowly.

A day later, Zheng Wenxian led Lin Daosheng and others to inspect the warships in the fleet. Whenever he walked up to the springboard and entered the Narcissus Gate, the call of gathering sounded instantly on the deck, the sound of leather boots stomping on the ground, and the sound of soldiers raising their guns. With the order, all the officers and soldiers saluted the new fleet commander, and Zheng Wenxian immediately raised his hand to return the salute.

All the soldiers were dressed in fine uniforms, neatly formed, and they looked dazzling white. The upper deck was spotless, while the eighteen 75mm cannons located on the bow and lower deck were polished to a shiny tiles.

On June 19, all seven gunboats modified from thousands of tons of "Siam Ship" were replenished. Zheng Wenxian first sent a telegram to Bacheng, and then ordered the fleet to set sail. The workers and soldiers on the Ganlingao Pier would see all kinds of ships docked and offshore every day, and the "eye blessing" was already enough; so when the fleet left the port, everyone just waved their hands and then took the time to rest.

The distance from Ganlingao Base to Bacheng is more than 2,000 kilometers, or more than 1,000 nautical miles. During this period, we have to pass through the Lyu Nei Islands, Tamilan Islands and Belitung Islands. Although the ships in Zheng Wenxian's fleet have been modified, it is impossible to use diesel engines all the way. After all, it is even more necessary to move "flexible" positions during wars.

Nowadays, the ground troops of the Navy in the north of Bacheng will wait until the war begins at sea to prevent the Dutch from turning around and escaping on a boat when they see the situation is not good.

Eight days later, June 27, early morning.

On the sea surface of the Thousand Islands, 80 kilometers northwest of Bacheng, a large fleet of sixteen Dutch East India Company warships is moving forward through the waves.

The sky was still dark at this time, and I don’t know if it would be sunny or cloudy. However, the sea had already shined with silvery white light, and the sunlight reflected on the part of the sails on the warship where the wind was blown by the wind, like pearls embedded on the sails.

When the clock on the deck rang three times, Major General Peter Melville Van Kahnby, the captain of the "William IV" battleship, walked out of the captain's room and said to the sailor standing guard at the door: "Good morning."

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The guard then stood attentively and replied: "Good morning, sir."

Kahnby looked at the weather, looked up at the ordered sails, knowing that the weather would be very good in the morning. After sucking the air in the room for a night, he took a deep breath of fresh air, then turned to the railings, and saw a group of seagulls flying lazily not far from the north, quarreling listlessly over the tiny ripples on the sea, probably because he saw some fish. The rattle of the hull, the sound of the ropes and canvas when they were tight and loose, the various angles formed by the wooden strips on the deck, and the curves of the cannons in front of him, all of which made him feel proud.

At this time, an officer in charge of speed measurement struggled to pull up the speedometer, walked to the tail of the battleship, threw the red sign into the sea, shouting: "Turn!"

Thirty seconds later, the helmman took the small hourglass to his eyes and shouted: "Stop!"

The officer pinched the speed test line that was almost stopped at the four junctions, lifted the sign from the sea, walked to the navigation log board, and wrote down the speed of the ship with chalk on it. The helmman hurried to the big hourglass, flipped it over, and shouted loudly at the other sailor, who then rang the fourth bell.

A moment later, a noise rang under the deck.

"Put it away!"

"Hey, everyone, everyone! Either get up or roll down! Damn it, I said you either get up or fall down! Get up quickly and tie the cable to the cable pile! Get up to work! Get up there, get up quickly!"

Immediately afterwards, a few dull sounds sounded. When the sailor saw someone slow movement, he cut the hammock with a knife. Several sailors fell heavily on the deck. Seeing this, the others hugged their hammocks and ran towards the hatch in a swarm.

After a while, several sailors on the deck had begun to pump water up with elm pumps to rinse the decks with clear sea water. Other sailors stick their butts and grindstones all the way through the deck until the fine wood chips ground from the deck and the dirt in the gaps in the board were mixed with water, flowing around like milk, and then being washed into the sea. As for the gunners, they routinely took care of the 70 guns on the lower deck.

This is how the battleship lives every morning. Only after the routine work can we go to have breakfast, and then there is an exercise, repeating it every day.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the sailor responsible for looking at the top of the mainmast suddenly discovered that the sea in the far north seemed to be somewhat abnormal. He raised the telescope in disbelief and saw several shadows as big as rice grains in his sight. As the shadows continued to approach, the unique hard sails on the Chinese sailboat gradually became clear.

"Several junglers came to the north! There were one, two, three, four, five... no, seven!"

Major General Kahnby heard the report from his subordinates and hurried to the port side of the bow and raised his telescope to look. However, since the other party's ship was at least 15 nautical miles away from his side, he could not see the flag on the ship clearly.

Thirty minutes later, as the incoming ship approached 10 nautical miles from the Dutch fleet, a frigate located a nautical mile north of the "William IV" sent a flag-speaking message, and the "Seris" fleet came.

"Notify the fleet to prepare for combat!" Major General Kabion didn't know how many cannons there were on the ship opposite, but he knew that the cannons in Beihai Town were very long, so he ordered the fleet to quickly enter the upper wind position, take advantage of the wind direction and speed to get closer, and then gather fire and shoot at a distance of one quarter of a nautical mile.

The deafening drum sounded on the Dutch battleships and frigates. The people in the cabin put down their plates, chewed hard bread in their mouths, and rushed towards their respective posts. The messy footsteps were rushing in a hurry. The gunners opened all the gun windows on the left side of each battleship, and the gunners hurriedly prepared.

"Relax the cannon body!"

The gunners of each gun squad untied the pulley chains tied to the gun body and quickly cut off the rope that specifically fixed the breeze. As the wheels of the gun creaked, it means that the gun van had been loosened. At this time, a person must grab the pulleys on both sides of the gun body, otherwise the cannon will move towards the center of the ship when the ship tilts.

"Let the cannon flat!"

The gunner pushed the winch rod under the thick tail of the gun, lifted it up hard, and pried it up. At this time, the leader of the gun team stuffed a wooden wedge at a point behind the center of the gun body, stabilizing the gun barrel to a horizontal direct firing position.

"Pull out the cannon plug!"

The running team quickly brought the gun into the gun position. When the muzzle moved about one foot toward the center of the ship, they used the retreat rope to stop the gun carriage from sliding towards the center of the ship. At the same time, the sail repairman pulled out the cannon plug with carved patterns painted on the muzzle.

"Recharge gunpowder!"

The gunner responsible for loading the gunpowder prepared a solid pack of gunpowder bag, wiped the gunner and pushed it to the end with force; then a 24-pound gun iron ball was sent into the barrel. The gun squad leader sent the fire door needle into the fire door, tentatively getting it in place, and then shouted: "Prepare is done!"

"Extend the muzzle!"

The gunners immediately held the pulley chain, pulled the pulley chain hand-in-hand to lift the entire gun rack, and pressed the gun rack tightly against the side of the side. The pulley chain fell from their hands and was neatly plated.

By this time, hundreds of cannons on the side of the sixteen battleships had already shown their fangs.

When the Northern Navy fleet entered a five-nautical miles away and the hull had become clearly visible, the commanders of each ship in the Dutch fleet breathed a sigh of relief, and the originally tense heart was slightly relaxed.

"Just this ship still wants to fight us? Guys, let's kill those Chinese with a round of cannonage!"

"No problem, sir!"

At this time, a faint smoke appeared at the bow of a Junke ship three nautical miles away. Several frigate captains who came to Asia for the first time even laughed. Are they planning to set fire to fire so far? However, they couldn't laugh soon.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! You can only hear the whistling shells passing by above the frigate of the "Scorpion" on the northmost side, probably at the height of the mast sail truss. When everyone on the ship heard the rumbling of the cannon, the shell also landed in the sea three hundred yards from the right side of the "Scorpion" and exploded a column of water.

"Blooming bullet?"

The captain of the "Scorpion" looked pale and his eyes were about to pop out. He hurried to the bow of the port side, and then fired a second shot from the opposite side. This time, the opponent's shell landed in the sea twenty yards on the left side of the bow of the "Scorpion". The explosion of water fell on the bow of the ship, pouring the captain's face.

Just as Major General Kabion and his officers were stunned, blue smoke rose from seven Siamese ships three nautical miles away, and then thunder rumbled on the sea.

"not good!"

As soon as a military officer finished speaking, two balls of fireballs exploded at the port side of the first and third guns of the Scorpion. Two gaps were blown out in an instant. Countless pieces of wood and shrapnel flew around like rain. After the shrapnel completed the first round of harvest, the pieces of wood of wood fell from the air and rushed towards the sailors crowded on the deck. Heart-wrenching screams were endless. After the smoke of gunpowder passed, blood flowed into a river on the deck.

Almost at the same time, four armed merchant ships, "African", "Nail Tree" and "Mermaid", located to the right of the Scorpion, were all shot. Especially the shell hit the shell on the "African", hit a foot above the waterline in the middle of the hull, and the ship was blown through. Major General Kabion, who was on the "William IV", could not help but be scared and his hands trembled, and the telescope almost fell into the sea.

It is undeniable that VOC's once maritime strength was indeed quite amazing. For most of its operations, two to three fleets set out from the Dutch Republic every year. The Dutch's shipbuilding industry was well organized and efficient, able to obtain wood from the Baltic countries at low prices. For most of the eighteenth century, Amsterdam shipyards launched three large ships of 700 tons or more each year.

However, with the outbreak of the Spanish throne war in the early 18th century, the Dutch were forced to fight a costly war on multiple fronts on the coast and sea, resulting in financial inability to make ends meet. After the Fourth British-Dutch War, VOC suffered huge financial losses and captured nine large sea ships by the British in three years.

Although the former naval power declined rapidly and could no longer restore its status as a major European power with just two million people, the Admiralty still believes that its maritime power in the East Indies is still very strong.

In order to regain Batavia from the town of Beihai, the Navy of the United Republic sent a lieutenant general and two major generals to lead twenty return ships and more than a dozen frigates, including large battleships such as "William IV", "Westmere", and "Delft". In addition to the twelve armed Garen ships in the Ceylon and Banda Islands, VOC sent nearly half of the maritime forces to the East.

In addition, the Dutch also recruited nearly 100 sloops called "chaloups" from the Sultanate of Banten and the Cyreben, as well as brigs called "padewakang". These two ships are generally equipped with four 2-pound cannons or circumference guns, with a maximum crew of 75 people. The Javanese usually use them to raid at sea or fight jumping gangs.

However, although the Dutch had so many ships, they did not dare to approach Bacheng Port. The searchlights and twenty 75mm long-barrel guns in the port of the Northern Navy are not vegetarians. The Dutch spies have seen the scene of fire in the daytime, and have also heard the rumbling sounds of cannons on the port at night.

In fact, in order to deceive the Dutch, the fort defenders deliberately controlled the maximum range to 3,500 yards, which was at this distance every time. But even so, Major General Kabion was dumbfounded when he heard about it.

However, it was not until today that he realized that his spy must have been deceived...
Chapter completed!