Dominate the Country

The first month of the 41st year of Chengtian, February of 1815 in the Western calendar.

This is the winter that has not yet disappeared in the northern hemisphere, and the hot summer in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of the year when the temperature in the Drake Passage is the highest.

As a strait discovered by Europeans nearly three hundred years ago, the Drake Passage, located at the top of the South American continent, has always been one of the two important waterways connecting the east and west coasts of America, the other being the Strait of Magellan.

The Drake Passage is very wide. Compared with the tortuous channel of the Strait of Magellan, the Drake Passage, which is nearly two thousand miles wide, can no longer be simply described as a strait. It is the widest "sea" strait in the world!

However, westerly winds prevail in this place, and the wind is particularly strong in the northern half, and waves more than ten meters high are commonplace. However, if you get close to the south, you will frequently encounter large icebergs because you are close to the polar region. There are floating icebergs in the Drake Passage in any season, and under the influence of polar cyclones, there are often strong winds and huge waves in the strait, and the wave height can usually reach 10-20 meters. These have brought great troubles to navigation.

There are also strong winds and waves in the west of the Strait of Magellan, but in comparison, the Drake Passage can be described as "raging waves".

The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet here, and under the influence of the polar wind belt at high latitudes in the southern hemisphere, storms dominate the Drake Passage. The strait seems to gather all the hurricanes and waves in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The wind force is above level 8 365 days a year. Even a first-class sailing battleship was shaken like a leaf on the rough sea.

This strait, which is full of strong winds all year round, has caused countless ships to capsize on the seabed in the past three hundred years. In the history of Western navigation, the Drake Passage is called the "murderous westerly belt", "storm corridor" and "devil's strait", and it is a veritable "corridor of death".

The main force of Chen Han's expeditionary navy still took the relatively safe Strait of Magellan, although the coastline there was tortuous, with dense capes and islands, and the wind in the strait was mostly foggy. It was also a world-famous strait with violent waves, high tides and rapid currents, and many whirlpools and countercurrents. There were floating ice on the sea from time to time, which was not conducive to navigation. In contrast, there are still some harbors in the Strait of Magellan where large ships can be moored and used as a place for the fleet to rest and replenish, while there is not even a ghost of a small island in the Drake Passage. The Strait of Magellan is naturally the first choice for the Chinese fleet.

However, in order to confuse the Europeans, Chen Han still sent a small-scale squadron to pass through the Drake Passage, set off first, and guerrilla on the east coast of America to attract the attention of Europeans.

Chen Han organized a large fleet to expedition to America, which was known to Europeans early on. According to the news sent by the intelligence agency, European countries have assembled a considerable number of warships in the Argentine waters, with the purpose of strictly preventing the Chinese fleet from attacking.

There is no doubt that the Strait of Magellan and the Drake Passage are dangerous. As long as they block the impact of the Chinese fleet at the exit of the strait, the winner of this battle will definitely belong to them. The harsh natural environment in the strait is like the heavy snow in Russia. It greatly weakens the enemy's combat effectiveness and threatens the enemy's supply line.

If the Chinese naval fleet wants to win, the most important thing for them is to run to the Chinese-controlled area in America, repair the ships well under the protection of the solid artillery, restore physical strength and energy, and replenish materials and weapons. After fully recovering, they will fight with the Europeans.

Although the European fleet this time only has Spain and Portugal on the surface, in fact, Britain, France, Sweden, the three major European naval powers, as well as the two shipping powers of the Netherlands and Denmark, plus the Italian region and the Russian Baltic Fleet, can be said to have gathered the essence of the European navy.

The news from the intelligence department, the only thing that makes Chen Ming feel at ease is that Nelson is still firmly in the British mainland.

This fleet's naval battle is more dangerous and risky than a land battle. In addition, if it fails, it is easy to escape on land, but it is impossible to escape on the sea. Especially in the harsh environment of the Strait of Magellan.

The person who led the Drake Passage squadron was Admiral Cai Qian of the American Fleet. His team had a total of seven warships, including four sailing warships and three motor-sail hybrid warships. The latter had removed the large wheels of the hull, and the actual combat effectiveness had increased significantly. However, in this small fleet at present, the role played by these three motor-sail ships is still a transport ship.

These motor-sail ships can be changed from paddle wheels to propellers in a short time, but the entire structure of the hull cannot be changed. These motor-sail ships were used as transport ships when they were manufactured.

The night sky is dotted with stars, and the roaring waves hit the hard hull, making a "bang bang" sound from time to time. The bright moon is hanging high, and the sea is sparkling. The moonlight reflected on the sea is cut into pieces by the waves, which complement the stars in the sky.

Although the waves on the sea were not small, the ship sailed steadily. The slender hull looked like a fish in the moonlight, ready to sink at any time.

This was the Huzhou, a motor-sail transport ship of the squadron. Originally, it belonged to the American Fleet. Half of Chen Han's motor-sail transport ships were assigned to the American Fleet. Even the motor-sail ships of the general logistics were not as many as those under the American Fleet. The Huzhou was a meritorious ship that had crossed the Drake Passage twice. This would be the third time it entered the Drake Passage.

Now, a staff sergeant is standing on the front deck of the motor sailing ship, directing several sailors to drain the water from the bow turret room. At dusk, strong winds suddenly rose in the strait, and waves hit the ship in waves. Although it did not cause much damage, a lot of water entered the bow turret room.

Moreover, when it gets dark, a searchlight must be set up, otherwise the ship will hit an iceberg in the dark, which would be a great joy.

Even if several ships were equipped with ramming horns and 'thimbles' on their bows, they would still be doomed if they really collided with a big iceberg.

They are now sailing on the south side of the strait. The wind and waves are smaller than those in the north, but there are more icebergs. Is this place closer to the Antarctic? A group of wet officers and soldiers set up searchlights on the wet bridge. This was not the usual night training, but real actual combat.

This naval officer's name was Li Tingyu, a native of Xiamen, Fujian Province, named Runtang. He was the stepson of Li Changgeng. The latter was a general who rose to prominence in the navy at the same time as Cai Qian, but he was ten years older than Cai Qian. Therefore, Cai Qian can still go into battle in person, while Li Changgeng can only join the army in the large fleet.

Li Tingyu's military rank is sergeant. Although he is only twenty-three years old, his naval qualifications are very high. At the age of sixteen, he was admitted to Qingdao Naval Command College, which was the leader among Chenhan naval academies.

The naval generals under Chen Ming also have the same tendency to stick together, and they also have mountains of all sizes. And in summary, there are mostly southerners, just like the northerners have an absolute advantage among the generals in the cavalry.

Chen Ming's approach was to establish a series of army command academies in the south, and at the same time establish the country's top naval command academies in the north. This is how Li Tingyu was 'made'. He served on a training ship at the age of eighteen, serving as the lowest level sailor, cleaning the ship's planks and climbing masts. After half a year, he entered a steamship internship, and then returned to the Naval Command College for another half a year, focusing on aircraft and sailboat tactics.

This year is the first year he officially enlisted in the army, and this is when he encountered this war. If it performs well, soon, within a few years, a rising star will appear in the new generation steam fleet of the Chen-Han Defense Force Navy.

The period of change of the times is the best time for talents to emerge. The speed and cruelty of replacing the old with the new is no less than that of war.

From old-fashioned oriental hard sailing ships to Western-style sailing warships, Chen Han Navy had already experienced a change before. Now that we are transitioning from sailing battleships to the steam era, there will naturally be a large number of old-school figures in the navy who will abdicate in favor of more talented people.

Now, Li Tingyu's position on the Huzhou engine sailing ship is the communications officer. He is also responsible for the searchlights at night, as well as the signal lights for communicating with other ships in the fleet at night, the flags during the day, etc. Responsibilities are by no means unimportant.

Soon, the sailors set up the searchlight and a large sealed frame, and Li Tingyu quickly returned to the command cabin of the motor and sailboat to accept the next instruction from the pipe belt.

"Get in touch with the rear flagship, inform them of our ship's current position, and tell them that the sea route is safe."

"yes!"

After the command was given, Li Tingyu turned around and left. On the vast sea, the seven warships were separated by a huge distance from each other. The entire team stretched for more than ten miles, forming a long queue. The Huzhou was the vanguard, and the flagship Liu Yu was located at the center of the entire queue, with two ships separated from the Huzhou. The information sent by the Huzhou must be delivered to the Liuyu ship by ship. This process is very time-consuming.

Therefore, Chen Han's important ministers are now looking forward to the invention of the telegraph, because they have become intolerable with the old communication methods.

Compared with the expansion of the Chen Han Empire, this slow communication was too slow.

Although this is also the biggest reason why Chen Ming feudalized America instead of taking the entire America into his pocket.

It took more than half an hour to receive the signal feedback from the Liu Yu. This was still during peacetime. Li Tingyu glanced at the time. The hour hand had just reached eight o'clock.

A long night has just begun.

…

In the city of Nanjing, Chen Ming was holding the latest intelligence sent back by the Office in Europe, with a cold light shining in his eyes. Britain and France have merged. What a joke.

When Chen Han entered South Africa, Napoleon's role actually ceased to exist. Even if there was no War of 1812, Chen Han would still be sure of victory if he challenged Russia. But Chen Ming still hoped that Napoleon could lay a big hidden danger for Europe. Unfortunately, although Napoleon survived the disaster of 1814, the changes in Europe took a completely different path.

However... this is no more severe than the consequences of Napoleon's exile. Although Britain and France have tried to cooperate, don't they each have their own hands to guard against the other?

The British teamed up with Prussia, Sweden and other countries to vigorously assist Spain, Portugal and Russia. In terms of investment ratio, the Russian battlefield was the center of their investment. These countries have invested a large amount of money and arms and a considerable number of elite generals in Russia. That The battlefield really gathered the best military talents in Europe. In South America, while supporting some arms supplies, these countries also dispatched some volunteer troops to Argentina and Brazil.

At the same time, the French, Napoleon, and Russia, Spain and Portugal all had fierce conflicts that were difficult to resolve in the short term. But the relationship between Napoleon's France and the Lighthouse Country was wonderful.

The "Louisiana Purchase" of the old America does not exist in this time and space. Because of the existence of China, although the United States and France have had some minor troubles, they have definitely not developed to the extent of clamoring for France's North American colonies as in the original time and space. Not to mention that even in the original time and space without China, after France and the United States reached the Louisiana Purchase, the Americans quickly reconciled with France again.

The Second Anglo-American War had various reasons. However, the United States used its status as a neutral country to continuously transport various materials to France, so that numerous American merchant ships, large and small, were captured by the British. This was also the most irreconcilable contradiction between the two parties.

Now the only supporter of the Lighthouse State became Napoleon's French Empire. According to a report from the Office in Europe, in the second half of last year, at least 50,000 French troops were sent to the Lighthouse Country, along with large quantities of arms and supplies, and these were probably just the beginning. .

The British and Prussians used more than 100,000 "volunteers" on the Russian battlefield. In accordance with the agreement with the British, Napoleon also wanted to send a considerable part of the French army to the United States.

Because compared to the vast and desolate Brazil and Argentina, the United States is not only smaller in area, but also quite wealthy.

The overall strategy of the Americas is to be strong in the north and weak in the south. The south is constantly using space to buy time, retreating and resisting at the same time. However, the battlefield in North America requires desperate guards with "every inch of mountains and rivers and every inch of blood".

If the Lighthouse Country is completely destroyed by China, the British people in Canada will not pose a threat to the Chinese at all. In that case, the Chinese can spend a lot of energy and power in South America. Moreover, after the Chinese own a large section of the American coastline, they can also deploy large numbers of warships on the east coast of the Americas, which is a huge threat to Europe.

You know, until now, the best coastline of North America is still in the hands of the United States and the British. Chen Han has captured the Gulf of Mexico and northern South America, but the local shipbuilding facilities have been completely destroyed, and the foundation of these territories itself is It’s not good, and there are still agreements between China, Spain, the United States, etc., which restricts the development of the shipbuilding industry on the east coast of Central America. Therefore, up to now, Chen Han can only manufacture merchant ships of a few hundred tons in eastern America, and they are all sail-made.

And if the Lighthouse Country is completely swallowed up, China will have no restrictions at all in America.