Dominate the Country

The sun slowly rose from the sea level, and a new day finally arrived.

Under the reflection of the morning sun, at the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan, a large fleet of warships raised their anchors and hoisted their sails.

A huge fleet consisting of ten motor sailing ships, twenty sailing battleships, and seven small and medium-sized warships, divided into three columns, left the anchorage one after another.

Behind them was a solid defense line consisting of ten small and medium-sized warships and many floating artillery platforms, onshore artillery positions, etc., and in the wide waters on the west side of the first narrow waterway, there were nearly forty large and small transport ships.

These were all the remaining forces of Chen Han's fleet.

In the previous period, the first batch of 12 motor sailing ships set off first, followed by the second batch of five battleships, five transport ships and ten small and medium-sized warships. The third batch had only ten small and medium-sized warships plus five transport ships, the fourth batch had five battleships, five transport ships and ten small and medium-sized warships, and the last batch had ten small and medium-sized sailing warships and five transport ships.

The five fleets used a total of 12 motor sailing ships, 10 main battleships, 40 small and medium-sized warships, and 20 transport ships.

The Europeans also distributed a large number of warships, but Ye Tingyang had no idea how many warships Nelson had left.

But he felt that there was a certain tacit understanding between them.

Didn't you see that Nelson had opened the sea route?

The "assault" squadron of the Chen Han fleet ran for the first time, and it was fine. Then it ran for four times in a row without encountering a single blockade. If it wasn't for Nelson's tacit consent, no one would believe it.

Several fleets' breakouts were all smooth and without any trouble. This was completely a tacit understanding between the two sides.

In fact, Nelson deliberately let Chen Han's fleet break out. He even hoped to see Ye Tingyang, who was good at breaking out, command the remaining warships of the large fleet to completely leave the Strait of Magellan.

To resolve this threat, Nelson did not think that the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan was a good battlefield. The first narrow waterway provided an indestructible fortress for the Chinese. If the Chinese were in trouble, they could retreat into the first narrow waterway and defend it.

If you want to completely destroy/severely damage the Chinese fleet, you should go north. The vast ocean is the competition place for the fleets of both sides.

But unfortunately, Ye Tingyang is not so stupid. He will not give up the first narrow waterway, which is a stable rear base. Only take the warships to attack, while the logistics ships and a small number of warships stay in the old nest.

In this way, you can attack or defend. Even if you lose the battle, you can retreat to the first narrow waterway to defend.

Moreover, Ye Tingyang did not think that the Europeans would really ignore the five assault fleets. That was a very powerful force. If the Europeans did not care, their current supply lines would definitely have been cut off.

"Everyone, whether we can go down in history depends on our next battle! I would like to encourage you, but I don't know if you have the same confidence?"

Standing in the officer meeting room of the flagship Qin Shihuang, Ye Tingyang said with great momentum.

"I would like to encourage the general." Everyone's face could not hide the excitement, even if a few people's expressions were still a little nervous, that was the excitement and nervousness.

How could they not be excited? How could they not be nervous? Seeing that a super-large-scale naval battle was about to begin, everyone present was a naval officer, how could they not have a desire for combat in their hearts. Chen Han's naval division has been established for so many years, isn't it waiting for this day? Raise troops for a thousand days and use them for a moment. Of course, while they are eager for war, they are also a little cautious in their hearts.

After all, the opponent is the Europeans who have been rampant in the seven seas for hundreds of years. The rapid development of Europe in the past two or three hundred years is based on the sea. Navigation is already a memory engraved in the bones of many European countries. Chen Han can repeatedly beat Europe on land, but their confidence in naval battles is really not sufficient.

Commander Nelson is from Britain. Britain is an island country that started with the navy and relied on the navy to defend its maritime interests. Who dares to take such a famous general from a powerful country that regards the navy as the lifeblood of the country lightly?

But for the Chen Han Navy, the development has reached this point today, and it has reached a bottleneck. It’s not that Chen Han’s naval warships are not strong enough or the number of warships is not large enough, but a kind of spiritual confidence.

In Chen Ming’s eyes, the current Chen Han Navy is like the old America after the Great White Fleet cruised around the world, and it is a world without the fearless era. That’s not half as generous.

But at that time, even if John Bull had not launched the Dreadnought to make the Great White Fleet obsolete, no one would have regarded the US Navy as an elite force comparable to the British Navy.

If the British were an army, the Great White Fleet of the United States would at most be a gang.

At that time, Britain was the head of the global village, Russia was the upstart in the village, Japan had just made a deal with Britain and framed the upstart, and the United States was the son who ran away from home in the British family. The Great White Fleet sailed because the rebellious son was afraid that his father's gay friends would touch the family property left to him, so he called a gang to show off his muscles.

The time when the US Navy was truly recognized by the world as powerful was after the bloody battle with the Japanese in the Pacific during World War II. After the tempering of iron and fire, the US Navy truly became a recognized army.

Although the reason why the United States was able to win the Pacific War is related to the strong industrial strength of the Americans, this is exactly what Chen Ming believes. He feels that the Chen Han Navy today is still somewhat different from the U.S. Navy in the original time and space. Similarities. Now that Chen Han's Great White Fleet has been built, and the first phase - the accumulation of strength has been completed, it is time to start the second phase of the main mission.

As the outpost of the Grand Fleet, five sail warships arranged in a diamond shape first sailed out of the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan.

A faint stream of smoke emerged. The coal used on Chen Han's sailing ship was entirely the finest anthracite. The steam engine pushed the ship to sail slowly, accelerating, accelerating, and accelerating again, heading straight towards the European patrol fleet. Jump away.

"Hand all the sails up and turn to the left..."

On a third-class sailing battleship, a British naval officer stood on the front deck, looking at the Chen Han fleet in the south, his eyes shining with dazzling light. This is the first modern fleet war between the East and the West. If they can eat the Chinese ships in one bite, then the situation in Europe will be stable in this war.

China, the oldest empire, has the ambition to devour the earth. This is no longer a matter of touching the British cheese, but a matter of life and death for the British.

However, as the leader of the Western world, the British Empire has not yet completely decayed, and Europeans will not willingly give up their hegemony on the earth.

At this moment, the officer's eyes were filled with fierce murderous intent.

Chen Huacheng stood on the bow of the Silver Shark facing the wind, his clothes rustling in the sea breeze. But he didn't care at all. On the contrary, being on the battleship facing the sea breeze was his favorite.

As the command ship of the outpost, the Silver Shark is located in the center of the five sail warships on the outpost, with one sail warship at the front, rear, left and right. At this moment, the Silver Shark was sailing at full speed. This was not something that could be done casually. It is not a problem of more coal and less coal, but a problem of the service life performance of the steam engine. Chen Huacheng has been a general for three years, and has been exposed to sailboats for more than five years. However, he can only get a handful of winds under full speed sailing!

"If we were standing on an iron-hulled ship..." The latter was Chen Huacheng's biggest regret. He felt that if this battle had been fought for a few days at night, it wouldn't have taken too long, even if it was two or three years. The iron ship was launched. This will feel better then. Chen Huacheng couldn't help but think of the iron-hulled gunboat belonging to the Ship Research Institute.

Don't be afraid of not knowing the goods, just be afraid of comparing goods. The two Silver Sharks tied together are not as good as the iron thing belonging to the Ship Research Institute. Compared with the same level of wooden-shelled gunboats and iron-shelled gunboats, the huge gap in solidity is irreparable.

What made Chen Huacheng even more envious was that the speed of the big iron ship was even faster than that of the Silver Shark. That was really awesome.

While I was thinking, the jingling bell suddenly rang.

"Enemy ship! New enemy ship reinforcements were found, about 10 nautical miles ahead and south, flying the US flag! Number, two!"

The lookout banged the small hand-coded bell vigorously and shouted down loudly.

"So fast!?" Chen Huacheng was shocked, and then a smile appeared on his face. With the addition of these two enemy ships, there are only six enemy ships. Don't be afraid! "Go up to me -" Since you are not afraid, there is no reason to give up. As for reporting to the rear, just use flares.

At the same time, alarm bells rang out on the European warships, and two newly arrived warships arrived from the southeast. The enemy and our warships at the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan were now at a 4:5 disadvantage compared to before. It has become 6:5 with a slight advantage now.

The only thing to worry about is that only three of their six warships are third-level sailing battleships, and the other three are fourth-level sailing battleships. At the fourth level, sail battleships are weaker than motor sailing ships in terms of size and combat effectiveness.

"Your Excellency, the Chinese ships are adjusting their course... they are approaching us!"

A U.S. Navy lieutenant held a telescope with his left hand and held the armrest tightly with his right hand. The veins on the back of his hand were all bulging, showing the tension in his heart at the moment.

Obviously, Chinese warships are here to fight!

So……

"Is today the time for the decisive battle between the two armies?" The young lieutenant officer trembled all over.

This is a super war.

Not to mention how many Chinese fleets there are, Nelson currently has thirty-five battleships, as well as more than forty fourth-level sailing battleships and fifth- and sixth-level battleships. This scale has exceeded what it was back then. The Franco-Spanish combined fleet also far exceeded the Mediterranean fleet led by Nelson.

The original Franco-Spanish combined fleet had 33 battleships. One of them was the largest four-decker gun-deck battleship "Trident" at the time. The other battleships were: 3 three-decker battleships; 6 80-gun gun ships; 22 74-gun gun ships; 1 64-gun gun ship . In addition, the French and Spanish fleet also has 13 cruisers of various types. The fleet has more than 2,600 side guns and carries more than 20,000 officers and soldiers.

The British fleet has 27 battleships, 7 of which are three-tier gun deck battleships, and the remaining 20 are double-tier gun deck battleships. There are a total of more than 2,100 artillery pieces, nearly 17,000 officers and soldiers, plus 4 cruisers and several auxiliary ships.

Now, only 35 battleships are enough to offset the size of the Franco-Spanish joint fleet, and there are many fourth-level sailing warships and fifth- and sixth-level warships. Of course, they cannot catch up with the size of Nelson's fleet at the time, but they can easily surpass half of Nelson's fleet. Taken together, this scale completely crushes any major naval battle in the history of sailing battleships.

The Europeans are very confident in themselves. They have the world's top naval commanders, the most powerful sailing battleships, and tens of thousands of elite sailors who are hard-trained. This European joint fleet can be called the most powerful fleet in European history.

Although they also followed the Chinese in sending troops abroad again and again, compared with the number of warships, the Europeans have more than Chen Han. Now these extra warships have become the biggest advantage of the Europeans.

The fleet is too large and difficult to command specifically. This is a problem encountered by both the Eastern and Western fleets. But Nelson has the confidence to control the current military power. At least the size of these 80 warships has reached the bottom line of his own psychological expectations.

In contrast, Chen Han dispatched only less than 40 warships.

Ten motor sailing ships and 20 sailing battleships were Chen Han's main force, and the seven small and medium-sized warships were just supporting. Compared with the huge scale of 80 warships of the Europeans, the scale of Chen Han's fleet composed of 37 warships was much smaller.

In the case of unknown victory and unknown process, the only advantage of 37 warships over 80 warships is that it is more convenient to command and dispatch.

The 37 warships were divided into five parts by Ye Tingyang, with the five motor sailing ships led by Chen Huacheng in the vanguard and seven small and medium-sized warships in the rear, specifically five fourth-level sailing warships and two brigs. Then there were the 25 main battleships in the middle, and the five remaining motor sailing ships were organized into one route - the north route, and the 20 sailing warships were divided into two routes at a ratio of 3:1, with 15 main battleships in the middle route and five main battleships in the south route.

Chen Huacheng bravely led the vanguard squadron to attack the European warships in front. The latter had already retreated from the initial brave engagement. The lookouts on their masts saw the dark main fleet behind the five vanguard squadrons. No matter how brave the Europeans were, they had to retreat.

Head-on confrontation was just a fearless sacrifice.

"This is really a shame. It's a shame for the Royal Navy." Lancelot Orlando said angrily. He is a British naval lieutenant and the first mate on the South Lanark.

Captain Michael Hughes remained silent. He also felt humiliated. The Royal Navy of the British Empire, which traversed the seven seas, was forced to retreat by the Chinese. This was a very dishonorable thing.

Michael Hughes was a loyal believer of Nelson. It was the tradition of the British Royal Navy to fight when encountering an enemy. Don't worry about whether the origin of this tradition is the sinful privateering letters and glittering wealth. In the two hundred years of rapid development in Britain, "fighting when encountering the enemy" has been elevated to a state of honor by British naval officers and soldiers. Quite a number of people only focus on the glory of these four words, ignoring the blood and sins deposited under its glittering appearance.

The current retreat makes the proud British Navy feel humiliated, but the Anglo-Saxons cannot deny the facts before their eyes.

"Three months at the latest. The Empire's motor sailing ships can also appear in the harsh North Sea like our enemies. But if they want to form combat effectiveness and wait for them to appear in North America, it will take at least half a year." Michael Hughes' eyes contain regret, because they don't have so much time.

As a senior naval general of the British Empire, Michael Hughes has enough sources of information and can clearly realize what the hard top needs most now, and what the British Empire needs to avoid and guarantee most now.

"Half a year, we only need half a year." Unfortunately, the Chinese will not give London and Europe.

The war has begun!