Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 451

The battleships in the era of sailing ships were not so much for fighting naval battles as they were for deterring opponents.Deterring war through deterrence, complemented by diplomacy, can often be achieved without war, because of its slow effectiveness and enormous expense.

Sound familiar?It is the same as the nuclear weapons of later generations.

Whether it was Britain and France in the eighteenth century, Spain, or Tsarist Russia, they paid more attention to the establishment of a maritime power rather than a naval power.The former has a large offshore resource base that can be transferred and applied, while the latter's private companies cannot provide shipbuilding facilities and marine practitioners.

Everything is for economic gain.If you can't see this clearly, you can't understand the meaning of "sea power".The reason why Beihai Town didn't expand its navy is exactly the same. It is enough for the time being, and it will pay for any more.

On the way to Changxing Island, the officers of the British Admiralty were puzzled by the combat thinking of the Admiral Hadanga of the Qing Empire Navy and raised objections, which made Master Ha very upset.

"Your Excellency, why did you attack from the northwest?"

Heading the Admiralty's officer corps was British Rear Admiral Sir John Jervis, who fought in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution.In the history of another time and space, he served as an admiral of the Royal Navy, successively served as the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet and the Channel Fleet, and became the Chief Admiralty of the United Kingdom after retiring.

After listening to the interpreter's explanation, John Jervis pointed to the southeast of Changxing Island on the map and said, "The fleet should seize the downwind position to prevent the enemy from retreating. First concentrate on destroying the enemy's big iron ships. They only have Two ships, one of which is a 1500-ton merchant ship, and we have five sea forts. As soon as the greatest threat is removed, we can order soldiers to board the ship in close combat and capture the enemy ship."

After hearing what the translator said with a serious face, Hadanga scolded Yangyi for being troublesome.I eat delicious food, treat each other with courtesy, but I just want you to serve your life well, and I want to criticize the strategy of my army?Really ignorant!

He couldn't explain to the other party what the "art of loneliness and emptiness" was, but Qianlong made it very clear in his edict that if he wanted to win, he just had to beat Bei Haijun away, and everyone was happy.Besides, the rabbit bites people when it is in a hurry. If it cuts off people's escape, it might be destroyed.When the bigger iron boat arrives in Tianjin, he will die without redemption.

So Hardang'a lowered his face and said: "I don't need to bother you about this, I will make my own arrangements, you just need to follow the arrangements. You must know that there are many ways to win, we just need to follow what the emperor said. "

John Jervis persuaded: "Your Excellency, attacking from the downwind, our advantage of victory is more obvious. Use one ship to deal with the merchant ship, and the remaining four form a double line of battle to pinch the iron ship. Just one round of shooting, They're going to crash!"

When Hardanga was in charge of the new water camp in Fujian, he boarded the "Dingbei" for inspections many times, and had a certain understanding of line tactics.He agreed with the opponent's proposed double-line tactics, but still stubbornly decided to attack from the northwest.

Well, the British lost their temper.Anyway, the boat was sold to you, and we took the money.

And in all levels of the warship, British officers and Qing military leaders are giving lectures to their subordinates.

"Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. The emperor has treated us so favorably, and today is the day to kill the enemy and serve the country! After defeating Zhao Ni, promotion and fortune are just around the corner!"

"Willing to die for the emperor!"

"Gentlemen, we have traveled thousands of miles to this strange country, all for the glory of His Majesty the King and the British Empire! Please remember, we must put our own lives first, and save our useful bodies for the empire in the future. effective."

"Boys, let those Orientals see how our gunners of the British Empire fire! If anyone dares to drop the chain, I will hang him on the deck and whip him!"

"Hey, Tommy, is there any bounty after this game? I heard that the Qing Dynasty is full of palaces and roads paved with gold, silver and precious stones. Their emperor should reward us with a lot of money?"

"Gentlemen, on behalf of the East India Company, I assure you that each of you will be rewarded handsomely after this battle. Each of you can get at least three pounds!"

"Great! Let's do it! Aren't we here to get rich?!"

The co-leader on the second-story gun deck heard the cheers and whistles on the deck, frowned and said: "This group of barbarians who have no king's constitution!"

After finishing speaking, he glanced at the gunners and soldiers in the cabin, clasped his fists together and said, "My imperial fortune in the Qing Dynasty is brilliant, and the country will be prosperous forever. Feng is relying on the strength of everyone, working together, brave and loyal!"

"I would like to serve adults!"

"Come on! Sing a song "Strong Army Face", a strong army face, majestic all directions. Sharpen spears and forest armor battles. Sing!"

"Strong military appearance, majestic in all directions. Sharp spear and spear, forest armor battle. Cutting rhinoceros, seven genus are rotten like silver; with shark letter, bright and indescribable. Open up the clamor, the prosperous dynasty is not yet. But push the boss, seek good generals. Cloud travel Lei Dong is upright."

At this time, the British on the main deck heard the singing from below, and after listening for a while, they found that they didn't understand a word, so they sang "Long Live Britain" spontaneously.The song, solo and chorus at the end of the opera Alfred, premiered in London in 1745 and quickly became a favorite of the Navy.

"When Britain first, at Heaven's commandRule, Britannia! Rule the waves, Britons never will be slaves"

The officers of the two countries who had just finished the military discussion in the captain's room heard the noisy singing outside and ordered their subordinates to go out to see what happened.After leading the people here, they came back to report that the British and the soldiers of the water battalion were singing to boost their morale. Hardang asked what the British were singing.

When the translator finished asking about the lyrics, I was shocked. "Great Britain is blessed by heaven and rises from the sea", how dare he translate it truthfully, so he explained that it is an English folk song, which is nothing more than to boost morale and miss his parents and relatives in his hometown.

Hadanga and the generals couldn't help but sneer when they heard this, and looked down on the British even more.When a man serves the country, when he is shrouded in horse leather, serving the country means being loyal and filial.I really don't know what to sing about missing my hometown in the current war!
At six o'clock in the morning, Thor's day began again.As usual, the sailor on duty in the communication room saw that the minute hand of the alarm clock was pointing to 5:59, and then turned on the power amplifier. When the second hand pointed to 12 o'clock, he immediately pressed the play button.

All of a sudden, a murderous piece of music sounded from the loudspeakers on the deck and in the ship building.With the end of the prelude, footsteps accompanied by trombones, exciting music resounded all around.

"Dangdang~dangdang~dangdangdang"

Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji, who were still sleeping soundly, woke up from their dreams immediately, and immediately covered their heads with the quilt.The two sighed helplessly, and said to themselves again!
There is nothing else on board the Thor, and this kind of murderous music is played at six o'clock in the morning.At the beginning, the two were still excited to the tune of the music, wishing they could put on their clothes immediately, and immediately slashed their swords and stretched their bows on the battlefield.But after listening to it for four or five days in a row, no one got tired of listening to it.

In the cab, Ding Guofeng was holding a cup of coffee, humming to the music, and watching the situation on the radar.When the music came to an end, Ding Guofeng couldn't help raising his glass and shouted: "Ula!"

Ever since he became the captain of the Thor, his biggest bad taste is playing "March of the Soviets" on time at six o'clock every morning.But this guy doesn't know Russian, so he just used the accompaniment version.

Even Deng Fei scolded him for going crazy, after two years, he didn't bother him.

At this time, the sea was covered with thick fog, and it was impossible to see anything more than [-] meters away.On the deck, soldiers of the marine battalion patrolled against the cold wind with guns, closely watching the movement on the sea.

Ding Guofeng looked at his watch, and just wanted to ask the sailor next to him to keep an eye on him, and go have breakfast first.But suddenly an abnormal signal came from the radar screen.

About five ships with a tonnage of less than 5000 tons and more than 500 tons are approaching from the northwest, 6 nautical miles (11 kilometers) away from the Thor.

He stared at the two radar screens back and forth for more than ten seconds, and then asked the sailor on duty to call Deng Fei over immediately. Five minutes later, Deng Fei, who had just had breakfast and was about to rest, came.

"what happened?"

"Look, I think it looks like a fleet, and this ship doesn't seem to be small, it's much bigger than the ones we encountered before, and it seems to be bigger than Beihai No. [-]."

When Deng Fei heard this, his complexion suddenly changed, and then he walked quickly to the display screen, glanced back and forth for a while, adjusted the working band again, and then said in a positive tone: "That's right! It's the ship! Send out a battle alarm immediately , notify all ships to raise anchor!"

It is said that because the Thor is a 7500-ton bulk carrier, it is equipped with two sets of radars.This is not Zhao Xin's own claim, but according to the provisions of the "International Maritime Safety Convention", it was there when he bought the ship.

All ships of 9 gross tonnage and above are to be equipped with two independently operating radars, one of which must be 3GHz.The second one of the Raytheon was 9GHz before it was refitted, but Deng Fei changed it to [-]GHz to be on the safe side.

The first radar is used to determine the display of other water vessels, coastlines, buoys and obstacles; the second is an automatic tracker, which is used to automatically plot the bearing and distance of other targets to avoid collisions.

The working bands of the two radars are mainly X-band (9320-9500 MHz) and S-band (3000-3246 MHz). In the case of the same antenna size, the former has a higher azimuth resolution, which is conducive to close-range detection; The latter is less disturbed by rain and snow clutter and sea clutter, which is conducive to long-distance detection.

这种雷达对于海岸线的探测是20海里，对于5000吨以上船舶的探测距离是11海里，而对于本时空最为常见的500吨以下船只探测距离只有8海里；若是500吨以下的小船，则只有4.9海里。

It's not that it can't be seen at a distance of 20 nautical miles, but that the characteristics of the target can't tell whether it's a ship or not.

In rainy days and foggy days, because part of the energy of the radar wave is absorbed by water, the target detection distance will be shortened by 15% to 20%.When the cold air moves to the warm water surface and under-reflects, the propagation path of the radar wave will be lifted from the ground, and the effective distance will be shortened by 30% to 40%.

If it is on the ocean surface in the dry season, the longest detection distance can reach 1500 nautical miles, but that is a special case.

As the sailor on duty pressed the siren, the siren on the Thor rang loudly.Those who were eating in the restaurant were stunned for a moment, then put down their bowls and chopsticks and got up; those who were sleeping also got up and dressed one after another, ready to wash their faces before going out.

At this time, Ding Guofeng's voice came from the loudspeakers on the ship: "Attention everyone! This is not a drill! Take your positions immediately according to the first-level plan! Attention everyone! This is not a drill!"

At this moment, the people on board immediately acted, and began to prepare according to the content of the plan.

Hong Liangji and Jiang Fan were also awakened from their sleep. With the roar of Ding Guofeng on the loudspeaker, there were bursts of hurried footsteps in the corridor outside the door.The two looked at each other, knowing that something big was going to happen.Then he quickly got dressed, washed his face hastily, left the cabin, and went straight to the cockpit.

At this time, the interior of the Thor was obviously different from the past. There were actually two more soldiers of the Marine Battalion with guns at the door of the cockpit.When he saw Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji approaching, he immediately raised his hand to signal them to stop; then he used the walkie-talkie to report and let them in after obtaining permission.

The two were stunned as soon as they came in. They saw that Deng Fei and Ding Guofeng were both wearing bulging orange clothes, with pistols in their waists, and dark green steel helmets on their heads.At the doorway from the cockpit to the compass deck, there are two North Navy soldiers with guns.

"You two generals, what's the matter?"

Deng Fei, who was staring at the radar screen, did not speak, but Ding Guofeng first ordered a soldier to bring life jackets and helmets for Jiang and Hong, and then said: "The enemy is coming."

"Enemy?" Jiang Fan and Hong Liangji were taken aback for a moment, and then said, "Is the imperial court sending troops from the land?"

"No," Ding Guofeng shook his head and said, "From the sea, but I don't know what it is yet."

While the three were talking, two sailors walked in with a drone in their arms, and then walked towards the compass deck.After a while, the drone was already in place, and it could take off just waiting for Deng Fei's order.

At this time, Jiang Fan came to the glass window of the cockpit and looked out. He saw that the two cannons on the deck had taken off their colorful gun covers. After being transported to the back of the artillery position, the muzzle of the cannon also began to turn, pointing to the northwest.

On the heavy machine gun positions on both sides of the deck, the tarpaulins covering them were all removed, and soldiers sent boxes of bullets from the warehouse on the first floor to the back of each machine gun position from time to time.At the same time, a large number of sandbag fortifications began to be piled up on both sides of the ship's side. Once it was completed, a group of Northern Navy soldiers entered it.

On the Beihai No. [-], Guo Xuexian, who received the notification, also ordered the whole ship to enter emergency combat readiness.With the rapid sound of the bell, the diesel motor in the aft cabin started, and the sailors on deck began to hoist the sails.

Although Beihai No. [-] is equipped with electric motors under the masts, a small number of crew members still have to climb to the top of the three tall masts and stand on the foot cables to help to prevent the canvas from sinking or winding up.

The closed gun windows on both sides of the hull were all opened, thirty 75mm guns entered the combat state one after another, and boxes of heavy shells were moved out from the lower cabin.On the main deck, a platoon of Beihai soldiers were all armed with live ammunition.

When everyone was ready, the target on the radar had already reached the ocean surface three nautical miles away, with a straight-line distance of five kilometers.At this time, the fog still hadn't cleared, and the farthest field of vision was no more than one kilometer.

Deng Fei immediately ordered the drone to take off and go to the sky over the target for reconnaissance.Ding Guofeng also ordered the two cannons of Thor and the fifteen 75mm guns on the port side of Beihai No. [-] to aim at the target area.

(End of this chapter)