Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1677 Sea Power
The European countries united to end the 30-year war and at the same time fight against foreign enemies. At this time, Europe has been divided into two camps, the Holy League led by Chu Yun, and the Continental League led by Louis XIII.

Apart from the Royal Navy and Royal Army in England, among the European countries of the Holy Alliance, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, and the Kingdom of Portugal have almost no combat power.

In contrast, the national power of the European Continental Union is generally strong. Only the Netherlands, Spain, and France can compete with England, and Sweden can also compete with Denmark and the United Kingdom of Norway.Coupled with the support of the Pope, the Ottoman Turkish Empire as foreign aid, the Holy Roman Empire, the Swiss Confederation, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Tsarist Russia, the combined national power is more than five times that of the European countries of the Holy Alliance.

Of course, this did not take into account the terrible existence of Huaxia.

When the news of the establishment of the European Union came, Chu Yun was watching Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the theater of Whitehall Palace with the senior officials of the Holy Alliance.

The identities of the audience in the theater were also exaggerated, Queen Sophia of England, King Christian IV of Denmark, King Joao IV of Portugal, Earl Living of Scotland, and a bunch of officers brought by Chu Yun.

After the drama ended and everyone held a tea party, Chu Yun said slowly: "Someone of us heard the news from the city of Münster in the Holy Roman Empire that the war in Europe is temporarily over. A compromise was reached, and ten countries formed the Continental Confederation."

The Danish king and the Portuguese king who were drinking tea couldn't help shaking their hands holding the teacups, and the tea almost overflowed.

If order is restored in continental Europe, then Spain will be free to annex Portugal, and Sweden will continue to deal with Denmark.

"Ten kingdoms, isn't it true that all the big countries in Europe have participated?" The kings of Denmark and Portugal turned pale with shock.

"France, Spain, the Netherlands, Holy Rome, Sweden, Poland, Tsarist Russia, Switzerland, as well as the Ottoman Empire and the Pope, it is true that the major powers participated. It is better to say that it is just right." Chu Yun was still very calm.

There are too many countries in Europe, and he doesn't have much time to stay in Europe. He doesn't have time to beat these kingdoms one by one. It's better to let them gather together and defeat them.

"I need to return to Portugal, otherwise the Spanish legion will come soon." Joao IV was worried.

"Don't worry, the war will not be fought in Portugal. We will take the lead in defeating the Spanish Armada," Chu Yun said.

"Is that so..." Joao IV breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Chu Yun say that he planned to defeat the Armada.

The King of Denmark was eager to get back his lost territory from the Swedes, but when he learned that Chu Yun wanted to attack Spain first, he was a little anxious: "Then when can we regain the territory lost by Denmark?"

"There is an old saying in the East that shoots people first, shoots horses, and captures thieves before capturing the king. To disintegrate the European Union, you only need to cut off their sea power and defeat their leader, France." Chu Yun tapped the table with his fingers, letting The King of Denmark calmed down.

Chu Yun's strategy for dealing with the Continental Confederation is very simple. It is still to use the superior sea power to destroy the Confederation's navy, blockade the Atlantic Ocean, and then take the lead in defeating France, the leader of the Continental Alliance, to declare victory.Then hold the prestige gained from the victory to negotiate with the other party, instead of really defeating ten countries.

"The privateers in Spain are very annoying, especially the privateers in Dunkirk. They are robbing our merchant ships. Dozens of large and small merchant ships have been lost. There are members of Congress representing the interests of merchants Complain to me that we should send warships to protect the merchant ships entering the Mediterranean or destroy the privateers in Dunkirk as soon as possible. And after Spain cut off relations with us, they banned our merchant ships from trading in the Iberian Peninsula, and our merchants lost Quite a few.” Sophia was also under pressure from the war.

She found that once she took the initiative to provoke a war, there would be calls in the country to end the war as soon as possible and win the victory. Obviously, everyone wanted to end the costly war in the shortest time and at the lowest cost, and to win, which made her the Queen The pressure is enormous.

If you defeat her, your prestige will be even higher. On the contrary, if you fail, you may be abandoned by nobles and commoners.

"King João, this plan to destroy the Spanish Armada also requires the cooperation of your Portuguese intelligence and ships. Let's discuss the tactics to destroy the Armada."

Chu Yun brought a group of officers this time, with the goal of defeating the Spanish Armada first.

Soon the casual tea party turned into a battle meeting.

At present, Chu Yun has two fleets, the Zhili Fleet and the Fourth Fleet, and Chu Yun doesn't have to worry about the combat effectiveness of the two fleets equipped with steam ironclad ships.

England's Royal Fleet has invested nearly 200 million pounds in construction through Sophia, and with the addition of some captured Turkish galleons, it now has 70 large and small warships, which is actually a considerable force.

The King of Denmark's fleet is suitable for fighting in Northern Europe, but it seems that it can't help in the Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese fleet can barely make up a dozen galleons.

Portugal actually has a fairly advanced level of navigation. More than 100 years ago, they crossed the Cape of Storms to India, Macau, Japan and other places.The Spanish Armada consisted in part of the Portuguese ships and sailors they annexed.

This time Portugal broke away from Spain, causing huge losses to the Spanish Armada.

That is to say, Chu Yun now has four fleets that can be called, the Zhili Fleet, the Fourth Fleet, the Royal Fleet, and the Portuguese Fleet.

Nelson laid out the sea chart of Western Europe on the wooden table: "The core of destroying the Armada this time is to use naval superiority to block the coast of Spain from the sea, cut off the sea passage to Flanders, and prevent Spain from communicating with the West Indies and the Americas." All commercial dealings forced Spain to demand an armistice and withdraw from the Continental Union."

"During the period, the Netherlands Fleet and the French Fleet may try to support them. They may concentrate their forces in Dunkirk and even attack England. We will deploy the Royal Army and the Imperial Guard Brigade along the Thames to defend the city of London." preparation."

"Or we could sink the Dutch and French fleets in the English Channel when they meet, and let their soldiers die at sea."

"We have more than 100 ships together, and we can completely separate two fleets, one to deal with the Armada, and one to be active in the English Channel."

(End of this chapter)