Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1681
Portsmouth Harbor is the berth of the Royal Fleet, Zhili Fleet, and Fourth Fleet. A large number of ships are parked here, and there are hundreds of warships.

Five steam ironclad ships, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, General Fubo, and two steam frigates named 'Cloud' and 'Feng' with a displacement between 1000-2000 tons, are used to protect Wei Qing , are temporarily moored at this port.

There are the Royal Army and the Imperial Guards Brigade on the other side of the city of London, and there is also the English Channel, so there is basically no danger.

This time is a contest between the two fleets to see who can't hold it first.

Teams of sailors boarded the ships, and wagons carried provisions and gunpowder to the various ships.

"This battle at sea is more intense than ever. What we are facing may be the last fleet in the world that can barely pass. The number of ships in this fleet may be extremely large, and it will also carry arson ships. A decisive battle We are not afraid, the trouble is trying to avoid getting into an endless war of attrition."

Nelson came to the port of Portsmouth from the city of London, intending to start the last naval battle of his career in the waters he is familiar with.

His time to serve is running out.

In front of him were the naval officers of the Zhili Fleet and the Fourth Fleet. These officers were all trained in China. The Zheng brothers, Sun Xu, and the Annanguo Ruan brothers who were incorporated into the mainland, and the Dutch businessmen Luyter and other foreign officers.

"This time the task of fighting the Spanish Armada was handed over to England's Royal Navy and the Portuguese fleet. Our task is to control the command of the English Channel and destroy Dunkirk, where privateers are active," Nelson said. .

"England's Royal Navy is confident of defeating the Spanish Armada?" Zheng Zhibao asked.

"Believe them, the Armada is not the Armada it used to be. Spain is gone. George Monk led 50 main warships to deal with the Spaniards, and Black led 50 warships and armed merchant ships to follow us." Nelson knew the English Army It may be mediocre, but England does not lack skilled sailors. Under the premise of having enough funds to provide new ships, England's Royal Fleet is not inferior to the Spanish Armada.

This time, the naval forces of the European Confederation were divided into two groups. George Monk led the main force of the Royal Navy, the Galen sail warship specially used for war, and joined more than 10 Portuguese galleons; Colonel Black, no, from After returning from the Mediterranean Sea, Black has been promoted by the Queen to be the Commodore of England, leading a fleet of 50 armed merchant ships with slightly less combat power to assist the Zhili Fleet and the Fourth Fleet to seize the command of the English Channel.

There were more than 60 warships fighting against the Spanish Armada, and more than 80 steamships, sailing warships and armed merchant ships fighting against the French and Dutch fleets.

The Holy Alliance and the European Union have not been established for a long time, but both sides are very angry.

The main reason is that the Holy Alliance accepted the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of Denmark, which made Spain and Sweden very uncomfortable. Chu Yun also robbed Spain, the Netherlands, and many colonies of Tsarist Russia. The Treaty of Constantinople almost provoked the anger of the entire European continent.

Sophia ordered the Royal Navy's attack on the West Indies to become the fuse.

King Philip IV of Spain wanted Sofia to return Haiti and Jamaica in the West Indies. At the same time, France encouraged Philip IV to use the Armada and Spanish privateers to test the strength of the Holy Alliance.

Philip IV was eager to show that Spain was still a great colonial empire. If even England, a rising star, could not handle it, it would mean that Spain was really in decline.

All kinds of contradictions and conflicts led to a rapid war between the two alliances. Only war can bring all parties back to the negotiating table for a peaceful dialogue.

"Captain, all the materials have been shipped to our Zheng He, especially gunpowder and shells. I have to say that it was a wise decision for our merchants to set up factories here in the early years. These factories can now produce gunpowder and shells. The gunpowder and shells we use are somewhat different from those used by the English and cannot be mixed."

"The main target of our fleet operations this time is the Dutch. They are experienced sailors. Many of them have sailed to the East and America. They are much more difficult to deal with than the sailors of the Ottoman Empire."

Zheng Chenggong once again assembled the entire crew of the Zheng He, and they will also participate in the war against the European Union this time.

Although they are still reserve officers of the Ministry of the Navy, their sailing and combat experience is actually richer than that of veterans in a peaceful state.

As a price, Zheng Chenggong also had the highest loss rate for the trainees in the Navy Lecture Hall. Some fell on the American route and some fell on the Mediterranean Sea.

This time they once again used Zheng He, a sailing wooden ship, as a warship to participate in sea battles.

"But the target of the attack on our Zheng He was a Spanish privateer in the English Channel." Hannah also changed into the sailor uniform of the Naval Academy that was washed a little whitish.

Sailing around the world made their military uniforms a little worn out, but they still had to wear uniforms to maintain morale when fighting.After returning to their homeland, they can change into the official naval officer uniform.

"..." Zheng Chenggong looked at the Zheng He ship moored in the port, fluctuating with the waves.

Zheng He was originally just an armed merchant ship provided by the shipyard to Chinese merchants to ensure the safety of goods in dangerous sea areas. It was equipped with more than a dozen 12-pound to 24-pound artillery. The English Channel is not quite enough to see.

There are quite a few galleons with 30 to 50 guns in the English Channel, and their firepower is still higher than that of Zheng He.

Although the ship shape and artillery of Zheng He are somewhat improved compared with the galleons of this era, it is still a wooden sailing ship after all. It is easy to be sunk when encountering a warship that is bigger than it and has more artillery, so it was arranged. The easier task, with several other ships, was to search for and encircle Spanish privateers.

The task of finding the powerful Netherlands fleet and the French fleet was entrusted to the five powerful steam ironclad ships and other sailing warships with a large number of artillery.

"It would be great if we were driving a steam ironclad ship, and we could take on more important tasks instead of dealing with privateers." Zheng Chenggong always felt that something was missing from the Zheng He, which was still a wooden sailing ship.

There are more and more steam ironclad ships. Zheng Chenggong has seen Huo Qubing and Weiqing, which are like steel castles, so he wants a steam ironclad ship as a ship.

(End of this chapter)