1825 My New Daming

Chapter 298 Navy, pig sudden! (ask for subscription, ask for monthly pass)

"General Town, the British fleet has formed a formation in the Gulf of Yaran!"

In the 28th year of Taiping in the Ming Dynasty, at dusk on September [-], the armored cruiser formation led by Chen Huacheng finally caught up with the British and Indian soldiers who had escaped from Temasek Island near a small bay called Yaran Bay on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. The main force of the Malacca Strait Fleet.

Probably because they knew that they could not run away, so the main force of the Malacca Fleet Strait did not continue to flee. Instead, they set up a "back to land" formation with their backs to the land and faces to the sea in the Aran Bay, which is only seven or eight kilometers wide. .

Taking advantage of the dim light on the sea, Chen Huacheng in the bridge of the Zhao Zilong armored cruiser raised his binoculars and looked towards Yalan Bay, which was about 20000 meters away.Fifteen "Beggar Battleships" of the British and Indian Navy are slowly forming a line on the sea.The fifteen ships are all backed to the land and facing the sea.And the two ends of the horizontal team are "set up" on both sides of the entrance of the bay, so Chen Huacheng's fleet has no way to turn around, they can only attack from the front!
About 20 third-class cruisers, destroyers, or small gunboats running along with the fifteen beggar-style battleships shrank behind the fifteen beggar-style battleships, posing a posture ready to attack at any time.

"These British guys are still a little bit capable, no wonder they have been able to dominate the ocean for so many years." Chen Huacheng muttered in a low voice while watching the battle, "It's a pity that the times have changed now..."

As he said that, he turned around and said to the left and right: "It seems that the commander of the British fleet is a bit blind. I don't know yet that we already have steam gas that can travel several kilometers and travel at a speed of thirty to forty knots." Where's the torpedo!"

Although this steam gas torpedo has already shown its power on the battlefield, it also overturned the British armored cruiser.

But these days the news is passing very slowly, and it is normal for the British in Malacca to be completely ignorant.

"General Town," at this time, a senior staff officer shouted, "Look, the British are raising the Z flag!"

The Z-flag was commonly used by the Marquess of Nelson when he fought against Napoleon's navy... When he was about to fight a decisive battle, he would raise this flag and issue an order such as "The Royal Navy requires each of you to do your duty".

"It's going to be desperate!" Chen Huacheng raised his binoculars to look again, and suddenly emphasized his tone, "Pass my general order... raise the bloody red flag!"

"Yes, Junmen!"

The officers on the bridge responded loudly.

"Order!" Chen Huacheng said, "We also set up a horizontal formation...all the armored cruisers are lined up 10000 meters away from the formation.

All cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats followed the armored cruiser in order, ready to charge!The order of charge is armored cruiser, cruiser, destroyer, and finally the torpedo boat.However, except for torpedo boats, all other ships are not allowed to approach the enemy's 4000-inch run within 12 meters of the enemy's line is no joke! "

What Chen Huacheng put out was a "Navy Piggy" formation, but it was not a real piggy, but a fake piggy, that is, a large number of armored cruisers, cruisers, and destroyers rushed together to attract the attention of the enemy and cover the really deadly torpedoes. The speedboat rushed as close as possible to release mines!
24 torpedo boats can put 48 steam gas torpedoes. If this is done well, the British and Indian teams can be "turned upside down" in one go!
Chen Huacheng looked at his watch again, the time was already 6:55 pm, he smiled: "7:30. Launch a general attack!"

"Yes, Chief Town!"

Rear Admiral Rodney, the commander of the British-Indian Strait of Malacca Fleet, is still very proud of his "back to land battle". In his mind, this is simply a genius deployment, and it will definitely help him and his fleet to persist until the end of Major Admiral Cochrane. 22 armored cruisers arrived (actually only 21) and Admiral Cochrane was only in the vanguard of Lieutenant General Hood.

Lieutenant General Hood has 22 battleships, 10 more than Guan Tianpei, and the battleships in Lieutenant General Hood's hands are not bad. They are all cutting-edge battleships produced by the British working class in 997 overtime. They will definitely win
However, Admiral Hood's fleet is far away in the Ten Degrees Strait, a full 1100 kilometers away from the preset battlefield in the Strait of Malacca. Even if it arrives at a speed of 16 knots, it will take a day and a half!Lieutenant General Hood's Patrol Unit rushed desperately, probably at this speed.And Hood's main fleet may be a little slower, and it may be two or three hours later.

And Rodney's task is to command his Channel Fleet to drag through for a day and a half. As long as the 22 armored cruisers commanded by Major General Cochrane (actually only 21) arrive, his fleet is not completely finished.Then it will be very difficult for the patrol unit of the Ming Dynasty Navy to escape.But the Ming army's patrols couldn't escape, so Guan Tianpei's main fleet had no choice but to bite the bullet and attack!

At that time, Guan Tianpei's 12 battleships will become the prey of Lieutenant General Hood!
Therefore, the rise and fall of the British Empire now depends on the struggle of Major General Rodney and his beggar-style battleships!

But Rodney, who was about to fight hard, suddenly found that his opponent didn't intend to fight hard. They actually put up a "three-row formation" that was more common in the era of galleys. "Yes?

The level of Ming's navy can't be that low, can it?

Rear Admiral Rodney was born in a naval family, and he himself fought Napoleon with Nelson, and his level was still a little bit, so he immediately thought something was wrong!

There must be something weird in it!
But now he has been trapped in a bay, with land behind him, and he can't run away at all, what should he do?

As soon as he thought of this, a staff officer beside him suddenly shouted: "Major General...they are starting to attack!"

"what?"

Rodney quickly raised the binoculars. It was already dark at this time, but he could still see the dark shadows on the sea rushing towards him with the help of the moonlight!
"Damn it, what are they trying to do?"

Rodney panicked a little.

"Major General, they, they don't want to sink us, do they?"

"Crash?" Although Rodney found it unbelievable, beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down his forehead.

At this moment, twenty or thirty sparks suddenly flickered in the black bank opposite. This should be the muzzle flame of a large-caliber naval gun!

"It actually fired." Rodney judged that the opponent was at least 8000 meters away. Can he hit at such a distance?

As soon as he thought of this, his eyes suddenly turned pale. He looked up and found twenty or thirty "little suns" shining with white light suddenly appeared in the sky, and they were slowly setting down—they were flares!

Are they going to have an artillery battle?

"Quick, fire the flares!"

Rodney really couldn't figure out what his opponent was doing?But he can only be prepared for artillery battles. He has 30 12-inch cannons, which is an advantage!
"Boom."

After a burst of gunfire, the sea several kilometers ahead was also illuminated by pale light, and the enemy ships on the sea were seen lined up in three rows, with the armored cruiser in front, the cruiser in the rear, and the destroyer in the end (no I saw the torpedo boat), rushing towards me desperately, as if trying to sink my boat!

"Crazy, crazy," Rodney murmured, and suddenly he yelled again, "Fire, fire, don't let their armored cruisers get close and let me sink them!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Order all ships to shoot freely!"

"Fire now?"

Chen Huacheng on the Zhao Zilong couldn't help but feel complacent when he saw the "beggar's battleships" on the opposite side flashing their muzzle flames one by one.

The British fired their shells early, and with the current visibility, it is not easy to hit them at this distance, which shows that they are a little anxious.Moreover, the faster their artillery fires, the more water drops and waves will be on the sea surface, and the easier it is for those torpedo boats to approach covertly.
(End of this chapter)