The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 138 Generation Difference
  At 1726 o'clock in the afternoon on June 6, 30, Captain Jose Calderon Borallo of the Spanish Navy had just arrived at Tianmen (today's Ceuta) in a galley and was surprised to see thousands of black people. The formed army filed out of the city and headed towards a temporary military camp on the east side of the pier.

Are these black troops mercenaries recruited by Qi State?

"Oh, God, the Qi people are not going to launch a counterattack against the English in Gibraltar!" This idea suddenly flashed in Colonel Jose's mind, and then his whole body trembled with excitement.

If the people of Qi have this idea, that would be great!

This means that this time he is sent to Tianmen under the order of General Juan to meet with Qi to jointly launch a counterattack against England. It is very likely that they will reach an agreement and may be able to regain Gibraltar in one fell swoop.

Speaking of the battle against England, the Spaniards were also extremely depressed.

From August to September last year, several large-scale battles broke out between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar. Finally, in January this year, the Spanish government officially declared war on England, and the two countries entered a state of all-out war.

However, the subsequent rounds of attacks organized by Spain against Gibral failed in the face of the strong fortresses carefully built by the English. They also suffered a lot of losses in personnel and materials, and the morale of the army was extremely low.

Later, the Spaniards realized that Gibraltar was a small land with a small population and small terrain, making it impossible to achieve self-sufficiency in basic supplies. Under the long-term siege of thousands of Spanish troops, even if the English defenders were not completely out of ammunition and food, they would have been trapped for a long time and could not last long.

Today, the British army defends the base and has repeatedly defeated the Spanish army's attacks, entirely because their supplies have always been unimpeded, and the required food, weapons and ammunition will be continuously shipped from England or Portugal.

Yes, we still have to fight a naval battle with England!
  Only in this way can Gibraltar's maritime transportation lines be completely blocked, leaving the British army here alone in a desperate situation and eventually having to surrender.

Therefore, Spain mobilized more than [-] warships and recruited more than ten armed merchant ships to form an attack fleet. It first assembled in the port of Almeria and was on standby, waiting for a suitable opportunity to attack.

On February 2, the Spanish fleet reached the waters near Gibraltar. With its numerical superiority, it drove away more than ten English warships staying here. It was finally a long-lost victory.

Who would have known that in the next few days, when the Spanish fleet approached the shore and took turns to bombard the British forts in response to the army's attack on Gibraltar, England actually sent a large support fleet, and the two sides settled in Algessi. A fierce naval battle broke out at Rath Bay.

The battle lasted for seven hours, and it ended at 9 o'clock in the night, and everyone left the battlefield.

Sadly, the Spanish fleet had already lost six warships, two armed merchant ships, and injured many ships due to a fierce battle. However, at around 1:[-] noon the next day, it passed by Gibraltar and prepared to sail to Cadiz. When entering the port (which is the most important military port in Spain and can provide complete repairs and maintenance for damaged ships), they encountered the English fleet that had been driven away by them.

With the mentality of taking advantage of your illness to kill you, the English fleet immediately pounced on the Spanish fleet, biting them crazily. In the chase for several hours - yes, the Spaniards were afraid that there would be more English warships behind them. Later, they no longer wanted to fight, and they all sped up and fled. The Spanish fleet lost five ships again and fled back to the port of Cadiz in embarrassment.

Afterwards, Spain learned from multiple sources that the English fleet that suddenly rushed to Gibraltar was originally going to Egypt to attack several trading ports controlled by the Qi people in order to cut off its Red Sea-Mediterranean trade. But he never thought that during the expedition, he would bump into the Spanish fleet.

From this point of view, the Spanish were really unlucky. The carefully organized land and sea offensive was actually broken by the English in this very unexpected way.

As a result, Britain and Spain formed a stalemate on the battlefield of Gibraltar.

Faced with this situation, some palace ministers suggested whether they could unite the people of Qi to attack England. Their maritime strength was powerful enough to suppress the English navy.

Since the Qi expedition fleet arrived in Europe in July last year, it has defeated the English navy several times and successfully landed on its homeland and burned Liverpool, just like the Dutch invaded London along the Thames River decades ago. This has made England the whole country. It was a huge loss of face in front of European countries.

In November last year, a large-scale naval battle broke out between the English Navy and the Qi Expeditionary Fleet in the waters of the Faroe Islands. Although after the war, both sides claimed to have won the battle.

However, the keen Spaniards still learned from various channels that the English seemed to have suffered considerable losses in this battle. In addition to more than ten third- and fourth-level battleships and ordinary cruisers being sunk and damaged, there were also many first- and second-level battleships. The second-level main battleship was killed in the battle, and the casualties of officers and soldiers also reached more than [-].

On the other hand, the Qi Expeditionary Fleet not only did not shrink its strength or cease its activities after the war, but it was still very active in the North Atlantic waters and continued to intercept and attack merchant ships traveling to and from England. They even had the energy to attack the Portuguese Azores, frequently organized armed transport ships to transport some war supplies to Ireland, and covered the Jacobite landings on the coast of Scotland. This clearly proved one thing, the English lied. , they did not inflict heavy damage on Qi's expedition fleet, but suffered heavy losses themselves, and the situation was extremely unfavorable.

Otherwise, the English would not have specially organized an expedition fleet to cross the Mediterranean to attack the Qi people's ports in Egypt to cut off their Red Sea-Mediterranean trade. This was clearly because he was upset by others. In anger, he even took the risk of offending the Ottoman Empire in order to regain his position in Egypt and cause some trouble for the Qi people.

Since they both have a common enemy like England, can Qi and Xi work together to deal with England?
  What, do you still need to worry about the glory of the Kingdom of Spain?
  Have you forgotten that more than ten years ago, the people of Qi used the War of Succession to launch a brazen invasion of the Kingdom of Spain, including the Canary Islands, La Plata, the East Coast, Baja California, Coiba Island, and the Pearl Islands? As well as the Azuero Peninsula near the isthmus, many overseas territories of the kingdom were seized by it, and after the war, the above territories were forced to cede to Qi. There is also the Qing State they support, which from time to time causes border troubles in the Americas, seizes land, and plunders people and materials.

Of course, the noble ministers, including King Philip V, have not forgotten the damage caused by the Qi people to the Kingdom of Spain, and they are still worried about it.

However, in that war, the Qi people were not the only ones who hurt us. England, the United Provinces, the Holy Roman Empire, and a number of German states also attacked Spain and invaded the Spanish mainland.     Some things have passed, let it pass. If you always remember the sadness of the past, it will not help the country's affairs, right?
  Furthermore, with the current situation in the Kingdom of Spain, it seems difficult to deal with the English alone. In this case, it is reasonable to contact the people of Qi to deal with England together.

Just as the Spanish court ministers were discussing and arguing about this matter, news came from the Gibraltar front line that another powerful fleet had arrived in Qi, with more than ten warships, and had arrived in Ceuta. They might be preparing to attack The English fleet anchored in the harbor of Gibraltar launched an attack.

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Duke Giulio Alberoni, immediately ordered the frontline army commander General Juan to contact the Qi people and make an agreement with them to attack England from both sea and land directions, thus regaining Gibraltar in one fell swoop.

Therefore, after Colonel Jose received some face-to-face advice from General Juan, he took the risk of sneaking across the strait at night, avoiding the cruising English warships, and came to Ceuta, where he met with the highest commander of the Qi State to discuss and formulate a plan. A unified and coordinated battle plan.
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  "I remember His Majesty Taizu once said that a country's navy is very likely to wipe out its entire family fortune in one afternoon." Commander-in-Chief of the Qi State Expeditionary Fleet, Commander-in-Chief of the West Indian Ocean Fleet, and Navy Piao Cavalry General (Admiral) Wan Botai stood on Tianmen Mountain (i.e. Hadzhuo Mountain in Ceuta), looking at the more than [-] warships moored in the harbor, and said with emotion: "Fortunately, our Qi State is here. With the unremitting support of the two generations of emperors Taizu and Taizong, they finally established the world's largest navy. Even after experiencing several brutal wars of attrition, our Qi navy still retains the strength to suppress the navies of other countries. If so, we will Qi's strong national power and advanced industrial manufacturing capabilities can replace lost ships in the shortest time, so our Qi navy will be able to firmly control the oceans and maintain our global hegemony."

When the surrounding naval generals heard this, they all nodded and agreed, deeply agreeing with what Wan Botai said.

Because you can think of a naval war as a one-shot deal. The competition is about internal strength and the stock of warships.

Where does internal strength come from? Study hard day after day!

Where did the inventory of battleships come from? Spend money and spend money and spend money year after year!
  The army's muskets, artillery, and war horses can be used in a company, a regiment, or even a legion, and only have hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people. But as long as the personnel are in place and the equipment is handed over, they can immediately go into battle.

The navy is not like this. A navy ship may have dozens or hundreds of people, and a large battleship of four to five thousand tons, for example, may have several thousand combat personnel plus equipment operation personnel, and the equipment service time is five years or more. It is calculated in units of ten years, and the time to form combat effectiveness is also a long process. If we start from shipbuilding, laying the keel, finishing, outfitting, sea trials, and finally forming combat effectiveness, it will not take more than a few years.

At the same time, the navy is a service that is extremely demanding on equipment and technology. The equipment gap and the generation gap in technology cannot be made up by military morale and morale. This is completely different from the army.

The army only needs to maintain the quality and quantity of core officers and some non-commissioned officers and veterans, and it can expand its size exponentially through snowballing. The century-old navy is not just talk.

So for the Navy, the size of your fleet in peacetime is your total combat effectiveness after war. There is no such thing as supplementing while fighting. Take a step back and say that your ships and equipment can keep up, and you have soldiers who are proficient in skills. It’s impossible to keep up—at least not in a short period of time.

"If the main fleet of the English navy can be annihilated in Gibraltar, then the English government will be able to completely recognize the reality and finally have to sit at the negotiating table." Yan Chuansong, chief of staff of the expeditionary fleet, said with a smile: "This will last for more than a year. The war can end earlier, and the men on the ship can return to their homeland to reunite with their families."

"Annihilating England's main fleet in the first battle and forcing the other side to cease war and negotiate peace talks is just the most ideal state in our imagination." Wan Botai shook his head and said softly: "But the development of many things often backfires and is not as expected. We continue to By gathering the scattered fleets to Gibraltar and showing a decisive battle posture, the English will inevitably be wary and make corresponding decisions more cautiously and hesitantly. In the past year, they have successively lost four or five Ten battleships, among which the first- and second-level battleships they relied on as their core combat strength were also sunk by our expedition fleet, and the naval strength was severely weakened. Therefore, in the face of our decisive battle intention, the English Navy may also Choosing to passively avoid the war will make our battle plan fail."

"If the English don't dare to come here for a decisive battle, that's okay." Yan Chuansong said: "Don't they still have an expedition fleet of more than [-] ships in the Mediterranean? We just need to block it and eat it in one bite. A fleet can also seriously strain the English Navy!"

"That's right! Although this fleet contains many transport ships, the number of warships is probably no less than thirty. Even if most of them can be destroyed, it will definitely make the English heartbroken." Commander of the Second Task Force Support Fleet Liang Yuanfu took the words and said confidently: "Then, we will sail the fleet to England's doorstep and block the Thames River. If their navy still dares not show their presence, then we will completely block England and trap them to death!"

Everyone present couldn't help laughing when they heard this, with relaxed expressions on everyone's faces.

After a year of fighting at sea, it has fully proved the huge advantage of motor sailing ships over ordinary sail warships, and it has also made Qi Navy officers and soldiers more and more confident as they fight. In addition, Qi State naval guns also have powerful explosive shells, and key parts are also heavily armored. This made Qi's navy far more powerful than the English navy's ships.

Oh, yes, there is also the advance advantage of rifled guns.

To be honest, the research and development of this kind of weapon has been called for in Qi's military industry for a long time, but it has never received enough attention. The idea of ​​rifling the inside of a cannon and then firing a solid metal conical projectile was not popular with the Army at all. This kind of artillery shell has a very short range, does not explode, and does not bounce on the ground. It simply does not arouse the Army's desire to equip it.

Compared with the army, the navy is more interested in this new weapon and feels that this may be an effective way to increase the power of Qi's naval guns. Because the cone-shaped shells it fires have very good penetration when bombarding the side hull of enemy warships, it can easily make a medium-sized bullet hole, which has a very obvious advantage. And if the bullet hole happens to be located in the waterline or even below the waterline, then the cabin of the enemy warship will slowly be submerged by the influx of seawater, and it is possible that the enemy warship will have to withdraw from the battle for repairs or even sink on the spot.

As for the problem of the short range of this kind of artillery due to poor air tightness, it is not a big problem in maritime battles. After all, line-of-line bombardment battles mostly occur at close ranges of less than two to three hundred meters. When the cone-shaped cannon is ejected from the chamber, it has enough kinetic energy to ensure that it can fly to the target to destroy it. Therefore, this kind of artillery has received great support from the Navy. support, and also made a lot of additional investment, and finally took out the real thing three years ago.

This time, the main force of Qi's navy gathered in Europe, and they brought more than fifty of these cannons with them, which were stored in the cabins of several large battleships in case of emergency.

When Wanbotai heard about it, he immediately replaced some of the old-fashioned artillery on the sailboat with rifled artillery, preparing to surprise the English in the next battle.

It can be foreseen that the addition of iron-clad ships and rifled artillery will definitely be the next development direction of the Qi Navy. While the naval powers in Europe, such as England and France, were still desperately studying how to solve the problems caused by the use of marine steam engines, the people of Qi had entered another level of leadership.

There is no doubt that this will be a generational difference, a military generational difference that will make the English, Spanish, French, and even all Europeans feel desperate.

(End of this chapter)