The sun never sets in America

Chapter 211 Rubber Storm: Fleet and the Situation in South America

On April [-], the eighth year of Longwu, Longjiang Port...

After about five days of preparation, Han's army and navy were ready.

At Longjiang Port in the morning, in addition to the merchant ships still unloading, most of them were the family members of the officers and soldiers who participated in the war, who were bidding farewell to the naval officers. (The army will not set off until the navy destroys the Brazilian navy, otherwise it will be easily sunk and fed to the fish)

"Boy, work hard and show your father and me how to be a good person!!" The father told his sailor son, but there was still a hint of worry in the expectation.

"Brother, I want to be a navy when I grow up, and I want to command battleships. I will be more powerful than you!!" A child of about ten years old said firmly to his adult gunner brother.

"Don't worry, I will wait for you to come back. My children and I will wait for you to come back..." The pregnant newlywed wife looked at her military officer husband with tears in her eyes. Then the two hugged each other for a long time before letting go. open.

"Son, you have to be careful, these guns don't have eyesight!!" A middle-aged woman touched a young man wearing a navy blue military uniform with the rank of lieutenant, with reluctance in her eyes.

"Mom, I know." The lieutenant looked at his mother with a confident smile on his face. Although it was comforting, the navy was actually very relaxed. After all, the Brazilian navy was at a high level, and it was clearer without the rival Han navy. .

Except for a few new steam sail warships, the Brazilian Navy is nothing. Of course, this is nothing, compared with the Han Dynasty Navy, which has been fully steamed.

If we compare the navies of other American countries, except for Han and the United States, there is really no country that can compare with Brazil.

If nothing else, let’s just say that Brazil is the most powerful. The first-class steam sail warships purchased from the United Kingdom are not comparable to many countries.

You know, after this year's expansion, the Han Navy currently only has eight first-class sailing warships. Although the two Brazilian ships are new ships, it can also be seen that Brazil, or Pedro II, is not as powerful as people imagined. They only knew about internal reforms but ignored armaments construction.

In fact, after the rise of the Han Dynasty and the end of the Sino-American War, the entire South America engaged in a small but far-reaching arms race due to the stimulation of the war.

Among them, apart from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay are the most violent.

Argentina aims to expand into Patagonia and the lower half of the Pampas, while Paraguay, because it is sandwiched between Argentina and Brazil, has to keep up with the arms race in order to protect itself.

This has also made Paraguay a thorn in the side of Argentina and Brazil, a thorn in their flesh that they want to get rid of quickly.

Among them, Paraguay, as a counterweight to Brazil and Argentina, received a large amount of military assistance from the Han State, including direct assistance of [-] decommissioned Lightning rifles, and the sale of [-] second-hand Lightning rifles, as well as a batch of rifled artillery. , initially a nail was inserted in Brazil and central Argentina.

After Han declared war with Brazil, an army was also assembled on the Brazilian border near Paraguay. This army was set up to guard against Paraguay's sneak attacks.

Even Argentina, which has no dealings with Brazil, is gathering troops to put pressure on Paraguay from both the north and the south.

After all, no matter what Brazil does, Paraguay cannot take advantage and has never become stronger.

Paraguay's national defense and security are facing unprecedented challenges.

The role of Han towards Paraguay is also very clear. There is no hope that it can defeat Brazil. As long as it can contain the armies of Brazil and Argentina, it will not be destroyed.

As Yan Jun, the prime minister of Han Dynasty, wrote in a letter to Carlos, the consul of Paraguay:

"Dear Consul, the Brazilians used the most brutal behavior to ignite this war that should not have happened. They used violence to prevent the survival of the Paraguayans and safeguard the legitimate interests of the Han Dynasty. It turns out that we are friends separated by the ocean. Now We are comrades in arms!!" (Paraguay currently has a consul system, but a few years ago it was a joint power of dual consuls)

"We should not forget that Brazilians and Argentines hate Paraguay. They always want to disappear Paraguay from the world. This is an injustice to Paraguayans. Paraguayans also have the right to survive in the sun!!"

In a word, go for it, my buddy supports you! !

The Paraguayans are hesitant. After all, Paraguayans are not fools. They will believe whatever the Han people say.

After all, if there is a fight between Paraguay and Brazil, and the Han people and Brazil finally reconcile, then who will be injured in the end, and it is not Paraguay.

Regardless of whether they win or lose, the Han people can just pat their butts and return to North America. What about Paraguay? The country is surrounded by Brazil and Argentina. Once Brazil is touched, Argentina behind them may not be able to hold it anymore.

Argentina has set annexation of Paraguay as their intended goal.

Paraguay cannot bet, and does not dare to bet. With the current situation in Paraguay, any party may be besieged. Even if Paraguay is a landlocked country and is eager to get out to the sea, it can only look forward to it! !

Of course, not participating in the war does not mean that Brazil cannot cause some trouble. In order to repay the support of the Han people to Paraguay in the past two years, under the deliberate arrangement of the Paraguayans, several exercises involving tens of thousands of people were conducted on the border of Brazil. The Brazilians were so frightened that they were ready to fight if they disagreed, so they had to transfer some of the troops originally intended to reinforce the coast and put them on the border to guard against the Paraguayans.

Objectively, it reduced Han's future military pressure on the coast of Brazil.

Argentina in the back actually just shouted a few high-profile words, saying that Paraguay was not allowed to participate in the war between China and Brazil, and about maintaining peace, which made people want to vomit.

In the final analysis, I still want to warn Paraguay not to take advantage at this time, otherwise if you move, I will move. It depends on whether you are faster at beating Brazil or I am faster at stealing.

This is the strategic dilemma of being outflanked. No matter how hard Paraguay tries, as long as this strategy cannot be resolved, Paraguay will never become a great power.

And this is also the true mentality of Han State in supporting Paraguay. After all, if Paraguay were a big South American country like Brazil, Han State would really not be able to control it, and it would be easy to suffer backlash, such as this rubber war. (The British Times defined the war as a rubber war after Han and Pakistan declared war on each other, meaning a war caused by rubber)

In essence, this was about fighting for rubber resources. The Han people were dissatisfied with Brazil's resistance, and the Brazilians hated the Han people for plundering Brazil's rubber resources. Any riots or killings of Han people were all excuses. The real situation was because of rubber.

Brazil needs rubber to carry out economic reforms, use the rubber industry to accelerate industrialization and gain more wealth.

Although the emperor Pedro II was pushed to the top in this war, he himself had no intention of seizing rubber resources. This can be seen from his order for six naval steam sail warships from the United Kingdom two years ago. , it’s not that he is not interested in rubber, it’s just that he is more insidious and wanted to show off his cards when he was stronger, but the war was triggered in advance by the group of opponents below.

In fact, the Han State did not want to fight this war. After all, the Han State had just ended the Han-American War less than four years ago, and its economy and industrial population were growing rapidly. The most important thing at this time was to accumulate national strength and use precious funds to develop industry and introduce population instead of fighting an ocean-going war.

This kind of war has become a gold-eating beast from the beginning, but as the saying goes, no one can control destiny, people can only drift with the torrent of destiny. This is true for people, and so is the country! !

.............................................

woo woo woo woo……

With a few whistles, several steam sailing ships with just rising black smoke in the Longjiang Military Port drove out of the military port. On the pier, they were filled with onlookers' family members. They kept moving towards the navy on the ship. The officers and soldiers waved.

woohoo...

One after another, the fourth-class steam sailing warships left the port, followed by four third-class sailing warships. On the deck of the warship, the sailors and gunners stood upright, saluting the family members on the dock, as if they were Accept military parade inspection.

The people on the pier waved the national flag even more crazily, and some even cried excitedly.

When these eight warships left the port, a warship that was much larger than the previous ones and looked like a giant beast suddenly appeared.

"Look, it's the Yue Fei!!" "Wow, it's so big!!"

"I heard that this is the largest warship in our navy. It was launched at the end of last year and entered service in February this year..." A military fan who knew the details of the navy explained the origin of this ship to people on the dock. . (The Yue Fei is the sixth first-class sailing warship of the Han Dynasty. It is wrapped in copper skin and has a steel keel inside. It is also equipped with a more advanced steam engine than the other two ships. The design is more simple, and the chimney is two. , turned into one)

"Wow, so many artillery pieces!!"

When the full picture of the Yue Fei appeared in front of the dock, many people looked at the densely packed cannons and opened their mouths. They could no longer even count how many cannons there were. (The Yue Fei has an empty load of [-] tons and a full load of [-] tons. It has [-] cannons alone, of which [-]-pound rifled naval guns account for the majority, a total of [-]. The rest are Thirty-two thirty-two-pound rifled naval guns, and the rest are twenty-eight nine-pound rifled naval secondary guns, mainly used to suppress small ships offshore, divided into three decks)

(Mainly because the hulls of this period were mostly made of wood, and the naval guns of this period were not as large as those of later generations, so there were more guns)

In fact, this is still a reduction in firepower. According to the current level of steam battleships, the firepower of a new steam sail battleship modified from an old sail battleship will generally be reduced by [-]% or even more, mainly because of the steam engine and chimney , taking up too much space.

Huo Qubing and Qi Jiguang, which left the port later, only had eighty cannons, a difference of a thousand tons, but only half of their firepower.

The main reason is that these ships are all modified from old sail warships, so there is not much room for improvement. It is already very good to be able to get to where they are today.

As for the other third- and fourth-level steam sail warships in Han, except for some new ones, most of them have reduced firepower. The navy, which may fall behind in ten or eight years, is still facing great challenges and economic pressures.

.........

At twelve o'clock at noon, the Han Atlantic Combined Fleet, a total of fourteen warships, officially embarked on the journey to South America.

The total tonnage exceeds [-] tons. It can be said that the essence has been exhausted. What is left behind is only [-] tons. If the Han Army had not conducted exercises from land to suppress the US military, someone in the United States might be ready to make a move.

But even so, Longjiang Port still strengthened its defense and added a large number of new rifled long-range coastal defense guns to defend against possible US military raids.

.........

On the Caribbean Sea, a huge fleet appeared in the blue waters. Not far away, several warships flying the American flag were constantly monitoring this group of uninvited guests.

Lieutenant Colonel Leete, the captain of the US military, stood on the deck, facing the sea breeze, holding the telescope in his hand, observing the Han expedition fleet all the time, especially when he saw the huge Yue Fei appearing in the lens At this time, my eyelids twitched.

For such a huge battleship, only the Washington and Franklin can be compared in the United States.

When he saw these Han warships moving forward in neat rows and in great coordination, Lieutenant Colonel Lee Teuk sighed deeply, his eyes full of fear.

Judging from his experience, in the entire U.S. Navy, only the Home Fleet stationed in New York has such strength. Their Florida Squadron does not have such a unified command.

In fact, both the Han Navy and the U.S. Navy learned from the British. However, because the Han Dynasty was a rising star, it never shied away from advanced naval knowledge and used whatever was easy to use.

The U.S. Navy is different. As a force established relatively early, the U.S. Navy has long formed its own traditions. It is difficult for the U.S. Navy to accept information from the outside world all at once.

This has resulted in a huge difference between the two navies. One is relatively conservative and the other is relatively radical. No one knows whether it is better to be radical or conservative.

It is estimated that the answer can only be found in the war.

Just like that, the Atlantic Combined Fleet, with fourteen warships, including two supply ships, sailed past the Americans in a swagger...

Only the U.S. Navy, full of fear and hatred, was left, and this would not be the last meeting. There would be more opportunities to deal with them in the future.

.............................................

The sea breeze blew over the sailor's face and blew up his white military cap slightly. The sailor had to press his hand down to suppress the cap that might be blown away in the next second.

In Huo Qubing's command room, the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet, Major General Zhou Shaowei, was deploying the battle plan.

"According to intelligence, the Brazilian Navy has a total of twenty warships, of which nine are steam-powered, including the Brazilian Empire, which is the largest in tonnage and is approximately equivalent to the Huo Qubing, and the Pedro II..." the intelligence staff said The intelligence document in hand was reporting the situation of the Brazilian Navy to the senior fleet officers in the war room.

"Among them, the Brazilian Empire was modified from an old British first-class sailing battleship, and its artillery is slightly less than that of our warships of the same level."

"The Pedro II is a new steam sail warship like the Yue Fei, with a total tonnage of more than [-] tons. It is the flagship of the Brazilian Navy, and its strength cannot be underestimated."

When the Pedro II was mentioned, the intelligence staff obviously paused, as if he was aware of everyone's reaction. Seeing that there was no reaction, he continued to report: "In addition, the strength of the Brazilian navy, according to our assessment, is probably quite It is second-rate in America and third-rate in Europe." (There are only two first-rate navies in the Americas, namely the Han Navy and the U.S. Navy, and the highest among the rest is Brazil)

This evaluation is quite pertinent. After all, the only South American country with the strongest strength is Brazil.

After everyone heard this, there was no reaction, as if everyone knew what Brazil's strength was.

"According to our intelligence, the Brazilian Empire will probably use more than sixteen battleships this time. Among them, the nine steam sail battleships must be among them. The remaining seven are old-fashioned sail battleships, mainly to supplement firepower. To contain our army..."

The intelligence staff reported on the number of warships that the Brazilian Empire might use.

This time the officers present finally paid attention.

"Excuse me, who is in charge?" Lu Mushan, who had been promoted to lieutenant colonel, stood up and asked the intelligence staff.

Everyone present immediately focused their attention on Lu Mushan. After seeing that it was Lu Mushan, everyone was a little relieved.

After all, Lu Mushan is well-known as a scholarly officer in the navy, and he has a thorough inquiring mind about any naval knowledge.

He is also responsible for compiling the navy's behavioral regulations and combat disciplines, making him a rare scholar officer within the navy.

"This man's name is Markis. He was an immigrant from Russia in the early days. Later, he was spotted by Pedro II because he joined the Brazilian Navy and was sent to Europe for further study. In the past two years, he was appointed as the deputy commander of the Brazilian Navy. It is said that this time it is him. I am in command..." The intelligence staff officer looked at the information in his hand and immediately answered Lu Mushan's question.

After Lu Mushan heard this, he sat down and thought about the tactics Markakis might use.

The intelligence staff then continued to report for more than two hours on intelligence about the Brazilian Navy, including the deployment of Brazilian coastal defenses.

Just as the Han Atlantic Combined Fleet was heading towards Brazil, sixteen warships flying the flag of the Brazilian Empire officially left the port in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Nine of them were emitting black smoke, shrouding the seven ordinary sail warships behind them like a black cloak.

On the pier, there were Brazilians everywhere excitedly singing the Brazilian national anthem. They firmly believed that with the blessing of God, the Brazilian Empire would definitely defeat the evil Han people and those infidels! !

War is about to break out...

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(End of this chapter)