The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 153 Take the initiative to fight
Back in Surabaya, Rear Admiral Hu Huadong, commander of the Nanyang Navy, who had been waiting here for a long time, immediately led the naval officers to the Marshal's residence and held a closed-door secret meeting.

Theme of the meeting

It is to make unified and proper arrangements in response to the upcoming Dutch mainland reinforcement fleet and military operations related to the attack on Batavia Port.

According to the latest intelligence from the British Indian Colony Port of Cochin

The Dutch mainland reinforcement fleet is led by the flagship "Lüster", and the fleet includes the third-level sailing battleship "Bellingham", "Saka Grealish" and the "Ruyol" urgently purchased from the Kingdom of Prussia No. 1200, these four main sail warships have a displacement of between 1650 tons and tons, forming a luxurious sail fleet strike lineup.

In order to restore the East Indies' dominant colonial status, the Kingdom of the Netherlands almost emptied its wealth.

All sailing battleships of the Royal Navy participated in the battle. At the same time, nine sailing frigates with a displacement of 580 tons to 650 tons were deployed in the sailing fleet, forming a powerful expedition fleet.

There are only five sailing frigates with small displacement that are not suitable for ocean navigation and are used to decorate the appearance of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Besides
The Dutch mainland reinforcement fleet also includes 19 sailing cargo ships, used to carry 5172 soldiers and other large quantities of materials all the way to reinforce the East Indies.

The entire local reinforcement fleet has a total of 32 sailing ships. Due to storm damage, getting lost and other reasons along the way, four sailing ships have withdrawn from the expedition fleet, including the sailing battleship "Ruyol" purchased from Germany.

in today's world

"The fleet's original intention is good, but the time is not right now. A raid on Batavia Port has always been something we have to do, but not now." Feng Guohui analyzed calmly. His eyes scanned the crowd, and finally stopped at Major General Feng Huadong said with serious guidance;

After saying these words, all the naval officers stared at Commander Feng Guohui expectantly.

"Think about it

"Commander, your opinion is that our navy fleet has not considered enough. Please punish me, Commander-in-Chief."

Whether it will reach the Port of Cochin across the western Indian Ocean is still unknown.

The Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies also needed to send messages through the telegraph office. It only cost a small amount of money to get some of the contents of the messages through the telegraph office's internal staff, which was not too difficult.

Feng Guohui expressed his judgment, and the relevant information was not difficult to obtain.

The main target is Dutch sailing cargo ships, not ships of European powers such as Britain, France, and Germany, so as not to give them an excuse to intervene in the local situation.

"The commander-in-chief means..."

"The situation in Java is critical. The Dutch Governor-General has been urging the local reinforcement fleet to speed up its journey. I predict that the local fleet will not be able to stop and wait. It is more likely to leave the sailing battleship "Ruyol" and arrive first."

The awareness of secrecy is generally not high, and if it is pushed to the limit, it is forbidden to speak internally. For matters involving other organizations such as the Telegraph Bureau, the leaks are like a sieve.

Before the arrival of the mainland reinforcement fleet of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, its maritime transportation capabilities will be further weakened.

"Those sailing cargo ships in the Batavia port are nothing to worry about and cannot affect the struggle for maritime hegemony. They are desserts that are put on the lips. You can eat them anytime, but not now."

The "Ruyol" sailing warship is still wandering on the coast of East Africa due to bad weather. The latest news about chess was only a month ago.

After Commander-in-Chief Feng Guohui expressed his assessment of the current situation, the naval officers, including Rear Admiral Hu Huadong, generally had no doubts and expressed their agreement.

Major General Hu Huadong said proactively;
"Commander, after careful study and judgment, our naval fleet plans to take an active attack posture and take the first step to use the temporary control of the sea to carry out a cleanup attack on the sail cargo ship staying in the port of Batavia.

This battle aims to cut off the Dutch Governor's Palace's sea transportation ability to transport supplies to the islands, further dampen its arrogance and severely damage its regional influence.

Some astute employees of the telegraph office had discovered this way of making money by selling news, and they never tired of it.

This battle plans to use the main force of the maritime fleet to deal a heavy blow. Is the action specific and appropriate?
I respectfully request the Commander-in-Chief’s instruction…”

Feng Guohui shook his head without hesitation and said calmly, "This is inappropriate, and it can easily scare off the enemy."

The Dutch Home Fleet lasted more than half a year, sailing from Europe to the Southeast Asia region. If it were you, would you be short of men and horses? Desperate for a long break after arriving at your destination to rejuvenate your exhausted body and mind? "

Seeing all the naval officers nodding, they highly recognized Commander Feng Guohui's judgment.

Put yourself in their shoes

If you were an officer or soldier of the Dutch Mainland Voyage Fleet, after experiencing the stormy sea voyage for more than half a year, you would not only feel relieved, but you would also be extremely exhausted physically and mentally.

My biggest desire is a soft and comfortable bed.

Seeing that everyone agreed with his judgment, Feng Guohui smiled sinisterly and said calmly;

"It's like traveling thousands of miles to return to your hometown and seeing the village in your hometown. At this time, a group of big men with weapons appeared in front of you, blocking the way.

Do you think these Dutch people have the determination to fight to the end?
Or do you just want to break out of the siege and return to your hometown village to rest more quickly?
When this enemy becomes hopelessly powerful, are these extremely exhausted Dutch naval officers and soldiers more likely to collapse? "

This question was posed to all the naval officers, causing them to think deeply. There was no response for a long time, but everyone's eyes lit up.

Major General Hu Huadong put himself into the role of the opponent. After thinking about it, he became more and more excited, feeling that he had touched a mysterious opportunity for victory.

Feng Guohui's opinion is not unusual. In the original historical time and space, it has been verified through the Russo-Japanese naval battle.

The Russian Pacific Fleet, which came from afar, traveled thousands of miles, and its combat effectiveness dropped by a whole level.

It can be said that the army has no fighting spirit and is extremely tired.

Many human emotions are similar. At this point, the Dutch mainland expedition fleet is very similar to the Russian Pacific Fleet in the original historical time and space. The best opportunity for a decisive battle is before arriving at the destination.

That would more easily aggravate the despair and collapse of the Dutch expeditionary fleet, thus affecting the final direction of the naval battle.

Rear Admiral Hu Huadong suddenly stood up and said emotionally: "Commander, all officers and men of our navy have requested to go to war. We will do our best to defeat the Dutch reinforcement fleet in one fell swoop and completely eliminate the threat at sea. Please allow it, Commander."

"Please allow me, Commander-in-Chief." All the officers stood up and asked for battle excitedly, their faces turning red with excitement.

Feng Guohui stood up with a solemn expression, looking at the resolute faces one by one, nodded with relief and said;

"This time the Dutch fleet is coming with great momentum. What is its intention? I believe you all already know it.

There is me without him, there is him without me.

Between the Nanyang Navy and the Gui Lao Fleet, one of them is bound to fall. When the two armies meet, the brave one wins.

Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy is traveling thousands of miles away to come to the rescue, but the foothold is not stable at this time, decisively approaching and delivering a fatal blow is the best opportunity for a decisive battle and victory at the moment. If the Gui Lao fleet is allowed to adapt to the tropical climate and sea area in the south, rest and recover its physical strength and willpower, and replenish everything it needs, then this battle will be difficult to fight.

Take advantage of his illness and kill him.

Don't think about Batavia's lip service now, but gather all the power of the navy, don't waste half a cent, and devote all your energy to the decisive battle in this life and death battle.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Dutch Home Fleet is not a soft persimmon.

They have hundreds of years of experience in ocean navigation. They have fought almost all the great powers such as Britain, France and Prussia on the European continent, and they have won more and lost less, which proves their strong naval combat power.

We must despise the enemy ideologically and defeat the enemy spiritually, but we must pay attention to the enemy tactically. The two complement each other and are not contradictory.

This battle
The two iron ships attached to the navy and the three newly built armored sail warships were all integrated into the fleet and fought with all their strength.

I will also sit in the fleet and lead all the officers and soldiers of the fleet to fight..."

"Commander, sea battles are particularly dangerous. How can a commander with a body worth millions of dollars be easily involved in danger? This is absolutely impossible!"

When they heard that Feng Guohui was about to go out in person, all the officers were anxious and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.

Feng Guohui shook his head resolutely, stopped them from continuing, and then explained;

"You don't need to say any more, I've made up my mind.

This attack on the Dutch Home Fleet is of great significance. If they win, the situation will be great, but if they lose, there will be little room for recovery.

As we all know, Java Island is located in a corner of the Southern Ocean, far away from the mainland of China. This geographical location determines the vital importance of sea routes. Losing control of the sea is almost equivalent to suicide.

Even if the island of Java develops well, if the Guilao army controls the sea.

So it's like putting a noose around your neck. The difference is how many years earlier or later will you die? The end result is the same.

Therefore, this battle can only be won but not defeated, and the Nanyang Army cannot afford to lose.

In this naval battle, our Nanyang Army launched an all-out attack. It was a large fleet battle, and maritime command was particularly important.

Rear Admiral Huadong alone cannot take care of all aspects of the fleet.

The best way is only for me to personally take charge and cooperate with Major General Hu Huadong to control the naval fleet operations.

In this battle, our fleet will be divided into two parts. One part consists of two steam iron-hulled steamers and eight armored sail warships to form an "iron-armored strike formation", which will be responsible for withstanding the enemy's first round of the most violent artillery bombardment.

The armored strike formation will be led by the commander himself. In the naval battle, he will be the first to engage the enemy and launch an artillery battle. He will use solid iron armor to withstand the most intense artillery fire of the Dutch fleet.

The other part is led by the "Zhenhai" sailing battleship, a total of seven warships, forming a "mobile strike formation", which will be commanded by Major General Hu Huadong.

Its function is to immediately choose a favorable opportunity to intervene after the "iron-armored strike formation" bombards the enemy, using the most violent artillery fire to destroy the will of the Guilao fleet and lay the foundation for victory in the naval battle.

in vernacular

The first part of the fleet took the damage, while the second part of the fleet waited for the opportunity to strike and concentrated its artillery fire to gain the victory.

The two complement each other and are indispensable. "

When Major General Hu Huadong heard that Marshal Feng Guohui was going to personally take charge of the armored strike formation, his eyes turned red with anxiety, and he hurriedly called for battle;
"Commander, even if you insist on going out to fight, please sit in the mobile strike formation so that you can take care of everything.

Please rest assured, commander, Huadong will definitely command the "iron-armored strike formation" to complete the mission and lay the foundation for the final victory of the naval battle.

Huadong is willing to guarantee it with his head. If he fails to complete the task, he will kill himself on the spot. "

"Don't fight in East China. I have my own thoughts on this matter. This arrangement is the most appropriate." Feng Guohui shook his head, rejected his request for a fight, and then said solemnly;

“Commanding an armored strike formation may seem dangerous, but it is not.

As you all know, the solid iron shells currently equipped with naval guns in the world today are basically impossible to break the defense of armored warships.

Even if hundreds of shells were hit, they would only leave some wounds on the armor.

The steam steamers equipped by our Nanyang Army are equipped with cannons. They have neither sails nor side paddle wheels. The only driving force is the underwater propeller.

No matter how fierce the artillery fire from the Dutch Expeditionary Fleet is, what can they do to me?
It is precisely because of this certainty that the Dutch expeditionary fleet adheres to the inherent thinking. They must not understand the secrets of this. Only after suffering losses can they turn around.

This is our opportunity to use the armored strike formation to withstand the enemy's fiercest first round of artillery fire, creating an opportunity for the "follow-up mobile strike formation" to severely damage the enemy.

At that time, I only need to lead the ship in combat in the armored command cabin, and there will be no worries about safety.

Major General Hu Huadong is the general with the most experience in commanding sail warships in our Nanyang Army. Only in your hands can the mobile strike formation exert its maximum power.

At this point, I am still self-aware.

So this is the best arrangement, now I am giving orders..."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the naval officers immediately stood up straight and waited quietly for orders.

Feng Guohui said word by word;

“My commander ordered;
From now on, the entire Surabaya military port will be under martial law and will enter a state of first-level combat readiness.

All sailing ships of the Nanyang Navy immediately replenished weapons, ammunition and drinking water, and set sail early tomorrow morning to meet the Gui Lao expedition fleet.

My dear gentlemen, the fate of the Nanyang military government lies in this battle. All officers and soldiers will advance and never retreat. When the two armies meet, the brave will win. "

"I obey the command of the commander-in-chief. The fate of the Nanyang military government is in this battle. All officers and men will advance and never retreat. The brave will win when the two armies meet." All the officers replied in unison, their voices particularly resolute and tragic.

to everyone present
If this battle cannot be won, then there is only Bihai Zhonghun's way, and there is no second choice.

The commander-in-chief rushed forward and fought tooth and nail. The officers were excited and their blood was burning with passion. Their faces were full of sacred determination.

Now they just want to get back to the battleship quickly, prepare enough weapons and ammunition, train their little boys to howl, and fight against the invading Gui Lao fleet from thousands of miles away.

(End of this chapter)