The Great Bandit in Kangxi Year

Chapter 247 Quick Response Battleship

After being stunned for a while, the special envoys of Britain, France and other countries discussed quietly for a while, and then the British special envoy smiled and said: "Okay, I will come back in half a month."

Liu Guoxuan nodded coldly, noncommittal.

However, he did not expect that Britain, France and other congresses would give in. In fact, he was already ready for war. The worst case scenario would be a temporary defeat of the Black Dragon Fleet, while the Imperial Marine Division could hold the existing ports and colonies.

Because Liu Guoxuan has obtained accurate information, apart from the navy, Britain, France and other countries have mobilized less than 3 people this time, and the army that has reached the Malay Peninsula is only a few thousand. The empire already has a marine division [-] miles away from Ipoh Port Although they don't know their combat effectiveness, Liu Guoxuan believes in the strength of the Imperial Marine Division.

……

On the British flagship "Charles II", the naval commanders of various countries were frowning, and only the representative of France was very optimistic: "Gentlemen, the Great China Empire is nothing more than that. If France had such a powerful advantage, it would have been a long time ago." The war has begun, it seems that we should not make any changes for the time being, and maintain this situation until the emperor comes to rule. The Netherlands is always a threat to all countries, why not take this opportunity to occupy the entire Indonesia, including the rich Batavia, which is very important for all countries It is all meaningful, not to mention that the Dutch have surrendered now, and dealing with the ominous Black Dragon Fleet, or even the powerful Eastern Empire, is not worth the candle for all countries."

The British representative nodded in agreement, then sneered in a flash: "I'm afraid that the Dahua Empire's appetite is not only so small, but it will go to war again, and the good opportunity at this time will be lost instead."

The representative of Portugal moved in his heart, and said excitedly: "Could it be that the commander meant to sneak attack the other party?"

"Oh." The British commander sighed, and said politely: "I always feel that God is guiding all this. If you agree, you can raise your right hand. After all, this opportunity is rare at this time. I heard that the other party has no battleships. As long as If we defeat the other party's hundreds of cruisers first, the strength of the Black Dragon Fleet of the Dahua Empire will be greatly reduced, and in the final analysis, strength is what counts."

After he finished speaking, he raised his right hand, followed by Portugal, and the representative of Sweden also raised his right hand after thinking about it.

At this moment, the French representative snorted, and said arrogantly: "It makes sense, but it will take at least half a year for our reinforcements to arrive, and we don't know how many warships the other party has. If we and the Dahua Empire Launch a war, even if you win this battle, what will you do in the future? Will the emperor of Dahua swallow his anger? Then it may cause a full-scale war in Southeast Asia, and the trade with Dahua will be ruined. It is not in line with the original intention of France. Since you want to Take the risk, this commander will withdraw from this alliance."

The Norwegian representative hurriedly put down his right hand that he had just raised. The Swedish representative let it go with a light sigh. The British commander smiled and also put down his right hand, saying: "This commander is joking, but I hope that Emperor Dahua will be kind and generous." , In fact, with the strength of our five countries, we can already compete with any powerful country. Of course, it is best to make money without loss. Next, let’s talk about taking over the whole of Indonesia.”

"This old fox!"

The French representative cursed inwardly, and smiled: "That's good, but now the treasures on Sumatra Island are almost emptied by the Dutch, and they are probably all in Batavia. Now the Dutch warships are said to have escaped. Thinking of how quickly the Dutch navy has fallen, what is going on in Europe?"

"Hmph, the Dutch offended all the Europeans. It would be amazing if they could win this time, so now facing the rising Dahua Empire, we must keep pace, otherwise, the result is really hard to say .”

What the British representative said made the French representative very angry: "Unity is very important, but it must be based on the interests of the country. Let's talk slowly. This commander will go back first."

This time, the representatives of the various countries broke up unhappy. While the countries were anxiously waiting, half a month later, they received a letter of challenge from the Black Dragon Fleet: "All the colonies on both sides of the Strait of Malacca and the Netherlands in Southeast Asia are owned by the Great China Empire." The spoils of war, the Netherlands was defeated by the imperial navy, but you are the losers, you are a small barbarian country, dare to take food from tigers, it is really audacious, dare to offend the emperor of Dahua, death, all the officers and men of the Black Dragon Fleet will never allow it The barbarians are reckless, and they specifically conduct naval battles within the Strait of Malacca, the winner takes everything, and the loser withdraws from this sea area."

The commanders of Britain, France and other countries were dumbfounded. The navy of the Great China Empire was too arrogant and arrogant.

The Portuguese commander laughed and said, "These Orientals are crazy. This is tantamount to challenging the whole of Europe. Don't they know that they only have three battleships?"

The British representative rolled his eyes at the French representative, and said with a sneer, "I wonder if Louis XIV will be angry when he hears this, ha ha."

"You." The French commander yelled angrily, then sighed softly in an instant: "It seems that there is only war."

"Hehe, we must fight, because the opponent's [-] cruisers are already twenty miles away, and they will arrive soon." The Portuguese commander gloated.

"Hmph, what are you waiting for? If we win, we will have everything. This commander must make the Black Dragon Fleet die a miserable death." The French representative left angrily.

……

At the same time, Jiang Wushang was on the Sea Lion No. [-], and he said to Chen Dajiang beside him: "General, this declaration of war is equivalent to confronting the entire Western powers. When they come to take revenge next year, our Black Dragon Fleet can withstand it." ?"

"Hehe." Chen Dajiang scratched his head and smiled: "If you can't beat them, you have to fight. When they come, the empire has at least 120 sea lion-class cruisers, and the others are not counted. Moreover, if the empire wants to get the whole of Southeast Asia, it must first defeat them." These wolves, it is better to fight early than late. In fact, this is what the emperor meant. The emperor issued an imperial decree, saying that as long as the empire colonizes the entire Southeast Asia, the people of the empire will be more than twice as rich. Besides, if there is no war, we all have to go home and have children .”

"Here, according to the general's investigation, the Netherlands alone has [-] battleships of various types and hundreds of cruisers. The other two countries, Britain and France, are slightly weaker, not much weaker. Even Sweden, Norway, Portugal, etc. have at least Twenty battleships and dozens of cruisers, it can be said that this time is too risky." Jiang Wushang said with some worry.

"Hehe, adventure is interesting. I heard that after the Sea Lion class cruiser is completed, the empire will build even larger battleships. These battleships are not comparable to the opponent's battleships. By the way, I wonder if the opponent will dare to fight this time? It's too disappointing if we can't fight." Chen Dajiang said with a light smile, not paying attention to this battle at all.

"Yes, it will. These naval powers also want face." Jiang Wushang sighed secretly, and said in affirmation.

He secretly said in his heart: "Fortunately, Liu Guoxuan led other Seal-class cruisers to sweep behind. Even if the Sea Lion Squadron loses, it can still defeat the opponent."

An hour later, Britain, France and other countries really did not hesitate to fight. The two sides lined up in two straight lines in the Strait of Malacca, and the fighting distance between the two sides was still 300 meters.

dong dong dong...

As soon as the two sides met, the battle became fierce, and the shells flew on both sides as if they didn't want money, splashing countless water columns several meters high.

The two sides fought fiercely for an hour, and Britain, France and other countries finally couldn't stand it anymore.

To be honest, wooden warships are not easily sunk by solid bullets, especially large warships, but this battle was too fierce. During this period, one of the sea lion cruisers of the Black Dragon Fleet sank, and this one was hit by more than [-] ships at the same time. The cannonball was fired, and under the reaction of the powerful force, the ship capsized by coincidence. This was a complete accident.

The 21 warships of Britain, France and other countries sank [-] ships, including two battleships.

At this time, the smoke was lingering and the gunpowder smoke was densely covered. Chen Dajiang saw that the opponent's artillery fire was more than half weak, and was afraid that the opponent would run away.

This kind of colorful fireworks can hit tens of meters high, and when the smoke is swirling, the battleships nearby can also see it.

This was a strategy he had designed a long time ago, because it was difficult to issue orders to the surrounding warships when the gunpowder was overwhelming. This was the order to launch a general offensive. This battle was not only about winning, but also annihilating the opponent's vital forces.

Tweet Tweet Tweet…

The Sea Lion cruisers who found the fireworks also lit the fireworks one after another. Suddenly, the strait was ignited with colorful fireworks rain, and all the Sea Lion cruisers began to turn their rudders.

At this time, the multinational fleets of Britain, France and other countries are indeed retreating.

A big hunt begins.

That day, the Black Dragon Fleet captured thirteen enemy ships, all of which were too damaged to escape.

Chen Dajiang didn't dare to relax, so he brought fifty more seal-class cruisers and continued to hunt.

……

At this time, it was the beginning of June of the second year of Huaxing, Annan was occupied, and the Annan royal family was wiped out. The 60 main forces of Laos and Siam either died or surrendered.

Jiang Tao reluctantly agrees, but the two countries must sign a dependency treaty:

First, all countries will compensate the Dahua Empire with 5000 million shi of grain, which will be paid in ten years.

Second, the empire is allowed to garrison troops in the territory, and five sharpshooters are stationed near the capital of each country, and the military expenses are borne by the country.

Third, the two countries pay a head tax according to the number of people, three silver dollars per person.

Fourth, occupy the land from the coast to three hundred miles inland.

Fifth, compensation for the imperial military expenditure of 20 million silver dollars, to be paid in [-] years.

Sixth, each of the two countries recruited 30 servants to be commanded by the imperial generals, and the empire dispatched a foreign minister to take full charge of the negotiations between the two countries.

Seventh, the empires in the two countries have the priority to mine minerals and forests.

Eighth, the two countries are not allowed to build heavy industries such as large military factories and steel factories.

Ninth, compensation for the losses of the empire's merchants must not suppress the legitimate merchants of the empire, and must not assassinate or arrest the people who entered the empire legally, otherwise the consequences will be at your own risk.

This is the "Nine-Article Treaty" that was criticized by later generations, but the main forces of the two countries were all lost, and a large number of firearms were also seized by the empire. They were simply unable to compete with the iron-blooded army of the empire.

In order to keep their thrones, the kings of the two countries signed the treaty humiliatingly in order to protect their property.

As for the king of Champa, he was lured by the special envoy of the empire with a burst of threats, so he surrendered his state power wisely, and became a rich man in the inland of the empire, which was incorporated into the Vietnam Special Administrative Region.

Jiang Tao was very satisfied, and temporarily dispatched two sharpshooters to the two countries, and gathered eight sharpshooters and the remaining 15 North Korean troops to kill Burma.

Now that the two armies attacked Burma at the same time, the situation in Burma suddenly became clear.

In fact, Jiang Tao is not worried about these things. What he is most worried about is the development of the naval battle situation. He did not expect the Dutch Far East Fleet to be so difficult. He thought that having a Sea Lion-class cruiser would be enough to defeat the Dutch Far East Fleet, but now the Dutch Fleet has run away again.

Jiang Tao suddenly figured it out. The main reason was that the means of communication were backward at this time. Even if his own fishing boats or warships found the other party's whereabouts, they could not report in time.

Moreover, the speed of the Sea Lion-class cruiser is slower.

In fact, it was because it took half a year for news from the Americas to reach the empire that Jiang Tao did not wantonly launch the American campaign.

He thought, why not ask the designer to design a flying shear boat.

The clipper ship is long and thin, with a sharp and prominent front end, and its speed is much faster than the current ships. After the 19s, sailing ships were the main means of maritime transportation at that time, but they were quickly replaced by emerging steam ships.

Now that the steam engine technology is constantly improving, it will take some time before it can be installed on a ship, so the clipper ship can be used as a transitional ship.

This type of ship has a small freeboard and less superstructure, which not only improves the stability of the ship, but also can give full play to the role of the sail.The ship sails almost close to the water surface, and the aspect ratio is generally greater than 6:1. Its underwater shape is designed as the minimum resistance to increase the speed, but it maintains a certain transverse resistance profile, resulting in a particularly beautiful waterline, and even has a The concave, long and sharp curved scissor-shaped stem presents a posture suitable for racing. It can cut waves (cut waves) and move forward to reduce wave resistance on the sea, so it is called flying shear;
The stem also extends the length of the hull, and by extending a slash along the stem, you can hang some stay-rigid jibs at the bow, which is beneficial to expand the capacity of the sails; Its directional stability in waves.The sloping waterline of the rear body that gradually becomes thinner transitions harmoniously into the narrow round stern, blending harmoniously with the graceful bow shape.

This type of clipper ship is more obvious that the sail area is very large. Generally, 3-4 masts are fully equipped with sails, often with tall masts, the height of which reaches 3/4 of the captain's length. Stay sails sometimes have outriggers on both sides of the ship, called wing sail bars, which can be hung with wing sails, which increases the lateral extension area of ​​the sails. The front mast of the 3-masted clipper ship is farther away from the stern, so a shorter slash can be used, and the interference between the sails is less. .It can be seen that the transverse dimension of the sail greatly exceeds the width of the boat.

Jiang Tao remembered the "Grand Republic" built by the United States in 1853. It was 93 meters long, 16.2 meters wide, and 9.1 meters deep. nautical mile, transatlantic in just 3400 days, marking the pinnacle of sailing development.

Jiang Tao quickly called all the designers and told them all the standards, and the rest was up to them.

In addition to commercial flying shear ships, Jiang Tao also asked the designers to design a small military flying shear ship with a displacement of about 360 tons to [-] tons. The first turret has three cannons, and it is best that the ship can launch torpedoes that are about to be successfully developed.

The artillery has been successfully developed, but there is no mass-produced breech-mounted cannon. The main reason is that the breech-mounted artillery is too expensive to be replaced by the empire in batches, but it is no problem to equip a batch of quick-response warships.

In other words, the ship must not only be strong, but also fast, and have certain means of self-defense.

The key is that the ship requires an all-steel hull, which is a brand new way of thinking.

Jiang Tao's offer of a reward of 100 million silver dollars and the title of earl made the designers of the empire swallow their saliva. Although they felt it was impossible, who would dare to disobey the imperial decree.

In fact, Jiang Tao knew that the hydraulic presses owned by the empire could now forge hundreds of tons of all-steel hulls, so he was not making trouble out of reason.

(End of this chapter)