Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 488 The Eve of the Great War
On the first day of May in the eighth year of Yuanzhuo, the Qing expeditionary force launched a sudden attack and took Johor Bahru, Malacca and other strategically important places in the Strait of Malacca. Johor Bahru launched an uninterrupted attack. However, the four-day mad attack failed to make any progress. The English army involved in the battle suffered heavy casualties. More than half of the [-] troops stationed in Masik were lost, and the offensive was forced to stop. The British merchant ship that escaped from Batavia, taking advantage of the cover of night, broke through the blockade of the Qing fleet that blocked the waters of Bintan Island, and fled to Danmasik. It brought a fatal news - the Dutch Far East Fleet was annihilated, Batavia fell, the Dutch Governor's Palace announced its surrender, all the Dutch Far East territories fell into the hands of the Qing Dynasty, and the British army completely lost any supplies possibility.The severe situation forced England's Far East Fleet to hold an emergency military meeting again to discuss countermeasures.

"...According to reliable sources, the total force of the Qing fleet that captured Batavia consisted of eight large warships, twelve medium-sized warships, four small warships, and three supply ships. The fleet, and a number of the army to cooperate; the flag of the Qing fleet blocked in the waters of Bintan Island is the first fleet of the Qing First Fleet. There are a total of four large warships, eight medium-sized warships, three small warships and two According to the information that our military has learned in advance, the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty has three squadrons with roughly the same organization. Each squadron should have ten large warships, fifteen medium-sized warships, and ten The equipment of the two small warships has been revealed to be only a fraction of the first fleet of the Qing Dynasty, and the movement of the main force of the Qing Dynasty is unknown. In addition, according to the report of the army attacking Xinshan, the number of the Qing army guarding Xinshan has exceeded Two thousand, and more than ten rapid-fire guns with fierce firepower. Our army is unable to attack Johor Bahru again. It has been found that the artillery of the Qing army does not belong to the Dutch army's standard. Both the rate of fire and the range are far beyond the Dutch army's standard. The weapons are much stronger than the infantry artillery currently used by our army. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the Qing army should have established a beachhead logistics center somewhere in the Malay Peninsula. This place is likely to be Kota Ting. If it is If this is the case, the Qing army should have a squadron near Kota Ting, and it is even possible that the main fleet of the Qing army is there, and this is the situation." Rear Admiral Winslet Brown, chief of staff of the Far East Fleet of England, pointed to the huge sea on the wall. Figure [-], describes the known situation in detail one by one.

"Thank you for Rear Admiral Brown's statement." The white-haired Admiral Nadal nodded, motioned for Rear Admiral Brown to sit down, looked around the generals, and said slowly: "Gentlemen, my Great England Far East Fleet has reached its final stage. At this critical juncture, for the glory of our British Empire to last forever, let me speak out any good strategies you have.”

Vice Admiral Cannat Bradley, deputy commander of England's Far East Fleet, shook his head and said, "Admiral Nadal, I have a different view on Rear Admiral Brown's analysis. The vicinity of Kota Ding may be the logistics of the Qing army. The location of the base is definitely not where the main fleet of the Qing army should be. I think the main fleet of the Qing army should still be in the Temeran waters at this time. If the total strength of the first fleet of the Qing army that I first learned about the military is correct If so, then about half of the Qing army's forces have dispersed, and the main force of the Qing army that can maneuver in the Tamilan waters should still have fifteen to eighteen large warships, about twenty medium-sized warships, and more than twenty small warships. , the total force is still much stronger than our army, but the division of the Qing army gave our army a favorable combat situation. Gentlemen, please see: This is Kota Ting, only about half a day's flight away from our army. Assuming that the Qing army really established a logistics base here, then the Qing army must send at least part of the fleet to cover, but definitely not too many, otherwise it will not be able to hide the eyes and ears of the merchant ships. The total strength of the blockade fleet will never exceed half the size of our army. I suggest to attack the weaker enemies first, annihilate the Qing army squadrons on Bintan Island and Kota Ting, and then take advantage of the mobilization of the main Qing fleet. At this time, our army gave up Shanmaxi, and the whole army went straight to Batavia, defeated the second squadron of the Qing army, and took Batavia. With Batavia, our army can stick to it and wait for reinforcements. When the storm season comes in mid-July, the Qing army will not be able to continue the offensive, thus creating a favorable opportunity for our army to defend and counterattack.” As soon as Vice Admiral Bradley’s voice fell, the English generals in the room Immediately coaxed happily, Dayou seemed to follow this plan.

Rear Admiral Connery had participated in the Black Island naval battle, and he had a full understanding of the strength of the First Fleet of the Qing Dynasty. He especially admired the combat style of the First Fleet. With the strength to wipe out the two squadrons of Bintan Island and Kota Ding, even if they can really wipe out the two squadrons, the time required and the price to be paid are beyond the reach of the English Far East Fleet. The Qing main fleet arrived, and after a bloody battle in the vast ocean, it was hard to say how many remnants of the English Far East Fleet would be left, and there was no question of attacking Batavia, but Vice Admiral Bradley was his boss. Boss, Major General Connery, who is too obvious to disagree, is hard to say. At this moment, seeing those colleagues who have just been transferred from Europe talking nonsense, he couldn't help getting anxious and coughing a few times. He stood up and said: "Gentlemen, please be quiet. I think Vice Admiral Bradley's plan is perfect, but we must not underestimate the combat courage of the Qing army. I think I have participated in the Black Island My colleagues in the naval battle should have experienced it. Major General Regan has also experienced the fighting spirit of the Qing army in the past few days. Therefore, since I think that the main strategic goal of our army is to capture Batavia to obtain the guarantee of logistics supplies, Then there is no need for our army to entangle with the squadrons of the Qing army, as long as we can achieve the goal of mobilizing the main fleet of the Qing army, it is enough."

As soon as Rear Admiral Connery's words fell, the English navy generals, who were originally enthusiastic, immediately divided into two factions and began to argue. Generally speaking, the British generals who had participated in the Black Isle naval battle and some experienced and prudent generals supported Major Admiral Connery. However, the young naval admirals who had just been transferred from Europe insisted on Lieutenant General Bradley's opinions, and the two factions quarreled and the entire war room was in chaos.

Admiral Nadal lowered his hand, coughed a few times, and finally suppressed the noise in the room, glanced at Major General Connery and said, "Major General, in your opinion, the blockade of the waters of Bintan Island What is the role of the Zhiqing Army Squadron?"

Rear Admiral Connery nodded reservedly and said: "Your Excellency, I think this is a decoy fleet, the purpose is to lure our army to fight, the reason is very simple: Batavia has fallen into the hands of the Qing army, so it is too late The escaped merchant ships, whether they belonged to Great England or the Dutch, were unable to come out of the Java Sea at this time, and in the past ten days, no merchant ship from the direction of the Brunei Sea has been able to reach Danmasek, which proves that The main fleet of the Qing army must be in the Tamilan waters, so there is no need for the Qing army to block the waters of Bintan Island. Therefore, I think this squadron is a decoy fleet. If our army goes out to fight, it will definitely Let's fight and retreat, luring our army to advance in the direction of the enemy's main fleet, and I suspect that there may be some means of communication between the enemy fleets, so if our army keeps entangled with the enemy's decoy fleet, it will be hit by the enemy. Army's trap."

"Oh." Admiral Nadal frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Then how do you think this battle should be fought?"

"Your Excellency, Admiral, I think it is enough to follow the plan of Lieutenant General Bradley, but our army does not need to wipe out the two squadrons of the enemy, as long as we can achieve the goal of mobilizing the main fleet of the enemy." Everyone, please see: Our fleet must first pass through the waters of Bintan Island when it goes out to sea. Once out of the waters of Bintan Island, our army will enter the ocean. There is no need to chase. Instead, our army turned to the waters of Kota Ting, and made a gesture of attacking the enemy landing fleet in Kota Ting. In this way, the enemy army will definitely not be able to tolerate the complete destruction of the landing fleet by our army. In addition to sending a distress signal to its main force, the decoy fleet can only desperately intercept our army and Kota Ding. Due to the wind direction, our army is at the downwind line and can withdraw from the battle at any time. , our army suddenly turned its bow and advanced towards the Java Sea. At this time, the enemy decoy fleet was behind us, and it was too late to stop our army from advancing. After the enemy's main force received the enemy's decoy fleet for help, it was bound to follow the direction of Natuna Island. Speed ​​up and move closer to the sea area of ​​Kota Ding. When they come to their senses, our army has already moved away from the waters of Basta Island. After that, as long as our army can defeat the Qing fleet in Batavia, we will take down Badawi Ya's hope, even if it fails, our army will land in Batakan Port and take Kalimantan Island to solve the problem of logistics and supply. By then, the Qing army will no longer be able to use siege tactics to trap our army to death. "

"Your Excellency, Major General, how do you judge that there are means of communication between the fleets of the Qing army? You must know that the sea is vast, and even sending fast cruisers to maintain communication with each other will take a long time, and this time is enough for our army to eliminate The two squadrons of the Qing army are gone, so why let the possible results of the battle be lost in vain? Moreover, since the enemy can land in Kota Ting and attack Johor Bahru and Malacca by surprise, why can't our army follow suit? Lieutenant General Bradley said bluntly.

Major General Connery couldn't answer this question, and his face flushed red for a moment. After a while, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, I just intuitively believe that the Qing army should have a means of contact with each other, otherwise the Qing army There is no reason for the Qing army to spread the fleets so far, isn’t it obvious that our army will destroy them one by one? I don’t think the commander of the Qing army should be so stupid.”

"Think? Your Excellency, Major General, this is war, not a joke. You better put away your instincts." Lieutenant General Bradley looked down on Connery, who was only a major general in his 50s, and reprimanded him coldly.

Major General Connery is Admiral Nadal's confidant, it depends on the owner to beat the dog, doesn't it?Seeing Bradley's arrogant face, Admiral Nadal felt very dissatisfied, and waved his hands and said: "Gentlemen, there is no need to talk about intuition, no matter whether the Qing army has the means of communication with each other, It doesn’t matter much to our army. The main goal of our army is to obtain a logistics supply base, not to fight desperately with the main fleet of the Qing army. The Qing army squadron has no obvious effect on changing the strength of the enemy and ourselves. If it cannot rush into the Java Sea, all temporary victories will be illusory. As for landing in Kota Ting and taking Johor Bahru and Malacca Just kidding, who among us has the ability to command a siege, Major General Reagan, do you have the ability?"

Major General Lei Gen has been terrified by the Qing army for the past few days. When he heard that he was asked to command the defeated group of soldiers under his command to attack Johor Bahru and even Malacca, his head shook like a rattle, and he even opened his mouth. Forget it all. As for the admirals present here, they are even laymen in land warfare. Who dares to say that they can win Johor Bahru and Malacca in one fell swoop.

"If that's the case, well, I think it will be carried out according to Major General Connery's plan, I order!" All the generals stood up in unison, standing at attention to listen to the order, Admiral Nadal glanced at the generals , and issued a combat order with a serious face: "The whole army must be ready to set sail today, and set sail on time at six o'clock tomorrow morning, and send troops to the Java Sea!"

"The meeting is over, Rear Admiral Regan stays." Admiral Nadal unceremoniously drove out all the admirals, except Rear Admiral Reagan.Just when Major General Reagan was at a loss, Admiral Nadal got up and walked in front of him, and said calmly: "Major General Regan, in the name of the Commander of the Far East Fleet of England, I order you to be the Commander of the Shanmaxi Garrison. , you must stick to Shan Maxi and protect the way back for my expeditionary fleet."

"Ah." Major General Ragen's face turned pale when he heard that he was an outcast, but before he could utter a protest, Admiral Nadal had already left...

(End of this chapter)