Chapter 52: The End of Fate

The British infantry was completely lost, and even if Baron Nelson mobilized all the British Empire warships in the Indian Ocean, there was no way to pose much threat to the Ming army on West Island in a short period of time.

The navy should fight on the sea, as Baron Nelson always insisted.

Before Han Xiufen's fleet arrived, Nelson had to think about how to control the princes of India after the British Empire lost West, this time period was very short, and he had to do something, otherwise the British Empire's ten-year arrangement in India would be in vain.

The only way to confront the mighty Eastern Empire is to unite the many European powers in the Indian Ocean in order to once again achieve a delicate balance of power.

Of these, the Dutch were undoubtedly the most trusted friends.

As for Spain, the Portuguese are the ones who can be fought for, however, the Portuguese are too weak, and the loss of West Island needs to be compensated...... As for the French, they will always be outliers in Europe, people who cannot be trusted, especially in the case of the British Empire.

Clerk Austin: A young man with soft brown hair is back.

He brought back three thousand one hundred and twenty-seven corpses.

Colonel Owen's remains looked calm, covered with a scarlet cloak.

"They didn't damage Colonel Owen's body?"

Austin lifted the slam, revealing Colonel Owen's battered body.

"This is Colonel Owen's wound before he died in battle, not a humiliation after death."

"That's right, Baron, it's not just Colonel Owen's corpse, it's the corpse of the rest of the soldiers, and the Ming people have only taken his weapon."

"Oh? Have they taken the gold they have brought with them? ”

"No, baron, the young imperial colonel of the Ming Kingdom said that they don't sell corpses."

Baron Nelson put the big man back on Colonel Owen's body and said to Clerk Austin, "Let's have a burial at sea." ”

With that, he left the transport, which was full of corpses, and returned to the Dreadnought.

The fleet sailed on the blue waters of the Indian Ocean, but the fleet was enveloped in the sound of grumbling bagpipes, and under the guidance of several black-robed priests, corpses wrapped in white linen cloth were thrown into the sea one after another.

The funeral took place for a whole day, and on this day, Baron Nelson did not eat, drink, or even touch his beloved pipe.

In the evening, when I returned to the cabin, I opened my nautical diary, and wrote in the diary with a quill pen.

"The Ming people are coming, they are here with excellent weapons, powerful warships, and an almost invincible army, this is a group of proud people, so proud that they don't even bother to take the silver coins from the dead soldiers of our army.

They fought strategically and disciplined, and though they were only a royal plaything army that had just been formed, they killed 3,126 men of the 9th Infantry Regiment in Fairfax at the Battle of West, down to Colonel Owen Havier.

There is no doubt that the total destruction of Colonel Owen Havier, who had participated in the Battle of Nezby and made great achievements, was not the fault of Colonel Owen Havel, nor was it the lack of courage of the soldiers.

On the contrary, they have done everything in their power to prove with their lives that they are not cowards.

The reason why they failed was because of their weapons and equipment and operational concepts...... The saddest thing is that the brave Colonel Owen is not facing the strongest legion of the Ming Kingdom......

I can't imagine what it will be like when their most elite legions arrive in the Indian Ocean.

If our Lord Protector, Mr. Cromwell, had not taken it seriously, I thought that the British Empire would have lost all its interests in the Indian Ocean and even in the Arabian Sea.

The Ming were large, populous, and highly civilized, and their new emperor was a wise, wise and ambitious young monarch who had put down all the wars just a few years earlier.

Such monarchs, their ambitions are boundless, and the Ming Kingdom has the possibility of becoming the overlord, they have a long history, a large population, industrious people, brave soldiers, and their firm determination to explore the unknown.

From this moment on, the center of gravity of the British Empire should be on the Americas, and all efforts should be made to develop the Americas, and in the East, let me be pessimistic, I think that here we only need to strengthen our presence, and not invest too much here. ”

Baron Nelson was undoubtedly a true British aristocrat, with a vast world of ideas, a keen eye and a keen sense of smell, and although the Battle of Westster Island was a loss for the British Empire, it was far from being taken seriously by the British Empire.

After writing his logbook, he wrote a long letter to Duke Campbell of the House of Lords, and Baron Nelson left West Island with a sad English fleet.

This time, he was targeting colonial strongholds such as local governance established by the Portuguese on the east coast of India, and the loss on West Island must be compensated.

The war was still raging in England, and the royalists and Cromwell's new nobility were still at loggerheads, and if Baron Nelson did not anticipate, the winner would be decided by the next year, in 1649 AD, at the latest.

Lai Guorao's prediction was accurate, after learning that the Ming Dynasty had captured West Island, the Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and French warships appeared in the waters of West Island like hyenas.

It's just that Baron Nelson, after assembling all the British warships in the Indian Ocean, is still strong, which makes the hyenas dare not approach easily, and they lie in ambush in all corners of the Indian Ocean, waiting to eat a little scraps at any time.

The more powerful the fleet, the closer it was to the island of West, and a weak fleet like the Portuguese had to stay on the periphery, waiting for a favorable moment.

Therefore, when Lai Guorao's fleet appeared ferociously in the view of the Portuguese, the first reaction of the Portuguese was to greet them with flags, and they did not rush to meet the battle until Lai Guorao's fleet had crossed the hull and the gun window revealed the black muzzle.

Eleven three-masted battleships, two third-class battleships, after the two fleets passed by, six were sunk, Lai Guorao's ship Wushan ironclad ship was even more ferocious rushed into the Portuguese fleet, blocking the Portuguese fleet to cut off the waist, both sides of the gun windows were all opened, spewing fierce artillery fire.

After the flowering bomb hit the powder magazine, the whole huge ship jumped out of the sea, and then it shattered, and the main mast of the battleship Poseidon beside him was smashed by the flying guns, and the tall mast smashed into the wide deck with the wind, smashing the sailors to pieces.

The thick angle of the Wushan brutally smashed the side side of the Poseidon, and under the urging of the sea breeze, the hull of the Poseidon was violently raised to one side, and at this time, the thick cannon on the deck of the Wushan roared, and a huge cannonball drilled into the hull, and then exploded in the cabin, and a huge battleship suddenly exploded violently from the middle as if it had been disemboweled.

Pulled by the Wushan brute force again, the Poseidon also broke apart from the middle, Lai Guorao looked at the two halves of the Wushan that were about to sink on both sides of the broken and about to sink The two halves of the ship sneered, let go of his collar and said, "One less enemy." ”

It's a pity that the Wushan hit the horn with half of the broken ship's side, and the speed slowed down suddenly, and when he cleaned up, only the Portuguese sailors holding broken wooden planks waiting to be captured were left on the sea, and the Portuguese warships that could still sail had already left this sea area with full sails.

The biggest problem with the Ming ironclad ships is that they are too heavy and not as fast as these wooden sailing ships.

Fortunately, it also has the characteristics of rough skin and thick flesh and fierce firepower, otherwise, in the vast sea, it is definitely not an opponent of the nimble European battleships.

From the very beginning, Lai Guorao did not think about annihilating the Portuguese fleet, this is almost an impossible thing, he just wanted to cripple the Portuguese fleet, so that he could go and establish a local colonial base on the east coast of India by the Portuguese, if he could take it, the harvest might not be as rich as the harvest on West Island, and it should be a huge fortune.

It was a surprise attack, which began violently and ended very quickly, and after Lai Guorao ordered the rescue of the sailors, he left the hiding place, preparing to get a little closer to the island of West, and see if there was anything else to take advantage of.

Han Xiufen was very satisfied with the wine in his hand, the wine was red, the wine was rich, and the most important thing was that the face of Count Raymond, who was sitting opposite him, was pale like a vampire count.

"We are friends!"

Earl Raymond once again emphasized his former friendship with Han Xiufen.

Han Xiufen turned the goblet and said, "So, Your Excellency the Earl, you can go back alive." ”

"It's not a good idea for Earl Han to attack the British Empire, we can unite and carve up India, and we can even wipe out the damned Dutch together, and thus become the masters of this sea and even India."

Raymond tirelessly lobbied for his life for the strong and beautiful woman in front of him.

"Who's to say it's not, it's a sad event, but my emperor hates doing business in partnership with people more than anything in my life, so think more about yourself, Mr. Baron.

Your Lord Cromwell is not a man who thought he would pay a price to redeem a nobleman. ”

Raymond hurriedly said, "Earl, the wealth on West Island is enough to pay any ransom. ”

Han Xiufen took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "That's mine, you can't pay your ransom with my money." ”

"Count, you should be content that I did not order the burning of the island's cotton and cotton cloth, even in the most critical of times."

Han Xiufen stood up with a wine glass and said with a smile: "I have given these matters to the governor of the Daming West India Company with full authority to deal with, you should communicate with him more, rest assured, this one is also your old friend." ”

Raymond watched Han Xiufen leave the cabin, wanted to speak, opened his mouth, and finally lowered his head, at this moment, he hoped that Baron Nelson could capture West Island and exchange him for the captured Ming people.

Just as Raymond pondered how to get through this difficult time, a familiar man walked into his cabin.

"Count Wren?"

Wren, who was dressed in a blue silk robe, waved his hand and said, "I am now the governor of the Daming West India Company, not Mr. Earl. ”