The British "Queen of India" class capital ship is no secret now, although not all the technical data have been obtained, but Jinyiwei still detected that this battleship has an "oblique battery", equipped with 6 16-inch guns, and the firepower of this battleship's secondary guns is not weak, just 6-inch rapid-fire guns as many as 8! In addition, intelligence also showed that over the past year or so, the British Navy has also equipped their warships with a large number of rapid-fire guns, and the British are not weak in the technology of tube annealing guns! And they are also willing to spend money on naval equipment. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Shi Dakai, Liu Lichuan and Jiao Liang are the three army commanders who are cautious about the navy are all shaking their heads slightly, the Ming navy's funds are a few less than the army, the total tonnage of the navy is comparable to that of France, and now it has 14 ironclad ships, 20 armored cruisers and a greater number of various cruisers. The combat power is definitely not weak, but since the start of the war, what has the navy been busy with? In addition to escorting the landing force to occupy Hawaii at the beginning, it was doing some small business of escorting, breaking diplomatic relations, laying mines, and clearing mines, and I don't know when I will really have a big fight with the British fleet?

Zhu Jishi frowned and asked, "Shi Qing, Jiao Qing, Liu Qing, does the army have a plan to occupy the Singapore fortress?" Shi Dakai nodded, and said with a faint expression: "The army has concentrated 400,000 troops in 8 armies in the Malay Peninsula and 1,700 cannons, ready to start the Singapore campaign at any time...... But Singapore cannot be fought without the cooperation of the navy, if the British Eastern Fleet stays in the harbor / one / book / read / novel ybdu.. With 16-inch artillery to provide fire support to their army, there is no way to fight this battle. ”

He glanced at Wang Dehu and Tong Haifeng, and said leisurely: "The army has done its best now. In North America, India, Britain and the United States, there were many bitter battles. It also advanced along the Malay Peninsula to the doorstep of Singapore. If the navy can lure the British fleet away in Singapore Harbor for 2 weeks, we can take Singapore! ”

'Lure the Eastern Fleet away for two weeks?' If it was really possible, the navy would have attracted ...... long ago' Wang Dehu glanced at Shi Dakai, and the expression on his face was slightly unhappy. He followed left and right as early as when Emperor Zhu raised the banner of Lanfang. Among a group of old ministers, he is the one who has been in power for the longest time, and he can still see it like a junior?

When he was embarrassed, a staff officer outside hurriedly walked in and handed the telegram he had just received to Jiao Liang, chief of the army general staff. Jiao Liang took it and took a look. A look of joy suddenly appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, a great news from the Southern Front! The 17th Mountain Army and the Siamese Guards have captured Chittagong! ”

"Conquered Chittagong?" Zhu Jishi's always gloomy face also smiled, "This is great!" The King of Siam has done a great job this time...... What about the losses of troops? How many enemies and prisoners are destroyed? ”

"The losses of the 17th Mountain Army are more than 13000! The Siamese army lost more than 7,000 troops, and the Anglo-Indian army lost an estimated 15,000 people, taking less than 1,000 prisoners. ”

Hearing the series of data reported by Jiao Liang, Shi Dakai frowned, "The British and Indian troops took the initiative to retreat again?" ”

"15,000 casualties is not a lot." Jiao Liang said, "The Anglo-Indian troops in Chittagong are estimated to be only 30,000. ”

"Will. What does Hemming think? Do you want to earn Zheng Long into the urn? Does he have such teeth? Zhu Ji grinded his teeth and said with a sneer.

"The problem is still in the logistics! The Strait of Malacca could not be passed, and the supply lines of the Indian Front's Southern Route Army were as unimpeded as the Northern Route Army. There was not enough ammunition to replenish. The Southern Route Army was also unable to let go of its hands and feet to fight a big war. ”

Shi Dakai's tone was heavy, and the predicament of the Indian Front's Northern Route Army was caused by the lack of smooth supply lines. Otherwise, what Gurkha mercenaries are you afraid of? How many young men are there in the Gurkha nation? Even if the exchange ratio of 1:1 can make Daming sacrifice?

"The Navy has a way of supplying the troops in Chittagong." Tong Haifeng, chief of the general staff of the Navy, suddenly proposed at this time. "You can go through the Sunda Strait!"

The Sunda Strait is located between the islands of Sumatra and Java and is very narrow. Earlier it was blocked by the Dutch with shore artillery, but now the Dutch army has been driven to Batavia by the Ming army and the militia of the United Rubber Company that landed in Java.

"From Cam Ranh Bay in Nanjiaozhou, from the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean, bypassing Sumatra to Chittagong." "The road is 3,000 nautical miles in total, and it takes about 12 days. ”

"Can it be successful? It won't be discovered by the British, right? Shi Dakai frowned, "I heard that the British fast cruiser has been operating in the southern part of the South China Sea, and the speed of the steam sailing ship is slow, so it may be intercepted by the British, right?" ”

Although the British Eastern Fleet is a "fleet of existence", it has not always been nested in the port of Singapore. In fact, the British fast cruisers have been competing with the fast cruisers of the Ming Navy in the South China Sea, and there have been hundreds of naval battles large and small! However, the decisive battle of the fleet was not fought once...... This is a gamble on the fortunes of the country! Whether it is the Ming Empire or the British Empire, they dare not bet easily.

Tong Haifeng smiled slightly, "Shi Shuai, your worries are justified, actually...... All we want is to be intercepted by the British! Because the Eastern Fleet of the British will be able to intercept our convoy only if it leaves the port of Singapore, and this is our chance to hit it hard! ”

On the one hand, because of the existence of the Singapore Fortress, although several islands at the entrance of the strait belong to the Netherlands, the British troops were stationed early in the morning, and a small fortress was built on it to place heavy artillery, which could be used to support the battle at sea with firepower; On the one hand, the Strait of Malacca is too narrow, and there are minefields laid by the British, which is not conducive to the fast cruiser maneuver of the Ming Navy, and is very beneficial to the British Navy that meets the enemy with a horizontal bow of the ship.

This is the reason why the Nanyang Fleet of the Ming Navy did not dare to start a decisive battle with the British Eastern Fleet in the Strait of Malacca. The British Eastern Fleet also knew these truths, so it also made up its mind to shrink to Singapore as a fleet. As long as the Chinese are blocked east of Malacca, the Eastern Fleet will be considered to have completed its mission.

However, the situation on the battlefield in North America is now clearly in favor of China, and the days of the British Eastern Fleet continuing to exist as a fleet are numbered.

"Is the Navy sure?" Shi Dakai was a little worried, the decisive battle at sea is to gamble on the fortune of the country, as long as the strength of the Ming Navy exists, the army can win in North America sooner or later, but if the navy loses miserably......

"At most, it's a lose-lose situation!" Tong Haifeng said with a smile, "It's too bad for us to fight in the Strait of Malacca, but in the South China Sea and in the Java Sea, there is nothing to worry about." Even if it is defeated, it will not sink a few ships, because the sea is wide, there is a lot of room for maneuver, and our side has large naval bases in Cam Ranh Bay, Xingming Port, and Manila, and has a dock that can repair damaged ships, and if you return to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, even the broken warships can be repaired as new within two or three months. But the British did not do it, they did not have a large shipbuilding base in the East, only Singapore, Calcutta, and Bombay had naval factories that could repair ships, but all materials and components had to be shipped from Europe. If we fight a lose-lose game, our fleet will be alive and well in two or three months, and they will have to repair it for at least half a year! ”

Shi Dakai added: "The army will not give them half a year, if the British Eastern Fleet leaves Singapore, the army will be able to take it there in a month at most." ”

Jiao Liang said: "So the British Eastern Fleet didn't dare to stay in Singapore for repair after it was heavily damaged, otherwise Singapore would lose the British treasure warships and the warships would be our trophies." ”

"Yes, as long as we can fight the British Eastern Fleet, Singapore will be ours! In this way, the route to Chittagong will naturally be smooth, and the logistical difficulties of the Indian Front will be eliminated. Zhu Jishi sighed, "Give guidance to the Southern Army, you can consider letting the King of Dali go south to Chittagong to join the Southern Route Army, wait for the Strait of Malacca to be opened, and then go west to Bangladesh and fight a decisive battle with the Indian army!" (To be continued......)