Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 795 A Miracle in the History of Naval Warfare

In June of the 20th year of Chongzhen, when the Ming Dynasty was experiencing a series of new challenges and reforms, in the Atlantic Ocean tens of thousands of miles away, the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands formed a mixed fleet, near the Strait of Dover, and the British Royal The navy's main battleship formation launched a battle. When the high-level people of Britain and the Netherlands focused their attention on the Dover Strait, a surprise attack plan that changed the war pattern has also entered the implementation stage.

The mixed fleet composed of the North Sea Fleet and the South Sea Fleet of the Ming Dynasty arrived at the port of Amsterdam in September 19. After receiving a grand welcome from the Netherlands, the high-level personnel of the two navies held several meetings to discuss how to coordinate the warships of the two sides in the upcoming Coordination problems in the war.

Liu Guoneng, the governor of the mixed fleet of the Ming Dynasty, had already obtained the order to learn more, ask more questions, learn more practical tactics from the Dutch navy as much as possible, and in the ensuing battle, without being used as a gunman Next, cooperate closely with the Netherlands.

In fact, this means that the Ming Fleet should obey the command of the Dutch general as much as possible, but also judge the situation and not be used as cannon fodder to charge forward. The scale and proportion of this need to be grasped by Liu Guoneng and others.

After the negotiation between the two parties, the fleets of the two sides held several exercises in the coastal waters of the Netherlands in order to find out the problems existing in the cooperation between the two sides during the exercises and solve them quickly. Two months later, the cooperation became more and more tacit. Under the circumstances, the navies of both sides formed a mixed fleet to start an expanded exercise, and moved the exercise location to the vast Atlantic Ocean.

After half a year of various exercises, the tacit understanding between the fleets of the two sides is getting higher and higher, and the various cooperation between ships, small fleets, large fleets, and mixed fleets are also becoming more and more perfect. After two live ammunition drills, the commander of the Dutch mixed fleet of the Ming Dynasty and the veteran of the Dutch navy Schenlupp, after discussing with Liu Guoneng, Zheng Zhibao and others, decided that the mixed fleets of the two sides would go to the Atlantic Ocean after replenishment to find the main fleet of the British Navy and Fight with it.

At the same time, Rear Admiral de Knight of the Netherlands, led another smaller Ming-Dutch mixed fleet, quietly left Amsterdam and headed for the English Channel. In an unexpected way, a textbook surprise attack was launched on the British mainland.

The fleet led by De Knight is composed of 24 medium-sized gunboats, [-] small gunboats, and [-] arson boats. Among them are four "Mending"-class gunboats and two "Cracking-Tian"-class gunboats of the North Sea Fleet of the Ming Dynasty. Admiral Zheng Zhibao of the Ming Navy Fleet accompanied the command.

De Knight, who is about forty years old, is recognized as an excellent general of the Dutch navy. Since the outbreak of the sea conflict between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, he has commanded the Dutch fleet to fight against the British fleet several times and achieved good results. However, due to the British and Dutch Due to the large gap in gunboat tonnage and firepower between the two navies, the Dutch navy has never been able to achieve major results.

The thoughtful De Knight saw that the British had no choice but to do so. After careful thinking and planning, De Knight came up with an extremely bold plan, which was finally approved by the Dutch high-level.

Through the practice of fighting near the British mainland, De Knight realized the possibility of sneak attacks at night, and used spies to obtain the tide, water level, and route of the Thames River, as well as military and economic information in the London area. Training for night combat.

After obtaining the authorization of the head of state, he formulated a bold and rare combat plan: first, the fleet was assembled urgently outside Texel Island, and then secretly sailed into the Thames Estuary, upstream along the Medway River, Go straight to Chatham, the battleship dock of the British fleet, and then sink or burn the British warships.

The reason why it is called "bold" is mainly because this plan has great risks: regardless of the various British defense facilities along the way, only the Thames Estuary and the Medway River have many sandbars and shoals, which can only be passed when the tide is high and the wind is down. If there is a slight negligence, if the tide level is missed or the wind direction is not favorable or the wind is not strong enough, the warship may be stranded. Moreover, not all the warships of the British Navy may have entered the port and cannot fight.

In addition, between the Medway Estuary and Chatham, there is an 800-meter-long and [-]-ton Hengjiang iron chain. It is precisely because of the existence of the iron chain and many forts that the British never dreamed that There will be foreign fleets who dare to come to die.

It is said that war is a big gamble, so the goddess of victory probably often favors those who dare to place huge bets at critical moments. In a state of extreme secrecy, a miracle in the history of world naval warfare is about to be staged.

"Your Excellency, there are still two hours before our combined fleet will arrive at the mouth of the Thames, and everything that follows will be left to God to arrange. The result is unpredictable for us humans. I hope our plan can be successful!

I am very grateful to the Ming Empire for sending a powerful naval fleet to assist us in fighting the British. If the victory of the war belongs to our two countries, then after I retire, I will be very proud to recall that I used to fight with General Zheng Such young and promising senior generals of the Ming Dynasty fought side by side. May the friendship between our two countries last forever! "

On the calm Atlantic Ocean, the battleship formation that surprises the mainland of Britain is about to enter the English Channel. On the second deck of the "Split Sky" class battleship "Rage" of the Ming Dynasty South Sea Fleet, De Knight in a neat military uniform is having a pleasant time with Zheng Zhibao While talking, they were surrounded by a young man under the age of 20. This young man who served as an interpreter was one of the hundreds of young people who studied in Europe back then.

Because of his talent in languages, this young man named Yang Yi has mastered several foreign languages ​​in just four years, especially Dutch and English. During the expedition of the Ming Fleet to Europe, Was selected to become a passer-by.

"General de Knight, you are welcome!
In order to maintain fair trade and protect normal business exchanges between countries, our Daming Fleet has been ordered by the Holy Majesty to come here to help the Netherlands. It is also an honor for Zheng to fight side by side with General De Knight!
I hope that our attack this time can teach the British a heavy lesson, and finally sign and approve the text to restore fair trade! "

After shouting countless times with the Dutch, Zheng Zhibao also involuntarily adopted some European habits in his way of speaking and language. Remember that big brother Zheng Zhifeng: When dealing with Hongyi, don’t use the way you are at home. Rude style, so as not to embarrass Daming, Zheng Zhibao deliberately hides his usual habitual swearing when speaking, so as to make himself look more like a well-educated Confucian general.

"These Hongyi who fight and kill all day can be so polite, we can't teach them to look down on us Daming"

Zheng Zhibao, who was holding back extremely hard, smiled and reminded himself secretly.

"Report to the two generals!
Twenty nautical miles to reach the mouth of the Thames!
What measures should be taken next, please give instructions, Your Excellency the General! "

A young Dutch Navy second lieutenant came in a hurry, saluted De Knight and Zheng Zhibao and reported loudly.

"Notify all ships to slow down! Speed ​​at two knots!
Wait for my order! "

After seeing that the sky had not yet darkened, De Knight calmly ordered.

(End of this chapter)