1825 My New Daming

Chapter 302 The Royal Navy will attack from the air and sea! (ask for subscription, ask for monthly pass)

Once the steam engine is repaired, you can escape!

If the turret can't be repaired well, you can only escape!

Moreover, the command given to Major General Cochrane by the commander of the Second Indian Fleet also included "luting the enemy", that is, after destroying or severely damaging the Ming army's armored cruiser detachment, the Ming army's battleship formation that came for reinforcements would be led westward. The main force of the Second Indian Fleet is there!
The main formation of the Second Indian Fleet has a total of 22 battleships and 15 airship motherships. That is the real trump card of the Royal Navy!

As long as the four powerful heroes of the Nanyang Fleet are deceived and killed, the winner of the Battle of the Strait of Malacca will still be the British Empire!

Thinking of this, Major General Cochrane said firmly: "Turn to the northwest, pressurize the ventilation, and go extremely fast!"

"Yes, Major General!"

"Major General, are we going to escape?"

A voice suddenly asked.

"No!" Rear Admiral Cochrane said, "We want to lure the enemy to lure the enemy's battleships to the guns of the main force of the Second Indian Fleet! Even if we can only attract one hero class, we are the winners!"

One hero class for [-] Edgar class ships!
This sale is a loss no matter what, but it's better than not being able to exchange one!
Thinking of this, Major General Cocoran said: "Issuing an order. Disband the formation and retreat individually. May God bless everyone!"

Rear Admiral Cochrane is actually very aware that it is a bit difficult for those Edgar-class ships with large targets to escape, but there are still many second- and third-tier cruisers and destroyers belonging to the British and Indian Navy on the battlefield. The cruisers, mostly slower old ships, fell behind when the Edgars charged, while the destroyers kept up, but their targets were too small to escape.

Now, run away if you can, save people, build more rough-skinned, thick-skinned and powerful battleships and bring them back.
"General Town, that Blake class has turned, and it seems to be running! Shall we chase it?"

Zhang Bao had just commanded the battleship "Huo Jinghuan" he was on to smash an Edgar-class ship, and he seemed to be in high spirits. Hearing the report from his subordinates, he quickly raised his binoculars and looked towards the Blake.This Blake class is Edgar's "big brother" (Edgar is Blake's "youth version"). It is better than the Edgar class in every aspect, and its value is of course extremely high.

When Zhang Bao was thinking about whether he could catch up, the communication officer suddenly reported loudly: "General Town, the telegram to close the military gate. Let us not pursue the escaped Blake class, and end the battle within 30 minutes and withdraw Batam anchorage, don't love to fight!"

"What? End the battle in 30 minutes?"

Zhang Bao hurriedly raised his binoculars to look around, the sea has become a "chaotic battle", four Hero-class ships, eight Great Emperor-class ships, seven Hero-class ships and more than a dozen Edgar-class ships that were beaten into smoke In the melee.Although these Edgar-class are not so many opponents of "heroes, heroes and great emperors", it seems that it is not easy to sink them all-after all, shells are very easy to open holes below the waterline of enemy ships. If they do not hit the ammunition What about the library, it is very difficult to sink a 7000-ton patrol at once.

The Edgar class is a first-class new ship, and it was built using nickel steel with a hardened surface.When the pointed armor-piercing projectile hits armor steel of this hardness, the projectile tip may be shattered, and it is easy to jump when it hits the inclined armor with a certain inclination angle, and the effect is not very good.Although the Ming Navy has begun to equip with blunt-tip armor-piercing projectiles, the number of blunt-tip projectiles carried by each warship is not very large, so it must be used sparingly, after all, there are still many pointed projectiles in stock to go!
In addition, the main guns of the Great Emperor and the Hero-class warships are both 240 mm, and their destructive power is not comparable to the 280 mm main guns of the Hero class.The few Edgars that were sunk before were almost all heroic results.

Thinking of this, Zhang Bao ordered loudly: "Let's fight the Edgar class with the full rudder, and I will kill two of them within 30 minutes!"

"Yes! Headquarters!"

The helmsman of the battleship "Huo Jinghuan" responded, and turned the steering wheel to the right to the end. The giant ship of more than 2 tons turned again, letting go of the Blake, which was "luting the enemy", and turned to the beaten ship. The blazing Edgar class rushed forward.
Seeing the battleship "Huo Jinghuan" turn around, Major General Cochrane, who knew that he had failed to lure the enemy, was relieved, and said to the communications officer in a sad tone: "Use the long-wave radio station to generate power for the battleship Victory. Our troops failed to lure the enemy. The turret malfunctioned and had to withdraw from the battle, and the remaining armored cruisers were being besieged by more than 20 capital ships of the Ming Nanyang Fleet, and the situation was critical."

Rear Admiral Cochrane's report was sent by tick-tock radio waves to the flagship of the Second Indian Fleet, the Victory, which had entered the Strait of Malacca and was heading for Luba Island.The Victory class and its sister ships are mass-produced ships spelled out by the British working class with "997" as the hero-class nemesis.The 10nd Indian Fleet alone got [-] ships.

In addition, the Second Indian Fleet also has 12 unyielding-class ships that are strong enough to fight against the Great Emperor class of Ming Dynasty.

A total of 22 cutting-edge warships are the trump card in the hands of Emperor William!
According to the estimates of the Duke of Wellington and the Marquess of Nelson, relying on these 22 battleships and dozens of Victory-class and Indomitable-class ships currently being delivered and built, the British Empire can theoretically fight in the battles of 1830, 1831, and even 1832. Get the upper hand!
But this start seems a bit unfavorable!
It is obviously a very clever strategy to lure and destroy the enemy, and the enemy even came to take the initiative to divide the troops, giving the Royal Navy every opportunity to defeat it.

Where is the problem?
As the second-generation naval elite of the Hood family, Lieutenant General James Hood was once a classmate of Emperor William at the Naval Academy, and was later trusted and cultivated by the Marquess of Nelson. He is considered to be the future star of the Royal Navy.
Moreover, he believes that his talent is absolutely worthy of such a reputation.And in this military operation, his command was also impeccable, it can be said to have reached a perfect level.

Such a huge Second Indian Fleet bypassed Africa and arrived in the Indian Ocean almost without anyone noticing.It has been hiding its tracks, and it hasn't been exposed until now... Shouldn't it be exposed?

but……

"Vice Admiral," the voice of the Fleet Communications Officer sounded, "Blake's telegram...the enemy's large formation is retreating at the eastern junction of the Strait of Malacca."

"What? They're going to retreat?" James Hood was taken aback, "Then what about our losses?"

"Vice Admiral, we, we lost at least 18 Edgar-class ships..." Earl Howe, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, replied in a low tone, "Although the other two Edgar-class ships managed to escape, they were also severely damaged. .

In addition, the Strait Fleet lost ten shallow-water heavy artillery ships.The losses of the second-tier and third-tier cruisers totaled more than 21 ships.What a loss! "

The loss was indeed heavy, very heavy!
The combined losses of armored cruisers, shallow-water heavy gunships, and cruisers reached as many as 39 ships!
Although these days, the size of the Royal Navy of the British Empire is astonishing!And Britain's shipbuilding strength is equally astonishing, and it can make up for all the above losses in a very short period of time.

But the loss of so many warships at once will still cause tension in the Royal Navy's strength in the coming months.

In addition, there are at least 39 naval officers and soldiers on those 1 warships... most of them are real British and professional sailors!

This is a truly heartbreaking loss!
"Lieutenant General, what should we do now?" the army chief of staff asked, "Should we temporarily withdraw to the Ceylon base, or continue to seek a decisive battle?"

"Can't retreat!" Lieutenant General Hood snapped, "The battle has just begun...the Royal Navy hasn't used its true strength yet!"

As he spoke, he glanced at the sky outside the bridge and said, "The Royal Navy not only dominates the sea, but also the sky... Where is the Ming fleet that circled Sumatra?"

"Lieutenant General, they are approaching the Great Strait!"

"Good!" said Hood, "tomorrow morning we will go and fight them... The Royal Navy will attack from the air and sea!"

(End of this chapter)