Ten Dragons Take the Inheritance

Chapter 471 Who and the Battle (Part [-])

Malacca is a famous city with a very long history. As early as the Han Dynasty, there was a city here. At that time, the Chinese called it Keluofusha. Taking Malacca as the base camp, the then indigenous chief Xili Baer Sula sent an envoy to express his willingness to be a county under the Ming Dynasty, but was easily rejected by the Ming court without foresight; in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese first occupied this place , and built the new city of Malacca. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese, occupied Malacca, and rebuilt Malacca, transforming all the forts that were originally aimed at the inland into two forts facing the sea. Relying on these two With the existence of the fort, the Dutch fully controlled the Strait of Malacca, a strategic artery for East-West trade.

The Strait of Malacca is named after the ancient city of Malacca. The entire strait is northwest-southeast, wide in the northwest and narrow in the southeast. The water depth decreases from north to south and from east to west. The island is densely covered, and the water patterns are extremely complicated. The waterway that can navigate large ships is only 15 meters deep and [-] kilometers wide. In addition, there are hidden reefs and shoals everywhere. Therefore, Shanmasek is the most critical point for controlling the entire Strait of Malacca. .

In addition to Shanmasek, another strategic point is Malacca. Although the water surface in Malacca is considered open, the side close to Sumatra Island is full of swamps and shoals. Large ships cannot dock at all. The only place where large ships can pass is near Malacca. On one side of the 3.2-kilometer-wide waterway, the wind is weak this time, and the boats are not moving fast. It is extremely difficult for a large fleet to pass through here quickly, so they can only go slowly. It can only face the fate of destruction.

The strategic significance of Malacca is unquestionable. As long as Malacca can be taken, it will completely cut off the back of the English fleet. Of course, as a strategic city, Malacca’s defense can be regarded as very strict. More than 600 Dutch troops are stationed in Malacca, with tall walls. Not to mention, there are also a lot of artillery. It is extremely difficult to storm Malacca without artillery support.It is only more than 80 kilometers from Johor Bahru to Malacca, and there is a flat coastal road connecting the two places. With the footsteps of the small group of Dutch cavalry who fled, they can return to Malacca before dawn. The preparation time is already pitifully small, and it is time to make up your mind.

Lin Wanlong stood at the town gate of Xinshan with a livid face, pacing up and down, muttering non-stop, but his voice was vague, and even Chen Guozhong, who was standing beside him, could not hear what he was talking about. After a long time, Lin Wanlong Suddenly he stood still, looked at Chen Guozhong and asked, "Mr. Chen, is there anyone in the shadows who understands the Dutch language?"

Chen Guozhong didn't understand what Lin Wanlong meant when he suddenly asked about this matter, he was taken aback for a moment before replying: "The locals can speak Dutch, even I can speak smoothly, I don't know the general..."

"Oh, that's good!" Lin Wanlong didn't explain much, and waved to Liu Chenghong, the commander of the second battalion, and ordered loudly: "Liu Battalion Commander, let your people clean up the battlefield as soon as possible, and remove all the clothes on the Dutch soldiers. Take them all down and hand them over here, and move quickly; send another company to replace the second battalion and the first company, and your battalion will stay in Xinshan, and you must hold on until the follow-up troops arrive, go quickly." Under the leadership of Lin Wanlong, more than 2000 soldiers of [-] soldiers who attacked Malacca ran all the way to Malacca despite the dark road and difficult roads...

When people get old, their sleep becomes shallow. Admiral Sean Nadal’s body has collapsed after his defeat in the Black Isle naval battle last year. The whole person has aged a lot, and his sleep is even worse. He was defeated and transferred back to the country, but he did not receive a dispatch order from the parliament. Instead, he waited for a large number of reinforcements. He is still the commander of the England Far East Fleet, but Admiral Nadal will not be grateful for that. The reason for ganging up with politicians is very simple - at this time, the Qing Empire is no longer something that England can easily provoke. The position of Commander of the Far East Fleet is actually a crater, and no famous admiral is willing to take over this hot potato. However, the group of parliamentary politicians that no one can use can only entrust a defeated general like him with important tasks again.

In Nadal's view, although the more than 40 warships under his command are extremely magnificent, it is a joke to rely on these warships to attack the Qing Dynasty. The gang of domestic politicians always think that England has the final say on the sea in this era , clamoring for revenge all day long, which annoyed Admiral Nadal, he didn't want to be hit hard again, not only his own reputation, but also the national destiny of England--England's navy is powerful, But in the face of the ever-expanding naval power of the European powers, the power that can be deployed to the Far East is actually very limited. These forty or so warships are already the last barrier of the English Navy in the Far East. Once defeated, let alone attack After the Qing Dynasty, even India, England's largest colony in the Far East, might not be able to keep it.Therefore, even though the reinforcement fleet had arrived long ago, and the admirals under his command were begging for battle every day, Nadal never issued an order to attack, and just stayed in the tiny place of Shanmaxi.

Admiral Nadal went to bed early as usual today, and just as soon as he fell asleep, he was awakened by the intense gunshots and explosions on the other side of the strait. He quickly turned over and ran to the balcony in his pajamas to watch the fire. In Xinshan Town, which is full of troubles, it has been a long time without saying a word, and a pair of old eyes are full of doubts.After pondering in secret for a while, he walked to the huge chart hanging on the wall with his cotton slippers on, and looked at it carefully. The wrinkles on his face became deeper...

On May [-]nd, Yuanzhuo Eight Years, just after dawn, Admiral Nadal, who had not slept all night, had just stepped out of his bedroom when he saw the new Chief of Staff of the Far East Fleet, Rear Admiral Winslet Brown, waiting with excitement on his face. In the reception room.

"Your Excellency, Commander, according to the report from the merchant ship, the Qing fleet has arrived in the waters of Temeran. If it is directed at us, it should be near the waters of Bintan Island by this time tomorrow." Rear Admiral Brown saw Admiral Nadal Immediately stand at attention and salute, and report loudly.

"Well, they should have arrived a long time ago." Admiral Nadal didn't have any fluctuations on his face, he just said something lightly.

Major General Brown looked at Admiral Nadal's haggard face suspiciously, his lips twitched a few times, and he still couldn't help asking: "Your Excellency, how did you know this news?"

Nadal didn't even bother to answer, he just said loudly: "Major General, go and tell the officers above the major generals of the squadrons to assemble." The general's mansion was summoned by himself.

"...This is the Tamilan sea area, and there are still two hundred nautical miles away from Shanmasek, where our army is located. According to the report of the merchant ship, the enemy has ten large warships, nineteen medium-sized warships, and twelve small warships. No accident, the enemy should be coming towards our army, it is estimated that this is just the enemy's vanguard fleet, and there may be a large force behind, everyone, this is the situation." In the war room, Major General Brown pointed to the large chart spread out on the desktop, and briefly introduced the known situation.

The strength of a possible vanguard fleet alone is no longer inferior to the England Far East Fleet. This kind of news immediately chilled the hearts of all the admirals present. All fell silent, looking at Admiral Nadal in silence.

Admiral Nadal coughed twice, glanced at the admirals present, pointed to Johor Bahru and said: "You must have heard the gunshots and explosions last night. This is by no means a coincidence. The Dutch on the opposite side should have already It was completely wiped out by the Qing army. If my predictions are not bad, the goal of the Qing army should be here——Malacca! Once Malacca falls into the hands of the Qing army, our army’s retreat will be cut off. At that time, the Qing army should have not arrived in Malacca. Even if they arrived in Malacca, it would not be easy to take down Malacca. We still have enough time to withdraw to the Andaman Sea. Lieutenant General Bradley, what do you mean?"

Vice Admiral Kannat Bradley is the new deputy commander of the Far East Fleet of England and the commander of the reinforcement fleet. Although he is a deputy, he has many more warships than Nadal can control. Born aristocrats, in his early forties, participated in many naval battles, is a rising star in the English navy, has always been known for his toughness, and has never had any respect for Nadal, a defeated general. However, he said: "The sea is the sea of ​​England. As long as there is sea, it is the paradise of my English. Please, Commander, don't forget the tradition of my English navy: attack, attack, and attack again. I think the Qing army who sneaked into Johor Bahru The number of people will definitely not be too many. Moreover, this strait is shallow and the shore is high. Even if the Qing army can successfully attack, they will not be able to send artillery ashore. Without artillery, the Qing army with a small number of people wants to capture Malacca. It is by no means an easy task. I suggest that our army can send cruisers to cover the army's landing in Johor Bahru. Once Johor Bahru is captured, the Qing army's retreat will be cut off, and then troops will be sent to Malacca along the main road to gather and annihilate the Qing army under the city of Malacca. Simply take down the Dutch, so that our army can attack and retreat, and we are already in an invincible position."

Lieutenant General Bradley talked for a long time, always focusing on how to annihilate the Qing army on the Malay Peninsula, but never mentioned the Qing fleet that had already killed it. Naturally, I can hear the meaning of Lieutenant General Bradley's words - if you want to withdraw the troops, you have to make this order yourself, anyway, you have to bear the responsibility for losing a single horse.The importance of Shan Maxi is unquestionable. Admiral Nadal cannot afford to lose the responsibility of Shan Maxi, but at this moment he cannot accuse Lieutenant General Bradley of being selfish. After thinking about it , looked at Major General Ronald Regan, the commander of the local garrison, and asked politely: "Major General Regan, our fleet can provide cruisers as cover. Can your army achieve the task of taking Johor Bahru?"

Major General Lei Gen is not stupid. If he says he can't at this time, then the navy will leave the army and turn around and flee. How can he hold Shanmaxi with such a force in his hand? Single Ma Xi's heavy responsibility, this responsibility is too heavy, he doesn't want to bear it by himself, seeing the eyes of all the admirals staring at him, Rear Admiral Ragen's face flushed suddenly, wishing to curse, but on such occasions , as far as he has the lowest official rank, he has no choice but to grit his teeth and say, "If you can get the cooperation from the navy, I can give it a try with all my strength."

"That's good. The Navy can send three cruisers to provide fire support. I hope that General Reagan will go all out to take Johor Bahru as soon as possible, and the meeting will end!" Nadal gave the combat order with some helplessness, and walked out of the war room with his head down... …

The information England received was actually not accurate. The Qing fleet that went out to the Tamilan waters was indeed the vanguard of the Qing fleet. There were actually twelve large warships, 21 medium-sized warships, eight small warships, and five supply ships. ship.Not all of these warships were directed at Shan Maxi. In fact, this was a fleet composed of some warships from the first and second squadrons of the Qing Dynasty. Among them, the first squadron had four large warships. , eight medium-sized warships, three small warships, and two supply ships. The purpose of the operation is to block the waters of Bintan Island and lure the English Navy to fight. All other ships belong to the Second Squadron. Asia's Dutch fleet.

At two o'clock on May [-]nd, Yuanzhuo Eight Years, the two Qing fleets that had already left the Tamilan waters parted ways in the waters of Konna Island, and each rushed to its own battlefield. Xiao Sanlang stood on the flagship of the second fleet. On the front deck of the "Weihai", looking at the First Squadron that was turning around, his face was ashen, and there was an unknown fire in his heart-in his opinion, the First Squadron had once again had shit luck and was able to participate in the battle. The big battle, but his second squadron is always bad luck, either to cover up, or to pinch the soft persimmons of the Dutch, it is really boring, secretly angry in his heart, intending to vent his anger on the Dutch... …

(End of this chapter)