Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 95

With the fall of Mandalay by the Qing Dynasty, the situation of the British army in Burma appeared to be very passive.First of all, the northbound and westbound roads from Yangon were all blocked by the Qing Army, resulting in a serious shortage of supplies for the 18 colonial [-]th Army trapped in northwest Myanmar.

And the army that landed from Yangon had to pay the price of blood for every step forward, not to mention being attacked on both sides of the east and west, and did not dare to penetrate too deep.When the Chinese army did not take the initiative to attack, the British army in Myanmar was surprisingly unanimous and chose to remain silent.

Therefore, there is silence in Myanmar, only sporadic fighting, and no large-scale organized group fighting.

In terms of the navy, due to China's undeclared war.The British Hong Kong Fleet, which was encircled by the Chinese Navy, has never had the opportunity to retreat towards Singapore.

The strange thing is that the Chinese navy only surrounded them on three sides in Vietnam, Shanghai, and Shanghai, and did not take the initiative to go out.

Actually, they don't know.Before the war broke out, Guan Xuqing had already concentrated the most elite navy in Vietnam to prepare to attack Singapore.However, the British's defense in Singapore was impeccable, and they have never had a chance, so they have not had any conflicts with the British navy until now.

Both sides are only defending their respective coastlines, but now the Qing army in Burma has won successive victories.And Guan Xuqing also received intelligence that Britain wanted to unite with France to harass China's coast.

Let's not talk about how terrifying the joint fleet of Britain and France is. Even if it has not yet developed, if it invades or lands on the coast outside the customs, it will be enough for Guan Xuqing to keep busy.

After all, there are not many troops in the north, and most of the troops hit the south to fight against Britain.So Guan Xuqing couldn't wait to issue an order to the Qingshui Division to break through the British Navy in Singapore within a week.The Qingshui Division occupied the life route of Malacca, went straight into the Indian Ocean to cut off the supply line of the British army in Myanmar, and occupied the port of Yangon, Myanmar.Cooperate with the Army to wipe out the British Army in Myanmar.

The sea is as blue as blue, and black-backed birds glide across the sea from time to time. They pick up fish in the water but don’t swallow them, but try to fly to the shore. There are nests they have built, and there are young birds that need to be fed. .Although the northern country has already been full of wind and snow, the Honghe port in the southern country is still a beautiful and sunny scene.

"Long Victory", "Unbeaten", "Ride the Wind", "Break the Waves", "Weiyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Triumph", "Juyin", "Nanji", "Nanxiang", "Yangfan" all Pull the anchor and leave the port, slowly sail out of the Beibu Gulf, ready to go south to Singapore.

In Hong Kong, the four ironclad ships "Dingyuan", "Jiyuan", "Victory" and "Yongwu", as well as the two cruisers "Nanhu" and "Nanwei" purchased from the United Kingdom at the beginning of last year, and dozens of ships just The launched northern gunboats completely surrounded the British Hong Kong fleet.

"General, the Chinese navy is here. Do you want to go out to meet the battle?" A soldier on the British observation tower rushed over.

Hawking, the commander of the British Hong Kong Fleet, was a little overwhelmed, and said in a panic: "How many are here?"

"Nearly twenty warships, including two Saxon-class warships, two ironclad ships captured from France, and two cruisers built by the British Royal Navy with a speed of 17.5, and dozens of gunboats."

"Ah? How likely do you think we are to break through? We only have one ironclad ship." Hawking was obviously in a mess.Since the outbreak of the China-Myanmar War, he has been unable to eat and sleep in Hong Kong.Living in fear and fear, without the rescue of British warships, I was unable to break through the siege, and the Chinese navy did not come to attack, so my nerves were in a state of high tension all day long.

Now the Chinese navy suddenly appeared in front of him, but he didn't know what to do.Especially after learning that the warships coming were so powerful, they even gave up the idea of ​​resistance.

"us"

In Vietnam, thick black smoke rises from a British-flagged ironclad ahead.It was obvious that they had just experienced a fierce battle, and "Chengfeng" and "Breaking Waves" were closely chasing after them.

That's right, the warship emitting black smoke is the Hong Kong Fleet's main iron-clad ship "Evil".It was a product of the early 17th century. Although the displacement reached 4900 tons, the speed of 14 knots gave him no reason to break through the encirclement of so many Chinese navies.

However, he did.I saw the "Evil" staggering towards Singapore, and kept waving rescue flags.

The British Far East Fleet in Singapore finally discovered the warship of this compatriot.

"General, I found General Hawking's fleet 1 miles ahead. It seemed to have been hit hard and was emitting thick black smoke. There was a Chinese navy chasing him. General Hawking sent us a semaphore for help."

The Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Fleet, Tessler, frowned. He had not received the order to respond to the Hong Kong Fleet's breakout.Could it be that the Chinese Navy attacked Hawking?But if the Chinese navy attacked Hawking who was surrounded, he would have no chance to break out.

After all, Tesler is an old commander who has experienced many wars, and he has already prepared countermeasures for the strangeness in front of him.

"Tell the observation post to see if General Hawking himself is on the warship. Otherwise, you can't let that warship come in!"

"Yes."

Another 20 minutes passed.

"Report to the general. The observation post has confirmed that General Hawking is on the warship. It seems to be injured a little bit. In addition, the Chinese navy that was chasing did not dare to chase too close and has partially returned."

"Ah? God. How did Hawking do it? Come on, let the "Royal One" and "Royal Two" go out to meet them, and the rest of the fleet is ready to fight."

"Yes."

On the "Zhenyuan", the flagship of the Qingshui Division, Deng Shichang looked at the smoking "Evil" with a telescope, and it was obvious that his hands were shaking.I am afraid that only he himself knows whether he is nervous or excited.

"General, should we get closer?"

"No need, this will put General Yan in greater danger, so let all the warships obey orders. As soon as the front artillery fires, they will rush up at full speed to ensure the safety of General Yan." Deng Shichang said lightly.

"Yes."

Finally, after the "Royal [-]" and "Royal [-]" two super warships over [-] tons were disembarked, the "Evil" finally entered the port of Singapore smoothly.

It's a pity that although this warship is flying the British flag, it is full of Da Shimizu.Only one captive, Hawking, waved his hands on the deck and wanted to tell all this to his compatriots inside.

But Hawking waving his hands was considered by Tesler as a celebration of the rest of his life. After all, he was the only warship in a Hong Kong fleet to return, although it was riddled with holes and thick smoke came out from time to time.No, why didn't the warship have any scars?The black smoke came from the deck, but there was no trace of shelling on the deck.

Tessler faintly felt that something was wrong, and his ominous premonition was fully verified in the sound of a sky-shattering cannon.

Although the speed of the "Iver" is not good, the power of the 240mm main gun is no worse than that of any warship, let alone at such a short distance.

The "Royal Ranger", which was just about to step forward to respond, had its 107mm steel plate pierced through at close range, and the 3900-ton super defensive cruiser was sunk by a single shot by a warship flying its own flag.

Before most of the British warships could react, the side string guns and stern guns of the "Iver" kept firing. Some escaped from the port, some were sunk, and some fought back hastily.

Only then did Tessler see clearly that there was a black lump of cow dung burning where the "Evil" was smoking.Although the gunners on the deck were wearing Royal Navy uniforms, their long braids and black eyes had betrayed their identities.

But it was too late to discover everything. In an instant, he had lost a main cruiser, two gunboats, and two light defense cruisers were seriously injured.The scary thing is that although the ships have been prepared to fight, they are still in the military port.My own warship has not yet removed the tarpaulins on the main guns, the shells have not been carried up, and the casualties of my own fleet are still rising.

Outside the military port, the Chinese Navy has concentrated the "Long Victory", "Undefeated", "Chengfeng", "Break the Waves", "Weiyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Triumph", "Juyin", "Nanji", "Nanji", "Nanji", "Zhenyuan", "Triumph" and "Juyin". The main fleets of "Nanxiang" and "Yangfan" have already moved in. Although "Royal No. [-]" and "Royal No. [-]" are struggling to support them, they are already struggling enough to face "Zhenyuan" and "Weiyuan" of similar levels. In addition, the two [-]-ton ironclad ships "Chengfeng" and "Breaking Waves" are already dying.

And "Long Victory", "Undefeated", "Triumph", and "Guin" rushed into the military port first, and faced the British warships that had not yet had time to load their shells, they attacked like wolves and sheep.It directly sank four ironclad ships.

Tesler lowered his head weakly in the Singapore naval port, he really couldn't think of any reason for failure.He was deceived by the cunning yellow monkey. If he fought with real swords and guns on the battlefield, he believed that his Royal Navy was strong enough to defeat the Chinese Navy, but now, he has suffered a crushing defeat.Not even time to react.

It's all over.

This battle completely opened up the life channel leading to the Indian Ocean, and completely wiped out the British naval power in the Far East.What pleased Guan Xuqing the most was that his side had zero casualties, and the sneak attack tactics were quite successful.Moreover, he also captured two main British ironclad ships that Li Hongzhang could not buy with money."Royal One" and "Royal Two" with a displacement of more than [-] tons

(End of this chapter)