In the English Channel in Western Europe, the morning haze enveloped the entire sea, making people feel like they were in a fairyland. However, the wind and waves on the sea were rough, and a thick smoke was secretly on the sea.
The "Yongle Emperor" battleship is the main battleship belonging to the Hong Kong fleet. It is a large battleship that has recently come to Western Europe from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty to serve in Hong Kong.
Now Europe and the Middle East are raging with war, and wars are ongoing between the major powers in order to fully protect the interests of the Ming Empire in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and West Africa.
The Ming Empire also continued to strengthen the strength of the Mediterranean Fleet, West African Fleet, Hong Kong Fleet and Red Sea Fleet. It not only increased the number of garrison personnel, but also increased a large number of warships of various types.
As the only colony of the Ming Dynasty in Western Europe, Hong Kong also shoulders the important task of protecting the Ming Dynasty's interests in Western Europe, so it attracts great attention.
The newly commissioned "Yongle Emperor" battleship is not an ordinary battleship. Different from traditional battleships, the "Emperor-class" battleships newly designed and built by Tianjin Shipyard are all steam-powered battleships.
Relying on steam and turbines as the main power, and equipped with traditional sails, it has strong maneuverability. At the same time, the Great Emperor-class battleship is built using the latest shipbuilding technology. It is huge in size and is reinforced with steel in major parts or even all of it.
.
This is a semi-steel battleship. For this era, it is definitely an epoch-making battleship!
The huge battleship "Yongle Emperor" cut through the waves on the sea. The commander of the battleship, Xiong Han, was wearing a straight white navy uniform, with a telescope hanging around his neck, looking resolutely ahead.
Xiong Han, who graduated from the Imperial Military Academy, has been serving in Hong Kong since graduation. Now he has become the captain of the Yongle Emperor, commanding the entire Hong Kong fleet with the Yongle Emperor as the core.
"Xiong Han, who do you think will win this naval battle?"
Next to Xiong Han, Deng Yong, who was dressed in a straight army uniform, also had a telescope hanging around his neck and looked forward, as if he wanted to see two huge fleets in the thick sea fog.
"I don't know either. War is always full of uncertainties and anything is possible!"
"On the surface, the combined fleets of Spain and Japan are more powerful. There are more than 76 main warships, which are basically built by our Daming Shipyard. They are of excellent quality, and the artillery and fire equipment are all from our Daming Miyun.
Bought from the arsenal, very fine."
"Coupled with the fact that there are nearly 200 large and small ships, supported by battleships, there is no doubt about its strength."
"However, the strength of the combined fleets of England, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries cannot be underestimated. They have more than 300 large and small warships, and they have definitely concentrated all their maritime power."
"In terms of artillery, we also purchased a large number of artillery from our Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the numerical advantage, this battle is really hard to predict."
Xiong Han came to a conclusion after a simple analysis.
The conflict between Spain, Japan and the pirate alliance is becoming more and more acute. From the beginning, the two sides pretended to be pirates and plundered each other, and then slowly declared war on each other and attacked each other. Finally, it has developed to the present, with both sides concentrating all their strength.
to engage in a decisive battle at sea.
The long-term mutual sneak attacks and plunders have made both sides extremely tired and suffered huge damage. Many coastal ports and cities in Portugal, France, and England were looted. Not only was a large amount of wealth lost, but more importantly, a large number of people were lost.
the passage of.
Because the price of white slaves is high, it is more cost-effective to plunder people than to plunder property. This has also led to pirates pretending to be on both sides to plunder people in coastal areas and sell them to the Ming Dynasty, making huge profits from it, so much so that they can no longer stop it now.
Came down.
A large number of private ships and gangs joined them. These weak gangs could not plunder large towns, but they caused huge and devastating blows to small villages in coastal areas.
This is also the reason why both sides chose to fight quickly, because neither side can afford it.
The 'Yongle Emperor' continued to advance on the sea. As time went by, the sun gradually began to shine with strong light, and the heavy fog on the sea gradually dissipated.
Through the telescope, Xiong Han could vaguely see a huge fleet heading north. The fleet was divided into two parts. One part was flying the Spanish flag, and the other part was flying the Japanese flag and the Japanese flag.
Wang Qi.
There is no doubt that this is the combined fleet of Spain and Japan.
"People from Ming Dynasty?"
Soon, the Spanish fleet also discovered the battleship Yongle Emperor following behind. Duke Colster came to the deck immediately and looked behind with a telescope.
"The latest warship of the Ming Empire!"
He immediately recognized the battleship 'Yongle Emperor'. This new type of battleship was only available in the Ming Empire. Spain had asked for it countless times, but the Ming people rejected it as not for sale.
Looking at the huge battleship behind, with its huge gun barrels and steel armor flashing in the sun, Duke Colster couldn't help but swallow slightly.
This is the most ideal maritime warship in my mind. Look at the large smoke pipes on the warship and the black smoke spewing out of them. When facing a headwind, it does not need to go round at all, but can directly move forward against the wind.
,high speed.
"Steam battleship!"
Duke Colster's eyes were slightly red. If he had a few such warships in his hands, there would be no suspense in this naval battle.
"The Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire in Hong Kong!"
On the other side, the commander of the Japanese fleet Dongfang Yue also quickly noticed the Ming warship following behind.
"This kind of battleship is the real sea castle!"
Looking at the huge body of the Yongle Emperor, Dongfang Yue couldn't help but sigh.
The Japanese state was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but it could not buy a warship like the Great Emperor. The Ming Empire bluntly stated that this was not for sale and was prohibited for sale, let alone a vassal state. Even vassal states and colonies would not sell it.
Can be used by the Ming Empire Navy.
"What are the Ming people doing here?"
Beside Dongfang Yue, Kojiro frowned and thought.
Seeing that the decisive battle with the Pirate Alliance's fleet is about to begin, the Ming Dynasty's battleship appears here, and who knows what purpose it has.
"I'm definitely here to watch the naval battle and collect relevant data and experience."
"Hmph~"
"In this war, the people of Ming Dynasty made a lot of money, selling arms and weapons everywhere. They completely ignored that our Japanese country was a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, and actually sold weapons and warships to the pirate alliance."
Dongfang Yue snorted coldly and said: "The so-called neutrality is just an excuse. The real purpose is not to make both sides rich."
"What's the use of saying this? The Ming Empire is so powerful that once it joins any party, it can instantly reverse the balance of power between the two parties."
"And all along, the interests of the people of Ming Dynasty have not been harmed, so naturally they will not join the war. Selling arms and weapons to both sides to make money is the wisest move."
Kojiro said calmly.
The relationship between the Japanese state and the Ming Empire is very subtle. On the one hand, it is a vassal state of the Ming Empire. It pays tribute every year, worships every year, and learns everything about the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, the Japanese state also discovered that the Ming Dynasty has no influence on the Japanese state.
If you are so close to North Korea, North Korea is the true son of Japan.
As for the Japanese country, the Ming Dynasty was always on guard. On the one hand, the garrison in the Japanese country never evacuated, and on the other hand, it continued to support the shogunate, allowing the Japanese country to form two factions, the Japanese king and the shogunate, and they were never able to unify.
They even become internally at odds with each other and have many conflicts.
This made the Japanese king very dissatisfied, and they repeatedly explained to the Ming Empire that the Japanese king was the orthodox ruler of the Japanese country, and the Ming Dynasty should fully support the Japanese king to attack the shogunate and implement the unification of the Japanese country.
However, the Ming Dynasty always ignored it, thinking that this was the internal affairs of the Japanese country, and the Ming Dynasty could not interfere. However, it always supported the shogunate, and even allowed the shogunate to own a vast colony in the Indus River Basin of Tianzhu. The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty also
Married the shogun's sister as a concubine.
Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, but Japan never dares to express it.
The Ming Empire was so powerful that it angered the Ming Empire. Once the Ming Dynasty turned around and fully supported the shogunate, life would be even more difficult for the Japanese kings, so they were angry and could not do anything.
"That's true. This is more in line with the interests of the Ming people."
Dongfang Yue thought for a while and nodded slightly.
"Dangdang~"
At this time, a siren sounded.
"Enemy Army~Enemy Army~"
Following the lookout's shouts, Dongfang Yue and Kojiro immediately forgot all about these things and hurriedly looked ahead.
On the vast sea area, I saw a huge fleet moving southward in a mighty manner. The flags on the warships were flying, and the cannons revealed their ferocious faces.
"Prepare for battle!"
Dongfang Yue immediately roared angrily.
At the same time, the Spanish fleet discovered the enemy directly ahead. As the semaphore soldiers on each ship continued to wave flags, the entire huge fleet began to spread out in a crescent shape, and cannons were pushed out one after another. The naval battle
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