The Chinese's sudden counterattack shocked all the British. It seemed that the cruiser could not be saved. The hull had begun to tilt. Countless sailors were directly killed, and those who were lucky enough to survive also jumped into the water.
The other two warships could only evade urgently, and then rescue the friendly forces who fell into the water. The Bay of Biscay finally escaped and left the sight of the British!
The clipper ship left the route, chose to walk into the storm area like the head of state, and ventured towards the east!
When night fell, the captain took all the soldiers on the deck and took off their hats to salute in the direction of the explosion!
"Brothers! The brother ships gave us a chance to live with their sacrifices... We must cherish it! We are not afraid of death, but the arms of our ship must be sent back!"
"Many of you are new recruits, and some of you are volunteers! You don't know how heavy our responsibilities are!"
"I can tell you a secret! The caliber of the main gun of our Chinese flagship Taishan is claimed to be 210, but it is actually 300!"
"And do you know what the service life of such a powerful main gun is? It's only 200 rounds!"
"When the artillery shell is fired, the muzzle velocity is too fast and the temperature is very high. The rifling in the barrel cuts into the surface of the artillery shell, causing a rotational force. This can ensure the stability of the ballistic trajectory... which is what we commonly call accurate and far shooting!"
"But the rifling is metal, and the cannonball is also metal... The high-temperature friction between the metals will cause a certain amount of wear and tear on the rifling! Don't think that this wear and tear has nothing to do with it. It will affect the accuracy this time!"
"And if the barrel is fired too many times, it will cause metal fatigue and increase the risk of explosion!"
"So the battleship's main gun has an important indicator, which is the firing life... The 300-caliber main gun only has a firing life of 200 rounds. Any more shots will not guarantee accuracy, and the chamber will explode!"
"The gun barrel that has reached the end of its firing life must be removed and replaced. Now you know how much money the Navy is burning, right?"
"The more difficult thing is that every time the main gun is fired, part of the rifling will be removed, which means that the inner diameter of the main gun will be expanded a little..."
"Scientists have already calculated the amount of wear and tear... so the shells of the main gun are all numbered!"
"From the first round to the 200th round, the size of the numbered shells is also from small to large! Maybe you can't see it clearly with the naked eye, but if you put the No. 1 and No. 200 together, you can definitely see the difference. !”
"Do you understand now? These artillery shells we carry are irreplaceable. They all have fixed numbers and a fixed order..."
"The consequences of a wrong launch are very serious... If the caliber of the shell is too large, it will jam or even explode!"
"The caliber of the artillery shells is smaller, and it is inaccurate and loses its power..."
"We have to survive and return to the Chinese nation alive...send this most important batch of arms..."
"The Holy Ship is carrying some small-caliber artillery shells. We, the Chinese, still have these in stock in our arsenal. Losing a ship is not too dangerous!"
"We can't! We must survive...the 100 rounds of 300-caliber artillery shells on our ship are the last batch of supplies for the Tarzan!"
"It's enough to support a high-intensity naval battle! Maybe this naval battle can change the destiny of our Chinese nation!"
"Now do you understand how difficult our task is? Now the British know our intelligence, and they will definitely intercept us in the Strait of Malacca!"
"What should we do now? Let's brainstorm, we have to find a way out!"
The soldiers on the entire deck immediately started whispering to each other. Before, they only knew that their mission was important, but they never thought that it would be so important!
The education level of soldiers is relatively low. Those who can barely understand writing and some basic mathematics are already pretty good!
They were very confused when it came to the subject of metal technology. They really didn't understand it before, but now they understand it after it's explained!
It turns out that this ship of arms is related to the life and death of the Chinese navy! This changed their new determination to die. It would be easy to die together, but it would be more difficult to complete the task alive!
People were buzzing and talking, and soon most people made their attitude clear: "Go south! Let's bypass Indonesia... go to the Pacific Ocean, go to Luzon... that is our sphere of influence!"
"Yes! Instead of going to Malacca, go to the Sunda Strait! Enter the Java Sea and go straight to Brunei..."
"No, the Sunda Strait is too close to the Lion City. If the British can block Malacca, they will definitely block the Sunda Strait!"
"Let's go to the Banda Sea! There are islands over there..."
"No way...there are still some remaining forces from Spain and the Netherlands over there! They will definitely cooperate with the British to intercept us!"
"What should we do? Do we have to go around Papua New Guinea? It's too far... We don't have that many supplies!"
People were arguing a lot, but all opinions were unanimous: we should go around from the south of Malacca!
But it's not that easy to go around. It's summer now, which is the season when typhoons are common. There are always a lot of typhoons and rains in Southeast Asia. It's really extremely dangerous to go around such a large circle in the port.
The captain stretched out his hand and pressed everyone, "There is one more thing you have forgotten... Australia is British territory... How could the colonial government of India forget to send them a telegram?"
"Even if the Australian navy only has some old warships with wooden hulls and iron plates, they are still enough to deal with one of our disguised clipper ships!"
"No! It's absolutely impossible to go south. It's too dangerous. The probability of success is only one in ten... We can risk our lives, but the Chinese ammunition and arms cannot be gambled!"
The captain pulled a box of wine from behind and divided it among everyone. The soldiers passed the drink one by one. The sky was filled with stars. The wind blew the sails and the cables pulled on the wooden mast, making a creaking sound!
The captain drank a third of the bottle of rum in one gulp and gasped, "There is a way! Let's go north!"
Pushing away the chart, the captain pointed to the sea and said, "We have now left the main channel of the Indian Ocean and entered the southern storm zone where ships dare not enter, which is the no-man's land!"
"Although it is dangerous here, it is not easy to be discovered! Our son moves forward here and tries to avoid the enemy's pursuit!"
"Here... around 90 degrees east longitude, let's suddenly go north under the cover of night! Cross the Golden Channel as quickly as possible and take a gamble... that the British warships can't hit us!"
"Ah? Go to the Bay of Bengal? It's a dead place over there... It's all within the sphere of influence of Britain and France. Aren't we looking for death?" someone asked.
The captain shook his head, "No... let's go to the Kra Isthmus... let's take a gamble... go to the Kra Isthmus to anchor secretly, and then land to find our Chinese intelligence station!"
"If we can connect with our intelligence personnel... we can abandon the ship! Transport these artillery shells over by land transport, and when they reach the Gulf of Thailand, we will be in our own territory!"
"There will definitely be a battleship to pick up the ship!"
The captain looked up at the more than 70 men on the deck, suddenly stood up and saluted, "Brother! I know there must be CIA men among you..."
"With such precious arms transportation, it is impossible for the Royal Bureau not to send elite soldiers and generals!"
"Brother, please beg you... I know this is forcing someone to do something difficult, and I also know that if you are exposed at all, it will be a violation of discipline and may even put your life in danger..."
"But... we cannot afford to lose the armament of this ship! For the sake of the Chinese people, brother, please stand up..."
"As long as you can connect with our intelligence network on the Indochina Peninsula, we have hope of completing the mission!"
"Brother...brother, please!"
With a pop, the captain half-knelt on the deck, looking at the brothers on the ship with tears in his eyes!
