Because of the speed of airships and their inability to withstand high-altitude winds, the British Royal Navy originally did not pay much attention to threats from the air.
After deploying small cannons that could fire continuously, even Admiral Monk believed that it was impossible for clumsy airships to sink his battleships.
With the advent of airplanes, this situation has fundamentally changed, and the gap can be described as earth-shaking.
Because small cannons can reload ammunition quickly, they can easily deal with airships.
After changing the target to an aircraft that can move at high speed and launch dive bombing from overhead, this reloading speed is completely insufficient.
Especially if solid bullets are used, the firepower density is far from reaching the level of protecting a warship.
If it is replaced by shotgun shells, its range will not easily cause damage to enemy aircraft that keep a certain distance and drop bombs.
Previously, the Royal Navy did not believe that the yellow-skinned monkey could cause a devastating blow to the fleet from the air.
Now, this kind of thinking of underestimating the enemy caused the squadron led by Lieutenant General De Laval to struggle painfully on the river.
Because the fleet in service not only encountered air attacks, but was also overwhelmed by firepower from the shore.
In a short period of time, each sailing fighter plane became a target for air and shore defense firepower, without even a chance to escape.
Planes are very fast and missiles are even faster.
The British squadron adopted the tactic of a long snake formation on the river, either in a single row or in a double row.
As time went by, both the battleships at the front and at the end of the formation were hit to varying degrees.
The unluckiest battleship "Courage" was attacked by three missiles and six aerial bombs. After the violent explosion, the fire became increasingly difficult to control. The hull tilted at an angle of more than 30 degrees, and the crew had begun to abandon the ship.
The "Fearless" next to it was not much better. The port side of the bow had been completely mangled, and thick smoke was billowing from the damaged area.
The gaff sail and bowsprit originally located at the bow of the ship had been blown away, most of the sail on the foremast was burned off, and a small piece of the left side of the forecastle was also removed due to the explosion.
Under the influence of the wind, the crew members on the entire battleship were choked to tears by the thick smoke they emitted. People on the nearby ships did not see that several of the battleship's port side guns were still firing.
On the surface, the "Rose" in the back seems to have no serious problems, but in fact, the situation is just the opposite.
An aerial bomb flew directly from the warehouse into the main deck (called the upper deck or weather deck above) and exploded.
It detonated a nearby gunpowder barrel, and then triggered a series of explosion accidents, which was equivalent to disemboweling the belly of the battleship.
Powder barrels placed on the lower deck below the main deck were also damaged, resulting in dozens of people being killed and injured in a short period of time.
Fortunately, the two explosions did not destroy the iron shell of the battleship, which is a blessing in misfortune.
It's just that the ship's combat effectiveness has dropped by more than half, and there are less than ten usable guns on both sides.
The approaching "Gulf of Mexico" was hit by two missiles and five aerial bombs and was slowly sinking.
This was a battleship that was completely hopeless. After being beaten, it still tried to dodge, but ended up crashing the "Orion" next to it.
Vice Admiral De Laval's fleet was in a state of fighting on its own five minutes after the battle began.
Especially when fighting on inland rivers, unlike on the sea, there are almost only two options: forward or retreat.
Since the width of the river is not large, it is far from meeting the requirements for the warship to turn, so turning is almost impossible.
The result was that within half an hour, Vice Admiral De Laval's fleet suffered a devastating blow.
Not a single battleship has escaped from the encirclement. It is either floating on the river and burning or sinking.
At this point, De Laval had no intention of jumping into the river, because even if he was lucky enough to escape to the west bank, he would be hit from the sky and the other bank, not to mention that he would not be able to see His Majesty the King.
Realizing that his flagship "Steadfast" was sinking, De Laval wrote down his battle experience, put it in a leather bag, asked his adjutant to jump into the river and escape to the west bank, and then tried his best to report back.
Even if the enemy does not need ironclads, it can still destroy its own warships, especially threats and strikes from the air, which are almost impossible for the fleet to escape.
Weapons called "missiles" are much more lethal to warships than artillery shells when fighting in inland rivers, so they must be vigilant.
We must find a way to deal with this tactic as soon as possible, otherwise even if our fleet escapes to the inland river, it may be difficult to escape the enemy's attack.
As for how to crack it, that is not De Laval's business. He has decided to stay with the flagship...
Someone has reported the battle situation upriver to Lord Ashby, who stayed on the New London River. He was responsible for commanding the remaining fleet.
Although he had fifty-five battleships in hand, Ashby decided to stand still due to the unknown situation of the enemy.
Even if De Laval's fleet is severely damaged or even something more terrible happens, the fleet used to defend the capital cannot be easily destroyed.
Twenty thousand regular troops and 80,000 soldiers have gathered in New London, totaling 100,000 people, all of which are under the command of Lieutenant General John Churchill, who is only 37 years old.
Two years ago, he was still a major general, but he has become the actual leader of the army.
In order to defend against the enemy this time, James II directly promoted him to lieutenant general and served as the commander of city defense.
The reason for Churchill's rapid rise to prominence is simple. When he was young, he was a chamberlain to James II, and his wife Sarah was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne.
If this relationship is not considered solid and appropriate, then we can also add that Churchill’s sister was the love interest of James II...
However, the position that others envied was actually a drudgery that Churchill avoided.
If the yellow-skinned monkey was easy to deal with, Carlos II would not have fled to America.
There was no internal chaos within the Spanish Empire, and the Netherlands did not send troops to Spain, but the empire was still defeated in a short period of time.
France's dispatch of troops to the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula is certainly an important reason, but what cannot be ignored is that the combat effectiveness of the yellow-skinned monkeys is increasing day by day.
This is not a conclusion drawn by Churchill himself, but a confession obtained by a group of military bosses such as Black and Monk after discussions!
The Yellow-skinned Monkeys are equipped with more advanced weapons than their own, are well-trained, and have high morale. They can use their powerful fleet for transportation and supplies to deliver their armies to any corner of the world.
Charles II and Cromwell had the same idea back then. Unfortunately, Blake went to the wrong place and made a mistake that he shouldn't have made, which led to today's bad situation.
The British no longer planned to go to war with the Ming Empire again, but they had occupied the southern part of Dutch North America and were not willing to give it up easily.
In the end, a tragic thing happened that set him on fire. Who can blame him?
Churchill and James II privately discussed their future plans. If they could win, they could wait for an opportunity to negotiate peace with the other party.
Otherwise, we should consider moving the capital!
To put it mildly, this is actually no better than running from Britain to North America. I just don’t know where to run this time...
Churchill didn't have much hope in defeating the invading enemy with his army alone. The reason he had the confidence to hold on was Ashby's remaining fleet.
Without the help of the fleet, the city of New London would likely have been lost to the enemy's powerful firepower.
James had also issued multiple orders before, requiring the Navy to sail all ships in the outer sea to the inland river as soon as possible.
In particular, all ships entering the Chattahoochee River must reach the New London River to defend the capital.
If it can reach about a hundred ships, Churchill will be confident that he can use the advantage of the fleet to repel those yellow-skinned monkeys.
At this most critical moment, Herbert, Earl of Torrington, did not know where he had gone with the main fleet.
Lieutenant General Edward Russell led a squadron of twenty-five ships to the New London River. They had escaped from the open sea.
It is said that not even a single British-flagged ship can be seen in Apalachee Bay. As long as you see black smoke rising from the sky, you can run away...
Vice Admiral Russell's fleet just made up for the loss of Delaval's fleet. This was the fulfillment of James II's previous prayers.
Eighty ships came to the rescue, which greatly increased Churchill's confidence. Unless he took the initiative to make mistakes, he believed that the chance of success in defending New London was already very high.
Huang Ting and Zheng Chenggong took about two hours to eliminate De Laval's fleet.
It was learned from the prisoners that the commander of this fleet had sunk with the ship, and he paid tribute to him.
After cleaning the battlefield and returning to the outside of New London, after counting, it was discovered that the number of enemy ships on the river was actually more than before.
This shows that in the past few days since Wang Shi left, the enemy has received reinforcements again.
When Zheng Chenggong saw this, he couldn't help but complain in his heart about Jiexuan and Zheng Shengying who were fighting on the outside.
According to the pattern of these two men, how long will it take for them to take down the enemy's capital?
The most urgent task is to notify the fleet in the outer sea that the river mouth leading to New London City must be blocked and any enemy ship is strictly prohibited from entering the inland river.
Then we will see if our first-class ironclads can also enter the inland river and annihilate the British fleet near New London.
Zheng Chenggong has conducted on-site inspections and estimates that it will have to wait until the dry season in spring is over, and by July and August, the water level will reach the standard for a first-class ironclad ship to enter the inland river without being stranded.
So what should we do in the past few months?
Very simple, grab money, grab food, grab women!
Even if reinforcements and supplies from the sea are lost, the expeditionary force will not starve to death!
What's more, Huang Ting still has 15,000 Japanese troops under his command. He may not be able to fight hard, but he can rob things...
The two brothers took advantage of the situation and took advantage of the British army's shrinking forces to create a military vacuum in the surrounding areas. They sent troops to plunder the surrounding areas.
Zunshi said that in British North America, the expeditionary force could be used at will. The more destructive it can be to the local area, the more beneficial it will be for the Ming Dynasty to move to Min in the future.
Arrest people when you see them, and rob things when you see them. That’s right!
How they looted Jiangnan back then, now the expeditionary force can return it!
This means that if people don’t offend me, I won’t offend them!
If someone offends me, I can’t kill you!
Just one word, "happiness" for a country!
In response, British farmers did not sit still and wait for death, but fought bravely.
But in the face of the expeditionary force that dispatched planes and tanks, the farmers who used flintlock guns had little success.
Because there were so few men of working age, farmers even organized slaves to resist foreign invasion.
This kind of gang seems to have a lot of troops, but its actual combat effectiveness can be imagined...
A cannonball landing nearby can scare the shit out of a group of people.
Under the expeditionary force's coordinated air-ground and infantry-tank attack, no farm could hold out for a day.
After Churchill received the distress letter from the farmers, he decided to dispatch 2,000 cavalry to support.
The tactic of the cavalry is guerrilla, not to confront the opponent head-on, but to wait for opportunities to sneak attack the opponent's infantry.
However, since even the Japanese troops were equipped with revolvers and were covered by steam tanks every time, the results achieved by the British cavalry were not much higher than those of the farmers combined.
After nearly a month of fighting, the British cavalry lost more than half and was forced to withdraw to New London for repairs.
The Japanese army captured more than 100,000 people, the vast majority of whom were black. Many whites had already fled to New London or inland before the war began.
Fortunately, the expeditionary force attacking New London did not have many troops. Otherwise, the food they grabbed would not be enough. Without excessive consumption of canned food and other munitions, they would barely be able to get enough.
Except for the sentries, the entire army only has two meals a day. If you skip breakfast, you can save some rations.
I feel that there is too little water. As long as I get approval from the superiors, I can go fishing and fishing in the river.
Huang Ting felt that the conditions when he was fighting in Myanmar were not so difficult.
Fortunately, difficulties are temporary and can be overcome.
In another four months at most, the situation will change dramatically.
Neither Huang Ting nor Zheng Chenggong expected that they originally came to North America to make contributions, but they did not expect that they would become brothers in need.
If they hadn't gotten older and were able to adjust their mentality, and had rich experience in actual combat, and had seen a lot of strong winds and waves, otherwise both of them might have gotten angry and had blisters at the mouth due to anxiety.
Jiexuan and Zheng Shengying, who were located in the outer sea, were not without their efforts, but they were worried that if they rashly allowed the ironclad ships to enter and run aground, the river would be blocked, which would backfire.
Since a large number of British ships were gathered in the upper reaches of the Chattahoochee River, sending some sailboats by yourself was like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth.
Zheng Shengying decided to use the Okmulgee River to transport military supplies. This river did not flow through the city of New London, but there was a section that was relatively close to the city.
The Zheng Army had previously captured Macon, a strategic town located in the middle reaches of the river, making it relatively reliable to use this river for material transportation.
The top priority right now is to prevent the expeditionary force besieging New London from starving to death, and then talk about destroying the British capital after they regain their strength.
By mid-June, the 22nd Army, numbering 25,000 men, sailed upstream from the Okmulgee River on boats to join the vanguard.
The main force that Zheng Chenggong could mobilize to besiege New London was only fifteen thousand people. If he raised more money, he could only count on Huang Ting.
According to the information received, before the end of the year, two more armies of about 50,000 people will arrive in the British North American theater, all of which will be placed under Huang Ting's command.
This was originally good news, but Huang Ting couldn't wait until then.
The expeditionary force has gathered 60,000 people outside New London, and has basically reached the scale of launching a general offensive.
